zuma digital design for dvd

Zuma Artwork Specification

Introduction

Project

DVD artwork conventions have analogies to Broadcast and Web or CD-ROM design, but still remain very specific to DVD. The design process is both methodical and meticulous. The pur-pose of this document is to demystify the process of designing still screens for DVD. This docu-ment represents Zuma’s conventions for the delivery of still screen artwork. Also included is a Guide to Naming Conventions and Formats. It is important to name all files and folders accord-ing to this convention, as it simplifies the identification of the material once it is delivered.

In order to begin designing for DVD, the designer should have an understanding of the basic functionality and purpose of the disk. The producers at Zuma will deliver a zip disk to the designer. The Zip Disk contains the Project Folder and a Stills Folder and any other files (spe-cific to each job) that may be helpful in the design of the DVD.

Project Folders are created by the producer and provide the designer with a detailed over-view of the project. Contained within the project folder are two kinds of layout files: The Flowchart and the Content Files.

The FlowchartThe flowchart shows the designer the layout and interactivity of the project. The flowchart is necessary because it shows the navigation between the menu screens. It determines the number of menu screens, the button controls within each menu screen and the filename of the assets for each screen.

PROJECT FLOWCHART

CLIENT: Zuma DigitalTITLE: Program TitleDATE: June 26, 2000

Fbi/ Client Logo

Program

2 audio tracks1 subtitle track

Notes:1. FBI Warning & Client logo are locked out2. First play after FBI/Clientlogo is feature3. Return to Main Menu after feature4. Return to Trailer Menu after trailer plays5. "Play All" plays from the first trailer to the last and then returns to the Trailer menu

Filmographies & Awards

filename: Sample01FilmMenu01

Main MenuPlay Movie

2 names

Filmographies & Awards filename: Sample01

SampleMenu01

Main MenuFilmographies & Awards

Selected FilmographyAwards

Trailersfilename:

Sample01Trailer01

Main MenuPlay movie

Trailer 6

Trailer 8Trailer 3

Trailer 7Trailer 2

Trailer 1

Trailer 10Trailer 5

Trailer 9Trailer 4


SampleAward01


Back


SampleFilm01


Next


SampleFilm02


NextBack


SampleFilm03


BackNext

Production Creditsfilename: Sample01Prod02

Main MenuPlay Movie

Back

Scene Accessfilename:

Sample01Scene01

6 scene access pointsMain Menu

Filmographies & Awards

filename: Sample01Menu01


FilmographyAwards


Sample 01


Next


Sample01


Next


Sample02


NextBack


TruFilm03


Back


Sample02


NextBack


Sample03


NextBack


Sample04


Back


SampleFilm04


Back

Subtitle Menu filename: Sample01Sub01

Subtitle On Subtitle Off

Main MenuPlay Movie

Interstitial

Production Creditsfilename: Sample01Prod01

Main MenuPlay Movie

Next

A content file is delivered to the designer for each menu screen of the project. Each content file specifies the filename, major controls, minor controls and the content that will appear on each screen.

The FilenameThe filename is the filename used in the assets file.

Major Controls and Minor ControlsThe major and minor controls are the button controls for that screen; major button controls should be more visually prominent on a screen than the minor controls.

ContentContent of the screen refers to all the text that will appear on that screen. The designer should not make any changes to the punctuation, grammar or spelling of the text. Text can appear on a screen as a “heading”, a “subheading”, a “footer”, or in the main “body” of the screen. Generally these terms are useful because they provide the designer with an idea of how the text should look on the screen (e.g. a “heading” is usually at the top of the page and more prominent than the “subheading”).

StillsThe Stills folder contains stills taken from video elements that exist on the DVD. These stills can be an integral part of a motion or still menu design.

Content

HEADING

MinorControl

Majorcontrol

Sub Heading

Majorcontrol

MinorControl

Text Body

Note: All text and con-trols reside within title safe.

Note: Graphic elements that reside out of action safe are not guaranteed to be visible on every television.

Designing for DVD

Layered FilesDesigning is usually done in Photoshop. Scaled type; interface elements are combined with stills and other graphics to create the screens.

Since menu screens often have similar button controls, it is a good idea to have each button control on a separate layer and then duplicate that layer for use on other similar screens within a project. It is essential to keep all original layers, so that you can make any last minute changes easily.

Designing for NTSC TV DisplayCertain colors do not reproduce well on DVD. In general it is best to avoid over-saturated colors because TV color displays make colors look even brighter than on a computer moni-tor. Over – saturated colors will bleed and the image will lose sharpness and definition. Photoshop has an NTSC color filter that will pull colors into acceptable color range. Many designers use maximum RGB values of 234 or less. For example, the RGB value 234,0,0 would be pure red on a TV color display. Another useful tip is to adjust the brightness and contrast. High contrast images may cause jittering around edges, thin lines and text.

Working with TextAll the text that appears on each screen should first be created in Illustrator as a vector file. Text should be created on a canvas size of 720 x 540 pixels then scaled down to 720 x 480 using vectors. It is essential that all type elements be scaled as vector objects so as to ensure clean type on interlaced monitors. The scaling is to compensate for the dif-ference between square pixels of the computer monitor and the rectangular pixels of an NTSC monitor. If the text is not scaled down, it will appear out of proportion on an NTSC monitor.

It is important that all text remains within the inner NTSC title safe boundary. Text should not be any smaller than 18 point for Sans Serif fonts and 24 point for Serif fonts. The larger the type, the more readable it will be on an NTSC monitor. Thin lines that are close together flicker when displayed on NTSC monitors, so it is recommended to leave a little space between the letters. Accounting for common interface elements, a typical screen should not contain more than 80 words.

