NEW TUTORIAL: DVD Authoring
June 1st, 2009

In this tutorial we will create a DVD from start to finish. This includes building a motion menu in after effects and preparing for export and rendering. Then we'll move on to Encore for adding buttons and functionality to the DVD before burning.

Watch Tutorial

I also animated the menu background using Video Copilot's Twitch:
Twitch Product Page.

Andrew Kramer
POSTED:
16 years ago
127 Comments
Nacho
13 years ago
Hi Andrew!! Awesome tutorial duuuude!!!
Just wanted to ask you something. I´ve finished working on my dvd menu and when I play it in my computer looks awesome!! The issue that I have is when I play it in the TV through different DVD players. I did burn as DVD disc from Encore and set up the menu as you did in the tutorial (the text is rendered out from AE and the button is a highlight from encore and I edit it in PS). What is going on when I play it in any DVD player is that the highlighted box won´t display or it will display all broken. Do you have any insight on this? Any comment would be much appreciated!!
Thanks a lot, my bests and you rock dude!!!

Nacho
Zach Cieslak
16 years ago
Sick tutorial, I've been playing around with encore a lot more since this tutorial. Just wondering if you knew any other websites where they go more in-depth with it.

Thanks for the tutorials.
Zach
16 years ago
Great tutorial. but when I do that it works, but when I render it and play it the buttons disappear....I did'nt find the solution for that problem

and one more thing: does anybody know how to make invisible buttons over videos? To create hidden clips???
Nacho
13 years ago
Duuude I had the same issue, did you got the chance to solve this?
16 years ago
Son excelentes los tutoriales, aunque estan en ingl??©s igual se puede entender.

Gracias amigo..
16 years ago
This is an awesome tutorial, Andrew! It will help me a lot to make my own wedding video DVD
Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and creativity.
Baha - Chicago
Alejandro
16 years ago
another fan from colombia, thanks for the great tutorials.
Alejandro
16 years ago
hi, this is awesome, it has all i need to finally understad
encore and dvd authoring.
thank you so much andrew this is a great website.
David Benedetti
16 years ago
Hello. Im David from Colombia. please make more tutorials of Encore, we so need. You do an excellent job and have very good products. In Colombia many people are followers of videocopilot.
Rondo221
16 years ago
Nice tutorial. I usually just make it in Photoshop with the buttons in groups. (+).. then I add the video usually an AVI but wmvs work well too. and drop it in the main menue window..

One other thing I'd like to add. A lot of times I make 2 buttons a Play Button and a loop button.
1. I create timeline and add it to my play button and in the project area you can right+Click on the timeline and bring up contextual menues, choose make "playlist". this makes a reference to your timeline.
2. Then the Playlist properties I quickwip the end-event back to the Playlist.
3. I drag and drop the playlist into my LOOP button. This allows me to make an forever looping video without having 2 copies of my movie in the Encore project.
Jim Hines
16 years ago
Cool! Hey, did you say "kids" as in plural? Is your wife pregnant? She is really pretty btw. I mean that in the most respectful fashion. If she is expecting - then - congratulations! If not - then - get busy bro! : - )
Tom
16 years ago
Hi Andrew,

Awsome work!

I've noticed that you've upgraded to Windows Vista, any reason for that? I'm still working on XP 64-bit, it just works faster for me, but I'm also thinking to switch to Vista. I have Vista running on another machine, but I'm still not a fan, maybe you can convince me

Or I'll wait for windows 7
PhilFried
16 years ago
great, been waiting for this a long time
16 years ago
Hello Andrew, my name is Diego from S??£o Paulo Brasilâ???¦
i love your tutorials and your work! iâ??????m a big fan!
but Letâ??????s talking about thatâ??????s work in especificâ???¦ 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!
Fortune L.
16 years ago
This is coooool!
Norman Weichel
16 years ago
Inspired by Andrew Kramer's RECON MAN III and using Video Copilot products I created a fight scene where 2 mighty kids fight to the death! Brad VS Kyle... WHO... IS... DEADLIEST?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTCBplTJQRc
D4 Manager
16 years ago
Hi Nic, yep, that was a mistake, thx.
16 years ago
Excellent tutorial,nice change for the usual graphic tutorials
Ash
16 years ago
Hi Guys,

Once endaction is reached it goes back to the beginning of the menu video instead of the loop-point and it becomes cumbersome because most of us would like the endaction to go to loop-point. Right? I have a solution for this. Create a duplicate menu and set the endaction for the chapter markers/timeline to the duplicate menu instead of the original menu you created.

