DVD authoring questions

[BarbaraC Profile Private messageWebsite]

Though what I'm using is DVD Architect, I assume that anyone who uses a separate authoring program and understands the specs better than I do, might be able to answer this question for me.

When custom building a menu, the software specifies that for 4:3, the menu should be sized at 655 x 480 pixels, which is an odd number in my head since I'd expect 640, not 655. They also say that the aspect ratio is .9091, which doesn't equate to anything at all in my mind. For 16:9, they require a menu sized at 873 x 480 pixels, which is another odd number. They give the widescreen format an aspect ratio of 1.2121.

What the devil is an aspect ratio? I can't figure it out. Also, does anyone have a notion about why in both cases they're calling for a width that's more than expected?

This connects with a problem I noticed when using MPEG videos rendered in Producer to one or the other ratio of 4:3 or 16:9. Once authored and viewed on television, bits of both top and bottom seem slightly cut off while the sides aren't.

I'm completely confused and therefore unable to adjust whatever it is I need to adjust to get the desired result.

Barbara

[pwholmes Profile Private message]

Yah, this is very confusing. The reason for it is that in DV video the pixels are not square but rectangular. That's the reason you need more pixels in width to cover what 640 square pixels would cover for the 4X3 aspect ratio. For graphics, menus, things like that it's a pain because you not only have to make the graphic wider in pixels but also set the ratio of width/height in your photo-editing program to the .9091 or the graphic will look wider than it actually is. I don't know if you can do that in Photoshop or not.

I haven't worked on a DVD menu for about a year so I can't remember how I handle this. I think I create the graphic at say 1280 by 960 (double the width and height of 640 by 480), then resize the graphic to 655 by 480 in my photo editing program. I'm not saying this is the best solution but it's been good enough for me so far.

Paul

[starlight]

I showed my husband your question since he works with video and he is perplexed about the 655 x 480 and the 873 x 480 sizes as you are. I will try to make sense of what he said as I type it for you. He edits all his work on something called an Avid system and if they have to make a DVD they send it out to a publisher who handles all the questions you have. However on the rare occasion he makes one for the home or friends he uses Photoshop and a program called Encore and he says that it should work exactly like DVD Architect. This is what he says. If you are making a DVD for anywhere in North America you are using a format called NTSC and you should select that as an aspect ratio in the program you are making your menu. (he just said he is assuming you are using a seperate program because if you are using DVD Architect the program would make the menu the exact size you need and you would not have any problems.) All the latest versions of any graphics software have an aspect ration selection and it may be hidden in an area called advanced or more options. The reason for aspect ratios is because all NTSC video is edited at the same size of 720x480 and different ratio allows the square pixels to fit into the non square pixels of a tv. a regular tv has pixels that are taller than they are wide and a wide screen tv has pixels that are wider than they are tall. that is where you get the weird ratios of .9 for the regular tv because they are 9/10 the height of their width and widescreen is 1.2 times as long as it is tall. If you are using Photoshop you would select either regular or widescreen for the size of the NTSC menu from the aspect ration selections and it would apply the correct the ratio for you. The image will not look like it is 720x480 and either be taller or longer, but if you make a circle it would look perfectly round. If you go to the view menu and then deselect the show aspect ration option the image would reshape to it's real size of 720 x 480 and the circle would be distorted. However when the menu is added to a DVD the circle would appear perfectly round when played on a TV because of the aspect ration. He suggests that you ignore the other sizes and make your menus 720 x 480 and use the aspect ration of your graphics software. The only drawback is that the preview may not appear crisp, but it really is because it is only a simulation and you can toggle between actual pixels and the simulated size with a menu selection.

He is nodding his head so I know I got what he said right even though I do not really understand most of it.

Star

My husband just ran back into the living room and told me that he forgot to mention that high definition tvs have square pixels so this is not an issue with them. High definition tvs simulate regular tv sized video with aspect ratios to adjust for the aspect ratio added to the video to make the image look normal on the regular tv. If that is not confusing I do not know what is.

