DVD Recon
May 28th, 2009

In the midst of our biggest product release to date and the upcoming video blog, I managed to find some time to develop a free training for the design and authoring of a playable video DVD. I think many people are familiar with the process but it is so important, I wanted to make this available to the community.

I'll be covering loopable motion menus, rendering and compression, plus authoring the DVD in Encore. We'll talk about export formats and what format I like to actually work in. Should be a lot of fun and Sam is sure to get his recon on.

Andrew Kramer
POSTED:
16 years ago
190 Comments
M0©®0
15 years ago
Could someone please tell me where to find this tut or where to buy it? thanks in advance
16 years ago
Hello Andrew, my name is Diego from S??£o Paulo Brasil...
i love your tutorials and your work! i'm a big fan!
but Let's talking about that's work in especific... what do u think about DVD architect for autorin a DVD menu?!
I editing in Avid Media Composer 3.5.1 and i use After Effects to build my DVD menus and i finalize my DVDs em DVD Architect becouse i think if this program is so easy to wornking and the final result is great! what do u think about!
Tks Andrew and see ya!
LightForce
16 years ago
respect and keep it good work .Mouvie time is come.....




--to be continued...
Aleksander
16 years ago
Now Andrew, it's June,

I think I speak for everyone when i say:
WE ARE READY FOR V-LOG AND ACTION ESSENTIALS 2 HIGH DEFINITION!!!
vjjim
16 years ago
Looks handy, have always wanted to up the level on my dvd menus, WHAT IS NEW PRODUCT??????
16 years ago
I dont know where you find the time to do this Andrew..i guess its just one of the things that makes you and this site awesome..being able to constantly release great stuff!
Mathew
16 years ago
Its June!....c'mon Andrew give us a vlog
LR
16 years ago
YES! ENCORE tuts FINALLY!! Thank You!
16 years ago
Looking forward to this one )

Will this be translatable into other programs as my work won't shell out for Encore or Premiere CS3/4 so I have to make my menus etc in After Effects then load them into Pinnacle Studio 9 to make the DVDs (
16 years ago
This will improve the quality web-wide!
Can't wait!
wick
16 years ago
cool.. i know making menu's in encore is not too hard.. can make some cool animatied backgrounds, cool scenes, or whatever.. fairly do-able... Actually made some myself in the past already.. for videoclips and some other projects.

But i'm highly interested in your opinion about compressing to dvd's.. !
Videocompression in general is most of the time such a pain in the .. welluknowwhat!

Looking forward to new tutorials.. and surely looking forward to ActionEssentials2..!

And.. please ; dont encourage Andrew to make a angry monsters 2.. let him make #1 first if he does it at all
16 years ago
-24H
16 years ago
This will be GREAT resource, can't wait to pick it up.

Will you be doing the dvd for Star Trek?

Saw it last night and thought it was great, JJ did an excellent job. The closing credits were unmistakably VCP.
Good job.
16 years ago
What about the tee-shirts ??
Nuno
16 years ago
Great news! I cant wait...
war hawk
16 years ago
hey man wating for this awesome 1 soon publish it
Metal Advent
16 years ago
This is exactly what I need! Thank you so much!
16 years ago
nice
\??µ
crumpy crimpets
16 years ago
awesome!thank you
Nathan Rodriguez
16 years ago
Holy cow crap.
Yes,thank you so much Everyone from VCP.
O YEA MAMA.
I'm praying for you us...
Raymond
16 years ago
Sounds good, man I could of used this like two months ago.... I ended up figuring Encore out on my own after messing with it for two weeks of trial and error. lol.
16 years ago
Sounds very well
Looking forward to see it
Lawrence
16 years ago
This looks wild! Thankyou so much
16 years ago
Andrew you and your team are killers !!!

authoring tutorials is really cool, but is there a way to
to adapt you tuto. for scenarist ?

thanks for all you learned me.
and sorry for that bad english..
syaf
16 years ago
wow...i previously knew this but not up until the looping menus,subs,advance stuff etc...now days i absolutely forgot about dvd authoring.
Jay
16 years ago
Awsome idea Andrew, I have now finally lernt Adobe encore as I needed it for a school project and the thing about encore is, it is self explanatory. You can mess around with it and learn it in within 2 days, its just like a bridge between Adobe After effects and Photoshop, i think.

However the most annoying and the hardest part is to cope with some stupid very bizzare errors, which just seen to pop up without a reason. The software has so many bugs and its like a nightmare when you are about to publish and you get some transcoding error like "file exist"I mean more than 50,000 files exist on my pc , what should I do!!!!!

