How to make a DVD with a menu screen that plays several movies
Basic software procedure for building a DVD that compiles several movies and presents them in a menu. This DVD will be playable in a consumer DVD player:
In Final Cut Pro:
- Set In and Out points for each movie. You don't need lengthy amounts of black lead-in or lead-out, because the DVD menu environment provides your viewer with enough "setting" and "environment" for your movies.
- Export each in the appropriate Quicktime format -- generally NTSC 4:3 (standard) or NTSC 16:9 (widescreen)
On the desktop:
- Move all of your movies into the same folder
In iDVD:
Project setup
- Startup Menu: Create a New Project
- Save As: Name in the same folder holding your movies in the appropriate aspect ratio (4:3 or 16:9). Choose the aspect ratio that matches your movies.
Selecting theme
- Single-click a theme from the theme library to load it into the project canvas. Use the dropdown to browse categories. Choose a theme that matches your selected aspect ratio.
Setting the menu title
- Double-click on the Title Text to modify the text. An options strip will appear under the text so that you can set font face, style, and size.
- Single-click on the Title Text to drag the text to a new position.
- Single-click on the Title Text and then select View: Show Inspector to call up additional formatting options. The most commonly used option in the inspector is Shadow. This places a dropshadow on your selected text and helps the text stand out from the background graphics.
Placing movies as menu decoration
- If your theme features any Drop Zones, you can drag your movies or photos onto these drop zones, and they will be used as content on the DVD menu screen. Remember that placing a movie onto a dropzone DOES NOT make that movie a playable asset on the DVD. It merely makes the movie part of the "window dressing" of the menu.
Placing movies as linked objects
- Select the "+" icon on the bottom left corner of the authoring window and select the option Add Movie. This will place a text link object onto the canvas.
- Drag a movie onto the movie link object, where it states "Add Movie Here"
- Double-click on the movie link object to modify the text of the link.
- Single-click on the movie link object to drag it to a new position
- Single-click on the movie link object and then select View: Show Inspector to call up additional formatting options.
Previewing project
- Click on the Play icon located along the bottom of the project authoring window to enter a simulated DVD player mode. Use this mode to preview the DVD menu behavior, before you commit to burning the project to DVD.
- To exit the preview mode, click the Exit button on the DVD remote control panel.
Review DVD map
- Click on the Map Tree icon located along the bottom of the project authoring window to enter a DVD Map screen of your project. Use this map to locate and address any problems with your project. Problems will be marked with a yellow alert icon. Hover the mouse on an alert icon for information about the problem.
Burning DVD
- Click on the Burn icon located along the bottom of the project authoring window to print the project to DVD. The icon looks like a spaceship porthole door. Click on it once to open the door and the icon will turn into a yellow and black hazard icon. Click that hazard icon to begin the burn procedure.
- If iDVD detects any project errors while processing media assets, it will quit the burn session and leave your DVD blank and unused. If this happens, review the DVD Map to locate and address any problems.
- The first copy you make of a project will take the longest time, because iDVD has to encode all of your media assets for the burn. But if you need to make additional duplicates, those will not take as long because the media assets will already be encoded.
In Final Cut Pro:
- Set In and Out points for each movie. You don't need lengthy amounts of black lead-in or lead-out, because the DVD menu environment provides your viewer with enough "setting" and "environment" for your movies.
- Export each in the appropriate Quicktime format -- generally NTSC 4:3 (standard) or NTSC 16:9 (widescreen)
On the desktop:
- Move all of your movies into the same folder
In iDVD:
Project setup
- Startup Menu: Create a New Project
- Save As: Name in the same folder holding your movies in the appropriate aspect ratio (4:3 or 16:9). Choose the aspect ratio that matches your movies.
Selecting theme
- Single-click a theme from the theme library to load it into the project canvas. Use the dropdown to browse categories. Choose a theme that matches your selected aspect ratio.
Setting the menu title
- Double-click on the Title Text to modify the text. An options strip will appear under the text so that you can set font face, style, and size.
- Single-click on the Title Text to drag the text to a new position.
- Single-click on the Title Text and then select View: Show Inspector to call up additional formatting options. The most commonly used option in the inspector is Shadow. This places a dropshadow on your selected text and helps the text stand out from the background graphics.
Placing movies as menu decoration
- If your theme features any Drop Zones, you can drag your movies or photos onto these drop zones, and they will be used as content on the DVD menu screen. Remember that placing a movie onto a dropzone DOES NOT make that movie a playable asset on the DVD. It merely makes the movie part of the "window dressing" of the menu.
Placing movies as linked objects
- Select the "+" icon on the bottom left corner of the authoring window and select the option Add Movie. This will place a text link object onto the canvas.
- Drag a movie onto the movie link object, where it states "Add Movie Here"
- Double-click on the movie link object to modify the text of the link.
- Single-click on the movie link object to drag it to a new position
- Single-click on the movie link object and then select View: Show Inspector to call up additional formatting options.
Previewing project
- Click on the Play icon located along the bottom of the project authoring window to enter a simulated DVD player mode. Use this mode to preview the DVD menu behavior, before you commit to burning the project to DVD.
- To exit the preview mode, click the Exit button on the DVD remote control panel.
Review DVD map
- Click on the Map Tree icon located along the bottom of the project authoring window to enter a DVD Map screen of your project. Use this map to locate and address any problems with your project. Problems will be marked with a yellow alert icon. Hover the mouse on an alert icon for information about the problem.
Burning DVD
- Click on the Burn icon located along the bottom of the project authoring window to print the project to DVD. The icon looks like a spaceship porthole door. Click on it once to open the door and the icon will turn into a yellow and black hazard icon. Click that hazard icon to begin the burn procedure.
- If iDVD detects any project errors while processing media assets, it will quit the burn session and leave your DVD blank and unused. If this happens, review the DVD Map to locate and address any problems.
- The first copy you make of a project will take the longest time, because iDVD has to encode all of your media assets for the burn. But if you need to make additional duplicates, those will not take as long because the media assets will already be encoded.
posted by eugene at
8:08 PM
