Relationship Between Menu Generation and DVD Burning

Richard9909

Newbie Joined: Nov 12, 2011 08:19 Messages: 26 Offline

Solved by

Mar 11, 2020 13:28

I have a nice slideshow produced and saved. While work was in progress, I saved produced files on a thumb drive and played them in my DVD player to check how everything looked. Picture quality was excellent. When all editing on the slideshow was done and the final version produced, I added a DVD menu and burned the entire project to a DVD using PD18. As many others have mentioned, when I played the DVD in my DVD player the image quality was dramatically worse. I know there have been MANY threads on the variations to try with producing and burning, I don't want to rehash that discussion here. I took a hint from one thread and burned my produced file directly to a DVD as a data file using the software bundled with my PC (likely Power2Go). Image quality when played in my DVD player was excellent but there was no menu. Can someone explalin simply what the relationship is between menu generation with PD18 and DVD burning with PD 18? That is, if I create a menu structure with PD 18, must I then burn the DVD using PD 18? Or is there a way to save the production including menu structure and then burn that file independently of PD 18? I think PD 18 is absolutely great for video editing and slideshow production but the burning feature is not so great.

Carl312

Senior Contributor Location: Texas, USA Joined: Mar 16, 2010 20:11 Messages: 9090 Offline

Mar 11, 2020 23:03

A DVD is a standard definition media, unless you created a AVCHD DVD which only plays on the computer or in a Bluray player.

If you were playing the video that you were going to burn to a DVD, it was probably a HD videeo (1280 x 720 an above). Then when you played the DVD in the DVD player that was a noticable difference in quality.

None of the above has anything to do with menu creation, it has to do the the fact a DVD is Standard Definition (720 x 480).
AVCHD DVD is High definition (1280 x720 and above) which you can burn to a DVD disk.

That is my thoughts.

Carl312. Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

Richard9909

Newbie Joined: Nov 12, 2011 08:19 Messages: 26 Offline

Mar 12, 2020 07:29

I appreciate the reply but I still have questions.

Some further background: First, I'm viewing the finished product, whether via thumbdrive or DVD, on a Blu-Ray player. Second, I have produced the finished product using H.264 AVC with default settings (1280 x 720).

In your note, are you using the term DVD to mean a standard-definition disc and the term Blu-Ray to mean a high-definition disc?

The bottom line is that I want to burn a disc that has a high-definition slideshow along with a menu. I know I have a high-definition slideshow after the production stage because I've viewed it (via both thumb drive and burned DVD) on my Blu-Ray player. The problem is that if I go through the menu phase using PD18 and then burn to disc using PD18 the quality when viewed on my Blu-Ray player is not good. Am I missing something in how I burn to disc? Is there a setting I need to change?

Carl312

Senior Contributor Location: Texas, USA Joined: Mar 16, 2010 20:11 Messages: 9090 Offline

Mar 12, 2020 10:50

Quote I appreciate the reply but I still have questions.

Some further background: First, I'm viewing the finished product, whether via thumbdrive or DVD, on a Blu-Ray player. Second, I have produced the finished product using H.264 AVC with default settings (1280 x 720).

OK, you are using a HD setting. If you are burning a DVD+R disk using the AVC setting, then you are creating a HD disk that only plays in a Bluray player.

Quote
In your note, are you using the term DVD to mean a standard-definition disc and the term Blu-Ray to mean a high-definition disc?

That is correct. You can burn a BluRay disk (BR-R) that contains Standard Definition video. DVD is a type of media, Bluray is another type of media, requires a Bluray Burner to write. You can write AVCHD to a DVD+R or DVD-R disk in a DVD burner.

Quote
The bottom line is that I want to burn a disc that has a high-definition slideshow along with a menu. I know I have a high-definition slideshow after the production stage because I've viewed it (via both thumb drive and burned DVD) on my Blu-Ray player. The problem is that if I go through the menu phase using PD18 and then burn to disc using PD18 the quality when viewed on my Blu-Ray player is not good. Am I missing something in how I burn to disc? Is there a setting I need to change?

I really do not know why the menu creation would be so poor. I have seen in the past where the Menu is created at a lower definition than the content. I don't know the factors that cause that. That pretty much depends on the program and the quality of the parts of the Menu. You can see those differences if you check the menus on DirectorZone. The menus supplied in PowerDirector 18 and PowerDirector 365 should be high quality, Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

Richard9909

Newbie Joined: Nov 12, 2011 08:19 Messages: 26 Offline

Mar 12, 2020 11:56

OK. We're talking the same language and getting closer. Thanks for the clarifications of terminology

When I produce a slideshow with H.264 AVC, add a menu and then burn the result to a DVD in PD18, I put that disc in my Blu-Ray player to watch it. The resulting menu is functional and the menu image is fine. My problem is with the slideshow images that follow; they are visibly poor. They are significantly worse than the slideshow images on the disc I created by burning a DVD with the software on my PC rather than using the burn function in PD18. (But doing it that way leaves out the menu.)

I assume that simply adding a functional menu to my produced file does not, by itself, degrade the slideshow images. That leaves only the burning process in PD18 as the likely culprit.

For now, I've elected to burn the best possible slideshow images, meaning I'm using the software in my PC and putting up with the lack of a menu. There must be a way to get the menu AND get the good slideshow images. If you've got any more suggestions, I'd be glad to listen.

Thanks for taking time to reply.