# CineFrameline Help

CineFrameline creates frame-line overlays and frame-leader reference charts for supported Sony, ARRI, and RED cinema cameras plus Apple iPhones using Blackmagic Camera for iOS.

## Quick start

1. Choose a manufacturer and camera. Then choose the dependent software/sensor variant or camera/lens, recording mode, codec, raster, and lens squeeze shown for that profile.
2. Configure Frame Lines A, B, and C. Enable only the lines you need.
3. Choose **Frame Lines**, **Frame Leader**, or **Compare** above the preview.
4. Export an image or save the project from **Download & Share**.

The button at the top right of the preview opens it in its own window. Use that window's green zoom button or its full-screen toggle to fill the display — useful for reviewing frame lines, the frame leader, or the comparison chart with the crew. Press **Esc** to close the window (in full screen, the first Esc exits full screen and the next closes).

## Frame lines

- **Aspect Ratio** and **Scaling** calculate the frame size automatically.
- The Aspect Ratio menu's **Custom…** entry accepts your own width : height terms — e.g. 5 : 7 for a vertical photo box, 7 : 5 for horizontal. The leader's aspect label reads back exactly what you typed.
- **Aspect Lock** preserves the selected ratio during manual size edits.
- **Offset Left / Top** moves a line from its centered position.
- **Align Center to** makes one line follow the center of another.
- **Style** includes full boxes, edge lines, corners, corner ticks, and width/height ticks.
- **Shading** darkens the area outside an enabled line.
- **Center Mark** includes small/large crosshairs, center dot, and thirds.
- **Guide Color** offers automatic contrast, white, black, red, green, and blue.
- **Guide Opacity** offers 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%.
- Apple profiles add a **Safe Area Preset** menu from 5% through 100%. This uses the same geometry as the editable Scaling field.

## Frame leader

The Frame Leader adds titles, camera information, sensor information, center marks, an optional sized circle, Siemens stars, format arrows, aspect labels, and an optional logo. Circle diameter has its own larger range up to 800 points and defaults to 240 points.

Format arrows and aspect ratio labels are **color-coded to their frame line**: each set inherits its line's Guide Color (and opacity), so a multi-line chart reads at a glance — automatic keeps today's white-on-dark ink. Siemens stars fit into the Sensor Area or a frame line as before, and a **Custom Offset** target adds user-defined placement: the four stars sit symmetrically at an X/Y photosite offset from each sensor corner, so they can be parked clear of the frame lines. Dragging any star in the preview places all four symmetrically and switches the fit to Custom Offset automatically.

**Sensor Image Area** draws the dimensions label plus a thin solid border marking the active image area, inset just inside the frame edge. The **Border** checkbox in the same row removes the border while keeping the label; both are on by default, and nothing draws while the main toggle is off.

- Drag visible text, logos, camera information, sensor information, or A/B/C aspect labels directly in the leader preview.
- Format arrows can point to each selected frame line at its side midpoints or four corners.
- Elements snap to centers, thirds, and frame-line edges. Hold **Command** while dragging to bypass snapping.
- Select an element and use the arrow keys to nudge it. Hold **Shift** for larger steps.
- Right-click a text element to change its alignment or reset the leader layout.

## Anamorphic preview

Choose a supported **Lens Squeeze**. With **Anamorphic Desqueeze** off, leader text, Siemens stars, the circle, marks, arrows, and logos appear horizontally squeezed as they will in the raw sensor image. Turn desqueeze on to inspect the projected image: text returns to natural width and the circle/stars become round. Exports use the checkbox state and the same render path as the preview.

## Sensor Info

The Sensor Info panel under the preview reads out the selected configuration: active image area (pixels and physical size), photosite count and pitch, image circle, the recording file's image content, and the **Maximum Capture Rate** — the manufacturer-published maximum sensor frame rate for the exact camera, sensor mode, recording format, and codec selected. The same raster can carry different maxima (ALEXA LF 4.5K Open Gate: ProRes 60 fps, ARRIRAW 90 fps; URSA Mini Pro 12K 4096 x 2160: 120 fps full sensor, 240 fps Super 16 window), so the value follows every picker. A second line notes a required license, recording media, or shooting mode where the manufacturer qualifies the figure. Sony imager-scan maxima apply to the X-OCN capture path, so other codec selections read **Not published** — as does any combination whose maximum the manufacturer has not published. A Custom canvas reads **Not specified**, and legacy combined Phantom entries read **Varies by model**. Phantom figures are maximum RAM capture rates, never continuous-recording rates, and announced-but-unshipped firmware rates are never listed.

