18 replies to this topic

[Rotor-Head]

How do I make the text and GFX in the menu HD quality?  No matter what I do, they look SD.  I am using all HD elements and have also tried the text generator in the menu builder...  thanks

[SS Scott]

You say all of your assets are HD so I assume you are going widescreen for your menus (fullscreen makes 720x480 menus...but since there are very few fullscreen HDTVs, why would anyone author a Blu-ray project with Fullscreen menus).  The design scaling in the menu compositor is set by the background of the image you bring in.  If you use one of the standard templates, it is going to blow it up and look low res.  If you use one of the HD templates with a 1920x1080 background, you should have HD output.  Similarly, if you bring in your own 1920x1080 or 1280x720 background or video you should get HD out.

A few other things...and they are critical.  

What output settings are you using for your HD menus?  In the project settings you can set them to 720p, 1080i or 1080p.  If you bring in 1280x720 and blow up to 1920x1080, it could effect your resolution.  Then you have to see how your Blu-ray player is doing with those resolutions and how your HDTV is doing with those resolutions.  My understanding is that some 720p monitors don't handle 1080 that well...not sure about the reverse.

[Mike Stewart]

I have the same problem, finally was forced to post on the blu ray forum:

Purchased the software first thing, oh it burns a blu ray movie alright, but the menus are soft and low rez looking, I pulled in some high rez files for the still menu and it encodes them with a soft look (yes I chose the 1080p setting for menu encoding), defeats the whole purpose of HD, also, get this, if you do a motion menu, the menu video is low rez, the bitrate is around 8mbps, while the encoded video is 24 to 40 mbps, lame software, before someone from Roxio asks the question, yes I used the template menus from the software that are HD, and I am viewing this on a 1080p TV hooked up directly from my PC whichs plays commercial Blu Ray disks beautifully with my Sony drive, the still menus on the commercial Blu Ray movies look fantastic, Oh and another thing, I would have posted this on the Roxio site, but everyone and his brother have been having logon problems for at least 2 months, I'll never complain about having problems with ADOBE software again, Roxio......you can't even log onto the site, unless of course you are purchasing software to download, works great then. I would be happy with the software if I could just get High quality still menus out of it, I hate when software companies promise there software can do things it can't, well like I said, could not post this on Roxio site, so I hope I can help at least educate people here before they purchase.

Cheers
Mike

[SS Scott]

Hi Mike.   Sorry to hear about your logon issues.  Glad that is now addressed so we can see your posting.  

Where are you seeing problems, with text and graphics?  I am having a bit of a problem with the information you are stating about the application creating 8mbs menus when outputting to Blu-ray when it is creating 24-40mbs timelines.  I don't know if that was a guess or where you got that information, but if you would, I would like you to check again.

Do this experiment.  Drag an HD template onto the menu compositor.  Drag 5 second HD video onto the background of the template.  Set the project settings to 1080p, 1080i or 720p.  save your project.  write a volume.  Then, go to media section of the palette, click on the import folder and navigate to the project you just created which by default would be in the My DVDs area of My Documents.  Inside of your project folder is a "sources" folder and inside of that is a "menus" folder.  Import the video from the menus folder into the palette.  Right click on the menu and click on "properties".  You will see that the menu is HD and that it's bit rate is the same as that which is in your HD transcoding settings.  I just tried this with 1080p, 1080i and 720p project settings for menus and each time, it created the proper sized menu with the proper frame rate.

Have you viewed the disc on a BD player or just with your computer and it's BD software.  Could be the software doesn't handle 1080p menus off of BD-R?  So that even though it plays back BD-ROM discs well it doesn't do BD-Rs well.  Don't know.  Did you try other sizes for the menus?

[Mike Stewart]

When I open each of the files in Power DVD I can click on "show info" and see the bit rate, that is how I know, also one looks good, the other very soft, I am viewing this on a 50" tv, a 720x480 image will look good on most monitors, 50" is not forgiving, also, the encoded main video file is fine, just any menus, still or motion look extremely soft, how are you viewing your projects? did you do a still menu to see, the resolution may be 1920x1080, but it encodes to look really soft if that is the case, I watched still menus from bluray movies and that look realy sharp, no reason these should not. Also I viewed from a disk and a file from the harddrive

Mike


Also I opened the folders you spoke of and it has an m2v file and an mpg file in them, my settings were definately set for 1920x1080 even on the menus, what file format are you importing into your DVDIT project? are your files from the fx1 or z1

Mike

[SS Scott]

<<When I open each of the files in Power DVD I can click on "show info" and see the bit rate, that is how I know>>

import the same raw file out of your "sources" folder in your project folder into DVDit Pro HD.  right click on it in the palette and select properties and I think we are going to see some conflicting information.  The files are HD.  Why PowerDVD doesn't see them that way I do not know.

