Frame Lines

[Stelios Contos]

When I have a monitor, weather on camera or an additional one, and they do not support on-board frame lines or uploading them to the camera, how would I go about in masking a monitor with tape for framing for my desired finished project ?

What formula would that be say to get 2.39|1, 1.85|1 or any other ?

[Steven Buckwalter]

Use a calculator and a tape measure. Those formulas are a ratio, where 1 is the vertical height, so if you're trying to find the exact crop for 2.39, measure the width of your panel and divide it by 2.39. For example, and I'm going to do this in metric to make the math easier, even though everyone measures their panels in inches. If your panel is 10cm wide, then the vertical height of the image should be 10/2.39=4.2cm. Divide that in two again to give you the size of the bars at the top and bottom of your screen, so each bar should be 4.2/2=2.1cm. Measure in that distance from the top and bottom and make that your tape line.

Alternate way is to use a framing chart. Print out a framing chart that shows your desired frame line, then set and frame the camera to match that, and just align the tape on the monitor to the lines on camera. If you're having trouble finding a chart, you can use Arri's frame line tool, https://www.arri.com/en/learn-help/learn-help-camera-system/tools/frame-line-lens-illumination-tool. It's specifically built for Arri cameras, but you should be able to find a camera combination that would match most cameras in terms of resolution.