Any branded DVD contains a menu with which you can start playing a video, select a movie episode, or access settings. Such a menu can be made for a disc created at home. If it is assumed that an amateur film will be watched on a TV screen using a household DVD player, then such a menu is simply necessary. It’s much easier to spend time creating episodes and buttons to quickly jump to them once than to rewind to the desired moment every time you watch.
Programs for working with DVD menus may also be needed if you want to make changes to an existing disc, say, remove additional materials from it and, accordingly, edit the menu.
I present to your attention 4 programs for creating DVD menus:
Conclusion
There are quite a lot of solutions for creating and editing DVD menus. Of course, the choice of one program or another depends on the goal. Using Super DVD Creator and Video DVD Maker Pro, you can quickly create a simple navigation menu, and DVD-lab PRO will be useful if you want to do something more original and complex. Finally, if you don’t just copy video from a camera to DVD, but use some kind of video editor to edit it, be sure to pay attention to whether it has the ability to create a menu. Many video editing programs include DVD authoring tools as a bonus.
Any branded DVD contains a menu with which you can start playing a video, select a movie episode, or access settings. Such a menu can be made for a disc created at home. If it is assumed that an amateur film will be watched on a TV screen using a household DVD player, then such a menu is simply necessary. It’s much easier to spend time creating episodes and buttons to quickly jump to them once than to rewind to the desired moment every time you watch. Programs for working with DVD menus may also be needed if you want to make changes to an existing disc, say, remove additional materials from it and, accordingly, edit the menu.
Developer: MasterSoftDistribution size: 9 MB
Distribution: shareware Using Super DVD Creator, you can not only create a menu for a DVD, but also build such a disc. The program contains three modules: for creating a DVD based on video files, adding a menu and burning the result to disk. You can run each module separately, but in many cases it is more convenient to use the DVD Disk Builder wizard, which walks you through all the stages of creating a disc.
At the first stage, you can compose a DVD from several video files. For each video added to the project, detailed information is displayed, and the file itself can be viewed in the preview window. In addition, you can add subtitles. The bar at the bottom of the screen clearly shows how much space is left on the drive. It is important that Super DVD Creator supports not only regular DVD-5 discs, but also dual-layer (DVD-9) discs.
Once the disk layout is complete, you can proceed to creating a menu. There are several background images to choose from, but you can load any background image from your hard drive, as well as add music.
By default, a preview icon is created for each video file based on the first frame. As a rule, this is not very convenient, since the first frame is rarely indicative. To change the frame in which the video file will be presented in the menu, simply click on the icon and find the desired location using the control buttons and the preview window.
If the video files you'll be burning to DVD are longer than 10 minutes, it might make sense to create clips not only for each clip, but also to quickly jump to the middle of each clip. To have the program automatically create chapters every 10, 15, or 20 minutes, you must select the Setup Chapter Property command. The frequency with which fragments will be created can be set manually. Then all that remains is to burn the DVD, which can be done directly in the program. Developer: Protectedsoft
Distribution size: 10 MB
Distribution: shareware As a rule, DVD authoring programs have a fairly large distribution size. If this is not the case, then this means that the program does not have ready-made templates. This, of course, can be regarded as a drawback, but, on the other hand, the menu can be created based on any images available on the hard drive. Video DVD Maker Pro is one of those programs that does not indulge in a variety of templates. There are only five background images in the library that comes with Video DVD Maker Pro, so you'll likely have to worry about finding a suitable image. Like many programs of a similar nature, Video DVD Maker Pro is built in the form of a wizard. First you need to select a background image for the menu and specify the type of project. Since the program interface is Russified, there should be no problems with this: you can capture from a video camera, make a selection of ready-made video files or photos, etc.
For each video file that is added to the project, a separate chapter will be created on the DVD. Sections play a very important role for DVDs, since it is the links to them that are included in the menu. In other words, partitions need to be created for easy navigation across the future disk. If the video files that are burned to DVD are large enough, you can add additional sections to quickly move not only to the beginning of the clip, but also to other sections. The next step after creating sections is adding a menu. Since so many users often dream of a “magic button” that would do all the work for them, the creators of Video DVD Maker Pro added a button that they called Magic Button. When you click on it, the program analyzes the project and creates a menu with links to the main sections. You can then manually select the position of each menu item, set transparency, and even add a depth effect, that is, make the menu items three-dimensional. By selecting menu items, in the Layer Properties group you can see which disk fragments they refer to. It is also possible to add additional menu items. The Add Audio button is used to add background music that will accompany the loading of the menu. Finally, it is worth mentioning that you can select some settings for the background image, in particular, select the scale.