Thanks for the tutorial Andrew. It's a great tut. I learnt some good tips from it.

Ash Chowdry
From India
www.saunivideo.com
Nicolas
16 years ago
Hey D4 Manager,

I think by Handycam you meant Steadycam.
The first one is the name of Sony camcorders, the second softens the movement of the camera.

Cheers,
Nic
Luther
16 years ago
Hey andrew when are you comeing back to ny again..
isi123
16 years ago
Great tutorial, I'm going to put it to good use soon.

By the way, the scene reminds me of The Dark Knight, when Batman has his first fight in the car park. The coloring looks similar. Was that the inspiration?
RobCoxxy
16 years ago
Ah, scratch the previous comment. Downloaded the update, running smoother than a baby's bottom. Not that I would know. o_O
RobCoxxy
16 years ago
Unfortunately, after just purchasing CS4 Master Collection; the only program to crash when opening it is Encore. That Kinda sucks
Hy adnrew thank YOU are my idol...Good look...
16 years ago
Great tutorial....i hope in the next blog post we get the release date for Action Essentials 2 My birthday is 14th June

Also im looking forward to the VLOGS!
16 years ago
Awesome!!! You amazing at this stuff.


"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1_Vla-J1hI"
D4 Manager
16 years ago
I just wonder, did you use a Handycam with your camera? The movement is quite smooth...
ben
16 years ago
What about the chapters selection menu?
Jesper Steen
16 years ago
thank's man, i've created a menu for a film before, and it took me a while to figure it all out. but once you know the basics it isn't that hard.
Matthew
16 years ago
Great Tutorial
16 years ago
You are awesome Andrew!!

I??´m from Argentina, and I never learn too much like with your tutorials! You open my head!

Thank you!
PD: Sorry my bad english =$
16 years ago
Really nice tut Andrew, even for people who know how to use Encore. One thing I thought was important though is the 'check project' feature in the build tab. I found it vital in discovering errors or orphan links-especially in complex projects...

Anyway great tutorial as usual.

(BTW I love Short Circuit! Inpuuut)
16 years ago
Very good presentation. I'm making my DVDs' with this way for about two years. You have some limitations with pre-rendered button way. You can't change or add buttons. If you want to you need to re-render but at the visual side it costs that. I think it's good especially for special DVDs'.
Anyway, thank you again.
Amit Dayal
16 years ago
Hey Andrew,

Greetings all the way from India. Thanks for a very informative tutorial. Your work's greatly admired and appreciated here. If After Effects was a religion, you certainly would be proclaimed the Pope, if not God.

Anyways, how about doing a tutorial on creating 2D Animation with characters and stuff entirely in After Effects. With of Course, the Andrew Kramer finesse.

Godspeed.
Irwan
16 years ago
this is something that i really need
a knowledge base of authoring DVD
ummmhhh .. thanks Mr Andrew
16 years ago
Fatality
Thorsten
16 years ago
Awesome, and a nice blooper in the end or was this planned^^ Anyway... Greetzs from Germany
16 years ago
Like many here who have already commented Andrew, this tutorial couldn't have come at a better time. Working on two projects that will need DVD authoring and have never done one before. Thanks much for taking the time to put these out for the rest of us.
Luis Miranda
16 years ago
Okay, I'm not one to kiss @$$ like so many people like to do on this site. But, really, I have been to numerous sites for tutorials, and no one ever seems to know how to speak English correctly, or offer their tutorials for free. So when someone says that this is one of the best quality sites, I have to whole-hearted agree.

