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465

2323Authoring DVDsAuthoring DVDsObjectivesAfter studying this chapter, you will be able to:

Specify a DVD disc format.

Select and include video programs.

Add special sound track and text features.

Develop a disc organization.

Design the “look and sound” of a disc.

Create menus for accessing disc features.

Prepare a disc project for replication.

(Sue Stinson)

CH_23.indd 465CH_23.indd 465 12/11/2006 1:01:10 PM12/11/2006 1:01:10 PM

466 Video Digital Communication & Production

About Authoring DVDsAuthoring is the name given to the pro-

cess of creating DVD video discs for playback by computers or DVD players. This process is not a simple mechanical transfer like making a videotape, but a multistep activity that requires planning, craftsmanship, and creativity. In that sense, a video editor is the author of a DVD much as a writer is the author of a book.

Aids to NavigationA DVD such as a feature movie release con-

tains not one program but several—each one recorded at a different location on the disc. (See the sidebar for a typical example.) DVDs provide immediate access to any program on the disc; within each program, they allow jumping to pre-determined points (called chapters). Often, they also force viewers to watch certain obligatory

programs, such as the standard FBI warning screen, Figure 23-1.

When playing commercial DVDs, notice that some elements will not let you exit before they have fi nished.

To provide random access to programs and chapters, DVDs are equipped with screens con-taining menus much like the user interfaces in computer programs. By selecting and clicking menu items, viewers can navigate through mul-tiple displays to fi nd and access the programs, chapters, and special features they want. Cre-ating this navigation system is a major part of DVD authoring.

In this respect, DVD authoring is similar to Internet Web design, though usually simpler.

Design ElementsMost DVDs are meant for entertainment; and

even instructional and promotional products are intended to be as lively as possible. To make them interesting, their menus can include mov-ing images and musical backgrounds. Programs and graphics can be designed to carry out the theme of the disc, Figure 23-2. Even sound effects (such as bells or camera shutter clicks) are sometimes added to indicate that selections have been made. Designing the graphics, video elements, titles, music, and sound effects for the DVD can be as creative as editing the programs on it.

Technical MattersDVD authoring also has a technical side.

Since programs may be played on different video displays using different TV standards, the

Figure 23-1.Though the FBI warning is only a single program shot, it is technically one of the programs on the DVD.

Figure 23-2.Most DVD authoring programs include menu templates. (Ulead)


467CHAPTER 23 Authoring DVDs

discs must be set up to refl ect these differences. Also, they may be played by people speaking different languages, so alternate soundtracks may be selectable by viewers.

Additional soundtracks may also carry commen-taries by the director or others connected with the program.

Different sets of titles are often provided for foreign language translation or closed caption-ing. Each set can be selected and turned on or off by the viewer.

Security IssuesBecause DVDs are digital, they are easily

duplicated. To hinder the production and sale of pirated copies, DVDs can be equipped with two types of safeguards. To discourage sales in unauthorized markets, they can be regionally encoded, so that discs will work only in players sold in their own region, Figure 23-3.

The United States and Canada make up Region 1.

To prevent all unauthorized duplication, discs can be encoded with “copy protection,” which either makes duplicates unwatchable or pre-vents copying altogether.

Regional encoding and copy protection are optional; but setting the TV standard is not. The various TV systems, notably NTSC (in North America), PAL, and SECAM, are so different that discs made for one standard will not work at all with the others.

Preparing to PublishEven making the actual discs is not per-

fectly simple. For one thing, DVDs use a spe-cial encoding system that is different from the systems generally used for editing. Programs intended for DVD release must be translated into the “MPEG” encoding system.

Some editing programs can, if desired, translate raw DV footage into MPEG format as they capture it.

From there, individual copies can be made on computer drives that “burn” (record) DVDs. However, commercial discs made in large quantities are manufactured by a com-pletely different process. For these discs, “DLT” (Digital Linear Tape) masters usually must be produced and sent to the commercial duplicating company.

DVD SoftwareLike video editing software, DVD authoring

programs span a wide range of sophistication and complexity. The Ulead products cited in this book are typical. On the one hand, sim-ple DVD authoring is included in VideoStudio (the editing program featured in Chapter 22), so discs for home use can be created with-out additional software. On the other hand, the DVD authoring program, Ulead DVD Workshop, Figure 23-4, includes capture operations for raw footage, a procedure usually performed with editing software.

