User guide

Planning a DVD

ta r g e t i n g yo u r au D i e n c e

 TherststeptocreatinganyDVDisdeterminingtheaudiencethatwillbewatchingyourproject.For

instance, will the viewer need extensive playback control, such as customizing languages, subtitles, etc., or will

the DVD need to simply play a movie the moment it is inserted?

Also, how will your audience be viewing your project? Will they primarily use a standard set-top DVD

player or a computer for viewing? With a DVD player, they’ll navigate using a remote, but on a computer,

they’ll probably use a mouse and click the buttons, which means you must make it clear where they should

click. Also, some older DVD players and slower computers cannot play DVDs with too high a bit rate, which

meansyou’llhavetolowerthequalityofyourvideolestoensurethatthey’llplaycorrectly.

h o o s i n g yo u r co n t e n t

Unlike a VHS or DV tape where storage is measured in minutes, DVD storage is measured in bytes of

information. A standard DVD can contain up to 4.37 GB of computer data, whether it be video, audio, still

pictures, etc. This includes any menus, transitions, and special features in your project, because they all take up

room on your DVD.

It is important that you know what content, or assets, you plan using before you begin your project. An

assetisanyvideo,audio,orstillpicturelethatyouuseorplanonusinginyourDVD.Ifyouthinkyoumight

go over a standard DVD’s capacity, consider cutting out elements that are not crucial, splitting your project into

2 separate DVDs, or designing a dual-layer or double-sided DVD. In your planing it is also important to ac-

count for features such as subtitles, languages, chapter markers, etc. Adding features and options into your proj-

ect after it is already complete takes up time that could have been saved with the right amount of preparation.

e t e r m i n i n g en c o D i n g ra t e s

 ADVDusesspecialvideolesthathavebeencompressedtotontothelimitedstoragespaceofthe

disc. By knowing about how many minutes of video will be included in your project, you can determine the

amountofcompressionyou’llneedtousetomakeyourcontentts.Theprocessofcompressingassetstomake

themtontoaDVDiscalledencoding.Agoodformulatouseis560/x = bit rate.Where“x”representsmin-

utes of video and bit rate is measured is megabits-per-second (Mbps). If you plan on using uncompressed audio

lesinyourproject,you’llneedtosubtract1.5Mbpsfromthebitratedeterminedintheformulaabovetoleave

roomforthelargeraudioles.Formoreinformationaboutencoding,seeEncodingAssetsonpagexx.

st o r y b o a r D i n g yo u r pr o j e c t

Once you have a list of all the content and features you want to include on your DVD, you need to sto-

ryboardyourproject.Whatistherstthingtheviewerwillseewhentheyinsertthedisc?Ananimatedlogo?

Amenu?Amovie?Aftertherstelementplays,what,ifanything,willtheviewerseenext?Howmanymenus

will you need and what options will be on each menu? How many different ways can viewers access a particu-

lar video or feature, or can they access it at all? Has a connection been made to every asset in your project?

After asking these questions, get a sheet of paper and physically draw out the look of your project and also the

connections in your project. Planing out the connections between the different menus, assets, transitions, and

otherfeaturesofyourDVDwillincreaseefciencyanddecreasemistakesduringthecreationprocess.

ga t h e r i n g yo u r as s e t s

 EveryleyouintendtouseinyourDVDprojectshouldbecollectedandorganizedintoaprojectfolder

beforebeginningyourworkinDVDSPorCompressor.Thisincludesvideoandaudioles,stillpic-

tures, Photoshop menus, animations, music, etc. It is in this folder that you should save your DVD

projectwhenyourstcreateitinDVDSP.