So I hope you cover the errors and the bugs in detail, as they are a nigtmare.

At last, your website is the best, it has provided me with a lot of inspiration and help on my projects. Thank you so much.
Vinnie
16 years ago
OMG!! I am tearing up!! I LOVE YOU MAN!!!
16 years ago
Great Job cant wait, any specific it will be up on the site?
Angel
16 years ago
Its like you were reading my mind Andrew!
Looking forward to this!!!!!!!!!!!!
AWESOME MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
xjimdim
16 years ago
REALLY!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOW DUUUUDE!! thnx a lot!!!!!!!
anadaido marika
16 years ago
is ENCORE Kramer Andrwe Do AgAIN ??? dude????
james d
16 years ago
I've dabbled in action menus. My method was always DVD studio pro, after effects, and PSD overlays. I'm excited to see what encore has to offer. Thanks!
Alejx
16 years ago
Awesome!!
Sam
16 years ago
Any time Andrew Kramer & Sam Loya (the fx version of Spielberg & Hanks) team up it's a rollicking good time. I'm looking forward to "another exciting tutorial"!

And really looking forward to the new release. Best to you, VC crew!
Kevin C
16 years ago
That's great!
I've gone from using the menu templates to creating my own in Photoshop, but haven't made the jump to action menus yet. I was hoping to try and figure it out myself on my next video, but this will make them look a lot better. Thanks!
anadaido marika
16 years ago
KramER ANDREW is YES NICE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DUDE S RICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Khaled
16 years ago
thank you a lot!!
Aamir
16 years ago
I've been waiting for a good tutorial on Encore!!
It's been gathering dust on my computer for some months now.

Hopefully can learn loads from it, looking forward to it Mr. Kramer

Aamir - UK
Tom
16 years ago
Thanks Andrew!
I wanted to create my own menu a while ago, but i didn't knew how. Guess i will find out soon!

Your site is great!
Khu
16 years ago
Thanks Andrew, just what I needed. You have quite a fans in Pakistan too. Keep the tuts flowing!!
16 years ago
Hi Andrew,

Not sure if you read it because it was posted on a previous blog, but Jay Leno had the Ancient Titles tutorial used in his show witht he text "Our favorite phony interviews" on 05-27-09.

I am really curious to your response.

Fabian
16 years ago
I'm really looking forward to see this, I'm so curious about your workflow!

uh, THANKS ANDREW!!
16 years ago
Safe. Thanks man, just what I need.
Jaosn
16 years ago
WOW I think the same thing this is awesome sam is a good actor
blop
16 years ago
COol man!!!
filibertsi ranana
16 years ago
SIR MISTER ANdrEw ! THANKS YOU ! AWESOME DUDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wayne
16 years ago
Thanks Andrew Been Waiting for Something like this For ages
16 years ago
Yes ! Excellent ! Can't wait for this ! You're my prophet !
16 years ago
Awesome!! Can't wait... Keep up the great work Andrew!
ModelWorx
16 years ago
Sam Loya..... hard as nails! but why is Jonny Knoxville in a flightsuit?
16 years ago
dvd studio pro is where its at!
WiRXMAN
16 years ago
Nice idea Andrew. This is stuff I am already comfortable with, but would love to see what the guru has up his sleeve. I am sure we will all learn a great deal from this, noobie or pro. Thanks again.
bill
16 years ago
cant wait dude
16 years ago
Nice work again. Thanks guys.
Matthew
16 years ago
Great idea can't wait!
CS3 pro
16 years ago
I've always been looking for this!

Keep up the good work!
16 years ago
Yeah!!
husein
16 years ago
cant wait for that Mr.Andrew....
Pablo
16 years ago
"Weâ??????ll talk about export formats "

taths is SOOOOO important!!!!!! GO ANDREW!
Doug
16 years ago
THANKS Andrew!
Diego G.
16 years ago
You know what would be great?, a video where Sam takes revenge of every damage you've done him
BTW Nice idea about of the DVD and all that thing
16 years ago
just to help with some questions for somw fans who wants to know how to make a dvd cover in photoshop and have some time to kill till andrew finsh his work ,check this out and learn somthing.
Fanedit.org basic cover art tutorial
Diegomh
16 years ago
God bless you for this Andrew that would be so awesome!
Anthony Miller
16 years ago
Looking forward to it!
16 years ago
Oh, you dont know ho MUCH i need this!