Figure 23-3.DVD regions. (Ulead)

Figure 23-4.DVD Workshop is intended for advanced amateur and corporate users. (Ulead)



In stand-alone DVD applications, Ulead offers three different programs of increasing sophistication. Within even the top-level pro-gram, however, selectable “wizards,” templates, and automated procedures can simplify the authoring process (at the expense, of course, of sophistication and originality).

This chapter assumes that readers will create com-pletely original, fully professional DVDs; so sim-plifi ed, semi-automated procedures receive only minimal coverage here.

DVD Workshop is used here for demon-stration purposes. Though easy to learn, this program is sophisticated enough to create com-mercial-grade DVDs, complete with multiple lan-guage tracks, different sets of subtitles, regional encoding, and copy protection. In addition, its user interface is similar to that of VideoStudio,

so readers of the previous chapter will soon feel comfortable with it.

Authoring a DVDIn summary, creating a DVD involves these

essential processes:

● Selecting and adding the programs that viewers will play.

● Designing menus that reference both the programs and the commands to set them up for viewing (audio track, titles, screen shape, etc.).

● Placing “buttons” on the menus that allow viewers to navigate to other menus, set pro-gram parameters, and play programs.

● Linking those buttons to the screens, programs, or features that they are designed to access.

Digital Formats: DV vs. MPEGDigital camcorders record footage in a par-

ticular format (mini-DV for most amateur and entry-level professional models); and video edit-ing software stores captured footage in a format identical or very similar (typically AVI format in Win-dows-based computers).

DVDs, however, use a different storage for-mat called MPEG (named for the Motion Picture Experts Group, which devised it) because this for-mat allows great data compression without nota-ble loss in picture quality. (Video program fi les must be compressed because they contain enormous amounts of data.)

A series of MPEG frames. (Symbolic representation: actual “P” and “B” frames do not look like this.)

There are several versions of MPEG data com-pression, but their differences need not concern us here.

For this reason, authoring software must con-vert fi nished video programs to MPEG format for inclusion on DVDs.

Why not convert captured footage and edit in MPEG to begin with? Because frame-accurate cut-ting is diffi cult with MPEG since it does not store every video frame. In each second of video, MPEG designates some individual images as I-frames (short for “intra-frames”) and stores all the picture information within each one. The frames between I-frames, however, are not complete images. All that is stored is the difference between that frame and the previous I-frame.

These frames are labeled P or B; and a complete sequence if I, P, and B frames is called a GOP (Group Of Pictures). Some editing programs can work in MPEG by fi lling in data missing from a P or B frame with information from the previous I-frame.

By contrast, mini-DV and similar formats use intra-frame compression for every frame, so you have a complete image wherever you decide to make an edit. Intra-frame compression is not used on DVDs because the resulting data fi les are larger than comparable fi les in MPEG format.



But before any of these processes can be undertaken, each new DVD must be set up.

Confi guring a DVD ProjectThe opening screen in DVD Workshop

resembles Figure 23-5.

Like editing projects, DVD projects have “project fi les,” which are blueprints for the fi nished product.

Project InformationFour pieces of information are essential. The

project name and location enable your computer to store the project fi le.

The media type specifi es which of several types of discs will contain the fi nished program and the TV system sets the type of TV.

The remaining fi elds are optional, for your con-venience. Under description, it often helps to list the names of the programs that will be on the DVD.

Figure 23-5.The opening screen of DVD Workshop. (Ulead)

A DVD being authored is called a project, since “program” (or “title”) refers to an individ-ual video and there may be several on one disc. To begin a project, select New Project, which brings up the new project box, Figure 23-6.

Figure 23-6.The new project box. (Ulead)

A Demonstration DVD ProjectThe wedding video introduced in the previous

chapter was the third of three programs made from footage shot during a summer vacation in Ireland and England. The fi rst was a travelogue on Ireland and the second was a tour of an English palace.

These three programs were brought together to create a single DVD about the vacation. This DVD provides all the examples used in this chapter.

Ireland … Blenheim… The wedding. (Sue Stinson).



Changing InformationIt is important to take care in supplying infor-

mation for a new project. The project name and location can be changed if needed, but it is a good idea to establish a directory for it and keep all components there. Some materials, such as still photos, graphics, and music selections, may come from other sources. By copying them into the project’s directory and importing them from there into your DVD program, you can keep all the working elements together.

