Advanced Interactive Media/DVD Studio Pro

Authoring Interactive Discs with DVD Studio Pro
=General notes=

Historical Perspective

 * 1. Desktop publishing: 1980s - Pagemaker – Reliable/affordable, personal computers
 * 2. MIDI & sequencing1990s – Studio Vision/Personal Composer, Finale
 * 3. Desktop audio: 1996 – Protools, 100 MHz processors
 * 4. Desktop video: 2003 – Premiere, 2 GHz processors, cheap hard drives & RAM, consumer DVD cameras, affordable/reliable/easy DVD burning
 * 5. Desktop virtual reality – multiprocessor PCs, the end of the information age

Formats

 * 1. ROM: Read only, like CD but much more storage.
 * 2. -R: 2 kinds (General/Super drive & Authoring/Professional drive Pineer DVR-S201)
 * 3. -RW: Same as -r but read/write.
 * 4. RAM: Multisession, but won't play in most drives so is not recommended
 * 5. +R & +RW: Won't record in a superdrive, but plays in most drives AFTER recorded.
 * 6. Double sided
 * 7. Double sided double density Vrs Blueray
 * 8. DVD Hybrids: Video and Data
 * 9. DVD audio: much greater capacity AND higher quality audio. DVD Pro - No

Things to Know

 * 1. Tracks - 99 maximum
 * 2. Angles - 8 maximum
 * 3. Menus - still or motion - a total file size of no more than 1 gig.
 * 4. Buttons - 36 total on 4x3, only 18 on 16x9 video
 * 5. Slideshow - maximum of 100 images in one show
 * 6. Audio: AIFF, WAV, SDII, MPEG-1, AC3 - all OK in Studio Pro
 * 7. Subtitltes: up to 32 streams with a maximum of 4 colors
 * 8. Scripting: DVD can make decisions (loop x times, play random, create a random button, passcode protect a certain track.
 * 9. Region coding: 9 total. Don't use them.  Not on DVD -R.  1=US, 2=Europe, 3=Orient,               .        8=special purpose (airlines)

Help info you won’t find in Books

 * 1. A one-off disc is NOT the same as one pressed from a glass master.
 * 2. No longer necessary to use digital tape masters.
 * 3. There is no such thing as a one-off disc that is 100% reliable. The combination of blank media brand, playback drives, and authoring software produces more than 20,000 permutations.
 * 4. Copy protection: CSS or Macrovision (APS) prevents copy to VHS tape.
 * 5. Info Source: DiscDoctor.com
 * 6. Double sided duplication is now cost effective
 * 7. DVD/CD ROM double format discs duplication can be located with difficulty.
 * 8. Don't create a track, slideshow or menu that you may not require - can't be deleted consistently.
 * 9. Improve reliability by playing a 1 second video track, rather than a menu, first.
 * 10. 3. Be sure your content will fit. Encoding quality determines maximum size. Don't plan on more than 80 minutes (not including slideshows, menus, ROM data, etc.) on a 4.7 gig DVD.

Terminology to Impress Your Friends

 * 1. GOP: MPEG group of pictures is 15 frames. Markers go ONLY on GOPs.
 * 2. VOBU: Video group of objects - usually 2 GOPs - .4 to 1.2 seconds long. Most common source of burn errors.
 * 3. One chapter = A program
 * 4. A story = a chain of programs (chapters)
 * 5. VTS" video title set: maximum of 99 on any single video DVD

Storage Capacities

 * 1. 4.7 gigs
 * 2. 8.5 gigs Sony DRX 820UL-T $90, $3 per disc for under 50 in quantity.
 * 3. 100 gigs

Three steps in production (plus three more they don’t’ tell you about)

 * 1. Plan
 * 2. Author
 * 3. Encode
 * 4. Duplicate
 * 5. Label
 * 6. Packaging

Still Image Formats
Create at 720x540, resize to 720x480 (don't bother to crop 6 pixels from 486)
 * Photoshop, Tif, JPG or TGA at 72 DPI (plus 6 other formats, if you care)
 * Multiplexed into MPEG-2 stills
 * To avoid square pixel, rectangular pixel distortion:
 * An exception for Pros: Create at 640x480 and stretch up to 720x540 to accommodate thin lines that stretch horizontally, but not vertically)

Compressor Tips
Use VRB Variable Bit Rate 2 pass of higher

Advanced DVDs

 * 1. DVD@ccess
 * 2. Widescreen 16x9
 * 3. Multilanguage discs
 * 4. Subtitles

Issues That Matter

 * 1. Assets
 * 2. Tracks, markers
 * 3. Layered Menus
 * 4. Overlay Menus
 * 5. Slideshows
 * 6. Finishing: first play, hybrids, burn/format