What shape is your dvd screen? Please help - iDVD question
 

Hey folks

I have been doing acting showreels for friends and using iDVD to create menus. Thats about the level of my understanding when it comes to authoring in DVD format and its slim at best.

Here's my problem. Different shaped tv screens show the DVD's in different shaped ways, some crop, some stretch some squeeze. I've been outputting from final cut pro in widescreen with a letterbox, so its 4 by 3. Menus on iDVD are offered in both 4 by 3 and 16 by 9 and I've tried both. Either my picture is stretched or squeezed on most tv's and I would like to know HOW DO I MAKE MY DVD'S TO WORK WELL ON AS MANY TV'S AND COMPUTER SCREENS AS POSSIBLE?

This may be the simplest thing in the world but teh answer has eluded me long enough. I need help!!!

Can you help?

Any assistance on this would be GREATLY appreciated!

ps feel free to suggest another DVD authoring programme. MUST BE EASY TO USE!

What version of iDVD are you using? From what I've seen and read, iDVD 6 always crops the left and right of a widescreen menu when displayed on a 4:3 TV (assuming the DVD player knows it is outputing to a 4:3 TV). iDVD 7 (the current version) fixes that problem and makes a true widescreen menu that displays with a letterboxed top and bottom. At least that's what it did the one time I tried it.

Also, I don't think you want to be letterboxing the menu yourself. Make the image (non-letterboxed), drop it on a widescreen menu type, and burn. The DVD should be flagged as widescreen, and the DVD player will letterbox automatically if it is set to 4:3 output.

-Terence

Hi there, no I've not letterboxed the menu image, but the footage accessed through the menu. I'll check my versions and report back.