Not sure if this adds anything useful to what's already been posted but...

"Is there a way to have both 16x9 and 4x3 media on a DVD"

Video titles can be mixed and matched -- the only requirement AFAIK is that any internal scripting between the different aspect videos has to go thru the VMG domain -- which is something DVDA does automatically. Making the same thing happen (both 4:3 & 16:9) with menus is possible, but the way it writes the internal scripting DVDA will not do it.

"with the DVD changing the aspect ratio accordingly (in other words, no letterboxing)?"

Not 100% sure what you mean... If you've got 16:9 video, it will show up letterboxed on a 4:3 monitor. Same for 4:3 video on a wide screen monitor, only it'll be pillarboxed.

*IF* you're talking about having two versions of everything, you can use scripting to determine the setting for the display device in the DVD player, and point to one video title instead of another, and you can do this in DVDA. DVDA won't let you do it for menus however, since it won't let you have both types on a DVD. It is possible by editing your DVDA DVDs, but it's a bit of work.

*IF* you're talking about Pan & Scan, you can use a combination of scripting and editing to enable it automatically, but the same restrictions for the menu apply: no mix and match unless you want to do a *lot* of editing.

Bear in mind that most stand-alone players have their own set-up menus and their own display options that can throw a monkey wrench into any multi-aspect design.

I agree with the above two posts. Depending on who the DVDs are going to, I sometimes just put two versions (16x9 and 4x3) on the DVD. The menu will only show up in either 16x9 OR 4x3 (whichever I make it). No way around that that I know of. With a menu it's sometime real hard to see the difference between a wide screen and 4x3 anyway, especially if you are using text buttons only.

So I just create my menu to allow the viewer to select the version they would like to watch. Most of my customers just put the DVD in and make their selection from the DVD menu. If they have a wide screen tv they'll select that version, or vice-verse. Generally, they are not monkeying around in the DVD player setup, except to set it up after the initial hook up.

I looked in the DVDA 4.5 manual & it says it's either always 4:3 or 16:9 (unless you use a script) but that's not what I say when I'd burn DVD's with DVDA3.

I have DVDA4.5 and it says all menus have to be the same aspect ratio as in prior verions, You can mix 16:9 and 4:3 video formats as before (DVDA handles all the mixed aspect ratios wrinkles under the covers generating the VMG and VTS menus...) HappyFrier where did you find referance to a script? I saw nothing in the DVDA4.5 about scripts to setup the way the DVD player should handle the different aspect ratios ie letterbox, pan &scan, or pillerbox but I could have missed it. DVDlab Pro gives you the option in setup to set the way the DVD Player should handle aspect ratios but as said before, these settings can be overridden by the DVD players setup menu.

Ed B

DVDLab Pro does without a lot of the abstraction layer in the GUI -- what you see is closer to what you get written to the IFO files. It's not so hard for that program to create DVDs without all the extra scripts and dummy menus that programs like DVDA use to make the interface easier. IOW when DVDA creates a DVD it puts down it's boilerplate scripting -- DVDLab Pro goes much more by what you've entered or done.

At the end the difference is that you can set your menu properties in DVDLab Pro per title set, and I think the menus interface thru the VMG, just like the titles. To do the same thing in DVDA I'd think they'd have to redesign the interface a bit, along with that boilerplate scripting. Doesn't sound like a lot I suppose until you figure in compatibility testing. If enough people ask, maybe they'll add that to v. 5 along with some other goodies like stories and maybe even CC support?

Off Topic: I'd think adding stories would increase the appeal at the lower end as well, allowing some non-destructive editing like at least one very popular authoring app at the low to mid range.

i thought I did but can't find it now. I was also going by what mpm said. i've always used the dvd player to override anything (I want everything in letterbox if it's 16:9). The online manual also says:
Choose menus or videos to play based on the DVD player's language, parental management, and other settings so I ASSUMED that meant any setting the DVD player has, including aspect ratio. I am also assuming that's how some movies have a 4:3 option & 16:9 option upon startup.

You can check (&/or adjust) the settings for any DVD menu using IfoEdit. It shows up in a few places, so check the different headings in the top 1/2 of the window -- I *think* you can get away with just the initial or default view, but it gets kind of flaky with DVDA listing video aspect for the VMG when DVDA doesn't have any video in the VMG. To edit just double click the lines with: Video: MPEG-2.....16:9..." in the lower window. From what I've read you can only have different display modes for 16:9 DVDs legally, so you would have to start with a 16:9 project and add Pan & Scan and/or 4:3 menus to that.

I think any of the manuals and help files go light on scripting... Google and adapt scripts from whatever software -- there seem to be a lot of quality scripts online for DVD Studio Pro. I'm terrible at scripting (or coding or...) so it helps me to render test DVDs from DVDA and trace them in PgcEdit. This page gives you something you can adapt for detecting the player setting (at the time the script runs) and provides some introduction.
http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/alex_all_menus_dir/chapter3.html

Since the player has ultimate control, buttons for the menu aspect are safer I'd think, and I think they just have to point to a dummy VMG menu with scripts pointing at menus in separate title sets -- I think that's how DVDLab Pro did it when I tried their trial if I remember correctly. I'm pretty sure that Hollywood & higher end software have come up with ways around this, especially since so many of their DVDs are illegal according to I guess all sorts of specs -- used as copy protection. I've read Sony is actually one of the worst in this regards.

I've never been able to find any good shortcuts... I've found that DVDA will accept the wrong aspect video for menu backgrounds if you patch the first header only of the file in DVDPatcher. I've also found that you can replace a menu for a 2nd title set in PgcEdit and get it working. Neither has turned into a great, practical solution so far.

DVDA likes to save all the menus together in VTS_01_0.VOB, and I don't think you can specify individual menu video aspects in a single title set. You can get DVDA to create a second title set, with separate *_0.VOB attached for the menu by playing with placement in the tree. In theory the only thing they'd need to do is let you select menu-specific aspect and tweak the default scripting, so maybe someday?

(Vegas user venturing over to the DVDA forum for a moment...)

Are there any issues putting a 16:9 video and a different 4:3 video in the same widescreen DVDA project?

For example will the 4:3 movie get stretched on a 16:9 television, or will it just be pillarboxed?