The readouts flow into two balanced columns, and the size picker in the panel's header switches the text between **Small** (the classic compact readout), **Medium**, and **Large** — Large matches the control text in the settings panels.

## Format comparison

The **Compare** preview tab draws sensor active areas to true physical scale, like the classic sensor-size charts. The current camera is the amber baseline and carries its enabled frame lines; up to five reference formats from the **Format Comparison** section are overlaid in distinct colors. The legend lists physical dimensions, photosites, photosite pitch where geometry is published, and the diagonal crop factor against the baseline.

- **Scale Units** switches the edge rulers between millimetres, centimetres, and inches, with a separate ruler text size.
- The dashed-circle button on the baseline row or any reference row overlays that format's **image circle** with its diameter labeled beside it.
- Zoom the chart up to 8x with the magnifier buttons or a trackpad pinch; scroll to pan and click **Fit** to reset. The chart re-renders sharper while zoomed.
- **Legend → Pin to preview corner** keeps the legend fixed in the preview's lower-left corner while you zoom and pan, instead of zooming away with the chart. Preview-only: **Export Chart** always writes the combined chart with the legend below it.
- The size picker beside the pin toggle sets the legend's text size (Small is the classic size). It applies everywhere the legend appears — the chart, the pinned overlay, and Export Chart — and rows too long for the chart width shrink to fit rather than clip.
- **Export Chart** writes the chart as PNG, JPEG, or TIFF at 3200 px wide.
- Only formats with published physical sensor geometry participate — the same data-honesty rule as ASC FDL. Once you enter the custom canvas's physical size, **User Defined** joins both as the baseline and as a selectable reference format (useful for holding an LED wall or custom target against any camera).

### Film standards in Compare

The Compare tab also carries standards-based motion-picture film formats:
Regular 8, Super 8, Standard 16 (1R/2R), Super 16, 35mm Academy and
Anamorphic 4-perf, Super 35 (4/3/2-perf), 65mm 5-perf, IMAX 15-perf, the
70mm 5-perf print aperture, and VistaVision. All scaling uses the physical
camera-aperture millimetres from the cited SMPTE/ISO/ARRI/BKSTS sources;
native gate ratio and intended presentation ratios are shown separately,
and the anamorphic gate is never stretched in physical comparison. The
**Sources** filter switches the pickers between Digital, Film, or both;
the reference filter beside it keeps telecine, projection, and
manufacturer variants (Super 8 projector gate, Super 16 TK proposal,
Max 8, ARRI ANSI source variants) hidden until you ask for them — a
projection or telecine reference is always labeled and never presented as
a camera gate. Film rows can draw illustrative stock and perforations
(spacing from the published perforation pitch) and optional dashed
extraction overlays for the intended presentation ratios; neither ever
changes the measured aperture. The magnifier button opens documented
source variants — for example Kodak's IMAX overview-chart height, which
exceeds the validated span between the perforation rows and is recorded
as an erratum rather than selectable geometry.

## Export and sharing

- **Export Image** supports PNG, JPEG, TIFF, and SVG. With PNG selected, enable
  **Transparent background** to export the framing artwork over alpha instead
  of the selected preview test image.
- **SVG** is a true vector export of the same scene: frame lines at exact
  sensor geometry, leader text converted to outlines (no font required on the
  receiving system), and named layers for Illustrator or Resolve. The document
  carries the active sensor area's real millimetre size, so graphics apps
  import at physical scale — web browsers show the file small until zoomed.
  Its **Transparent background** option is on by default; disable it to
  include the selected test background. The sensor Compare chart always
  exports as a raster image.
- **Save Project (JSON)** preserves the complete editable setup.
- **Open Project** restores a saved JSON project.
- **Copy Setup URL** creates a share link containing the complete project
  state, minus machine-local file paths: the custom leader logo and the
  ColorBox reference backdrop stay out of the link, since those files do not
  exist on the recipient's machine. Saved JSON projects keep both.