You can also burn a disc in Video DVD Maker Pro. The creators of the program did not forget about the need to create a cover for the disc. It is very convenient that the cover is generated automatically and contains the name of the disc and the background image selected for the menu. You can add text, images, and various vector graphics elements (ellipse, rectangle, line) to the cover. Developer: MediaChance
Distribution size: 33 MB
Distribution: shareware All programs for creating DVD menus can be divided into two types. For most users, all-in-one solutions are suitable, where you can compose a disc, create a menu, and burn a DVD. However, those who create menus professionally use programs that are designed exclusively for this purpose. Most of these applications are very expensive and difficult to learn, but they provide almost unlimited menu creation options. In particular, you can create multi-level menus and establish connections between each element. Such programs usually do not have ready-made templates, but they do support importing Adobe Photoshop files, including those that use layers. DVD-lab Pro stands in the middle between simple DVD authoring programs and professional solutions. The developers of the utility focused not on ready-made menu templates (although there are also quite a few of them), but on individual elements and effects. Therefore, even if you decide to use a ready-made button for navigation, but add the effect of fire or metallic shine to it, it will become original. In addition, the same button can be made using any element from the program’s extensive library as a basis, for example, a smiley face or an exclamation mark. The program also has ample opportunities for creating animation effects. For example, it is not difficult to create the effect of buttons moving to their assigned places from different corners of the screen when loading a disk. Using DVD-lab PRO you can create a slide show from photos. The program allows you to add entire folders of photos at once, determine the orientation of pictures (horizontal or vertical), and add background music. In addition, you can choose the frequency of frame changes, add a shadow-casting effect and sign each photo. DVD-lab PRO even takes into account such little things as the location of menu items in the so-called safe zone. This is important if you plan to watch the disc on a TV screen. On a TV screen, unlike a computer monitor, a small portion of the image may be cut off at the edge. When creating menus in DVD-lab PRO, you can observe the safe zone and refrain from placing menu items in it. One of the features that brings DVD-lab PRO closer to professional editors for creating DVD menus is viewing connections between menu elements. When switching to this mode, the disk structure is displayed in the form of a diagram, on which each element is represented as a separate icon and labeled. Elements can be moved from place to place, and the connections between them can be changed. In addition, for each of them you can set your own command, for example, turn on the DVD player’s disc reading mode in karaoke format. To create commands, the built-in script editor is used, which can be worked in text and graphic modes.
A special tool for catching errors will help you check the functionality of the DVD. It analyzes all connections, scripts, menu commands and indicates possible errors. The finished project can be saved as a video file, PSD file, or as a template for subsequent projects.
Developer: DimadSoftDistribution size: 33 MB
Distribution: shareware Sometimes there is a need to edit a ready-made menu for a disk. For example, on branded DVDs you can often find intrusive advertising, licensing agreements, trailers for other films, etc. You can get rid of unnecessary content and make appropriate changes to the menu using the DvdReMake Pro program. The program allows you to view the DVD contents in a tree structure and remove unnecessary elements. To start working with the program, you need to run the File>Import DVD command and specify the path to the VIDEO_TS folder, which is on each DVD. You can then view the contents of the disk and delete unwanted items. To do this, select the unnecessary element, then click on it in the preview window and select the Hide Block command. The size in megabytes is indicated for each element, which can be convenient if the purpose of editing DVD content is to reduce its size from dual-layer to regular DVD-5.
With DvdReMake Pro you can not only remove unwanted content, but also edit the disc menu. It's no more difficult than working with a visual HTML editor: you can move and delete buttons, edit connections between menu items. This function can be useful, for example, to place a link to your favorite movie episode on the first page of the menu.
Conclusion
There are quite a lot of solutions for creating and editing DVD menus. Of course, the choice of one program or another depends on the goal. Using Super DVD Creator and Video DVD Maker Pro, you can quickly create a simple navigation menu, and DVD-lab PRO will be useful if you want to do something more original and complex. Finally, if you don’t just copy video from a camera to DVD, but use some kind of video editor to edit it, be sure to pay attention to whether it has the ability to create a menu. Many video editing programs include DVD authoring tools as a bonus.Instructions
Download and install a program to create a boot menu, such as Longtion AutoRun. To download the program, go to the developer's website http://www.longtion.com/. This program allows you to work with templates, manage and test shells, which makes it possible to speed up development. The program has a clear interface and a construction wizard - this will allow a non-professional to work with it. There are two ways to create a boot menu. If this is your first time creating a menu, select the Create Wizard. Select the File menu and click the Wizard command. Place all the files that you want to burn to disk in one folder and specify this folder in the first window of the wizard.
Click Next to continue creating the boot menu. Click the “Configure” button, select the desired design for your menu, set the font and background colors. In the Form icon field, click the Select button and select an image file from your computer to set as the disk icon. In the next field, select the sound file that will accompany the opening of the disc. Next, set the colors and size for the boot menu using the corresponding buttons. Go to the Splash screen tab, in this tab select the image that will open as the welcome screen of your disk. Set the time for which it will be shown on the screen. Go to the next tab to design the boot menu of the disk. Select Menu Settings, then Text and Agreement Settings. In the next tab, select security settings.
