Apple Final Cut Pro 5 - Manual (Page 1127)

340 Part II Project Interchange
 If your graphic is taller than it is wide, there are gray borders to the right and left of the
image in the Viewer and Canvas. The borders are not part of the image.
 If your graphic is wider than it is tall, there are gray borders at the top and bottom of
the image in the Viewer and Canvas. The borders are not part of the image.
Understanding Digital SD Video Non-Square Pixels
When creating graphics for standard definition video, you need to consider the fact
that the digital video pixels are considered to be non-square (taller than wide—NTSC,
or wider than tall—PAL) compared to your computer graphics program that uses
square pixels. Non-square pixels are also referred to as rectangular pixels.
Note: Some computer graphics programs support non-square pixels, making it simpler
to create graphics for standard definition video formats like NTSC and PAL. For high
definition video formats, you can simply create square pixel graphics, which means
designing graphics with the exact same image dimensions as your HD format.
Reconciling the difference between non-square pixels and square pixels can cause a lot
of confusion for beginning video graphic designers, but the best rules of thumb are to:
 Use a graphics application that supports non-square pixels, such as Adobe
Photoshop. In this case, you create your graphics with the proper dimensions and
pixel aspect ratio throughout the entire postproduction process.
 Keep your destination video frame size in mind and follow the table on page 341
when designing graphics in your graphics application.
Note: There is no accepted standard for the exact aspect ratio of non-square standard
definition video pixels. Different manufacturers may assume different pixel aspect ratios
when designing their software. Fortunately, these differences tend to be very small, so
in many cases you may not notice a difference between a pixel aspect ratio of, say,
0.9 and 0.89.
Gray borders appear on the
sides because this image is
taller than it is wide. These
borders are not part of the
image, but extra space shown
in the Viewer.