DVD Studio Pro 4 User Manual
Copyright © 2009 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Your rights to the software are governed by the accompanying software license agreement. The owner or authorized user of a valid copy of Final Cut Studio software may reproduce this publication for the purpose of learning to use such software. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted for commercial purposes, such as selling copies of this publication or for providing paid for support services. The Apple logo is a trademark of Apple Inc.
Contents Preface 11 11 11 11 Welcome to DVD Studio Pro About DVD Studio Pro About DVD Studio Pro Documentation Additional Resources Chapter 1 13 13 14 15 17 19 25 25 25 26 29 29 31 Overview of Using DVD Studio Pro Moving from iDVD to DVD Studio Pro About Standard and High Definition DVDs About DVD Studio Pro and HD Resolution DVDs HD Video Assets Brief Overview of the DVD Creation Process What Makes a DVD Authoring System? Hard Disk Storage SCSI Devices DVD Burners DLT Drives External Video and Audio
51 Adding Easter Eggs to Your Menus 4 Chapter 4 53 53 54 55 56 60 61 68 74 76 80 81 82 Preparing Video Assets Introduction to Preparing Video Sources NTSC or PAL? Using 24 fps Video Choosing an Aspect Ratio About MPEG Video Encoding Video Materials for DVD Using the Integrated MPEG Encoder Encoding Video for Multi-Angle Tracks Adding Markers to Your Video About H.
116 117 118 119 119 120 Transition Asset Folder Asset Movie Asset Matte Movie Background Matte Movie About Alpha Transition Durations About NTSC and PAL Alpha Transitions Chapter 9 121 121 124 138 143 145 145 146 Starting a Project Opening DVD Studio Pro Setting DVD Studio Pro Preferences Creating a New Project Opening an Existing Project Video Standards of the World Changing a Project’s Video Standard Changing a Project’s DVD Standard Chapter 10 149 150 152 154 157 161 167 168 174 177 177 178 180 190
Chapter 12 219 219 224 231 Introduction to Creating Menus About Menus About the Menu Editor Starting and Working with a Menu Chapter 13 241 242 243 246 248 256 265 281 285 288 288 291 292 293 296 296 304 309 Creating Menus Using the Standard Method About Standard Menus Choosing the Menu’s Background Choosing the Menu’s Overlay Understanding Color Mapping Configuring the Menu Inspector for Standard Menus Adding Buttons to Your Menu Configuring Button Navigation Adding Drop Zones to Your Menu Working
348 Options in the Drop Palette for Layered Menus 349 Drop Palette for Layered Menus—Dragging Assets 353 Drop Palette for Layered Menus—Dragging Project Elements Chapter 16 357 Using Advanced Menu Features 357 Adding Intro and Transition Clips to Menus 364 Using Languages with Menus Chapter 17 369 370 370 371 371 371 372 373 373 377 377 380 384 386 390 392 393 393 394 395 397 397 399 399 401 403 404 404 405 407 407 408 410 413 Creating and Editing Tracks About Track Limits in a DVD Working with a Track’
Chapter 18 417 417 418 418 419 420 421 424 427 437 440 441 442 Creating Slideshows Introduction to Slideshows Want Your Slideshows to Do More? File Formats for Slideshows Adding a Slideshow to Your Project Creating a Slideshow Using the Menu Editor Working with Slides in a Slideshow Adding Audio to Your Slideshow Working with Slideshows Setting Slideshow Properties Setting Slide Properties Previewing a Slideshow Simulating a Slideshow Chapter 19 443 443 445 445 445 446 448 454 455 457 463 464 465 467
500 511 512 517 525 System Parameter Register Memories Details Using Bit-Wise Operations General Purpose Register Memories Scripting Examples Language Code Table Chapter 21 531 531 532 533 537 540 540 547 Establishing Connections About Connections Connections Tab Connection Items Making Connections Connection Details Source Details Target Details Chapter 22 549 549 550 552 552 559 566 575 577 577 580 584 584 590 Finishing a Project About the Final Steps of DVD Creation Should You Burn, Build, Format,
622 622 623 624 624 626 627 627 627 628 628 628 629 631 10 Assets Tab Connections Tab Graphical Tab Log Tab Menu Tab (Menu Editor) Outline Tab Palette Script Tab (Script Editor) Simulator Slideshow Tab (Slideshow Editor) Story Tab (Story Editor) Subtitle Editor Track Tab (Track Editor) Viewer Tab Appendix B 633 Importing Other Projects 633 Importing DVD Studio Pro 2 and DVD Studio Pro 3 Projects into DVD Studio Pro 4 Appendix C 635 Calculating Disc Space Requirements 635 Calculating a Project’s Disc S
Preface Welcome to DVD Studio Pro DVD Studio Pro is software for authoring DVD-Video titles. It is both powerful and easy to use. This preface covers the following: • About DVD Studio Pro (p. 11) • About DVD Studio Pro Documentation (p. 11) • Additional Resources (p.
DVD Studio Pro Website For general information and updates, as well as the latest news on DVD Studio Pro, go to: • http://www.apple.com/finalcutstudio/dvdstudiopro Apple Service and Support Websites For software updates and answers to the most frequently asked questions for all Apple products, go to the general Apple Support web page. You’ll also have access to product specifications, reference documentation, and Apple and third-party product technical articles. • http://www.apple.
Overview of Using DVD Studio Pro 1 DVD Studio Pro plays a key part in delivering your video projects to your viewers. This chapter covers many of the basics you need to know about to author and burn successful DVDs. This chapter covers the following: • Moving from iDVD to DVD Studio Pro (p. 13) • About Standard and High Definition DVDs (p. 14) • About DVD Studio Pro and HD Resolution DVDs (p. 15) • HD Video Assets (p. 17) • Brief Overview of the DVD Creation Process (p.
• Additional menu functionality. For example, you can create and add up to 36 buttons, control the navigation between them, and have more flexibility when assigning their functions. • Alternate ways to play back movies. You can use the DVD Studio Pro story feature to control how a movie plays. • Support for web interactivity. You can embed links to websites or other documents into your DVD title.
But Aren’t DVDs Already High Definition? In addition to traditional 4:3 aspect ratio video, traditional DVDs support widescreen 16:9 video, which is often mistaken for being high definition. The 16:9 video used on current DVDs, however, is the same resolution as the 4:3 video, which is the same as the standard NTSC and PAL broadcast resolutions. The 16:9 video must be anamorphic, which makes it appear horizontally squashed when viewed on a 4:3 monitor.
• In addition to supporting SD MPEG-2 video encodes, HD-based DVDs support HD MPEG-2 and H.264 video encodes. These are discussed in HD Video Assets. Blue Laser Disc Media Due to the improved video resolution possible with HD video, the encoded video files for HD resolution DVDs can be larger than those used with SD resolution DVDs. For that reason, a media format based on a blue laser was designed specifically for DVD projects containing HD video.
Resolution Frame rate Aspect ratio Notes 1920 x 1080 29.97i 16:9 HD only, also known as 1080i PAL Frame rates with an “i” indicate the interlaced scanning method; those with a “p” indicate the progressive scanning method.
DVD Studio Pro supports HD video encoded using the HD MPEG-2 codec and the H.264 codec. Both of these formats are playable with the Apple DVD Player. You can use Compressor to encode video to either of these formats. When you import HD resolution QuickTime video, such as DVCPRO HD video, into DVD Studio Pro, it is HD MPEG-2 encoded using the integrated MPEG encoder. Using HDV Assets The HDV format uses MPEG-2 encoding to store HD video on a standard DV or Mini DV tape.
Brief Overview of the DVD Creation Process You can create many different styles of DVDs with DVD Studio Pro, from corporate presentations to training materials to event videos to feature films. While the content and structure of each style may vary considerably, they all use the same basic DVD creation process.
Creating Source Material The first part of the DVD creation process is to create or assemble your source material. This might mean shooting video, recording voice or music tracks, designing graphics to be included, and planning the general functionality of your project. If you are converting an existing video program into a DVD, you may only need to gather your original video and audio material and design graphics for the menus that will weave them together.
• When saving video material to the QuickTime format, either specify no compression (which requires a lot of disk space) or use a high-quality compression codec like DV or Motion JPEG. Encoding Video and Audio Once you have created your source materials, they must be encoded to comply with the DVD specification. DVD Studio Pro can use materials encoded using its integrated MPEG and AIFF encoders, as well as materials encoded using the Apple Compressor application and other methods.
For many projects you will probably want to use a Dolby-certified AC-3 encoder (such as the AC-3 encoder included with Compressor). An AC-3 encoder can be used to encode multichannel surround soundtracks for inclusion on a DVD, as well as for stereo or mono soundtracks. Using AC-3 encoded audio results in smaller files and a lower playback bit rate.
Stage 4: Adding Buttons to the Menus Add one or more buttons to your menus. The display mode (4:3, 16:9 Letterbox, and so on) and DVD standard (SD DVD or HD DVD) determine the maximum number of buttons each menu can have. Each button can initiate a wide variety of actions, the most common being to open a different menu, play a track, or run a script.
Formatting and Burning Depending on the quantity of DVD discs you need, you can: • Burn one or more DVDs on your system (if properly equipped): This is a quick way to create a test disc. Note: You cannot add high-end features such as copy protection. • Send a burned disc to a duplicator who can burn additional copies for you: This allows you to create more discs than you would want to burn on your own system at a lower cost than using a replicator.
What Makes a DVD Authoring System? The DVD Studio Pro installation booklet lists the minimum hardware and software requirements for using DVD Studio Pro to build DVD titles. However, you may find you need additional items beyond the minimum requirements to make up your DVD authoring system. Depending on the types of DVD titles you intend to create, your DVD authoring system can be an off-the-shelf Mac Pro with a SuperDrive or a specialized system with additional drives and hardware.
DVD Burners Being able to burn a DVD is useful for both proofing your titles on set-top DVD players and burning the finished project (when only a small number of discs are required). You can also burn a disc for a duplication or replication facility to use as a master when larger quantities are needed. You cannot burn discs that support Macrovision copy-protection or Content Scrambling System (CSS) encryption. These must be created at a replication facility.
Even with authoring media, you cannot burn a DVD that supports any of these high-end features on your own system. However, authoring media supports the Cutting Master Format (CMF), which can be used to add information required by the replicator to put these features on your discs. General media does not support CMF. See The Cutting Master Format for more information on the CMF standard.
DVD-RW and DVD+RW These rewritable discs can be erased and reused multiple times. While they cost a bit more than “write-once” discs, the ability to use them multiple times to verify various aspects of your project as you work on it can be very useful. However, rewritable discs tend to not be as compatible with DVD players as “write-once” discs. When you use DVD-RW and DVD+RW media, DVD Studio Pro first checks to see if the disc contains any files. If it is empty, the format proceeds.
To verify the media types supported by your DVD drive 1 Choose Apple menu > About This Mac. 2 Click the More Info button in the About This Mac window. 3 Click the disclosure triangle next to Hardware to show the list of hardware devices. 4 Select the Disc Burning item in the hardware list. The DVD-Write line that appears in the information pane lists the supported media types. DLT Drives Digital Linear Tape (DLT) drives are the most reliable way to deliver SD DVD content to a replicator.
Connecting an External Video Monitor When simulating your project on your computer’s video monitor, you do not see video exactly as a viewer would when playing the video using a set-top DVD player connected to an NTSC or PAL monitor. There are two primary differences: • Pixel aspect ratio: Computer monitors always use square pixels, while SD video uses rectangular pixels.
Audio and Video Assets Audio and video assets can come from a wide variety of analog and digital sources. You must have an equally wide variety of ways to capture these sources on your authoring system. When bringing your assets into DVD Studio Pro, you should keep in mind the following issues. Have the Assets Been Edited Yet? DVD Studio Pro is not an editor.
Planning Your Project 2 Before you start authoring your DVD title, it is highly recommended that you set aside time to plan your project. Spending time in the beginning to outline the various aspects of the project will lead to a smoother production with minimal surprises. This chapter covers the following: • Investigating Existing DVDs (p. 33) • Determining Your Target Audience and Playback Device (p. 34) • Deciding Which DVD Standard to Use (p. 34) • Deciding Which Video Standard to Use (p.
Determining Your Target Audience and Playback Device As with any media project, you must have a clear idea of who the viewers are and what their expectations will be. You may need to create a title that simply plays a movie as soon as the DVD is loaded, with no viewer interaction at all. Or, you may need to create a title with highly customizable languages or display types. Another major consideration is whether your DVD will be played on a computer.
Deciding Which Video Standard to Use In addition to choosing the DVD standard you want to use, you must also choose the video standard to use. You can choose between NTSC and PAL. This choice affects the video resolutions and frame rates that are supported. Important: You cannot use both NTSC and PAL assets in the same project. Also, be careful not to confuse the video standard setting with the region code setting.
You’ll find that storyboarding can give you the overarching view of your project needed to plan fairly complex interactivity.
• What should the remote control’s Menu button do: It’s worth planning what should happen with all of the remote control buttons, but especially the Menu button because its action can vary from element to element. These and many other decisions need to be made. Drawing them out as a storyboard before starting the project can help eliminate errors or delays while waiting for a decision to be made.
Important: When displaying estimated sizes, DVD Studio Pro uses the “1000 bytes equals a kilobyte” system. This means that the estimated sizes refer to the amount of space they will require on the DVD and will be a bit larger than the file sizes shown in the Finder. While the Finder shows binary-based file sizes, you can use its File > Get Info command to see both the binary-based file size and, in parentheses, the “1000 bytes equals a kilobyte” size.
DVD name Disc size Type Capacity HD DVD-4 8 cm Single-sided, single-layer 4.5 GB (4.19 binary gigabytes) HD DVD-9 8 cm Single-sided, dual-layer 9.0 GB (8.38 binary gigabytes) HD DVD-15 12 cm Single-sided, single-layer 15.0 GB (13.97 binary gigabytes) HD DVD-30 12 cm Single-sided, dual-layer 30.0 GB (27.94 binary gigabytes) Estimating Whether Your Content Will Fit While you will often hear that a DVD-5 (or a 4.
Beware of Setting Your Bit Rate Too High You will find that with some DVD projects, the content easily fits on the disc, and you may be tempted to use the highest video bit rate available. While higher bit rates produce better quality, you must take into account other factors before deciding to use the maximum allowable value. The maximum video bit rate allowed on SD-based DVDs is 9.
Multiple Video Angles Using multiple video angles in a track also affects the maximum allowable video bit rate you can use. Due to the way the DVD specification requires video streams to be multiplexed together, the number of video streams determines the maximum video bit rate you can use in SD projects. The maximum combined bit rates (highest bit rate video stream + all audio streams + all subtitle streams) you can use for each multi- and mixed-angle track in an SD project is from 8.
General DVD Limitations Following are some general limitations you may run into while authoring your DVD project with DVD Studio Pro. Most of these limitations are due to DVD-Video specification requirements. Note: With the exception of the number of buttons on a menu, the same limits apply to both SD and HD projects. Project Following are the limitations within a DVD Studio Pro project.
• Maximum number of buttons on an SD-based DVD 16:9 track’s button highlight marker: 18, unless Pan Scan & Letterbox is selected, which then sets the maximum to 12 • Maximum number of buttons on an HD-based DVD 4:3 track’s button highlight marker: 48 • Maximum number of buttons on an HD-based DVD 16:9 track’s button highlight marker: 24, unless Pan Scan & Letterbox is selected, which then sets the maximum to 16 Stories Following is the story-related limitation.
How Do You Do That? 3 While investigating other DVDs, you may decide to include similar specialized features in yours. This chapter covers the following: • Creating a Simple DVD (p. 45) • Creating a Play One or Play All Project (p. 47) • Grabbing a Still Image from Your Movie (p. 50) • Adding Easter Eggs to Your Menus (p.
6 Do one of the following to control what happens when the movie finishes playing: • To have nothing happen when the movie finishes playing, leave End Jump (in the top section of the Track Inspector) set to Not Set. Once the movie finishes playing, the DVD player will stop. The viewer can press Play to play it again. • To have the track play again in an infinite loop, choose the track from the End Jump pop-up menu. And that’s it.
In most cases with multiple movies, you will want to create a menu where the viewer can choose which movie to watch. You may even want to have a menu where the viewer can choose to play a specific movie or to play all of them. See Creating a Play One or Play All Project for information on setting up this situation.
Creating the Track and Adding Chapter Markers to It How you create the track depends on your movies: • If you have a single movie that contains all of the sections edited together: This is the ideal situation because, assuming you edited them together in Final Cut Pro, you could also have added the chapter markers needed to set up the stories.
Creating and Configuring the Stories Once you have the track configured with chapter markers to identify each section, you are ready to create the stories. For this project, you need a story for each section of the movie that you want the viewer to be able to play individually. Once you create the story, you need to choose the chapter marker that defines the section of the track that that story should play. To create and configure the stories 1 Click the Add Story tool in the Toolbar.
Creating and Configuring the Menus Once you have created your stories, you are ready to create the menu (or menus, depending on how many stories you created and how many buttons you want to have on each menu). The basic concept for the menu is to have a Play All button that plays the entire track and separate buttons that play each of the stories. You can use any of the normal menu creation methods. See Introduction to Creating Menus for information on the types of menus you can create.
Adding Easter Eggs to Your Menus It is becoming increasingly popular to add hidden items to DVD projects. For example, you may include a track or menu that you only want people to find if they know the right buttons to push. Most often, invisible buttons on less-used menus are used to access these items. Depending on how elaborate you want to be, you can configure the button navigation so that the viewer can only get to the invisible button by pressing non-obvious arrow buttons on the remote control.
Preparing Video Assets 4 Before you can begin building a DVD project, you must have correctly prepared video source material. This chapter covers the following: • Introduction to Preparing Video Sources (p. 53) • NTSC or PAL? (p. 54) • Using 24 fps Video (p. 55) • Choosing an Aspect Ratio (p. 56) • About MPEG Video (p. 60) • Encoding Video Materials for DVD (p. 61) • Using the Integrated MPEG Encoder (p. 68) • Encoding Video for Multi-Angle Tracks (p. 74) • Adding Markers to Your Video (p. 76) • About H.
You can also use Compressor as a standalone application to get more options and control over the encoding process. Compressor also integrates well with Final Cut Pro, providing exceptionally high-quality MPEG-2 streams directly from Final Cut Pro sequences. This chapter describes how to prepare video source material for use in DVD Studio Pro and how to use the integrated MPEG encoder. For more information on DVD-compliant material, see About MPEG Video.
Many DVD players in PAL countries can also play NTSC DVD-Video titles. It’s important to understand that these players often do not convert NTSC video to PAL—they simply output the NTSC sources. You must connect an NTSC or dual-standard video monitor to view the output. Additionally, be aware that all DVD players have a region code that prevents them from playing DVD-Video titles not intended for the player’s region.
To create a 24 fps MPEG-2 asset, you need to use Compressor (included with DVD Studio Pro) or a third-party encoder that supports encoding 24 fps MPEG-2 assets. Using 24 fps Video in Tracks You can use 24 fps video assets in tracks just like you would use regular 29.97 fps or 25 fps video assets, as long as they match the project’s video standard (NTSC or PAL). You can also combine 24 fps assets with regular video assets within a track, as long as they use the same resolution.
This illustration shows the viewing options for a 16:9 asset. 16:9 monitor 16:9 aspect ratio 16:9 video on 4:3 monitors 16:9 anamorphic (The dashed line shows the circle’s original size.) 16:9 letterbox 16:9 pan-scan This illustration shows the viewing options for a 4:3 asset. 4:3 monitor 4:3 aspect ratio 4:3 video on 16:9 monitors 4:3 pillar box 4:3 stretched (The dashed line shows the circle’s original size.) Read the following sections to find out more about using 16:9 assets in your projects.
16:9 and SD Projects The DVD specification and DVD Studio Pro require 16:9 video to be anamorphic. An anamorphic 16:9 video frame has the same number of pixels as a 4:3 video frame. When displayed on a 16:9 monitor, the frame is horizontally stretched to fit the screen, and the content appears normal. When viewed on a 4:3 monitor, however, the video content appears horizontally compressed (see the illustrations in Choosing an Aspect Ratio).
MPEG Encoding and 16:9 Video It’s important to correctly identify your source video as either 4:3 or 16:9 before encoding it. At this point, you are only identifying it—you are not defining how it should be handled when played back. When using the integrated MPEG encoder, you can select the video’s aspect ratio in the Encoding pane of DVD Studio Pro Preferences. Using 16:9 Assets in Tracks Each track within a DVD Studio Pro project has an aspect ratio setting.
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.
Encoding Video Materials for DVD The DVD specification requires video movies to be in a DVD-compliant MPEG format. There are a number of methods for converting video from its current format to MPEG. DVD Studio Pro includes an integrated MPEG encoder, which can quickly encode your QuickTime movies into DVD-compliant MPEG-2 files. See Using the Integrated MPEG Encoder for more information. For analog sources, you need a hardware video capture card to digitize your video.
Choosing a Bit Rate for SD Projects Bit rate directly determines file size, and thus how many minutes of material you can fit onto a DVD disc. SD-based DVD players support combined bit rates of up to 10.08 megabits per second (Mbps), but this must include the audio and subtitles as well. The maximum video bit rate is 9.8 Mbps. Note: Some DVD players have trouble playing video that uses sustained high bit rates. On such players, you may see dropped frames during playback.
• One-pass VBR method: You choose a basic bit rate and a maximum bit rate. The encoder detects the amount of motion present in the video as it encodes and adjusts the bit rate appropriately—scenes with motion use higher bit rates (up to the maximum setting you choose) and scenes with little motion use the lower, basic bit rate. The disadvantage of this method is that the quality will not be as good as with the two-pass VBR method.
PAL All frame rates use the interlaced scanning method (as indicated with an “i”). With the exception of 352 x 288, all resolutions are MPEG-2 only.
Resolution Frame rate Aspect ratio Notes 1920 x 1080 25i 16:9 HD only, also known as 1080i Picture Frame Rate DVD Studio Pro NTSC projects support the NTSC frame rate (29.97 fps) and 23.976 fps assets that use NTSC video resolutions. PAL projects support the PAL frame rate (25 fps) and 23.976 fps assets that use PAL video resolutions. You can set a project’s video standard in the General tab in the Disc Inspector or in the Project pane of DVD Studio Pro Preferences.
There are three aspects to choosing a GOP setting: the GOP pattern, the GOP length, and whether the GOP is “open” or “closed.” Closed GOP (IBBP, 15 Frames) I B B P B B P B B P B B P B P :04 :05 :06 :07 :08 :09 :10 :11 :12 :13 :14 :15 :16 :17 :18 GOP Pattern The GOP pattern determines the ratio of P- to B-frames within a GOP. The most common patterns used for DVD are IBP and IBBP.
Note: 24p assets have their GOP structure based on their display rate, not the encoded rate. A 24p asset encoded to play in an NTSC project has a display rate of 29.97 interlaced frames (with an 18 frames per GOP maximum) or 59.94 progressive frames (with a 36 frames per GOP maximum). The integrated MPEG encoder uses a GOP length of 15 frames for NTSC and 12 frames for PAL HD assets. Open or Closed GOPs An open GOP allows the B-frames from one GOP to look at an I- or P-frame from an adjacent GOP.
Using the Integrated MPEG Encoder When QuickTime assets that are not DVD-compliant are imported into a DVD Studio Pro project, they must be made DVD-compliant. DVD Studio Pro uses its integration with Compressor to encode these assets. This integration with Compressor provides simplified encoding functionality, with the more advanced attributes automatically set.
To configure the integrated MPEG encoder 1 Choose DVD Studio Pro > Preferences. 2 Click Encoding to open the Encoding pane. 3 Configure the settings in the Encoding pane. See Encoding Preferences for information about the options in this pane. 4 Click Apply to enable the settings, then click OK to close the Preferences window. Encoding Preferences The Encoding pane of DVD Studio Pro Preferences contains two tabs: MPEG-2 SD and MPEG-2 HD.
• Start: Sets the starting timecode of the encoded MPEG stream. This is most often set to match the timecode of the original video, ensuring that any timecode-based lists you have, such as a chapter list, marker positioning file, or subtitle file, match the encoded video. • Drop Frame: Select this checkbox to use drop frame timecode for assets using the NTSC frame rate. • Field Order: Choose the field order (Top or Bottom) that matches the video being encoded.
• Motion Estimation: Choose a Motion Estimation setting that provides a balance between quality and speed of encoding. This setting controls how much time is spent determining the motion between video frames. • Good: The fastest Motion Estimation setting. This mode does well even with significant amounts of motion between frames, if the motion has minimal interfield motion within frames.
Is That the QuickTime or MPEG Encoded Version? When you import QuickTime assets and assign them to elements in your project, it can be important to know whether you are seeing the original QuickTime version of the asset or the MPEG encoded version in the Viewer or Simulator. Seeing the MPEG encoded version has the advantage of allowing you to see the video as it will appear when the DVD is played. The disadvantage of seeing the MPEG encoded version is that the video must be encoded first.
The Encoder Settings dialog appears with the same settings found in the Encoding Preferences pane, with HD projects getting an added Resolution setting. When you have the “Background encoding” method selected and you make any changes in the Encoder Settings dialog, one of two things happens: • If you change the bit rate setting: The current file, whether a complete or partially complete file, is left as is and the encoder starts encoding a new file.
Audio files created by the embedded AIFF encoder use the original filename with an added “.aiff” extension. Encoding Video for Multi-Angle Tracks DVD Studio Pro supports multi-angle and mixed-angle video. With multi-angle video, a track can contain up to eight alternate video streams that last the entire length of the main stream (for a total of nine video streams per track).
• You cannot use still images in the V2 through V9 streams. You can use still images in the V1 stream as long as they are outside of the mixed-angle areas (places where video is present in the V2 through V9 streams). Requirements for MPEG Streams in Multi- and Mixed-Angle Video The integrated MPEG encoder produces streams that meet the criteria for multi- and mixed-angle use: • With multi-angle tracks, all streams must be the same length.
Important: When calculating the combined bit rate for a track, you only need to add in the bit rate of one video stream, but it needs to be the stream with the highest bit rate. SD Projects • 5 angles or fewer: 8 Mbps maximum for the track’s combined bit rate • 6–8 angles: 7.
When adding markers to a track in DVD Studio Pro, you can only place them at GOP boundaries. This means that you will often not be able to place them exactly where you want them. When you place the markers with a video editor, the integrated MPEG encoder automatically forces an I-frame at that position, placing a GOP boundary exactly at every marker and providing perfect marker placement. Markers placed in Compressor before it is used to encode the video are also perfectly placed.
• If you are going to use a video asset to create a mixed-angle or multi-angle track, all video streams must have identical MPEG structures. If you add chapter or compression markers to one stream, you must add them at the exact same place in the other streams. Adding and Configuring Markers in Final Cut Pro and Final Cut Express Using Final Cut Pro or Final Cut Express, you can add markers to a clip or to a sequence.
To export a Final Cut Pro or Final Cut Express movie with markers 1 Do one of the following: • If exporting a clip with markers: Select the clip in the Browser. • If exporting a sequence with markers: Select the sequence in either the Browser or the Timeline. 2 Choose File > Export > QuickTime Movie. The Save dialog appears. 3 Choose the type of markers to export from the Markers pop-up menu.
About H.264 Video You can use the H.264 video format, also known as MPEG-4 part 10 and the Advanced Video Codec (AVC), in your HD projects. The H.264 encoder is twice as efficient as the standard MPEG-2 encoder. When compared to encoding with MPEG-2, this means that with the H.264 encoder: • You can use a lower bit rate to get the same quality, resulting in smaller files. • You can use the same bit rate and get better quality with the same file size. While DVD Studio Pro does not include an embedded H.
Video format MPEG-2 range H.264 range Standard definition 2.0 Mbps to 15.0 Mbps 0.5 Mbps to 15 Mbps High definition 2.0 Mbps to 29.4 Mbps 1.5 Mbps to 29.4 Mbps Important: It is strongly suggested that you use H.264 bit rates of 18 Mbps or less to ensure DVD compatibility. H.264 Frame Sync Setting The H.264 encoder in Compressor contains a Frame Sync setting. This setting defines how often the encoder places a key frame, similar to an MPEG-2 I-frame, in the stream.
