Getting Started > Modules > Setting Image Window Display Options >

# Working with Grids and Guides

Grids and guides are reference overlays that appear over the image window in modules.

Use grids to view an overlay for spatial reference in your clips. A lattice of horizontal and vertical lines can be helpful when trying to place objects in a scene. You can even enable snap-to-grid functionality to ensure the accuracy of your placement.

Use guides to overlay horizontal and vertical reference lines. You can verify the working area, frame aspect ratio, safe areas for action and text, and the centre of the working area. You can also set up free guides for non-standard horizontal and vertical references.

Grids and guides are accessible from all modules using the Grid menu. However, not all modules support all grids and guides features.

To access the Grid menu:

1. Click the Grid button that appears on the right side of the image window controls.

   The Grid menu appears.

Use the controls in: | To:
--- | ---
Working Area | Define the area relevant to the output result. See Setting Up Working Area Guides.
Free Guide | Set up a freely defined rectangular overlay. See Setting Up Free Guides.
Guide | Display aspect ratio guides. See Setting Up Aspect Ratio Guides.
Safe | Display safe text and safe action areas. See Setting Up Safe Area Guides.
Grid | Display reference grids. See Setting Up Grids.
Centre | Display the centre point of the working area. See Displaying a Centre Point.

To reset grids and guides to the default settings, click Reset All in the lower-right corner of the Grid menu.

Selecting Grids and Guides Presets

You can display grids and guides presets without having to enter the Grid menu.

To select grids and guides presets:

1. Select an option from the Quick Guides box.

   Select: | To:
   --- | ---
   PAN_16x9_to_4x3 | Display reference guides for panning and scanning a 16x9 clip to a 4x3 format.
   TILT_to_16x9 | Display reference guides for a 16x9 letterbox clip in a 4x3 ratio.
   TILT_to_14x9 | Display reference guides for a 14x9 letterbox clip in a 4x3 ratio.
   Default | Display the grids and guides currently defined in the Grids and Guides menu.
   Quick Off | Turn grids and guides off.

   TipIf you have grid and guide setups saved to your user ~/guides directory, each setup appears as an option in the Quick Guides box.

Saving Grids and Guides Setups

You can save grids and guides setups to your user ~/guides directory.

To save grids and guides setups:

1. With grids and guides displayed and configured, display the Grid menu.
2. Enable or disable Zoom/Pan.
   - Enable Zoom/Pan to include the current zoom and pan settings with the grids and guides setup.
   - Disable Zoom/Pan to exclude the current zoom and pan settings with the grids and guides setup.
3. Click Save to open the file browser.
4. Set a destination for the setup, and then click Save.
   TipGrids and Guides setups saved to the default directory (~/guides in your user home directories) appear as options in the Quick Guides box provided you start Smoke by selecting your user name.

Loading Grids and Guides Setups

You can load grids and guides setups that reside in other directories.

To load grids and guides setups:

1. In the Grid menu, click Load to open the file browser.
2. Locate the setup file using the file browser, and then click Load.

Setting Up Working Area Guides

Set up working area guides to delimit the relevant area in the frame. For example, if you are working on a film project, audio is printed in a thin strip on the side of each frame. You can set up the working area guides to indicate only the part of the film frame that is not affected by the audio print.

To set up a working area guide:

1. From the Working Area box, select Working Area.

   (a) Working Area box(b) Overlay Type box

2. From the Overlay Type box, select Line or Box.

   Select: | To:
   --- | ---
   Line | Indicate the working area by outline only.
   Box | Cover the area outside the working area.

   TipIf you select Box, you can change its opacity using the Opacity field that appears to the right of the Overlay Type box.
3. To change the colour of the working area overlay, use the colour pot next to the Working Area box.
4. To set the size of the overlay, enter values in the working area Width and Height fields.
   TipThese values can be no larger than the clip's resolution.
5. To offset the working area, enter values in the X and Y Offset fields.

Setting Up Free Guides

A free guide is a rectangular overlay that you can set up to mark a region of the frame. This may be useful if you are working on a background graphic for a composite where a picture-in-picture effect is applied.