So, thanks for teaching me AfterEffects better than any college professor.
Earlack
16 years ago
Was pretty good, even if I already knew all of that. Encore is pretty easy to learn once you understand how to correctly use DVD functions like buttons.
I don't even know if it's possible, but if it is, what would be awesome would be a look at more advanced features, like adding the possibility to choose soundtrack for a video (like languages) or subtitles. Or multi-angles.
Even if I never use this, well, sounds fun to learn.

Mmmm I'll try to search that a bit.

Anyway, you used CBR for export format ? Doesn't a correctly VBR setup would save some space ?
I say this cause I did a wedding-DVD and it was juuuust right on a 4.7 GB DVD at max settings, and it was only an hour long. Do we need Dual layer DVDs if we really want hi-quality for longer films or a good setup could do the job without too much loss ?

Authoring is sometimes difficult, I had a hard time tweaking curves beacuse the output was a little "washed out" on the final DVD.
16 years ago
what about the tee shirts andrew ??
Dan Ashlin
16 years ago
Another great tutorial once again Andrew! I've been wanting to get into Encore for a while but haven't really had an excuse. What I really took away from it was your explanation of exporting for the format. There are so many formats out there for web, digital DL and DVD and Blu-Ray, it's hard to keep up! I'd love to see a guide or tutorial on how to export for some of the bigger popular formats. It'd be boring as all get out, but it's something we all need to know. Either way, keep up the good work!
16 years ago
Maybe you need to down-render your hd footage to dv quality? 1080i is more for bluray or?
Lawrence
16 years ago
This is extremely useful, I get what you did with the pixels to a degree but I think it's something that myself and others need to do more research on. I always seem to get it wrong when I drop in my 1080i50 footage in, it looks bunched up until I change my comp settings to 1920x1080 and then set the pixels to square. This seems to work but I don't think it's the correct way to do things especially more recently as data gained from mocha that's based on pixel's would then be wrong wouldn't it?

Thanks again Mr Kramer!
Mike Nathman
16 years ago
Excellent job again, Andrew. I really enjoy watching your tutorials! Keep it up!

Thanks and best wishes,
Mike
16 years ago
Andrew when is that new product coming man? :p
I think it was to be released by now! Or not?

Great tutorial, really useful!

Thanks!
Alex9191
16 years ago
Andrew, you're my god !!!!
Matthew
16 years ago
Great Tutorial!
16 years ago
Yo Mike,
It's not pixelated when you look at the normal pixel mode. In order to see the correct aspect ratio, the image is viewed in a temporary stretch mode that doesn't actually affect the real pixels. The point is to fit a widescreen image in the standard full scree frame size that DVDs have to be conformed to.

To the others, yes this is somewhat of an update of the a tutorial on the Serious FX DVD but this is a more basic look at this and doesn't include some of the advanced functions. I just know how important this stuff is to do and wanted to make it available.
Roberto
16 years ago
that's right!
Nice, nice, nice
16 years ago
Really nice tutorial. It is the base that people can build on, customize and improve. Really apreciate it! Thanks a lot Andrew!

10/10

(we must not forget to "check projet" before build/burn it!)
Mike
16 years ago
Hey Nate,

Check out the Videocopilot product Serious FX. Especially chapter 8.
http://www.videocopilot.net/products/seriousfx/

It has a cool animation when you click on a button, the camera zooms into a crack in the wall to stop in front of a new menu.

This was the first product I ever bought from VCP and it was exactly for that chapter. I had a business need for it and there was not much out there about the topic at the time. A great buy.

Mike
Bensaad
16 years ago
so easy with Mr. kamer we must stop being so good ... it gives complex.....
Sandy
16 years ago
Just Awesome, Thank You!
16 years ago
Hey Andrew, will you release the PROJECT FILE as well
Pretty please with a cherry on top!
16 years ago
This tutorial is really helpful, for people who no idea about dvd authoring.



