by Adam Bowlin (updated by Vonda)


What you need:

Adobe Encore CS3 (1 or 2 will work as well)
Adobe After Effects CS3 (7 or even 6.5 will work)
Adobe Photoshop (any version but elements)
Video file in a M2V format
Audio file in a MPA, or WAV format
Menu images
Blank DVD(s)

This Tutorial will give you the guidelines to help you make a simple DVD menu in Adobe Encore to be used for things such as presentations and Demo Reels.

These are merely guidelines, and can be further explored to create an interactive DVD. Adobe has a lot of resources listed online to give even more options.

Step 2: Making the Menu image:
Making the menu image is really simple, however you do need to know a little about Photoshop.
Encore will accept Photoshop PSD files as assets (imported content), and will convert layers into buttons if the layers are made and labeled correctly.
This is where you may get as creative as you wish, being that any desired image can be turned into a button for your Title Menu, and/or Sub-Menus.

If you'd like further information on this subject, Adobe has made a video demonstrating making menus in Photoshop: http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/video_workshop/?id=vid0241

First off, you need to make a file that is the same ratio as your movies that will be included - either standard or widescreen - and then make a menu the appropriate size.

For a Standard 4:3 format, your menu needs to be: 720x534 at 72 dpi. (Image 1B) .

For widescreen 16:9. your menu needs to be: 854x480 at 72 dpi.

The reason the dimensions are different is to accomodate the change in the pixel dimension between the computer screen and the TV screen.

{Image 3B}

This is where labels come in handy. Make a folder labeled (+)play button. (Image 4B) The (+) sign is the key part of this folder. Encore specifically looks for the Plus Sign in parentheses (+) in front of the folder name, this is how it recognizes a button. Encore also looks for the Equals One inside of parentheses (=1) infront of the highlight layer name. You can have up to 3 highlights, each must be in a separate layer and labeled (=1) or (=2) or (=3). This is for many buttons having different color highlights, and can be used for multi-colored highlights on one button. It isn’t uncommon to see up to 3 layers used for highlights in a button, but one layer will be fine. Inside the (+) play button folder, (Image 4B), is where you need to insert your layers in order to designate what your play button will be (The example shows the text "animation" as the play button) Also inside this folder you will need to make the Button Highlight (this is the image that appears when your button is selected or moused over), It too must be in its own layer, and it must be the only thing in the layer as before. Also, the highlight MUST be one solid color, no gradients or smearing. Label this layer "(=1) highlight",this way Encore will read it as a highlight. You have now made a succesful play button. At this point if you wanted to make more sub-menus, such as contact info, seperation of work, etc. you would need to create seperate menu pages for each one desired as well as set up seperate labeled folders such as the (+) sub menu example in (Image 5B). The set-up for a sub-menu is the same as a play button, just be sure to have the correct lebeled button in the proper folders. Save your image as a Photoshop PSD.Your final set up should have multiple folders, and look similar to (Image 6B)
	{Image 4B}	{Image 5B}
		{Image 6B}

Settings Overvew:

Image format: PSD

Image size: s854x480 (Widescreen Standard Definition, NTSC format, equivalent of 720x480 - pixel aspect ration = 1.2)
ddd ss ssss 720x534 (Fullscreen Standard Definition, NTSC format, equivalent of 720x480 - pixel aspect ration = .9)
ssssss ssss72dpi

*Buttons and highlights must be the only parts drawn in their layers

*Make sure that one button and its highlight does not overlap the highlight of another button

Button folder Prefix: (+)

Highlight layer prefix: (=1)

Additional Information:

Button size

Create buttons at least 70 x 60 pixels in size to guarantee their visibility on a television.

Number of buttons

Include no more than 36 buttons for a fullscreen (4:3 aspect ratio) menu or 18 buttons for a widescreen (16:9) aspect ratio.

Graphic elements

Use vector shapes and masks, rather than bitmaps, where possible, because scaling these elements does not affect their quality. If creating pixelated content, such as buttons and logos, make sure that you create them at the largest size needed for the disc. If you need to resize some elements, it is better to scale a pixelated object down, rather than up. (Scaling images up can cause quality loss; scaling images down does not.)

RGB color

Create your images using RGB color. Convert any CMYK images to RGB before importing them into Encore.

NTSC colors

Use only NTSC-safe colors if your project is to be played on an NTSC television display. You can create colors in your graphics application that may be beyond the color range that NTSC televisions can display. These colors can cause an unwanted halo effect. Use RGB values between 16 and 235.

Horizontal lines

Set lines at 3 pixels or greater. Horizontal lines thinner than 3 pixels flicker when displayed on a television screen.

Font size

Use a font size of 20 points or greater to ensure that the viewer can comfortably read titles and button text.

More Info:
More information about button menus can be found at Adobe - http://livedocs.adobe.com/en_US/EncoreDVD/3.0/help.html?content=WSbaf9cd7d26a2eabfe807401038582db29-7f1b.html

You can now begin linking your buttons.

To do this, go to the Menus Tab on the project window (it is located to the right of the Project tab in the main window - see Image 5C.)

Double click the title menu (it should be the only one that has a play button as its icon and is labeled DVD Menu in the example.) This will open up you title menu in another window if it wasn’t already opened when it was imported. You should be able to now see your labeled button folders which were made in Photoshop. (Don’t be alarmed if your highlight doesn’t show up, they don’t show up normally in this view. There is a button at the bottom of the window your menu opened in that will reveal all highlights.)

To set up the proper links double click your play button or sub menu button and bring up the button Properties. (Image 5C) Under Link, select the proper location.

Note: If you accidentally close your Button Properties tab, to locate go to: Windows, and click Properties to view.

Next go to the Project tab and drag and drop the video M2V file you want to play to the play button you made in Photoshop. (Drag it to the actual button picture in the preview screen, not the play button under the menus tab) You will see a border form around the button when the video is over the button. (Image 6C)

Now the video is linked, but you must put the audio MPA file with the video. To do this you must go to the Timelines tab and double click on your video in there. This opens up the timeline viewer. You should see a timeline with your video in it, and an empty bar marked "Audio 1".(Image 6C)

Drag and drop your Audio file to this empty bar. You can also preview your video and audio in the window. Once you have the audio placed close the timeline previewer window to get it out of your way.