Lower thirds
Encyclopedia
In the television
industry (especially in North America
), a lower third is a graphic placed in the title safe lower area of the screen, though not necessarily the entire lower third of it, as the name suggests.
Lower thirds are most commonly found in television news production, although they also appear in documentaries
and even have begun to make appearances in amateur videos thanks to home-video non-linear editing system
s (NLE).
In its simplest form, a lower third can just be text overlying the video. Frequently this text is white with a drop shadow
to make the words easier to read. A lower third can also contain graphical elements such as boxes, images or shading. Some lower thirds have animated backgrounds and text.
Lower thirds can be created using basic home-video editing software or professional-level equipment. This equipment makes use of video's alpha channel to determine what parts of the graphic or text should be transparent, allowing the video in the background to show through.
, a major supplier of broadcast caption/character generator
(CG)s. Other common terms include superbars (or simply supers) (US), name straps and astons (after Aston Broadcast Systems
) (UK).
Video with lower thirds is known as a "program as broadcast" or as "dirty"; video without lower thirds is known as a "clean feed" or as "textless". For international distribution, programs often include "textless elements" on the master tape – these are all the shots to which lower thirds (and other digital on-screen graphic
s) have been applied, placed end-to-end so a clean master can be created if necessary.
s, digital on-screen graphics, time and date, stock quotes and/or sports scores, with specialty channels (such as those for news, business, weather and sports) accruing such elements in order to keep the perpetual interests of viewers.
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
industry (especially in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
), a lower third is a graphic placed in the title safe lower area of the screen, though not necessarily the entire lower third of it, as the name suggests.
Lower thirds are most commonly found in television news production, although they also appear in documentaries
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
and even have begun to make appearances in amateur videos thanks to home-video non-linear editing system
Non-linear editing system
In video, a non-linear editing system is a video editing or audio editing digital audio workstation system which can perform random access non-destructive editing on the source material...
s (NLE).
In its simplest form, a lower third can just be text overlying the video. Frequently this text is white with a drop shadow
Drop shadow
In computer graphics, a drop shadow is a visual effect consisting of drawing that looks like the shadow of an object, giving the impression that the object is raised above the objects behind it. The drop shadow is often used for elements of a graphical user interface such as windows or menus, and...
to make the words easier to read. A lower third can also contain graphical elements such as boxes, images or shading. Some lower thirds have animated backgrounds and text.
Lower thirds can be created using basic home-video editing software or professional-level equipment. This equipment makes use of video's alpha channel to determine what parts of the graphic or text should be transparent, allowing the video in the background to show through.
Terminology
Lower thirds are also often known as captions, or occasionally chyrons in North America, after Chyron CorporationChyron Corporation
The Chyron Corporation is a Melville, N.Y.-based company that develops products and services for digital broadcast graphics creation. The company’s solutions, which include the AXIS Graphics online content creation software and order management system and a range of on-air graphics systems, clip...
, a major supplier of broadcast caption/character generator
Character generator
A character generator, often abbreviated as CG, is a device or software that produces static or animated text for keying into a video stream. Modern character generators are computer-based, and can generate graphics as well as text...
(CG)s. Other common terms include superbars (or simply supers) (US), name straps and astons (after Aston Broadcast Systems
Aston Broadcast Systems
- History :Following 15 years of employment with EMI Electronics, Sales Engineer Dennis Jones started up a company called D. N. Jones Electronics Ltd., selling electronic equipment. An ex-colleague then introduced him to a two-man firm in Aston, Birmingham, UK that manufactured digital Sync Pulse...
) (UK).
Video with lower thirds is known as a "program as broadcast" or as "dirty"; video without lower thirds is known as a "clean feed" or as "textless". For international distribution, programs often include "textless elements" on the master tape – these are all the shots to which lower thirds (and other digital on-screen graphic
Digital on-screen graphic
A digital on-screen graphic is a watermark-like station logo that many television broadcasters overlay over a portion of the screen-area of their programs to identify the channel...
s) have been applied, placed end-to-end so a clean master can be created if necessary.
Tiers
Lower thirds are usually arranged in tiers, or lines:- One-tier lower thirds — Usually used to identify a story that is being shown, or to show a presenter's name.
- Two-tier lower thirds — Used most often to identify a person on screen. Often the person's name will appear on the first line, with his or her place of residence or a description below it. Two-tier lower thirds may also be used as "locators" to identify where a story is taking place.
- Three-tier lower thirds — These lower thirds add more information. Commonly the first tier is used to tell when the video was shot, if it was not shot the day the newscast is airing.
Further elements
In addition to information pertinent to the currently-showing video, the lower thirds has increasingly become saturated with specialized, dedicated graphic elements, such as news tickerNews ticker
A news ticker resides in the lower third of the television screen space on television news networks dedicated to presenting headlines or minor pieces of news. It may also refer to a long, thin scoreboard-style display seen around the front of some offices or public buildings...
s, digital on-screen graphics, time and date, stock quotes and/or sports scores, with specialty channels (such as those for news, business, weather and sports) accruing such elements in order to keep the perpetual interests of viewers.