To set up a free guide:

1. From the Free Guide box, select Free Guide.

   (a) Free Guide box(b) Overlay Type box

2. From the Overlay Type box, select Line or Box.

   Select: | To:
   --- | ---
   Line | Indicate the working area by outline only.
   Box | Cover the area outside the working area.

   TipIf you select Box, you can change its opacity using the Opacity field that appears to the right of the Overlay Type box.
3. To change the colour of the free guide overlay, use the colour pot next to the Free Guide box.
4. To set the size of the overlay, enter values in the free guide T (top), B (bottom), L (left), and R (right) fields.
   TipThese values are interior offsets relative to the working area guide. If you have not set up a working area guide, these values are relative to the frame border.

Setting Up Aspect Ratio Guides

Aspect ratio guides provide an overlay for the aspect ratios of broadcast and film formats. Use the guides when you are working on a format that you will deliver in another format. By selecting the delivery format's aspect ratio, you can preview the result without processing the format conversion.

If the aspect ratio you need an overlay for is not among the preset options, you can create custom aspect ratio guides based on a decimal aspect ratio or on pixel values.

To set up a preset aspect ratio guide:

1. From the Aspect Ratio box, select a preset aspect ratio.

   (a) Aspect Ratio box(b) Relative box(c) Overlay Type box

   These options include:

   - 1.37:1 (Academy)
   - 1.66:1 (European 35mm)
   - 1.77:1 (HDTV)
   - 1.85:1 (American 35mm)
   - 2.35:1 (CinemaScope)
2. From the Overlay Type box, select an option.

   Select: | To:
   --- | ---
   Line | Indicate the working area by outline only.
   Box | Cover the area outside the working area.

   TipIf you select Box, you can change its opacity using the Opacity field that appears to the right of the Overlay Type box.
3. To change the colour of the aspect ratio overlay, use the colour pot next to the Aspect Ratio box.
4. From the Relative box, select an option.

   Select: | To define the aspect ratio guide relative to:
   --- | ---
   Relative to Border | Frame border.
   Relative to Work | Working area.
   Relative to Free | Free guide.

5. To offset the aspect ratio guide vertically, enter a value in the Y Offset field.

To set up a custom aspect ratio guide:

1. From the Aspect Ratio box, select Custom Ratio or Custom Inside.

   (a) Aspect Ratio box(b) Relative box(c) Overlay Type box(d) Y Offset field (e) W, H fields(f) X, Y Offset fields(g) Ratio field

2. From the Overlay Type box, select an option.

   Select: | To:
   --- | ---
   Line | Indicate the working area by outline only.
   Box | Cover the area outside the working area.

   TipIf you select Box, you can change its opacity using the Opacity field that appears to the right of the Overlay Type box.
3. To change the colour of the aspect ratio overlay, use the colour pot next to the Aspect Ratio box.
4. Set the aspect ratio:
   - If you selected Custom Ratio, enter the decimal ratio (for example, 1.33 for 4:3) in the R (ratio) field.
   - If you selected Custom Inside, enter values, in pixels, in the Width and Height fields. You can also offset this aspect ratio using the X and Y Offset fields.
5. From the Relative box, select an option.

   Select: | To define the aspect ratio guide relative to the:
   --- | ---
   Relative to Border | Frame border.
   Relative to Work | Working area.
   Relative to Free | Free guide.

Setting Up Safe Area Guides

Safe area guides overlay the parts of the frame inside which you should keep relevant action in the shot, text, or other graphics:

- The safe action area marks a rectangle inside the frame, representing the amount of cropping that occurs during broadcast. This guide should line up with the edges of your broadcast monitor.
- The safe title area marks a rectangle inside the safe action area, providing a margin on all sides inside which you should place titles and graphics to ensure they are not too close to the edges of the broadcast result.

Use the safe area guide controls to select default safe area guides. You can also create a custom safe area guide.

To set up default safe area guides:

1. From the Safe Area box, select a safe area guide option.

   (a) Safe Area box(b) Relative box

   Select: | To view:
   --- | ---
   Safe Title | The default safe title area guide.
   Safe Action | The default safe action guide.
   Action & Title | Both safe action and safe title guides.