<< I watched still menus from bluray movies and that look realy sharp, no reason these should not>>


Maybe.  Maybe not.  you are playing video off of a BD-R for DVDit Pro HD and a BD-ROM for your store bought BD discs.  Maybe there is something wrong with PowerDVDs playback of BDMV on BD-R.  We are wathching these discs on Samsung and Panasonic BD players and the menus look crisp.  

Try this experiment.  Again, create a motion menu with text.  output to Blu-ray.  take the MPG file from the sources and copy it to another location.  rename it.  import into DVDit Pro HD drop that MPG onto the timeline to make a movie with it and connect that movie to your menu.  Output to BD again.   I am curious if the same MPG will look different in the movie space....

[Mike Stewart]

I am sure the fies are HD, they look very soft as if it were using a lower rez source was my point, they look nowhere near as god as the original source, and my sources were 300 dpi 1920x1080 files.


Mike

[shueardm]

Mike Stewart, on Dec 19 2006, 06:35 PM, said:

I am sure the fies are HD, they look very soft as if it were using a lower rez source was my point, they look nowhere near as god as the original source, and my sources were 300 dpi 1920x1080 files.
Mike

Hi Mike.

There is no Power DVD version that has been released for Blu Ray playback. There is actually no BD playback software available at all other than OEM stuff that is just not up to it yet. I will be getting whatever is to be bundled with Pioneer Aust Blu Ray drives today but it is not an official release yet, it's a beta.
I think if you want to analyse how good it all is then you need ot stop playing with software that isn't officially released and has lots of improvent needed. Use a proper hardware Blu Ray player mate.
Cheers

[pixel]

shueardm, on Dec 19 2006, 07:20 PM, said:

Hi Mike.

There is no Power DVD version that has been released for Blu Ray playback. There is actually no BD playback software available at all other than OEM stuff that is just not up to it yet. I will be getting whatever is to be bundled with Pioneer Aust Blu Ray drives today but it is not an official release yet, it's a beta.
I think if you want to analyse how good it all is then you need ot stop playing with software that isn't officially released and has lots of improvent needed. Use a proper hardware Blu Ray player mate.
Cheers

If you have a Sony BMU-100A Bluray bruner you will have a real BD playback software which is also able to playback commerical Bluray and Bluray BD/R - BD/RW. You can download the update if you have a SN and a Sony Bluray burner at:

http://sony.storages...grade/index.htm

[shueardm]

pixel, on Dec 21 2006, 01:47 AM, said:

If you have a Sony BMU-100A Bluray bruner you will have a real BD playback software which is also able to playback commerical Bluray and Bluray BD/R - BD/RW. You can download the update if you have a SN and a Sony Bluray burner at:

http://sony.storages...grade/index.htm

That might be the case. However I don't believe that even they are happy with it. I beleive if it was ready for general use it would be made available for anyone to pay for download. I think they are just making what they have available for the people who bpaid so much for the drives to keep them quiet for a while.
Really, heard some stories from Pioneer about how inadequate the BD playback software is at this stage.

I recall early DVD playback software (even Power DVD) that couldn't get DVD's right the way they were authored.

Edited by shueardm, 21 December 2006 - 03:16 AM.

[Mike Stewart]

shueardm, on Dec 19 2006, 07:20 PM, said:

Hi Mike.

There is no Power DVD version that has been released for Blu Ray playback. There is actually no BD playback software available at all other than OEM stuff that is just not up to it yet. I will be getting whatever is to be bundled with Pioneer Aust Blu Ray drives today but it is not an official release yet, it's a beta.
I think if you want to analyse how good it all is then you need ot stop playing with software that isn't officially released and has lots of improvent needed. Use a proper hardware Blu Ray player mate.
Cheers

My version came with the sony burner, it plays bluray movies perfectly, because I am using a PC to view everything, it is easier to make the comparison between the orginal still picture and the menu.