Thanks you! *bows down*
gorenje
16 years ago
you is man ANDREW KRAMER is aWEsOme ROCKS !!
Ed
16 years ago
Yes!!! Pleasee!!
16 years ago
Awesome. I've done a big project like this before, but about two years ago now, so your review will be cool.
pablo
16 years ago
UaU!!!
This is one of this topics we don??´t find much information.
Can??´t Wait.Thanks Andrew !!!
ECK
16 years ago
you are the best
jayen
16 years ago
thats really good

because i am learning the same thing in my course but the teacher is usless

thats really good cause ive got the best teacher in the whole wide world.

cant wait
Justin
16 years ago
Sounds great Andrew! I've really been wanted to learn how to do this because I've known that I would need to know how to some time in the future. Definitely watching this one.
rockyhorrorlvr01
16 years ago
thank you so much Ive been waiting for this for a very long time Andrew Kramer <3
gbowman
16 years ago
i'm so glad... i really could use a boost in this area. as if you don't get enough thanks and appreciation Andrew and crew but you guys really are making it possible for artists and designers to match their skills to their creativity. keep doing what you're doing.
VCP's Biggest Fan
16 years ago
Yes finnaly. good job
leith G
16 years ago
Waw great , Can`t wait
KEWL ANDREW!
Jim
16 years ago
this is so cool ive always wanted to know how to make a dvd with multiple menus!
16 years ago
i am a huge fan of sam. hopefully we create a movie with sam, after the dvd tutorial?
16 years ago
nic and very good work andrew
16 years ago
AWESOME!!! Can't wait!
16 years ago
Thanks Andrew

Im realllllly looking forward to it
16 years ago
Sounds great Andrew. Just please tell me it's in AE3, where the workflow is compleatly jacked up. I hear AE4's workflow is much more intuative. Also, i hope there is some discussion of Aspect ratio issues.

Michael Damian urges you to ROCK ON!
Fra
16 years ago
ahahahh great Sam!!
LGFN
16 years ago
WOW! My favorite AE teacher will now teach me Encore too!!!

Can't wait!!!
Marlon Cantillano
16 years ago
Are planning to cover other options like DVD STudio Pro as well or only for PC was this process developed?
16 years ago
Just one question : did you sleep ? Or maybe your are one those alien ?

Amazing work man.

Thom from france
illd
16 years ago
great idea!
abhay sharma
16 years ago
awesome!
can't wait!
vonG
16 years ago
you are the million dollar gentleman of the community
Nikolaus
16 years ago
Not really my business... I am looking forward for the new video blog... The countdown still running, eh?
Jack Daniel Jenkins
16 years ago
You are the hero of thousands.
16 years ago
I'm sure your tutorial will be helpful to many motion graphic artists. I recently updated our Adobe Encore video tutorial which addresses many of the bugs with the program. Hopefully Andrew will address these bugs as I did. Before you release the tutorial, you might want to take a look at mine as it provides workarounds for all of the problems.

http://precomposed.com/blog/2009/05/encore-tutorial/
J
16 years ago
been using tmpgenc authoring works, but always wanted to get into learning encore

looking forward to this tutorial
16 years ago
Very cool - looking forward to this one!
16 years ago
Whoa!!! This sounds AWESOME!
RemingtonM
16 years ago
I love you Andrew! I have Encore but Have never used it, the only thing I've used to make DVD's in iDVD. Looking forward to everything!
16 years ago
Thanks a lot Andrew! I really was looking for a tutorial on this!
16 years ago
great, always wanted to know how to do nice DVD Menu and you're the perfect one to show that
tenx for everything by now..
saxon
16 years ago
"by Burak
May 28th, 2009 @ 9:43 am

What is a DVD? What is Encore? Can it also create VHS? Thanx"

Forgive me, but is this a joke, or are you being serious?
16 years ago
Great, definitely looking forward to this!
Burak
16 years ago
What is a DVD? What is Encore? Can it also create VHS? Thanx
16 years ago
awesome
Joris Strickx
16 years ago
Great, was already fooling around in encore but never managed to get a decent dvd out.
Brad Tobler
16 years ago
NICE!!!! This will come in handy.
Lyndon
16 years ago
Thank you Andrew, i really appreciate what you do for us.
KGSFX
16 years ago
O M G YESSS! this will be so useful!
Sandy
16 years ago
gr8 going andrew!
16 years ago
Heey, I think Sam is really cool. Why do we never hear or see him? He's funny
Arshad
16 years ago
Man don't do this ... I can't wait
16 years ago
I've been looking for this for a long time!
Thanks Andrew!
Kai
16 years ago
hey, that's great!
I agree with Patrick, you should actually make a Angry Monsters 2 Movie.