### ColorBox Overlay

**Export Overlay PNG** writes a transparent PNG of the frame lines (boxes and
center marks only), scaled to fit and centered in the chosen container raster
(HD, 2K, UHD, or 4K DCI), for loading as an overlay into AJA ColorBox or
similar LUT boxes. **Overlay Scale %** shrinks the frame lines from the
fit-to-container size (100%) so they clear camera OSD text at the monitor
edges. **Offset X / Y** nudge the artwork in container pixels — positive X
moves right, positive Y moves down — when the overlay is not centered on the
monitor. Artwork pushed past the container edge is clipped. Expand
**Composite Preview** to watch the overlay placed in the container raster as
you adjust; still confirm final placement on the LUT-box monitor, or click
**Reset** to return to fit-and-center.

**Load Reference** (or drag an image onto the preview) shows a monitor frame
grab — for example one exported from Pomfort Livegrade — behind the frame
lines, so the overlay can be test-fitted against real camera OSD text before
exporting. Grab at the monitor's native raster: the image is stretched to
fill the container. The file is remembered by path and reloads on relaunch;
if it has moved, the preview silently falls back to the plain backdrop. The
reference is preview-only — the exported PNG stays transparent frame lines.

The pop-out button next to the Composite Preview disclosure opens the
preview in its own resizable window — the composite renders sharper there,
zoom (buttons or pinch, up to 8×) magnifies for pixel-level placement, and
the scale, offset, boost, and reference controls come along so everything
can be dialed in at size. Press **Esc** to close the window (in full
screen, the first Esc exits full screen and the next closes; commit a
value you are typing with Return first — Esc closes rather than
cancelling the edit). **Line Boost** thickens the preview's frame lines
(2× / 3×) and **High-Vis Color** draws them in bright yellow at full
opacity — both are viewing aids for the preview only and never change the
exported overlay's real line width or colors.

### ASC Framing Decision List

The **ASC Framing Decision List** section creates an ASC FDL v2.0 `.fdl`
production sidecar for every enabled A/B/C line. Choose the default intent,
optional per-line protection, context, clip name, and media filename. The app
includes ASC's official reference core and validates the document before saving.

ASC FDL carries framing geometry and media context, not line styling or Frame
Leader artwork, and it is separate from Sony's camera-import XML. If the selected
recording raster requires a crop or pad that is not documented in the camera
profile, or physical sensor geometry is not published (the Apple profiles),
export stops with an accuracy warning rather than guessing.

### Third-party acknowledgements

ASC Framing Decision List reference core v1.0.2 — Copyright 2024-present
American Society of Cinematographers. Licensed under the Apache License 2.0.
The complete license and upstream NOTICE are bundled with CineFrameline.

## Camera frame-line files

For VENICE 2 8K and 6K, choose **Sony XML Line A/B/C**, then click **Download Frame Line File**. Sony's camera format stores one box per XML file. Copy it to `PRIVATE/SONY/PRO/CAMERA/MPC3628` (8K) or `MPC3626` (6K) on an SD card formatted by the camera. The XML is verified byte-for-byte against files generated by Sony Frame Line Tool 1.10, and for aspect-ratio presets the preview's pixel box matches the file exactly (Sony treats 2.39:1 as its 2.387 scope constant and rounds to even sensor pixels). Sony recommends VENICE 2 firmware 4.0 or later.

Sony's public generator does not currently expose VENICE 1 or BURANO, so their file action remains disabled rather than producing an assumed file. FX9, FX6, and FX3/FX3A use on-camera markers and cannot import this file. Use a frame-leader chart or reference image for those bodies.

