Need suggestions for multi-show Video DVD with advanced menu

[saab_rider]

Hello everyone, as you can see, this is my first post. I have done one successful Video DVD using NeroVision Express. Only this program doesn't do everything I want it to do.

I've read many different guides/posts about DVD authoring etc.. Howver, I thought I'd share with you exactly what I want to do, and probably get a few suggestions from you guys about what programs I would need to make the Video DVD that I want.

First off, the content of the Video DVD is going to be sitcom episodes from various shows. I'm not putting full seasons. I have 6 shows, with 3 episodes per show, amounting to 18 episodes with each episode about 20 minutes, adding up to about 360 minutes (which is the Super Long Play length; according to nero, @352x480 (half D1). I can split the episodes into 2 discs if necessary. The quality of the video @ that standard was actually pritty crisp, at least from what I saw after testing the DVD I created on my stand alone DVD player.

Second, since I have about 6 different shows, I'd like to create a main menu with the titles of the the six shows. Each title would have a still image for the link. Each link would point to the show's submenu. Each submenu would have 1) full background of the same image used for the link, 2) links to each episode, which is text only; the name of the episode, 3) The show's theme as an audio background for the sub-menu.

So with regards to the menu, there will be 1) one root menu linking to the 6 shows' sub-menus through 6 still images 2) 6 sub-menus, each with it's own audio background, and text links to its episodes. 3) of course a link back to the root menu.

Third, features I'd like to have in the DVD are 1) ability to fast forward and rewind, 2) Play all on/off maybe on the main menu, 3) or maybe play all from each show, then return to the root menu to select the next show (dunno if this is possible), 4) ability to resume from last point after stopping the playback.

I don't want chapters, as each episode is only 20 minutes long. So, do you guys have any ideas what would be the best way to go about this? Also, would you suggest adding any other features? Please let me know what you think. I'm not being lazy, I really did read a lot of guides. It's only that others have much more knowledge and experience than I do, and I'd like to gain from your experiences and suggestions....

Thanks!

[masterpug0]

tsunami dvd author pro is your ticket for easy learning curve and robust features...it will be your favorite dvd author app i'm sure. 30day full function trial!

dvd-lab pro is one step above that but steeper learning curve. it can do menu transitions like cross blend/fade/page curl and sweet special effects on menu items including your titles. these are very professional tools built into this app and results are fabulous. has a "dummie movie" compile option so you can quickly build the dvd for playback to check your menu creation but just doesn't include your movie(s). full 30day function trial as well.

don't mess with anything else for dvd authoring as they will fall short of these two apps. again...for most projects tsunami is your fastest, easiest choice.

[Smells_Like_Feet]

saab_rider said-

First off, the content of the Video DVD is going to be sitcom episodes from various shows. I'm not putting full seasons. I have 6 shows, with 3 episodes per show, amounting to 18 episodes with each episode about 20 minutes, adding up to about 360 minutes (which is the Super Long Play length; according to nero, @352x480 (half D1). I can split the episodes into 2 discs if necessary. The quality of the video @ that standard was actually pritty crisp, at least from what I saw after testing the DVD I created on my stand alone DVD player.

Your plan is fine. With approximately 360 minutes of video to store, I personally would split the video over 2 discs. It really depends on your original source. If you are starting with commercial dvds (and making your own compilation) then do not re-encode at all! On the other hand if you are starting with a set-top dvdrecorder or captured video from a vhs, you may be able to use half D1 resolution with acceptable playback properties. At the end of the day, if your happy with the quality go for it.

saab_rider said-

Second, since I have about 6 different shows, I'd like to create a main menu with the titles of the the six shows. Each title would have a still image for the link. Each link would point to the show's submenu. Each submenu would have 1) full background of the same image used for the link, 2) links to each episode, which is text only; the name of the episode, 3) The show's theme as an audio background for the sub-menu.