The media type and TV system cannot be changed. Projects encoded for DVD cannot be burned to other disc types, and vice versa. The TV system can be an issue if the fi nished program(s) will be shown outside your area. In that case, you will need to select New Project, set TV System to the alternate type, and rebuild the DVD for the different area. (Of course, the programs themselves must match the TV sys-tem selected for the DVD. You cannot, for exam-ple, place NTSC format programs in a PAL DVD project and expect them to play.)

DVD Workshop defaults to DVD disc format and NTSC system type, the most common settings for North America.

Placing ProgramsThe fi rst step in authoring a DVD is to select

the programs that will be included on it, and the order in which they will be recorded.

Program order is important. Although viewers can play programs in any order, the PLAY or PLAY ALL command buttons show the programs in the order recorded on the DVD.

Selecting ProgramsPrograms can be captured from camera

footage or imported from computer fi les or DVDs. Here, three programs previously created in Ulead VideoStudio and fi led on the computer, are imported to the options panel and then placed in order on the title list, Figure 23-7. The title list closely resembles the storyboard in the editing program and func-tions very similarly.

Ulead DVD Workshop and other authoring applica-tions use the word “title” instead of “program.” “Program” is preferred in this discussion to prevent confusion with the textual titles that are also com-ponents of a DVD.

Creating a “First Play” ClipNote the empty square on the DVD sto-

ryboard labeled First Play. The program you place here will begin playing as soon as the DVD is started. Here, a short, moody segment on an Irish moor introduces the DVD, Fig-ure 23-8. A still from this shot will also form the background for several menus to be con-structed later.

Figure 23-7.Three programs have been imported from the computer hard drive to the options panel.

The programs are added to the title list panel in the desired order. (Ulead)



If you like, you can add a musical background to the opening, either by replacing an exist-ing track or by adding a new track from a music library. As you can see from Figure 23-9, you can fi ne tune the music by adjusting its length to fi t the video (or altering the video to fi t the length of the music), adjusting its volume level, and fading it in and/or out.

In some cases, you may want to prevent viewers from skipping over this opening seg-ment. In that case, checking the “force fi rst play” box will ensure this, Figure 23-10.

Movie DVDs sometimes use this technique to make you watch their previews of other movies.

Adding FeaturesSo far, organizing a DVD has not been much

different from planning a release videotape. Now, however, you begin to add the selectable options and random access qualities that make the DVD so versatile. The fi rst step is to divide each program into chapters.

Creating ChaptersA chapter is any piece in a program that can

be selected directly from a menu. It begins with a frame of video designated as the chapter start and ends, by default, with the start frame of the following chapter.

Later, in the menu creation process, chapters are named so that viewers know what they contain, but at this stage it is enough to designate them.

Designating chaptersThere are several ways to mark the fi rst

frames of new chapters. Perhaps the easiest is to scrub through the program until you reach the fi rst frame of a new sequence (or any other division point you prefer) and freeze the program on that frame. Since the process has several steps, refer to Figure 23-11 as you read.

First, check the “Locate I-frame” box (1). Since the chapter identifi er is an image from the program, a frame other than an I-frame would give you an incomplete image (as explained in the sidebar Digital Formats: DV vs. MPEG).

Figure 23-8.Moor shot. The Irish segment will play fi rst. (Ulead)

Figure 23-9.You can create a custom music (or other audio) track for your opening. (Ulead)

Figure 23-10.The force fi rst play option. (Ulead)



Next, use the slider to fi nd the fi rst frame of the new chapter (2).

Then click “Add Chapter” (3). The thumb-nail identifying the new chapter will appear in the chapter list (4).

Changing chapter thumbnailsSometimes, the fi rst frame of a chapter does

not represent the chapter content adequately, or perhaps is it is simply not a high-quality image. For example, the fi rst frame of the sequence, “Dressing for the Ceremony,” Figure 23-12, is not a very good image. To change it:

● Scrub through the sequence to fi nd a better image and pause there.

● Right-click on the chapter thumbnail to open a menu. Select “Set Chapter Thumbnail.”

Figure 23-11.An overview of the screen, showing the steps required in chapter creation. 1—Check the “Locate I-frame” box. 2—Find the fi rst frame of the new chapter. 3—Click “add chapter.” 4—A thumbnail identifying the new chapter appears in the chapter list. (Sue Stinson/Ulead).

The thumbnail will change to match the image on the preview screen.

It is important to understand that the chapter will still begin on the fi rst frame of the sequence, as originally selected, even though its identifying thumbnail has been changed.

Adding Alternate Audio TracksIt is common practice to supply DVDs with

alternate sound tracks selectable by viewers. These are often foreign languages or director comment tracks. These tracks are added from computer fi les, Figure 23-13.

