Re: TDA 1.6 menu background - size?

"Ken Maltby" <kmaltby@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


"Terry Pinnell" <terrypin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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"Ken Maltby" <kmaltby@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


"Terry Pinnell" <terrypin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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"Ken Maltby" <kmaltby@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


Opened VIDEO_TS.IFO with PowerDVD and it played one cycle of the (15
sec) menu OK. But then stopped, and couldn't get any further. In fact
had to forcibly close it.

BTW, one (presumably inevitable) minor downside is that the Play
button clip is now stretched *outward*.

I hope I didn't forget any steps, let me know if that works for you.

As per your subsequent post, please let me know what further progress
you make. Even if I don't follow the reasoning, I'm happy to work by
rote if it gets me a result!

--
Terry, West Sussex, UK

While I still think it could be done, either with these
tools or with DvdReMake, I've kinda lost some of my
interest in tracking it down.

I have almost all my video as AVC files on hard drives
now, including some from DVDs I've authored. I put a
new 750GB drive in my HTPC yesterday and moved a
lot off my terastation. In fact, I just spent a couple hours
creating a new set of my MMB menus, with some updates
and all the references to the media share on the terastation
changed so they refer to the drive on the HTPC.

It may be that, if 16:9 menus are needed, it just makes
more sense to use a newer authoring program. But since
I don't author DVDs anymore, I guess I'll let that tech.
pass me by for now.

As I get more into HD I seem to be getting further away
from DVDs and finding my MMD Menus more convenient.
(You can have the equivalent of an awful lot of DVDs using
AVC on a 750GB hard drive)

I'm sorry if this leaves you in a bind, but I'd rather spend the
time on a project I'll be making more use of . This may just
be one area where TDA 1.6 has to give way to newer
programs.

Thanks anyway Ken, no problem. It obviously makes sense to spend your
time on stuff that you use yourself. Some of these superficially
simple issues prove seriously intractable when you get stuck into them
a bit ;-)

Anyway, now that you've introduced me to IfoEdit, I may play with it a
bit more. Then again, I may not. I too find time too short to do all I
want. It's no big deal even if I can't get 16:9 menu backgrounds. In
fact, after watching that first DVD I made with a movie clip menu
background last night again, I found it rather distracting, and I may
drop that approach. I guess the *sound* was the most intrusive. Also,
as the background clip I'd made included a very early clip from the
DVD, it rather spoiled the dramatic effect. (It was Gershwin's
'Rhapsody In Blue', by Nobuya Sugawa.) I could set the sound option
off in TDA, but then a couple of the other short clips (digicam movies
with narrative) wouldn't make sense. So I reckon I'll probably revert
to my usual style of a large 'play button', with a silenced movie
clip. (I don't believe you *can* have sound from a TDA thumbnail frame
anyway.)


Your ears can't tell what in your menu is providing the sound.
Just make a mpg clip with a still for the video and audio that
you want for the "play button". Your background and the
button clip should have the same loop time.

Nice tip - hadn't thought of that, thanks!


I know almost nothing of that advanced area you're now in. But I have
just encountered a 'DVD versus hard drive' issue in a small way
myself. I've recently had a Sky+ box installed. It's a PACE 3100
(DVR2) type, with 160 GB hard drive but with "80 GB for personal use".
After less than 2 weeks, I've already used nearly half of that! (Let's
skip the sort of questions my wife is asking about when I plan to
*watch* all this stuff I've recorded!) Anyway, I aim to add a DVD
recorder, but I'm now spoiled by the sheer convenience of hard drive
recording and playback. (Pity that 'HD' is now an ambiguous acronym,
BTW.) Right now I'm about to study an FAQ about possibly expanding the
drive at http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=156344


Personally, I find 720p as all the HD I need for normal
viewing. Using that flavor of "HD" and AVC compression
at ~5-6Mbps lets me put a lot more HD on a Hard drive.

I also find that a lot of 720x480 DVD and even TV
captured material can be "upconverted" by my display
system, very well. AVC compressed files of such video
can take up very little space. (Even my old 1/2 D1 TV
captures are turning out great encoded to AVC at
720x480 with ~1.2Mbps average setting [4Mbps max.])

--
Terry, East Grinstead, UK
.

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