Working with frame lines

Livegrade’s dedicated Frame Lines filter allows you to display precise framing guides directly on your live or playback video signals. These guides help your team to make confident framing decisions that align with the production’s official framing specifications.

This article explains how to configure frame lines manually, or import industry-standard frame line definitions from ARRI FLLIT XML or ASC FDL files, and correctly align them on your SDI image.

Create frame lines within Livegrade

Depending on your production’s workflow, you can either import frame-line definitions created by your camera team or post-production supervisor, or you can define the frame lines yourself directly within Livegrade.

The Frame Lines filter allows you to add up to four separate frame lines, each with its own geometry and appearance settings.

Refer to the article Frame Lines filter for detailed documentation of all parameters.

As with any other filter, you can freely decide whether it makes more sense to add frame lines in an input slot or an output. However, keep in mind that frame lines are applied at the specific point in the filter chain where the filter is placed. Any transformations or cropping performed earlier in the chain will also affect the displayed frame lines.

Tip: You can drag and drop a filter to change its position within the chain.

The filter is designed in accordance with the American Society of Cinematographers’ open standard ASC FDL, which provides a consistent method to document and communicate framing decisions throughout all production phases. In line with this standard, the filter guides you to configure the four key frame lines recommended by the ASC:

Frame Line 1: Framing decision – the exact image area intended to be seen by the audience.
Frame Line 2: Framing decision protection – a buffer area around the framing decision preserved for slight reframing or stabilisation.
Frame Line 3: Effective canvas – the usable portion of the canvas when parts of the full canvas aren’t useful (e.g., due to lens vignetting).
Frame Line 4: Canvas – the full pixel area or container within which all framing regions are defined.

Frame lines filter with configured frame lines

Frame lines filter with configured frame lines

It’s up to you whether you follow this recommended structure or use your own method that better suits your production’s needs.

You can rename and show/hide the four frame lines as needed and freely configure their geometry and appearance. However, keep in mind the following properties of the Frame Lines filter:

Frame Line 1 is always the innermost frame line, and Frame Line 4 is the outermost.
Frame Line 4 has a special role, as it is intended to define the “Canvas,” which typically corresponds to the encoded area of the camera sensor. Features such as Adjust All Framelines use Frame Line 4 as the reference, scaling Frame Lines 1–3 based on its geometry.

Import frame lines via ASC FDL or ARRI FLLIT XML

The filter supports importing XML files created with the ARRI Frame Line & Lens Illumination Tool (FLLIT) as well as ASC FDL files. This enables you to apply the exact framing definitions provided by your camera department or post-production supervisor.

Keep in mind that these frame-line definitions are created for the original camera image, whereas Livegrade receives an SDI preview signal from the camera. Consequently, you must review and manually adjust the imported frame lines to ensure they are correctly positioned over the intended image area.

Note: ARRI’s Frame Line & Lens Illumination Tool does not define a frame line for the canvas, as the canvas is generated automatically based on the selected recording format. When importing an ARRI FLLIT XML file, Livegrade displays the canvas as the fourth frame line.

Adjust imported frame lines to match the SDI signal

Some SDI signals contain on-screen displays (OSD) or metadata overlays from the camera. These overlays can shift the apparent position of the sensor image, causing imported frame lines to appear misaligned.

To correct this, you must scale and position the imported frame lines so they accurately match the SDI image. Use the Adjust All Frame Lines option for this purpose.When Adjust All Frame Lines is enabled, Frame Lines 1–3 are locked to the geometry of Frame Line 4 (the Canvas). You can then use the scale and position parameters to align all frame lines to the area containing only the encoded sensor pixels, ensuring that the camera’s OSD—visible only on the SDI feed—is not included.

Note: When importing frame lines from ASC FDL or ARRI XML files, Adjust All Frame Lines is enabled by default, since adjusting the scale is typically required to avoid including the camera’s OSD in the framed image.

Working with anamorphic footage

When working with footage shot using anamorphic lenses, it is strongly recommended to configure the camera to output a de-squeezed preview via SDI. Good to know: frame-line definitions imported from ASC FDL or ARRI FLLIT XML files may be created for either de-squeezed or squeezed footage — both formats are supported.

If your camera outputs a squeezed SDI signalIf the camera cannot output a de-squeezed SDI signal, ensure that you first crop out the camera OSD (if necessary) and then apply an anamorphic desqueeze filter before adding the frame lines filter.