PAL HD projects natively support the following formats: • 720p25 • 720p50 • 1080p25 • 1080i50 Note: You can import 24 fps and 23.98 fps HDV-format video into PAL projects, but they are not treated natively and are reencoded to a supported MPEG-2 format. Using HDV Video from the Final Cut Pro Capture Scratch Folder The HDV video clips that Final Cut Pro captures from some HDV sources cannot be imported directly into DVD Studio Pro.
Video Resolution DVD Studio Pro supports a variety of resolutions. See Choosing a Video Resolution for more information.
• HD MPEG-2 Video: From 2.0 Mbps to 29.40 Mbps (The typical maximum used is 27 Mbps.) Note: HD assets include the 480p and 576p resolutions. • HDV Video: HDV video is MPEG-2 encoded. The bit rate depends on the video resolution: • 1280 x 720p: 19 Mbps • 1920 x 1080i: 25 Mbps H.264 Bit Rates Multi-angle and mixed-angle tracks have stricter requirements. See Encoding Video for Multi-Angle Tracks for details. • SD H.264 Video: From 0.5 Mbps to 15.00 Mbps • HD H.264 Video: From 1.5 Mbps to 29.
GOP Size (Maximum) 18 interlaced frames or 36 progressive frames NTSC; 15 interlaced frames or 30 progressive frames PAL GOP Size (Typical) 15 frames NTSC; 12 frames PAL Chapter 4 Preparing Video Assets 85
Preparing Audio Assets 5 Before you can begin building a DVD project, you must have correctly prepared audio source material. This chapter covers the following: • Introduction to Preparing Audio Sources (p. 87) • Audio Formats Not Supported by the DVD Specification (p. 88) • Audio Formats Supported by the DVD Specification and DVD Studio Pro (p. 88) • Using Multiple Audio Formats in Your Project (p. 91) • Required Audio Formats for SD Projects (p. 91) • DVD Audio Source Settings Summary (p.
Audio Formats Not Supported by the DVD Specification If you import an audio format that is not supported by the DVD specification, DVD Studio Pro automatically uses the embedded AIFF encoder to transcode the audio file into an uncompressed AIFF format file. For example, if you import an MP-3 file (a file format that is not supported by the DVD specification), DVD Studio Pro creates an AIFF file from the MP-3 file and that is what is used by your project.
There are two common PCM audio formats: • AIFF audio (Audio Interchange File Format-uncompressed PCM audio; the most common Macintosh audio format) • WAVE audio (Windows uncompressed PCM audio; the most common Windows audio format, also referred to as WAV) The DVD Studio Pro integrated MPEG encoder creates AIFF format files. In most cases, DVD Studio Pro converts WAVE files into AIFF files.
DTS Audio DTS (Digital Theatre Systems) is an alternative format for surround audio. DVD Studio Pro can import and use DTS audio files. DVD Studio Pro supports DTS ES audio that can have up to 6.1 channels as well as audio that uses either a 48 kHz or a 96 kHz sample rate and a 24-bit sample size. Important: All DTS audio imported into DVD Studio Pro must use the compacted file format, with a “.cpt” file extension. Additionally, DTS audio using a 44.1 kHz sample rate will produce unusable results.
To configure DVD Player for external audio decoder support 1 Open DVD Player. 2 Choose DVD Player > Preferences. 3 Click the Disc Setup icon to show the Disc Setup pane. 4 Choose the external audio device to use from the Audio Output pop-up menu. 5 Click OK. Using Multiple Audio Formats in Your Project A project can contain audio in a variety of formats; however, there are some restrictions regarding mixing formats within an element or group of elements, such as menus.
Note: HD projects can use any supported audio format and do not require specific ones to be present. DVD Studio Pro verifies your project during the build process to ensure it is DVD-compliant. The build log shows any issues that are found; however, the build will continue and you can write your project to disc. DVD Audio Source Settings Summary Following is a summary of the required settings for MPEG and other audio sources that can be used with DVD Studio Pro.
• DTS ES: 754.5 kbps or 1509.
Preparing Menu Assets 6 Before you can begin building a DVD project, you must have correctly prepared menu source material. This chapter covers the following: • Introduction to Preparing Menu Sources (p. 95) • What Is a Menu? (p. 96) • Creating a Menu (p. 96) • Creating Graphics to Use in Menus (p. 97) • Creating Overlays (p. 101) • Creating a Layered Menu (p. 106) • Creating Video for Motion Menus (p. 106) • Defining the Menu Loop Point (p. 107) • Creating Shapes (p.
What Is a Menu? Most DVD-Videos have at least one menu. The menu allows the viewer to choose what to see. If no choices need to be made, such as with a looping movie at a sales kiosk, the disc can be configured to immediately begin playing the movie, and no menu is required. For DVDs that have a number of viewing options—such as multiple movies, chapter selections, and bonus items—menus that are clear and logical can greatly enhance the viewing experience.
• For a description of creating layered menus, see Creating a Layered Menu. An easy source for menu backgrounds are frames grabbed from a track’s video. By setting a marker on the frame you want, you can choose to save that frame as a TIFF file that can then be imported and used as a menu background. You can also open the file in a graphics program and add effects and text before using it as your menu’s background. See Grabbing a Still Image from Your Movie for more information.
Tips for Creating Menu Graphics Most of the following tips apply to all graphics programs. Several apply specifically to Adobe Photoshop, although similar issues may exist in other graphics programs. • Make horizontal lines a minimum of three pixels thick so they won’t flicker on TV screens. For the same reason, avoid using typefaces with narrow lines. Serif fonts tend to be more prone to flicker than sans serif fonts.
Understanding Pixel Differences in Graphics and Video The term square pixel actually refers to the horizontal and vertical distance from a pixel to its neighbors. With a square pixel, the distance is the same in both directions. This distance is a function of the sampling rates, both horizontal and vertical, and the aspect ratio the graphic will be displayed in. Given the right aspect ratio, virtually any combination of horizontal and vertical sampling rates could produce square pixels.
To compensate for pixel differences between graphics and video, you need to build the graphics at one size and then rescale them to the appropriate video dimensions, as shown in the following table.
Resolution Square pixels Starting dimension Rescale dimension 1080i (NTSC, PAL; 16:9) Yes 1920 x 1080 pixels 1920 x 1080 pixels Note: HD projects can also use SD assets, which should use the same starting and rescale dimensions as in SD projects. For the 480p and 576p resolutions, you use the same process that you would use with NTSC 16:9 and PAL 16:9. The 720p and the non-anamorphic 1080i resolutions both use square pixels.
About the Overlay Colors Overlays can contain up to four colors. A peculiar feature of overlays is that the colors used to create them are not the colors that are displayed when viewers see the menu. The overlay only identifies the areas on the screen where highlights are to be applied—not the color or transparency of the highlights. You define the actual colors viewers see when you create the menu.
Be sure to disable anti-aliasing and avoid using soft edges. Depending on your graphics application, choose to use a 1-bit or bitmap mode. 3 Depending on the graphics application you use, you may need to flatten the overlay elements into a single layer. Creating Advanced Overlays To create advanced overlays, you first need to understand how they are used and the difference between the chroma and grayscale methods.
If you also wanted a checkmark to appear next to each text button as it was selected, but you wanted the checkmarks to be yellow when they were selected, you’d need to add the checkmarks to the overlay graphic and set them to be a different overlay color than the text (in this case, dark gray) so that you could apply a different highlight color (in this case, yellow). In the same way, you could add the word “OK!” after each text button and show it only when the button was activated.
Pseudo-Soft Overlay Edges Instead of using the advanced overlay’s four colors to create multiple color highlights, you can use them to create pseudo-soft edges and take advantage of anti-aliased graphics. This requires you to use the grayscale method, using either white elements on a black background or black elements on a white background. The soft or anti-aliased edges are mapped to the dark and light gray overlay colors.
Creating a Layered Menu Layered menus can provide greater flexibility in showing a button’s selected and activated states, compared to standard overlay menus. In addition to the background image (which may contain the buttons in their normal states), a layered menu has two separate layers for each button (or three, if the button’s normal states are not part of the background).
• If you want to include button art beyond the capabilities of what an overlay can provide, you need to edit these over the video with an application such as Motion or Final Cut Pro. You can create the button art and associated overlay with your graphics program, then superimpose the button art over the video with your video editor, and use the overlay in DVD Studio Pro to set up the buttons. Note: An alternative is to use shapes to provide buttons over motion video.
Creating Shapes Shapes provide an easy way to create a standard menu using a simple background image (still or moving) without an overlay. These shapes can be either the ones supplied with DVD Studio Pro or shapes that you create. Shapes can be used for buttons and for drop zones. (Drop zones are graphic elements that get added to the menu background and have no effect on the buttons.) You can position the shapes and change their size freely, and even have full-motion video play in them (motion buttons).
Note: If you make the image mask layer (the first layer) of a shape the same size as the shape’s graphics layer (the second layer), you may see some of the mask layer around the edges of the graphics layer. This is because the shape’s graphics layer is processed differently than the mask layer. You can work around this issue by making the mask layer slightly smaller than the graphics layer. • Second layer: Contains the shape’s visible graphic.
Important: If you use this layer’s opacity to create pseudo-soft or anti-aliased edges or to have multiple highlight colors appear at once, you can only use the shape in menus set to use the advanced grayscale overlay method. In these cases, the opacity values map to the overlay colors as follows: 100% maps to black, 99% to 67% maps to dark gray, 66% to 17% maps to light gray, and 16% to 0% maps to white.
4 Select the original second layer (which is now the third layer). 5 Press Command-E to merge the selected layer with the new empty layer. The two layers merge into a new second layer, and the original second layer is deleted. When this shape is imported into DVD Studio Pro, this new second layer will use the opacity you set before the merge.
While the rescaling makes the graphic look correct in the Menu Editor, the shape’s dimensions look incorrect as shown in the Button Inspector or Drop Zone Inspector. For example, if you create a square shape that is 200 pixels wide by 200 pixels high, its size will appear as either 200 pixels wide by 180 high (if applied to an NTSC menu) or 187 pixels wide by 200 pixels high (if applied to a PAL menu), when added to a menu as a button or drop zone.
Preparing Slideshow Assets 7 Before you can add a slideshow to a DVD project, you must have correctly prepared slideshow source material. This chapter covers the following: • Slideshow File Formats (p. 113) • Aspect Ratio and Resolution (p. 114) • Colors (p. 114) • Audio (p. 114) Slideshow File Formats When preparing still images for use in DVD Studio Pro slideshows, most of the same rules for preparing menu backgrounds apply. These same considerations apply if you intend to add slides to a track.
Aspect Ratio and Resolution You can create 4:3 and 16:9 slideshows. In HD projects, you can also choose a resolution for the slideshow. Note: In HD projects, the 720 x 480p, 720 x 576p, 1280 x 720p, and 1920 x 1080i resolutions do not support the 4:3 aspect ratio. When creating 16:9 slideshows, you are able to choose the display mode (pan and scan, letterbox, or pan and scan and letterbox) used when viewed on a 4:3 monitor.
Preparing Alpha Transitions 8 Alpha Transitions make it possible for you to create customized transitions for use in your DVD Studio Pro menus, tracks, and slideshows. This chapter covers the following: • Introduction to Preparing Alpha Transitions (p. 115) • Transition Asset Folder (p. 116) • Asset Movie (p. 117) • Asset Matte Movie (p. 118) • Background Matte Movie (p. 119) • About Alpha Transition Durations (p. 119) • About NTSC and PAL Alpha Transitions (p.
• Do you want a simple wipe transition that uses a custom shape? You can use a background matte movie to create a wipe transition with hard or soft edges in any shape you like. An Alpha Transition has several components: • The transition asset folder: Contains the transition’s assets. Additionally, the name of this folder is the name of the transition. Each Alpha Transition requires a separate transition asset folder.
When you open DVD Studio Pro, it looks in two locations for transition asset folders: • At the root of your disk, in this location: [root]/Library/Application Support/Final Cut Studio/DVD Studio Pro/Transitions/ • In your home folder, in this location: [user]/Library/Application Support/Final Cut Studio/DVD Studio Pro/Transitions/ Note: If you add a transition folder while DVD Studio Pro is open, it is ignored until the next time you open DVD Studio Pro.
Important: When the alpha channel is embedded with the asset movie, be sure the video output is premultiplied. Switch Points If your transition does not require the start and end frame video to be on the screen at the same time, you can add a switch point marker to the asset movie to control when the transition switches from showing the start frame to showing the end frame.
The asset matte movie needs to be monochrome, with white identifying the asset movie video to use, and black identifying the places where the start or end frame video appears. You can also use levels in between white and black to set a transparency and add soft edges.
About NTSC and PAL Alpha Transitions Each Alpha Transition is either NTSC or PAL. DVD Studio Pro uses the frame rate of the transition assets to determine whether they are NTSC or PAL. Only those appropriate to the current project’s video standard are available in DVD Studio Pro. Note: Alpha Transitions using a frame rate of 24 fps can be used only in NTSC projects, though they may show undesirable artifacts when the frame rate is scaled to match the project.
Starting a Project 9 When you start a new DVD project, especially if it’s the first project you’ve created on a particular system, you need to set certain preferences and disc properties before you begin working with your assets. DVD Studio Pro includes a number of views and windows that you use while building your DVD. See The DVD Studio Pro Interface for a complete description. This chapter covers the following: • Opening DVD Studio Pro (p. 121) • Setting DVD Studio Pro Preferences (p.
The Choose Application Defaults dialog appears. 3 Select the configuration that best fits your needs. • Basic: Use this configuration if you intend to use the templates and styles provided by DVD Studio Pro, and intend to rely on dragging and dropping assets to create your projects. This configuration is intended for users familiar with iDVD and users new to creating DVDs.
• Extended: Use this configuration if you are familiar with the DVD creation process and require easy access to more of the features of DVD Studio Pro. The extended configuration displays three quadrants to provide access to additional tabs, and the Inspector. • Advanced: Use this configuration to gain access to all of the capabilities of DVD Studio Pro. Use this configuration if you are authoring complex titles.
Note: Once DVD Studio Pro opens, you can choose from these three configurations and others suitable for specific monitors. In addition, you can create and save your own configurations. See Configuring the Interface for more information on selecting, creating, and saving configurations. 4 Select the video standard, NTSC or PAL, that you will use for your projects. If you are unsure of which standard to use, see Video Standards of the World.
The Preferences window opens, displaying the last selected pane. The Preferences window includes ten panes, each containing settings related to specific areas of DVD Studio Pro. To use the Preferences window Do one of the following: µ µ µ µ Click an icon along the top to open its pane. Click Apply to apply the current settings and leave the Preferences window open. Click OK to apply the current settings and close the Preferences window.
• PAL: Select this to set new projects to use the PAL video standard. • Default Language: Choose to set the default menu language for new projects. General Preferences The General pane in DVD Studio Pro Preferences contains settings used in a variety of areas in DVD Studio Pro. Slideshows and Tracks • Default Slide Length: Enter a value, in seconds, that is used as the duration of still images added to slideshows and to a track’s video stream.
• Display Mode: Choose the default aspect ratio to use when creating menus, tracks, and slideshows in HD projects. You can choose from 4:3, 16:9 Pan-Scan, 16:9 Letterbox, and 16:9 Pan-Scan & Letterbox. Note: The 4:3 setting is not available if you choose a Resolution setting that does not support it (720 x 480p, 720 x 576p, 1280 x 720p, and 1920 x 1080i). Thumbnail Size • Palette: Select a thumbnail size. • Small: Select this to use small thumbnails in the Palette.
• Right to left: Set the Auto Assign feature to wrap button navigation for right-to-left reading. • Final Rendering: Because menus can contain a variety of elements layered over the background, such as buttons, drop zones, and text, they must be rendered into a single layer, similar to flattening a multiple layer graphic file. With still menus, this takes little time, but with motion menus, where each frame must be rendered, this can be a time-consuming process.
Track Preferences The Track preferences allow you to set a variety of defaults used when creating tracks. • Marker Prefix (Root) Name: Enter the name that all new markers use as their prefix. The Generate Marker Names setting, below, controls whether this root name is followed by a number of timecode value. • Check for unique name: Select this checkbox to ensure you will not have two markers with the same name within a track.
• Snap To: This setting controls what happens when you place a marker in the timeline. In DVD Studio Pro, markers can only be placed on I-frames, which occur once per group of pictures (GOP). A GOP is typically 12 to 15 frames long, which means that when you place a marker, you generally will not be able to place it on the exact frame you would like. This setting allows you to control how DVD Studio Pro chooses the frame to use. See Working with GOP Settings for more information on GOPs.
• Find matching audio when dragging: Select this checkbox to have DVD Studio Pro automatically try to locate an audio file with the same name as the video file you have dragged to an element, such as a menu or the Assets tab, of your project. DVD Studio Pro only checks the folder the video file was dragged from. DVD Studio Pro does not try to find matching audio if you drag a mixture of video and audio files.
• Show ruler guide tooltips measurements: Select this checkbox to have the pointer’s coordinates appear when dragging an alignment guide. The values are in pixels, based on a position of 0, 0 for the upper-left corner. • Guides: These settings apply to the guides that appear in the Menu and Subtitle Editors. Note: You cannot add menu guides in the Subtitle Editor. • Show: Select this to show the guides in the Menu and Subtitle Editors.
All Text Types The following settings apply to all types of text you can configure. • Show: Choose the type of text to configure (subtitle, menu, or menu button). The type you choose determines the other settings available in this pane. • Font: Shows the current settings. • Font Panel: Click to open the Fonts window to configure the font. Subtitle Text Settings The following settings apply to subtitle text. Note: You cannot set the subtitle text color as you can for the menu button and menu text items.
Colors Preferences The Colors pane contains the color mapping settings for the Menu and Subtitle Editors. • Show: Choose whether to show the settings for the Menu Editor or Subtitle Editor. This affects all other settings in this pane. • Mapping Type: Choose the type of overlay mapping, Chroma or Grayscale, you are using. This only applies if you are using advanced overlays. See Using Advanced Overlay Color Mapping for more information.
Simulator Preferences The Simulator preferences apply to the Simulator you can use to test your project. See Simulating Your Project for more information. Default Language Settings • Audio, Subtitle, and DVD Menu Default Language: Choose the languages to use as the Simulator’s default for menus, audio, and subtitles. This simulates the language settings in a DVD player.
• Resolution: Choose the monitor resolution to simulate. The choices include SD, HD 720, and HD 1080. • Display Mode: Choose the monitoring situation to simulate. • 4:3 Pan-Scan: This setting simulates a 4:3 aspect ratio monitor with a DVD player configured to use the pan-scan method when showing 16:9 content. • 4:3 Letterbox: This setting simulates a 4:3 aspect ratio monitor with a DVD player configured to use the letterbox method when showing 16:9 content.
• Location: Select the location to save files to. • Same Folder as the Asset: This is the default setting. It places the files into an MPEG or PAR subfolder (depending on the type of file being created) in the original file’s folder. For QuickTime assets, an MPEG folder is created, with a PAR subfolder. The encoded file is placed in the MPEG folder and, if necessary, the parse file is placed in the PAR folder.
Creating a New Project When you open DVD Studio Pro, a new project file is automatically created. You can also create a new project at any time. To create a new project 1 Choose File > New (or press Command-N). A dialog asks whether you want to save the currently open project. Once you select an answer, a new, empty project opens. 2 Choose File > Save, specify a name and location for your project file, then click Save.
Setting the Video Standard The DVD-Video specification supports two video standards: NTSC and PAL. This may appear to leave out those countries that use the SECAM or PAL-M video standards. However, because the MPEG video on DVDs is in a component format, your sources, once MPEG-encoded, only need to conform to the line and frame rates of either the NTSC or PAL standard. • Use the NTSC video standard: If you are in a country that supports either the NTSC or PAL-M video standard. Both standards use a 29.
Note: You cannot change a project’s video standard once you have added motion assets to it. See Changing a Project’s Video Standard for more information. The other Disc Inspector settings can be made later. See Finishing a Project for details on these settings. To set the video standard for DVD Studio Pro in the Preferences window 1 Choose DVD Studio Pro > Preferences, or press Command-Comma (,) to open the Preferences window.
Note: If you create a new project and it has HD DVD selected when you actually intend to create an SD project, you must change the DVD Standard setting in the Project pane of DVD Studio Pro Preferences. To change the DVD standard for the current project using the Disc Inspector 1 Choose View > Show Inspector if the Inspector is not visible. 2 Do one of the following: • Select the project’s name (next to the disc icon) in the Outline tab. • Click an empty area in the Graphical tab.
The Disc Inspector appears. Note: Choose View > Show Inspector if the Inspector is not visible. 2 Enter the new name for the disc in the Name field at the top of the Disc Inspector, then press Return. Setting the Disc Size The DVD Studio Pro default is set to a 4.7 GB DVD-5. This setting affects both the actual disc burning process when you finish your project and the disc meter icon in the toolbar.
The maximum size for the project appears below the Disc Size setting. The other Disc Inspector settings can be made later. See Finishing a Project for details on these settings. See Disc Options for more information on available DVD sizes. See topics relating to finishing a project for more information on these settings. Setting the Project’s First Play An important consideration when starting a project is deciding which of its elements will be the first to appear when a viewer starts playing the DVD.
µ µ Press Command-O. Double-click the project file in a Finder window. If a project is already open in DVD Studio Pro, a dialog appears, prompting you to save it if it has not already been saved. Note: DVD Studio Pro only allows you to have one project open at a time. µ To open a recently opened project Choose File > Open Recent > [name of project]. You can choose File > Open Recent > Clear Menu to remove existing projects from the Open Recent submenu.
Video Standards of the World Because you may find yourself needing to know the video standard of a particular country, following is a list of the different continents and regions of the world and the video standards they use. Note: This list is subject to change and should be used as a guideline only. Continents and regions Video standard Africa All countries in the African continent use either the PAL or SECAM video standard.
• Any markers placed in the Track Editor remain behind when you remove the video asset. If you then change the project’s video standard and import a version of the video asset in the new video standard, the markers are applied to the new asset. The timecode values of the markers change to match the new video standard. Depending on the encoding used, the markers may no longer occur at GOP boundaries.
To convert an SD project to an HD project 1 Do one of the following: • Select the project’s name (next to the disc icon) in the Outline tab. • Click an empty area in the Graphical tab. The Disc Inspector appears. (Choose Window > Outline if the Outline tab is not visible. Choose View > Show Inspector if the Inspector is not visible.) 2 Click the General tab in the Disc Inspector. 3 Select the HD DVD setting for DVD Standard.
The DVD Studio Pro Interface 10 The DVD Studio Pro user interface is designed to provide a flexible environment that can be configured easily to fit the needs and skill levels of all users. This chapter covers the following: • Introduction to the DVD Studio Pro Interface (p. 150) • Configuring the Interface (p. 152) • Working with the Quadrants (p. 154) • Working with the Tabs (p. 157) • Overview of the Quadrant Tabs (p. 161) • Inspector (p. 167) • Palette (p. 168) • Toolbar (p. 174) • Drop Palette (p.
Introduction to the DVD Studio Pro Interface A wide variety of users use DVD Studio Pro, from those who are familiar with iDVD and want to access a few more DVD authoring features, to those who have extensive experience with professional DVD authoring applications. Toolbar Tabs in the lower-right quadrant You can arrange the DVD Studio Pro interface to display as much information as you need. The main interface can be arranged to display from one to four quadrants.
A floating Inspector displays properties for each project element, with its contents changing based on the currently selected element. For example, if you are working on a menu’s buttons, the Inspector displays all properties and settings that apply to buttons. When creating basic DVD Studio Pro projects, you might find it easier to keep the Inspector closed, only opening it when necessary. See Inspector for more information.
See Palette for more information. Palette Configuring the Interface To make it easy to change between different configurations of the DVD Studio Pro interface, DVD Studio Pro lets you save each configuration. For example, once you configure the quadrants so they are optimized for creating subtitles, you can save that configuration for easy recall later.
µ To choose a DVD Studio Pro configuration Choose Window > Configurations, then choose a configuration from the submenu. Each standard configuration has a keyboard shortcut assigned. The submenu lists the supplied configurations plus any that you have created. Each of the first three supplied configurations are automatically assigned keyboard shortcuts F1 through F3. You can assign keyboard shortcuts for any custom configurations in the Manage Configurations dialog.
The new configuration is added to the list of configurations available to your system. Note: To update a custom configuration, save the updated version using the original version’s name. To manage your configurations 1 Choose Window > Manage Configurations. A list of existing configurations appears. The Key column lists the “F” key assigned as each configuration’s keyboard shortcut. 2 Do any of the following: • Click the Add (+) button to add a new configuration.
You can adjust each quadrant’s size by dragging its borders, or adjust the size of all four quadrants at once by dragging the point where they intersect. You can “close” a quadrant by dragging its inside edge to the DVD Studio Pro interface edge. Resizing the Quadrants You can resize the quadrants in pairs, either horizontally or vertically, or resize them all at once. When all four quadrants are displayed, making individual horizontal or vertical adjustments affects all four quadrants.
µ To change only the widths of the left and right quadrants, drag the boundary between the left and right halves left or right. µ To change both the heights and widths of the four quadrants, drag the point where they intersect. µ To split either the vertical or horizontal boundary, so that you can resize two quadrants while leaving the other two as they are, Option-drag the boundary you want to move. This creates two intersection points, each of which can be dragged as needed.
Adding Quadrants to the Basic and Extended Configurations There are two ways to add quadrants to the basic and extended configurations: Choose a different configuration or drag their edges in toward the center. The basic configuration is actually just the upper-right quadrant with its left and bottom boundaries dragged to the edges of the interface. To add a quadrant to the left half of the interface, drag the left edge toward the center.
Moving a Tab to a Different Quadrant You can move a tab from one quadrant to another. This allows you to group tabs that work best for you. For example, you may group the tabs so that you can reduce the number of quadrants that appear and see just the tabs you use most. µ To move a tab to a different quadrant by dragging Drag a tab to the new quadrant’s tab area.
Tearing Off a Tab into Its Own Window You can “tear off” a tab so that it appears in its own window. This is useful if you have a large computer display or use multiple displays and are able to spread out. It is also useful if you have a small display and a limited workspace, because it allows you to have larger windows without resizing the quadrants. To tear off a tab Do one of the following: µ µ µ Drag a tab to a position outside of the immediate tab area.
Note: This is different from dragging the window’s title bar, which just repositions the window. Dragging the Graphical window’s tab to add it to the upper-left quadrant µ Control-click an empty area of a quadrant’s tab area, then choose the tab from the shortcut menu. You can also do this if the tab’s window has been closed.
Overview of the Quadrant Tabs Following is an alphabetical list of the tabs that can be included in the quadrants. Assets Tab The Assets tab is a central location for managing the assets used in your project. It displays extensive information about each asset in columns that you can configure to see just the information you want. Additionally, you can create folders and subfolders to help organize assets when you are working with large projects.
Graphical Tab The Graphical tab provides a tile-based view of all elements in your project. You are able to arrange the tiles and display lines indicating how they connect to each other. This makes it possible to create a flowchart of your project, which can be printed and used for project planning and approvals. See Using the Graphical Tab for more information.
Menu Tab The Menu tab contains the Menu Editor. You use the tools in the Menu Editor to build your project’s menus. The editor contains a display to show the menu’s video contents, along with controls to configure the display. See About the Menu Editor for details on using the Menu Editor. Outline Tab The Outline tab provides an organized list of all project elements. Each element is grouped by type, such as Menus or Tracks, in sections that function a bit like file folders.
The Outline tab also contains the VTS Editor. The VTS Editor (Video Title Set Editor) allows you to manually place project elements into specific VTS blocks. See VTS Editor for more information. Script Tab The Script tab contains the Script Editor. You use the Script Editor to add and manage commands in your scripts. The editor lists each command and its step number. See The Scripting User Interface for details on using the Script Editor.
Slideshow Tab The Slideshow tab contains the Slideshow Editor. You use the tools in the Slideshow Editor to create and edit slideshows. The editor contains thumbnails of each slide in display order, along with the slide’s duration. You can also add audio to your slideshow in the editor. See Slideshow Editor Settings for details on using the Slideshow Editor. Story Tab The Story tab contains the Story Editor, which you use when creating a story for a track.
Track Tab The Track tab contains the Track Editor. The Track Editor displays all streams associated with a track (video, audio, and subtitle) in a linear, timecode-based manner. It provides tools for adding and editing markers. It allows you to trim and combine multiple assets on a single stream. See Configuring the Track Editor for details on using the Track Editor. Viewer Tab The Viewer tab lets you view your project’s elements. See Viewing a Track for details on using the Viewer tab.
