Menu Navigation and Planning a Disc Project

Just like your teacher used to tell you, "Plan your work and work your plan."

As was mentioned in Chapter 2, it's a good idea to sketch out the linking behavior of the menus in your project before you start to create it. Using pencil and paper is a good idea, just to map out the disc.

It should be very obvious to the viewer how to navigate your DVD. If the menus are too complicated, or if it isn't obvious what content is contained in each menu, then the frustrated viewer may lose interest in the DVD before even viewing it! Keep it clear.

Try to relate the design of the menus with the content of the disc. A good menu will use elements of the media contained on the disc to give the disc a cohesive feel. In this example a motion menu was created by panning on a still life of the wedding program and flowers.

Remember that the viewer will have to sit through the introductory video every time the disc is played. As a general rule keep introductory videos to 10 or 15 seconds. Unless there...