dvd menu

petraprøvedukke · 05-06-04, 05:19 PM

I am writing an essay about dvd menues, and dvd menu design. i was wondering if enyone something to say on this matter. examples on good or bad menu desig. what should it consist. anything at all about the subject.

ukywyldcat · 05-06-04, 05:25 PM

I don't know anything about DVD menus really, but I know a great deal about essay writing. Proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation are very important, especially if you are being graded.

JimRochester · 05-06-04, 05:27 PM

I'm one that would prefer going straight to the movie without the menu first. Nice menus can be cool the first time, but once viewed, people really just want to get to the movie. Gettysburg has a really cool menu with the cannon shots, but is a good example of too lengthy to get to the choices.

petraprøvedukke · 05-06-04, 05:29 PM

thank you!
but if you are danish, in a hurry, and people understand what you write in this forum, i do not think that my spelling or gramar shoud be a problem at this state.....

petraprøvedukke · 05-06-04, 05:30 PM

thank you Jim

KTIK · 05-06-04, 06:15 PM

The Lion King (PE) has the worst menu of all time. I would have rather had a black text button on a black screen that was impossible to find and click than to have that CGI thing flying around for two minutes.

cupon · 05-06-04, 07:23 PM

1) no preceeding crap (FBI warnings, forced previews, studio logos, studio commentary disclaimer, MPAA ratings graphic, etc). The Godfather discs are the only ones I remember that don't do this crap.

2) menu options immediately selectable with no preceeding animated crap (ie, The Last Samurai)

3) I prefer animated menus over static

4) fast transitions. this usually plagues scene selection menus. for anyone who has the panic room 3-disc or from hell 2-disc know how godawful long it takes for the scene selection options to complete their animations. these annoyances aren't even interesting the first time around.

5) clear, non-cluttered menus that don't require jumping through hoops. the mememto disc is an example of such nonsense.

6) if the dvd is stupidly formatted in such a way that i can't change subtitle or audio options while the disc is playing, I should be able to go to the language menu, make my changes and have the film "resume" where it left off, when I choose play again. Most recent discs support this, but there are still some that don't.

Shroud · 05-07-04, 04:26 AM

Gotta love Home Theater PCs. I run this program called DVDIdle Pro that removes all restrictions from DVDs, (FBI Warnings, Forced Trailers, etc....) and will either drop you right to the menu or to the very beginning of the movie when you put the dvd in.
It also makes all dvds region free and removes the CSS Encryption and Macrovision on the fly. All this hooked up to my X1 projector makes movie watching a real treat.

matome · 05-07-04, 04:47 AM

Static menus...best design ever.

SR7 · 05-07-04, 05:00 AM

Any menu that has video and/or animation that doesn't last longer than 3-5 secs is good. If it takes longer than that to get to the menu options, then it's considered too long.

aam1 · 05-07-04, 06:39 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by cupon
3) I prefer animated menus over static

I can't imagine why. menus should be menus, animation should be animation.

acostigan · 05-07-04, 08:50 AM

I don't like animated menus either. I just want to get to the selection list ASAP. I would even go so far as to say I don't need a background image or proportional font.

-AC

Lono · 05-07-04, 07:02 PM

I actually design (among other things) DVD menus for a living... if you would like to talk in depth about menu design I would be happy to help you out, however I do not wish to post my address in a public forum (I get enough spam already) I hope you understand.

petraprøvedukke · 05-09-04, 01:51 PM

Thank you lono. It would be very beneficial and helpful if we can talk a bit further! Maybe I can come up with some more detailed question than this one here on the forum. My email is tassaladd at hotmail.com so if you are still keen on helping you can get in touch.
Thank you all of answering my question!

digiboy · 05-09-04, 04:16 PM

I wish there was a "Play all" function for the menu extras. Sometimes there is that option for example to play all the deleted scenes instead of selecting each one, but I wish you could do it to play all the chapters. titles, etc, on the DVD without needing to select .
Sometimes I'd like to be lazy and let the features just play from start to finish. It would be cool if there was a way to do that, even running each angle of a multi camera angle function in series without stopping. I wouldn't care much about what order the stuff plays in, can always skip a section if it's boring.

scott1598 · 05-09-04, 05:56 PM

i think someone wants us to do their homework for them. as a teacher myself, i regard this as cheating. shame shame.