Inspector The Inspector is a floating window that displays the properties of the element you are currently working with. In some cases, it contains multiple tabs, with the properties grouped by type and function. With the exception of the Palette, the Inspector always has the highest viewing priority of the DVD Studio Pro windows—it is never covered by any other DVD Studio Pro window. (If the Inspector and Palette are in the same area of the screen, the one last selected will cover the other.
Palette The Palette provides easy access to the templates, styles, and shapes used to create menus. Additionally, the Palette includes three media tabs—Audio, Stills, and Video—that can make it easier to locate the assets you want to import. Hiding and Showing the Palette With the exception of the Inspector, the Palette always has the highest viewing priority of the DVD Studio Pro windows—it is never covered by any other DVD Studio Pro window.
Templates and Styles Tabs A template comprises up to five styles that define most aspects of a menu. You can create your own templates and styles or use those that DVD Studio Pro provides. You can apply all or just selected parts of a template or style to a menu or a selected part of a menu. This makes it easy to create a series of menus using an identical button layout and background.
See Creating Shapes for details on creating shapes and Adding Shapes to a Menu for details on using them in your menus.
Media Tabs The Palette includes a set of three media tabs—labeled Audio, Stills, and Video—that display DVD Studio Pro–compatible assets located in folders that you specify. You can add these assets to your project by dragging them from the Palette to the Assets tab, Menu Editor, or anywhere else you can directly add assets. Use these to add and delete folders. Select a folder from this list to view its contents. Drag this separator bar to control how many folders appear.
Note: If you click outside of DVD Studio Pro without dragging a folder to a media tab, the Palette disappears and you will need to reselect DVD Studio Pro to see the Palette again. • Click the Add (+) button. A folder selection dialog appears. Select the folder or folders to add and click Add. • Control-click in the list where you want the added folder to go, then choose Add Folder from the shortcut menu. A folder selection dialog appears. Select the folder or folders to add and click Add.
Viewing and Using Assets Once you have added folders containing compatible assets, you can show the assets and drag them to your project. µ To show a folder’s assets Select the folder that contains the assets you want to see. You can select multiple folders by dragging the pointer over a group of folders, holding down the Shift key and clicking the folders (if they are contiguous), or holding down the Command key and clicking the folders (if they are not together).
Toolbar The DVD Studio Pro interface includes a toolbar that can be customized to display exactly the tools you need. The toolbar provides one-click access to a variety of functions, such as creating menus and slideshows or simulating your title. You can customize the toolbar in a variety of ways, including selecting the tools to include, rearranging them, and choosing whether both the tool’s icon and text appear.
• Control-click the tool you want to remove and choose Remove Item from the shortcut menu. 4 To change the order of the tools in the toolbar, drag each tool to its new position. 5 To set the toolbar to a default configuration, drag the default set of tools to the toolbar. 6 Do one of the following to control whether each tool’s icon and text appear in the toolbar: • Choose Text Only, Icon Only, or Icon & Text from the Show pop-up menu in the toolbar palette.
• Build: Compiles your project and creates a video title set (VIDEO_TS folder) of your project. • Build/Format: First builds the video title set, then writes it to a DVD drive, DLT drive, or as a disk image to a hard disk. • Burn: Builds the video title set and writes it to your DVD burner using the current Disc Inspector settings. • Configurations: Opens the Configuration Manager dialog so that you can manage or apply an interface configuration. • Customize Toolbar: Opens the toolbar palette.
Drop Palette The Drop Palette appears in the Menu Editor when you drag an asset or project element to it. Once you stop moving the pointer, the Drop Palette appears, allowing you to choose how to use the asset within the menu. The contents of the Drop Palette vary, depending on the asset or element type, how many assets you drag, and whether you have dragged to an existing button.
The Outline tab also has these capabilities: • It includes the menu language elements that you use when configuring your menus to support multiple languages. • It includes the VTS Editor that provides extensive control over how your project’s elements are burned to a DVD. The Graphical tab also has these capabilities: • You can choose whether to view all elements or just specific types. • Elements that use the transitions feature are marked. • The element assigned as First Play has a special icon.
Note: The Languages section in the By Type display does not represent actual elements—it represents languages that can be used for the menus. It does not appear in the By VTS display because it is not specific to a VTS. Click each section’s disclosure triangle to view its contents. Adds a new empty VTS (active only in the By VTS view). Alternate View button swaps view between By Type and By VTS. Layered menus use a different icon than standard menus.
µ To change an element’s position in the Outline tab’s By Type display Drag the element to its new position. As you drag, a line appears between elements to indicate where the dragged element will be moved when you release it. Using the Graphical Tab The Graphical tab uses a tile-based interface to show a project’s elements. Choose tile types to view. Tile viewing and editing tools Connections, tile size, and snap grid settings Project element tile Connection line Macro view shows entire tile area.
Graphical Tab Introduction The Graphical tab uses tiles to represent each element in your project. Similar to the Outline tab, you can use the Graphical tab to select elements to work with and can rename the elements. Each tile contains a thumbnail image that represents the element. You are able to position the tiles as needed and can choose to view either large or small versions of the tiles. You can also choose to view connection lines between the elements.
When there are more tiles than can be displayed in the Graphical tab, scrollers appear that allow you to control which part of the tile area shows. The scrollers also allow you to zoom in or out on the tile area. To use the Graphical tab scrollers Do one of the following: µ µ Drag them to control which part of the tile area you can see. Drag the ends of the horizontal scroller to zoom in or out on the tile area. Drag the scroller ends to zoom in or out on the tile area.
Note: You can temporarily display the macro view by holding down the M key. µ Click the Graphical tab’s macro view button. Shows and hides the macro view. µ Position the pointer over the macro view (which causes the title bar to appear), then click the hide symbol in the macro view’s title bar to hide the macro view. Note: The title bar can appear on the top or bottom of the macro view, depending on where the pointer is.
The visible-view rectangle can be moved and resized to control the tile area that shows. To use the visible-view rectangle Do one of the following: µ µ Click within the rectangle to drag it to a new position. µ Drag a corner of the rectangle to change its size. Making the rectangle bigger zooms out on the tile area, showing more tiles. Making the rectangle smaller zooms in on the tile area, showing fewer tiles.
To make it easier to see a larger area while dragging a tile, you can press the Z key after you start dragging the tile to temporarily zoom out. You can enable a snap grid to make it easier to organize the tile in straight lines and columns. µ To enable the snap grid Choose Snap to Grid from the Graphical tab’s Settings pop-up menu. You may want to drag a tile to the Menu Editor. This is an easy way to link either a new or an existing button in the current menu to the element being dragged.
To use the distribute objects feature 1 Depending on the distribution method you intend to use, select the group of tiles to distribute. See Selecting and Managing Tiles for details on how to do this. 2 Choose Arrange > Distribute Objects, then choose the distribution method to use (Horizontally, Vertically, By Type, or Autolayout). Locking the Tile Positions You can lock the tile positions and prevent accidentally rearranging them.
Each tile has a thumbnail image of the element. The aspect ratio of the thumbnail changes to indicate whether the element uses 4:3 or 16:9 assets. A tooltip showing information about the element appears when you position your pointer over it. First Play icon Transitions icon Element name The element designated as First Play has an icon added to it. Elements that are using the transitions feature also have icon indications. Tile Sizes You can choose large or small sizes to view the tiles.
Viewing Specific Tile Types You can choose specific tile types to view. For example, you may only want to see the slideshows. Note: If you choose to hide a tile type, all connections to that tile type are also hidden. The Graphical tab’s tile type Show/Hide buttons control which tiles are visible and which are hidden. Story tiles Slideshow tiles Track tiles Script tiles Menu tiles Clicking a button hides its tile type and the button background becomes lighter.
You can customize how many connections appear with the Graphical tab’s Settings pop-up menu. • No Connections: No connection lines appear. • Relative Connections: Only the connections relating to the currently selected tile or tiles appear. • All Connections: All tiles show their connections. • Basic, Standard, and Advanced Connections: Control how much connection detail to show. These three levels match a similar setting in the Connections tab. See Sources and Source Details for more information.
• Multiple Pages: Prints the tile area at full size, using as many sheets of paper as necessary. 4 Select the Page Numbers option to add page numbers to each sheet. This is especially useful when you select Multiple Pages. 5 Click Preview to see an example of how the printed document will look, or Print to print the tile area. Managing Elements Using the Outline and Graphical Tabs You can use either the Outline or Graphical tab to manage your project’s elements.
2 Do one of the following: • Choose Edit > Delete (or press the Delete key). • Control-click in an empty area of the Outline or Graphical tab, then choose Delete from the shortcut menu. Important: If you delete a track that has stories, the stories are also deleted. An alert appears to warn you of this. Duplicating Elements You can duplicate elements within the Outline and Graphical tabs.
µ Control-click an element, then choose First Play from the shortcut menu. This method uses the element’s default button (menu), first slide (slideshow), or first marker (track or story) to play from. To assign the First Play element in the Graphical tab Do one of the following: µ Control-click in an empty area of the Graphical tab, choose First Play from the shortcut menu, then choose the First Play element from the submenu.
To save an item description 1 Select the element for which you want to save a description. You can select the element in the Outline or Graphical tab or in any of the editors. Note: You cannot export an item description of a story. Item descriptions of tracks include their stories. 2 Choose File > Export > Item Description. 3 Enter a name for the file and select its destination in the dialog that appears, then click Export. DVD Studio Pro creates the file and saves it in the location you specified.
Importing and Managing Assets 11 DVD Studio Pro provides tools and workflow options that give you the flexibility to decide how best to import and manage your assets. This chapter covers the following: • How DVD Studio Pro Manages Assets (p. 195) • About the Assets Tab (p. 201) • Importing Assets (p. 207) • Removing Selected Assets (p. 213) • Renaming Assets (p. 213) • Refreshing Still and QuickTime Assets (p. 214) • Opening Assets in Their Editor (p. 216) • Identifying an Asset (p.
Importing an asset into a DVD project does not actually copy or move the asset file from its current location. The Assets tab simply lists references to the actual asset files. The folder structure you create in the Assets tab does not affect the folder structure of the files on your hard disk; it only helps you manage the asset names while working on your project. Missing or Renamed Assets Once you import an asset into a project, it’s important not to move or rename its source file.
Any elements that use missing assets are displayed in red in the Outline and Graphical tabs. The elements cannot be opened, either from the Outline tab, the Graphical tab, or in their editor. If you select an element with missing assets, a dialog appears with three choices: • Relink: The Missing Files window opens so that you can locate the missing files. • Delete Clips/Slides/Assets: The missing assets are removed from the element. • For tracks: Any clips with missing assets are removed.
The current encoding settings are applied to assets as soon as they are imported, whether you choose to start encoding them right away or wait to encode them when you build your project. Changes you make to the Encoding preferences only affect assets you import from then on. See Verifying and Changing Encoding Settings for more information.
Verifying and Changing Encoding Settings If your project contains a mixture of 4:3 and 16:9 assets or has some assets you want to encode differently than others, you must be sure to set the Encoding preferences settings before you import the assets. You can verify and change the encoding settings on assets that have been imported. You can also re-encode a QuickTime asset if you want to try different encoding settings.
This method of configuring encoding settings for specific assets allows you to customize how the integrated MPEG encoder gets used in your project. It also makes it possible to have a mixture of assets with different encoding requirements (such as some that use the 4:3 aspect ratio and others that use the 16:9 aspect ratio). Using Still Assets That Are Not DVD-Compliant You can add still assets in any format supported by QuickTime to a slideshow or a track.
Using Motion, LiveType, and Soundtrack Pro Projects DVD Studio Pro allows you to import Motion, LiveType, and Soundtrack Pro projects directly into your DVD project. This has several benefits: • You do not have to render the projects before importing them. DVD Studio Pro allows you to use them as if you had rendered them and exported a QuickTime movie from them. You import the projects using the same methods you would use to import other assets.
Note: Subtitle text files and shapes do not appear in the Assets tab. Click to open the Import Assets dialog. Click to create a new folder. Click to remove the selected asset. Click a folder’s disclosure triangle to show or hide its contents. Video icon Still image icon Audio icon The Assets tab can contain up to 15 columns. For information on choosing which columns appear, see Managing Columns in the Assets Tab. The Assets tab also has three buttons you can use to manage the assets.
The Name column also displays folders, with disclosure triangles, which you can use to organize your assets. • Status: Applies to all asset types. Displays whether the asset is being encoded, parsed, or is ready to use. • Progress bar: Appears while the asset is encoding or parsing. • Yellow: The asset has not been encoded (applies to assets to be encoded with the integrated MPEG or AIFF encoder).
• Aspect: Applies to video and still assets. For video assets, displays the aspect ratio of the asset (4:3 or 16:9). For still assets, shows whether the asset is being rescaled to fit the video aspect ratio (Retain) or is displaying actual pixels (blank). • Markers: Applies to video assets. Displays the number of chapter markers the video contains. Managing Columns in the Assets Tab DVD Studio Pro lets you customize the columns in the Assets tab, making it easy to display only the information you want.
µ To change a column’s width Position the pointer on its right edge. When the pointer changes to a double arrow, drag to the new size. The pointer changes to a double arrow when you change a column’s width. Managing the Contents of the Assets Tab As you add assets to your project, you will want to keep them organized to reduce the potential for confusion.
Important: Folders in the Assets tab help you organize your assets in your project. They do not affect the actual media files on your hard disk. Click the disclosure triangle to open and close folders. To create and name a folder 1 Do one of the following: • Choose Project > New Asset Folder (or press Command-Shift-N). • Control-click anywhere within the Assets tab, then choose Create New Folder from the shortcut menu. • Click the New Folder button in the Assets tab.
Scrolling Through the Assets List Once you have added a number of assets to your project, DVD Studio Pro provides a variety of methods for scrolling through them. To scroll through a list of assets Do one of the following: µ Drag the scroller located on the right edge of the Assets tab. Hold down the Option key to scroll slowly through the list (useful with long lists). µ µ µ µ Press the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys to scroll through one asset at a time.
Using the Import Asset Feature You can import assets directly from within the Assets tab by using the Import button or by using the Import Asset icon in the toolbar. You can import single assets, multiple assets, or entire folders of assets. Note: The “Find matching audio when dragging” setting in the Track pane of DVD Studio Pro Preferences does not apply when you use the Import Asset dialog. Only the files you select are imported into the Assets tab.
If you select a folder in the Finder window and drag it to the Assets tab, the folder and all recognized asset files in it are added to the Assets tab. Any subfolders within the imported folder are also imported. A message appears if the folder contains assets that are not supported by DVD Studio Pro. The Track pane of DVD Studio Pro Preferences includes a “Find matching audio when dragging” setting.
You can also drag templates and styles from the Palette. Any assets used by the template or style, such as a background video or an asset assigned to a drop zone, are also added to the list in the Assets tab, in a folder named Templates. See Using Templates, Styles, and Shapes to Create Your Menus for more information on using templates and styles. Dragging Assets to the Track Editor You can drag video, audio, and still images to streams in the Track Editor.
Assets Action Multiple still images Creates a slideshow and adds the still images to it. One multiple-layer PSD file Creates a standard menu and sets the file as the background with all layers selected. One folder Creates a slideshow and adds the still images to it. The following table lists the actions when you drag assets to the Menus section title in the Outline tab. Assets Action One video asset Creates a menu and sets the video as its background.
Assets Action One video asset Creates a track and adds the video to stream V1. Multiple video assets Creates a track for each video asset and adds the video to stream V1 on each track. One audio asset Creates a track and adds the audio to stream A1. One video/audio asset pair Creates a track and adds the video to stream V1 and the audio to stream A1. One still image Creates a track and adds the still image to stream V1.
Assets Action Multiple still images Adds the still images at the end of the slideshow. One multiple-layer PSD file Adds the still image at the end of the slideshow, using only the layers set as visible in Photoshop. One folder of images Adds the still images at the end of the slideshow. Removing Selected Assets If you no longer need assets in a project, you can remove them from the Assets tab. Important: The Assets tab only contains links to the actual asset files.
To rename an asset 1 Select the asset in the Assets tab. 2 Change its name by doing one of the following: • Click the asset’s name after the asset has been selected and type a new name. • Enter a new name in the Asset Inspector’s Name field. See Asset Inspector for more information on the Asset Inspector. Refreshing Still and QuickTime Assets It is possible, during the course of creating your project, that you will need to update a still or QuickTime asset.
When used in a menu, there may be issues for you to work with. For example, if the asset is used in a menu also using overlays, you may have to readjust the button active areas to match any changes you have made to the graphic. The same is true if you have made changes to the layers of a multiple-layer PSD file. Issues with Refreshing QuickTime Assets Changes made to QuickTime assets, which can include video, audio, or both together, can have large impacts on any project elements that use them.
Opening Assets in Their Editor You can open a selected asset in a different application. This can make it easier for you to update the asset. Note: See Using Motion, LiveType, and Soundtrack Pro Projects for information on opening Motion and LiveType projects. To open an asset in a different application Do one of the following: µ µ Choose File > Asset > Open In Editor or File > Asset > Open With.
To preview an asset 1 Select the asset in the Assets tab. 2 Preview the asset by doing one of the following: • Choose File > Asset > Preview (or press the Space bar). • Control-click the asset, then choose Preview from the shortcut menu. • Double-click the asset. Preview controls You can use the controls in the Viewer tab to pause and stop playback. QuickTime video assets preview in their native format, even if they have been encoded with the integrated MPEG encoder.
• Square Pixels and Rectangular Pixels: You can choose to switch between viewing assets with square pixels or scaled to the video aspect ratio (either 4:3 or 16:9). See Understanding Pixel Differences in Graphics and Video for more information. You can also press P to toggle the pixel display type. • Show Single Field: This setting optimizes playback when using field-based video sources. This is especially important with video that has fast motion because it will reduce the motion artifacts.
Introduction to Creating Menus 12 Menus are the backbone of your project. To ensure a positive experience for the viewer, it’s important to create menus that provide logical navigation and a consistent experience. This chapter covers the following: • About Menus (p. 219) • About the Menu Editor (p. 224) • Starting and Working with a Menu (p.
The menu creation methods differ primarily in how each button’s states are displayed. Each button in a menu has three states: • Normal: How the button looks when not in the selected or activated state • Selected: How the button looks when you navigate to it using the DVD player’s arrow buttons • Activated: How the button looks after you navigate to it and press Enter.
The drawback of the standard method is that using overlays limits your creativity when showing the different states of a button. While the normal state of a button can be a full 24-bit image, you can only use up to four colors (as defined by the DVD-Video specification) to modify the normal image to show the selected and activated states. Because one of these colors is typically used as a transparent background color, that leaves only three colors.
Working with 16:9 Menus When using 16:9 menus in your project, you need to be aware of several things. How the Menu Will Be Displayed on a 4:3 Monitor Be sure to choose the proper display mode in the Menu tab of the Menu Inspector. Also, a default Display Mode setting in DVD Studio Pro Preferences sets all new menus, tracks, and slideshows to the proper display mode. The options include 4:3, 16:9 Pan-Scan, 16:9 Letterbox, and 16:9 Pan-Scan & Letterbox.
If you set a menu’s background asset to something that is non-standard, for example, a still that is 800 x 600, the menu’s resolution changes to the highest resolution that is smaller than the non-standard size (in this example, full D1, which is 720 x 480 for NTSC or 720 x 576 for PAL), and the image is scaled to fit. If you set a menu’s background to something that is smaller than full D1, it is scaled up to the full D1 size.
About the Menu Editor The Menu Editor is contained in the Menu tab. It displays the menu graphics in either a 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio (depending on what is set in the Menu tab in the Menu Inspector). There are also several buttons and pop-up menus that let you select what appears in the editor and provide tools that help with the menu creation process. Choose a menu to configure. Open this pop-up menu to choose a menu language. Open to configure additional Menu Editor settings.
µ Press Command-R. Using Menu Guides You can create horizontal and vertical guides to assist you while creating your menu. The guides are useful when lining up buttons or text on a menu. You can create as many guides as you need, reposition them, and remove them. The guides include a snapping feature that makes it easy to position menu items. The Alignment pane in DVD Studio Pro Preferences contains configuration settings for the guides. These settings include whether the guides are shown and their color.
Using Dynamic Guides In addition to the menu guides, there are also dynamic guides that automatically appear as you drag menu objects. Dynamic guides make it easy to align menu objects with each other and with the menu’s center. As you move a menu object around, lines appear and the object snaps into position whenever one of its edges or its center is in alignment with another object’s edge or center or the menu’s center.
µ To deselect all items, press Command-Shift-A. Once you have the objects selected, you can align them. To use the align objects feature 1 Select the group of objects to align. Note: The last object you select is the reference object that the others align to. 2 Do one of the following: • Choose Arrange > Align Objects, then choose the alignment to use (Top, Center, Bottom, Left, Middle, or Right).
Menu Editor Pop-Up Menus The top of the Menu Editor contains several pop-up menus. • View: Choose the menu you want to open in the Menu Editor from this pop-up menu. This is an alternative to selecting the menu in the Outline or Graphical tab. • Language selection: Choose a language to configure for this menu from the pop-up menu next to the View pop-up menu. See Using Languages with Menus for more information. • Settings: Contains a variety of settings that control what you see in the Menu Editor.
Menu Editor Tools The lower part of the Menu Editor contains a variety of buttons. • Arrange controls: These buttons allow you to change the priority of the selected item, letting you control which items have a higher priority by bringing them forward, or by sending lower-priority items to the back. See About Button Numbers for more information. Sends the item to the back, making it the lowest priority. Sends the item’s priority one step back. Moves the item’s priority one step up.
• Button state selections: These buttons allow you to see the selected button in any of the three states (normal, selected, or activated). You can also press W to step through these options. Shows the normal state. Shows the activated state. Shows the selected state. • Button Outlines button: You can turn on button outlines, which show each button’s active area box and the button name.
Starting and Working with a Menu By default, all projects have an empty standard menu for you to start with. You can also add additional menus as needed. Creating a New Menu The following describes how to add a new standard or layered menu to your project. To add a standard menu Do one of the following: µ µ Choose Project > Add to Project > Menu (or press Command-Y). µ Click Add Menu in the toolbar.
Opening a Menu To work with a menu, you need to open the Menu Editor for that menu. You can do so from the Outline tab, the Graphical tab, or within the Menu Editor. To open a menu from the Outline tab 1 Click the Outline tab. 2 Click the disclosure triangle next to Menus to display a list of current menus (if they are not already visible). 3 Select a menu by clicking its name. The menu appears in the Menu Editor, and the Inspector switches to show the menu’s settings.
• Apply a template or style from the Palette. See Applying a Template or Style for details. • Select the assets in the Menu Inspector. See Creating Menus Using the Standard Method or Creating Menus Using the Layered Method for details. Dragging Assets to the Menu Editor One way to add an asset to a menu is to drag the asset to the Menu Editor, and then use the Drop Palette to assign the asset a function. You can drag the asset from the Assets tab, the Palette, or from the Finder.
The options in the Drop Palette depend on the type of asset you are dragging, whether you drag it to a button or an empty area of the menu, and the type of menu (standard or layered). For example, if you drag a video asset to an existing button, the Drop Palette provides the options of linking the video to the button and creating a track for it.
If you drag a QuickTime movie, from a Finder window or the Video tab in the Palette, that contains both video and audio to the Menu Editor, it is treated as if it were a video/audio pair, with both the video and audio being added to the element. Selecting Multiple Menu Items As you create your menus, there will be times when you need to select multiple menu items, such as buttons, drop zones, or text objects, so that they can all be moved, deleted, or have an attribute applied.
2 Press the Option key, then drag the items to their new position. If multiple items are selected, they all move as a group, maintaining their relationships to each other. Using Copy, Cut, and Paste You can use the Copy and Paste commands to copy items within a menu and between menus. To copy one or more items using the Copy and Paste commands 1 Select the items to be copied. 2 Choose Edit > Copy (or press Command-C). This copies the selected items to the Clipboard. The selected items are not affected.
µ To move the item by dragging with snapping and the dynamic guides temporarily disabled Press Command, then drag the item. To move the item using the arrow keys Do one of the following: µ µ µ Select the item and press the arrow keys to move it one pixel at a time. Press Shift and the arrow keys to move it 10 pixels at a time. Press Shift-Option and the arrow keys to move it 20 pixels at a time.
Verifying Button Connections Each button’s Target setting (set in the Button Inspector) states its connection. Sometimes, however, the names of the various project elements can make it easy to choose a target that is not the one intended. For this reason, it’s important to verify the connections are correct.
When you create a chapter index menu, a Choose Template or Layout Style dialog appears. You use this dialog to select a template or layout style to provide the template for what the menu will look like.
DVD Studio Pro includes several templates and layout styles you can choose from, and you can also create some of your own. See Using Templates, Styles, and Shapes to Create Your Menus to learn more about templates and styles. About the First Marker Button in a Chapter Index Menu DVD Studio Pro automatically adds the first marker to all tracks. It is named “Start” when the track is created by dragging a video asset to the Menu Editor.
Creating Menus Using the Standard Method 13 Standard menus provide the most flexibility when you create menus. You can choose to use static or full-motion backgrounds, audio, text objects, and drop zones. This chapter covers the following: • About Standard Menus (p. 242) • Choosing the Menu’s Background (p. 243) • Choosing the Menu’s Overlay (p. 246) • Understanding Color Mapping (p. 248) • Configuring the Menu Inspector for Standard Menus (p. 256) • Adding Buttons to Your Menu (p.
About Standard Menus When creating a menu using the standard method, you have a wide variety of options: • Choosing the background: You need to assign an asset as the menu background. This can be a still graphic or a full-motion video image. It can contain art and text that represents the buttons, or it can be plain, relying on an overlay, shapes, drop zones, and the Menu Editor’s text capability to provide background and button art.
About Menu Rendering Depending on how you create your standard menus, they may have to be rendered into an MPEG-2 video asset when you build your project. The menu must be rendered if it uses any of the following: • Assets assigned to a button • Shapes • Drop zones • Text objects • SIF (MPEG-1 or MPEG-2), 1/2 D1, or cropped D1 video Standard menus that only use a background (whether still or video), an overlay, and one or more audio files do not get rendered.
For best quality, be sure your graphic: • Matches the menu’s resolution and aspect ratio (4:3 or 16:9): If you are creating 16:9 menus in SD projects, or with the 720 x 480p, 720 x 576p, or 1440 x 1080i HD resolutions in HD projects, be sure the graphic is anamorphic. See Creating Graphics to Use in Menus and Choosing an Aspect Ratio for details. • Conforms to the broadcast video color space: Graphics that look stunning in your graphics program can look very different when viewed on DVD.
2 Choose a background from the Background pop-up menu. The selected file appears as the menu background. Assigning a Menu Background by Dragging You can assign a background to a menu by dragging the asset from the Assets tab, the Palette, or a Finder window. To assign a menu background by dragging it to the Menu Editor 1 Select the menu in the Outline or Graphical tab or choose it from the Menu Editor’s View pop-up menu to display it in the Menu Editor.
4 Select the checkboxes next to the layers that make up the background. Select these checkboxes to make the layers part of the background. Choosing the Menu’s Overlay The second step in creating a menu is to choose its overlay (if you are using one). The overlay is a graphic that defines what kind of highlight appears when the viewer selects each button using the DVD player’s remote control, and where each button’s highlights occur on the menu.
The Mapping Type setting in the Menu Inspector’s Colors tab indicates the type of overlay you are using. If colors other than those specified are present in the overlay, they are mapped to their closest equivalents, which can produce surprising results. Use care to include only the specified colors when creating your overlays. See Creating Overlays for details on creating overlay graphics, including the color values used by the chroma and grayscale mapping types.
Choosing a Menu Overlay from a Layered Photoshop File You can choose a layer from an Adobe Photoshop format (PSD) file to use as the menu overlay. One PSD file can supply backgrounds and overlays for several menus. To choose a menu overlay from a PSD file 1 Either create a new menu or select an existing one. 2 Click the General tab in the Menu Inspector. 3 Assign the PSD asset as the menu’s overlay by doing one of the following: • Choose it from the Overlay File pop-up menu in the Menu Inspector.
Both simple and advanced overlays use the same color mapping palette and color mapping sets. When you map a color in a simple overlay, you are also mapping the color to the black overlay color in the advanced overlay. You can use simple overlay mapping for some buttons and advanced overlay mapping for other buttons on the same menu. Color Mapping Palette The DVD specification allows a single 16-color palette to be assigned to each menu.
