Creating Layered Video Backgrounds in DVD Workshop Menus

By Elar Walys

Creating advanced motion menus with layered video looks like it requires a lot of experience in video compositing and special effects, but it is actually quite easy to do with Uleads DVD Workshop 2 DVD authoring product. In this tutorial I?ll walk you through the process of creating a custom DVD menu complete with a layered video background and motion menu buttons.

To do this your self you will need (in addition to DVD Workshop 2) video you want to put on a DVD, plus some motion background video clips. I used a couple backgrounds from DMN Stock Resources, but any source video will work as long as it is in a format recognized by DVD Workshop. Best results will be gotten with video clips that loop seamlessly.

 
This is a frame from the final DVD menu. All four video clips are motion menu buttons, plus we have a motion video background layer at the top and a second layer at the bottom. We?ll look at a video of the actual menu at the end of the article.





 


Drag and drop the video clips you want to make a DVD into the bin at the bottom of the screen. (Note that the first clip is for video to be played before the menu is displayed, so do not use that unless you want it.) Here I have added four clips that will be the basis of my DVD content.