Samples of a DVD menu on your site... at DVinfo.net

Jason Donaldson · October 14th, 2007, 07:57 PM

I noticed that a few of you had samples of the DVD menus you create for potential clients to watch on your websites. I am absolutely stumped as to how to go about doing this...can anyone tell me the proper technique in capturing the actuall DVD menu and create a video file of it?

Daniel Ross · October 14th, 2007, 08:40 PM

Depends on how you want to display it, but you could just do a print screen of the menu and upload the image.
If you need motion, you could use an animated gif, perhaps as just part of the image (divide it up on chunks and have some animated), or you could use flash if you want a lot of interaction.

Travis Cossel · October 14th, 2007, 11:51 PM

A real roundabout way would be to capture footage of the DVD menu from the DVD player itself, if you need the motion. Otherwise, just do a screenshot.

Dan Shallenberger · October 14th, 2007, 11:58 PM

If you're using a mac, you could use Snapz Pro X. It captures full motion to a file from any part of or your entire screen. They have a demo, so it's worth a try.

Dean Fairburn · October 15th, 2007, 03:05 AM

Adobe Encore CS3 can export flash versions of your DVD which would display as a fully functional (motion) menu along with all of the content, or just the menu if you don't want the content. I'm working on this for my own website at present.

Dean.

_________________________
Day To Remember Videos
www.daytoremembervideos.com

Yang Wen · October 15th, 2007, 09:25 AM

Dean: Wow! so you can basically have a fully working DVD example online?

What parts of the DVD is turned into vector and what parts are rasterized images?

Daniel Ross · October 15th, 2007, 12:39 PM

I would assume that all graphics are rasterized as it can't just magically make them vector. Perhaps text, etc., generated within encore would be vector.

It wouldn't be a full working version either, as that would require the video to be included. Or perhaps you could export that, but I'd think it a bad idea to have that included in flash (for space/bandwidth limits and downloading time).

Dean Fairburn · October 16th, 2007, 02:13 AM

Here's a link to my first attempt - this was just to test the functionality so don't be too critical with the content! The .flv files are approx 16mb so I would suggest the duration would need to be kept to a reasonable length to keep file sizes down.

http://www.daytoremembervideos.com/d...hv2/index.html

Not sure whether to go down this route yet but thought I'd post a link so you can see what I'm taking about.

Daniel Ross · October 16th, 2007, 03:27 AM

Hahaha. 16mb on a website? No....
MAAAYBE 1mb, and that's pushing it.

Dean Fairburn · October 16th, 2007, 04:06 AM

Yep, agreed. 16mb is far too high. However I feel with the website correctly designed and different options for high/low bandwidth users, it is still something worth exploring. There are different export options for quality but the low quality just looks horrendous to me. I'd much rather send out a demonstration DVD than risk customers being put off by low quality footage.

Also resizing the menu causes problems with the rasterised graphics.

I still feel it is good for showing various menu options and how they can be personalised.

Slightly off topic, this is a good website for DVD menus:-

http://www.visions-uk.com

Yang Wen · October 16th, 2007, 08:00 AM

16MB, but it's active download so it's fine. I was able to take quick view thru all the options without any loading delays.

This is very slick, a wonderful way of showing off my completed DVD...

October 14th, 2007, 07:57 PM	#1
Jason Donaldson Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Ottawa, Ontario Canada Posts: 180	Samples of a DVD menu on your site... I noticed that a few of you had samples of the DVD menus you create for potential clients to watch on your websites. I am absolutely stumped as to how to go about doing this...can anyone tell me the proper technique in capturing the actuall DVD menu and create a video file of it? __________________ HVR-A1u,WCS-999,HVL-20DW2 w/diff,2xAudio-Technica Freeway 600,Flycam 3000,Vegas 7E

October 14th, 2007, 11:51 PM	#3
Travis Cossel Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Miami, FL Posts: 2,933	A real roundabout way would be to capture footage of the DVD menu from the DVD player itself, if you need the motion. Otherwise, just do a screenshot. __________________ Black Label Films www.blacklabelweddingfilms.com

October 14th, 2007, 08:40 PM	#2
Daniel Ross Major Player Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Marin & Davis, CA, USA Posts: 418	Depends on how you want to display it, but you could just do a print screen of the menu and upload the image. If you need motion, you could use an animated gif, perhaps as just part of the image (divide it up on chunks and have some animated), or you could use flash if you want a lot of interaction.

October 14th, 2007, 11:58 PM	#4
Dan Shallenberger Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 253	If you're using a mac, you could use Snapz Pro X. It captures full motion to a file from any part of or your entire screen. They have a demo, so it's worth a try.

October 15th, 2007, 03:05 AM	#5
Dean Fairburn New Boot Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Leeds, UK Posts: 14	Adobe Encore CS3 can export flash versions of your DVD which would display as a fully functional (motion) menu along with all of the content, or just the menu if you don't want the content. I'm working on this for my own website at present. Dean. _________________________ Day To Remember Videos www.daytoremembervideos.com

October 15th, 2007, 09:25 AM	#6
Yang Wen Major Player Join Date: May 2003 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 991	Dean: Wow! so you can basically have a fully working DVD example online? What parts of the DVD is turned into vector and what parts are rasterized images?

October 15th, 2007, 12:39 PM	#7
Daniel Ross Major Player Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Marin & Davis, CA, USA Posts: 418	I would assume that all graphics are rasterized as it can't just magically make them vector. Perhaps text, etc., generated within encore would be vector. It wouldn't be a full working version either, as that would require the video to be included. Or perhaps you could export that, but I'd think it a bad idea to have that included in flash (for space/bandwidth limits and downloading time).

October 16th, 2007, 02:13 AM	#8
Dean Fairburn New Boot Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Leeds, UK Posts: 14	Here's a link to my first attempt - this was just to test the functionality so don't be too critical with the content! The .flv files are approx 16mb so I would suggest the duration would need to be kept to a reasonable length to keep file sizes down. http://www.daytoremembervideos.com/d...hv2/index.html Not sure whether to go down this route yet but thought I'd post a link so you can see what I'm taking about.

October 16th, 2007, 03:27 AM	#9
Daniel Ross Major Player Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Marin & Davis, CA, USA Posts: 418	Hahaha. 16mb on a website? No.... MAAAYBE 1mb, and that's pushing it.

October 16th, 2007, 04:06 AM	#10
Dean Fairburn New Boot Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Leeds, UK Posts: 14	Yep, agreed. 16mb is far too high. However I feel with the website correctly designed and different options for high/low bandwidth users, it is still something worth exploring. There are different export options for quality but the low quality just looks horrendous to me. I'd much rather send out a demonstration DVD than risk customers being put off by low quality footage. Also resizing the menu causes problems with the rasterised graphics. I still feel it is good for showing various menu options and how they can be personalised. Slightly off topic, this is a good website for DVD menus:- http://www.visions-uk.com

October 16th, 2007, 08:00 AM	#11
Yang Wen Major Player Join Date: May 2003 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 991	16MB, but it's active download so it's fine. I was able to take quick view thru all the options without any loading delays. This is very slick, a wonderful way of showing off my completed DVD...