"Lawrence D'Oliveiro" <ldo (AT) geek-central (DOT) gen.new_zealand> wrote

I didn't provide a "page", only a site that offers a description of the
DVD
Standards.

The graphic tools need to provide files that can be used by the authoring
program. Unless the authoring program can remake the supplied graphic
files into those that conform to the DVD Standards, it needs to be supplied
with graphic files that themselves conform to the standards. In fact one
way to create DVD menus involves providing all three layers defined in a
single file.

The graphic program that generates the images doesn't need to know
what you do with the images you create, that is correct, but if you want
to use them in another program they must conform to the requirements
of that program. In this case an authoring program. (By the way GIMP
does have a profile for images to conform to the size and dimensions
required for both NTSC and PAL DVD menus.)

Luck;
Ken

In message <ptadnRRWRJvJCB3WnZ2dnUVZ_uudnZ2d (AT) giganews (DOT) com>, Ken Maltby
wrote:

Well, here <http://www.mpucoder.com/DVD/pgc.html>
<http://www.mpucoder.com/DVD/pci_pkt.html> are a couple of pages that
provide a more accurate description of the relevant parts of the DVD-Video
spec. You’ll notice that the first one specifies up to 4 subpicture streams
for alternate formats, namely narrowscreen, widescreen, letterbox and
pan&scan, but not for different menu button states. The latter does provide
for different menu button states, but only in the form of different sets of
colours to use (SL_COLI table in the PCI packet, which contains indexes back
into the CLUT in the PGC header).

That’s right, the pixels are always the same, it is only the colours that
are allowed to change to convey highlighted and selected states of buttons.

Well then, the more types of files the authoring program can accept, the
better it is, right?

Which is another problem, namely that SD-video pixels are non-square. I’m
not aware of any pixel-level program (not Gimp, not Photoshop) which will
accurately show you what the graphic will look like at the aspect ratio of a
TV screen.

With Inkscape, you don’t have to worry. You create the drawing at a 4:3 or
16:9 aspect ratio, using whatever units you choose, without having to worry
about nonsquare pixels. My DVD Menu Animator will take care of rendering the
image to the correct pixel resolution.

"Lawrence D'Oliveiro" <ldo (AT) geek-central (DOT) gen.new_zealand> wrote

You appear to have no real interest in the technical realities of DVD
construction, just an interest in pushing your Inscape based project.
You deliberately conflate "Subpicture" with "sublayer".
You have to know of the layered bitmap nature of DVD menus, their file
type and construction, if you are really developing a program to create
DVD menus.

So, you are either a fool or a charlatan, and I will have no more to do
with you.

Ken

In message <D8SdnSySVuI3aB7WnZ2dnUVZ_q-dnZ2d (AT) giganews (DOT) com>, Ken Maltby
wrote:

The correct term is “subpicture�. There is no such thing in the DVD-video
spec as a “sublayer�. So therefore, either it is an incorrect term for the
same thing, or it is meaningless nonsense. Your choice.

Which I do. I wrote these pages <http://wlug.org.nz/DVDVideo>
<http://wlug.org.nz/DVDVideoTerminology> giving an overview of how it all
works, with links to the more gory details if you want them.

Maybe you should read some of the available documentation, and make sure you
understand it, before shooting your mouth off.

In message <D8SdnSySVuI3aB7WnZ2dnUVZ_q-dnZ2d (AT) giganews (DOT) com>, Ken Maltby
wrote:

I have built many DVDs, and I have done work on DVD-authoring software, so I
am fully aware of the “realities�, “technical� and otherwise. That’s why I
am favouring Inkscape now, because it offers so many advantages: it’s a
proper design tool, it lets you forget about dealing with distorted pixels,
and it lets you attach additional custom info to objects in your drawing
that can be picked up by other tools, like my DVD Menu Animator
<http://github.com/ldo/dvd_menu_animator>. That lets you do the bulk of the
layout work in one place.

All in all, it just makes things so much easier. Try it!