Again, seems like a good plan. The only "advanced" feature here may be the audio background for the sub-menu, but many of the dvd authoring applications can manage this.

saab_rider said-

Third, features I'd like to have in the DVD are 1) ability to fast forward and rewind, 2) Play all on/off maybe on the main menu, 3) or maybe play all from each show, then return to the root menu to select the next show (dunno if this is possible), 4) ability to resume from last point after stopping the playback.

1) The only limitations to FF and FR during playback would be the UOP settings. FF and FR are very standard and the default settings for any authoring APP should permit this playback option. I have found that some of my authored dvds can behave erradictly with standard playback options, but this has always been a function of media quality and playback machine. Suffice it to say that if you are having problems with playback controls buy better media.

2) A play all option is a feature I had looked for before and found very difficult to find in consumer/prosumer authoring apps. I use DVD-Lab Pro and have verified this feature and I believe that DVD Architect can also do this function. The way that DLP does it is by setting up a playlist that is linked to a menu button. If the button is selected by the user, the player will run through the playlist and then can return to the Master menu. There are some limitations due to the DVD spec but it is still a very nice feature that is not widely available in authoring suites.

3) Yes this is possible, see response to 2).

4) This is almost exclusively a function of the DVD-player. The software has no way to ensure that a resume function will be executed by the player (but it can prevent a resume through the UOPs)

To accomplish each of the above points I recommend DVD-Lab Pro. I will also echo masterpug0's comment that DLP has a steep learning curve, but I think that it is well worth the effort. To have the flexibility that DLP offers does not lend itself to wizard type interfaces. Just wade through the guides and help found on DLP's homepage and you should be good to go.

As far as TDA, I don't think it has the same playlist feature but I may be mistaken (or a newer version may have added it). Good luck and use this forum, it has some great contributors.

-Smells_Like_Feet

[saab_rider]

So from what you're saying, DVD Lab Pro should support Menu background Audio (among many other advanced features).

Sounds like a plan! I'll look into these two programs, and try to see if I'll be able to learn how to use DVD Lab Pro. I'm sure there are enough guides on videohelp.com for me to do what I want. You guys gave me exactly what I wanted, I was just reluctant as to which program I should use for this project, but with your suggestions I now have two options to choose from!

I'll get at today, and let you know if I face any problems or if I have any further questions. Thanks again for both your help!

[saab_rider]

Finally it's the weekend, and I got a chance to work on my DVD project! I have spent a lot of time preparing and planning for my DVDs. First of all, I collected information about the videos I had, such as resoloution and length to know what I had, and to figure out which shows to put together on the same DVD. I also had to prepare the stuff I needed for the DVD menus, such as the background audio themes, background images, and even show-matching fonts. After that, I started to plan how the DVD menu structure was going to be. This is to help know how everything will be flowing.



This chart is a simplified version of what my menu should look like. From the root menu, I can either go to a show's sub-menu, or select play all, which will go through all the episodes on the DVD, then return to root. If I go to a show's sub-menu and select a certain episode, it should play the selected episode, and the remaining episodes from that show, then return to root without playing episodes from other shows. I beleive this would mean that each episode link would actually be a link to a playlist.

Anyway, as I said before, my previous experience was with Nerovision, which actually means that I did nothing, and the wizard did everything. After I read the replies here, I installed the trial version of DVD-lab Pro, and now I'm working on learning how to use it (what's life without a challenge?). Only I just realized that DVD-lab Pro doesn't do encoding. So here I am again, with a few questions Let me first give you an update with details on what I have in hand right now.


I have 43 episodes @ 20-25 minutes/episode, from 7 different shows. The problem is, not all the episodes from the same show have the same resoloutions, aspect ratio, audio bitrate or audio frequency.

