User Guide

Chapter 2 Preparing Assets 53
Mixing 16:9 and 4:3 Assets in a Track
Keep in mind that a track’s aspect ratio setting applies to the entire track. If you mix
16:9 assets with 4:3 assets in a track, you will have problems when playing it back. For
example, if you set the aspect ratio to 16:9 Letterbox, the 4:3 video will also be
letterboxed, and end up looking vertically compressed.
To be safe, do not mix 16:9 and 4:3 assets in the same track. Instead, create separate
tracks for each. You can use the Connections tab in DVD Studio Pro to control the
playback order of the tracks.
Some Players Cheat!
Unfortunately, not all players handle 16:9 video correctly. The aspect ratio setting for
each track is stored in the track’s video title set file (vts_01_1.vob, for example). Most
DVD players read the setting and process it correctly, but some DVD players ignore this
setting and instead look at the aspect ratio setting of the video itself. For the most part,
this works out, but it can result in inconsistencies when playing the title on different
DVD players, particularly if you are not careful while encoding and authoring.
Buttons Over 16:9 Video Tracks
To place a button over a video track, you add a menu overlay to a subtitle stream in the
track. These overlays are not processed in the same way as the video, so you must
create a separate overlay for each display mode (16:9, 4:3 letterbox, and 4:3 pan-scan).
You then need to create a script that selects the correct subtitle stream to display
based on the DVD player’s settings.
See “What Happens With Different Aspect Ratios?” on page 442 for information on
using subtitle streams to place buttons over a video track, and see Chapter 14,
“Creating Scripts,” on page 467 for information on creating scripts.
Using 16:9 Assets in Menus
Typically you’ll want to use 16:9 menus with 16:9 tracks. Most of the same concerns
with video apply to menus as well—specifically how the 16:9 menu is displayed on a
4:3 monitor.
With a 16:9 menu, you specify how it will play back on a 4:3 monitor: Pan-Scan,
Letterbox, or Pan Scan & Letterbox (allowing the viewer to choose). As mentioned
previously, pan-scan is rarely used, and should never be selected unless the encoded
video contains pan-scan vector information.
See “Understanding Pixel Differences in Graphics and Video” on page 84 for
information on the image size settings you should use when creating 16:9 menus.