Lets you toggle the status of the video safe frame for the current viewport and adjust its parameters.
When Safe Frames are displayed in the viewport and a bitmap image is assigned as a viewport background using either the Match Viewport or Match Rendering Output options, the image is confined to the Live area of the safe frames and will match the rendered background, assuming that the same bitmap is assigned to the Environment background using Environment/Screen coordinates.
The Safe Frames settings are saved with the .max file. If you load an old .max file, the current safe frame settings are retained.
The Safe Frames dialog contains settings for the following frame types:
Live Area: (yellow) The area that will actually be rendered, regardless of the size or aspect ratio of the viewport.
Action Safe: (green) The area in which it’s safe to include your rendered action. The Lock check box lets you lock the aspect ratio of the Action frame. When Lock is selected, use the Both spinner to set the percentage of the live area that’s trimmed within the safe frame. When Lock is clear, you can use the Horizontal and Vertical spinners to set these parameters independently. (Default=10 %)
Title Safe: (cyan) The area in which it’s safe to include titles or other information. When used correctly, this is smaller than the Action frame. The Lock check box lets you lock the aspect ratio of the Title frame. When Lock is selected, use the Both spinner to set the percentage size of the title frame relative to the action area.
When Lock is clear, you can use the Horizontal and Vertical spinners to set these parameters independently. (Default=20 % of Live Area.)
User Safe: Displays an addition safe frame that you can use for any custom necessity. The Lock check box lets you lock the aspect ratio of the User frame. When Lock is selected, use the Both spinner to set the percentage size of the user frame relative to the action area. When Lock is clear, you can use the Horizontal and Vertical spinners to set these parameters independently. (Default=20 % of Live Area.)
12-Field Grid: Displays a grid of cells (or fields) in the viewport. In this case, "fields" are cells in the grid, and not scanline fields.
The “12-field grid” is a method used by video directors to refer to specific areas of the screen. A director might ask you to move an object two fields to the left and four fields down. The 12-field grid is a reference for this type of placement.
4 x 3/12 x 9: Lets you choose between two matrices of either 12 or 108 cells.
Show Safe Frames in Active View: Toggles the frame displays on or off for the current viewport. This option is duplicated by the Show Safe Frame item in the right-click viewport menu.
Default keyboard shortcut: SHIFT+F
The check boxes for the three kinds of safe frame let you individually choose which to display.