In the Colors tab in the Menu Inspector, clicking the Save as Default button makes this set of colors the DVD Studio Pro default palette, and it will be used in all menus and projects created from now on (until it is changed again). Clicking Restore to Default overrides any changes you have made to this palette and sets it to match the default palette. Note: Although they are identical in how they appear and work, the Color Palette used for subtitles is independent of the one used for menus.
The illustration below shows a menu with six buttons. The menu uses the three color mapping sets to group buttons with similar functions. Play Movie Select Scene Cast Bios Trailers Credits OK! Color map set 1 Color map set 1 Color map set 1 Color map set 1 OK! OK! OK! OK! Bonus OK! Color map set 2 Color map set 3 Using Simple Overlay Color Mapping Simple overlays have one color setting for each button state (normal, selected, and activated).
• To set the opacity: Either enter a new value in the fields to the right of the Opacity slider, or drag the sliders. The values range from 0 (completely transparent) to 15 (completely opaque). Select Simple or Advanced, depending on the overlay you are using. Select the color mapping set to configure. Set the highlight’s opacity. Choose a color for each button state. Set the normal color settings based on whether the background includes the normal button graphics.
Because advanced overlays can have up to four colors, you’re more likely to use them to create the normal button states (in addition to the selected and activated states) than you would be with a simple overlay. The following sections describe strategies you can use for each button state. Normal State Normal settings determine what a button looks like when not selected or activated. They apply to the entire overlay graphic, not just the areas identified by the button active areas.
This overlay uses a white background, main text that is dark gray, a light gray checkmark, and a black “OK!” Using color mapping, you can control how each of these elements appears in each of the three states.
8 Set the normal color settings based on whether the background includes the normal button graphics. • If normal button graphics are included in the background: Set the opacity for each overlay color to 0 (completely transparent). • If normal graphics are not included in the background: Set the opacity and select the color for each overlay color so that the buttons appear as desired.
If the overlay should not appear in the normal selection state, set the opacity settings to 0 for each overlay color. 8 Select Selected and Activated under Selection State and set the highlight color settings for the selected and activated states. Set the color and opacity settings using the same method used in step 7. You will not see these settings take effect until you create buttons on the menu.
General Tab in the Menu Inspector for Standard Menus The General tab in the Menu Inspector is divided into four sections: The upper section contains basic menu settings, the next section contains settings for motion menus and menu timeout actions, the next section contains the overlay selection settings, and the bottom section contains the audio file settings.
• Single Field: Optimizes playback when using field-based video sources. This is especially important with video that has fast motion, and will reduce any motion artifacts. Selecting Single Field with frame-based video sources results in reduced resolution (edges may appear jagged). • At End: Sets the motion menu action when the End time is reached during playback. Choose one of these settings: • Still: Freezes the video’s last frame once the video asset finishes playing.
• Add (+): Opens the file selection dialog, allowing you to add one or more audio files to the menu. • Delete (–): Removes the selected audio file from the menu. • Total Audio Duration: Shows the combined duration of all audio files assigned to the menu. Menu Tab in the Menu Inspector for Standard Menus Most settings in the Menu tab in the Menu Inspector are optional.
• Resolution: Choose the menu’s resolution. • For SD projects: The resolution is either 720 x 480i (NTSC) or 720 x 576i (PAL). • For HD projects: You can choose from any of the supported resolutions. DVD Studio Pro Preferences includes a setting for the default resolution. The resolution automatically changes to match the menu’s background video resolution if it matches one of the supported resolutions.
Transition Tab in the Menu Inspector for Standard Menus The Transition tab is used to configure a button transition for this menu. See Transition Tab in the Menu and Button Inspectors for details on this tab. Colors Tab in the Menu Inspector with Simple Selected The following settings are available in the Colors tab in the Menu Inspector when you select the simple overlay color mode. Select Simple or Advanced, depending on the overlay you are using. Select the color mapping set to configure.
• Set: Select the color mapping set (1, 2, or 3) to configure. You cannot assign sets to buttons from the Menu Inspector; you must select a button or group of buttons and select their set in the Button Inspector. All new buttons use set 1. Note: These sets apply only to the selected and activated states of the buttons. The normal state color mapping setting applies to the entire overlay graphic unless a button’s active area is selected or activated. See Color Mapping Sets for more information.
Colors Tab in the Menu Inspector with Advanced Selected The following settings are available in the Colors tab in the Menu Inspector when you select the advanced overlay color mode. Select Simple or Advanced, depending on the overlay you are using. Select the mapping type used for the overlay graphic. Select the button state. Select the color mapping set to configure. Set the highlight’s opacity. Choose the colors to map to each overlay graphic color. Shows the overlay graphic’s colors.
Note: These sets apply only to the selected and activated states. The normal state color mapping setting applies to the entire overlay graphic unless a button’s active area is selected or activated. • Key: Shows the overlay file’s colors as selected with the Mapping Type. • Color: Choose the color for each of the four overlay colors from this pop-up menu, which displays the current Color Palette. You must do this for all three button states. • Opacity: Set the opacity for each of the highlight colors.
Playback Options Settings • Pre-Script: Choose a script to run before the menu appears. This script can decide whether to show the menu or configure the DVD player before showing it. See Pre-Scripts for information on pre-scripts. • DVD@CCESS: Selecting this checkbox allows you to add DVD@CCESS links, which provide additional functionality to your title when played on a computer. See DVD@CCESS for more information.
Creating and Modifying Button Active Areas While you can create a button’s active area without a background or overlay assigned, most of the time you will need to assign them first so you know where to place the button active areas. See Creating Menus Using the Standard Method and Creating Menus Using the Layered Method for details on assigning these files.
Viewing the Selected and Activated States You can view the highlights for all three button states when you have a button selected. This makes it easy to see how the color mapping settings interact with the overlay. To view and set highlights for a button 1 In the Menu Editor, choose Display Composite from the Settings pop-up menu. The Menu Editor displays both the background and the overlay based on the color mapping settings.
• Create a button active area, then select the shape from the Button Inspector. When you drag a shape from the Palette, it appears at its actual size, as created in the graphics program. When you add a shape by assigning it to an active area, it is scaled to fit the area, which can make it appear squashed or stretched. Dragging a Shape from the Palette The Palette offers three groups of shapes and shows you thumbnails of all the shapes you have to choose from.
4 To add the shape to any empty part of the menu, drag it to the Menu Editor. If you hover over the area for a second, the Drop Palette appears, where you can choose to create a button or drop zone. See Adding Drop Zones to Your Menu for additional information about drop zones. 5 To apply the shape to an existing button, select the button in the Menu Editor, then do one of the following: • Click Apply in the Palette. • Drag the shape to the button.
To make a copy of a button 1 Select the button to be copied in the Menu Editor. 2 Hold down the Option key, then drag the button’s copy to its new location. The copy is automatically given the same name as the original, with a number added to distinguish it. The copy has all the same properties as the original, including its Target and navigation settings. Setting a Button’s Connection The main purpose of a button is to provide a way for the viewer to jump to a new disc location.
µ To set a button’s connection using the shortcut menu Control-click the button whose connection you want to set, choose Target from the shortcut menu, then choose the element to connect to from the submenus. A checkmark appears next to the currently selected target. Those elements that can have a pre-script assigned to them (menus, tracks, stories, and slideshows) are listed in square brackets.
There are four tabs in the Button Inspector: Style, Advanced, Colors, and Transition. See the following sections for details: • Settings at the Top of the Button Inspector • Style Tab in the Button Inspector • Advanced Tab in the Button Inspector • Colors Tab in the Button Inspector • Transition Tab in the Button Inspector Settings at the Top of the Button Inspector There are three settings at the top of the Button Inspector.
Style Tab in the Button Inspector The Style tab of the Button Inspector contains the most commonly used settings. • Asset: Use this pop-up menu to assign an asset to the thumbnail of the shape (if present) or, when there is no shape, to the button’s active area. You can choose any existing applicable assets. • Start Frame: When the asset assigned to this button is a video clip, this area displays the video.
• Opacity: Use this slider or enter a numeric value to set the selected highlight’s transparency from 0 (completely transparent) to 15 (completely opaque). Note: The Selected Highlight and Opacity settings affect the black color mapping settings for the selected color mapping highlight set. These settings affect all buttons on this menu, including overlay buttons, that use the same color mapping set.
Advanced Tab in the Button Inspector The Advanced tab of the Button Inspector contains settings you can use to fine-tune a button. • Navigation: The pop-up menus in this area let you set the actions that take place when the viewer uses the arrow buttons on the DVD player’s remote control to navigate around the title. Because this is the typical way the title will be viewed, it is important to spend some time configuring the navigation in a logical, predictable way.
• Invisible: Applies to overlay-based buttons. This option allows you to have a button that does not display highlights in the normal, selected, or activated state. This is useful when you want to have a menu with text and no visible buttons. The text could tell the viewer to press the Enter button to go to the next menu or start playback (or whatever the button is set to jump to).
Transition Tab in the Button Inspector The Transition tab is used to configure a button transition for this button. See Transition Tab in the Menu and Button Inspectors for details on this tab. About Button Numbers Each time you add a button to a menu, in addition to its name (which you can change), it is assigned a number (which you cannot directly change) based on the order in which you added it to the menu.
When you Control-click a button, a shortcut menu appears that allows you to rearrange the button order (and also set other button properties). There are also four buttons along the bottom of the Menu Editor (the Arrange controls) that allow you to rearrange the button order. Sends the item to the back, making it the lowest priority. Sends the item’s priority one step back. Moves the item’s priority one step up. Brings the item to the front, making it the highest priority.
• Bring to Front: Makes the selected button the highest priority button on the menu. All buttons that were above it move down one number. You can also press Command-Shift-F to bring it to the front. The priority is generally not important unless you overlap your buttons or you intend to use this layout as a style for creating chapter index menus. (Overlapping is discouraged; see About Overlapping Buttons for more information.
The button’s active area extends to include the text if you choose to include the text in the highlight. Use care to ensure that the active area does not inadvertently overlap other buttons on the menu. Setting the Button Text’s Font and Color A button’s text can use a mix of colors and fonts. To change the text font and color 1 Select the text you want to change. 2 Do one of the following to open the Font panel: • Choose Format > Font > Show Fonts (or press Command-T). • Click Fonts in the toolbar.
4 In the Style tab in the Button Inspector, choose Center for the Position, and select Include Text in Highlight. 5 Adjust the size of the button’s active area so that it fits the text. You can now set the button’s selected and activated highlights as you would any simple overlay graphic.
DVD Studio Pro includes three methods for setting button navigation: • Dragging: In the Menu Editor, you can Command-Option-drag the resize handle on each button’s edge to the button it should navigate to. • Manually: You can manually set each button’s navigation using the Navigation section in the Button Inspector’s Advanced tab. • Auto Assign: You can use the Auto Assign feature in the Menu Editor. This sets the navigation for all buttons on the menu at the same time.
The biggest drawback to setting navigation this way is that, unless you verify the connections carefully, you can easily miss setting all four edges of all buttons, resulting in some peculiar navigation. Setting Button Navigation Manually with the Button Inspector You can manually set each button’s navigation using the Button Inspector. You can also change a button’s navigation that has been set with the Auto Assign feature. To manually set button navigation 1 Select a button.
Auto Assign uses the following rules when configuring the navigation: • It assigns every button a navigation setting. This is an advantage, because you may accidentally skip a button when manually assigning navigation, resulting in orphaned buttons. • The navigation loops through all buttons. When you reach the edge of a menu and press the same arrow button on the remote again, you jump to the menu buttons in the next row at the opposite edge.
The illustration above shows the path for a menu intended for viewers familiar with right-to-left reading. Note that the difference is in what happens when you reach a menu edge; when you are not on an edge, the arrow buttons work the same in both reading modes. Adding Drop Zones to Your Menu Drop zones are similar to buttons; you can assign an asset to them, move them around, and change their size.
The name of the button is “Button _,” with “_” being the next available number. Once you have created a drop zone, you can drag an asset to the drop zone, or select an asset in the Drop Zone Inspector. See Working with Assets in Buttons and Drop Zones for more information. Setting Drop Zone Properties The Drop Zone Inspector appears once you create a drop zone. It contains basic settings for configuring the drop zone. • Name: Enter a name for the drop zone.
• Shadow: Select this checkbox to apply the menu’s drop shadow setting to this drop zone. • Coordinates & Size: This area lets you set the location of each edge of the drop zone, plus the drop zone’s height and width. The upper-left corner of the menu is at pixel 0, line 0. You can enter values for each edge, allowing you to precisely position and size the drop zone. (You can also drag the drop zone and each of its edges with the pointer.
Working with Assets in Buttons and Drop Zones A button’s or drop zone’s active area aspect ratio may not match the aspect ratio of the asset assigned to it. In these situations, part of the asset ends up being cropped off. You have two options for working with the asset: • You can leave the active area’s aspect ratio as it is, and move the asset to control which part of it is cropped off. • You can force the active area’s aspect ratio to match the asset’s aspect ratio.
To add a text object to a menu 1 Double-click the menu where you want to add a text object. You will be able to move the object later, so the actual position is not critical. 2 Start typing the text. As you type, the text appears on the menu, with a handle on each end. To create a new line, press the Return key, or press Enter to exit the text entry mode. The Text Object Inspector appears.
5 Choose the color to use. You can also add bold, italic, and underline attributes to the text. Note: The bold and italic attributes are available only if the current font supports them. To apply bold, italic, and underline attributes 1 Select the text you want to change. 2 Choose Format > Font > Bold (or press Command-B) to add the bold attribute. 3 Choose Format > Font > Italic (or press Command-I) to add the italic attribute.
µ To change a text object’s priority Control-click it, then choose an option from the shortcut menu. See About Button Numbers for more information. Note: Text objects, drop zones, and buttons are included in the same priority list; a text object can have a higher priority, and thus cover up, a button or drop zone. Adding Audio to a Menu All menus created with the standard method, including menus with still backgrounds, can have one or more associated audio files.
To manage the audio files assigned to a menu Do one of the following: µ µ µ To set the order of the audio files, drag them in the file list. To remove audio files, select them and click the Delete (-) button. To hear the audio Click the Motion button in the Menu Editor. If there is a still image as the menu’s background, you can use the motion settings in the Menu Inspector’s General tab to set the start and end points of the audio.
Setting the Drop Shadow Properties Once you have enabled drop shadows on one or more menu items, you can start adjusting the drop shadow settings. Note: You will not see the drop shadow if any of the settings are at 0.0. • Angle: A rotary control that sets the direction of the drop shadow. The control’s indicator points in the drop shadow’s direction. Rotate the indicator to the desired direction. You can also enter an angle value.
Clicking the button starts motion menu playback. Clicking it a second time stops playback. You can also press Command-J to turn the playback on and off. Unlike a similar button in iDVD, this button does not determine whether or not this menu is a motion menu. It only controls whether the motion menu plays while you are working on it. Once you add motion assets to a menu, it is a motion menu.
This setting also defines when the button highlights appear—the viewer cannot navigate the menu’s buttons until the loop point is reached. Additionally, the Loop Point setting controls the video used for the menu’s tile in the Graphical tab. If you are creating your menu background video in an application such as Motion or Final Cut Pro, you can set a chapter marker named “MenuLoopPoint” to define the loop point.
When the end is reached during playback, either all assets stop and display their last frame as a still image (At End set to Still), or the playback jumps to the Loop, if available, or Start setting. If any assets assigned to the menu reach their end before the menu reaches the End setting, they are looped back to their start to keep playing. Duration Setting You can use the Duration setting to set the menu’s duration. It is equal to the End setting minus the Start setting.
Drop Palette options Actions Set Background (default option) • Uses the video as this menu’s background. • Assigns matching audio as the menu’s audio. Create Button and Track • • • • • • Create Button This option does not create a track or link the button to anything. Creates a button at this menu location. Assigns this video to the button’s thumbnail. Creates a new track with this video. Assigns matching audio as the track’s audio. Names the track the same as the video asset.
Drop Palette options Actions Set Asset and Create Track • • • • • • Create Track The button’s thumbnail image does not change. • • • • Set Asset and Create Chapter Index Assigns this video to the button’s thumbnail. Creates a new track with this video. Assigns matching audio as the track’s audio. Names the track the same as the video asset. Adds a link from the button to the first marker of the new track. Sets the new track’s End Jump setting to this menu. Creates a new track with this video.
Drop Palette options Actions Set Asset (default option) • Sets this video to be the drop zone’s asset. Create Button and Track The drop zone is unaffected. • • • • • • Creates a button on top of the drop zone. Assigns this video to the button’s thumbnail. Creates a new track with this video. Assigns matching audio as the track’s audio. Names the track the same as the video asset. Adds a link from the new button to the first marker of the new track. • Sets the new track’s End Jump setting to this menu.
Drop Palette options Actions Set Background and Audio (default option) • Sets this video to be the menu’s background. • Sets this audio to be the menu’s audio. Create Button and Track • • • • • Create Button and Chapter Index Use this option with video that has had chapter markers added with Compressor, Final Cut Express, or Final Cut Pro. If the menu contains no buttons, drop zones, or text objects, this option changes to Create Chapter Index.
Drop Palette options Actions Set Asset and Create Chapter Index Use this option with video that has had chapter markers added with Compressor, Final Cut Express, or Final Cut Pro. • • • • • • Creates a track and adds the chapter markers and audio to it. Names the track the same as the video asset. Sets the new track’s End Jump setting to this menu. Links the button to the first of the new chapter index menus. Sets this video to be the button’s thumbnail image.
Drop Palette options Actions Create Drop Zone • Creates a drop zone at this menu location and assigns this picture to it. Create Submenu • • • • Creates a button at this menu location. Assigns this picture to the button’s thumbnail. Creates a new menu with this picture as the background. Adds a link from the new button to the new menu.
Drop Palette options Actions Create Buttons This option does not create any menus or link the buttons to anything. • Creates a button for each picture, and assigns each picture as its thumbnail. Create Submenus • • • • Creates a button for each picture. Assigns each picture as its button’s asset. Creates new menus with each picture as their backgrounds. Adds a link from the new buttons to the new menus.
Drop Palette options Actions Create Standard Submenu Once set, you can disable layers for the new menu in the Menu Inspector. • Creates a button at this menu location. • Assigns this picture to the button’s thumbnail, using the layers left visible by the graphics application. • Creates a new standard menu with this picture as the background, with all layers visible. • Adds a link from the new button to the new menu.
Drop Palette options Actions Create Button (default option) • Creates a button at this menu location. • Assigns the video from the first video clip of stream 1 to the new button’s thumbnail. • Adds a link from the new button to the first marker of the track. • Sets the track’s End Jump setting to this menu (if it has not already been set). Create Button and Chapter Index If the menu contains no buttons, drop zones, or text objects, this option changes to Create Chapter Index.
Drop Palette options Actions Set Asset and Create Chapter Index • Links the button to the first of the new chapter index menus. • Sets this track to be the button’s thumbnail image. • Creates one or more new chapter index menus, depending on the number of markers and the button layout used. • Opens the Choose Template or Layout Style dialog so you can choose the template or layout style to use for the chapter index menus. • Links each chapter marker from the track to buttons on the chapter index menus.
Drop Palette options Actions Set Asset (default option) • Sets the video from the story’s first video clip to be the button’s thumbnail image. • Adds a link from the button to the story’s first video clip. • Sets the story’s End Jump setting to this menu (if it has not already been set). Connect to Story The button’s thumbnail does not change. • Adds a link from the button to the story’s first video clip. • Sets the story’s End Jump setting to this menu (if it has not already been set).
Dragging a Slideshow to a Button The following options appear in the Drop Palette: Drop Palette options Actions Set Asset (default option) • Sets the first slide’s image to be the button’s thumbnail. • Adds a link from the button to the slideshow. • Sets the slideshow’s End Jump setting to this menu (if it has not already been set). Connect to Slideshow The button’s thumbnail does not change. • Adds a link from the button to the slideshow.
Drop Palette options Actions Set Asset (default option) • Sets the menu’s background to be the button’s thumbnail. • Adds a link from the button to the menu. Connect to Menu • Adds a link from the button to the menu. The button’s thumbnail does not change. Dragging a Script to an Empty Area The following option appears in the Drop Palette: Drop Palette options Actions Create Button (default option) • Creates a button at this menu location. • Adds a link from the new button to the script.
Drop Palette options Actions Set Shape (default option) • Assigns this shape to the button or drop zone. Create Button Only available when dragging to a drop zone. The drop zone is unaffected. • Creates a button on top of the drop zone. • Assigns this shape to the button.
Drop Palette options Actions Apply to Button (default option) • Applies this button style to the button. Dragging a Text Style to an Empty Area The following options appear in the Drop Palette: Drop Palette options Actions Create Text Object (default option) • Creates a text object at this menu location. • Assigns this style to the text object. Create Text Object—Set Default Text Style • Creates a text object at this menu location. • Assigns this style to the text object.
Drop Palette options Actions Apply to Menu (default option) • Layout style buttons are only applied to existing buttons (no new buttons are created). An exception is if the menu has no buttons, in which case all buttons from the layout style will be added. Apply to Menu—Add All Buttons • Layout style buttons are all applied, replacing existing buttons and adding new ones (if necessary).
Using Templates, Styles, and Shapes to Create Your Menus 14 DVD Studio Pro includes templates and styles that can make it easier to create menus. You can use the supplied templates and styles to quickly produce your menus, or you can make your own templates and styles. This chapter covers the following: • Introduction to Templates, Styles, and Shapes (p. 313) • What Are Templates and Styles? (p. 314) • Templates and Styles in the Palette (p. 316) • Applying a Template or Style (p.
What Are Templates and Styles? Templates and styles both contain properties, such as background assets, button highlights, and text colors, that you use to create a menu. While templates cover all aspects of a menu, styles are targeted to specific areas. Applying a template to a menu can result in a mostly finished menu—you may only need to link the buttons.
The best way to learn what a template contains is to apply it to a menu and look for button, drop zone, and text items. Any menu item that you can assign an image to has a transparent arrowhead assigned by default. These arrows indicate menu items you can assign images to. Most of the templates contain motion backgrounds—be sure to have the menu play in the Menu Editor to see how it is intended to look.
Templates and Styles in the Palette Templates and styles are contained in the Palette’s first two tabs. Click to select the group of templates or styles to display. See Managing Shapes for information on the Shapes tab, and Media Tabs for information on the Audio, Stills, and Video tabs. You can choose either small or large as the size for the thumbnails that appear in the Palette in the General pane of DVD Studio Pro Preferences. See General Preferences for more information on the preferences.
Style Types In addition to the style group you select, when you click the Styles tab in the Palette, you also need to select the type of style. Click to select the style type to display. There are four style types you can choose from: • Buttons: Contains almost all settings (except navigation and jump settings) from the Button Inspector. • Text: Contains the font, size, color, rotation, and default text. • Drop Zones: Contains details about drop zones.
To link a style to a template 1 Control-click a style, then choose Link to Templates from the shortcut menu. A selection dialog that lists all templates appears. 2 Select the checkbox next to all templates that you want to link this style to. Because menus keep track of the last template applied to them, you can open a menu at any time and, by selecting the Current view in the Styles tab, see those styles linked to the menu’s template.
• Asset: The asset file assigned to the button and the timecode setting below the thumbnail. When a button style is applied to an existing button, this asset only appears if the existing button does not already have an asset assigned.
• Shadow: Whether or not the menu’s drop shadow has been enabled for the drop zone • Rotation: The rotation setting used for the drop zone • Motion: Whether or not motion has been enabled for the asset Layout Style Properties Layout styles and templates contain the following properties. • Position/Size: The position and size of all buttons in the layout • Button Assets: The assets assigned to the buttons.
• Motion: The timecode values for the start, loop point, end, and duration settings, as well as the action for the menu’s end • Shadow: The drop shadow settings that the buttons, text objects, and drop zones can use • Display Mode: Whether the menu uses a 4:3,16:9 Pan-Scan, 16:9 Letterbox, or 16:9 Pan-Scan & Letterbox display mode • Resolution: The video resolution of the video background • Transitions: All transitions assigned to the menu and its buttons Applying a Template or Style When you select a temp
Using the Palette’s Apply Button The Palette includes an Apply button that you can use to apply the selected template or style to a menu. When applying button, text, or drop zone styles using the Apply button, the style is applied to all selected items at once. When dragging, you can only apply the style to one item. To apply a template or style using the Apply button 1 Make sure the Menu Editor is displaying the correct menu.
Applying Templates or Layout Styles to a Menu with Buttons When you apply a template or layout style to a menu that already has buttons, you are given the option of adding only enough buttons to replace the existing ones, or of adding all template or layout style buttons. If the menu has more buttons than the template or layout style, all buttons are added with the extra ones on the menu remaining unchanged.
DVD Studio Pro uses the default button style any time you create a button, whether by dragging the pointer in the Menu Editor or dragging an asset to the Menu Editor and choosing an option from the Drop Palette that creates buttons. The default text style is used whenever you add a text object to any menu in a project. You can also set a default text style for each menu. The text style includes the font, its size, and its color. It can also include default text.
3 Do one of the following: • Choose Project > Create in Menu > Template or Project > Create in Menu > Style. • Click Create in the Palette. The Create Template or Create Style dialog opens. The thumbnail of the template or style Enter the name of the template or style. Select Self-Contained to copy the assets in this template or style to its file. Leave unselected to have the template or style reference the assets. Select Project to have this template or style available to only this project.
Locations of Template and Style Files Template and style files are placed in different locations based on whether or not they are project-exclusive. When you import template and style files, they are also copied to these locations. Custom Template and Style Files When you save a template that is not specific to a project, it is placed at the root of your disk, in this location: /Library/Application Support/DVD Studio Pro/Templates. All template files have a “.dsptemplate” extension.
2 Use the import dialog to navigate to the templates or styles you want to import. You can select a single file or multiple files. 3 Select the Project checkbox if you want the template or style to be available to this project only. Deselecting Project makes this template or style available to all projects on this system. 4 Click Import to import the files. To import a template or style using the Palette 1 Click the Templates or Styles tab in the Palette.
2 Do one of the following: • Control-click the item to be deleted, then choose Delete Selected Template or Delete Selected Style from the shortcut menu. • Click Delete at the bottom of the Palette. 3 A dialog appears, warning that deleting this item may affect this and other projects. Click OK. Note: You cannot delete a template or style that contains assets currently in use on a menu. The template or style is deleted.
Managing Shapes The Palette contains a Shapes tab. You can use this tab to view thumbnails of the shapes, drag the shapes to the Menu Editor to use them as buttons or drop zones, and import shapes that you have created. You can choose either small or large as the size for the thumbnails in the Palette in the General pane in DVD Studio Pro Preferences. See General Preferences for more information on the preferences. Two Types of Shapes There are two types of shapes that are available: normal and patches.
Applying a Shape You can apply a shape to an existing button or drop zone (or group of buttons or drop zones) on a menu, or you can create a new button when you apply the shape. The method you use to apply the shape (use the Apply button or drag the shapes) determines what you are able to do. Shapes are sorted into three groups: • Apple: The shapes provided by DVD Studio Pro. These are available to all projects. Note: Not all shapes supplied with DVD Studio Pro support highlights.
Note: You cannot apply the shape to multiple existing buttons or drop zones by dragging. To assign a shape in the Button Inspector 1 In the Menu Editor, select the button to which you want to apply the shape. 2 Click the Style tab in the Button Inspector. 3 Choose a shape group from the Shape pop-up menu, then choose the shape to use from the submenu. A thumbnail of the shape appears in the Button Inspector and the shape is applied to the button.
2 In the selection dialog that appears, locate and select the shape (or shapes) to import. Select if you want the imported shapes to be used only with this project. 3 Select the Project checkbox if you want the shapes to be used only with this project. Deselect the checkbox to make them available to all projects on this system. 4 Click Import. The imported shapes now appear in their group (Project or Custom).
To see the new versions of the shapes, either in places they are already in use or in new places you want to use them, you must save your project, close it, and then open it again. Any older versions of the shapes are updated to the new versions. Deleting a Shape You can delete one or more shapes. To delete a shape 1 In the Palette, select the shape’s group (Apple, Custom, or Project) that contains the shape or shapes to be deleted.
