DVD composition at DVinfo.net

Urban Skargren · June 28th, 2007, 04:30 AM

Hi! Would like to hear how you compose your finished wedding video dvd. I mean how you divide the different parts, or if you put them all into one film.
When I did a wedding film last summer I made one ceremony film and then different films (buttons on the dvd) for the reception (with guest commentaries), the party as such and finally individual films for each speech at the party. I suppose no film should be longer than 20 minutes.
Anybody succeeded in building a real dramatic structure into a wedding film (with setup, tension and pay-off)?

Paul J Carey · June 28th, 2007, 10:17 AM

I've only done a few weddings so far but in both situations I did the following set up for the DVD:
1. "teaser trailer"- This is a short 1 minute trailer I send when I first begin to edit. I put it in the DVD as a "preview".
2. One chapter for pre-ceremony, ceremony and reception.
3. Any other special sequences like a love story or special moments.

Generally my DVD's have been 5-6 chapters and about 45 minutes. But it all depends on what you are offering, what the customer is paying for and how the editing goes. I'm sure others do it quite differently. In the actual DVD menu I just have one main menu with chapter selection. I try to keep it simple and easy to navigate.

- Paul

Art Varga · June 29th, 2007, 07:09 PM

My last DVD was structured like this

MAIN MENU

Chapters, Slideshow, Extras

SECOND MENU - Chapters
Pre-Ceremony
Ceremony
Our First Dance
Mother Son Dance
Dad Daughter Dance
Toasts

Slideshow - 3 minute ( 1 song) slideshow of stills captured from the video

In my Extra's menu I have "Well Wishes" (table interviews), "Behind the Scenes" these are unedited clips that didn't make the video but are fun to watch - mostly funny stuff that happened during the pre-ceremony, Finally, the "Highlight Video" which I also deploy on the web.

Total time about 45 minutes

Art

Victor Kellar · June 29th, 2007, 10:26 PM

"I suppose no film should be longer than 20 minutes"

Gee, can I edit for you?

Most of the studios I work for are weighing in around the 45 min mark minimum. One studio is still doing 90 mins to two hours ... that's just for morning, ceremony, park and hall. Mind you, they do the entire ceremony and include all hall speeches in their entirety. Yeesh.

When I do my own stuff I organize it like this:

A firstplay that consists of a very quick highlite/trailer type video ... no longer than 20 seconds ... black and white shots cut to some classical or new age piece that starts out slow and ends with a cresendo.

That leads to a menu screen featuring a slideshow from the wedding day that gives you two submenu options:

Submenu One gives you choices of: Morning Of, Ceremony (heavily edited) Park and and Extras that include Bridal Party Best Wishes, Bloopers and any Prewedding

Submenu Two gives you the Hall with chapters for Entrances, First Dance, Parents Dance, Speeches (heavily edited) and Party Time (an edited highlight of the hall). Also has buttons for Flashback (wedding highlight) B&G on-cam interviews and Honeymoon slides if any

Rick Steele · June 30th, 2007, 06:25 AM

I have seen all kinds of DVD presentation styles.

Many are merely one long continuous edit of the entire day with the main menu having only 2 buttons. (e.g. Play Movie, Index). The index contains chapter marks to specific events.

I've also seen DVD's without a menu at all but there are about a dozen or so chapter marks placed at key spots in the movie so the user just presses "next" on the remote to fast forward.

My edits are similar to yours. Most all events are standalone movies seperated by a 3 second fade. The final DVD will typically run about 45 minutes to an hour.

Jon Omiatek · June 30th, 2007, 06:49 AM

I use a 1 minute highlight as the background and a play and chapter link on the main menu. The main menu also has their names and or event and sometimes the date.

The chapter menu has chapters for major events. When I render the mpg for dvd, I add index points every two minutes if there is a large amount of time between chapter points. That way, as they are watching the dvd, it's easy to jump around the dvd.

Jerry Pollock · July 5th, 2007, 07:35 PM

I know it's been a couple of months since the last reply to this thread but I have a question similar to these ya'll have been discussing and I need to find out just how many minutes you can get on a DVD and how you do it. I do weddings and lately have been asked about trying to include so much more than I have been doing. Mostly mine have been about 45min to 1 hour and now I am completing one that is over 1hr 45min and I don't know if I can get it all on one DVD. I am using Vegas 7 and DVDA4. I would appreciate all the help I can get.

Jon Omiatek · July 5th, 2007, 07:57 PM

I use vegas as well. If you use the default template for MPEG-2 NTSC DVD, you can use about 1hour :25 minutes with menus and a motion main menu. If you don't mind losing some quality, you can change the bit rate a bit and get about 2hrs.

I'm personally have no problem giving 2 dvds. Considering some ceremonies will fill an entire dvd.

