User Guide

Academic Courseware: Chapter 1
Joyce Ryan
1
Chapter 1
Jargon 101: The Technical Terms Every Animator
Needs to Know
Before beginning an animation project, you must consider the final
format your work will be displayed in. Are you working for film, video,
or the Web? Will any of the animation frames ever need to be resized for
print? Setting the correct size, shape, and resolution for your project
from the start is critical to its success.
Storyboard panel formatted for television.
TV cut-off and safe titling
If you are creating animation for television or film, you must make sure
that your type is not cropped by the shape of the screen, and that
nothing vital in your image is lost. The rule of thumb for layout
purposes is to crop a 12-field layout, 1.5 inches all around for TV cut-
off, and 2 inches around for title safe.
Typically, if you are working
for film and video, you might work at
720 x 486 pixels (standard NTSC
video). If you are making an animated
comp in QuickTime®, or an AVI to
run on your computer, 320 x 240
usually works well.
Always check to make sure you
are working at the right size before
starting any project. Check the preset
sizes in your editing software, or talk
with your video editor, film editor, Web
developer or service bureau.