INTRODUCTION
The Framing and Working Resolution Calculator helps you quickly determine the appropriate framing and working resolutions for your project. The Calculator also allows you to export pixel-accurate Framing Charts and ASC FDL (Framing Decision List) files based on the inputs.
These exports are particularly useful for downstream workflows, as they ensure framing consistency across departments. The framing charts provide clear visual references for Editorial, VFX, and Finishing teams, while the FDL files carry precise, machine-readable metadata describing the active image area, scaling, and crop offsets.
Together, they help maintain accurate framing and composition from on-set through post-production, reducing guesswork and alignment errors between tools and teams.
If you have production-specific questions or need workflow guidance, please contact your Netflix representative for assistance.
USING THE CALCULATOR
As you enter data, the calculator’s results automatically update and indicate whether your intended Camera and Sensor Mode and Framing Decisions meet Netflix’s Minimum Capture Requirements. It also provides other helpful information and scale targets for your downstream workflow.
To use the calculator:
Step 1 - Define Camera Format
Select your Camera and Sensor Mode from the drop-down menu. The resulting value is reflected as your Canvas Dimensions in the calculator results and in ASC FDL metadata. For details on cameras that meet Netflix requirements, see Cameras & Image Capture: Requirements & Best Practices.
Effective Canvas is an optional parameter that lets you define a smaller, usable area within the full source canvas. It’s mainly used for edge cases where parts of the image shouldn’t be treated as valid picture data — for example:
• When the source container includes null or blank pixels (as in some legacy ProRes formats).
• When there’s a vignette or sensor coverage issue that limits the usable image area.
Next, choose your Lens Squeeze Factor from the drop-down menu. For Spherical lenses, select 1x. For Anamorphic lenses, choose a squeeze factor from the list or define a custom value manually.
When an Anamorphic lens squeeze value is selected (greater than 1.0x), an additional Enable De-Squeezed Preview option becomes available. Enabling this feature changes the preview window to reflect the pixel-accurate chart “flattened” back to a value of 1.0.
Step 2 - Add Framing Decisions
First, select your Aspect Ratio. The tool provides common preset options, but custom values can also be entered based on your project's needs.
The selected Aspect Ratio should match that of the active image area of your final deliverable. See “Aspect Ratios - An Overview” for more information on the creative and technical considerations of aspect ratio choice.
Optionally, define a Protection if needed for your project. Protection defines a safety area outside the active image for repositioning, tracking, or other effects and is entered as a percentage.
The calculator prioritizes rounding Framing Decision dimensions to the nearest even pixel, which may result in the Protection value being adjusted to the nearest value that preserves that result.
A Custom Framing Decision override option is available for users who require fine-tuning of the calculator parameters.
Next, choose your Alignment: center, top, or bottom. This defines where the chart generator will position your framing decision inside your canvas. Center is the default value (and most common).
Finally, enter, Show Title and Director of Photography information to be included on exported charts.
Step 3 - Exporting Your Charts
The calculator provides multiple options to export the results to use in your workflow.
Chart Images: PNG, TIFF
Metadata: FDL
Chart Image exports are pixel-accurate to the calculated values in the tool. If you have selected an Anamorphic Lens Squeeze Factor in Step 1 (a value greater than 1.0), you will be presented with an option to download the PNG/TIFF as either Anamorphic (squeezed) or Spherical (de-squeezed).
Metadata exports are in the .fdl format, which is an ASC FDL v2.0 compliant JSON file. These can be imported to Content Hub’s Camera Format Cards and used to inform other tools across your workflow that need to preserve framing.