petraprøvedukke · 05-10-04, 07:18 PM

Hi Scott.
As this being a research project and getting in contact with people about my topic is quite important, I do not want to call this cheating. To ask someone for opinions and views does not make them my ownâ€¦ and you as a teacher should know thisâ€¦

TBFL · 05-10-04, 07:28 PM

If the disc has a lot of options - multiple soundtracks (DTS, DD, Commentary) or a lot of extras, I'd like a fast loading menu with the options to get to them, make my selection and start the film. If it is a bare bones release, then I want to put the disc in and have it start playing.

mtucker · 05-10-04, 09:47 PM

This article sums up my views fairly nicely.

petraprøvedukke · 05-11-04, 06:27 AM

hi mtucker.
is it you that have written the article?

mtucker · 05-11-04, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by petraprøvedukke
hi mtucker.
is it you that have written the article?

No, I did not write the article. I just happen to agree with most of the points given.

Philip Reuben · 05-11-04, 12:34 PM

Ideally, a DVD's menus should have no animation before the selections are available, and all transitions should be instant. Aside from that, I don't care whether the menus are animated or not - as long as the animation doesn't mean I have to wait, it doesn't matter either way.

Other than that, I just want everything to be laid out clearly and accessible, with as few screens required as possible to get to the option I'm looking for. (For example, there shouldn't be a "Settings" menu which then lets you go to the "Audio" and "Subtitles" menus - all those options should be on one screen.)

05-06-04, 05:19 PM	#1
petraprøvedukke New Member Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 6	dvd menu I am writing an essay about dvd menues, and dvd menu design. i was wondering if enyone something to say on this matter. examples on good or bad menu desig. what should it consist. anything at all about the subject.

05-06-04, 05:25 PM	#2
ukywyldcat DVD Talk Platinum Edition Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Peoples Republik of Kalifornia Posts: 3,382	I don't know anything about DVD menus really, but I know a great deal about essay writing. Proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation are very important, especially if you are being graded. __________________ Happiness is a warm gun and a lit cigar. Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives should be the name of a store not a government agency.

05-06-04, 05:27 PM	#3
JimRochester DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Sep 1999 Location: Rochester, NY. USA Posts: 11,248	I'm one that would prefer going straight to the movie without the menu first. Nice menus can be cool the first time, but once viewed, people really just want to get to the movie. Gettysburg has a really cool menu with the cannon shots, but is a good example of too lengthy to get to the choices. __________________ Panasonic 58" VIERA Plasma, Pioneer Elite vsx91, SONY s590 328 titles, Toshiba A35 79 titles, Definitive Technologies speakers and supercube sub. Most wanted BD: Big Red 1/Bugsy/Die Hard 4(R rated)/Dragnet/Memphis Belle/Pearl Harbor(DC)/Sleepless In Seattle (7/9/13)/Tin Cup/Trapped In Paradise/True Lies (2014?)/While You Were Sleeping.

05-07-04, 04:26 AM	#8
Shroud Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Barcelona, Spain Posts: 346	Gotta love Home Theater PCs. I run this program called DVDIdle Pro that removes all restrictions from DVDs, (FBI Warnings, Forced Trailers, etc....) and will either drop you right to the menu or to the very beginning of the movie when you put the dvd in. It also makes all dvds region free and removes the CSS Encryption and Macrovision on the fly. All this hooked up to my X1 projector makes movie watching a real treat. __________________ My DVD Collection

05-07-04, 04:47 AM	#9
matome DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Oct 1999 Location: NY Posts: 12,304	Static menus...best design ever. __________________ DVD/Blu-Ray/HD-DVD \| Blu-Ray only \| Laserdisc

05-06-04, 05:29 PM	#4
petraprøvedukke New Member Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 6	thank you! but if you are danish, in a hurry, and people understand what you write in this forum, i do not think that my spelling or gramar shoud be a problem at this state.....

05-06-04, 05:30 PM	#5
petraprøvedukke New Member Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 6	thank you Jim

05-06-04, 06:15 PM	#6
KTIK Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Boston Posts: 677	The Lion King (PE) has the worst menu of all time. I would have rather had a black text button on a black screen that was impossible to find and click than to have that CGI thing flying around for two minutes.