2. To change the colour of the safe area(s), use the colour pot next to the Safe Area box.
3. From the Relative box, select an option.

   Select: | To define the safe area guide relative to:
   --- | ---
   Relative to Border | Frame border.
   Relative to Work | Working area.
   Relative to Free | Free guide.
   Relative to Guide | Aspect ratio guide.

To set up a custom area guide:

1. From the Safe Area box, select Custom Safe.

   (a) Safe Area box(b) Relative box

2. To change the colour of the safe area, use the colour pot next to the Safe Area box.
3. From the Relative box, select an option.

   Select: | To define the safe area guide relative to:
   --- | ---
   Relative to Border | Frame border.
   Relative to Work | Working area.
   Relative to Free | Free guide.
   Relative to Guide | Aspect ratio guide.

4. Enter values, in pixels, in the T (top), B (bottom), L (left), and R (right) fields to set the position of each side of the safe area guide relative to the selection you made in the previous step.

Setting Up Grids

Set up a grid of horizontal and vertical lines along the XY plane to help you place objects in a scene. You can set up a grid based on rows and columns, or on a pixel scale.

To set up a grid based on rows and columns:

1. From the Grid box, select Row/Col Grid.

   (a) Grid box(b) Relative box(c) Opacity field

2. From the Relative box, select an option.

   Select: | To define the grid relative to:
   --- | ---
   Relative to Border | Frame border.
   Relative to Work | Working area.
   Relative to Free | Free guide.
   Relative to Guide | Aspect ratio guide.

3. To change the colour of the grid, use the colour pot next to the Grid box.
4. Enter values into the C (columns) and R (rows) fields to define the grid.
5. To offset the grid, enter values in the X and Y Offset fields.
6. To make objects snap to grid points, enable Snap.
7. To decrease the opacity of the grid, enter a value in the Opacity field.

To set up a grid based on a pixel scale:

1. From the Grid box, select Pixel Grid.

   (a) Grid box(b) Relative box(c) W, H fields(d) X, Y Offset fields

2. From the Relative box, select an option.

   Select: | To define the grid relative to:
   --- | ---
   Relative to Border | Frame border.
   Relative to Work | Working area.
   Relative to Free | Free guide.
   Relative to Guide | Aspect ratio guide.

3. To change the colour of the grid, use the colour pot next to the Grid box.
4. Enter values into the W (width) and H (height) fields to define the grid.

   Values are in pixels, and define the number of pixels between vertical (W) and horizontal (H) lines.

5. To offset the grid, enter values in the X and Y Offset fields.
6. To make objects snap to grid points, enable Snap.
7. To decrease the opacity of the grid, enter a value in the Opacity field.

Setting Up Independent Schematic Grids in Action

You can apply a grid to a schematic view in Action, the Modular Keyer,. Schematic grid settings are independent of those applied to other views in Action (for example, Front and Result).

To set up an independent schematic grid:

1. Select the viewport containing the schematic view for which you want to set up a grid.
   NoteIf you are not using multiple viewports, the grid will be applied to the current schematic view.
2. Set up the grid in the Grid menu.

Displaying a Centre Point

Display a centre point to keep a constant reference to the centre of your clip. In most cases, the centre point is fixed relative to the frame border. However, you can offset the centre point, or set it relative to another guide.

To set up a centre point:

1. From the Centre box, select Small Centre, Medium Centre, or Large Centre.

   (a) Centre box(b) Relative box

2. From the Relative box, select an option.

   Select: | To define the centre point relative to:
   --- | ---
   Relative to Border | Frame border.
   Relative to Work | Working area.
   Relative to Free | Free guide.
   Relative to Guide | Aspect ratio guide.

3. To change the colour of the centre point, use the colour pot next to the Centre box.
4. To offset the centre point, enter values in the X and Y Offset fields.

Displaying the Frame Border

In cases where you are scaling clips so they are larger than the delivery format's frame size, it is helpful to enable the frame border display. The frame border is a thin outline of the delivery format's frame size relative to the scene.

To display the frame border:

1. In the Grid menu, enable Border.
2. To change the colour of the frame border, use the colour pot next to the Border button.