Matt Dubber
Forum Replies Created
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Encore looks at the headers of the M2V fole to see if it needs to letterbox or not. Be sure to export your video flagged for 16×9 and Encore should see that and take care of everything. I usually use Cinema Craft Encoder to make the M2V file and if you click the 16×9 box, it works out just perfectly in Encore.
-Matt
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Bid budgeting is confusing. You don’t need to calculate 0.192 by the number of audio files in your project….just by the number of audio TRACKS you have per timeline. I assume you only have one audio track in each timeline. Audio and video bitrates together can be no more than 9.8Mbps.
The way I calculate a bitrate is as follows.
36096 Mbits / 4920 seconds = 7.3Mbps – 1 audio track (0.192) = 7.1 Mbps.
So 7.1Mbps total bitstream will fill your disc with your 82 minute program that cpntains one video track and one audio track per timeline.This is the calculation I use all the time and it comes very close (because the video bitrate I use is a variable bitrate)
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Agreed, you must first demultiplex the VOB files into separate audio and video files (M2V and MPA/AC3/WAV…whatever the audio is) You will then need to rewrite the headers of the M2V files if Encore still sees them as 4×3 instead of 16×9. There is a program called Restream that allows you to do that. Now when you import the M2V file into Encore, it will see that the file should be 16×9 and display appropriately. If your original VOB files are 4×3 letterboxed, then you’re hosed and this method won’t work. Is it possible to go back to the original files recorded by your camera, or to the program you edited the footage in?
-Matt
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Depending on what kind of background you have on your menu, you might be able to create the illusion of partial transparency for unselected buttons. If the backgraound is a solid color like black, you can make the normal state of the buttons be black (or the background color) at 40%. When a button is selected, the black will turn to 100% transparent so the item comes into full color and brightness. It’s the complete opposite of the way most DVD menu selections work, but it can be quite effctive if executed properly. Let me know if you need more details on doing this.
-Matt
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I was just breifly playing around with this and I’m not sure you can do exactly what you want without creating the menus in After Effects if you want the clips to be playing in all the dimmed buttons all the time. Once the user selects a new button, Encore will basically need to access a brand new menu which means all the thumbnails will begin all over again….it might look really annoying. Now if you wanted to have all the buttons be dimmed still frames with only the highlighted button playing the clip….that would work in Encore but may be a little too time consuming to accomplish nicely. I’m going to keep playing around with it. Let me know what you ultimate goal is for the menu and let’s see if we can come up with something that works.
-Matt
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Your system is set up to hide the file extensioins for known file types and therefore you can’t change the extension. To turn this off you need to have a folder open (any folder on your system). Go to the menu called TOOLS and select FOLDER OPTIONS. Click on the tab called VIEW. About the 9th item down should be called “hide extensions for known file types”, be sure to uncheck that box. When you click OK to close that window, you will now be able to see all the extensions for all the files on your computer. Now you can change .VOB to .MPEG. Hope this helps and I hope DVDShrink did what you needed it to do.
-Matt
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I am one of those Encore-all-the-way guys. I have used Encore since the beginning and LOVE it. I have used Sonic Scenarist Pro as well as Apple DVD Studio Pro (Mac). Whenever possible I always end up using Encore. While Encore doesn’t get into scripting, it is by far the easiest most intuitive program for authoring simple to moderatly complicated DVDs I have used (for my workflow which is mostly Adobe Premiere, Photoshop and Encore) The integration is great and the interface seems pretty intuitive. Encore DVD 1.5 added some great features over v 1.0 and I’m sure whenever the next version is released it will add even more great features.
I highly recommend Encore, but agree with everyone else who says to try out different programs to see what works best for your workflow. I tried vegasDVD for a bit and got very frustrated with it very quickly after knowing how easy Encore was to pick up. Read the specs for each program you are interested in and make sure it can do everything you want it to. (like closed captioning, web connectivity, ROM elements, motion menus, multiple video tracks etc…)
-Matt
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Does the AVI have audio? That could cause the transcoded M2V file for Encore to be a few frames longer than the actual video. You could try removing the audio from the AVI, or try transoding in something other than Encore. Exprot the M2V from Premiere or a third party program and import the M2V into Encore instead of the AVI.
-Matt
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Many video duplication facilities can do this type of conversion for you. Is your friend wanting to edit the video or are you trying to convert eh finished edited video? Many places charge by the length of the tape, so the final edited video will be cheaper to convert than the original unedited tape(s). Check your local yellow pages for a place nearby that can do it. I know of a place in Seattle that can do it if you want.
-Matt
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I’m sure you’ll notice that many commercial DVDs operate the same way with the chapter point at the end. However, there are some programs (like Sonic Scenarist Pro) which allow you to map the ‘next’ and ‘previous’ buttons to specific timelines. This doesn’t always work in my experience becasue some DVD players respond to the ‘next’ and ‘previous’ buttons differently. The most consistent results I have ever had came from adding the chapter point to the end of the timeline.
-Matt Lee