Have you noticed two concentric rectangles in the video edit window? Have you ever wondered what they are? Well, they are called Title safe and Action Safe. This concept comes from the time of CRT TVs where depending on the manufacturer and design of the television, information on the edges of the screen would be lost.
In order to prevent important information like Names, Cricket scores, channel logos etc going out of bounds of the TV, the execs designed a safe space on the screen inside which if a title is placed, it would be completely visible on every TV. This is the inner rectangle called the Title Safe. Similarly, the outer rectangle is called Action Safe inside which any character or edit action placed would be completely visible on all TV sets.
Now you might be thinking, but today’s screens are all flat and no information is lost. Why would one bother about Title Safe or Action Safe? Even now, the number of gadgets and ways to watch a video has only multiplied. Every mobile phone has its own aspect ratio, every TV brand has its own settings and video apps have not been optimized on all of them leading to some devices cropping the videos.
Not only that, because we are used to seeing the title at a particular level, it’s also aesthetically pleasing and balances your screen. If you put too many elements in the corner, your titles etc can be too ugly and distracting. So, that’s it, that’s what TV execs from the golden era of TV advised when asked where to place the Title.