ARRI ALEXA Mini, Mini LF, LF, 35, 35 Xtreme, 65, and 265 profiles use geometry from ARRI Frame Line & Lens Illumination Tool 5.3.6. For an ARRI camera, **Download ARRI XML** writes the same file that tool produces, verified against its output: ALEXA 35, 35 Xtreme, and 265 receive the `framelines` 2.2 schema, while ALEXA Mini, Mini LF, LF, and 65 receive the legacy schema those cameras expect, including their camera-identity block. The identity values are ARRI's own per-format constants, so legacy bodies offer the download only for sensor modes verified against the ARRI tool — other modes explain this instead of writing a file the camera could reject. One ARRI XML includes each enabled A/B/C line whose **Show Frame Line** option is on, and the preview's pixel box matches the XML exactly for spherical lenses. Background, shading, and Frame Leader artwork are image-export features and are not stored in that XML. No lens-selection or lens-illumination features are included.

RED V-RAPTOR XL, V-RAPTOR, V-RAPTOR XE, KOMODO-X, KOMODO, MONSTRO, and HELIUM profiles use the official RED Crop Factor Tool dataset revision `tools-20250813.json`. V-RAPTOR XL and V-RAPTOR show a **Sensor Variant** picker; RED profiles also show a **Resolution Tier** picker before the valid **Acquisition Format** choices. Each choice uses its exact captured pixels as the framing canvas. The Sensor Info panel shows whether the acquisition is a full-sensor or windowed readout. RED profiles support image export, Frame Leader, ASC FDL, project JSON, and share URLs; no unverified camera-import frame-line file is produced.

Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF (including the 12K/100G media tier and the Mount B4 crop mode), URSA Cine 17K 65, PYXIS 12K, PYXIS 6K, and URSA Mini Pro 12K (with and without OLPF) profiles come from Blackmagic's camera manuals and published tech specs. These sensors scale in-sensor: the 4K/8K tiers of an aspect read the same active area as the full-resolution tier, so the Sensor Info panel reports **In-sensor scaled** rather than a crop, and framing coverage is identical across tiers of one aspect. Where Blackmagic publishes only full-sensor millimetres, per-mode dimensions are derived from the photosite pitch. Blackmagic bodies use on-camera frame guides and take no import file; use image export, the Frame Leader, ASC FDL, project JSON, or share URLs.

The FUJIFILM GFX ETERNA 55 profile follows Fujifilm's own White Paper recording-formats table, which publishes the sensor image area in millimetres and the maximum capture rate for every recording resolution. Pick the IMAGE FORMAT (GF, Premista, 35mm, Anamorphic (35mm), or Super35) as the sensor variant, then the recording mode; the 8K and Super 35 6.3K modes are dot-by-dot sensor windows, everything else is an in-sensor scaled read of the stated area. The anamorphic scans offer both the native squeezed raster and the in-camera 2x desqueezed 8K container, with magnifications 1.3x/1.33x/1.5x/1.8x/2x. Internal codecs are ProRes 422 HQ/422/LT and HEVC; external ATOMOS RAW / Blackmagic RAW output is not modeled, and the body takes no frame-line import file — use image export, the Frame Leader, ASC FDL, project JSON, or share URLs.

GoPro MISSION 1 Series and HERO13 Black profiles carry GoPro's published video modes and frame rates (HERO13 rasters verbatim from GoPro's video-settings support table; a few MISSION 1 rasters are seeded from GoPro's published HERO-series conventions pending an official dimensions table, and say so in their notes). GoPro publishes no physical sensor millimetres, so — like the iPhone profiles — Sensor Info shows the framing canvas, and photosite pitch, the Compare chart, and ASC FDL stay unavailable. Recording is H.265; vertical 9:16 modes present upright. The MISSION 1 Series is one entry with the capability tier as its variant picker: MISSION 1, or MISSION 1 PRO / PRO ILS (one shared set — 8K60, 8K Open Gate 4:3, 4K240, 1080p480 — since the ILS differs only in its Micro Four Thirds lens mount). These bodies take no frame-line import file — use image export, the Frame Leader, project JSON, or share URLs.

Vision Research Phantom cameras are listed per body — Flex4K, VEO4K 990, VEO4K 590, Flex 2.5K, and VEO 640 — because the bodies sharing a sensor have different maximum capture rates. Projects saved on the former combined entries ("Phantom Flex4K / VEO 4K", "Phantom Flex 2.5K / VEO 640") still open on those entries, whose capture rate reads **Varies by model**; pick the specific body to see its figure.

