How do I format screen graphics or animations for a video edit?
Stills (photos or graphics) that are being prepared for an edit need to be prepared as RGB Tiff (*.tif) or Targa (*.tga) files sized to 720×540 pixels at 72 DPI. Animations need to be rendered at 720×486 with a .9 pixel aspect ratio. Although a video picture is actually 720×486, its pixels aren’t square; they’re shorter than they are wide. In other words, if a circle is grabbed from videotape and displayed on a computer screen, it will appear to be an oblong, slightly wider than it is tall. Similarly, if a circle is made on a computer screen at 720×486 and output to video, it will also appear slightly oblong, slightly wider than it is tall. To compensate for this, if an image is made at 720×540, and then squished to 720×486 just before output, the aspect ratio and size will be correct for output on a standard 4×3 TV screen.
