Section 17.4. Changing Backgrounds | iMovie 6 & iDVD: The Missing Manual

17.4. Changing Backgrounds

The menu-screen background provides a look and atmosphere that defines the entire screen. As a result, choosing a new background can add a unique twist to an existing theme. As you've already read, the Menu pane plays a key role here. Dropping a movie or picture(s) into the background well replaces the background; dragging out from the well restores the theme default. But that's not the whole story.

Just dropping art and video onto the background well eliminates any drop zones built into the theme. That can be a good thing if you just want a simple backdrop. But what if you want to update the background without destroying the other menu elements?

Fortunately, iDVD 6 introduces a neat feature: a secret menu. Figure 17-3 reveals all.

Tip: Both of the preceding techniques change only the currently displayed menu screen. To apply the change to all menu screens, choose Advanced

Apply Theme To Project.

key. Voila! Your secret menu appears. Choose Replace Background to replace the existing background artwithout wiping out the drop zones. To leave the background in place, choose Add Movie or Create Slideshow. Finally, to duplicate the effect of dropping your movie or art onto the background well in the Menu pane while zapping the drop zones out of your theme, choose Replace Background and Drop Zones.

Here are a few tips for using background images and video:

17.4.1. Background Images

You can drag any graphics file onto the editor window or background well. You can drag a JPEG file, for example, right out of the Finder, out of iPhoto if it's open , or out of the Media Photos pane.

You can even drop a group of images; this produces a slideshow that plays for the duration of your menu loop and then repeats.

17.4.2. Background Video

Instead of a photo background, you can also create moving, animated, video backgrounds , just like the ones on many commercial Hollywood DVDs.

Note: In all, iDVD provides three different places to install movies onto your menu screens. The following instructions pertain to only full-screen background videos. Don't confuse video backgrounds with drop zone videos or button videos .

Before you delve into this exciting new career, keep these points in mind:

Your video will loop . Your background video file will play, then restart and play again as long as your audience leaves the menu on the TV screen. There's no way to make a video background play just once.

power users' clinic
Designing Video Loops in iMovie

Background videos don't have to jump between the end of one play-through and the beginning of the next . If you're willing to take a little time in iMovie, you can eliminate sudden visual changes that create unpleasant jumps . Consider these techniques:

Fade or Wash In and Out : Create a smooth fade out at the end of the movie clip, and a smooth fade in at the beginning, using the Fade In and Fade Out transition styles described in Chapter 6 (or, if you're partial to white, Wash In and Wash Out).

Use Cross Dissolve : If you prefer, you can design your movie so that the end cross- dissolves into the beginning each time it loops.

Move the Playhead to 4:02 seconds before the end of your movie. Choose Edit Split Video at Playhead to break off that 4-second segment into a clip of its own.

Now drag this 4:02-second clip to the front of your movie, add a 4-second cross-dissolve between the transposed clip and the start of your movie, and save your work.

You can choose a different length for the crossfade ; just make sure that the transposed clip lasts at least two frames longer than the desired transition time. This method works particularly well on stock footage, such as wind-swept grass, fish in an aquarium, and so forth.

You may discover a couple of drawbacks to this method. First, the start and end audio and video will overlap, and you may not like the results. Second, the background video will, unfortunately , start with the crossfade. There's no way yet to make it start playing from an un-crossfaded spot (iDVD 6's new Background Movie Start/End scrubber won't help here) unless you do some clever cutting and pasting in iMovie. iDVD 7, perhaps?

iDVD adds both video and sound . When your imported background video contains a soundtrack, that sound becomes the new soundtrack for the menu screen. It wipes out whatever music came with the theme.
iDVD handles timing . iDVD automatically adjusts the Duration slider (at the top of the Menu pane) to match the length of your movie. You can, however, play with its start and end points. Figure 17-4 shows how.

Figure 17-4. New in iDVD 6: You can adjust the start and end times of your background movies. Click the tiny triangle button (indicated by the cursor) to change the function of the duration slider, so that it's now a Background Movie Start/End scrubber. Drag the start and end handles to showcase just the right part of your movie in the loop.

17.4.2.1. Background video selection

Choosing background video can be harder than selecting a still image, for two important reasons:

Video moves . If you're not careful, video can hide or overwhelm your titles, buttons , and drop zones. "Audition" your videos and make sure they work with your menus before you burn. In particular, watch for moving objects and scenes that are too bright or too dark.

Tip: You can create a simple washed-out background video by applying iMovie's Fog effect. Leave the Wind slider at its factory setting. Drag the Fog slider to "more" and Color to "white," and then click Apply. This effect lightens your video, providing a more suitable backdrop for a DVD menu. Not light enough? Apply it a second time!
Motion menus loop . Unless you take special care when creating your video, menu looping will create sudden, sharp, sometimes distracting transitions between the end and start of your video.