DVDA and menu at DVinfo.net

Jeff Harper · September 19th, 2007, 12:35 AM

I made a short but busy video clip with Vegas for my DVDA menu that involves 8 layers of video.

The quality is very poor when rendered, though the quality of the original footage is high.

Any suggestions/explanations? Is this just too much going on at once to render properly?

After quick experiment, I see the issue appears to be that the clip just doesn't look good on the DVDA menu, but when rendered as a .wmv with DVD quality settings and viewed it in Widows media player it looks great.

For use on the Architect menu I render it as Mpeg 2. Is that not the best format for a clip to play on a DVDA menu?

John Rofrano · September 19th, 2007, 05:59 AM

MPEG2 is the correct format for a DVD Architect menu and I don't care how many layers you have, the video should still look as good as it did in Vegas. Are you using the DVD Architect NTSC video stream template when you render? (or PAL)

You might want to try rendering to a DV AVI file and let DVD Architect convert it for you but this should not be necessary. The DVD Architect rendering template should do the trick.

~jr

Edward Troxel · September 19th, 2007, 07:15 AM

Menus will ALWAYS be recompressed so it's not good to render to MPEG2 for menus. Instead, render to a less lossy format. DV-AVI is a possibility as John said. If you want even less lossy, you might even go uncompressed.

Mike Kujbida · September 19th, 2007, 07:29 AM

Edward/John, correct me if I 'm wrong but aren't menus supposed to be renderd in progressive mode (as opposed to interlaced)?

Edward Troxel · September 19th, 2007, 07:44 AM

I've never worried about going to progressive mode. It's going to be interlaced when it shows on the TV anyway. I just make sure I don't go to MPEG2 as it's going to get recompressed.

Jeff Harper · September 19th, 2007, 08:55 AM

Thank you, I will try uncompressed....and yes I was using the correct DVD architect template.

Incidentally, while the discs that I write usually come out fine, on occasion I get some bad ones...in two incidents customers each got bad discs, five each, all bad.

I use the finest Tai Yuden media. Is it possible that if I was printing discs at the same time on the same PC this caused the burns to be bad?

Thanks!

Marc Salvatore · September 19th, 2007, 09:41 AM

Jeff,

Try clicking on the "optimize" button (this is available in one of the "Make DVD" screens). Now click "Video 1" and under recompress settings > progressive shoose "NO" . This will probably solve your problem. I was getting jagged text on my motion menus and complained to Sony and they told me they needed to be progressive. Then in the next release they added this option. I remember reading a note in the manual that said it may not be as compatible it you do not do them in progressive but I have not had any problems yet.

Funny thing is my old program Reel DVD has never had a problem with interlaced NTSC motion menus.

Marc

Jeff Harper · September 19th, 2007, 09:43 AM

I'll try it, Marc, thank you.

September 19th, 2007, 12:35 AM	#1
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	DVDA and menu I made a short but busy video clip with Vegas for my DVDA menu that involves 8 layers of video. The quality is very poor when rendered, though the quality of the original footage is high. Any suggestions/explanations? Is this just too much going on at once to render properly? After quick experiment, I see the issue appears to be that the clip just doesn't look good on the DVDA menu, but when rendered as a .wmv with DVD quality settings and viewed it in Widows media player it looks great. For use on the Architect menu I render it as Mpeg 2. Is that not the best format for a clip to play on a DVDA menu? Last edited by Jeff Harper; September 19th, 2007 at 12:46 AM. Reason: addition

September 19th, 2007, 05:59 AM	#2
John Rofrano Sponsor: VASST Join Date: May 2005 Location: New York Posts: 516	MPEG2 is the correct format for a DVD Architect menu and I don't care how many layers you have, the video should still look as good as it did in Vegas. Are you using the DVD Architect NTSC video stream template when you render? (or PAL) You might want to try rendering to a DV AVI file and let DVD Architect convert it for you but this should not be necessary. The DVD Architect rendering template should do the trick. ~jr __________________ Developer: VASST Ultimate S, Scattershot 3D, Mayhem, FASST Apps, and other VASST Software plug-ins Web Site: www.johnrofrano.com

September 19th, 2007, 07:15 AM	#3
Edward Troxel Sponsor: JET DV Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 7,953	Menus will ALWAYS be recompressed so it's not good to render to MPEG2 for menus. Instead, render to a less lossy format. DV-AVI is a possibility as John said. If you want even less lossy, you might even go uncompressed. __________________ Edward Troxel [SCVU] JETDV Scripts/Scripting Tutorials/Excalibur/Montage Magic/Newsletters

September 19th, 2007, 07:44 AM	#5
Edward Troxel Sponsor: JET DV Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 7,953	I've never worried about going to progressive mode. It's going to be interlaced when it shows on the TV anyway. I just make sure I don't go to MPEG2 as it's going to get recompressed. __________________ Edward Troxel [SCVU] JETDV Scripts/Scripting Tutorials/Excalibur/Montage Magic/Newsletters

September 19th, 2007, 07:29 AM	#4
Mike Kujbida Inner Circle Join Date: May 2005 Location: Windsor, ON Canada Posts: 2,770	Edward/John, correct me if I 'm wrong but aren't menus supposed to be renderd in progressive mode (as opposed to interlaced)?

September 19th, 2007, 08:55 AM	#6
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	Thank you, I will try uncompressed....and yes I was using the correct DVD architect template. Incidentally, while the discs that I write usually come out fine, on occasion I get some bad ones...in two incidents customers each got bad discs, five each, all bad. I use the finest Tai Yuden media. Is it possible that if I was printing discs at the same time on the same PC this caused the burns to be bad? Thanks!

September 19th, 2007, 09:41 AM	#7
Marc Salvatore Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Medford, OR Posts: 351	Jeff, Try clicking on the "optimize" button (this is available in one of the "Make DVD" screens). Now click "Video 1" and under recompress settings > progressive shoose "NO" . This will probably solve your problem. I was getting jagged text on my motion menus and complained to Sony and they told me they needed to be progressive. Then in the next release they added this option. I remember reading a note in the manual that said it may not be as compatible it you do not do them in progressive but I have not had any problems yet. Funny thing is my old program Reel DVD has never had a problem with interlaced NTSC motion menus. Marc

September 19th, 2007, 09:43 AM	#8
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	I'll try it, Marc, thank you.