Mike

shueardm, on Dec 21 2006, 03:15 AM, said:

That might be the case. However I don't believe that even they are happy with it. I beleive if it was ready for general use it would be made available for anyone to pay for download. I think they are just making what they have available for the people who bpaid so much for the drives to keep them quiet for a while.
Really, heard some stories from Pioneer about how inadequate the BD playback software is at this stage.

I recall early DVD playback software (even Power DVD) that couldn't get DVD's right the way they were authored.

If my encoded video looks great, (which tells me that the playback software is working correctly) why would the menu not look crisp also? I do appreciate the help, but unless you actual have BD software and have encoded with DVDIT Pro HD, and played it back on a 50" or above TV, you are just speculating.

Mike

[shueardm]

Mike Stewart, on Dec 21 2006, 04:58 AM, said:

My version came with the sony burner, it plays bluray movies perfectly, because I am using a PC to view everything, it is easier to make the comparison between the orginal still picture and the menu.

Mike
If my encoded video looks great, (which tells me that the playback software is working correctly) why would the menu not look crisp also? I do appreciate the help, but unless you actual have BD software and have encoded with DVDIT Pro HD, and played it back on a 50" or above TV, you are just speculating.

Mike

Could you perhaps do us all a favour and take your DVDitPRO HD disc to a retailer- try the disc in a hardware Blu Ray player and 1080p set?

This is the only way we'll know.

[shueardm]

Guys, could I perhaps take a bit of a stab in the dark here?

I have jsut done a BD which also came out with the still menu in low res, the difference is startling. I used an Illustrator document output to a tiff as the background image so the image was rastor sharp. However the BD volume menu was noticable low res and certainly not sharp. It is also softer than thr original, I had noticed this (softness) on others but I think it is better when I played it on a real BD player and Plasma (rather than my 24"LCD via VGA)
It's been bugging me, what did I do different to the others that looked OK?

Then it hit me, the difference was that this disc I used the text tool and a button image from the library--- all others I have used conventional external authoring in Photshop (where you create buttons and highlights in Photoshop)

So perhaps? Have I cracked the Davinci Code? Can someone else confirm.

[planetweckesser]

Hi Mike.   Sorry to hear about your logon issues.  Glad that is now addressed so we can see your posting.  

Where are you seeing problems, with text and graphics?  I am having a bit of a problem with the information you are stating about the application creating 8mbs menus when outputting to Blu-ray when it is creating 24-40mbs timelines.  I don't know if that was a guess or where you got that information, but if you would, I would like you to check again.

Do this experiment.  Drag an HD template onto the menu compositor.  Drag 5 second HD video onto the background of the template.  Set the project settings to 1080p, 1080i or 720p.  save your project.  write a volume.  Then, go to media section of the palette, click on the import folder and navigate to the project you just created which by default would be in the My DVDs area of My Documents.  Inside of your project folder is a "sources" folder and inside of that is a "menus" folder.  Import the video from the menus folder into the palette.  Right click on the menu and click on "properties".  You will see that the menu is HD and that it's bit rate is the same as that which is in your HD transcoding settings.  I just tried this with 1080p, 1080i and 720p project settings for menus and each time, it created the proper sized menu with the proper frame rate.

Have you viewed the disc on a BD player or just with your computer and it's BD software.  Could be the software doesn't handle 1080p menus off of BD-R?  So that even though it plays back BD-ROM discs well it doesn't do BD-Rs well.  Don't know.  Did you try other sizes for the menus?

Scott:
I just made a project with one menu - background motion as well as motion chapter buttons (6) and they all turned out low rez - I did as you suggested above and lo and behold the menu had all SD paramters and bit rate. I checked project settings (all 1080p), preferences (widescreen menu was checked), I had used all HD files (.m2v) for the main movie as well as the background so no transcoding was necessary, and had used an HD template. Anyway, I put the project together again (from scratch) - same result. Then, I went back and used a differenct HD menu template to start with - repeated the project  and viola! - the menu parameters were all 1080p, bit rate 24,000, -- all the same parameters as the original video. The first template (with the problem) is the last HD template in the bin and is called "Urban Grit (HD)-Wide and the one that worked is the first HD template in the bin and is called Architectural (HD) - wide. When I played the final product (BD disc) on the computer I could immediately tell the difference.

