Comments

ScottW wrote on 6/4/2006, 7:53 AM
This has been discussed a lot - the impression (which I've not had a chance to personally confirm) is that DVDA does not pick the best compression/quality settings when creating the MPEG video stream for a menu background.

I personally find that I get the best results with text by rendering menu backgrounds from vegas as uncompressed AVI - that way I avoid any of the issues associated with text and DV and everything only undergoes a single compression when DVDA builds the project. Also, I turn off the progressive video for menu feature that was added to DVDA 3.0 (on the preferences menu) and go strictly interlaced for the entire workflow.

--Scott
Dan Sherman wrote on 6/4/2006, 10:17 AM
Thanks Scott, I'll give that a try!
Had this problem before and did everything to try to rectify it.
Maybe I should dump DVDA to do professional quality work?
Anyone suggestions on a professional grade alternative would be appreciated.
Thanks
Dan Sherman wrote on 6/4/2006, 10:30 AM
FYI, tried those things and menu BG still looks unprofessional.
Not good!
ScottW wrote on 6/4/2006, 5:42 PM
Try DVD Lab Pro from www.mediachance.com - they have a 30 day free trial - fully functional. It does not muck about with the mpeg stream you create.

In the case of Lab Pro I rener directly from Vegas to MPEG2 using the encoder settings I want (with closed GOP's, because Lab Pro prefers them), and you get exatly what you rendered from Vegas.
Dan Sherman wrote on 6/5/2006, 11:59 AM
All the DVDA masters will be rolling their eyes at Sherman's question.
After some poking around Sherman discovered the best way to apply text and/or objects to a menu is to use insert text and/or object.
Had a run at that DVD authoring program, Scott.
Many thanks, but as you can see I am just beginning to learn DVDA after more than three years.