Later in the authoring process, you will provide viewers with information about these sound tracks and the means to select and enable or disable any



one of them. Since the software does not know whether a particular track is a director’s commen-tary or a Greek translation, the next task is to pro-vide this information, Figure 23-14.

Adding TitlesYou may also want to add one or more sets

of subtitles. These are usually foreign language translations or captions for the hearing-impaired. The process is essentially the same as adding audio tracks. After selecting the subtitle tab in the options box, you select “Add/Edit Subtitles” to open the subtitle work screen, Figure 23-15.

Adding subtitles can be a lengthy process. Sometimes it is better to write them all as a text fi le and then import them piece-by-piece to the appropriate place in the program. In Figure 23-16, the title has been typed directly into the subtitle fi eld on the work screen.

Note that the options on the right side of the work screen provide complete control over subtitle formatting.

As with audio tracks, the subtitle tracks must be identifi ed. Selecting “Specify language settings” opens a work screen for doing this, Figure 23-17.

Figure 23-12.The fi rst frame of the chapter is not particularly striking. Another frame from the sequence makes a better chapter

thumbnail. (Sue Stinson/Ulead)

Figure 23-13.Adding or deleting an audio track. Selectors are note icons with + or - signs. (Ulead)

Figure 23-14.The language settings box is accessed from the options panel. (Ulead)



AltogetherAt this point, all the major content compo-

nents of the DVD are in place:

● The opening.● The programs.● The program chapter divisions.● The audio tracks.● The subtitles.

But as yet, there is no way for the viewer to navigate among these features and select the components desired for viewing the programs.

Creating navigation tools is the next step in authoring the DVD.

Creating MenusNavigation is accomplished with menus.

Organizing and linking these menus can be a simple matter of following on-screen instruc-tions, or a complex process for a custom design. (See the sidebar A DVD Menu Tree for an exam-ple of a complex menu structure.)

Templates and WizardsIf you are using a template supplied with

your DVD authoring software, creating a naviga-tion system can be quite simple. The DVD menu in Figure 23-18 was completed in less than ten minutes by following on-screen prompts pro-vided by a menu-creation wizard.

It was customized by replacing the template text with the program titles and dragging each program icon into a button on the menu.

The small icons on the left allow viewers to play the previous program, the next program, or all pro-grams in order.

Designing the MenuTemplates hide the organization of the DVD

behind pre-structured menus.

They can also make features like alternate audio tracks and subtitles diffi cult to access.

Figure 23-15. The add/edit subtitles command. (Ulead)

Figure 23-17.The specify language settings selection is an icon that must be learned. (Ulead)

Figure 23-16.The subtitle work screen. (Ulead)



If the DVD is at all complex, it will need cus-tom menus, all designed from scratch and linked in a hierarchy.

The HierarchyThe components of a DVD are organized in

a hierarchy much like the table of organization in a business. If the organization of the vacation DVD were expressed that way, it would resem-ble Figure 23-19.

However, the structure of a DVD is created as a hierarchy of linked menus; so the vacation DVD organization actually looks like Figure 23-20.

For clarity, Figure 23-20 includes only the wedding “tree” from top to bottom. Figure 23-21 shows them in more detail.

A DVD Menu TreeHere is a menu outline for the DVD of a typical feature fi lm.

Figure 23-18.A blank menu template.

The demonstration vacation DVD menu created from the template. (Ulead)

In addition, each screen must have buttons allowing the viewer to move back up the tree to higher level menus.

FBI WarningStudio LogoPreview OnePreview TwoMain Menu

Play MovieChapters

1-121 2 3...

13-2413 14 15...

25-3625 26 27...

SetupScreenFull screenLetterbox

SoundDolby 5.1Stereo

LanguageEnglishFrench

TitlesEnglishFrenchOff

ExtrasCommentariesThe directorThe two stars

Documentaries“The Making of...”“Special Effects”

TrailersTeaserTheatrical trailer

Music VideoDeleted ScenesScene 1Scene 2Scene 3

Cast BiographiesStar 1Star 2Star 3Director



The linksAs shown in Figure 23-21B, the wedding

menu (like the others) has certain features:

● Play, to start the wedding program.● Home, to return to the main menu.● Play previous, to start the previous program

on Blenheim palace.● Play all, to start with the Ireland program and

play all three programs.● Chapters, to access the chapters menu.

Unlike other menus, this one lacks a play next button because the wedding is the fi nal program on the disc.

