Custom Framelines

[MatzeBoerner]

Hello,
I have some special frameline requests from a DoP.
Is it possible to select different colours for Format A,B,C..?
I can see in the XML there's a colour value for every line.
So far I found out possible values are 'user', 'black' and 'white.
Are other colour values possible?
And is it safe to edit these values by hand with a text editor?
I just remember the very early days of Alexa - and there was a bug in the generator
causing the camera to freeze at boot after a broken frameline was added.

kind regards,
Matze

[Jan Heugel]

Dear Matze,

it is still the same system: y ou configure individual framelines A, B and C but parent to these is the color setting.

color-dropdown in ALEXA LF:

ALEXA_LF_framelinecolor.png

*also editing the code does not present a more colorful option or renders the frameline useless

Best,
Jan

[MatzeBoerner]

Hello Jan,
thanks for the fast reply.
I'm aware of the in-camera possibilities.
But I'm still not sure I got the concept of the xml.

So editing or adding these values in the xml won't work?
My understanding is values in the xml override camera setting like colour.
For example the outside shading has a <color>black</color> and <opacity>0.5</opacity> value.
And of course it won't change when I use a different colour in camera.

There is another frameline generator online I found by accident.
https://frameline.tools/
I'm not sure who is behind it. The Source code says Andreas Weeber.
In this generator you can choose for Frameline A and B different colours - or at least : 'user', 'black' and 'white'
So it looks like it is possible.

here is part of the frameline xml I want to edit. I've replaced 'user' with 'black' and added opacity.
Format A stays on 'user' and will have the colour and opacity I choose in camera.
Is this editing possible?
Btw. we are shooting on a Mini.
...
<!-- Frameline formatB-->
<framelineName framelineRect="formatB">AspectRatio:1.85:1_Scaling:95</framelineName>
<!--Hash markers-->
<!-- Left top -->
<line framelineRect="formatB">
<left>0.025</left>
<right>0.9275</right>
<top>0.043333333333333335</top>
<width>2</width>
<color>black</color>
<opacity>0.5</opacity>
</line>
....

[Jan Heugel]

Dear Matze,

after a lot of framelines and thumb-drive interting... colored framelines seem to be "loosely supported" in ALEXA Mini:
You can work with "black" and "white" tags, but the do behave inconsistent, so only Frameline A can be white. If

Code: Select all

<color>white</color>

appears in B or C those are painted black. If you for example color one "blue", the camera rejects the frame line.

Therefore the possible colors are:

Frameline A
white
black
user

Frameline B
white = black
black
user

Frameline C
white = black
black
user


Andreas is an ARRI employee at camera manufacturing coding the alternative frameline tool in his spare time

Cheers,
Jan

[MatzeBoerner]

Dear Jan,
thank you for testing this!
That is good to know!