DVD 1 (Shows A, B, C)
Total episodes 15
Total length 322:21
Resoloutions/Aspect Ratios
512x384 4:3
544x416 4:3
608x336 16:9
624x352 16:9
640x368 16:9
_______________________________________________
Show A
6 episodes
Episode 1 624x352 16:9 23.976 VBR 48000
Episode 2-3 624x352 16:9 23.976 VBR 48000
Episode 4 608x336 16:9 23.976 VBR 48000
Episode 5 624x352 16:9 23.976 VBR 44100
Episode 6 624x352 16:9 23.976 VBR 48000
_______________________________________________
Show B
5 episodes
Episode 1 640x368 16:9 23.976 VBR 48000
Episode 2 624x352 16:9 23.976 VBR 48000
Episode 3 624x352 16:9 23.976 VBR 48000
Episode 4 608x336 16:9 23.976 VBR 48000
Episode 5 608x336 16:9 23.976 VBR 48000
_______________________________________________
Show C
4 episodes
Episode 1 512x384 4:3 29.97 128CBR 44100
Episode 2 512x384 4:3 29.97 VBR 44100
Episode 3 544x416 4:3 29.97 VBR 44100
Episode 4 512x384 4:3 29.97 VBR 44100
===============================================
DVD 2 (Shows D, E, F)
Total episodes 15
Total length 315:30
Resoloutions/Aspect Ratios
512x384 4:3
608x336 16:9
624x352 16:9
_______________________________________________
Show D
5 episodes
Episode 1 512x384 4:3 23.976 VBR 48000
Episode 2 624x352 16:9 23.976 VBR 48000
Episode 3 624x352 16:9 23.976 VBR 48000
Episode 4 624x352 16:9 23.976 VBR 48000
Episode 5 624x352 16:9 23.976 VBR 48000
_______________________________________________
Show E
6 episodes
Episode 1-2 624x352 16:9 23.976 VBR 48000
Episode 3 624x352 16:9 23.976 VBR 48000
Episode 4 624x352 16:9 23.976 VBR 48000
Episode 5 624x352 16:9 23.976 VBR 48000
Episode 6 624x352 16:9 23.976 VBR 48000
_______________________________________________
Show F
4 episodes
Episode 1 624x352 16:9 29.97 VBR 48000
Episode 2 624x352 16:9 23.976 VBR 48000
Episode 3 624x352 16:9 23.976 VBR 48000
Episode 4 608x336 16:9 23.976 VBR 48000
===============================================
DVD 3 (Show G)
Total Episodes 13
Total length 274:03
Resoloutions/Aspect Ration
512x384 4:3
_______________________________________________
Show G
13 episodes
Episode 01 512x384 4:3 23.976 VBR 48000
Episode 02 512x384 4:3 23.976 VBR 48000
Episode 03 512x384 4:3 23.976 VBR 48000
Episode 04 512x384 4:3 23.976 VBR 48000

Episode 05 512x384 4:3 23.976 VBR 48000
Episode 06 512x384
4:3 23.976 VBR 48000
Episode 07 512x384
4:3 23.976 VBR 48000
Episode 08 512x384 4:3 23.976 VBR 48000
Episode 09 512x384 4:3 23.976 VBR 48000
Episode 10 512x384 4:3 23.976 VBR 48000
Episode 11 512x384 4:3 23.976 VBR 48000
Episode 12 512x384 4:3 23.976 VBR 48000
Episode 13 512x384 4:3 23.976 VBR 48000
===============================================

Actually, after looking at this layout, I think I'll split the shows in DVD 1 and DVD 2 into 3 different DVDs with 10 episodes per DVD (approx. 225 minutes), plus the last DVD with 13 episodes. Since I have 43 different files to encode, I don't really want to start encoding, just to later on find out that I had wrong configurations, or that I didn't use the best tool. So I hope you guys would give me a few more tips.