[BarbaraC Profile Private messageWebsite]

Oh, good Lord! I sort of understood all this, and I do most definitely remember seeing that choice somewhere in Photoshop for changing the aspect ratio and wondering what the devil THAT was all about.

The most important thing to come out of this is the realization that I'd better pick a specific format and just stick with it. Since widescreen is the way the world is going, perhaps that's the logical choice. I'm going to have to play with those settings in Photoshop and then bring the images over into Architect to see what happens. In the meantime, I wonder if what DVD Architect has done is to try to eliminate the complexities by having a person size the menu to those seemingly odd dimensions. Once again, the only way I can tell for sure will be to create several images that are identical in every way except for sizing and ratio, then see what happens with each of them.

Okay, so if I have a nice LCD which is capable of HD broadcasts, I'm assuming it's a high-definition television, and this means its pixels are square. So, if a show I create looks correct on my TV, it should also look correct on a standard TV, and that means I don't have to worry about oblong pixels. The only thing I have to worry about is someone else who might insist on switching the aspect ratio on their own TV. Mine can be set to 4:3, 16:9, and then 16:9 stretched vertically to get the proportions back into square. (Also the ability to zoom 2X on that last setting.) I'm guessing this can be done on all LCD's, and thus I don't have to worry.

Paul, thank you, and Star, please thank your husband for me and also thanks to you for transcribing his dictation. I'm amazed at myself for actually grasping some of this. Anyway, I think I grasped it.

Barbara

[LEE7 Profile Private messageYIM]

Barbara.

I use photoshop to make menus for Encore, I just use the presets for Pal 720x 576, or NTSC ???x480(forgot the first number, senior moment)
Can knock up a Menu in minutes.

The numbers your told to save it in, seem weird to Me.

I like Encore for 2 main things, integration with Photoshop etc, & the fact that if You have a folder of stills etc, You can add it to the DVD as DVD rom accessible from a computer.
Providing there is space on the disc.
I`ve done a few DVD`s for people of old family vhs stuff, & added a ROM folder.

Regards.


Peter

[BarbaraC Profile Private messageWebsite]

Peter, those numbers look weird to me, too. NTSC is 720 x 480...I think. Too lazy to check.

It would seem I can do the same thing with Architect as you can with Encore, adding a folder of stills, but I haven't tried it yet. I can't, of course, integrate it with Photoshop, the best I can do being to keep both programs open at the same time.

I rejected Encore because of price, and when a major computer store was going out of business, I spotted their very last copy of DVD Architect and snatched it up, getting a deep discount on it. It does an excellent job, but it requires that nasty old learning curve I'm so sick of having to go through with every piece of software I acquire. Sometimes I think it would be easier to just go back to using a typewriter.

Barbara

[im42n8 Profile Private messageWebsite]

Barbara,

Aspect 4:3
Ratio NTSC
1.33:1 --> 720x480
1.78:1 --> 720x358

Aspect Enhanced 16:9
Ratio NTSC
4:3 --> 538x480 (1.33:1)
16:9 --> 720x480 (1.78:1)

odd numbers...! But they're from: http://www.pcdoctor-guide.com/wordpress/?page_id=1634
So, something is odd there and MUST be related to the pixel shapes . . . all isn't equal and so we get "odd" math (on its face)!

I got encore to help with the menuing ... or at least I thought it would. Knew someone working at Adobe and so got it cheap! Can't get it separate anymore it looks like ... comes with Premiere Pro ... so I was able to "u/g" to PP much cheaper than I otherwise would have been able to pay for it! Flexible and not really that hard to use once you figure out how it works. Yep, works well with Photoshop! In fact, you need photoshop (really) if you want to edit the menu's w/o too much hassle!

Dale

[BarbaraC Profile Private messageWebsite]

Dale, I guess the math doesn't matter as long as the picture's good, right?

I don't find any kind of problem at all using Photoshop alongside DVD Architect. Though there isn't any "pass-through," there's hardly any difference in the world of hogs whether the programs are hooked up or not. Hogs in the sense of memory-suckers, that is.

Architect at full price is $40, but I got it cheaper because of CompUSA going out of business, and it does exactly what I need done, so I have absolutely no Encore-envy.

Barbara