UNDERSTANDING THE RESULTS
The calculator updates results in real-time on the right-hand side of the interface based on your inputs. These results are shown in two sections, Framing Resolution and Working Resolution:
Framing Resolution
Canvas Dimensions
Height and Width, in pixels, of the selected Camera and Sensor Mode Canvas
Canvas Aspect Ratio (squeezed)
The native aspect ratio (Height/Width) of the selected Camera and Sensor Mode Canvas
Canvas Aspect Ratio (desqueezed)
The de-squeezed aspect ratio (Height/Width) of the selected Camera and Sensor Mode Canvas
Framing Decision
Height and Width, in pixels, of the Framing Decision inside the selected Canvas
Anchor Point
Anchor coordinates, in pixels, of the Framing Decision from the top-left corner (0,0) of the selected Canvas
Resizing beyond this is no longer Netflix compliant
The percentage that the calculated results can be scaled before the Framing Decision is no longer equal to or greater than Netflix’s Capture resolution requirements.
Working Resolution
NOTE: The results in this section are informative only and will not be reflected in your exported charts.
Minimum Netflix Compliant IMF Extraction
Height and Width, in pixels, of the Framing Decision when scaled to fit into Netflix’s primary UHD (3840x2160) IMF deliverable.
Dailies Active Image Resolution
Height and Width, in pixels, of the Framing Decision when scaled to fit into an HD (1920x1080) container commonly used for dailies.
Working Resolution (Proposed)
Height and Width, in pixels, of the selected Camera and Sensor Mode Canvas when scaled with the following parameters:
- Scale the Framing Decision to fit UHD (3840x2160) height or width
- Preserve all pixels from the Canvas
Working Resolution (Minimum)
Height and Width, in pixels, of the selected Camera and Sensor Mode Canvas when scaled with the following parameters:
- Scale the Framing Decision to fit UHD (3840x2160) height or width
- Preserve only the Framing Decision from the Canvas
What is a "Working Resolution"?
Even in single-camera productions, multiple resolutions and aspect ratios are often used throughout the production process. The resolution of the Camera and Sensor Mode used in capturing your Original Camera Files (OCF) may be different than the active area inside that image used for on-set framing (the Framing Decision). Additionally, some projects may require extra protection area for stabilization, image repositioning, or tracking. Your project's final delivery resolution can also differ from the original recorded camera files.
Establishing a project’s Working Resolution may help clarify and streamline scaling needs by unifying various capture formats and resolutions into a single standard, minimizing scaling operations during Post Production, VFX, and delivery to Netflix. The calculator includes a proposed Working Resolution in its results to help simplify this process.
To define a Working Resolution:
- Identify the Camera and Sensor Mode and Framing Decision for the primary (aka hero, or most used) camera on your project
- Use the calculator to determine the Working Resolution (Proposed)
- Leverage the resulting dimensions as your “common” target container when scaling various camera formats from your project for VFX and Post Production interchange.
Note: Using ASC FDL in Content Hub’s Camera Format Cards can help automate a Working Resolution workflow for your Production. Contact your Netflix Representative for more information.
Example Scenario
For this example, imagine a single-camera project shooting on the ARRI Alexa LF in Open Gate sensor mode, targeting a 2.00:1 output aspect ratio. The Director of Photography (DOP) has included a 5% protection area for post-processing, and Netflix requires a final IMF deliverable in UHD resolution 3840x2160.
The project also uses two secondary cameras:
- Sony Venice: Capturing at 6054x3192 OCF resolution, framed for a 2.00:1 aspect ratio with a 5% protection area, just like the primary camera.
- RED Komodo: Capturing at 6144x3240 OCF resolution, also framed for a 2.00:1 aspect ratio. Since this camera is drone-mounted, the DOP is using the full sensor width without an additional 5% safety area.
While our OCF has different resolutions for the Framing Decision’s active image area, all three will map into the same active image area in the final Deliverable:
Just like our previous example, we can use the Alexa LF as our primary camera and establish a working resolution:
Because the Alexa was chosen as the primary camera, when we scale the secondary cameras into the working resolution, they will have black bars top and bottom (Venice) or even on all sides (RED).
But a center crop at our delivery active image resolution still results in the intended active image. The active image area and safety areas will still be retained, and all of the different resolutions are unified into a single scaling operation between OCF and final delivery.
The same process would apply if Venice were chosen as the primary camera; however, instead of retaining black bars, the Alexa LF footage would lose image data when scaled and cropped from its source resolution to the working resolution set by the Venice’s calculated working resolution: