Shaky buttons & letters on DVD Menu [Archive]

Deepa DvD

12th December 2003, 03:59

Hi!
I had this problem before, i am still having it... I am using photoshop 7 & 5.5. The thing is i create one file with my whole maenu, nice graphics & everything. And a another one just with the subpic... having the button and changed the color to pure blue. On the Menu it's pure red. so on the subpic it's pure blue. When I burn the DVD in Scenarist, the Menu is all shaky where i have the buttons & the letters... I want to know how can i get rid of this... I also used Mediachance's Menu Studio 1.0 and the same problem. I dont want the buttons & the letters to shake.

ThanX in Advance!!!
Deepa:)

* another thing is that the letters shake more than the graphics or the button.In Photoshop it was made in RGB mode 720X480 Resolution 72 pixels/inch.

SomeJoe

12th December 2003, 19:02

Since the TV is an interlaced display device, there are several idiosyncracies that you need to be aware of. The problem you're describing is variously called "bob" or "line twitter". It appears for several reasons, most notably of which are: Attempting to display details that are less than 3 scanlines, and using NTSC vector-opposite colors next to each other.

As such, here's some suggestions for creating your photoshop document:

1. First, create your document in the correct aspect ratio. Since you were creating 720x480, I'll assume you're making an NTSC DVD. You need to create the document using Photoshop's built-in document size for DV, which is 720x534. When you finish creating the menu in this resolution, you'll resize it to 720x480 for export to the DVD authoring software. This will ensure that circles stay circles. Make sure during the resize that you're in RGB color space and that the resize is bicubic.

2. For your fonts that you use for text, use sans-serif fonts like Arial or Helvetica. Serifed fonts like Times New Roman, New York, or Palatino create fine, 1-scanline horizontal lines which exacerbate the line twitter.

3. Make sure the text mode is set to smooth in Photoshop so the fonts are anti-aliased. This further reduces the line twitter.

4. There is a minimum font size that you shouldn't really go below. For good, readable text, I typically don't go below 20 point.

5. Avoid saturated colors. Your pure red and pure blue (255/0/0 and 0/0/255) are too saturated for the display. I don't like going above about 220 on any RGB color, so try 220/0/0 for your red and 0/0/220 for your blue. Even better, you can make the colors more muted but still just as bright by doing 220/50/50 and 50/50/220.

6. Avoid combinations of colors that are vector-opposite in NTSC color space. Don't put the following color combinations adjacent to each other: Red-Cyan, Blue-Yellow, or Green-Magenta. Nearly all consumer TVs will distort the adjacent pixels where those colors meet, and cause a different artifact, the "crawlies". If you want to use a blue button, use a maroon, forest-green, or light gray/white background to it.

Try those options, and I bet your menu will look a lot better.