Edward Troxels site has a chart which will help you with the bit rate chart.
http://www.jetdv.com/vegas/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15

Jerry Pollock · July 5th, 2007, 08:10 PM

If you use 2 DVD's, how do you divide them? In the one I'm doing now, the bride wanted me to include the rehearsal because they had several people that made toasts and the bride wanted all of that and it took up 25 min. The wedding was 40 min long and I included all of that. They like for the reception to include a lot of the dancing so it is long also. I haven' t finished it yet.

Victor Kellar · July 5th, 2007, 08:50 PM

Generally, if we put the wedding over two DVDs it is because of long speeches and the one studio where they include the entire ceremony.

I have one DVD as sort of a highlight DVD: Getting ready in the morning, a highly edited ceremony, park, a recep that is maybe 10 minutes total, any pre wedding stuff

Second DVD is the entire ceremony, all the speeches and the day's highlight

OR: I've done old school weddings where everything is long so we put DVD One is everything up to and including the Park, DVD Two is the Hall, highlights, etc

Jon Omiatek · July 6th, 2007, 08:03 AM

I usually put them in chronological order.

For Example my last dvd had

Play all - Chapter menu on MAIN DVD MENU --- Chapter Menu also includes a 5 minute highlight of their entire wedding.
Wedding Montage followed by Pre-Ceremony footage(Bridal Prep and BROLL before ceremony) followed by Ceremony followed by Post Ceremony Followed by BROLL Reception, Bridal Party Entrance, First Dance and Toasts. 1:25 minutes

Second DVD
General Dancing, Bouquet and Garter, followed by Interviews followed by Honeymoon Montage 1:25 minutes

Yes, these are the lord of the rings length but it seems to be what the brides want it, the more footage the better.

Other companies in town offer 45min to 1hr maximum and they also get plenty of work. I assume that comes down to how you market it!

Urban Skargren · July 6th, 2007, 01:42 PM

All respect to lengty videos, but who of all the family and relatives watch lengthy videos a second time? For me quality is short. "Hey, shall we watch the wedding video of my brother?" "Naa, it's too long and boring". or "It's only 20 minutes and really fun. Your'e gonna like it." "Ok, run it!"
At least the different films on the dvd should be no longer than 20 minutes. That's what I think.

June 28th, 2007, 04:30 AM	#1
Urban Skargren Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Medellin, Colombia Posts: 225	DVD composition Hi! Would like to hear how you compose your finished wedding video dvd. I mean how you divide the different parts, or if you put them all into one film. When I did a wedding film last summer I made one ceremony film and then different films (buttons on the dvd) for the reception (with guest commentaries), the party as such and finally individual films for each speech at the party. I suppose no film should be longer than 20 minutes. Anybody succeeded in building a real dramatic structure into a wedding film (with setup, tension and pay-off)?

July 5th, 2007, 07:35 PM	#7
Jerry Pollock New Boot Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Bainbridge, Ga Posts: 11	Lenght of a DVD I know it's been a couple of months since the last reply to this thread but I have a question similar to these ya'll have been discussing and I need to find out just how many minutes you can get on a DVD and how you do it. I do weddings and lately have been asked about trying to include so much more than I have been doing. Mostly mine have been about 45min to 1 hour and now I am completing one that is over 1hr 45min and I don't know if I can get it all on one DVD. I am using Vegas 7 and DVDA4. I would appreciate all the help I can get.

July 5th, 2007, 07:57 PM	#8
Jon Omiatek Major Player Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Columbus, Ohio Posts: 755	I use vegas as well. If you use the default template for MPEG-2 NTSC DVD, you can use about 1hour :25 minutes with menus and a motion main menu. If you don't mind losing some quality, you can change the bit rate a bit and get about 2hrs. I'm personally have no problem giving 2 dvds. Considering some ceremonies will fill an entire dvd. Edward Troxels site has a chart which will help you with the bit rate chart. http://www.jetdv.com/vegas/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15 Last edited by Jon Omiatek; July 6th, 2007 at 08:04 AM.

June 28th, 2007, 10:17 AM	#2
Paul J Carey Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Minneapolis Posts: 66	I've only done a few weddings so far but in both situations I did the following set up for the DVD: 1. "teaser trailer"- This is a short 1 minute trailer I send when I first begin to edit. I put it in the DVD as a "preview". 2. One chapter for pre-ceremony, ceremony and reception. 3. Any other special sequences like a love story or special moments. Generally my DVD's have been 5-6 chapters and about 45 minutes. But it all depends on what you are offering, what the customer is paying for and how the editing goes. I'm sure others do it quite differently. In the actual DVD menu I just have one main menu with chapter selection. I try to keep it simple and easy to navigate. - Paul