Also, when is the video with the Action Essentials effects coming out?
You know, then one you wrote about in the blog a while ago?
Patrick
16 years ago
Are you actually going to make those movies, like Angry Monsters 2..huh? Probably not...would be awesome though..
Vladimir
16 years ago
Many fanks Andrew!
Alex
16 years ago
Love it!
chad
16 years ago
I searched your blog and your forum, is there any tuts laying around showing how you make the dvd covers?
Eric S
16 years ago
Andrew, will you be covering audio/subtitle options? EVERY film dvd I own has a menu where you can change audio/subtitle, then resume the movie. Encore doesn't seem to let you do that. It forces you to return to the beginning of a chapter after setting options. So to change sound and subtitle you have to go to the menu, set audio option, takes you back to timeline, go back to menu, set subtitle, takes you back to timeline, then you have to find where you were in the movie.

I hope you'll show us that I'm wrong about that.

Thanks!
Ricardo Godoy
16 years ago
Hey greetings from El Salvador!!! I think Sam should do a short action movie directed by our Andrew Kramer... hey Andrew why don??´t you do the acting in a new tutorial along with Sam I thimk it would be interesting
16 years ago
Awesome!!! VideoCoPilot is the Best!
16 years ago
Awesome, Andrew! I think this is something that is totally overlooked, and I get so frustrated with Encore. I can't wait for this tutorial.
Christopher
16 years ago
Great News. I hope u'll release it soon. I'm working on a DVD right now and do need some ideas an tips to make it look fine.

BTW: Was Sam in Germany two weeks ago? I can swear I saw him at the beach in Wilhelmshaven

greeting from the other side of the world! Keep working! U guys do a great job!
Daluz
16 years ago
Andrew. Let me know if you're and your family come to Brasil any of these days, cos you dont need to worry about a hotel cause you just won a place in my house with this one! TANK YOU!!!!!! I've been working on DVD LAB PRO for a long time and always wanted to move to encore cause its capacity to work with After Effects, and now I WILL!!!!
16 years ago
2 years of basic training. 5 years service with Special Forces. 2 years service with Navy Seals. Ranked top soldier.

In 2009 gets a$$ kicked by Sam Loya in a parking garage. Sweet. Looking forward to this one!
Villain
16 years ago
Sams Head!!
BrownHornet
16 years ago
I know that this is for DVDs, but it'd be great to have mention of Blu-ray as well.

Adobe Encore hates me.
Jens Christian
16 years ago
Hey, that sounds cool

And a little idea:
It would be great if you made a little bonus thing, that show how to make these amazing DVD covers and 3D DVD cover posters, you have made for the VC products.
16 years ago
Thanks Andrew. You are definitely da man! I use Sony's DVD Architect for my DVD authoring, but I am sure your tutorial will apply to almost all DVD authoring software somehow.

I look forward to seeing how you do the tutorial. It is definitely a very important topic for the VCP community to learn. (love the teaser artwork...and the fact you put Sam in imminent danger once again with some huge creature...Woo Hoo!...Fun!)
16 years ago
What will set this tutorial apart from the one on the "Serious Effects and Compositing"?
16 years ago
Hey Andrew,

What font did you use for RECON? looks NICE!!
can't wait!
16 years ago
Man, Sam really cranked that guy!
16 years ago
I have actually learned it in "Serious Effects and Compositing" Very nice anyways.
Jeff
16 years ago
You are the man.
kevin
16 years ago
Hoho, nice! so you will basicly learn us how to perfectly make a DVDmenu? Sounds like fun! I always had to learn this stuff.

Oh and btw, get some sleep please. You posted on 1:13 am, which you usually do.
Terry Gray
16 years ago
I've been working with computers since 1981 (yes, I'm old). Never in my life have I experienced such a dedicated movement to the advancement of knowledge as I find here at VideoCopilot. Thank you Andrew for sharing your insight, knowledge and humor with us. You are indeed a gift to all of us.
One last comment: Don't any of you sleep? Look at your comment times. WOW.
16 years ago
Hi from Venezuela,

Andrew you are the best, excellent idea i can't wait.
James price
16 years ago
Thanks Andrew. It would be great if you could also show how to create cool looking buttons/ highlight states within AE or photoshop ..this is something that I'm sure would be very good to know.
Simon Steele
16 years ago
Genius Mr. Kramer...................pure genius,
Jim Hines
16 years ago
This is extremely generous - Thank you!

