DVD menu authoring question

General Questions
#1

Greetings, random video experts who might happen to be reading this. I’m trying to create a reasonably decent-quality DVD disc which will go out for professional replication in a couple weeks. So far the only real trouble I’ve run into is figuring out how to make even the simplest DVD menu, with just a background and a “play” button. Which is all I need to do.

I could use iDVD, which I have, but I’m afraid that it’s going to re-encode my carefully crafted 2-pass bit rate encoded video straight from Premiere CS2 and I’ll lose quality.*

All the other software titles I’ve found so far to do this are either gigantically expensive and do much more than I’ll ever need, or are cheap and barely functional. So I’m looking for any recommendations and assorted tips. I can use either Windows or Mac, and I’m OK with spending a little money. Is Toast 8 a possibility?

[sub]* I don’t have Adobe Encore, and the last person I mentioned it to turned an odd shade of green at the very mention of it. He didn’t elaborate on what was wrong with it.[/sub]

On edit: I suppose this could be an IMHO now that I think about it. Mods?

#2

You can use Toast, but this hint might help you make nicer menus using iDVD:
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20060416162333377&query=idvd

#3

Hmm. Interesting. An indirect method, but it might just work… looks like there are some useful links in the comments too. Thanks!

#4

Actually, this is a lot simpler than it looks, especially because most of the hint is about making a TS_VIDEO folder from an MPEG file. But I already have a TS_VIDEO file… Since I only have one movie and one button, all I had to do is take take the VOB file from the iDVD generated disk, and replace it with the VOB that Premiere made for me, and then burn it in Toast.

Eeeeasy. Thanks again :slight_smile:

#5

Glad it worked for you.

#6

Or you could use a DVD authoring program like DVDLab. I’ve been using this program for a couple of years now (for amateur use), and it’s quite easy to create very professional-looking DVD menus (and chapter select screens) with minimal learning curve. I’m not sure the exact URL of the company’s website, but if you type “DVDLab” into Google, I’m sure it’ll point you in the right direction. Good luck!