June 29th, 2007, 07:09 PM	#3
Art Varga Major Player Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Belle Mead, NJ Posts: 552	My last DVD was structured like this MAIN MENU Chapters, Slideshow, Extras SECOND MENU - Chapters Pre-Ceremony Ceremony Our First Dance Mother Son Dance Dad Daughter Dance Toasts Slideshow - 3 minute ( 1 song) slideshow of stills captured from the video In my Extra's menu I have "Well Wishes" (table interviews), "Behind the Scenes" these are unedited clips that didn't make the video but are fun to watch - mostly funny stuff that happened during the pre-ceremony, Finally, the "Highlight Video" which I also deploy on the web. Total time about 45 minutes Art

June 29th, 2007, 10:26 PM	#4
Victor Kellar Major Player Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Toronto Ontario Canada Posts: 239	"I suppose no film should be longer than 20 minutes" Gee, can I edit for you? Most of the studios I work for are weighing in around the 45 min mark minimum. One studio is still doing 90 mins to two hours ... that's just for morning, ceremony, park and hall. Mind you, they do the entire ceremony and include all hall speeches in their entirety. Yeesh. When I do my own stuff I organize it like this: A firstplay that consists of a very quick highlite/trailer type video ... no longer than 20 seconds ... black and white shots cut to some classical or new age piece that starts out slow and ends with a cresendo. That leads to a menu screen featuring a slideshow from the wedding day that gives you two submenu options: Submenu One gives you choices of: Morning Of, Ceremony (heavily edited) Park and and Extras that include Bridal Party Best Wishes, Bloopers and any Prewedding Submenu Two gives you the Hall with chapters for Entrances, First Dance, Parents Dance, Speeches (heavily edited) and Party Time (an edited highlight of the hall). Also has buttons for Flashback (wedding highlight) B&G on-cam interviews and Honeymoon slides if any

June 30th, 2007, 06:25 AM	#5
Rick Steele Major Player Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Denver, Colorado USA Posts: 654	I have seen all kinds of DVD presentation styles. Many are merely one long continuous edit of the entire day with the main menu having only 2 buttons. (e.g. Play Movie, Index). The index contains chapter marks to specific events. I've also seen DVD's without a menu at all but there are about a dozen or so chapter marks placed at key spots in the movie so the user just presses "next" on the remote to fast forward. My edits are similar to yours. Most all events are standalone movies seperated by a 3 second fade. The final DVD will typically run about 45 minutes to an hour.

June 30th, 2007, 06:49 AM	#6
Jon Omiatek Major Player Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Columbus, Ohio Posts: 755	I use a 1 minute highlight as the background and a play and chapter link on the main menu. The main menu also has their names and or event and sometimes the date. The chapter menu has chapters for major events. When I render the mpg for dvd, I add index points every two minutes if there is a large amount of time between chapter points. That way, as they are watching the dvd, it's easy to jump around the dvd.

July 5th, 2007, 08:10 PM	#9
Jerry Pollock New Boot Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Bainbridge, Ga Posts: 11	If you use 2 DVD's, how do you divide them? In the one I'm doing now, the bride wanted me to include the rehearsal because they had several people that made toasts and the bride wanted all of that and it took up 25 min. The wedding was 40 min long and I included all of that. They like for the reception to include a lot of the dancing so it is long also. I haven' t finished it yet.

July 5th, 2007, 08:50 PM	#10
Victor Kellar Major Player Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Toronto Ontario Canada Posts: 239	Generally, if we put the wedding over two DVDs it is because of long speeches and the one studio where they include the entire ceremony. I have one DVD as sort of a highlight DVD: Getting ready in the morning, a highly edited ceremony, park, a recep that is maybe 10 minutes total, any pre wedding stuff Second DVD is the entire ceremony, all the speeches and the day's highlight OR: I've done old school weddings where everything is long so we put DVD One is everything up to and including the Park, DVD Two is the Hall, highlights, etc

July 6th, 2007, 08:03 AM	#11
Jon Omiatek Major Player Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Columbus, Ohio Posts: 755	I usually put them in chronological order. For Example my last dvd had Play all - Chapter menu on MAIN DVD MENU --- Chapter Menu also includes a 5 minute highlight of their entire wedding. Wedding Montage followed by Pre-Ceremony footage(Bridal Prep and BROLL before ceremony) followed by Ceremony followed by Post Ceremony Followed by BROLL Reception, Bridal Party Entrance, First Dance and Toasts. 1:25 minutes Second DVD General Dancing, Bouquet and Garter, followed by Interviews followed by Honeymoon Montage 1:25 minutes Yes, these are the lord of the rings length but it seems to be what the brides want it, the more footage the better. Other companies in town offer 45min to 1hr maximum and they also get plenty of work. I assume that comes down to how you market it!

July 6th, 2007, 01:42 PM	#12
Urban Skargren Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Medellin, Colombia Posts: 225	All respect to lengty videos, but who of all the family and relatives watch lengthy videos a second time? For me quality is short. "Hey, shall we watch the wedding video of my brother?" "Naa, it's too long and boring". or "It's only 20 minutes and really fun. Your'e gonna like it." "Ok, run it!" At least the different films on the dvd should be no longer than 20 minutes. That's what I think.