Click the "Next" button and set the link settings. For example, make links to the installation files that are located on your disk so that you can immediately start installing a particular program from the menu. In the next tab, create shortcuts and buttons for your boot menu, click the “Next” button. In this tab you can test your boot menu using the Save and test button. After viewing the result, you can return to any of the steps and the boot menu.
Register the program to be able to use the templates to create a boot menu and program after the 30-day trial period. To make a boot menu using a template, click on one of the template icons on the program toolbar. A template will open in the window on the right, available for modification. Click on a specific element to edit it. Next, click the “Save” button.
Today I’ll tell you about a couple of programs with which you can quickly create any DVD menu without any special knowledge. If you thought it was difficult, then I can only say that you are deeply mistaken. The programs described below will make the process of creating a DVD menu easy and interesting! Now you can make your own collections of your favorite movies with easy navigation through fragments, which is very important when watching DVDs on a regular DVD player.
The developers of Super DVD Creator have built three utilities into the program:
- Converter video files to VOB format to create movie fragments. I would like to emphasize that you can convert existing VOB files - useful if you want to reduce the size of the movie or trim it.
- Creating a DVD menu, followed by burning to DVD and, of course, creating an auto launch for the menu
- Burn movies to DVD. I think no comments are required.
So, let's launch the converter. There are a minimum of buttons and all sorts of bells and whistles, everything is clear - this is already good, but I would like to point out a drawback - you cannot adjust the pixel resolution for video, which would be useful for laptops or just home computers.
The beginning and end of the fragment, the quality and format of the screen - that’s all that Super DVD Creator offers to choose in its converter - it’s not rich, but we need to create a menu and therefore we go to the next stage and see how the program works there.
Click on the “DVD compiler” button. It’s even easier here; the developers of Super DVD Creator fit the entire process of creating a DVD menu in one window.
On the right, select a background screensaver for the menu (you can create your own), add movie fragments at the bottom and specify the screen format (16:9 or 4:3). Next, you should pay attention to the function of adding text to the menu and background music, this completes the process of creating a menu, all that remains is to burn the resulting DVD, which can be done both in the program itself and using any other DVD burner, for example Nero, but this It's up to you.
Specifications:
Weight: 10.2 mb
Interface: English Systems: Windows 95/98/ME/xp Vista
Main disadvantages:
- There are few possibilities, you can only make a simple menu, nothing more. For home viewing you don’t need any more ;)
A more powerful solution for those who want to make a professional DVD menu. In DVD-lab Pro, the developers paid special attention to fine-tuning effects and unique menu elements. The program has the ability to create beautiful animation effects, such as the movement of buttons when selected. You can make a slideshow of images, for example for a presentation or your favorite photos for easy viewing on TV. DVD-lab Pro can also create a DVD reading mode in karaoke format. I will not describe the capabilities of this program in more depth, if you are confident in your capabilities, download, I am always available for help, write in the comments what is not clear. I'll help.
Specifications:
Weight: 27.3 MB
Interface: English Systems: Windows 95/98/ME/xp
Main disadvantages:
- Quite a complex interface. In general, everything you might need is available in the program.
Update from 03/26/2012! The review is complemented by the excellent DVDStyler program.
DVDStyler (added 03/26/2012)
DVDStyler is a free application from the developer “DVDStyler Team” that allows you to perform DVD authoring. This is the creation of DVD images that can be played in a standard DVD player. With this program, anyone can create one DVD image with all the relevant functions from any video or series of videos.
The set of features of the DVDStyler program primarily includes the ability to create an interactive menu through which the user gains access to the contents of the disc. For ease of use, the program itself has the ability to burn with a ready-made menu.
Simplicity of work is ensured by the fact that the user immediately has several templates to choose from, from which he selects the most suitable one. With their help, you can quickly create your own menu for the disc.
The list of supported formats includes AVI, MPEG, WMV, MP4, MOV, OGG, as well as some other file formats that users encounter in their work. Among the supported audio formats it is worth noting MP3, MP2, MPEG2, MPEG4, AC-3, DivX, XviD. Moreover, using this program you can mount an image using several files of different formats.
The program interface is implemented based on the drag&drop principle, i.e. To use a particular file or template, simply drag it into the appropriate cell. The DVD menu is created using vector graphics, and you can also import other files to create backgrounds, etc.
The user independently chooses not only the appearance of the created menu, but also the location of elements, active buttons, and other things. He selects fonts, primary colors, button sizes, etc. at his discretion.
OS: Windows, Mac OS, Linux
To summarize, I will say that depending on the complexity, quality of the DVD - Menu it depends which program is better to choose. To quickly and easily create simple menus, help you - for others who want to do something more interesting, help or DVDStyler. By the way, DVDStyler was recently added to the review, for good reason - the application is completely free and multifunctional. I recommend!