05-06-04, 07:23 PM	#7
cupon DVD Talk Special Edition Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 1,052	1) no preceeding crap (FBI warnings, forced previews, studio logos, studio commentary disclaimer, MPAA ratings graphic, etc). The Godfather discs are the only ones I remember that don't do this crap. 2) menu options immediately selectable with no preceeding animated crap (ie, The Last Samurai) 3) I prefer animated menus over static 4) fast transitions. this usually plagues scene selection menus. for anyone who has the panic room 3-disc or from hell 2-disc know how godawful long it takes for the scene selection options to complete their animations. these annoyances aren't even interesting the first time around. 5) clear, non-cluttered menus that don't require jumping through hoops. the mememto disc is an example of such nonsense. 6) if the dvd is stupidly formatted in such a way that i can't change subtitle or audio options while the disc is playing, I should be able to go to the language menu, make my changes and have the film "resume" where it left off, when I choose play again. Most recent discs support this, but there are still some that don't.

05-07-04, 05:00 AM	#10
SR7 New Member Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 1	Any menu that has video and/or animation that doesn't last longer than 3-5 secs is good. If it takes longer than that to get to the menu options, then it's considered too long.

05-07-04, 08:50 AM	#12
acostigan Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Kansas City, MO Posts: 683	I don't like animated menus either. I just want to get to the selection list ASAP. I would even go so far as to say I don't need a background image or proportional font. -AC __________________ obligatory collection link

05-07-04, 07:02 PM	#13
Lono Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Los Angeles, CA. USA Posts: 678	I actually design (among other things) DVD menus for a living... if you would like to talk in depth about menu design I would be happy to help you out, however I do not wish to post my address in a public forum (I get enough spam already) I hope you understand.

05-09-04, 01:51 PM	#14
petraprøvedukke New Member Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 6	Thank you lono. It would be very beneficial and helpful if we can talk a bit further! Maybe I can come up with some more detailed question than this one here on the forum. My email is tassaladd at hotmail.com so if you are still keen on helping you can get in touch. Thank you all of answering my question!

05-09-04, 04:16 PM	#15
digiboy Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: New York City Posts: 177	I wish there was a "Play all" function for the menu extras. Sometimes there is that option for example to play all the deleted scenes instead of selecting each one, but I wish you could do it to play all the chapters. titles, etc, on the DVD without needing to select . Sometimes I'd like to be lazy and let the features just play from start to finish. It would be cool if there was a way to do that, even running each angle of a multi camera angle function in series without stopping. I wouldn't care much about what order the stuff plays in, can always skip a section if it's boring.

05-09-04, 05:56 PM	#16
scott1598 DVD Talk Legend Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: I want to go to there! Posts: 19,409	i think someone wants us to do their homework for them. as a teacher myself, i regard this as cheating. shame shame. __________________ "stranger than fiction" Movie collection "almost famous" SteelBook™ collection "Even though I am no better than a beast, don't I have the right to live?"

05-10-04, 07:18 PM	#17
petraprøvedukke New Member Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 6	Hi Scott. As this being a research project and getting in contact with people about my topic is quite important, I do not want to call this cheating. To ask someone for opinions and views does not make them my ownâ€¦ and you as a teacher should know thisâ€¦

05-10-04, 07:28 PM	#18
TBFL Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 130	If the disc has a lot of options - multiple soundtracks (DTS, DD, Commentary) or a lot of extras, I'd like a fast loading menu with the options to get to them, make my selection and start the film. If it is a bare bones release, then I want to put the disc in and have it start playing.

05-10-04, 09:47 PM	#19
mtucker DVD Talk Gold Edition Join Date: Feb 2000 Location: Greenville, NC Posts: 2,462	This article sums up my views fairly nicely. __________________ "Stay away from the cans!"

05-11-04, 06:27 AM	#20
petraprøvedukke New Member Join Date: May 2004 Posts: 6	hi mtucker. is it you that have written the article?

05-11-04, 12:34 PM	#22
Philip Reuben Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 464	Ideally, a DVD's menus should have no animation before the selections are available, and all transitions should be instant. Aside from that, I don't care whether the menus are animated or not - as long as the animation doesn't mean I have to wait, it doesn't matter either way. Other than that, I just want everything to be laid out clearly and accessible, with as few screens required as possible to get to the option I'm looking for. (For example, there shouldn't be a "Settings" menu which then lets you go to the "Audio" and "Subtitles" menus - all those options should be on one screen.)