Create Graphics for DVD and Blu-ray Menus in Final Cut Pro X and Compressor

Final Cut Pro X and Compressor support still images for both DVD and Blu-ray menus, including full motion menus using Motion templates for Blu-ray menus.

General Guidelines for Creating Still Image Menu Backgrounds

Final Cut Pro X and Compressor support a variety of graphics formats for still images, including JPEG, TIFF, PNG, BMP, and Photoshop PSD files. For best results, follow these guidelines:

• Make horizontal lines at least three pixels thick to avoid flicker on TV screens. For the same reason, avoid using typefaces with narrow lines. Flicker might be more noticeable when using serif fonts.
• Make vertical lines at least two pixels thick to avoid color shifts from encoding and decoding. Also avoid using thin vertical lines at the left or right edge of your image.
• Use colors from the standard TV palette (Rec. 709). Extremely bright or highly saturated colors may not display correctly when viewed on a TV screen.

Creating DVD Still Image Menu Backgrounds

DVD video is designed to be played in one of two aspect ratios, 4:3 (Fullscreen) or 16:9 (Widescreen). The native storage format of the video is typically 720 x 480 pixels (NTSC) or 720 x 576 pixels (PAL). These formats do not match either specified ratio. As a result, a DVD player is expected to scale the video appropriately to play it in either the 4:3 or 16:9 format. This is known as anamorphic video.

To make sure that your menu graphics display correctly (circles are circular and squares are square) use these steps to prepare your video in the correct anamorphic format:

1. Prepare your graphics at the final display aspect ratio using the table below. The "starting" size refers to the size you use when preparing your image.
2. Use a graphics application to scale your starting image to the correct video frame size (see table for "final" frame size). When scaling the image it might look distorted (squeezed or stretched horizontally) but it will look proportional on the final DVD or Blu-ray.
3. Import the final 720x480 or 720x576 pixel image into Compressor as your menu background.

Starting frame sizes to use when preparing menu graphics along with final frame sizes to use when importing those graphic images into Compressor.

In the past, DVD authoring programs recommended putting in additional corrections for "non- square" pixels on TV screens. This was required so that images displayed correctly on older analog NTSC and PAL TVs. Newer high-definition TVs use only square pixels, so no additional corrections are necessary for the values in table 1.

Final Cut Pro X and Compressor only support creating 16:9 aspect ratio menus. 4:3 aspect ratio menus aren't supported in Final Cut Pro X or Compressor.

Creating Blu-ray Still Image Menu Backgrounds

Blu-ray discs support standard-definition video as well as high-definition video up to a frame size of 1920 x 1080. Menus are typically authored in high-definition, with an aspect ratio of 16:9. Since high-definition video typically does not use anamorphic video, there's generally no need to scale your image.

To make sure that your graphics display correctly, prepare your images using these steps:

1. Prepare your graphics at a size of 1920 x 1080, the standard size for high-definition video with an aspect ratio of 16:9.
2. Import this 1920 x 1080 pixel image into Compressor as your menu background without any further scaling. 

DVD and Blu-ray Menu Overlays from Final Cut Pro X and Compressor

Final Cut Pro X and Compressor automatically include menu elements that overlay any custom background image you include.

The following tables show the overlay elements and their nominal positions in Final Cut Pro X 10.2.1 and Compressor 4.2 for DVDs and Blu-ray discs.