Creating Menus Using the Layered Method 15 The layered method allows you to create independent versions of each button for each of the three states. This gives you great flexibility in changing a button’s appearance when it is selected and activated. This chapter covers the following: • About Layered Menus (p. 335) • Choosing the Menu’s Background (p. 336) • Choosing the Menu’s Overlay (p. 338) • About the Menu Inspector for Layered Menus (p. 338) • Adding Buttons to Your Layered Menu (p.
Choosing the Menu’s Background Layered menus must use the same PSD file for both the menu’s background and the layered buttons. Because of this requirement, only PSD files with multiple layers can be used as backgrounds for layered menus. For best quality, be sure your graphic: • Matches the menu’s resolution and aspect ratio (4:3 or 16:9): If you are creating 16:9 menus in SD projects, or with the 720 x 480p, 720 x 576p, or 1440 x 1080i HD resolutions in HD projects, be sure the graphic is anamorphic.
4 Choose one of the following: • Set Background—All Layers Visible: To show all layers in the file. • Set Background—No Layers Visible: To hide all layers in the file. The background appears in the Menu Editor. You can choose which layers to show in the Menu Inspector. To assign a menu background by dragging it to the Outline or Graphical tab 1 Click the Outline or Graphical tab and select the menu you want to assign the background to.
Choosing the Menu’s Overlay You can use overlays with layered menus as well as with standard menus. Every aspect of using them, from selecting the file and configuring its color mapping, is identical to how you use overlays in a standard menu. See Choosing the Menu’s Overlay for information on adding an overlay to your layered menu. See Understanding Color Mapping for information on configuring color mapping for simple and advanced overlays.
General Tab in the Layered Menu Inspector The General tab in the Layered Menu Inspector is divided into three sections: The upper section contains the menu timeout settings, the middle section contains the background configuration settings, and the lower section contains the overlay configuration settings.
Menu Tab in the Layered Menu Inspector Most settings in the Menu tab in the Layered Menu Inspector are optional. An exception is the Aspect Ratio setting, which must be set correctly for each menu. • Default Button: Choose the button to be selected when the menu appears during playback of the title. This setting can be overridden by any element that jumps to this menu, based on its jump setting, and the Highlight Condition setting.
• Display Mode: Set the aspect ratio for this menu (4:3 or 16:9). With 16:9, you also choose how it will display on a 4:3 monitor. The aspect ratio of the background and overlay must match this setting. See Working with 16:9 Menus for more information. • Number Pad: Defines which buttons are directly accessible by a DVD player’s numeric keypad. Choose All, None, or a button number from the pop-up menu.
Colors Tab in the Layered Menu Inspector The Colors tab is identical to the Menu Inspector for standard menus. See Colors Tab in the Menu Inspector with Simple Selected and Colors Tab in the Menu Inspector with Advanced Selected for information on the Colors tab. Advanced Tab in the Layered Menu Inspector The Advanced tab in the Layered Menu Inspector contains settings that are used only in specialized projects.
Playback Options Settings • Pre-Script: Choose a script to run before the menu appears. This script can decide whether to show the menu or configure the DVD player before showing it. See Pre-Scripts for information on pre-scripts. • DVD@CCESS: Selecting this checkbox allows you to add DVD@CCESS links, which provide additional functionality to your title when played on a computer. See DVD@CCESS for more information.
The Button Inspector appears. 2 Set the button’s connection by choosing an element from the target pop-up menu in the top section of the Button Inspector. 3 Click the Layers tab. A list of all layers in the PSD file appears. The selected button state column The activated button state column The normal button state column 4 Select the checkbox in the Normal column next to the layer to display when this button is not selected or activated. You can select more than one layer.
Settings at the Top of the Layered Button Inspector The top of the Layered Button Inspector has three settings. • Name: By default, buttons manually added to a menu are named “Button _,” where “_” is the button number on that menu. To reduce confusion when viewing a list of the menu’s buttons, it is helpful to rename the buttons based on their functions. Next to the button’s name is its number. This number is based on the order in which the buttons are added to the menu.
• Angle/Audio/Subtitle Streams: Use these three pop-up menus to connect a button to specific audio, subtitle, and angle streams to play back. For the subtitle stream, you can also choose whether subtitles should appear. • Auto Action: If you enable Auto Action for a button, it activates automatically as soon as it is navigated to, without the viewer needing to press Enter.
Layers Tab in the Layered Button Inspector The Layers tab in the Layered Button Inspector lists the layers in the PSD file assigned as the menu’s background. There are three columns of checkboxes—normal (on the left), selected (in the center), and activated (on the right)—next to each layer. For the current button, you select at least one layer to appear when the button is selected, and a second layer to appear when the button is activated.
Transition Tab in the Layered Button Inspector The Transition tab is used to configure a button transition for this button. See Transition Tab in the Menu and Button Inspectors for details on this tab. Options in the Drop Palette for Layered Menus Following are descriptions of the various Drop Palette options that can appear when you drag an asset or element to the Menu Editor. See Viewing the Drop Palette for information on using the Drop Palette options.
Drop Palette for Layered Menus—Dragging Assets The following sections list the choices in the Drop Palette that appear when you drag assets to an empty area or button in a layered menu.
Drop Palette options Actions Create Track (default option) • • • • • Create Chapter Index Use this option with video that has had chapter markers added with Compressor, Final Cut Express, or Final Cut Pro. Creates a new track with this video. Assigns matching audio as the track’s audio. Names the track the same as the video asset. Adds a link from the button to the first marker of the new track. Sets the new track’s End Jump setting to this menu.
Drop Palette options Actions Create Button and Track (default option) • • • • Create Button and Chapter Index Use this option with video that has had chapter markers added with Compressor, Final Cut Express, or Final Cut Pro. Creates a button at this menu location. Creates a new track with this video and audio. Names the track the same as the video asset. Adds a link from the new button to the first marker of the new track. • Sets the new track’s End Jump setting to this menu.
Dragging a Single-Layer Still Picture to an Empty Area The following options appear in the Drop Palette: Drop Palette options Actions Set Overlay (default option) • Uses the picture as this menu’s overlay. Create Standard Submenu • Creates a button at this menu location. • Creates a new standard menu with this picture as the background. • Adds a link from the new button to the new menu.
Drop Palette options Actions Create Standard Submenu (default option) Once set, you can enable layers for the new menu in the Menu Inspector. • Creates a new standard menu with this picture as the background, with no layers visible. • Adds a link from the button to the new menu. Create Layered Submenu Once set, you can enable layers for the new menu in the Menu Inspector. • Creates a new layered menu with this picture as the background, with no layers visible.
Drop Palette options Actions Create Button (default option) • Creates a button at this menu location. • Adds a link from the new button to the first marker of the track. • Sets the track’s End Jump setting to this menu (if it has not already been set). Create Button and Chapter Index • Creates a button on this menu to link to the first of the new chapter index menus. • Creates one or more new chapter index menus (using the standard method), depending on the number of markers and the button layout used.
Drop Palette options Actions Create Button (default option) • Creates a button at this menu location. • Adds a link from the new button to the story. Dragging a Story to a Button The following option appears in the Drop Palette: Drop Palette options Actions Connect to Story (default option) • Adds a link from the button to the story.
Drop Palette options Actions Connect to Slideshow (default option) • Adds a link from the button to the slideshow. • Sets the slideshow’s End Jump setting to this menu (if it has not already been set). Create Chapter Index • Links the button to the first of the new chapter index menus. • Creates one or more new chapter index menus (using the standard method), depending on the number of slides and the button layout used.
Using Advanced Menu Features 16 Adding menu transitions and creating menus for multiple languages are advanced features that can add value to your DVD project. Menu transitions are short video clips that play at the beginning of a menu (intro clips) and when buttons are pressed (transition clips). There are several approaches you can take to add these clips to your project. You can also configure a menu to support up to 16 different languages.
There are three approaches you can take to create a menu intro effect: • Combine the intro clip with the menu’s background video: This method guarantees a seamless transition between the intro clip and the original menu’s background. The Menu Editor includes a Loop Point setting that you can use to control where the menu jumps to when its playback is looped. This allows you to configure the intro clip to play only the first time a menu’s background plays.
You can use the menu transition feature to automatically create the transition clips or you can manually create button transition clips. Using the Menu Transition Feature The menu transition feature makes it easy to automatically create transition clips for all buttons on a menu. You define a transition in the Menu Inspector that is then applied to all buttons and the timeout action (if set).
About the Transition Types DVD Studio Pro includes a variety of Standard and Alpha Transitions you can use with your menus. These same transitions are available in slideshows and tracks with still images. Menus also allow you to specify a video clip to use in place of the Standard Transitions. Disables default transitions for this menu. Standard Transitions Alpha Transitions Video Transition Alpha Transitions DVD Studio Pro includes several Alpha Transitions.
The transition clips use a start and end video frame, with the transition controlling how the video changes from one to the other. • The start frame: This is the menu with all buttons in the normal state. If the menu has a video asset as its background, the loop point frame (or first frame, if the loop point is not set) of the video is used as the start frame. The start frame also includes the menu’s drop zones and text objects.
To modify a button’s transition 1 Select the button to be modified. 2 Click the Transition tab in the Button Inspector. The Transition setting shows “Same as Menu” by default. 3 Choose the transition to use from the Transition pop-up menu. You can choose “not set” to disable transitions for that button. 4 Configure the transition using its specific parameters.
• Video Transition: Uses a video clip you assign to create a transition. See About the Transition Types for more information. • Same as Menu: Only available in the Button Inspector. Sets the current button to use the transition settings in the Menu Inspector. • Preview: Click this to preview the current transition in the Transition thumbnail area. • Parameters area: Contains the parameters, including the duration, for the current transition. Each transition has its own set of parameters.
There are two approaches you can take to create the button transition effect: • Configure the transition clip as its own menu: To do this, you need to create a menu and assign the transition clip as its background. You also need to set the menu’s At End setting to Timeout, enter 0 as the Sec, and set the Action to be the element that the button originally connected to. Then you need to change the original menu’s button connection to this transition menu.
Creating and Configuring Menu Languages There are two approaches you can take to configure menus for multiple languages: • Create the primary language’s menu first, and then create the alternate languages in the Outline tab: When you create the menu languages after you have created the primary menu, all of the primary menu attributes are applied to all language versions of the menu, including those that can be different between the languages.
Configuring Menu Languages in the Outline Tab You can use the Outline tab to configure the menu languages. To configure menu languages using the Outline tab 1 Click the triangle next to Languages to display the available languages. There should be at least one entry. 2 Select the language entry to open the Language Inspector. 3 Choose a language from the Language Code pop-up menu. This is the language that this language element should map to on the DVD player when the title plays.
4 If desired, change the text in any text objects and buttons to what you want to appear for that language. You can also change the font and color for each language. 5 Select any additional languages and set their asset files and text as you like. When you choose a language that you have already configured with alternate assets, the menu’s assets and text change to match those settings.
Creating and Editing Tracks 17 The main content of a DVD project is contained in tracks, which hold pieces of video, audio, and subtitles that play as a unit. This chapter covers the following: • About Track Limits in a DVD (p. 370) • Working with a Track’s Assets (p. 370) • How Many Tracks Should You Have? (p. 371) • About Subtitle Streams (p. 371) • DVD Studio Pro Tools for Working with Tracks (p. 371) • Creating Tracks (p. 372) • Opening Tracks (p. 373) • Setting Track Properties (p.
• About the Marker Types (p. 399) • Setting Marker Properties (p. 401) • Introduction to Stories (p. 403) • Creating a Story for a Track (p. 404) • Using the Story Editor (p. 404) • Setting Story Properties (p. 405) • Setting Story Entry Properties (p. 407) • Simulating a Story (p. 407) • Adding Alternate Video Streams (p. 408) • Using Still Clip Transitions (p. 410) • Viewing a Track (p. 413) About Track Limits in a DVD A DVD can have a combination of up to 99 tracks, stories, and slideshows.
You need to use a video editing application to add effects such as dissolves, wipes, and keys to the video. With this kind of editor, you can precisely choose each clip’s start and end points—the trimming capability of DVD Studio Pro is restricted to Group of Pictures (GOP) boundaries only, making it much harder to trim a clip exactly where you would like. Also, DVD Studio Pro can’t mix multiple audio assets together as you can with an editor.
• The Track Editor is where you add and manage your video and audio assets, as well as your subtitles. You can also add markers for use as chapter points and other functions. There is also a Marker Inspector you use when working with markers and a Clip Inspector you use when working with individual clips within a track. Note: An asset used within a track is considered a clip. This distinguishes what is used in the track (which may be just a part of the asset) from the original asset.
Opening Tracks To configure a track, you need to open it in the Track Editor. You can select the track you want to work with in the Outline tab, the Graphical tab, or the Track Editor. To open a track in the Track Editor Do one of the following: µ µ Double-click the track you want to configure in the Outline or Graphical tab. Choose the track from the Track Editor’s Track pop-up menu. The track appears in the Track Editor and the Track Inspector changes to display its properties.
General Tab in the Track Inspector The General tab in the Track Inspector contains the following settings. • Resolution: Choose the track’s resolution. • For SD projects: The resolution is either 720 x 480i (NTSC) or 720 x 576i (PAL). • For HD projects: You can choose from any of the supported resolutions, as long as no video assets have been assigned to the track. You cannot change the resolution once a video asset has been assigned to the track.
• Display Condition: Select this checkbox to set display conditions to control whether this track should appear or not, and to define what should appear if not this track. See Display Condition for more information. Select the Apply to Stories checkbox to also have these display conditions apply to stories based on this track. Other Tab in the Track Inspector The Timestamps settings in the Other tab in the Track Inspector applies to both SD and HD projects.
User Operations Tab in the Track Inspector The User Operations tab is the same as those in other DVD Studio Pro Inspectors, and is discussed in User Operations. Transition Tab in the Track Inspector The Transition tab is the same used in the Clip Inspector when a still clip is selected. See Transition Tab in the Track and Clip Inspectors for details on the Transition tab.
About the Track Editor The streams are the heart of the Track Editor. In these parallel areas, you define the video, audio, and subtitle assets to be used in your tracks, and their relationship to one another. Displays the track’s time and marker information. Drag the separator bars to set how many video, audio, and subtitle streams appear. Scroll through the timeline to view different parts. The left side of the Track Editor contains the controls to configure the streams.
Viewing the Streams A track can contain up to 49 streams total, but viewing this many streams at once requires some effort. It’s unlikely that you’ll need to view more than ten streams at once; depending on the types of projects you create, you may use only two or three streams. There are three ways to control how many streams appear. • You can change the size of the Track Editor’s quadrant. You can even drag the Track tab into its own window. See Working with the Quadrants for more information.
Setting the Timeline Zoom The Track tab contains a zoom control you can use to expand or contract the timeline. When working with large projects, you often need to be able to expand the timeline in order to set a marker or insert a subtitle. Using the zoom control in conjunction with the scroller at the bottom of the timeline allows you to configure the timeline so that it provides enough detail to work with. Drag the ends of the scroller to zoom in or out.
Understanding Time Information in the Track Editor There are a variety of time-related elements that appear in the Track Editor. Some only display time information while others allow you to change the information. The time values help you identify the position of markers, clips, the playhead, and the pointer within the video, audio, and subtitle streams. Sets the start and end time of the selected clip with respect to the timeline. Shows the playhead’s position, and can be used to move it.
If you choose the asset-based timecode source, you can also choose whether to use the clip’s timecode or a value you enter. To configure the asset-based timecode source 1 Choose Asset-Based Timecode as the timecode source for the Track Editor’s timeline. 2 Click the Other tab in the Track Inspector. If the Inspector is not showing the track properties, select the track’s name in the Outline tab, its tile in the Graphical tab, or click an empty area in any of the Track Editor streams.
Clip Start and End Timecode Timecode start and end values appear when you select a clip (video, audio, or subtitle) in one of the streams. These values indicate the position of the clip with respect to the timeline’s selected timecode source. Depending on the stream, you can enter new start values to reposition the clip or new end values to trim the clip’s size. Shows the clip’s timeline timecode for its first frame. You can move the clip (on streams other than video) by entering a new Start timecode.
A playhead icon appears in the timeline scroller area to let you know where it is relative to the part of the timeline being shown, which is useful if you cannot see the playhead in the Track Editor. For example, if the playhead icon appears to the left of the scroller, that means the playhead is at a point in time before the clips currently visible in the timeline. The playhead appears in the timeline’s scroller.
• Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys: Move the playhead to the next clip edge (includes all clips in all streams) or marker. • Home and End keys: Move the playhead to the start or end of the timeline. See Keyboard Shortcuts for a complete list of keyboard shortcuts. Positioning the Playhead by Entering a Timecode Value You can also set the playhead’s position by entering a timecode value in the playhead position entry. The playhead jumps to its new position. Enter a timecode to move the playhead to.
About Segmented MPEG Files The segmented MPEG files created by some third-party encoders do not import correctly into DVD Studio Pro. Some encoders segment their large encoded files into 1 GB files. When imported into DVD Studio Pro, only the first 1 GB segment is imported. You need to combine the files into a single file before importing the asset into DVD Studio Pro. There are several third-party applications that can be used to combine a segmented MPEG file into a single file.
Using AAC Audio Files from the iTunes Store DVD Studio Pro is able to import and use AAC format audio files purchased from the iTunes Store as long as the computer you are using them on is authorized to use them. If you import iTunes Store files that the computer is not authorized to use, DVD Studio Pro plays silence when it encounters those files.
Adding AC-3 Audio Assets AC-3 audio assets are the only DVD Studio Pro–supported audio asset type that actually have embedded timecode. This can help when you want to maintain sync between the video and audio. µ To add an AC-3 asset using its timecode Hold down the Option key, then drag the AC-3 audio file from the Assets tab to an audio stream in the Track Editor.
Copies of the original clip take up as much disc space as the original clip. If the size of your project is an issue, you may want to simply reuse the original clip by setting markers and creating scripts to access the clip from another project element. Viewing a Clip’s Properties When you select a clip in one of the Track Editor’s video or audio streams, the Clip Inspector appears.
• Clip Start Trim: Choose the part of the asset that the clip should use. Enter an amount of time by which to trim the clip’s beginning. This affects the clip’s overall length. When you enter a new Clip Start Time, the clip repositions itself on the timeline so that it begins at the same time, with the clip’s end moving to its new position. • Duration: Shows the clip’s length. You can enter a new length to trim the end of the clip.
Editing Video and Audio Clips You can trim the start and end of a clip, which is useful when you need to remove a portion of an asset for artistic reasons (such as a bumped camera). It is important to understand that video clips in DVD Studio Pro are trimmed based on GOP boundaries—you cannot choose a specific frame to trim to. The typical GOP (Group of Pictures) size for NTSC video is 15 frames—for PAL video it is 12 frames.
To help guide you when trimming your clip, drag the playhead to the point you want to edit to. A vertical line appears across all streams, which you can use as a guide to trim an edge to. Be sure to use the timeline zoom feature to provide a close-up view of the area you’re editing. Use care not to lose your video and audio synchronization when trimming.
• If you drag a video clip to the stream, and the “Find matching audio when dragging” preference setting is enabled: The audio in the A1 stream is trimmed or moved to accommodate the new video clip, even if that clip does not have matching audio. This maintains sync between the track’s existing video and audio clips. Audio Clips Because audio clips can be placed anywhere in their audio streams, the results are different from those you get when working with video clips.
You can protect a stream from accidental changes by clicking its lock icon. When it is open (unlocked), you can make changes to the stream; when the lock is closed, you can’t. You can still select it for previewing and assign a language to it, but you cannot make any changes to its clips. µ To lock all streams Choose Project > Timeline > Lock All Streams (or press Shift-F4). Exporting an MPEG Clip You can export the contents of the V1 stream as an MPEG file.
• Identify points where mixed-angle tracks can start • Configure a DVD@CCESS operation to launch once the viewer reaches the marker point while playing the title • Set a jump to another element in the project once the marker reaches its end. This is most often used by scripts that are set to play a portion of the stream and then return to another place in the project. There are three ways to place markers on your track: • You can manually place the markers along the track’s timeline.
If you convert a slideshow to a track, each still clip has a marker placed at its beginning. The markers are named the same as the still asset used for its clip. These markers retain any pause and DVD@CCESS settings that may have been set in the Slideshow editor. If any slides use transitions, the transitions appear as a shaded area in the timeline with a cell marker at their beginning.
Depending on the currently selected stream size, a thumbnail image of the frame located at the marker point appears in the video stream. You can modify the thumbnail image in the Marker Inspector. See Setting Marker Properties for more information. The default marker’s name is “Chapter _,” with “_” being the next number available. The number is based on the order in which you create the markers, not on their location on the track. This means Chapter 4 may occur before Chapter 2.
µ Select the marker, then press the Delete key. To delete all markers Do one of the following: µ µ Choose Edit > Delete All Markers. Control-click in an empty part of the Track Editor’s marker area, then choose Delete All Markers from the shortcut menu. Adding Markers to a Track Without a Video Clip Assigned You can add markers to a track even if you have not assigned a video clip to the track. You can also add markers beyond the end of the video clip, in anticipation of adding a video clip later.
How you add the video asset to your project determines what happens with the markers: • If you add the asset by dragging it to the Menu Editor: You can choose any of the Drop Palette options that create a track. In addition to creating a track with the markers in place, some options create chapter index menus. The chapter index menu buttons are automatically linked to the track’s markers. • If you add the asset by dragging it to a track: You can import the markers from the Track Editor.
Importing Markers from a Text List You can create a list of timecode points that DVD Studio Pro can import to create markers. The timecode values need to match the timecode of the track’s video clip. The list of timecode values must be a plain text file; you can create it with TextEdit (as long as you save the file as plain text). If you create the list with a more complex word-processing application, be sure to save the file as a plain ASCII text file with no formatting.
• Button highlight: Orange • Dual-layer break: Black dot in the marker’s middle • Cell: Green You define the type of marker in the Marker Inspector. Additionally, you can set a marker to be a button highlight type by Control-clicking it and choosing Button Highlight Marker from the shortcut menu. Note: Only chapter markers can be connected to from menu buttons and scripts. Each marker has a duration that is determined by the distance between it and the next marker.
Button Highlight Markers You use button highlight markers when you want to have buttons display over the video on the track. These buttons are actually configured as part of a subtitle clip. The buttons appear once you reach the marker and disappear when you reach the next marker (unless it has also been configured as a button highlight marker). Often referred to as “buttons over video,” this feature allows you to provide choices to viewers while they watch the track part of the title.
• End Jump: Choose the project element to jump to when the marker finishes playing (occurs just before the next marker is reached). This is typically left at “not set.” In most cases, if you leave it at “not set,” each marker is automatically connected to the next marker. This setting can be used by specialized projects and scripts that dynamically control which parts of the track plays. See Setting Chapter Marker End Jumps for more information.
• Seconds: Shows the marker’s last frame for the number of seconds you enter. • Infinite: Shows the marker’s last frame indefinitely. • Pause after each VOBU: Select if you want playback to pause until the viewer presses the Play button, when it plays to the next VOBU (Video Object Unit) and pauses again. This is a way to pause the track’s playback and wait for the viewer to start it again. The length of a VOBU varies depending on whether it is a still image or full-motion video.
Creating a Story for a Track Because stories are associated with the current track, you need to make sure you select the correct track before creating the story. To create a story for a track 1 In the Outline or Graphical tab, select the track for which you want to create a story. 2 To create the story, do one of the following: • Choose Project > Add to Project > Story (or press Command-Shift-T).
• The right area is the entry list, where you create your story by dragging markers from the area on the left (the source list). As you drag markers from the source list to the entry list, you add story entries. Each entry shows the source marker’s name and the running time of the story, based on the duration of that marker and all markers ahead of it. A number is added to the end of the source marker’s name if the marker appears more than once in the entry list.
General Tab in the Story Inspector The Story Inspector appears when you select a story in the Outline or Graphical tab. If you select an entry or marker in the Story Editor, the Inspector changes to display details about that item. Select the story in the Outline or Graphical tab to switch back to the Story Inspector. • Stream Options: Deselect the checkboxes to disable any audio and subtitle streams you do not want to be available when this story plays.
Setting Story Entry Properties If you select a marker in the Story Editor’s source list, the Marker Inspector appears, displaying the settings for that marker. See Setting Marker Properties for an explanation of this window. If you select an entry in the entry list, the Story Marker Inspector appears. • Name: Enter the name for the story entry. This does not affect the marker’s name.
You can also start the Simulator from a specific story entry. To simulate a story entry Do one of the following: µ Select the story entry in the Story Editor, then choose File > Simulate Story Entry, or press Command-Option-0 (zero). µ Control-click the story entry, then choose Simulate Story entry from the shortcut menu. Once the story starts playing, you can use the Simulator’s controls to choose the streams to view (angle, audio, and subtitle).
A space-efficient method of taking advantage of the alternate video streams is to build DVD projects that have a single video stream for most of their playing time, but that provide alternate streams in certain sections. This is known as using mixed angles. Angle Mixed-angle track with stream 3 playing 1 2 3 4 About Alternate Stream Video Assets If you want to switch between video streams while the DVD is playing, the DVD specification sets some restrictions on the alternate streams.
2 Add the main video asset to the track’s video stream 1 (V1). 3 Add the second video asset to the track’s second video stream (V2). 4 Continue adding video assets to the next available streams until they are all in place. You can name each clip in each stream using the Clip Inspector. Creating a Mixed-Angle Track With a mixed-angle track, the main video stream runs the full length of the track with the alternate streams using only a small part of that time.
Each still clip in a track has its own transition settings, accessible in the Transition tab in the Clip Inspector. You can also set a default transition for the track in the Transition tab in the Track Inspector. The transition is considered part of the still clip, and, in most cases, does not affect its duration. Using long transitions may lead to the still being visible for only a short time, or may require the clip’s duration to be increased.
Choose “not set” if you do not want this still clip to use a transition. 4 Configure the transition using its specific parameters. Transition Tab in the Track and Clip Inspectors The Transition tabs in the Track and Clip Inspectors are identical—the only difference is that the Type pop-up menu in the Clip Inspector has a Same as Track choice that the Track Inspector does not have. • Start thumbnail: Shows the video frame that a still transition will start from.
Viewing a Track The track preview feature allows you to select a video, audio, and subtitle stream to view. You control which streams play using the buttons at the far-left side of the stream. To preview a track Do one of the following: µ µ µ Control-click in the video stream, then choose Play from the shortcut menu. Press the Space bar. Move the playhead. The Viewer tab moves to the front (if not already there) and shows the selected video stream and subtitle.
When previewing a track, you can use four buttons to control the preview: • Play/Pause • Stop • Step Forward • Step Reverse Note: The Subtitle Editor tools in the Viewer tab are unavailable unless you select a subtitle to edit. See Creating Subtitles with DVD Studio Pro for more information.
Previewing Angles If you are previewing a mixed-angle track and select a video stream other than V1, the preview still plays the V1 stream whenever the selected video stream is not present. To see the multi-angle or mixed-angle stream actually function, you need to use the DVD Studio Pro Simulator. Simulating a Track Simulating a track allows you to verify all streams and any special interactivity you may have built into it.
Creating Slideshows 18 Slideshows can be combined with video tracks on a DVD to provide extra information about the subject, such as historical information, newspaper and magazine articles, and cast biographies. This chapter covers the following: • Introduction to Slideshows (p. 417) • Want Your Slideshows to Do More? (p. 418) • File Formats for Slideshows (p. 418) • Adding a Slideshow to Your Project (p. 419) • Creating a Slideshow Using the Menu Editor (p. 420) • Working with Slides in a Slideshow (p.
You can also convert a slideshow to a track, allowing you to add additional audio streams and subtitles to it. A slideshow can contain up to 99 still images. Each still can have its own display duration, or the viewer can control when to go to the next still. You can add audio to each slide and let each audio file’s duration determine the slide’s display duration.
Still Images in HD Projects Creating slideshows for HD projects is not much different from creating slideshows for SD projects. The most common issue is understanding how the HD slideshows handle stills with respect to their resolutions. A Resolution setting in the General pane of DVD Studio Pro Preferences defines the default resolution of all new slideshows (and tracks and menus) you create. However, the actual resolution of a slideshow is usually defined by the first still you assign to it.
To add a slideshow to your project 1 Do one of the following: • Choose Project > Add to Project > Slideshow (or press Command-K). • Control-click in the Outline or Graphical tab, choose Add from the shortcut menu, then choose Slideshow from the submenu. • Click Add Slideshow in the toolbar. • Click the Slideshow tab and drag one or more stills to the Slideshow Editor. A slideshow element appears in the Outline and Graphical tabs. 2 To open the slideshow in the Slideshow Editor, double-click it.
