A Couple Of Tricks For TmpgEnc DVD Author

[Tom Saurus]

What I like to do when I am making a DVD is create a nice menu for it, with a background picture for the main screen and the various segments of the DVD's. For the most part I use WinDVD to capture a still picture from the Movie or TV Show. Now this is a .bmp which is 640w by 480h. It is important to keep it as a .bmp until you are done editing to keep your quality. Each generation of .jpeg gets weaker.

Well anyway when this picture is chosen as a background in Tmpgenc DVD Author you will see that parts are beyond the TV Safe area. Here is the solution to that and it involves the use of a terrific free picture program you can find on the Internet. The program is called Irfanview, and it is a very well put together program, isn't very big in size and quite powerful in its abilities. I highly recommend Irfanview and it is a freeware program, so it will cost you nothing.

Now here is the solution to getting the entire picture within the TV Safe Area:

#1. Open your picture in Irfanview.

#2. Press CTRL R or go to Image Menu and chose "Resize/Resample".

#3. Make sure that the box that says "preserve aspect ratio" has a check mark in it. You will notice the number 480 in the one box, change this number to 432. You will notice the new size of your picture will be 576x432, make sure the little dot is filled in where it says "resample" and the lanczos filter is all I have ever used and I am happy with that. Press OK and you will have your resized picture.

#4. Now here is where the trick comes in, chose "Canvas Size". You will notice little boxes that you can input numbers into. Input the following numbers: Left Side: 32, Right Side: 32, Top Side: 24, Bottom Side: 24. Chose whatever Border Colour suits your fancy and press OK.

#5. You will notice you now are back to 640x480, save the picture. Locate the picture and import into Tmpenc DVD Author as a "Background Image". The picture is now in the TV Safe Area, and your boarder colour is beyond the lines for the most part so you will not see them on your tv screen.

Probably this isn't a super important trick, but it took me awhile to figure out how to get the "entire picture" within the tv area. If you are wanting to convert a large number of pictures, Irfanview has some nice batch features you can access via the File Menu.

[presto]

I love Irfanview and have used it for years. Thanks for the great tip.

[Tom Saurus]

Presto: It is nice to know that another person on the forumn on this forum uses Irfanview; truly a well put together program that is freeware.

I am hoping the Guide I made for making a DVD Menu Template Background in Tmpgenc DVD Author has been of use to others here. If there are any improvements that can be made, please post a response. I am anxious to learn more.

One can take a blank image 576x432, into a fancy photo program and create some really fancy backgrounds and take it to Irfanview and use the Canvas function. This should work as well. The only limit is that of your imagination.

[JBUNGIE]

YOU ARE A GOD!! I was about to put my frigin fist through my monitor..I have been trying to get my menu to fit within the TV safe area for 2 days!
Thanks Again!!


IT WORKED!!!

[Sifaga]

just tryed it out , works well

very useful little guide

thankyou