Chapter 3. Great Menus: Layers

Now that all the basics are out of the way, let's get on with the projects. The first set of projects we're going to tackle revolves around DVD menus. Menus are the first thing you see when you pop in a DVD. And we all know how important first impressions are! It stands to reason that creating menus consumes most of the time you spend when working on DVD projects. We just want to make sure it's time well spent.

In addition, our projects are going to get a bit more complex—and interesting!

In this chapter, we'll start with the most important part of your DVD: the menu. Everything else is definitely secondary to a fantastic menu. Don't get us wrong—some of the extra features such as audio commentaries and scripting can produce some fun, impressive projects. But nothing will get used as much as menus—every project will have them. We'll look at all the possibilities for making your menus as creative and engaging as possible.

Menus are so integral, in fact, that we can't fit a discussion of the topic into just one chapter. Therefore, this chapter will focus on the templates that are available in DVDSP and will teach you how to create your own layered menus, with highly customizable buttons and graphics. Chapter 4 will focus on using video assets to produce dynamic backgrounds and buttons for your menus.

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