DVD’s have been around for many years now (since the mid 1990’s) and have provided a compact method for the general public to access mainstream media products (TV shows, Films, Video Games etc) affordably and easily. DVD’s aren’t just used by big companies to release their digital products, DVD’s have also been around in the consumer market for a while now for personal use such as home movies and digital storage.
There are three main types of DVD – DVD-R, DVD+R and DVD+RW. DVD+R was introduced in 2002 as a superior format to -R. It enables a DVD player to read and write to the disc much more efficiently with far less errors, however these discs are not backwards compatible – DVD+R’s are not compatible with -R burners and vice versa, companies began to bring dual format readers into the market to combat this issue after a few years. DVD-R’s were introduced in 1999 as the initial DVD format, they had less capabilities than +R discs as they could not read and write as efficiently, in addition, they could only store up to 4.7 gigabytes of information opposed to the +R’s 8.5 gigabyte Dual Layer method.
DVD+RW stands for DVD re-writable. These are self-explanatory really, They act like a memory stick in which data can be easily burned and removed. DVD+R and -R discs are not designed to have data removed once the disc is burnt and finalised.
Blu-Ray technology was brought into the mass market in 2006 following the original DVD, and is still used to this day for a variety of different formats such as gaming and high-definition video. Gaming consoles such as the Xbox One and Playstation 4 utilise Blu-Ray technology due to their large capacity. A single blu-ray disk can hold up to 25 gigabytes of information, and 50 gigabytes on a dual-layer disk making them ideal for high definition content which needs a lot of space.
There are a range of DVD design packages at our disposal – some aimed at the pro market, others for the prosumer middle-ground and others simply for the general consumer market. All however have varying levels of customisation.
Adobe Encore is the main DVD authoring software I have been utilising for wedding DVD menu design and showreel work. It is one of those programs that you can do virtually anything you choose depending on your skill level and use of external softwares to produce extra elements. A major pro of using Encore is its compatibility with many of Adobe’s other professional products such as Photoshop, After Effects and Premiere.
Adobe has been working closely on its dynamic-link function enabling users to work on a project and open it up in other softwares designed for specific editing applications – After Effects is used mainly for motion graphics and visual effects, Premiere is primarily for video editing and Photoshop for professional image design and editing. This opens up endless possibilities for creativity and precision in Encore. This is one of the only DVD authoring packages which offers such intricate tools to work with – Many other softwares are designed only to work standalone so there are far less features to utilise when working.
Encore uses a flow-chart styled system which maps out your DVD menu links through the use of arrows. This makes visualising your final menu a much easier and neater process, Encore even offers a final analysing stage where it checks to see whether the menu has any issues with it’s final rooting.
There are other DVD authoring softwares, however many are now incorporated into video editing packages – Pinnacle Studio now offers a direct DVD burning option as does Sony Vegas Pro – Sony also offers a specific menu designing software – DVD Architect Pro (aimed more at the prosumer market).
Microsoft provides ‘Windows DVD Maker’ bundled as part of Windows 7 and 8 – this is aimed at the consumer as has very limited customisation tools working mainly with presets. The factory presets provided are quite well designed and complex, however they require little or no skill to use. The DVD maker only allows the user to change the title name, font, text size, text colour and tab names. Apart from that everything is automated.
DVD Menu Design
Some of the bigger releases tend to incorporate motion graphics elements into their DVD menus to make them more interesting to navigate. These sections are usually featured before the menu selections are shown and during transitions between different sub-menus such as scene selection pages.
Film distributors often tend to create fancy, visually pleasing menu slates to make movie viewing more immersive. In order to make DVDs more enticing, film producers like to include special features in their DVD releases such as Behind the Scenes videos, Director’s cuts, Director narrations, Interviews and Outtakes – all of these need to be easily accessible to the viewer and a well structured menu allows for these to be included. It’s also important for producers to include scene selection menus in order for DVD users to be able to navigate the film and find the part they want to view.
My DVD Menu
Scott Gibson 