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Introduction to DVD Menu Authoring
Introduction to DVD Menu Creation
A DVD menu consists of a background (still or motion) and an overlay layer (button highlights). It can be conveniently created by using Adobe Photoshop.
A DVD menu is typically a two layered Photoshop (.psd) file. In Photoshop, create a new image using the preset image size that matches your television standard and screen width. Photoshop 7 and Photoshop CS include four presets specifically designed for use with digital video. For Mode, choose RGB.
Static Menu vs Motion Menu
A static menu is created by a still background with subpicture. A motion menu is created with a moving background. The background is simply a short video being looped over and over. In both cases the menu overlays are created the same way.
Subpicture (Overlays)
A subpicture contains the button highlights that will change depending on which item is selected. The background is usually white (no transparent). Do not use gradients, feathering, or anti-aliasing (text) on a subpicture. It could be a potential problem with aliasing text, and complicated subpicture designs. The rule of thumb is that the simpler the better. The highlight usually is in either black (0,0,0), red (255,0,0) and blue (0,0,255). The actual highlight color will be chosen in the DVD authoring software.
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Background Layer |
Overlay Layer |
Background with Overlay |
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Aspect Ratio
This is one of the issues that comes up, normal NTSC screen size is 720px by 480px, but why do we first create the artwork in 720px by 540px and resize it down to 720px by 480px? The reason is that computer pixel is square while TV pixel is rectangular. Therefore if you design in the 720x480 it will look stretched on TV.
NTSC Safe Color
Make sure that only NTSC safe color is used for all images, text on the DVD menu. We recommend using the NTSC filter in Photoshop.
General Guidelines (from our DVD authoring FAQ section)
What are some general DVD menu specs?
* Final image size is 720 x 480 pixels
* Overlay (subpicture) layer must be black, white, red and blue ONLY
* Create images using NTSC-safe RGB colors (use Photoshop's NTSC Colors filter)
* Keep RGB values below 230
* Text should be 14-point minimum
* Keep all text and buttons within the safe area (Use our template)
* Avoid thin lines less than 1px
* Keep all important text and images within safe areas (use our templates
Motion Menu
Stay tuned for our next article on Motion Menu creation.
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