1) Now, I'm going to be using DVD-lab Pro for DVD authoring, so which program would you recommend for me to use to encode these files?
2) Should I use the "interlace" option?
3) There are shows in the 4:3 ratio, and the bigger majority is in 16:9. Should I encode the 4:3 files seperately, or should I encode all of the files together?
4) I beleive that all of these frame rates are NTSC, however some are 23.976, and some are 29.97. Do I need to do anything about this?
5) Will I have audio-sync problems when encoding videos which have 44.1 khz audio?
6) Any tips regarding minimum, average and maximum bitrates?
7) Any other tips or suggestions?

I'm glad I posted this in the newbie section, cause that is really what I am when it comes to DVD authoring. I'd really appreciate your support. Once I have answers for these questions, I may post even more questions when I finish encoding and start authoring. Anyway. I literaly spent ALL of today on this. I hope I'll be able to make some progress tomorrow after I get some responses.

[Shadowmistress]

Damn, you are one organized individual. I LIKE that!
It's a really good thing you went with dvdlab. Another suggestion you might try is to have a random playlist.

You have alot of work ahead of you on encoding. I suggest you try tmpgenc 2.5 to encode your video and ffmpeggui to convert your audio. (There are others out there but these are the ones I use and like. :P )
Here's a guide to start with: http://members.dodo.com.au/~jimmalenko/AVI2DVD.htm

Ok, first thing's first. Are you in NTSC land or PAL land? I'm not sure which China supports. The paramount object is to find what's compatible with your player or the players you intend this dvd to be seen on and see what their limitations are. That will determine how much you can go out of spec on your compilation. To stay on the safe side though, I'd suggest you convert all movies to standard dvd spec size (full 740x480 or half 352x240), NTSC or PAL framerate depending on what your player supports (29.97 or 25), 48000 Hz audio (biterate doesn't matter), interlaced, and keep the same aspect ratio each movie has (it's less work to do) unless you don't wish to see them in different format. By the way, will this dvd be played on a widescreen tv or box?

Once all the encoding is done you can turn to the menu structures. Here's a beginners guide on dvdlab and a fancy shmancy guide if you really want to get creative.

Now, you WILL have initial confusion in dvdlab if your movies are in different aspect ratios (4:3 and 16:9) but there's a really easy workaround for that. In dvdlab's project window, you need to create another VTS (VTS2) and put all 4:3 movies on VTS1 and all 16:9 movies on VTS2. Then, I would create VMG menus as sub menus to link all your movies.

Holler if you run into problems.

[saab_rider]

Damn, you are one organized individual. I LIKE that!

Thanks for the compliment

Ok, I'm really getting closer to actually starting the encoding However, after reading a few guides here and there I have one new question (they seem endless don't they?).

As you can see from my detailed post above, my sources come in a wide variaty of dimensions (512x384 4:3, 544x416 4:3, 608x336 16:9, 624x352 16:9, 640x368 16:9). According to Doom 9's "Resizing AVIs for DVD encoding" guide, they suggest adjusting the dimensions before encoding. The guide you suggested didn't go through that process. I'll most likely go with full D1 NTSC resoloution for my target output, so is it necessary to do the resizing/stretching before encoding?

I really have a long road ahead of me. Thanks again for your help

[Shadowmistress]

Yes, it is necessary. You must resize now or not at all. In tmpgenc hit the settings button and under the video tab next to size, change it to 720x480 if you're going full D1. You will have to change it each time you load a new movie to encode. The aspect ratio should match automatically.

Now, here's a cheat: Go to the advanced tab and double click the clip frame filter. As the clip frame button is pressed it shows you what your source file looks like. Now hit the arrange setting button and it shows you what your future encode will look like. I always like to check this to make sure the picture is not getting stretched by a mistake in settings somewhere. If the picture is stretched, you probably have the wrong aspect ratio. If the picture is fine, just cancel to get out of there and make sure this filter's box is unchecked. You will not be using it at all.

A word of advice. As you encode each movie import to dvdlab one by one. If you've made any errors anywhere dvdlab will catch them and it's best not to have already done the whole batch.

[saab_rider]

you're a life (and time) saver shadowmistress I'll get right to it!