All fonts used for design should be included in the final delivery of the artwork, in its own separate folder. Click below to open a Title Safe Template.

Note: The later ver-sions of Photoshop, Adobe Photoshop 5.0 and onwards, uses vec-tors for transforming images and text. If you are using this version, you do not need to create vector files in Illustrator. You can create all artwork and text in Photoshop on a canvas size of 720 x 540 and then scale all ele-ments down to 720 x 480 as the last step of the design process.

Title Safe Template in Photoshop

Title Safe Template in Illustrator

Motion menus should be designed at D1 resolution for output to tape. All compositions should be set to 29.97 fps and all video footage should be conformed to 29.97 fps. Ele-ments should be assembled as a 720 x 540 composition. In the final render, this composi-tion should be imported and scaled down to fit into a new 720 x 486 composition.

Motion menus may be delivered on Digibeta or Beta SP. If the motion menu loops, it is required to loop at least once in the final delivery. This will ensure that the loop is seam-less. If the motion menu ends on a still frame, it should freeze on the last frame for at least two seconds.

Zuma can also accept uncompressed Quicktime files for output to Digibeta. If Zuma is responsible for mastering to tape, we recommend that you interpret the video footage as lower field first and render out the final movie as lower field first. Quicktime files must be delivered on CD-R, a jaz, zip disk or mac-formatted hard drive.

Overlays are necessary for the interactivity of a DVD. The basic purpose of an overlay is to define the selection and activation states of all the buttons on each screen. It is the duty of the designer to define the area that will change color, as well as the RGB value and opacity of the color, which will be used in both the selection and activation state.

The selection and activation statesA button is selected on a DVD by using the remote control. When a button is selected, it turns a different color. This is to inform the viewer which button has been selected. The viewer can then press enter on their remote control to activate the button. The button will quickly flash another color indicating that its function has been activated.

Overlays have to be 2 bit, 4 color, and NON-ANTI-ALIASED files. The only colors that can be used in an overlay are pure White (R=255, G=255, B=255), Black (R=0, G=0, B=0), Blue (R=0, G=0, B=255), and Red(R=255, G=0, B=0). This means that the overlay files are heavily aliased, and any small curves will appear pixilated.

Motion Menus

Overlays

The DVD Overlay Palette

Creating a Custom Palette

Curves created in Photoshop are anti - aliased by default. The anti – aliasing creates a subtle blur around a shape to make it appear smooth rather than pixilated. Blurs are not acceptable in overlays because they introduce a lot more color values than the four accepted RGB values. It is very important to convert the overlays in Photoshop to non – anti – aliased files. The best method to make sure a file is aliased is to create a custom palette for the overlay files. This palette should contain only the four acceptable RGB values.

The four acceptable RGB values in the overlay are for use ONLY in the premastering process of the DVD. Each of the four RGB values can then be mapped to a different color as specified by the designer. It is the designer’s responsibility to choose the selection and activation colors for the button controls. Select and Activation colors, as well as opacity levels must be specified on the Zuma Color Specifier Form.

Delivery of final art is dependent on the nature of the project. Delivery of final still art should be as flattened Photoshop Tiff or Pict files. Files should be 720 x 480 pixels at 72 dpi and be within NTSC safe color limits. Remove all alpha channels and paths from the final art, as they will not import into an authoring script. It is important to check that each screen meets the specifications of its corresponding content file.

Zuma uses different authoring platforms depending on the nature of the project. In some cases, the producer will ask for a layered psd file in which case the background is the menu screen and layer 1 is the overlay.

\

These filenames are all based on a Sample project. (Sample) should be replaced by the project name. For example, A content file for a project called “400Blows” would be: 400BlowsBio01_CON

Folder name: (Sample)PROJECT

FLOWCHARTFile format: Illustrator 8.0Filename: (Sample) Flowchart

CONTENT FILESFile format: SimpletextFilename: (Sample) Bio01_CON

Folder name: (Sample) VECTOR SCALEDVECTOR FILESFile format: Illustrator 8.0Filename: (Sample) Scene01.ai

Folder name: (Sample) LAYERED LAYERED FILESFile format: Photoshop 5.5Filename: (Sample) Scene01.psd

Folder name: (Sample) FinalART ART FILES:File format: Photoshop 5.5 Pict or TiffFilename: (Sample) FilmMenu01

Folder name: (Sample) OVERLAYS OVERLAY FILES:File Format: Flattened Photoshop 5.5 Pict or TiffFilename: (Sample) FilmMenu01_OVR

These filenames are all based on a Sample project. (Sample) should be replaced by the project name. For example, A content file for a project called “400Blows” would be: 400BlowsBio01_CON

Folder name: (Sample)PROJECT

FLOWCHART

Aliasing

Note: An easy way to make an overlay is to work on it as a separate layer in the layered Photoshop file for that screen. This ensures that the overlay correctly lines up with all the button controls on that screen. Large blocky shapes make the best overlays. Small curves look very pixilated.

Delivery of Art Files

INCORRECT

Aliased Anti-aliased

CORRECT

Photoshop

Illustrator

Indesign

After Effects

720x540

Creating Artwork

720x540

720x540

Render/Export

Comp size: 720x540 square pixels

For Output to dBeta:Drop Square Pixel comp into720x486 D1 comp“fit to comp”

Document/Comp Size

PDF, eps to PSD

Quark ExpressComp size: 720x540 eps to PSD

Sample01Scene01PSD to TIFF

PDF, eps to PSD

Guide to File Delivery

720x480

720x486

NA

NA

NA

Artwork DeliveryFilename

zuma digital design for dvd

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