Menu Resolution

[Rolzup]

Ok, Hi. I want to know how how big should a make a background image to use for a vcd menu and what program lets me make the most advance menues?

[adam]

The maximum compliant still frame resolution for vcd or svcd is 704x480 for ntsc and 704x576 for pal, so you should use that. I think this resolution is high enough for a still frame so theres probably no need to go outside of the standards.

There are a number of programs which can create high quality pictures to be used as menu backgrounds. I prefer Photoshop. As far as authoring, video pack 4.0, I-Author, and vcdimager can all create complex menus systems. I don't think theres any one feature that one program has that another doesnt except that video pack 4 supports hot spot buttons, something that most people won't use anyways. Vcdimager is the only free program so start there, try using a gui first also.

[vitualis]

VCDImager can do hotspots too, but I agree with adam's sentiments that this is probably a feature you would not be using.

I created an article on the creation of still images for VCDs. In it, I have a few tips on the pre-production stage (i.e., making the source bitmap before encoding).

http://www.geocities.com/medinotes/vcd/mpeg_still_images.html

Regards.

[Rolzup]

ok, i t6hink i got it but it dosen't seem to do anything..it fairly a simple program. It seems useless. Can someone give me a direct link to what I need to download because I belive I have gottoon the wrong thing. thanks a million

[vitualis]

You can download the latest release (0.7.11) from the vcdimager site: http://www.vcdimager.org

It is a command-line program so it's not going to do anything by just double-clicking on it in Windows.

VCDImager is the VCD authoring proggy that can make the most advanced menus compared to any other program. If you've already downloaded it, I would suggest that you are using it incorrectly.

You could try using one of the GUIs that are available (TSCV, VCD Easy).

Regards.

_________________
Michael Tam

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: vitualis on 2001-11-07 19:49:41 ]</font>