Each of these graphic elements is called a button (whether button-shaped or not) and each button activates a playlist. Other, purely decora-tive graphic elements, are called objects.

Menu ComponentsObjects, buttons, and playlists are the build-

ing blocks of DVD menus.

ObjectsObjects are images (still photos or graph-

ics), frames copied from video, or text (whether program titles or menu commands). Objects are inert—that is, clicking on them has no effect.

A special type of object is called a placeholder. A placeholder is a spot on a menu template that will become an object when you drag a suitable element onto it.

Although placeholders are not used in original menus, they are covered below, for completeness.

ButtonsButtons are graphic elements that are

linked to programs, commands, or other menus, Figure 23-22. They are like switches: when acti-vated, they “turn on” the items they are linked to.

Buttons can take almost any form, from icons imported from a library, to custom graph-ics, to stills from videos—or even tiny screens on which the linked videos actually play.

Figure 23-19.A typical table of organization.

MainMenu

SetupMenu

Ireland Blenheim Wedding

Audio Titles

English French English French

Chapters Chapters Chapters

1 2 3 4 etc 1 2 3 4 etc 1 2 3 4 etc

Figure 23-20.The vacation menu structure.



PlaylistsPlaylists, as their name reveals, are lists

containing one or more names identifying pro-grams, menus, or commands in the DVD. Each button has its own playlist. When a viewer acti-vates the object, the item(s) on its list will play.

To see how this works, study Figure 23-23. “Ireland” is a button on the main menu. Its play-list contains one item: “MENU-01.” As you can see from the inset detail, MENU-01 is the menu screen for the program on Ireland. So, activating

the Ireland button causes the link in its playlist to open the Ireland program menu.

If a playlist contains more than one item, each will play in order.

Building the MenusMenus can be extremely sophisticated, with

audio (usually music) that loops as long as the menu is on-screen. The buttons can be small

Figure 23-21.Linked menus. A—The main menu. B—The wed-ding video menu. C—The wedding chapter menu. D—The start of a chapter.(Sue Stinson)

AA BB

CC DD

Figure 23-22.All the items except the background image are buttons. (Ulead)

Figure 23-23. The Ireland button is linked to the Ireland menu through the playlist. (Ulead)



screens in which the videos they link to are actu-ally playing. Objects and buttons can move in a variety of CG effects.

Each DVD authoring program accomplishes these tasks in slightly different ways, so our demonstration DVD project will stick to the more generic operations. At this point, the menu tree has been designed, and now each menu will be built, starting with the main one.

In actually building menus, you will probably go through the sequence of placeholder-object-playlist-text for each item.

BackgroundFirst of all, we need a background. The “First

Play” video includes a moody shot of a prehistoric

tomb, so we capture a still from it as an object and scale it to fi ll the frame, Figure 23-24.

If we were working with a template, place-holders would be in position to receive objects. Though they are not present in our custom design, we will add them for demonstration pur-poses, Figure 23-25.

ButtonsNow we are ready to place the buttons that will

link to the individual program menus. (Assume that these menus have already been created and so are available to be linked.) See Figure 23-26.

We still need buttons for two commands: play all and setup. Play all is a standard button, automatically linked to the command to play all the programs on the DVD in order. Setup is not a

Figure 23-24.The background for the main menu. (Sue Stinson)

Figure 23-25.Placeholders added to the main menu screen.

Figure 23-26.Buttons added.

Figure 23-27. Utility buttons added.



standard button, so we pick a button shape, open its playlist, and link it to the setup menu. (The but-tons are in the button library. Two selections from that library are shown in Figure 23-27.)

TextSo far, you know what the buttons activate

but viewers do not (the titles on the program but-tons are too small for easy reading). So the last step is to add text, using formatting commands very similar to those in most graphics and word processing programs, Figure 23-28.

Checking Your WorkYou will repeat this process for every other

menu in the project. Before leaving each one, you should verify two important things:

● that menu components–especially buttons–do not overlap, and

● that every button has an appropriate link in its playlist.

To do this, click the buttons highlighted in Figure 23-29. Green borders will appear to show the boundaries of objects and buttons, and each button will display the item in its playlist.

PreviewingBecause DVD menu systems can be com-

plex, it is prudent to preview your project before locking it up. Most authoring software includes a “virtual DVD player” that simulates all the func-tions of an actual player. To check your work, make sure that every button is linked to the appropriate element (program, menu, or com-mand). Play every selection on the DVD, look-ing for small problems with audio tracks, graphic elements, and the like, Figure 23-30.