Like me
Bader Ahmed
16 years ago
hi,
It is really great tutorial, we need it of course for our final output.
We are appro?? ching to the 100 tutorial.
Sure Andrew is planning to realease the second part of the series in a DVD.
Thanks
Eugene Opperman
16 years ago
Hi Andrew

Thanks for another great tutorial.
Just going through your work-flow answered a number of questions for me.

Enjoy the week.

PS: Any plans for the 100th tutorial?
Yura
16 years ago
BIG thanks from Ukrain
U're tutorials like usualy is awesome
Jake
16 years ago
Wow! You are awesome, Kramer!
Matt in MO.
16 years ago
Awesome tut. I didn't know how to bypass the transcoding phase before. Plus, I would do this long workaround to get animated text to be clickable.

Oh, and Short Circuit is one of my favorite movies.
16 years ago
Thank you so much for this tutorial!
16 years ago
Hi from Venezuela,

Awesome tutorial, thanks a lot Andrew
16 years ago
How about a follow up that shows how to make transitions to sub menus? So you click on BONUS FEATURES and the video has a cool animation to pull you in to the next menu system...and then back out if the viewer chooses MAIN MENU from the sub menu.

This one was great - very helpful!
Mike
16 years ago
Thanks for the tutorial.

One thing I don't understand. Why did you pick the Widescreen square pixel if you knew it was going to cause pixelation in the text during final output?

Mike
John Rich
16 years ago
I liked the menu background in AE, but then it was just a rehash of previous stuff.
Actually, of course, there are better ways to do the menus, etc with photoshop and or AE.
Still think you do great AE stuff and I always look forward to your next tutorial. I'm just getting the hang of Evolution.
Thanks.
animaster
16 years ago
oh man!!!...
the tutorial that i hope, ever...finally..
what else can i say.......
fuhh!!!!.....waiting so long...
phew!!!!!..finally.....

thanks Andrew....you are my hero!
sam is the heroin
16 years ago
Wow didnt know the tutorial would be out this soon!

Awesome
Edgar
16 years ago
So this won't work for HD clips? Do i have to resize them to DV widescreen?
16 years ago
hi andrew !
i have a big question from u andrew!
i think u really love make movie & i have been see in your tutorial your feel about make movie ! so why u don't make a movie . u don't need moor thing or much money to make a movie !
so.... i expecting form u see your film soon .
hey what's up andrew cramer hear new FILM !!!!!!!!
i Wish successful for u in your new tutorial.
singking
16 years ago
æ?????æ?????äº???æ???°çš???偶å??ï¼??æ??¯ä½  Andrew Kramer
best wishes from China
16 years ago
Is Recon Man the beginning of the Action Movie Essentials HD trailer?
zak
16 years ago
oh great finally
I'll watch it Now
Shahrooz
16 years ago
Great,you are alwyes No 1 ...
Thanks Andrew
Asher
16 years ago
This is going to be helpful for getting that silver lining on my projects. Thanks, Andrew.

Sorry to ask again, but could you update this on the mobile site as well? Thanks, video copilot gang. :^)
thanks Andrew
16 years ago
Awesome!
perry blunt
16 years ago
typo sorry
perry blunt
16 years ago
thank you very much mr.kramer
16 years ago
Very useful tutorial.
thank you so much!
Myles
16 years ago
It looked like the only options for aspect ratio in Encore were 4:3 and 16:9. What if you wanted to do a 2:1 aspect ratio?
16 years ago
I'm really amazed
I needed this tutorial just yesterday
Thank you Andrew
Brandon
16 years ago
Thanks I'm making a DVD right now and this really helped out!
andi
16 years ago
this is really great timing
rain_dog
16 years ago
We need more Encore tuts! The Adobe Suite is Awesome! Now I have a guideline to tweek to my liking. Thanks so much!
Casey
16 years ago
Mate,

Hands down the most enjoyable and informative tut you have delivered and as usual, a no nonsense approach. Thanks for making it so easy to understand and not bore us with too much techno babble.

A very much appreciated thank you from me. This will come in handy.

