Making DVDs with Sonic MyDVD (Digital Home Movies) Part 2

Adding Submenus

Adding Submenus

1 Click the Add Sub-menu button.

2 Click the text under your new button and type a descriptive name for the menu.

INTRODUCTION

DVD menus frequently contain submenus where extras such as picture slideshows, deleted scenes, and chapter selections are stored. Adding additional menu layers organizes your DVD menu system even further.

Adding a Slideshow

Adding a Slideshow

1 Click the Add Slideshow button.

2 Click the Get pictures button to browse for photos.

3 Navigate to the folder containing pictures you want to include in the slideshow. Select the pictures you want to include and then click Open.


4 Click the Settings button to customize the slideshow.

INTRODUCTION

DVD menus frequently contain submenus where extras such as picture slideshows, deleted scenes, and chapter selections are stored. MyDVD includes a slideshow generating tool for adding a still image presentation to your DVD.

TIP

Rotate Photos

Use the Rotate button to turn any pictures that appear sideways in the slideshow. This improves the viewing experience by keeping the members of the audience from having to turn their heads sideways.

TIP

Get Them AU

A quick way to include all the photos in a folder in the slideshow is to click one photo and then press Ctrl+A. After you click Open in the Get Pictures dialog, all of the selected photos will be included in your slideshow.

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5 Add an audio track to the slide show by checking the box next to Audio track and then clicking the Choose button next to the audio selection drop-down.

6 Select a music track and click Open.

7 Check the box next to Fit slides to music to synchronize the slides to the music.

TIP

Removing Unwanted Images

To remove an unwanted image from a slideshow, scroll through the list of images in the slideshow, highlight the image, and press the Delete key on the keyboard.

HINT

Organizing Images

To change the order of images in the slideshow, click and drag an image from its current location to the location you want it to appear in the slideshow. By default, MyDVD organizes photos alphabetically by Component.

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8 Click the Advanced tab to change the transition between images, and select a transition from the drop-down menu.

9 Click Change letterbox color.

10 Select a letterbox background color. This determines the background color for images smaller than full screen. Click OK.

Slideshow creation in MyDVD allows you to customize virtually every aspect of the slideshow. After picking music and selecting transition styles for the slideshow, the slideshow is added to the DVD project.

TIP

No Transition Between Photos

MyDVD does not require the use of transitions between slides. To turn off transitions, click the Advanced tab of the Settings window and uncheck the box next to Transitions.

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11 Highlight an image in the slideshow and click the Button Image button to set the image to be displayed on the slideshow menu button.

12 Click OK to add the slideshow to the DVD project.

13 Click the text under the slideshow button and type a new title for the slideshow.

HINT

Additional Slideshows

MyDVD projects can contain more than one slideshow. After completing one slideshow, repeat the steps of this task to add additional slideshows to the DVD project.

HINT

Photo Archive

MyDVD includes an option to archive the original photos on disk. This uses more space than only including the slideshow, but also creates a handy backup of the image files in case the versions on your hard drive get damaged.

Burning a DVD

Burning a DVD

1 Click the Preview button and test the various menu buttons.

2 When you are satisfied everything works, click the red Bum button.

3 Click Yes to save the DVD project.

INTRODUCTION

Once all the menus are created, it’s finally time to make the DVD. MyDVD processes all the menu customizations, movie data, and slideshow details, outputting a standard DVD designed to play in most consumer DVD players.

TIP Preview Menu

The MyDVD preview is fully functional, except for the animated menu screen. To preview the menu animation and to see the video preview on the button you have to click the build motion menu button (the running man) on the preview interface.

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4 Select the number of Copies to create.

5 Choose a DVD Write Speed from the drop-down list.

6 Click OK.

HINT Which Write Speed?

Make sure the write speed selected is supported by the blank DVD in the drive. MyDVD automatically detects the fastest speed of the DVD burner. Choosing a speed faster than the blank disk supports could result in a "coaster" instead of a usable DVD.

HINT Slow Burn

In general, burning DVDs at the slowest supported setting is recommended. Each disk will take longer to burn, but the likelihood of having corrupt data on the disk is reduced.

Burning a VCD

Burning a VCD

1 Click the Preview button and test the various menu buttons.

2 When you are satisfied everything works, click the red Bum button.

3 Click Yes to save the VCD project.

INTRODUCTION

The process of creating a VCD using MyDVD is identical to the process of creating a DVD. The quality of output is very different. Burning a DVD results in image quality on par with what the video looks like on your hard drive. VCDs are limited to VHS quality images and can only store 650-700MB of data instead of a DVD’s 4.7GB.

HINT VCD Slideshows

The slideshow feature of MyDVD works in both DVD and VCD project modes. However, the VCD format does not support the addition of transitions or audio to slideshows, so VCD slideshows lack some of the flash found in their DVD counterparts.

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4 Select the number of Copies to create.

5 Choose a DVD Write Speed from the drop-down list.

6 Click OK.

HINT

VCDs and Older DVD Players

While most DVD players manufactured in the last 2-3 years support VCDs burned to CD-R media, this hasn’t always been the case. Older DVD players often do not support VCD and in some cases won’t support burned DVDs either.

HINT

Universal Playback

If the target audience for your movie is made up of PC owners, burning movies in the HighMAT CD format described earlier in the topic is a much more universal option. It may not play back on all home DVD players, but it should play on virtually every Windows desktop. VCDs won’t play in many PC software DVD applications, which means if the VCD doesn’t work in your neighbor’s DVD player, it might not work in their PC either, leaving the neighbor unable to watch your movie at all.

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