P.S. Got my Pro Scores and Sound FX for my B'Day and I'm really, really diggin' 'em. So much stuff but I've managed to audition quite a bit of it. Great work.
16 years ago
Excellent news! I've always had problems with DVD authoring...
Elie Romano
16 years ago
FINALLY! A tutorial involving Sam! It's been a while...
Thanks Guys!
sKipi
16 years ago
Yes, yes yes! Encore is coming soon! Andrew's thanks!
16 years ago
thank you Kramer for more this tutorial, you deserve recognition.
andi
16 years ago
Awesome can't wait
16 years ago
Nice, been waiting for Encore Tutorials for a while
Thanks Andrew....
16 years ago
awesome!
Eric
16 years ago
good idea!!!
keep it up!!
16 years ago
Been waiting for this for years!
16 years ago
Awesome!
Cant wait!
16 years ago
Fantastic. I'm really looking forward to this once since I shoot some wedding 'n stuff on the side. I never know the best settings/compression for DVD. It's a constant battle.
Nader
16 years ago
You are ALWAYS nice
Joe
16 years ago
Excellent.. Looks great and can't wait. Hopefully this will be a good addition to the "Serious FX & Compositing" dvd creation piece?
Paul
16 years ago
u should do video blogs mate
Jay
16 years ago
Thanks Andrew, its nice to see a person give so much of their time and knowlage and ask so very little in return.
16 years ago
thank you angel ^^ keep it up ant take some rest and take care for your health in the end we dont wanna lost you
best regards
Tony
16 years ago
Andrew, You always amaze us. You blow us away/
sunil (Nepal)
16 years ago
waiting for it .................................
unstopable andrew..............go on on & on .......................
casko
16 years ago
JUST WHAT I NEED!!!!!!!!!!! WHEN IT WILL BE AVAILABLE?
16 years ago
Yay!
-David
SASMHS
16 years ago
Waiting man !
16 years ago
No comments
16 years ago
Nice, job well done mate's.
16 years ago
wow! that's what I am looking for!
can't wait!
Gabriel
16 years ago
That's what we all need also, Mr. Kramer! Keep up the good work!
Anyway, I hope your income is more than $120,000 per year!
Eugene Opperman
16 years ago
Thank you so much.
DVDs are a small pain in the ass.
Really interested to see what your workflow is like.

Thank you!!!
Seregas
16 years ago
Finally Andrew! Just in time as usual!
Marten
16 years ago
Damn Andrew. You seriously keep getting better. Some good tutorials about Encore is what I really needed. And ofcourse.. Good tutorials are Videocopilot's!!!
16 years ago
HUE THEM ANN!
jay
16 years ago
yayyy ive been waiting for a tutorial on dvd authoring for month now.thanks to encores manuel i figured out most of the stuff myself but im curious what extra tips you got in store.
i hope the tut will be up soon.
peace
16 years ago
Oh year! I??´m really looking forward to this!
Looks very usefull!!

greetings from germany
16 years ago
looking forward to it. pretty exciting
Rick de Boer
16 years ago
That is fantastic!!
I'm looking forward to it!
Tom
16 years ago
Awsome!! I was waiting for such a tutorial and the timing could'nt be better.
Tim
16 years ago
I can't wait, I've been wanting to make DVDs of some of my videos for a while.

You rock
Ray
16 years ago
This is really great stuff andrew! i love it!
Vick1138
16 years ago
Now that looks sick, when can we expect another preview?
adam
16 years ago
looks great sam is a great actor
Jake The Muss
16 years ago
Great idea, looking forward to it.
Martin
16 years ago
How do you do this??

Everytime I need to know something, you come up with almost the exact subject in a perfect tutorial!
No bullsh*t, I just was asked today to make a professional looking title menu for a client.

If only god heared my prayers like you do :p
Fedex Maipu
16 years ago
Nice work!!! so original.... greetings from argentina
McManus
16 years ago
Good idea...

Nice design and nice yellowish and green colours...

Always over the top!!

Thanks sir.
Nicolai
16 years ago
This is so fantastic!

Have searched the internet so many times for such a tutorial. Looking forward to see it, and try it!
bgm
16 years ago
Sam Loya in tha house!!! Nice work
jorisshh
16 years ago
Nice , but where is recon man 2 ? ... explain that
Matt
16 years ago
Wow. I really love creating DVDs in Encore and there soon about to become a whole lot more professional. Thank You again Andrew.

Matt.
Codemonkey123
16 years ago
AWESOME. Cannot wait.
16 years ago
it was the time!
thank you man, can't wait for!

U R the best!
16 years ago
Awesome!
Will be very helpfull!
Caint wait!

Thanks!
Jono
16 years ago
I am really looking forward to this. Keep it up Andrew!
tony
16 years ago
awesome, cant wait
16 years ago
nice!!! good work.