Casey (Sydney- Australia)
pvsciteach
16 years ago
Thanks for thinking of everything Andrew!
ZZ
16 years ago
GO SAMIR MAGHWIRI!!!!! WOO!!!! Damn dude!!!! That f*kn rocked Samir!
Ya habibi, keep it going, you're doing very well! Good luck ya akhi
Johann Torres
16 years ago
Andrew you did it again!,a Nice tutorial that i always wanted to see, just Amazing! btw, you are almost getting to 100 Tutorials! that deserves a celebration!
Lol, Congratulations Andrew you Rock!!!!
16 years ago
O.o

YAY!!!!
16 years ago
Awesome! Thanks Andrew, this is just what I needed.
16 years ago
I also used MPEG2 encoding when exporting from Premiere Pro to Encore. but i don't use button or create Menues. This will be a BIG HELP for us. Thanks a lot Andrew.
BTW, I think it's kinda RE-Tutorial of your Creative Cow Serious FX & Compositing? Isn't it? But a lot of new tips in here.
Dustin James
16 years ago
Great stuff andrew.. I never knew that if I rendered out to MPEG2 it would take less time to author the DVD..

Useful stuff!
16 years ago
You guys need to make another short like "The Meteor". Only better!

And Sam needs to have you as his sidekick in the next one. I can see it now, "The Assaasin and his sidekick."

It would be a blockbuster of epicly comic purportions!
Joe Avino
16 years ago
Great tutorial! I enjoyed the end. I've been looking for Encore tutorials for months, this is by far the best. Good work.
Dark Pivot
16 years ago
Great tutorial! I'm going to use this for my new film I'm making!
Kol
16 years ago
Grrreat! This is exactly what I needed, just been working on Encore menus. Excellent tut.
Steve
16 years ago
Johnny 5 is Alive!!!!
16 years ago
Thanks, this saved my ass.
Pablo
16 years ago
thanks to video copilot. i know more about adobe suite!!!!

you rock andrew!!!!!

by the way, at the end of the tutorial, there is a little missing part, is that intencional???

go andrew!!!!
Doug
16 years ago
Thanks !!
16 years ago
AWESOME! Going to watch it later. Thanks!
16 years ago
Awesome, I presume this tutorial is an updated version of the Serious FX DVD one?
leith G
16 years ago
Sweet
leith G
16 years ago
sweet good job thanks.
Anthony Miller
16 years ago
Very helpful! Thanks again...
Rabbit
16 years ago
Woooouuuuu
RemingtonM
16 years ago
I'm so excited! You just made my day, i've spent it being frusterated with other peopls tutorials because no one can compare to your quality.
Tim
16 years ago
Thanks a lot, will come in handy for authoring my many videos!
Jake The Muss
16 years ago
Quality...thank you.
Jason
16 years ago
AWESOME! exactly what i needed...
David
16 years ago
OMG so freaking awesome ! :]
First of all i loved the fighting scene and i cant wait until i get a better PC so i can follow your tutorials .. ,-,e
Thank's for learning us more Encore 0'0
GPK
16 years ago
Nice tutorial Andrew!
16 years ago
LOVE IT!
16 years ago
BTW I got short circuit 2 in a bargain bin last year...big mistake.
16 years ago
Incredible as usual.

Andrew, was wondering if you knew about the ancient titles being used in The Tonight Show, it was placed by several people and you haven't responded to it yet.

Thanks !

Fabian
Nuutti
16 years ago
Awesome. Something to do on summervacation! Thanks Andrew!
Dan Rozen
16 years ago
Thank god! This Monday is saved!
Daniel
16 years ago
AWESOME!!!! YOU'RE THE MAN!!!!!!!!!
wesideco
16 years ago
Thanks mucho Mr. Kramer
16 years ago
Thanks man! Got a client's project it will help me on right now.
16 years ago
That is super cool...thank you very much!
16 years ago
cool, looks really nice!
Infinite
16 years ago
Finally!
RA. Elliott
16 years ago
Very good work guys. I'm sure this will help a lot of people.
16 years ago
AWESOME!!!
Robo
16 years ago
Yes, new tutorial again