3 Drag the still images to the Menu Editor, positioning them at the location where you want the new button to be created. You can also drag them to an existing button if you want to link that button to the slideshow. 4 When you hold the pointer still, the Drop Palette appears. Choose an option that creates a slideshow. A slideshow is created and linked to a button on the menu. You can modify the slideshow just like any other slideshow, adding additional stills and audio as desired.
Adding Slides to a Slideshow Slides can be added to a slideshow one at a time or as a group. Note: Do not mix slides with 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios in a slideshow. Slideshows only directly support the 4:3 aspect ratio. To add slides to a slideshow 1 Select one or a group of slides in the Assets tab, the Palette, or a Finder window. 2 Drag the file or files to the Slideshow Editor. If there are existing slides in the editor, a line appears where you position the pointer.
To select a group of slides Do one of the following: µ To select a group of nonadjacent slides, hold down the Command key while you select the slides. µ To select a group of adjacent slides, hold down the Shift key while selecting the first and last slide in the group. µ Hold down the Shift key while pressing the Up Arrow or Down Arrow key to select each slide you scroll through. µ Press Command-A to select all slides. You can also press Command-Shift-A to deselect all slides.
Adding Audio to Your Slideshow You can assign one audio file to each slide or add one or more audio files to the overall slideshow. The method you choose depends on the type of slideshow you are creating. • If each slide requires descriptive audio: Having a separate file for each makes it easy to ensure that the audio always matches the appropriate slide. See Assigning an Audio File to Each Slide for more information.
2 In the Slide Inspector, choose the audio asset to assign to the slide using the Audio File pop-up menu. The Audio File pop-up menu in the Slide Inspector only allows you to choose from files already imported into your project. To change the audio file assigned to a slide Do one of the following: µ µ Drag a new file to the slide in the Slideshow Editor. Choose a new file with the Audio File pop-up menu in the Slide Inspector.
• Drag the file or files to the Audio section in the Slideshow Inspector’s General tab. 3 Do one of the following to choose one of the two Slideshow Duration options: • Choose Fit To Audio, Fit To Slides, or Fit To Slides and Loop Audio from the Slideshow Editor’s Settings pop-up menu. Choose a Slideshow Duration setting. • Select either Fit To Slides or Fit To Audio in the Slideshow Inspector’s General tab. If you select Fit To Slides, you can also select the Loop Audio checkbox.
Use Fit To Slides to leave each slide’s duration as is. When the slideshow is played, most likely the audio will not finish at the same time that the slides finish appearing. • If the slides finish first: The audio is clipped off. (The Loop Audio setting has no effect.) • If the audio finishes first: The slides continue playing in silence. With Loop Audio selected, the audio loops back to its beginning and continues playing if it reaches its end before the slides.
• The slide list: This lists the slideshow’s slides in the order they appear. See Slide List for more information. Slideshow Editor controls Lists the slides in the order they appear. The triangle indicates this slide has a transition, and can be clicked to show the Transition Inspector. Slideshow Editor Controls The top of the Slideshow Editor contains several controls that you can use while making changes to your slideshow. Choose the slideshow to edit.
• Convert to Track button: Click this button to convert the slideshow to a track. See Converting a Slideshow to a Track for details. • Duration: Enter a new value or choose a value from its pop-up menu. This duration affects all currently selected slides. This setting is disabled if overall audio is being used, and the Fit To Audio mode is selected. See Manually Changing a Slide’s Duration for more information.
• Time: Displays the slideshow’s elapsed time at the beginning of each slide. This time value does not include the duration of the slide it is listed with. All slideshows start at 00:00:00:00. While you cannot directly edit this value, changing the duration of any slides positioned earlier in the list will change this time value. • Duration: Displays the slide duration.
To manually enter a slide’s duration in the slide list in the Slideshow Editor 1 Select the slide whose duration you want to change. 2 Double-click the current duration setting. The duration highlights. 3 Type the new value and press Return. Once you press Return, the new duration is set and the Time values for all affected slides adjust to reflect this change. The Duration value of the next slide is automatically selected. If you do not want to change its duration, select a different slide.
µ Select a slide and select the Manual Advance checkbox in the Slide Inspector. Select the Pause checkbox on slides you want to be advanced manually. The pause occurs at the end of the slide’s duration. If you have added an audio asset to the slide, the audio plays and then the pause occurs. The viewer can press the Next button or the Play button on the DVD player’s remote control to continue to the next slide. Note: If the slide contains a transition, the pause occurs before the transition.
5 Set the Next Jump target to be the same as the slideshow’s End Jump setting by dragging the End Jump target setting to the Next Jump target. See Next Jump and Prev Jump for more information. Duplicating the Last Slide Duplicating the last slide in a slideshow allows you to create a “false ending” for the slideshow, and avoid the pause issue.
Setting a Slideshow’s Default Transition Setting the transition for a slideshow affects all slides with their type set to “Same as Slideshow.” µ To set a slideshow’s default transition using the Slideshow Editor Choose the transition from the Slideshow Editor’s Transition pop-up menu. Choose the default transition for the slideshow. The triangle indicates this slide has a transition. The transition uses its default settings. You can change the settings in the Transition tab in the Slideshow Inspector.
Setting an Individual Slide’s Transition You can use either the Slide Inspector or the Slideshow Editor to set the transition for a slide. To set a slide’s transition in the Slide Inspector 1 Select the slide for which you want to set a transition. 2 Click the Transition tab in the Slide Inspector and set the transition parameters.
• Still Transition: Creates a transition clip based on the chosen transition and its related settings. • Same as Slideshow: Only available in the Slide Inspector. Sets the current slide to use the transition settings in the Slideshow Inspector. • Preview: Click this to preview the current transition in the Transition thumbnail area. • Parameters: Contains the parameters for the current transition. Each transition has its own set of parameters. Transition Parameters Each transition has its own parameters.
The slideshow is deleted and a new track is created using the slideshow’s name. Click Convert To Track to create a track from the selected slideshow. The new track has a marker at each slide, each named with the slide’s filename. Each slide retains its duration and pause setting. If audio files were assigned, they are also present in the track. Note: If a slide has a transition, a cell marker is placed at the beginning of the transition. If the slide has pause selected, this marker is set to pause.
General Tab in the Slideshow Inspector The settings in the General tab in the Slideshow Inspector are used to set the slideshow’s resolution and display mode. These settings are also used to configure a slideshow for overall audio and are disabled when you are using no audio or are assigning audio to individual slides. Resolution and Display Settings These settings define the basic video attributes of the slideshow. • Resolution: Choose the slideshow’s resolution.
• Fit To Slides: Slide durations are not changed, which means the audio can end before or after the last slide. Selecting Fit To Slides enables the Loop Audio checkbox. • Loop Audio: Select this to have the slide durations control when the slideshow ends. If the audio is too long, it is clipped so that it ends with the last slide. If the audio is too short, it loops back to the first audio asset and continues playing until the last slide finishes. • Total Running Time: Shows the duration of the slideshow.
Transition Tab in the Slideshow Inspector See Setting the Transition Parameters for details on the Transition tab. Setting Slide Properties If you select a slide in the Slideshow Editor, the Slide Inspector appears. It allows you to set attributes for each slide. It contains a top section and two tabs: General and Transition. See Setting the Transition Parameters for details on the Transition tab.
General Tab in the Slide Inspector Following are the settings in the General tab of the Slide Inspector. • Slide Duration: Displays the duration of the selected slide. You can enter a new duration or choose a duration from the pop-up menu. • Manual Advance: Determines whether the slideshow pauses (checkbox selected) or continues playing to the next slide (checkbox not selected). • Audio File: Displays the name of the audio asset assigned to this slide.
Simulating a Slideshow Simulating a slideshow allows you to fully test a slideshow, including its pauses and DVD@CCESS settings. To simulate a slideshow Do one of the following: µ Select the slideshow, then choose File > Simulate Slideshow, or press Command-Option-0 (zero). µ Control-click the slideshow in the Outline tab, then choose Simulate from the shortcut menu. µ In the Slideshow tab, Control-click a slide, then choose Simulate from the shortcut menu.
Creating Subtitles 19 Although the most common use for subtitles is to display a text version of the dialogue, subtitles created in DVD Studio Pro can be used for many other purposes. This chapter covers the following: • Introduction to Subtitles (p. 443) • Importing Older DVD Studio Pro Subtitles (p. 445) • Subtitles and Overlays (p. 445) • About Subtitles and Closed Captions (p. 445) • Subtitle Stream Basics (p. 446) • Subtitle Inspector (p. 448) • What Happens with Different Aspect Ratios? (p.
You can create text subtitles directly in DVD Studio Pro, one at a time. You set their position, font, size, style, and color, and can have them fade in and out. You control their start and stop time either by entering timecode values or dragging in the timeline. You can also import subtitle files containing all of the subtitles for a track.
Importing Older DVD Studio Pro Subtitles Because of the way they are created, you cannot directly import subtitle files created with the Subtitle Editor in earlier versions of DVD Studio Pro. These subtitle files have an “.SPU” extension. However, you can import older DVD Studio Pro projects that contain subtitles into DVD Studio Pro 4. Each subtitle entry is converted to a TIFF file and placed on the timeline at the correct location.
Closed Caption Capabilities Closed captions provide not only dialogue text but also descriptions of other sounds that are part of a scene (such as a phone ringing or a dog barking). They are intended to enhance the viewing experience for deaf and hearing-impaired viewers. To view closed captions, you must have a suitable decoder—either built in to the television or as a standalone device.
How Subtitles Switch Streams When the viewer switches from one subtitle stream to the other, two things must happen before the second stream’s subtitles appear: • The subtitle clip currently showing must reach its end. No subtitle actions, including switching streams and turning subtitles off, can occur until the DVD player finishes showing the current subtitle clip. • A clip on the second stream must start.
Applying Subtitle Settings to the Stream No matter how carefully you configure your preferences and how much time you spend deciding how the subtitles should look, there will often be times when you need to make a change to all subtitle clips in a stream (and there could be hundreds of clips in a stream). For example, you may need to use a different color for the text or to change the font.
General Tab in the Subtitle Inspector Following are the settings in the General tab of the Subtitle Inspector. Clip Info • Start: The timecode where this clip appears. You can change a clip’s start time by entering a new value here or by dragging the clip’s leading edge in the Track Editor. Changing the start time also affects the clip’s end time, but not its duration. • Duration: The length of the clip. If you enter a new duration here, the clip’s end time changes to fit it.
Formatting • Horizontal: Sets the horizontal justification of the text. Click the appropriate icon for left, center, or right alignment. • Horizontal Offset: Trims the horizontal position of the text, in pixel steps, from the selected justification setting. Positive values move the text to the right and negative values move it to the left. A value of 0 positions the text at its justification setting. • Vertical: Sets the vertical justification of the text.
You use the Button tab to configure the buttons to add to the subtitle. • Name: By default, buttons are named “Button _,” where “_” is the button number in that menu. To reduce confusion when viewing a list of the menu’s buttons, it is helpful to rename the buttons based on their functions. • Default: Choose the button to be selected when the subtitle appears during playback of the title. This setting can be overridden by any element that jumps to this subtitle’s marker, based on its jump setting.
• Number Pad: Defines which buttons are directly accessible by a DVD player’s numeric keypad. Choose All, None, or a button number from the pop-up menu. When you choose a button number, that button and all buttons less than that number are accessible via the numeric keypad—buttons greater than this value are blocked from direct access. Important: This feature is based on the order in which the buttons are created. In most cases, this order is the same as the default button names shown in the Viewer.
Colors Tab in the Subtitle Inspector The Colors tab in the Subtitle Inspector is very similar to the Colors tab in the Menu Inspector. • Mapping Type: Select the colors used to create the overlay graphic. This setting only applies to imported graphics files. • Chroma: Uses black, red, blue, and white • Grayscale: Uses black, dark gray, light gray, and white. • Selection State: Unless you have configured this subtitle clip to provide buttons over video, only the Normal setting is available.
• Apply to Stream: Click to apply the color and opacity settings to all subtitle clips in this stream. • Save As Default: Click to save this color mapping configuration as the default to be used on all new subtitles you create. Note: This is not the same palette used by the Menu Editor. • Restore Default: Click to replace the existing settings with those of the default subtitle color mapping configuration.
Based on this behavior, it is recommended that text buttons not be used when creating buttons over video on a 16:9 track that is set to play in the letterbox mode on a 4:3 monitor. Buttons over Video Using Overlay Graphic Buttons and 16:9 If you create subtitle buttons by importing an overlay graphic and configuring it for a 16:9 track, the highlights will work as expected when played on a 16:9 monitor.
To preview a subtitle 1 Select the video, audio, and subtitle streams you want to preview, using the button at the far left of each stream. Click to select one video, audio, and subtitle stream to preview. See Setting Stream Properties for more information on stream settings. 2 Play the track by clicking the Play button in the Viewer tab. The track plays from the playhead’s current position.
Creating Subtitles with DVD Studio Pro Before you create a subtitle, you must have first created and selected the track where the subtitle will go. Because the contents of the track’s video and audio streams typically determine the subtitle placement, you should not start adding subtitles until these streams are set. Creating a Subtitle Clip There are several methods you can use to create a new subtitle clip.
Positioning and Trimming a Subtitle Within a Stream You can use your mouse or the settings in the General tab in the Subtitle Inspector to adjust the position and duration of the subtitle. To position and trim a subtitle 1 Change the subtitle’s position on the timeline by doing one of the following: • Drag it to a new position. • Enter a new start time in the General tab in the Subtitle Inspector. 2 Change the subtitle’s duration by doing one of the following: • Drag one of its edges to a new position.
• Click in the Text area in the Subtitle Inspector. 2 Type the text. Press Return to start a new line. Note: When typing text in the Subtitle Editor, press Enter to exit the text entry mode. You cannot create more than one text entry per subtitle. For example, you cannot enter a sentence, position it in the upper-left corner, and enter a second sentence and position it in the lower-right corner.
Entering Subtitles in Multiple Languages One of the great things about subtitles is that you can have a completely different stream for each language. In the Viewer tab, you can type the subtitles on that stream in any language that your system is configured to handle. When you build the project, the text subtitles are converted to bitmap images. The system on which you build the project (if it is different from the one used to enter the subtitles) must have the proper fonts installed to create the bitmaps.
The Mac OS X Fonts window opens. 2 If you’re making changes to existing text, select the text in the Subtitle Editor by dragging across it. 3 In the Fonts window, select the font family and the typeface style to use. The list of available fonts and styles is based on fonts currently installed on your system. 4 Either select a size in the Size column (use the slider to scroll through the list) or select the existing size and enter the new value, then press the Return key.
You choose the colors that appear for each of the four overlays/text functions from a 16-color palette, exactly as you do with the standard menu creation method. You can define the colors in the palette either in the Colors pane in DVD Studio Pro Preferences or by clicking Edit Palette in the Colors tab in the Subtitle Inspector. Note: The subtitle Color Palette is independent of the menu Color Palette. Changes you make in one do not affect the other.
Note: It’s easy to enter an offset value that makes the text disappear completely. If you cannot see the text, enter 0 for the horizontal and vertical offsets. Importing Graphics Files for Subtitles You can use graphics files, configured as overlays, to create individual subtitles. These graphics can be drawings or text created using a graphics application. See Creating Overlays for information on creating overlay graphics. You must also use the correct frame size when creating your graphics.
While you cannot import any kind of a motion asset into a subtitle stream, you can manually create an animation by adding a number of very short (one- or two-frame) subtitles, each with a different graphic that shows the line at a different stage. Typical text subtitles have little impact on the playback bit rate—on average they run at around 10 kbps.
• The subtitle can only include text characters. However, you can manually import graphics files to use in addition to the imported subtitle file. Using a Group of Graphics Files When you use a group of graphics files for the subtitles, each file provides the graphic for one subtitle. A master file provides a list of timecode values for the start and end of each subtitle, along with the name of the graphics file to use for each subtitle.
Wrong Timecode The most common problem is that the timecode in the subtitle file does not correspond to the asset timecode of the video stream. In some cases, this is due to the original tape’s timecode not being entered prior to the video being MPEG-encoded. To see the timeline’s asset timecode, Control-click in the timeline, then choose Asset-Based Timecode from the shortcut menu.
You can also modify all of the subtitles in a stream by using the Apply to Stream controls. See Applying Subtitle Settings to the Stream for more information. Creating an STL Format Subtitle File An easy and flexible way to create subtitle files is to use the STL format developed by Spruce Technologies. The STL format allows you to configure most subtitle settings, and change the settings on a subtitle by subtitle basis.
$FontSize = 65 00:00:12:04 , 00:00:14:12 , Lemurs are the bullies of the wild. $FontSize = 50 00:00:16:14 , 00:00:19:08 , Here we see them bring down a moose. In this case, both subtitles will use the same font, with the first one at a size of 65 and the second one at 50. STL Commands Following is a list of the commands supported by the STL format. Note: These commands override the settings in DVD Studio Pro Preferences, which provide the default settings for all settings that have not been overridden.
• $Outline1Contrast: Sets the opacity of the text’s outline 1 color. • $Outline2Contrast: Sets the opacity of the text’s outline 2 color. • $BackgroundContrast: Sets the opacity of the background color. This is usually set to 0, unless you are using a graphic that does not use white as the background color. Position Commands These commands control the subtitle’s position. • $HorzAlign: Sets the subtitle’s horizontal alignment. You can enter left, center, or right.
Timeline Command By default, the timecode values in an STL file are in reference to the video stream’s zero-based time, which starts at 00:00:00:00. You can use this command to reference the file’s timecode values to the video stream’s asset-based timecode. • $TapeOffset: Controls how the timecode values in the STL file are referenced to the video stream.
Referencing Graphics Files in STL Subtitle Files An STL subtitle file can contain a mix of text subtitle entries and references to graphics files. You must use the $SetFilePathToken command in the file before any lines that reference a graphics file. $SetFilePathToken = _Graphic_ 00:00:12:04 , 00:00:14:12 , _Graphic_RabidLemur.tif 00:00:16:14 , 00:00:19:08 , _Graphic_MooseLemur.tif Important: Do not add spaces between the token (_Graphic_ in this example) and the filename.
Adding Button Highlight Markers To create a button over video subtitle, you add a marker at the point where the subtitle should appear, select its button highlight setting, and add a second marker where the subtitle should end. Once you do this, if you create a subtitle between these markers, its start snaps to the marker with the button highlight setting selected and its end snaps to the second marker, regardless of its type. Any marker can be configured as a button highlight marker.
A new subtitle clip appears, with its duration matching the time between the two markers. See the next section, Configuring a Button over Video Subtitle Clip, for information on configuring the subtitle clip to provide buttons over video. Configuring a Button over Video Subtitle Clip To configure a button over video subtitle clip, you first add the text or import the graphic to use for the button or buttons, and then configure the buttons much as you would when creating a menu.
• 16:9 Pan Scan & Letterbox: You can have up to 12 buttons. HD Projects • 4:3: You can have up to 48 buttons. • 16:9 Pan Scan: You can have up to 24 buttons. • 16:9 Letterbox: You can have up to 24 buttons. • 16:9 Pan Scan & Letterbox: You can have up to 16 buttons. Configuring the Buttons for Button over Video Subtitles Once you have created the buttons, you need to configure them.
The biggest difference is that you don’t have the option of using a simple overlay. You can accomplish a similar effect by setting the color and opacity settings for the three nonwhite overlay colors to the same values, and setting the white overlay opacity to 0, making it completely transparent. Another difference is that the overlay colors have pre-assigned functions if you are typing subtitle text. See Setting the Subtitle Color for more information.
This copies the selected buttons to the Clipboard. The selected buttons are not affected. 3 Select the subtitle clip to which you want the copied buttons to be pasted. 4 If the insertion point is active in the Viewer tab, click an empty area to deactivate it. 5 Choose Edit > Paste (or press Command-V). If there are no buttons selected in the subtitle clip before you paste the copied buttons, the copied buttons are placed in the same locations as the originals.
Creating Scripts 20 You can add sophisticated interactivity and control to a project with only a few simple scripts. This chapter covers the following: • Introduction to Scripts (p. 477) • Pre-Scripts (p. 478) • Scripting Overview (p. 479) • The Scripting User Interface (p. 480) • About the Script Tab (p. 481) • About the Script Inspector (p. 484) • About the Script Command Inspector (p. 485) • Creating and Testing Scripts (p. 486) • Script Command Details (p.
With scripts you can: • Have the title automatically customize itself to best match the DVD player’s configuration in areas such as language selection, audio formats, and parental management • Add specialized features, such as a random play after a menu times out • Add subtle features, such as having a menu highlight the next button when returning to the menu after activating a previous button Those are just a few examples of the ways you can customize your DVD project and create a better viewer experience.
For example, when you assign a connection to a menu, you can choose to jump to a specific button or to the menu root with no button specified (using the [Menu] selection). A pre-script assigned to a menu only runs if the element that jumped to it had [Menu] selected. If the jump selected a specific button on the menu, the pre-script is skipped. Similarly, a pre-script on a track or story does not run if you jump directly to a marker.
Scripts use GPRMs as temporary storage, or “scratch pads,” while executing their commands. DVD Studio Pro provides access to eight 16-bit GPRM registers, designated GPRM 0 through GPRM 7 (though they can be renamed). DVD Studio Pro includes the ability to partition seven of these registers into multiple smaller registers. For example, you can partition GPRM3 into four 4-bit registers. Each register is independent of the others, and all are cleared whenever a disc is inserted into the DVD player.
About the Script Tab You click the Script tab to access the Script Editor. The Script Editor lists the command lines within the script. You use its Add button to add command lines to the script. The other buttons provide methods for managing the order of the command lines. Because scripts generally execute the command lines in order, starting at command line 1, it is important to have them in the correct order. Choose the script to work with in the editor. Select to view the values as hexadecimal.
Command Line Add and Delete Buttons There are three buttons you can use to add or remove command lines from the Script Editor. Adds a command line to the end of the list. Deletes the selected command line. Inserts a command line below the selected line. • Add (+): Clicking the Add button, or pressing Command–Equal Sign (=), adds a command line to the script. This command line is always placed at the end of the list, regardless of which command is currently selected.
Note: You are just rearranging the order of the command lines—you are not deleting or replacing any command lines. Moves the command line up one line. Moves the command line to the top of the list. Moves the command line to the bottom of the list. Moves the command line down one line. • Move Up: Clicking the Move Up button moves the currently selected command line up one location.
3 Select the command line in this script or a different script after which you want to paste the copied command lines. If you have no command lines selected, the copied command lines are placed after the last existing command line. 4 Choose Edit > Paste (or press Command-V). To move one or more command lines using cut and paste 1 Select a command line or a group of command lines to be moved. 2 Choose Edit > Cut (or press Command-X).
The Script Inspector displays values showing the number of commands used and how many are still available out of the possible total of 124. (Configuring a scripting command may use up to 16 of the 124 commands.) These values will turn red if your script uses more than 124 commands, with a negative number in the Commands Remaining value indicating how many excess commands there are. It is also where you name your script and then configure the partitions and names of the GPRM registers.
Creating and Testing Scripts While it is easy to create scripts, it’s a good idea to first spend some time planning exactly what you intend the script to do. Sometimes a single script can be designed to fit multiple situations, or it may be easier to create multiple similar scripts, with each configured for a specific case. Creating a Script Scripts can vary greatly. Simple scripts may contain only one or two commands, while complex scripts can contain many commands and dependencies on other scripts.
To duplicate a script within a project Do one of the following: µ µ Select the script in the Outline or Graphical tab, then choose Edit > Duplicate. In the Outline or Graphical tab, Control-click the script, then choose Duplicate from the shortcut menu. A copy of the script is created with the same name as the original, with a number added to the end of the name. Saving Scripts You can save a script as an item description file, making it easy to import a script into other projects.
Testing a Script in the Simulator The DVD Studio Pro Simulator has a Registers display that shows useful information when testing a script. The display appears when you click the Simulator’s Info button. Select to show the values as hexadecimals. Select to show the GPRM values. Select to show the SPRM values You can display either the SPRM or GPRM values, or both at the same time. You can also choose whether the values appear as decimal numbers or hexadecimal numbers.
To test scripts in a set-top player, you need to build and format your project, burning it onto a DVD. See Formatting Your Project for more information on burning a DVD. General Scripting Information There are a number of good practices to keep in mind when creating your scripts: • Plan your GPRM partitioning: Partitioning one or more of the eight 16-bit GPRM registers can add a lot of flexibility to your script writing by making many GPRM registers available to be used.
• A different stream (audio, video, subtitle) can be selected. Most scripts use several commands to perform these functions. Often, one script may use values placed in a GPRM by a different script that ran earlier. Each of the ten commands has unique settings and uses. Some provide memory read and write functions, some control jumping to elements within the title, and others control how the script executes. These commands can be accessed at the top of the Script Command Inspector.
Element Types to Compare You can choose from five different elements to be compared to the selected GPRM. • GPRM: Allows you to select any of the available GPRMs to compare. • SPRM: Allows you to select any of the 24 SPRMs to compare. See System Parameter Register Memories Details for a list of SPRMs. • Immediate: Allows you to enter a decimal value, whose range depends on the size of the selected GPRM register, to compare.
Compare Operations There are seven compare operations that you can use to compare the selected element to the selected GPRM. • = (equal): Executes the command if the two values are the same. • != (not equal): Executes the command if the two values are not the same. • > = (greater or equal): Executes the command if the selected GPRM is larger or the same as the selected element. • > (greater): Executes the command if the selected GPRM is larger than the selected element.
Note: Being the last step executed is not the same as being the last step in the script. A script might have multiple jump commands in it, with other commands determining which jump to execute. To configure a jump command 1 In the Script Command Inspector, choose Jump from the Command pop-up menu. 2 Choose the project element to jump to from the Jump To pop-up menu. GPRM-Based Checkbox A jump normally goes to a specific part of an element; for example, to button 3 on menu 2.
Start At Loop Point Checkbox You can add a loop point to your motion menu that defines when the highlights appear and where the menu jumps back to when it reaches the end. A jump to a motion menu normally goes to its start point and begins playing from there. There are times, however, when you might want the jump to go to the loop point instead, ensuring the highlights appear immediately and avoiding forcing the viewer to sit through the first part of the menu.
4 Choose the GPRM target from the Target pop-up menu. Operation Types There are 11 operations you can choose from to control how the source and target values are handled. There are limitations you need to keep in mind when using these operations: • Registers have no overflow or underflow flags. • If the script tries to store a value smaller than 0 or larger than 65535, no error message is given; instead, the value “wraps around.” For example, if you subtract 7 from 3, you would normally get –4.
• and: Performs a “bit-wise and” operation between the 16 individual bits of the source and the target values, and writes the result in the target location. The bits that are set (value of 1) in both values are left set. Bits that are not set in one or the other value are reset (value 0). • or: Performs a “bit-wise or” operation between the 16 individual bits of the source and the target values, and writes the result in the target location. The bits that are set (value of 1) in either value are left set.
Goto Command The goto command provides a way to jump to a specific line in a script. This is usually used in conjunction with a compare function, with the result determining whether the goto command executes, or whether the script moves on to the next line. Goto is useful when you build multiple jump commands into your script, because it allows you to choose which jump command to execute by forcing the script to its line.
3 For each stream you select, use the pop-up menu to choose the stream (Immediate mode) or GPRM register (GPRM mode). 4 If you select the subtitle stream, select the View checkbox to force the subtitle to appear. Resume Command The resume command works like the Resume button on a DVD player’s remote control—when executed as a step in a script, the disc starts playing from where it last left off. Note: When the resume command is executed from a pre-script, the result may not match your expectations.
Exit Pre-Script Command A pre-script executes as soon as an element is selected. Depending on the purpose of the pre-script, you will often want to have that element display as normal once the pre-script is finished running. The exit pre-script command provides a way to end a pre-script and display the element as normal. Note: When a script is run as a pre-script, it reacts differently to having a Nop as the last command line.
