That's my problem, there are many options for screen sizes so was wondering how I know which option will fit regular TV's (21", 25" etc) and which screen size will fit widescreens (32", 42" etc)? Because the screen size I choose as mentioned in my previous post would not fit correctly to either my widescreen or regular TV, and don't want ot have to burn off 5 or so test DVD's :) Thanks

My first 'burn' is always to a DVD-RW until I get the result I want. This allows me to check placement of text, graphics, buttons etc, and also colours. Then when I'm happy burn to DVD-R.

the menu and footage don't fit appropriatly to the TV screen.

Could you be more specific? What's wrong with how the content "fits"? Is it letterboxed (black bars either at top and bottom or left and right)?

Or does some of the content get cut off? If this is the case, it's an overscan issue. Regular (ie, not plasma or LCD) TVs have their screens partially hidden because the image is rough on the edges. For this reason, it is accepted among content producers that not all of the screen will be visible. DVDA (and Vegas) have guidelines called "safe areas" to show you what part of the screen will be visible on most regular televisions. For your menus, you should pay heed to those safe areas and keep all titles and buttons within the inner safe area.

Is there a default measure for Widescreen TV's and Non-Widescreen TV's?

"Measure" is irrelevant. Widescreen vs. widescreen is about proportions, not measurements. If a TV screen is 1.33 times as wide as it is tall, it's not widescreen. If it's 1.77 times as wide as it is tall, it's widescreen.

Rob

Yeah parts of the menu get cut off on the screen, like it's overall to big for the TV screen. But also when I burnt this particular DVD, the video seemed to cut at the edges as well, so basically to avoid this just condense my menu pages and burn the DVD to a smaller screen size specification? I just need to know as this is a project for other people and I don't know now wether the DVD I burn will view correctly on the various types of TV's it will be played on. Thanks again

Sounds like an overscan / safe area issue to me. It's nothing to do with "small screen sizes," per se, nor to do with "widescreen" or "non-widescreen" -- you will see the same problem whether the TV is 21" or 61", so long as the TV in question is a standard (ie, not plasma or LCD) television.

When you're designing your menus in DVDA, do you see two dotted-line boxed on the design screen? (If you don't, go to View -> Workspace Overlays and choose Show Title Safe Areas. Then do the same and choose Show Action Safe Areas.) Arrange the menu items so that all titles, text, and buttons are within the inner box, and you should be okay for most televisions.

Rob

Thanks for that yup thats the problem with the Menu, but now also my video is outside the safe area, how do you manipulate the video so it fits in the safe area? Also, all the choices you get for screen specs when burning and optimizing (like PAL 720x576, 720x506 etc) which one do you choose and how do you know? What is the effect of each one, like by choosing a bigger spec over a smaller spec what effect does that have when you play it on your TV? Thanks

"how do you manipulate the video so it fits in the safe area?"

Well, to be blunt, you don't. You shoot your video to begin with so that anything that is important to be seen is away from the edges. If you have already-shot video that you must squeeze into the safe area, use the Pan/Crop tool in Vegas and draw the dashed cropping line out larger than the image.

Don't play around with the output sizes. Choose the "DVD Architect PAL video stream" template and don't mess with the frame size. Changing the frame size can produce an invalid video file that may not play on some DVD players.

When optimizing the DVD, I meant which project video format and what the different effects are of selecting the various project video formats. "DVD Architect PAL Video Stream" isn't one of those options when optimizing, but I think it may be when rendering from Vegas if that's what you mean? I just remember seeing that when rendering from Vegas.... I'll try panning and croping from Vegas and re-rendering, thanks for the help!

but now also my video is outside the safe area, how do you manipulate the video so it fits in the safe area?

Before you even try, first ask yourself if you even need to. In most cases, you do not need to have all of your video fit within the safe areas. Text, such as titles and credits, should be within the inner box to be sure that the viewer can read it. As for regular action on the screen, as long as everything that the viewer needs to see is within the outer box, then don't worry about "manipulating" anything; just leave it as it is. Not everything is going to show on standard televisions -- it's simply a fact of video production, and it's something that you (if you are shooting your own video) will be aware of when you frame your shots. If you're using pre-recorded content (ie, a movie or television program), then the camera person who shot it already took this into account.

(like PAL 720x576, 720x506 etc) which one do you choose and how do you know?

Just choose the one that matches the settings of the video you've added to your project. In DVD Architect's Explorer window, select the video you've added. At the bottom of that window, DVDA will list the size and format of that file. Use those settings. In most cases, DVDA will select the correct setting for you, anyhow. If you don't need to change it (and in most cases you won't), leave the settings alone.

These settings do not change the "size" of your video. They change the resolution (quality). No matter which one you choose, your TV is going to stretch the video appropriately to fill the screen or (if necessary) letterbox it.

Rob