friend of mine wants to get into DVD authoring as a change of job.
what we need to know is, how do they make DVD menus? what kind of programs do they use and is it done in house by the film companies or farmed out to independant specialists/freelancers?
my colleague thinks its something to do with html, or is it more inline with something like iDVD or iMovie? ive no real knowledge of these programs, so, anyone got the dope?
HTML… I wish! 
Most likely you’ll be using a program like ReelDVD (authoring guide) or, if you have the experience and cash, Scenarist (authoring guide - if the link doesn’t work, click Guides, DVD, DVD authoring guides). You’ll probably also need Photoshop to make the menu images, and a video editor to make animated menus and transitions.
There are also cheaper authoring programs like Sonic MyDVD or Ulead DVD MovieFactory, but they don’t really let you create your own menus. You have to use the menu templates that come included.
On the Mac there’s DVD Studio Pro. I don’t know if anyone uses it for mass market commercial releases, though. Also it depends on other programs, too. For example you need Photoshop (or something capable of layers and Photoshop format) to generate the menus. Obviously a video editor would be handy. It comes with an MPEG encoder integrated. There’s a separate audio format converter. I think subtitles are built in, but it could be a separate program, too.
iDVD is pretty good at doing things quickly if you don’t want super-customization or state of the art. Just pointing that out, since there’s no way it’s used for mass market commercial stuff.
Scenarist? Surely you jest, but then if you have $35,000 go for it…
I got a dvd writer it came with all types of software that makes menus & motion menus & just about anything else.
Apple’s DVD Studio Pro is indeed used by some studios to make DVD masters, if you can afford a cool $500… For the amateurs with a DVD burner, Apple also makes iDVD, part of their iLife package for $50.
There comes to mind a “Seinfeld” episode. An unemployed George was fancying himself a sportscaster.
“You know how I always make those interesting comments during the game,” he told Jerry.
“They tend to give those jobs to ex-ballplayers and people that are, you know, in broadcasting,” Jerry said.
“Well,” George groaned, “that’s not really fair.”
Jobs like professional DVD authoring are generally left to a few in-house people or the major professionals.
Learning consumer software will not impress these folks.
Learning Scenarist might impress them, since big studios tend to use it for their complicated work. Owning your own copy of Scenarist might impress them even more, because that’s $35,000 they don’t have to spend to hire you. 
You wouldn’t necessarily have to apply for a job at a big studio, though. I’m sure there’s a market for independent DVD authoring.
Which software? My DRU-500 came with Sonic MyDVD, which does let you slap menus together, and rumor has it MyDVD can even make motion menus (it doesn’t work for me, but you’d think it must work for someone if they took the time to write a help file for it).
But cheapo pack-in software like MyDVD or MovieFactory doesn’t let you move buttons around, make menu transitions, or add multiple audio tracks, subtitles, angles, or branching. It doesn’t include a Dolby Digital encoder either. If you’re making a PAL DVD you can use MPEG audio tracks instead, but for a standards-compliant NTSC disc you’ll have to use LPCM audio, which gives you about 1200 kbps less bandwidth to use for your video track.
“Learning Scenarist might impress them”
I tried it once, it just stood there staring me in the face.
Mr2001, yeah I think that its Sonic Mydvd, I got it with my 500 too. I did some motion menus for vcds & they look just great. You can do them for dvds too.