• SPRM 5: Current Video Title Set (VTS) number; set by DVD player • SPRM 6: Current title PGC number; set by DVD player • SPRM 7: Current part of title number (chapter); set by DVD player • SPRM 8: Current highlighted button number; set by viewer in DVD player • SPRM 9: Navigation timer; set by program, then times out • SPRM 10: Timer target; DVD track to play when SPRM 9 times out • SPRM 11: Player audio mixing mode for Karaoke; set by program or DVD player setup • SPRM 12: Country code for parental manage
For example, the letters “en” represent English. The lowercase “e” is converted to an ASCII value of 101 decimal or 65 in hexadecimal. The lowercase “n” is converted to an ASCII value of 110 decimal or 6E in hexadecimal. When concatenated together in hexadecimal, the value is 656E. The decimal value of 656E is 25966. See Language Code Table for a complete listing of all of these language values. It is useful to know the setting of this SPRM when dealing with multiple-language projects.
To obtain the value of the stream that is selected and displayed, add 64 to the value of the stream. For example: Stream 1 has a value of 0. If you add that value to the value of the display flag “on” (64), you get a total of 64. Stream 2 has a value of 1; if you add the value of the display flag on (64) to it, you get a total of 65.
Stream number SPRM 2 value with the stream selected and display off SPRM 2 value with the stream selected and display on 29 28 92 30 29 93 31 30 94 32 31 95 Similar to SPRM 1, this information is useful to determine the last subtitle stream selected by the viewer. If you have a menu for subtitle selection, you can use this information to highlight the corresponding button for the correct subtitle.
SPRM 5: Current Title Number in Video Title Set (VTS) In projects created with DVD Studio Pro, the title number within the current Video Title Set (VTS) number is 1 for all elements, except stories. Each story within a track is assigned to a higher title number, starting with 2 (the track itself is number 1). SPRM 6: Current Title PGC Number In projects created with DVD Studio Pro, the Program Group Chains (PGC) number is 1 for all elements, except stories.
Button number SPRM 8 value 12 12288 13 13312 14 14336 15 15360 16 16384 17 17408 18 18432 19 19456 20 20480 21 21504 22 22528 23 23552 24 24576 25 25600 26 26624 27 27648 28 28672 29 29696 30 30720 31 31744 32 32768 33 33792 34 34816 35 35840 36 36864 SPRM 9: Navigation Timer This is the timer used to count down pauses and still frames. DVD Studio Pro automatically loads this timer for timeouts and pauses. There is no real use for it in scripts.
SPRM 11: Player Audio Mixing Mode for Karaoke Karaoke-capable DVD players can blend several audio streams together. Note: Refer to SPRM 15 to identify whether or not a DVD player is karaoke-capable. The primary stream is usually a music-only track in stereo (L and R). It is usually stream number 1 or 2. To those streams you can mix a melody stream (M) or vocal streams (V1 and V2). The melody stream and the vocal streams are usually stream numbers 3, 4, and 5.
SPRM 13 can be useful in several ways. In some cases there may be more than one version of a single movie on a single DVD disc. Larger discs such as DVD-9s can contain both the R- and PG-rated versions of the same movie. By reading the value of SPRM 13, you could determine which version of the movie to play. Another use for SPRM 13 is to check the DVD player’s current parental setting.
The following table shows the combinations for the aspect ratio bits. Aspect ratio Bit 10 Bit 11 Total 4:3 0 0 0 Not specified 1024 0 1024 Reserved 0 2048 2048 16:9 1024 2048 3072 SPRM 15: Player Audio Configuration Each DVD player can have several types of audio capabilities. Most players can handle Dolby Digital (AC-3), Linear PCM, and MPEG Audio. There are other audio options such as DTS and SDDS, as well as karaoke capabilities.
Bit 4 (MPEG karaoke capability first bit) is off when the player is not MPEG karaoke-capable, and on when it is. Bit 5 (MPEG karaoke capability second bit) is always off. Bit 12 (MPEG capability first bit) is off when the player is not MPEG capable, and on when it is. Bit 13 (MPEG capability second bit) is always off. There is no bit for regular PCM capability because all players must support it.
As with SPRM 0, these values are derived from a two-letter code for each language spoken. The code is derived from the lowercase ASCII value of each letter. See Language Code Table for a complete table of all of these language values. SPRM 19: Initial Language Code Extension for Subpicture Similar to SPRM 17, SPRM 19 is an extension code for more in-depth information about the subtitle stream. It covers such areas as subpicture size or whether the subtitle stream is for children.
The globe is divided into eight sections: • Region 1: Canada, United States, Puerto Rico, Bermuda, the Virgin Islands, and some islands • Region 2: Japan, Western Europe (including Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, and the Balkans), South Africa, Turkey, and the Middle East (including Iran and Egypt) • Region 3: Southeast Asia (including Indonesia, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Macao) • Region 4: Australia, New Zealand, South America, most of Central America, Papua New Guinea, and most of the South Pacific • Region
Suppose you need to find out whether the DVD player is configured for a 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratio monitor. To determine this, you only need to look at bits 10 and 11 of SPRM 14. You can use the “bit-wise and” operation to mask all bits except 10 and 11, making it possible to easily determine the aspect ratio status without having to be concerned with the other bits.
About SPRMs and Partitioned GPRMs SPRMs fall into one of three categories: • Those that use the first bits of their register, such as SPRM 1 • Those that use part of the register, but not the first bits, such as SPRM 14 which uses bits 8 through 11 • Those that use the entire register, with each bit representing the status of a function, such as SPRM 15 If you partition a GPRM into four 4-bit registers, then move the same SPRM value into each register, each of the 4-bit registers would get the same first fo
2 Click the pop-up menu for the GPRM you want to partition, then choose the partition configuration to use from the pop-up menu.
Once you choose the partition configuration to use for that GPRM, it displays the new registers. Click the disclosure triangle to show or hide the GPRM’s registers. The registers of a partitioned GPRM Naming the GPRM Partitions To help manage the process of creating a script, you are able to name each of the GPRM partitions. (Even a 16-bit GPRM is considered to have one partition.) This makes it easier to keep track of which GPRMs are being used for what purpose.
• Click an empty area in the Graphical tab, then click the Advanced tab in the Disc Inspector. 2 Click a GPRM’s disclosure triangle to show its partitions. 3 Double-click the partition name and type the new name in the text entry box for the GPRM you want to rename. Note: You can also change a GPRM partition’s name in the Simulator’s Registers display.
3 Enter a name for the file, select its destination, and click Export. A file is created using the name you entered plus a “.dspPartition” extension. To import a GPRM configuration 1 Do one of the following: • Click the Script Inspector’s Import button. • Click the Import button in the Advanced tab of the Disc Inspector. The Import dialog opens. 2 Select the file to import, then click Import. Note: To avoid configuration conflicts, you should import the GPRM configuration before creating any scripts.
Note: These examples use menu and track names that are fictitious. You can create these elements and add suitable assets to them, or adapt these examples to your existing assets. You can even create these as empty elements, with no assets assigned. It is the names of the elements that get used in these script examples, not the actual assets. Additionally, these examples assume you have not partitioned the GPRMs.
The Script Editor opens and the Script Inspector appears. 3 In the Inspector, name the script Random Play. 4 In the Script Editor, select the first command line (Nop). The Script Command Inspector appears. 5 In the Script Command Inspector, choose Set GPRM as the command. 6 To configure the set GPRM command: a Choose “ran” as the Operation. b Choose Immediate as the Source Type. c Enter 4 as the Source Value. d Choose GPRM 0 as the Target.
11 Add three additional jump command lines—one for each of the other three fictitious tracks. The only differences are the Jump To settings which need to match each track (Tracks and Stories > Beach > Marker 1; Tracks and Stories > Trail > Marker 1; and Tracks and Stories > Shopping > Marker 1) and the immediate values in the compare function’s “with value” field (use 2 for the Beach track, 3 for the Trail track, and 4 for the Shopping track).
To create the Play All script 1 Do one of the following: • Choose Project > Add to Project > Script, or press Command–Single Quote (’). • Click Add Script in the toolbar. 2 Double-click the new script in the Outline or Graphical tab. The Script Editor opens and the Script Inspector appears. 3 In the Script Inspector, name the script Play All. 4 In the Script Editor, select the first command line (Nop). The Script Command Inspector appears. 5 In the Script Command Inspector, choose Set GPRM as the command.
Link this script to the main menu’s Play All button. See Setting a Button’s Connection for more information. The Track End Scripts for the First Three Tracks The scripts you will link to the End Jump settings of the first three tracks are nearly identical—the only difference is the track name they jump to if a Play All function is in progress. The script used by the last track is a bit different, because it resets the GPRM that indicates a Play All function is in progress and always jumps to the main menu.
9 To configure the jump command, choose Menus > Main Menu > Button 1 from the Jump To pop-up menu. Like the track names, Button 1 is fictitious, used to illustrate the example. This jump only occurs if the compare function was not satisfied in the previous command. This script jumps to the Beach track once the Ocean track finishes playing. This script jumps to the Trail track once the Beach track finishes playing. This script jumps to the Shopping track once the Trail track finishes playing.
Once you have created all three scripts, link each to the appropriate track’s End Jump setting (at the top of the Track Inspector for each track). Track End Script for the Last Track Follow these steps to create the script for the last track (Shopping). The main menu always appears when this track finishes playing—the difference is that the GPRM value needs to be set back to 0 so that a Play All process does not inadvertently get started later.
But What If... When you create scripts that store a status in a GPRM, such as the Play All script, you need to plan for Viewer actions that are outside of the script’s intentions. In this case, these scripts will work exactly as intended most of the time. An exception is if the viewer decides not to let the Play All process finish. The viewer might press the Menu button on the remote control while the Play All process is active and then choose a specific track to watch by selecting its button in the menu.
Language Code HEX Decimal (Afan) Oromo om 6F6D 28525 Abkhazian ab 6162 24930 Afar aa 6161 24929 Afrikaans af 6166 24934 Albanian sq 7371 29553 Amharic am 616D 24941 Arabic ar 6172 24946 Armenian hy 6879 26745 Assamese as 6173 24947 Aymara ay 6179 24953 Azerbaijani az 617A 24954 Bashkir ba 6261 25185 Basque eu 6575 25973 Bengali; Bangla bn 626E 25198 Bhutani dz 647A 25722 Bihari bh 6268 25192 Bislama bi 6269 25193 Breton br 6272
Language Code HEX Decimal Finnish fi 6669 26217 French fr 6672 26226 Frisian fy 6679 26233 Galician gl 676C 26476 Georgian ka 6B61 27489 German de 6465 25701 Greek el 656C 25964 Greenlandic kl 6B6C 27500 Guarani gn 676E 26478 Gujarati gu 6775 26485 Hausa ha 6861 26721 Hebrew iw 6977 26999 Hindi hi 6869 26729 Hungarian hu 6875 26741 Icelandic is 6973 26995 Indonesian in 696E 26990 Interlingua ia 6961 26977 Interlingue ie 6965 26981 I
Language Code HEX Decimal Lingala ln 6C6E 27758 Lithuanian lt 6C74 27764 Macedonian mk 6D6B 28011 Malagasy mg 6D67 28007 Malay ms 6D73 28019 Malayalam ml 6D6C 28012 Maltese mt 6D74 28020 Maori mi 6D69 28009 Marathi mr 6D72 28018 Moldavian mo 6D6F 28015 Mongolian mn 6D6E 28014 Nauru na 6E61 28257 Nepali ne 6E65 28261 Norwegian no 6E6F 28271 Occitan oc 6F63 28515 Oriya or 6F72 28530 Pashto, Pushto ps 7073 28787 Persian fa 6661 262
Language Code HEX Decimal Sindhi sd 7364 29540 Singhalese si 7369 29545 Siswati ss 7373 29555 Slovak sk 736B 29547 Slovenian sl 736C 29548 Somali so 736F 29551 Spanish es 6573 25971 Sundanese su 7375 29557 Swahili sw 7377 29559 Swedish sv 7376 29558 Tagalog tl 746C 29804 Tajik tg 7467 29799 Tamil ta 7461 29793 Tatar tt 7474 29812 Tegulu te 7465 29797 Thai th 7468 29800 Tibetan bo 626F 25199 Tigrinya ti 7469 29801 Tonga to 746F 29
Establishing Connections 21 Your DVD title is a collection of elements you want your audience to view. The way you set the connections between these elements determines the way the viewer experiences your DVD title. You can use the Connections tab to determine how the viewer moves from one element to another. You make links so the viewer jumps from a starting point, or source, to a destination, or target. This chapter covers the following: • About Connections (p. 531) • Connections Tab (p.
Connections Tab Connections are listed in two sections in the Connections tab. The sources (the elements’ starting points) and their current connections are on the left and the targets (the destinations) are on the right. Drag this separator bar to set the size of the two halves of the Connections tab. The sources and current connections for the selected element in the Outline or Graphical tab (in this case, the disc) Choose the Connections tab layout to use.
The pop-up menus along the top of the Connections tab allow you to choose the detail level of the sources and whether to view only sources that do or do not have a connection assigned. Choose a connection status to show. Choose the source detail level to show. The element the sources belong to Connection Items There are three items involved in making a connection: • The project element that is the subject of the connection. This can be a menu, track, slideshow, or the disc in general.
Sources Sources fall into five categories: the disc, menus, tracks, stories, and slideshows. The number of choices you see in the list of sources depends on the selected element and whether you have chosen Basic, Standard, or Advanced from the View pop-up menu above the source list. Disc Menus Slideshows Tracks Stories The right half of the source list shows the current connections. Drag this divider to adjust the Source and Target column widths.
• Standard: The most commonly used jumps are found in the standard list of sources. In addition to those in the basic list, pre-scripts (scripts designed to run when the element is chosen) are listed for menus, tracks, and slideshows. If a DVD menu has been on the screen for a period of time specified in the General tab in the Menu Inspector, the subsequent action is determined by the Menu Timeout Target link.
Next Jump and Prev Jump Tracks and slideshows have two settings, Next and Previous Jump, that can only be set in the Connections tab with the advanced sources displayed. These settings define what happens when the viewer presses the Next and Previous buttons on the DVD player’s remote control. While a track or slideshow is playing, the Next and Previous buttons allow the viewer to skip forward or backward between markers or stills.
Setting Chapter Marker End Jumps In addition to the limit of 99 chapter markers per track, DVD Studio Pro has a combined limit of 106 chapter markers and individual chapter end jump settings per track. This is normally not an issue except in special cases where you decide to set an end jump for each chapter marker. If your track has 54 chapter markers, each configured with an end jump, the result is a combined 108 markers and jump settings.
See Source Details for a complete list of all sources and their alternative linking methods. See Target Details for a complete list of all targets. Changing the Displayed Sources There are three groups of sources you can see in the source list: basic, standard, and advanced. The most fundamental jumps for the selected element are shown in Basic source view. The most commonly used jumps are shown in the Standard source list. The Advanced list shows all possible jumps for the selected element.
2 Do one of the following: • Locate the item you want to link to in the Targets column on the right, and drag it to the source on the left. A black box surrounds the selected source, making it clear that you are linking to the correct one. If you drag a target that is not supported by the source, the black box does not appear. • Hold down the Control key and click in the Target column next to the source for which you want to create a link. Choose a target from the shortcut menu.
If you want to connect to an element in the Targets list, you need to already have its disclosure triangle set to show the element’s contents. To delete a connection 1 Press the Up Arrow and Down Arrow keys to scroll through the currently active list (sources or targets) until you select the element you want to connect. 2 Press the Delete key. Connection Details Many of the sources and targets are intuitive in their usage. However, some are not often used or can cause unexpected issues with your title.
Source Usage Alternative methods Menu Use to specify the action when the viewer presses the Menu button on the DVD player’s remote control. This setting can be overridden by similar settings in tracks, markers, stories, and slideshows. Disc Inspector General tab Menu Sources Following is the menu-level basic source. Source Usage Alternative methods Button1:Jump when activated Use to specify the action when the button is activated. Button Inspector. Control-click button in the Menu Editor.
Source Usage Alternative methods Menu Use to specify the action when the viewer presses the Menu button on the DVD player’s remote control. This setting overrides the disc and track settings. By default, this is set to Same as Track. Story Inspector General tab (automatically set to Same as Track) Slideshow Sources Following are the slideshow-level basic sources. Source Usage Alternative methods End Jump Use to specify the action when the slideshow reaches its end during playback.
Source Usage Alternative methods Marker 1:Menu Use to specify the action when the viewer presses the Menu button on the DVD player’s remote control. This setting overrides the disc and track settings. Marker Inspector General tab Marker 1:End Jump Use to specify the action when the marker’s part of the track finishes playing (the frame before reaching the next marker). End Jump in the Marker Inspector Story Sources Following are the story-level standard sources in addition to the basic sources.
Source Usage Alternative methods Chapter Use to specify the action when the viewer presses the button on the DVD player’s remote control. This setting can be overridden by similar settings in tracks and slideshows. Disc Inspector Advanced tab Audio Use to specify the action when the viewer presses the Audio menu button on the DVD player’s remote control. This setting can be overridden by similar settings in tracks and slideshows.
Source Usage Alternative methods Angle Use to specify the action when the viewer presses the Angle menu button on the DVD player’s remote control. This setting overrides the disc setting. By default, this is set to Same as Disc. Track Inspector General tab (automatically set to Same as Disc) Chapter Use to specify the action when the viewer presses the Chapter menu button on the DVD player’s remote control. This setting overrides the disc setting. By default, this is set to Same as Disc.
Slideshow Sources Following are the slideshow-level standard sources in addition to the basic and standard sources. 546 Source Usage Alternative methods Angle Use to specify the action when the viewer presses the Angle menu button on the DVD player’s remote control. This setting overrides the disc setting. By default, this is set to Same as Disc.
Target Details The list of targets is the same for all sources. Some targets only work with specific source types; DVD Studio Pro only allows you to assign appropriate targets to the sources. • Menus: Use to select the menu to link to a source. Select the menu to have the menu appear with the default buttons highlighted and to have the pre-script (if assigned) execute, or select a specific button to have the menu appear with that button highlighted.
Finishing a Project 22 Once you have created your project’s tracks, stories, slideshows, and menus, and set the connections between them, you are ready to take the final steps to create the DVD. This chapter covers the following: • About the Final Steps of DVD Creation (p. 549) • Should You Burn, Build, Format, or Build and Format? (p. 550) • Options for Testing Your Project (p. 552) • Simulating Your Project (p. 552) • Setting Disc Properties (p. 559) • Building Your Project (p.
• Emulating your project: You can use the Apple DVD Player to play the VIDEO_TS or HVDVD_TS folder’s contents. • Setting preformat properties: You can set various details, such as copy protection, region coding, and various disc media attributes. • Formatting your project: In this step, the VIDEO_TS and/or HVDVD_TS folder and any other added DVD-ROM content are formatted and written to the selected output type.
Building a Project The build process only creates the VIDEO_TS or HVDVD_TS folder; it does not burn a disc. You click Build in the toolbar or press Command-Option-C to start the process. With the build process, you are able to choose the location where the VIDEO_TS or HVDVD_TS folder is created.
Options for Testing Your Project There are three methods you can use to test your project: using the DVD Studio Pro preview and simulation features, and playing the title on a DVD player (emulating your project). • Previewing your project’s elements: The DVD Studio Pro preview feature provides a way to view single elements, such as a track. Preview does not allow you to check how one element works with others in the project. For example, you cannot use it to verify a connection from a menu to a track.
There are also a variety of ways you can force the Simulator to start at a specific element. For example, you can Control-click the element in the Outline or Graphical tab, then choose Simulate from the shortcut menu. This allows you to test parts of the project without having all of the elements in place. • DVD Studio Pro Preferences contains a number of settings in the Simulator pane that allow you to configure the Simulator much like you would a DVD player.
• Depending on your system and the video being simulated, frames may be skipped during playback to maintain synchronized playback with the audio. Starting and Stopping the Simulator You can start the Simulator at any time while creating your project. You should have sufficient connections set so that navigation is possible between the elements you want to test. The most important item to have set is the First Play action.
Simulator Window The Simulator window appears in front of all other DVD Studio Pro windows. The timecode of the current elegment Click the Info button to open the information drawer. Choose the type of display to simulate. The area to the left of the video display contains the playback controls you can use to navigate within your project. Most are similar to controls you would find on a DVD player’s remote control.
Playback Controls The playback controls are similar to those found on DVD player remote controls. Menu Title Stop Chapter Skip Forward Play/Pause Chapter Skip Reverse Navigation controls Track Skip Forward Track Skip Reverse • Menu: Jumps to the element assigned to the Menu button. The assignment can be different for each track, story, marker, and slideshow. • Title: Jumps to the element assigned to the Title button. • Play/Pause: Alternately pauses, then plays the track or motion menu.
Menu Controls The menu controls let you test the project’s remote assignments. Subtitle Menu Audio Menu Angle Menu Return First Play Click the Info button to open the information drawer. Chapter Menu • Chapter Menu, Angle Menu, Audio Menu, and Subtitle Menu: Jump to the element assigned to the Chapter, Angle, Audio, and Subtitle menu buttons (not to be confused with the Angle, Audio, and Subtitle stream select buttons). The assignment can be different for each track and slideshow.
Information Drawer You can click the Info button or press Shift-I to open the information drawer. The drawer can open on any side of the Simulator, depending on the Simulator’s position. (You can press Shift-Option-I to have it open on a different edge.) The information drawer changes to match the current element type (menu, track, story, and so on). The Item Properties section shows information specific to that element; you cannot enter information into it.
Setting Disc Properties The Disc Inspector contains settings that affect your DVD title. Some settings, such as the disc’s name, its First Play action, and the video standard, can be set early in the project creation process. You do not have to make other settings until you are ready to burn a DVD, write to a Digital Linear Tape (DLT) drive, or write to a hard disk. The top of the Disc Inspector and its General and Advanced tabs contain settings that affect the title’s playback.
See Setting the Project’s First Play for information on setting the First Play for different types of projects. See Assigning the First Play Element for information on setting the First Play using the Outline or Graphical tab. General Tab in the Disc Inspector All of the settings in the General tab except the DVD-ROM settings must be set before building a project. Standard Settings • DVD Standard: Shows the DVD standard for this project.
• Subtitle: You can choose a subtitle stream that will serve as the initial active stream, overriding the DVD player’s setting. You can also force the subtitle stream to appear by selecting its View checkbox. The default setting is “not set,” which lets the DVD player control the stream setting. Remote Control • Title, Menu, and Return: You can set the Title, Menu, and Return remote control settings, which correspond to a DVD player’s remote control buttons.
Disc/Volume Tab in the Disc Inspector These settings do not need to be set until you format your project. However, choosing the disc media, size, and layer options will ensure the toolbar’s disc meter is correct. • Disc Media: Available for HD projects only (SD projects can only use red laser media). Choose the type of media your project will be distributed on. Red Laser refers to the media used with SD projects, although HD projects can also use it. Blue Laser refers to media used with HD projects.
Important: An alert appears when you select Seamless. Do not select Seamless unless your project specifically requires it. See Choosing Seamless or Non-Seamless Layer Changes for more information. • Number of sides: Choose whether this is a one- or two-sided disc. Note: A two-sided disc requires two separate projects—one for each side. • Disc Side: Choose Side A or Side B for this project. This is for the replication facility. • Disc Size: Choose either the standard 12 cm or the smaller 8 cm disc size.
• Copyright Management: Select the checkbox to enable either digital-based or analog-based (Macrovision) copyright protection of the disc. Selecting this checkbox enables the Copy Generation setting. Note: This setting affects the number of bytes in each sector of the disc. With copyright management disabled, each sector has 2048 bytes. With copyright management enabled, each sector has 2054 bytes. • Copyright Generation: This pop-up menu specifies whether copies are allowed.
Advanced Tab in the Disc Inspector All of the settings in the Disc Inspector’s Advanced tab must be set before you build a project. These settings apply to specialized features used on advanced projects. • Embed Text Data: This checkbox is automatically selected if you use the DVD@CCESS feature within your project. You can also select it if you want to add the names you assigned to the tracks, slideshows, and menus to the DVD disc.
• Jacket Picture: You can choose a graphic to use as the jacket picture for this DVD. See About Jacket Pictures for more information. Building Your Project Building a project compiles all of the elements into files that conform to the DVD-Video specification (SD projects). Before you build your project, you must make sure you have set your prebuild disc properties. Prebuild Disc Properties The prebuild disc properties include the following items from the Disc Inspector.
To enable Macrovision APS 1 Open the Disc Inspector by selecting the disc in the Outline tab or clicking an empty area in the Graphical tab. 2 Click the Region/Copyright tab. 3 Select the Copyright Management checkbox. 4 Choose No Copy Permitted from the Copy Generation pop-up menu. 5 Choose the type of Macrovision protection to use (Type 1, Type 2, or Type 3) from the Macrovision pop-up menu. Note: The Format for CSS checkbox has no bearing on the Macrovision setting.
Based on the DVD specification, Jacket Picture graphics should be supplied in three different resolutions (small, medium, and large) for display on different platforms and display devices. DVD Studio Pro automatically generates the required graphics and the folder that holds them, JACKET_P, when you build your project. To add a jacket picture to your project 1 Import the graphic to use for the jacket picture into the Assets tab.
The Log tab also appears, automatically switching to display the build results. The tab shows details on the build’s progress, as well as messages about any errors that occur. Incremental Builds While creating your project, you may find it useful to perform builds several times before you are actually finished with it. These incremental builds can be useful to verify that certain aspects of the project are functioning properly, such as a set of scripts or a menu’s button navigation.
Using Multiple Hard Disks One way to speed up the build process is to have the project’s assets on a disk completely different from the one you are building to (not just a second partition of the same disk). Using different disks for your assets and your build allows each disk to focus on either reading or writing data, rather than jumping from one function to the other.
See About Dual-Layer Discs for more information on setting a break point. The Build Files for SD Projects Once the build for your SD project starts, DVD Studio Pro creates two folders at the location you specified: an AUDIO_TS folder and a VIDEO_TS folder. Additionally, a third folder, JACKET_P, is created if you have assigned a jacket picture graphic. The AUDIO_TS folder is used by systems authoring DVD-Audio titles.
Track Content Group A set of at least four files is created for each track and slideshow in the project. “VTS_01” in the following filename examples refers to the first VTS block. Files for the second VTS block would start with “VTS_02.” You can have up to 99 tracks, stories, and slideshows in a project. Note: While stories do not get placed in their own VTS block, they still count against the 99 VTS limit.
Additionally, if you have not saved your project before you build it, a folder is added to the VIDEO_TS folder named Render Data. This folder contains rendered versions of any motion menus in your project, and is normally in your project’s bundle file. See Menu Preferences for more information on rendered menu files. The Build Files for HD Projects Once the build for your HD project starts, DVD Studio Pro creates an HVDVD_TS folder at the location you specified.
• HV000I01.BUP: This is a backup of the .IFO file that can be used by the DVD player if the .IFO file cannot be read. • HV000M02.EVO: This is the enhanced video objects file for the video manager. Note: The file HV000M01.EVO is not used by DVD Studio Pro. Track Content Group A set of at least four files is created for each track and slideshow in the project. “HV001I,” “HV001M,” and “HV001T” in the following filename examples refer to the first VTS block.
Note: The .layout filename must match the disc name for an incremental build to work. See Incremental Builds for more information. If you intend to manually copy the HVDVD_TS folder to a disc (bypassing the DVD Studio Pro format process), you should be sure not to copy the above files to the disc. Most DVD players ignore them if they are present in the HVDVD_TS folder on the final disc, but some are unable to play the disc.
3 To select a VIDEO_TS or HVDVD_TS folder, choose either File > Open DVD Video Folder or File > Open VIDEO_TS Folder (depending on your version of DVD Player), or press Command-O. 4 Use the navigation dialog to locate the VIDEO_TS or HVDVD_TS folder, then click Choose. 5 To play the VIDEO_TS or HVDVD_TS folder, do one of the following: • Click the Play button. • Press the Space bar. The title starts playing, based on its First Play action.
Setting Disc Format Properties Before formatting and writing your DVD disc, DLT, or hard disk files, you must configure your disc’s format properties. Most of these settings can be made at any time in the authoring process. Additionally, you are given the opportunity to set these after you start the format process. The preformat disc properties include the following items from the Disc Inspector. See Setting Disc Properties for details on these settings.
Note: The type of DVD project you are creating, SD or HD, determines the type of volumes that are created. SD projects create a UDF 1.02 volume and HD projects create a UDF 2.50 volume, regardless of the disc type actually being burned. UDF 2.50 volumes will not play in current SD DVD players and are not supported by older computers, including those running Mac OS X v10.3 Panther or earlier.
