making image file w/audio for TDA menu

[spiritgumm]

I have a jpeg that looks sharp if I use it for background in a TDA menu. I wanted to add audio to it, so I made a video file with 'Shrink (substituted the jpeg using the "Still image" compression option), then muxed with audio. However, the image file is not as sharp as the original jpeg when loaded it into TDA menu. Is there another way to make a "movie" with a jpeg so it will not change clarity? Or another way to load a still image and audio? Or is this the best I can do with TDA?

[Noahtuck]

When i used to use TDA i would take a photo and import into TMPGEnc with the audio then encode it to an mpeg, it will end up being as long as the audio is.

I'm sure this will give better results than the way you did it, but you have to remember, no matter how hires the photo is, it's always going to only come out at DVD Video res. so you are always going to lose some of the crispness & detail, but it still should come out looking better than using shrink to make it.

[spiritgumm]

Unfortunately I only have TDA 1.6 (not Tmpgenc) but the clip I made looks fine.
In TDA I go to "Create menu" and click on "Edit" at the bottom, and select the top option "Specify background image" and open the vts file that has my clip. It becomes slightly blurry compared to just playing the clip in a media player, making the text in the image hard to read. I burned a dvd to verify this. Should I be opening the clip in some other manner?
Just to clarify, I'm not talking about opening a chapter image in the movie for a menu thumbnail - those appear really blurry but are sharp after processing.

[manono]

So it's reencoding it, right? My guess is that it's not using optimum settings and that's the reason it's becoming blurred.

You can author a BMP using Muxman, although I'm not sure that's what you have in mind. Convert the JPEG to BMP, open it as the Video in Muxman, add in the (DVD compliant) Audio, give it a Destination Folder, and "Start". If need be, you can separate out the M2V using DGIndex or VobEdit afterwards. Or if you need an MPEG, use VOB2MPEG on it. You can tell I'm not real sure what you're up to.

[spiritgumm]

I don't know if TDA is reencoding for the clip. It's looks blurry immediately. You need to have TDA and tried to make a menu with a clip to get the gist of what I'm doing. Other people have posted about it, but I don't recall reading about blurriness.
Muxman rejects BMP and Jpeg in the Video and Subpics field, so I'm not sure how I'd load an image that way.

[manono]

If it's 720x480/576, Muxman'll accept it as Video (not subpics). I think. I do it all the time. I don't know of any other requirements other than the resolution and being a BMP for still images.

Yeah, I don't use TDA, so I don't know of the problem you speak.

[spiritgumm]

Thanks for that a cool Muxman trick, and I could make a clip as you described, and it plays fine on it's own. Looks sharp in TDA BUT I think that's because TDA is treating it like a still image. When loading it, there's no "play" ability allowed by TDA preview window, and no audio after reauthoring.
The only difference I see is my first clip is aprox. 9800 kbps, new clip is half that. Otherwise the attributes are the same (according to Media Info).
I might need a TDA person to explain that part.
I tried subbing the resized BMP image into the video with Shrink. I improted into the TDA menu, and it looked the same as the jpeg video. I also tried resizing the jpeg, no change.

[manono]

Sorry, but I didn't understand if it's working or not. If not, maybe use the M2V from the Muxman VOB you made. Extract it in DGIndex (File->Save Project and Demux Video). Import the M2V and audio separately. The M2V will just be the BMP converted to a single frame M2V. Maybe then it'll work. And maybe not.

[vico1]

How I do it, is take my DVD compliant sized bitmap...put it in TMPGEnc Plus with the wave
sized to the length of time I want.

As for settings...this is what I just used:
MPEG-2 720x480 29.97fps CBR 7000kbps, Layer-2 48000Hz 160kbps

Import to TDA 1.6:
under "create menu"---> "edit"--->"specify background image for all pages"

Turned out very well.

[spiritgumm]

Sorry I didn't explain, manono. The Muxman clip doesn't play in the TDA menu, tho it seems that it should. I'm not sure if the low kbps is the issue.
The additional method you describe sounds almost like what I do after I subsitute a still image for a video file in Shrink. I demux it, then mux in an audio file.
The Muxman clip-making ability is neat, and would save me a step or two if it worked the first time around, but I'm not sure it would fare any better in TDA than my Shrink clip. I also subbed a BMP into a videofile via Shrink, and that clip also got slightly blurry in the TDA menu.

vico1,
did you notice any blurring of your clip after it got inserted in your menu, relative to the original still image (or to the clip itself when played on it's own)?
I don't have TMPGEnc, but from what everyone says, it seems like a very flexible, useful program.

[vico1]

Sorry...I just now saw that in your second post...

I usually sharpen the image as far as I can (tho, not over sharp)
The Image is clear...not quite as clear as the bitmap, but that is to be expected.

Yes, I use it all the time for background in TDA, works Great.
I also use it for other encodes too.
(among others, I use it with MemoriesOnTV for encoding their slide shows to DVD)

[spiritgumm]

Here's some jpegs of what's going on. Note the bottom pic blurs Dennis Hopper's face, and the text behind his head:

Before inserting into TDA menu:
http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/120/beforeja9.jpg


After inserting into TDA menu:
http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/6814/afterut2.jpg

[vico1]

Yes, I see what you're going for...tho that pic isn't the greatest to begin with.
I would test with a little more sharpening & contrast...but....

[spiritgumm]

vico1, I posted the two images to show the degree of blurring or softening that occurs. You mentioned you get some blurring when you add your clip to TDA - is it the same degree as mine?
Just to clarify, it's not a motion clip but a still image made into a videoclip with audio muxed in.

On a slight tangent, I was curious if TDA thought my clip was an acceptable videofile, and loaded it into the "Source setup" area. However, when I tried to load the Muxman-made clip, it doesn't play the audio (which is what happens in the TDA menu).

[vico1]

vico1, I posted the two images to show the degree of blurring or softening that occurs. You mentioned you get some blurring when you add your clip to TDA - is it the same degree as mine?

Mine are perhaps slightly sharper?...however, when I choose a background pic,
I would try to find one of higher qual than the one you posted...

Looking online for pictures/wallpaper of the movie, and then sharpen & resize
to DVD spec, is what I always try first.

Using TMPGEnc Plus, I've never had a problem with background audio on import to TDA.
I've not used the Muxman method...so I can't speak with any knowledge to that.

[spiritgumm]

I finally acquired Tmpgenc. On a tangent, does anyone know what I have to do for it to recognize ac3 audio? I installed the ac3acm plugin (which just sort of disappears) on the computer, but nothing is happening.