## Apple iPhone and Blackmagic Camera for iOS

Choose **Apple** under Manufacturer, then select one of these independent device profiles:

- Apple iPhone 17 Pro or iPhone 17 Pro Max
- Apple iPhone 16 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro Max
- Apple iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max

The **Capture Profile** row identifies **Blackmagic Camera for iOS**. The **Camera / Lens** menu then shows only the cameras documented for the selected device. Pro and Pro Max remain separate profiles; notably, iPhone 15 Pro uses the 77mm telephoto while iPhone 15 Pro Max uses the 120mm telephoto. The iPhone 15 Pro also includes Blackmagic's documented 48mm 2x sensor-crop preset, labeled as a crop rather than a separate physical camera.

### Recording modes and orientation

- Rear-camera profiles offer 4K UHD landscape (3840 x 2160), 1080p landscape (1920 x 1080), and 720p landscape (1280 x 720).
- Front-camera profiles offer 4K UHD and 1080p landscape. A front-camera 720p option is not shown because Apple does not document it for these devices.
- The main rear-camera profiles include **Open Gate · Apple Log/Log 2**, stored at 1920 x 1440. Blackmagic Camera 3.1.2 or later is required.
- The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max front Center Stage profiles include **4K UHD · Portrait**, stored upright at 2160 x 3840. Blackmagic Camera 3.3 or later is required.
- The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max main rear camera adds **4K UHD · Portrait** (upright 2160 x 3840) and **Open Gate External · ProRes RAW · Portrait** (upright 3024 x 4224, external USB-C storage). These rear portrait rasters are absent from Blackmagic's public documentation and were device-verified on iPhone 17 Pro Max hardware (2026-08-08); the Pro shares the identical camera system.

The preview always uses the displayed **Stored Raster** as its framing canvas. Portrait modes therefore render upright and export upright. Anamorphic monitoring changes presentation width only; it never rewrites the stored raster.

### Blackmagic frame guides

The normal Aspect Ratio menu includes Blackmagic's guide collection: 9:16, 4:5, 1:1, 4:3, 14:9, 1.85, 2.00, 2.35, 2.39, 2.40, and 2.76. Use **Safe Area Preset** for 5% through 100%, **Thirds** under Center Mark, and the shared color/opacity controls for Blackmagic-style monitoring guides.

Apple monitoring squeeze options are 1.00x, 1.33x, and 1.55x. Select 1.00x for no desqueeze. For 1.33x or 1.55x, toggle **Anamorphic Desqueeze** above the preview to compare the recorded squeezed image with the projected monitoring view.

### Apple export limitations

Apple profiles support PNG/JPEG/TIFF images, transparent PNG overlays, Frame Leader charts, project JSON, and share URLs. They do not offer Sony or ARRI camera-import XML files.

Apple and Blackmagic do not publish physical sensor millimetres, photosite pitch, or a complete device × lens × codec × frame-rate matrix. CineFrameline therefore:

- labels the active raster as **Framing Canvas** instead of claiming sensor photosites;
- displays physical sensor geometry as unavailable;
- shows an inline physical-device verification note; and
- disables ASC FDL for Apple rather than writing fabricated physical dimensions.

The public documentation also does not confirm every open-gate lens or portrait rotation combination. Those choices remain limited to the source-backed profiles above pending inspection of clips recorded on each physical device with Blackmagic Camera 3.3.1.

## Troubleshooting

- If a camera change resets a resolution, codec, or squeeze, the previous selection is not supported by the new camera/mode.
- If an Apple option is absent, it is not confirmed for that device/lens in the public Blackmagic and Apple documentation. CineFrameline does not generate unverified cross-combinations.
- If ASC FDL is unavailable for an Apple profile, use project JSON, a share URL, or an exported frame chart; FDL requires physical sensor geometry that Apple and Blackmagic do not publish.
- If an aspect label is not visible, enable its frame line and its A/B/C label toggle in the Frame Leader section.
- Use **Reset** in a section to restore that section's defaults.