ISO 9660 Volume All DVDs also have an ISO 9660 volume. This volume only supports filenames with single-byte ASCII characters. The ISO 9660 volume must conform to the “26.3” specification, similar to the “8.3” specification mentioned earlier (26 characters maximum followed by a 3-character extension; the only allowed characters are uppercase letters, numbers, and the underscore). In addition, folders cannot have extensions in their names.
• Click an empty area in the Graphical tab. The Disc Inspector appears. 2 Click the General tab in the Disc Inspector. 3 Select the SD DVD setting for DVD Standard to write to red laser media, or the HD DVD setting to write to blue laser media. 4 Do one of the following: • Choose File > Advanced Burn > Format (or press Command-F). • Click Format in the toolbar. The format dialog appears. By default, DVD Studio Pro assumes you want to format the project that was built last.
• The second layer’s direction must be selected: You need to decide whether to use the Parallel Track Path (PTP) or Opposite Track Path (OTP) direction. See Setting the Dual-Layer Direction for more information. • A break point must be chosen: The point where the first layer ends and the second begins can be chosen automatically by DVD Studio Pro, or you can select the track marker that serves as the break point. See About Choosing a Dual-Layer Break Point for more information.
It is the second layer’s direction that you have to choose. With the Parallel Track Path (PTP) setting, the second layer is configured exactly like the first layer—it begins on the inside and plays toward the outside. With the Opposite Track Path (OTP) setting, the second layer begins on the outside edge and plays toward the inside. Note: Double-layer discs require you to use the OTP setting.
Setting the Break Point with Large DVD-ROM Contents Authoring a project that contains a small amount of DVD-Video data with a large amount of DVD-ROM data requires special handling for placing the break point. For example, you might author a project for a dual-layer red laser disc that contains 2 GB of DVD-Video data and 6 GB of DVD-ROM data. In this case, you will not be able to set a break point at a track’s marker because the DVD-ROM data will not fit on a single layer.
As with the automatic method, it is possible that there are no suitable markers, with no markers appearing in the pop-up menu. This means that you will have to add a suitable marker to a track in your project, or try rearranging the tracks in the VTS Editor. See Manually Determining the Break Point Position.
In addition to the VIDEO_TS or HVDVD_TS folder, there are other items that can be part of the format process: • A folder specified by the DVD-ROM content setting • DVD@CCESS Installers You can change or set the folder to use for DVD-ROM content either when specifying the preformat settings or while configuring the format process. The DVD@CCESS Installers are included if the project used DVD@CCESS links and the Embed Text Data checkbox in the Disc Inspector is selected.
The format dialog appears. By default, DVD Studio Pro assumes you want to format the project that was built last. The settings in the format dialog are set to match the last build. It is a good idea to verify that the settings in the General, Disc/Volume, and Region/Copyright tabs are correct. You can use the Choose button next to Current Build to select a folder that contains the VIDEO_TS or HVDVD_TS folder you want to format. Important: DVD Studio Pro attempts to find the .layout and .
Output Type Settings Once you start the format process, you can configure the output type you want to format to. The Destination section in the General tab in the format dialog contains the output type settings. • Output Device: Use this pop-up menu to choose the actual device to format to. It displays a list of your system’s suitable output devices, including DVD-R drives, DLT drives, and the system’s hard disk drive. The other Destination settings change depending on the device you select.
• Output Format: Depending on the selected output device, there may be multiple formats available. Use this pop-up menu to select the specific format to use. See Output Devices for details on the formats available for each device. Output Devices There are three output device types that you can format your project for: DVD drives, DLT drives, and your system’s hard disk.
Important: Be sure to verify with your replicator that they are able to work with files given to them this way. Additionally, be sure to find out which output option (DDP 2.0, DDP 2.1, or CMF 1.0 for SD projects and DDP 3.0 or CMF 2.0 for HD projects) they need you to use. You have six output format options when writing to your hard disk: • DDP 3.0: HD projects only. Use this (Data Description Protocol) option to create a file compatible with DLT drives using DDP version 3.0.
Traditionally, the only way to include these features on your replicated disc was to use a DLT drive. The Cutting Master Format (CMF) has been adapted to the DVD-R format so that now you can burn a DVD-R disc on your system and a replication facility can use that disc and include these features on the discs they make. CMF for DVD-R is only supported by authoring drives and media. Not all replication facilities support CMF discs; be sure to check with them ahead of time.
Using Advanced Features 23 DVD Studio Pro contains a number of advanced features that are used mostly in specialized projects: VTS Editor, DVD@CCESS, user operations, display conditions, remote control settings, and Line 21 settings. In most cases, these features are available in several elements, such as menus and tracks. This chapter covers the following: • VTS Editor (p. 591) • DVD@CCESS (p. 598) • User Operations (p. 602) • Display Condition (p. 607) • Remote Control Settings (p.
About VTS Blocks The contents of a video DVD are contained in one or more VTS blocks. In DVD Studio Pro, each track and slideshow must reside in its own VTS. Additionally, each VTS has a structure to support one or more menus and one or more scripts. Also, all DVDs have a video manager that knows the VTS structure of the disc.
You can improve a disc’s playback performance by keeping related elements together whenever possible. For example, you should place the scripts used with a specific track in the same VTS as the track. Because menus often link to multiple tracks or slideshows, you will not be able to keep them together with everything they can jump to.
The Outline tab changes from the current display, either By Type or By VTS, to the alternate display. If the display is in a split-view mode (showing both By Type and By VTS), clicking the Alternate View button swaps sides between the two views. µ Drag the partition toward the tab’s center. The partition edge can be on the left or right—it is the side that has the handle indication.
The primary difference is in how they are organized. • By VTS: Lists the elements based on the VTS they belong to. A VTS can have only one track (which can also have stories) or one slideshow, but it can have multiple menus and scripts. • By Type: Lists the elements based on their type (menus, tracks, slideshows, and scripts). See Using the Outline Tab for more information on using the By Type display.
About Pinning Elements in the By VTS Display As you create elements for your DVD project, DVD Studio Pro automatically places them in appropriate VTS blocks. For example, if you create a menu that uses a different audio format than the others, it is automatically placed in a separate VTS. If you manually move an element from one VTS to another, the VTS Editor indicates it with a pin on the element’s icon. The pin indicates that the element was either manually placed in this VTS or has been “pinned” to it.
• Drag the partition toward the center of the Outline tab. 2 Do one of the following: • Control-click in the By VTS display, then choose Add Video Title Set from the shortcut menu. • Click the Add VTS button along the top of the Outline tab. A project can have up to 99 VTS blocks. The actual number of VTS blocks you can have depends on the number of stories in your project.
DVD@CCESS The DVD@CCESS feature allows you to add additional interactivity to your DVD title when it is played on a computer. For example, you can set a marker so that when it is reached, the computer’s web browser opens and is directed to the specified URL, which can be a website on the Internet or an HTML file on the DVD. DVD@CCESS is compatible with both Macintosh computers and most Windows-based computers.
3 In the Name field, enter text to help you remember what the DVD@CCESS link is for. This text is not seen by the viewer and is only for your use while authoring the title. It can be helpful because the link text is often difficult to interpret directly. 4 Enter the link text in the URL field. This is the text that gets processed during playback. See Rules for Entering DVD@CCESS Links for guidelines on entering the links.
• File links: To view a file you have placed in a folder on the DVD, enter: file:///DVDName/FolderName/FileName where DVDName is the name of the disc entered in the Disc Inspector, FolderName is the folder the file will be in on the DVD, and FileName is the file (the name may include an extension such as .pdf or .jpg). The file path information is case-sensitive. Be sure you enter it exactly right.
• Build and format the title and write it as a disk image to your hard disk: The disk image contains the specified DVD-ROM content in addition to the VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders. Using the Apple DVD Player, you can play the disk image as if it were a burned DVD, and the DVD@CCESS links that rely on the DVD-ROM files can be tested.
2 Control-click the icon, then choose Show Package Contents from the shortcut menu. The package opens in a Finder window. 3 Open the Contents folder, then the Resources folder. The DVDccess folder is in the Resources folder. 4 Copy the DVDccess folder to your desktop by holding down the Option key and dragging. This leaves the original in place and makes a copy you can add to your DVD. 5 Close the package’s Finder window.
3 Select each item you want to disable. See User Operations Properties for a description of all the items. Indicates some items in the group are selected. Select to disable all items in a group. Click the triangles to show or hide each group’s items. You can also click Disable All to disable all items. You can then deselect any items to enable them. The Enable All button enables all items. When working with markers, you can also select Same as Track.
Playback Control The Playback Control group contains the following settings. • Title Play: Available only in tracks, menus, and stories. Prevents jumping to a different title by entering a title number using a DVD player remote control. • PPT Search/PTT Play: Available only in tracks. Prevents jumping to or playing from a new chapter marker by using a remote control’s numeric keypad. PTT stands forpart of titleand corresponds to track sections defined by markers.
• Backward Scan: Available in tracks, menus, stories, and markers. By default, disabled in menus. Prevents scanning backward through the disc. • Next Program: Available in tracks, menus, stories, and markers. By default, disabled in menus. Prevents skipping forward through chapters. • Previous Program: Available in tracks, menus, stories, and markers. By default, disabled in menus. Prevents skipping backward through chapters. • Go Up: Available only in menus.
Button There is only one item in the Button group. • Selection/Activation: Available only in tracks, menus, and stories. Prevents selecting and activating button highlight areas. Getting Consistent Previous and Next Button Behavior The action that happens when a viewer uses the Previous or Next button to skip through chapter markers on a track and reaches the first or last marker can vary, depending on the DVD player.
Note: The same issue can occur with slideshows; however, you cannot correct it unless you convert the slideshow to a track. Display Condition The menus, tracks, and stories within DVD Studio Pro can have a display condition applied to them that determines whether they appear, and if not, what should appear instead. For example, based on the DVD player’s aspect ratio setting, the condition can determine whether to play the current track or a track that is better suited to the aspect ratio setting.
Display Condition Parameters There are four parameters you need to configure when setting up a display condition: Select to enable display conditions for this element. Choose the conditional relationship. Choose the conditional state. Choose the alternative element. Choose the conditional element. • The conditional element: You choose what is to be evaluated to determine whether the menu, track, or story should be displayed.
3 Select the Display Condition checkbox. 4 Choose the conditional element (the first parameter—defines what the condition is to be based on). For a list of conditional elements you can use, see Conditional Elements and States. 5 Choose the conditional relationship (the second parameter—determines how the conditional element is to be compared with the conditional state, set in the next step). For a list of conditional relationships, see Conditional Relationships.
Conditional Elements and States The conditional elements are based on settings read from the System Parameter Register Memories (SPRMs) or the General Purpose Register Memories (GPRMs). The conditional states are determined by the element. For example, the menu language element has all supported languages as the possible states. If the state is a numeric entry, you need to enter a decimal-based number (binary and hex numbers are not supported).
• Audio Player Config: Use to set up a condition based on the DVD player’s audio configuration—PCM, AC-3, and MPEG (SPRM 15). The state requires a decimal number entry. • GPRM 0 - 7: Use to set up a condition based on the values stored in one of the eight GPRM locations. The values must first be placed into the GPRM by a separate script that you have run. The state requires a decimal number entry. Note: Display conditions can only use full 16-bit GPRMs.
• & (and): Provides a binary bit-wise “and” function. Several of the elements contain multiple settings. You can use the “and” relationship to extract one setting from the element. For example, if you choose the Audio Player Config element (which contains several settings related to the DVD player’s audio capabilities), a state of 2048-DTS, and the “and” relationship, you can only play the track if bit 11 of the 16-bit byte is one, indicating that the DVD player supports DTS audio.
Remote Control Buttons The disc’s remote control settings support seven buttons. Remote control settings for tracks, stories, markers, slideshows, and menus support only certain ones: • Title: Supported by the disc settings only. This button is typically linked to the primary menu so that, no matter where the viewers are in the title, when they press the Title button they will always go to the same place.
To set the remote control buttons using the Inspector 1 Select the element whose remote control buttons you want to set. You can select the element in the Outline tab, the Graphical tab, or use the pop-up menu in the appropriate editor. 2 In the Inspector, open the pop-up menu for the button to be set, then choose the function to link to. All elements currently set in the project are available to be linked to.
About Subtitles and Closed Captions Subtitles have several advantages: You can create them within DVD Studio Pro or using a third-party subtitle authoring application, you can set their font and color, and they can be displayed by any DVD player. Closed captions offer other advantages. Subtitles generally provide a text version of the dialogue only—they do not describe any other sounds that may be in the title (such as a dog barking or a phone ringing).
About the Field 1 and Field 2 Settings The closed caption standard provides for encoding up to four caption streams in Line 21. The two most commonly used streams (C1 and C2) use field 1, and the other two streams (C3 and C4) use field 2. A closed caption file assigned to a track in DVD Studio Pro can have captions only in field 1 (C1 and C2) or in both fields (support for all four streams). It is important for you to configure the track’s Line 21 settings to match the file’s configuration.
A Appendix Keyboard Shortcuts Keyboard shortcuts let you perform commands in DVD Studio Pro using the keyboard instead of by pointing and clicking. The following are keyboard shortcuts available in DVD Studio Pro, grouped by function. Note: Some keyboard shortcuts are always active, whether or not you are working in the group that they are listed in. Other keyboard shortcuts are only active under special circumstances. This appendix covers the following: • General Interface and Application Controls (p.
General Interface and Application Controls Keyboard shortcut Function Function keys F1 through F15. Opens the first 15 interface configurations, with F1 assigned to the basic configuration, F2 assigned to the extended configuration, and F3 assigned to the advanced configuration. F4 through F15 can be assigned to your custom configurations. (Note that F9, F10, and F11 may be used by Mac OS X for the Exposé feature, and F14 and F15 may be used to control the monitor’s brightness.) Accesses the Viewer tab.
Keyboard shortcut Function Accesses the Slideshow tab. This tab is brought to the front of its quadrant or, if in its own window, it’s brought to the front of the application. If the tab is closed, it’s opened as a window at its last position. 7 Accesses the Story tab. This tab is brought to the front of its quadrant or, if in its own window, it’s brought to the front of the application. If the tab is closed, it’s opened as a window at its last position. 8 Accesses the Track tab.
Keyboard shortcut shift Function Z Creates a new project. N Opens an existing project. O Closes the project. W Saves the project. S shift S Saves a project as a new project. Copies the selected text, menu item, script command line, or subtitle button to the Clipboard. This shortcut works with both text in your menus and subtitles and element names. C Copies the selected text, menu item, script command line, or subtitle button to the Clipboard and deletes it from selection.
Keyboard shortcut Function Adds a standard menu. Y shift Y K Adds a layered menu. Adds a slideshow. Adds a script. / Adds a menu language. Scrolling Through Lists Lists in DVD Studio Pro are found in the Assets, Log, Outline, Connections, Slideshow, Script, and Story tabs. Keyboard shortcut Function Drag scroller. Scrolls through the list. Press Option and drag scroller. Scrolls slowly through the list (useful for large lists). Selects the previous line in the list.
Assets Tab Keyboard shortcut Function Double-click empty area. Imports an asset. shift I Double-click asset name. Imports an asset. Previews the selected asset. Previews the selected asset. space Selects all assets and folders. A shift A Deselects all assets and folders. Removes the selected asset. delete shift N E Press Command and drag. Creates a new folder. Shows the encoder settings for the selected QuickTime movie.
Graphical Tab Keyboard shortcut shift Function Fits the tiles to the current window size. Z Zooms one step in while maintaining the current center. = Zooms one step out while maintaining the current center. Press Z and click in window. Zooms one step into the area you click. Press Option-Z and click in window. Zooms out one step from the area you click. Press Z and drag. Zooms into the selected area. Press Space bar and drag. Repositions the tile area in the window.
Log Tab Keyboard shortcut Function Copies the selected text. C Selects all text. A Menu Tab (Menu Editor) Keyboard shortcut Function Press Option and drag. Creates a duplicate of the selected item. Creates a duplicate of the selected item. D Drag. Creates a button. Press Option and drag. Creates a drop zone. Press Command and drag. Selects multiple items. Deselects any currently selected items first. Press Command-Shift and drag. Selects multiple items. Retains any currently selected items.
Keyboard shortcut Function Deletes the selected item. delete Press Shift-Option and drag. Repositions an asset in a drop zone or button (if possible). Press Shift and drag. Forces a button or drop zone to match its asset’s aspect ratio, and maintains that aspect ratio while being resized. Moves the selected item up 1 pixel. Moves the selected item down 1 pixel. Moves the selected item left 1 pixel. Moves the selected item right 1 pixel. Moves the selected item up 10 pixels.
Keyboard shortcut shift Function F Brings the selected item to the front. Press Shift and drag. Constrains the movement of an item to the vertical or horizontal direction only. Press Shift-Option and drag. Duplicates the selected item and constrains its movement to the vertical or horizontal direction only. You must wait to press Shift until you have started dragging the item. Press Command and drag item. Moves the selected item without snapping or showing the dynamic guides.
Palette Keyboard shortcut Function In a media tab, removes the selected folder from the list. delete In a Template, Style, or Shape tab, deletes the selected item from your system’s hard disk. delete Selects all items in the current view. A shift A Deselects all items in the current view. Applies the selected item to the menu (templates, styles, and shapes, if applicable). return Double-click. Applies the selected item to the menu (templates, styles, and shapes, if applicable).
Keyboard shortcut Function Activates the selected button. return shift ? shift option Shows or hides the information drawer on the left/right edges. ? W Shows or hides the information drawer on the top/bottom edges. Closes the Simulator. Slideshow Tab (Slideshow Editor) Keyboard shortcut = Function Shows large thumbnails. Shows small thumbnails. A Selects all slides. space Plays slideshow in Viewer tab or, if playing, stops and returns to the slide it started from.
Keyboard shortcut Function Press Enter while typing text. While typing text into the Subtitle Editor, exits subtitle text entry mode. While typing text in the Subtitle Inspector, creates a new line. Drag. Creates a button. Press Option and drag. Duplicates the selected button. option Duplicates the selected button. D Press Command and drag. Selects multiple buttons. Selects the next subtitle. Selects the previous subtitle. Press Command-Option and drag button’s edge.
Keyboard shortcut Function Stops playback and moves the playhead to where it started. K Moves the playhead to the beginning of the timeline. home Moves the playhead to the beginning of the selected clip. option E Moves the playhead to the beginning of the selected clip. Moves the playhead forward one frame. Moves the playhead backward one frame. Moves the playhead to the end of the timeline. end Moves the playhead to the end of the selected clip. shift E Moves the playhead one second earlier.
Keyboard shortcut Function Jumps playhead backward to next timeline event (marker, clip edge, and so on). shift Z shift option shift T Zooms the Track Editor timeline out to its maximum. Z Fits current clip to the Track Editor. Toggles through stream height settings. Zooms the timeline in on the Track Editor, scrolling to show the playhead if necessary. = Zooms the timeline out on the Track Editor, scrolling to show the playhead if necessary.
Keyboard shortcut K Function Stop. Frame step forward, or with slideshows, advance to the next slide. shift Step one second forward (not applicable with slideshows). Frame step backward, or with slideshows, go back to the previous slide. shift 632 Appendix A Keyboard Shortcuts Step one second backward (not applicable with slideshows).
B Appendix Importing Other Projects Using DVD Studio Pro 4, you can import projects created with earlier versions of DVD Studio Pro. This appendix covers the following: • Importing DVD Studio Pro 2 and DVD Studio Pro 3 Projects into DVD Studio Pro 4 (p. 633) Importing DVD Studio Pro 2 and DVD Studio Pro 3 Projects into DVD Studio Pro 4 There are several issues you should be aware of if you are importing projects created in DVD Studio Pro 2 and DVD Studio Pro 3 into DVD Studio Pro 4.
Importing Item Descriptions You cannot import item descriptions saved with any earlier version of DVD Studio Pro (1, 2, or 3) into DVD Studio Pro 4. Because an item description is a text file describing an element such as a menu or track, you can create a new item description by importing a project that contains the element into DVD Studio Pro 4, then saving an item description of it.
C Appendix Calculating Disc Space Requirements A major concern when authoring your DVD project is knowing whether it will fit on the disc size you intend to use. The following describes in detail how to determine the amount of disc space your project requires, and provides a way to determine a safe bit rate to encode your video assets with. Note: The following example is specific to an SD project on a red laser disc. The same process applies to HD projects on blue laser discs.
• Motion menu video with a duration of 00:00:16:20 and one AC-3 stereo audio stream • Stage 1: Calculating the Total Video Play Time • Stage 2: Calculating Disc Capacities • Stage 3: Calculating the Bit Rates for Each Disc Size • Stage 4: Calculating the Audio Allowances • Stage 5: Calculating the Effect of Audio on the Video Bit Rate • Stage 6: Calculating DVD-ROM Allowances • Stage 7: Calculating Other Allowances Stage 1: Calculating the Total Video Play Time You first need to determine the total play ti
Stage 3: Calculating the Bit Rates for Each Disc Size Once you know the play time in seconds and the bit capacity of the different disc sizes, you can calculate a basic bit rate for each disc size. To do this, divide the disc size by the play time (7926 seconds in this example). DVD name Bit capacity Bit rate DVD-1 11.68 gigabits (Gbit) 1.47 megabits per second (Mbps) DVD-2 21.28 Gbit 2.68 Mbps DVD-3 23.36 Gbit 2.95 Mbps DVD-4 42.56 Gbit 5.37 Mbps DVD-5 37.6 Gbit 4.74 Mbps DVD-9 68.
Stage 4: Calculating the Audio Allowances Depending on your project, the audio may have a relatively minor effect on disc space. It can also be challenging to determine the audio allowances because each video asset can have up to eight audio streams, and each stream can be a different type and length. The following table lists the typical bit rates for the common audio formats. Audio format Bit rate AC-3 stereo 192 kilobits per second (kbps) to 224 kbps AC-3 5.1 surround 384 to 448 kbps DTS 5.
For the DVD-5 disc, you need to subtract the total audio amount from the total disc size: 37.6 gigabits – 7.684 gigabits = 29.916 gigabits for the video. Dividing the available space by the video duration provides a new bit rate: 29.916 gigabits ÷ 7926 = 3.77 Mbps. You can see that the audio has considerably affected the original bit rate for the DVD-5 disc (4.74 Mbps).
• Subtitles: The amount of space required by subtitles can vary widely, depending on how many of the 32 streams you use, the type of content you use (simple text characters or full-screen graphics), and how often you change them (several times a second, or more typically, once every four or five seconds). Simple subtitles average about 10 kbps—roughly 2 megabits of space per hour, which is negligible on most titles.
D Appendix Transition Parameters Most of the parameters of the standard transitions supplied with DVD Studio Pro are self-explanatory. However, some parameters are not as obvious. This appendix explains the parameters for each of the transitions. For details on using transitions with menus, see Using the Menu Transition Feature. For details on using transitions with tracks, see Adding Transitions to Still Clips. For details on using transitions with slideshows, see Using Slideshow Transitions.
Alpha Transitions DVD Studio Pro includes several Alpha Transitions. These transitions use short video clips to produce a transition from the current picture to the new picture. These transitions, indicated with the Greek letter alpha in front of their name, have no settings other than a duration, and are not listed with the standard transitions. Additionally, you can even create and import your own Alpha Transitions. See Preparing Alpha Transitions for details on the process.
Drop Slides in the new picture over the current one, with a bounce as it “hits” the side. Use Move In to have the slide without the bounce. Parameter name Range Notes Duration 1 to 10 seconds You can enter a duration or drag the slider to set the duration. Direction Right, left, up, and down Defines the direction the new picture moves in. Droplet The current picture ripples from its center and fades away, revealing the new picture.
Parameter name Range Notes Duration 1 to 10 seconds You can enter a duration or drag the slider to set the duration. Viscosity 0-10 Defines how far the picture melts before the transition finishes. Mosaic Divides the picture into panels that each flip independently to reveal the new picture on their back. Parameter name Range Notes Duration 1 to 10 seconds You can enter a duration or drag the slider to set the duration.
Parameter name Range Notes Duration 1 to 10 seconds You can enter a duration or drag the slider to set the duration. Direction Right, left, up, and down Defines the direction the page is turned to. Angle 0–359 degrees Defines the amount the page flip’s fold rotates during the transition. Field of View 0–10 Defines the tightness of the fold, with 0 being minimum and 10 being maximum. Push Current picture slides off as the new picture slides in.
Parameter name Range Notes Duration 1 to 10 seconds You can enter a duration or drag the slider to set the duration. Depth 0–10 Defines the amount of rotation and zoom before the transition finishes, with 0 being minimum and 10 being maximum. Rotation Blur Spins the current picture about its Z-axis while blurring, zooming out, and fading to reveal the new picture underneath. Parameter name Range Notes Duration 1 to 10 seconds You can enter a duration or drag the slider to set the duration.
Glossary Glossary 4:3 The most common video aspect ratio, used for NTSC and PAL video standards. Also known as the 1.33 aspect ratio. See also aspect ratio. 16:9 The widescreen aspect ratio supported by the DVD-Video specification. Also known as the 1.78 aspect ratio. See also anamorphic, aspect ratio. AC-3 audio A compressed audio format developed by Dolby Laboratories. Also known as Dolby Digital audio. Supports single-channel through 5.1 surround sound configurations.
authoring media The DVD-R format that supports the Cutting Master Format (CMF) for adding advanced features to master discs supplied to a replication facility. Requires using a special authoring DVD-R drive. See also Cutting Master Format (CMF), general media. AVC (Advanced Video Codec) See H.264. background image All menus have a background image, over which the menu’s buttons are placed. The background can be a still image or a motion video (creating a motion menu). See also motion menu.
button navigation The actions that occur when a viewer presses a remote control’s arrow buttons. You can manually configure each button’s navigation settings or use the DVD Studio Pro Auto Assign feature to automatically set the navigation of all buttons on a menu at once. It is important to set the navigation so that viewers can logically get from the current button to the desired one. buttons over video Interactive buttons that appear over a video stream by way of a subtitle stream.
Digital Linear Tape (DLT) drive The tape drive most often used to supply an SD DVD project to a replication facility. A separate tape is written for each project layer during the format process. See also disc description protocol (DDP), format. Digital Theatre Systems (DTS) audio A compressed audio format for single channel through 5.1 surround sound configurations. Requires an external DTS decoder for playing on your computer.
DVD@CCESS A feature in DVD Studio Pro that allows you to add additional interactivity to your title when it is played on a computer. With DVD@CCESS, you can add links to menus, tracks, and markers that can be used to open an application on the computer to display extra content. For example, you can open the system’s web browser and direct it to a specific URL. DVD-R The DVD format supported by the Apple SuperDrive, using write-once discs. See also authoring media, Cutting Master Format (CMF), general media.
H.264 Based on the MPEG-4 part 10 format, the H.264 format, the H.264 video format, also known as Advanced Video Codec (AVC), provides for encoding with about twice the efficiency as with the MPEG-2 format. This results in better quality at the same bit rate, or you can choose to use a lower bit rate to achieve the same quality (with a smaller file size). In DVD Studio Pro, the H.264 format can only be used with HD projects.
menu An element in a project that provides buttons for the purpose of connecting to other elements in your project, such as tracks and slideshows. A menu can have a still or full motion background, and can include audio. See also background image, drop zone, motion button, motion menu. motion button Button shapes that can display a thumbnail image of an assigned asset. The asset can be a still image or a video clip.
pan-scan A method for displaying 16:9 video on a 4:3 monitor. Content is cropped at each end so that the 4:3 monitor is filled. An MPEG-2 video clip with pan and scan can include vectors that dynamically change the part of the picture that is cropped. See also letterbox. parallel track path (PTP) Used when creating dual-layer discs to control where the second layer starts. With PTP, the second layer starts at the inside edge of the disc, the same as the first layer.
shapes Used with standard menus, shapes can be added to a menu as buttons or drop zones. In addition to their primary graphic, shapes can include the graphics required for highlights and video thumbnails. You can use those supplied with DVD Studio Pro or create your own. See also motion button, patches, standard menu creation method. slideshow An element in a project that can contain up to 99 still images and accompanying audio.
timecode A method of associating each frame of video in a clip with a unique, sequential unit of time. The format is hours: minutes: seconds: frames. See also drop frame timecode, non-drop frame timecode. track The element of a DVD Studio Pro project that contains the video, audio, and subtitle streams that provide the primary content of the DVD. Each project can have a combination of up to 99 tracks, stories, and slideshows.
