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when I do certain effects in 4:3 projects and the finalized project is played back on a dvd on a widescreen TV and some 4:3 monitors I see that the effect does not extend all the way to the borders of the TV so u see the brighter orig. video matted behind the edited video? Is there a work around for this? Also is there a fix for the ugly fuzzy borders around titles? I am using SM8.1 and I dont want to keep spending more $ for the next ver OS like SM9 if simple issues like this aren't fixed. I have seen inexpensive editing software for PCS and macs that dont have these issues @ all.

Yes, this "ISSUE" can be fixed with a setting that has always been in your software, and can be changed to solve your problem of some of the scene beneath showing after and effect has been added in the editing process.

There is a "Image" button on Bogart and OS 9, under project settings, which gives you the choice of small ,normal, large and full. On earlier OS systems it is called "SIZE" This relates to the size of the effect as it is added over the top of the video image that the "effect" affects. Therefore if you set it to "Full" on newer software and "Large" on earlier versions, the effect will cover all of the video that it is over. On the other hand if you have this setting on "normal" or "Small", the effect is quite a bit smaller that the scene beneath it and there will be a little of it showing around the edges.

This control gives us a way to make certain that the effect will cover the video scene under it and therefore hides the area that could be seen if the setting was set to a smaller size. This set up has been in the Casablanca software all the time, it's just not very well known and most folks are not familiar with it's use and purpose. It affects the size of the effect only.......and has no effect on the size of the original scene underneath it.

When you find that the edges of titles are not smooth enough, there are a couple of ways to solve this as well. First on later Operating Systems, MS has added a "Smooth" button which softens the edges of the titles so they aren't as rough and jaggy. Under "Style" in the tltler software.....clck on the button that is just below the small window on the right side of the screen below "Italic" it is labeled "Smooth".

A second way to help this situation is to use a black background for your title page and add a thin Black Outline to the letters. I use just a number two width for this. It doesn't have to be very thick to work. This seems to give the letters a cleaner appearance.

I hope this helps.

Another "trick" with the Titles, as you're on Smart Edit v8, is to import some of your own fonts - I find that the results look a lot better especially with the Smooth tool that Jim mentioned above.

Font Import Tool – Now it is possible to import a common True Type (scalable) font into the Casablanca and use that font the same way as the original Casablanca fonts. Fonts can be brought in on a USB stick or CD/DVD. Truetype fonts only (.ttf files).