ArchivingThere are three ways to store your DVD proj-

ect permanently. Most authoring programs offer all three methods.

DVD burningThe fi rst is to simply burn a disc, that is, cre-

ate an actual DVD of your program. This option is fi ne if you plan to keep the project on your computer hard drive, or else make a few discs and discard the original materials. Though you can load the DVD fi les back onto your computer, you can only play them as you would in a DVD player. You can no longer work with them.

Creating a disc image fi leA disc image fi le is a fi le that contains all

the materials used in your DVD project. With it, you can reopen the project for additions or revi-sions and prepare a new DVD. Since you can

Figure 23-28.Adding text completes the menu.

Figure 23-29.The controls for the borders and links are below the screen. (Ulead)

Completing the ProjectWith the menu system designed and the

individual menus created, only two steps remain: previewing the DVD and preserving it perma-nently by archiving it.



record a disc image fi le on a DVD as a data fi le, you can upload it whenever you wish to use it. That way, you can clear your drive of the very large fi les generated by DVD projects.

Creating a digital linear tapeDigital linear tape (“DLT”) is the standard

format for supplying DVDs to commercial dupli-cators for mass production. Although you proba-bly will not have a DLT machine, you can instruct your program to store the DVD in DLT format, which can then be copied to disc as a data fi le and delivered to a facility with DLT capabilities.

Change Is the Only ConstantIt is wise to archive your DVD in a format that

can be reopened and worked on in the future, because recording and playback systems are always changing. Today’s popular format may be unplayable in a few years, like the once-univer-sal 78 rpm shellac audio discs (they were called “records”), Figure 23-31.

As long as your software can read your working fi les (and your operating system can run your software) you will be able to refor-mat your DVD for whatever playback medium comes along.

Figure 23-30.The preview screen has a virtual DVD remote control. (Ulead)

Figure 23-31. The 78 rpm record was once the standard audio medium.



Chapter ReviewAnswer the following questions on a separate piece of paper. Do not write in this book.

1. To discourage piracy, DVDs are often equipped with two types of security measures: and copy protection.

2. True or False? To prevent viewers from skipping over the opening segment, the “force fi rst play” option is selected when creating the DVD.

3. To permit the viewer to navigate the DVD easily, you must create . 4. Buttons are graphic elements that are linked to programs—when activated, they the

items they are linked to. 5. Your project can be archived by burning a CD, creating a fi le, or creating a DLT (digital

linear tape).

Technical TermsAuthoring: The process of designing and assembling DVDs.Button: An element on a DVD menu that, when activated, links to a program, a menu, or a function.Chapter: A designated section of one program on a DVD.Copy protection: A system of encoding designed to prevent copying DVDs.Disc image fi le: A computer fi le containing all the components of a DVD project.Digital linear tape (DLT): A DVD storage fi le format for recording on a special half-inch tape that will be the master for mass-producing DVDs.DVD: A computer disc format originally designed to hold movies, but now used for all-purpose data stor-age, too.First play: A menu or program that plays automatically when a viewer starts the DVD.I-frames: “Intra-frames” that contain all the image data. (See MPEG).Intra-frame compression: A digital video recording system that saves storage space by condensing and recording the data for every frame.Menus: In DVD authoring, screens displaying buttons for navigating to other menus, programs, or functions.Mini-DV: The most popular recording format for small camcorders. Uses intra-frame compression.MPEG: A recording format that records full information only for selected frames (called “I-frames”), plus partial information for other frames.NTSC: The TV standard used in North America and Japan. Other major standards include PAL and SECAM.Object: An item on a menu that does not link to anything.Placeholder: On a menu template, an indicator of where an item should be placed to make it a button.Playlist: A list, for each button, containing the names of one or more menus, programs, or functions activated by that button.Project: The process of authoring a DVD.Regional encoding: Code on a DVD that permits it to be played in only one designated world region.Scrub: To move quickly through a program by dragging a handle along a track below a preview window.Template: A pre-designed menu that is customized by substituting appropriate buttons and text.Text: Anything written on a DVD menu.Title: In DVD authoring, any program or menu. (A common term, but not used in this sense in this book.)TV standard: A broadcast system, such as NTSC, SECAM, or any of several varieties of PAL.Wizards: Mini-programs that guide users through the menu creation process step by step.



As a chapter thumbnail, this image may represent sequences captured at the end of the wedding day. (Sue Stinson)


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