Can I make menus for 4:3 and 16:9 on one DVD?
 

Okay, here's my vision:

I have a production that is 16:9 format. I want to set up the DVD (in DVD Studio Pro) with 2 separate startup menus -
one in full screen 4:3 format for standard TVs
and one in 16:9 for widescreen TVs.

Can I set up DVD Studio Pro to default to the 4:3 menu for standard screens and, if on widescreen, bypass the 4:3 and jump to the 16:9 menu? Hope that makes sense.

Has anyone done this?

No, I'm afraid that is not possible. For such an operation to occur the DVD player would be responsible for selecting the correct menu, which means such an operation would have to be in the DVD spec. At this point that is not the case. Even if it was, it wouldn't help any if users had their DVD players incorrectly set for their television sets.

I am not a scripting expert, so I don't know if this will work - but looking at the documentation, I see that SPRM 14 contains the display ascpect ratio (4:3 or 16:9) in bits 10 and 11. Assuming that the player is configured correctly, wouldn't you be able to go to one menu or the other depending on these two bits, and thus do what Robert asked for?

- Martin

I don't use DVD Studio Pro, so I can't tell you how to do it with that software. But I can state for absolute fact that it IS in the DVD spec to allow this. The way that it works is that you design a menu that when displayed in 4x3 looks right, but also when stretched to 16x9 also works. Then you provide two subpicture files (the buttons) - one to fit the 4x3 and one for the 16x9.

Have fun!

Rob

Well, pardon me, I was wrong, then. At least partially, anyway, as the method in the DVD spec seems to only go halfway. I'd probably be more concerned with the background looking right than the subpicture buttons. But I digress.

Rob, could you possibly link to a description of how this technique works and how one can implement it?

We had that challege. I just made a splash screen that basically said...
Pick 4:3 or 16:9, then it jumped to either a 4:3 menu that played
our 16:9 videos letterboxed or if you picked 16:9 then the menus
were full 16:9 and the videos were 16:9....
I tried experimenting with what you were asking but ran out of time
so I picked the non-elegant approach but the client is happy with the results.

Christopher,

A great resource is a book by Ralph LaBarge. Ralph is one of the early pioneers of DVD and his book is truly an "everything you always wanted to know about DVD production" kind of book. Here's a link to it on amazon.com.

http://www.amazon.com/DVD-Authoring-.../dp/1578200822

I see on that page a book specifically about menu design as well. I am not familiar with that book, but it looks interesting.

Then there is the original fountain of info on all things DVD, which is Jim Taylor's "DVD Demystified". That book is more technical about the specifications of DVD, etc. but also is a great resource book. You can also get a lot of great info from his web site, where he maintains the "DVD FAQ". Jim is also a pioneer in DVD - possibly THE pioneer. He worked as the DVD specialist for Microsoft early on, has spoken at numerous conferences, written tons of material, and last I knew he was the director of Technology for Sonic Solutions, the leading developer of authoring packages for DVD.

http://dvddemystified.com/

Have fun!

Rob

Thanks, Rob! Wow, 496 pages! That book must contain everything one would want to know about DVD production.

And I have visited the DVD FAQ in the past. Looks like I'd better be visiting it more often. ;)

Thanks again for the info.

If your movie is 16x9, you should just make your menus 16x9 also.