Scott you also stated this in an earlier post:

"You say all of your assets are HD so I assume you are going widescreen for your menus (fullscreen makes 720x480 menus...but since there are very few fullscreen HDTVs, why would anyone author a Blu-ray project with Fullscreen menus). The design scaling in the menu compositor is set by the background of the image you bring in. If you use one of the standard templates, it is going to blow it up and look low res. If you use one of the HD templates with a 1920x1080 background, you should have HD output. Similarly, if you bring in your own 1920x1080 or 1280x720 background or video you should get HD out."

Could it be that the last template in there that is labeled HD but really isn't. I did use all 1080p .m2v files and repeated the project twice from scratch and kept getting the SD settings as noted above (bit rate was 8000) but as soon as I used the new template everything worked fine.

Any thoughts?

Edited by planetweckesser, 18 March 2007 - 05:11 AM.

[SS Scott]

this is a simulation issue.  If you do not simulate the project you will get HD menus, if you do, it renders your menus at 720x480 and they will forever be low rez.  it will be addressed in a forthcoming point release.  In the meantime, if you want HD menus, don't simulate your project.   Sorry for the hassle.

[Miichael Stewart]

this is a simulation issue.  If you do not simulate the project you will get HD menus, if you do, it renders your menus at 720x480 and they will forever be low rez.  it will be addressed in a forthcoming point release.  In the meantime, if you want HD menus, don't simulate your project.   Sorry for the hassle.

.

From December to today, 3 months and finally Roxio believes we have a problem, you guys should take a queue from Cineform, whenever there is a problem, they at least try to recreate it using the same steps as the customer, 3 months to identify an easily reproduced problem, very disappointing at the least. new software is bound to have problems, no denying that, but this particular problem, I felt Roxio failed to take it's customers seriously, the same advice and things to check were stated a few times by you, thinking we did something wrong, when a simple recreation could have had you guys working on the problem 3 months ago instead of just now. The customer is the one who is going to put the software through its paces, you should take us more seriously, I remember this same problem with Pinnacle Systems way back when, took forever for them to do anything.

Mike

[planetweckesser]

this is a simulation issue.  If you do not simulate the project you will get HD menus, if you do, it renders your menus at 720x480 and they will forever be low rez.  it will be addressed in a forthcoming point release.  In the meantime, if you want HD menus, don't simulate your project.   Sorry for the hassle.

Thanks for the help. I will try the same project using the original HD template and see if it works without going through the simulation mode. With type of menus I usually use (motion chapter buttons on top of a motion background) it doesn't really matter which template I use - just the number of buttons is the important part.

Edited by planetweckesser, 18 March 2007 - 08:53 AM.

[DonHDV]

I have done two projects since downloading Friday and both had flawless 1080x1920 menus.  I know because the still I brought in as background was a 1080x1920 .jpg and had a homemade resolution patches of alternating black and white, one pixel wide stripes.   Note that before bringing in anything, I assured "Project Settings" "HD Transcoding" had "Menus/Slideshows" as 1080x1920.  [If you are bringing in HDV 1080x1440 from an .m2t file RemuxTS.exe to .mpg, reset "Target bit rate" from 24000 to 25000 to keep quality].

I then used "Images" tab in the upperright panel to import my still and dragged it to the menu window.
I used "buttons"/"Show Navigation Buttons" and dragged arrows over to my menu.  
I used "Menu"  +movie to add my .mpg file
I deleted the thumbnail of the first frame of video that added to the menu
I made chapter points in the timeline
I woud then highlight an arrow in the menu window and use the panel on the lower right to link it to a chapter.

In other words, I steered clear of any kind of pre-made template.

Edited by DonHDV, 18 March 2007 - 12:55 PM.

[plekkie]

this is a simulation issue.  If you do not simulate the project you will get HD menus, if you do, it renders your menus at 720x480 and they will forever be low rez.  it will be addressed in a forthcoming point release.  In the meantime, if you want HD menus, don't simulate your project.   Sorry for the hassle.

Any developments on this issue since march 18th?