Creating Multi Angle video

[Donaldini]

I want to create a DVD using different angles during the movie.
I have two static angles (recorded from left side and recorded from right side) but the question is:
What is the best way of putting them together??

[adam]

You simply have to author a DVD using any authoring software which supports multiangles. The exact procedure will depend entirely on the software you use. I use Sonic Scenarist and can either drag and drop the 2nd video onto the track created from the first video, or I can set it to add "new angle" and then drop my video onto that. Basically its just drag and drop twice instead of once for mult-angle footage.

I'd look in the tools section at some of the commercial DVD authoring packages and go to their web sites as well. Find out which ones support multi angles and which one is best for your purposes. Buy it and read the manual and you should have no problems.

In the meantime, make sure that when you encode your footage you set to the encoder to closed GOPs. I'm not sure if its absolutely required for multi angle sequences but its at the very least recommended.

[Arky]

I would agree with adam's advice. If you have access to a MAC, though, you'd be able to buy DVD Studio Pro 3 for $499, which is a bargain for the authoring power you get. This allows authoring of both Multi-Angle and Mixed-Angle interleaved Titles, which is very flexible (note that true Seamless MultiStory - aka 'Seamless-Branching', is not catered for, though. However, in your particular situation, all you require is Multi-Angle).

Going back to the Windows platform, your cheapest option for authoring Multi-Angle would probably be Pinnacle Impression Pro, although this is not the easiest of programs to use.

Scenarist is the best, but it costs an absolute fortune.


BTW, closed GOPs are compulsory for multiangle projects - in fact, you should ideally try to ensure that ALL encoding parameters are consistent for each of your angle streams. CBR is also advisable, since many encoders (be they hardware or software) do not adhere tightly enough to the max bitrate settings during VBR encoding. This can lead to streams which will not interleave with each other, because the illegal bitrate spikes hinder calculation of spec-compliant jump distances (there's more to it than that, but that's the short explanation!). Put simply, for minimum authoring stress, I strongly suggest opting for CBR encodes for Multi-Angle interleaved Titles.

If you need any more information on the topic, just let me know.


Arky ;o)