How much space to leave for a menu?

[ShinyCDMan]

I'm about to encode some MPEG files (approx 177-180 minutes) to be put on a DVD, and am using the bitrate calculator on this site to work out what bitrate I should encode them at. However, I want to add one interactive menu with a background (created as a JPEG image file) and the ability to select the file you wish to play.

How much space approximately will this take up on the DVD and therefore how many meg (if any) should I add to the 'other ISO files' value to make sure I leave enough space to fit it on.

Thanks,
Shiny

[housepig]

Unless you are using motion menus or large audio files behind your menu, the menu space is pretty negligable. If you have a 720x480 still jpeg, that shouldn't take up more than 1 or 2 mb of space.

Obviously, the more complicated your menus get, the more space you need to allocate. But a single menu to select material from? I wouldn't worry. If you're so close to the edge that 1 or 2 mb is putting you over, you should back up anyway and reduce your bitrate to give yourself some headroom.

The book DVD Demystified has some great info on the headroom necessary for dvd structure - it might be in the DVD FAQ as well. Check www.dvddemystified.com for a link to the FAQ.

[SLK001]

There is about a 2.5% to 3% navigational overhead on your MPEG files - at 4,700,000,000 bytes, that amounts to about 120Megs. As for your menus, I suggest that you make them first and see how big they are, then allocate the space for them accordingly.

I use full motion menus, and allocate about 20Megs for each one. Your mileage will vary, so you will have to find out your size on your own.

[ShinyCDMan]

Thanks for your help, guys.

Quick question... Is this 'navigational overhead' accounted for in the bitrate calculator or am I going to need to leave this space free as well?

Thanks,
Shiny