Section 17.1. iDVD s Built-in Themes

17.1. iDVD's Built-in Themes

In iDVD 6, Apple added ten new themes. Each actually includes several related designs: a main screen, a chapters screen, and an extras screen. Many of these new styles include fabulous motion backgrounds and moving drop zones, as described in the preceding chapters. These new themes are designed more for general use (like Reflections and Shelves) than the event-based themes of past versions (like Wedding White and Baby Mobile from iDVD 5).

iDVD themes vary in complexity. Some offer completely realized presentations. Others provide little more than colors and fonts, leaving it up to you to mold them. Either way, the built-in themes, both old and new, provide an excellent jumping-off point for your DVDs.

17.1.1. The Themes Pane

All five collections6.0 Themes, 5.0 Themes, 4.0 Themes, Old Themes and Favoritesappear in the Themes pane. As you study the scrolling list, you'll notice that:

• Favorites appear together . When you choose Favorites from the Theme Set pop-up menu at the top of the pane, all Favorites (themes that you've created) appear together in the same list. (This list is empty when you start out using iDVD.) Themes bought from other companies (like www.idvdthemepak.com) are listed separately in the pop-up menu.

• You can view several sets at once . iDVD 6 lets you view a single set of themes, or all themes at once. To view just one set, select its name from the Theme Set pop-up menu. To view all themes, choose All from that same menu.

• The walking-man icon means sound or audio . A round walking-man logo in the corner of a theme thumbnail designates a motion background or audio loop.

  Figure 17-1. Your DVD's main menu screen can look like just about anything, as you can see by these samples from the 6.0, 5.0, 4.0, and Old theme sets (from top). Not shown: the background music that you supply.

  

• The ribbon means Favorite . A gray prize ribbon appears in the lower-left corner of certain themes. This icon lets you know that the theme is a Favoritea theme that you created yourself. You'll find out how to create Favorites later in this chapter.

17.1.2. The Built-in Themes

To try each theme out for size , read the aspect-ratio discussion in Section 15.6.3, and then click one thumbnail after another. What you'll discover is that many of the 6.0 themes have been designed to match coordinated, like-named themes in iMovie 6 (see Chapter 5), which can give your overall project a nice consistency.

You'll also discover that some of the themes look great but have background music that becomes annoying after several repetitions (Travel in the 6.0 set comes to mind). Others have great music, but not such beautiful design (Brushstrokes). Some look stunning, but the text is hard to read and navigate (like Reflection White and Black). Some have room for only very short button names (Sliding Panes in the 5.0 set).

As you go, remember that only the 6.0 themes include widescreen versions (Figure 17-1). In fact, the older you go (5.0, 4.0, Old), the simpler and less animated the theme designs become. Depending on your sensibilities, that may be a good thing.