Menu video looping problem

GarySoCal wrote on 6/5/2008, 12:59 PM
I have an 11 second video clip with music that I want to loop behind my first level menu. The clip is an avi with a music track rendered from Vegas 8. In the DVDA preview screen, it loops perfectly. But when burned and viewed on a DVD player it pauses for about one second before it loops. I noticed that during the pause the highlight for the current menu option disappears, too. I have tried several different lengths without success.

Anyone know what I can do to eliminate the pause?

Thanks,
Gary

Comments

bStro wrote on 6/5/2008, 2:25 PM
You can't.

Put any DVD with a looping menu in your DVD player, and you'll see the same thing. This is a combination of the player "thinking" about what to do next and actually doing it (e.g., moving the laser from the end of the menu back to the beginning). All DVD players will pause slightly between menus or between loops of the same menu -- some players just pause longer than others.

The best you can do is construct your menu so that the pause is not so distracting. For example, many menus with background music fade in at the start and fade out at the end.

Rob
GarySoCal wrote on 6/5/2008, 2:39 PM
Thanks, Rob. I should have guessed that from as many DVDs as I have watched (doh!).

MPM wrote on 6/5/2008, 7:05 PM
FWIW...

While you can't eliminate every bit of pause, if you use a 2 cell menu - have the intro vid as part of the menu by setting the loop start point - you can decrease it a bit. For whatever reasons when you have a 2 or 3 cell menu, looping at the end of the menu video takes longer than with a single cell menu (with no or separate intro). The trend seems to be to duplicate your main menu - from the loop start point, without the intro - and have the end action of your main menu jump to the duplicate.

This does two things - the jump is much faster than looping, so if the viewer hits a button before the 2nd menu loops, they might not notice a pause at all. And if the 2nd menu loops, the pause will be shorter.