Apple DVD Studio Pro 4 - Manual (Page 371)

You need to use a video editing application to add effects such as dissolves, wipes, and
keys to the video. With this kind of editor, you can precisely choose each clip’s start and
end points—the trimming capability of DVD Studio Pro is restricted to Group of Pictures
(GOP) boundaries only, making it much harder to trim a clip exactly where you would
like. Also, DVD Studio Pro can’t mix multiple audio assets together as you can with an
editor.
How Many Tracks Should You Have?
Depending on your intended result, your project may have one long track, or you may
choose to divide your material into multiple tracks that can be played separately or linked
together.
For example, if you are working on a long project that you expect the viewer to watch
from beginning to end, using one long track is the best option. This eliminates any pauses
that the viewer may encounter while the DVD player jumps from one track to another.
Even if your project contains several independent segments that the viewer would not
watch one after the other, you can still use a single track and set actions on the markers
to break the track into the smaller segments. Or, you can create separate tracks for each
segment—whichever method is easiest for you to manage.
In some cases, such as a track with a mixture of still images and motion clips, you may
need to use multiple tracks to work around the 99 chapter marker-per-track limit.
If you think you may need to replace some segments in your project later on—for example,
to customize for various countries or to update outdated sections—you may find it easier
to replace these segments if they are separate tracks.
About Subtitle Streams
Subtitles can be created in the Track Editor, or they can be imported from other
applications. They can be used to overlay dialogue text over the video stream, or to
overlay simple graphics. Subtitles can also be used to place buttons over the video; the
viewer can select these buttons just as they would on a menu.
See Creating Subtitles for information on working with subtitles.
DVD Studio Pro Tools for Working with Tracks
DVD Studio Pro provides two primary tools for configuring your tracks: the Track Inspector
and the Track Editor.
• The Track Inspector contains general track settings, such as its aspect ratio, what happens
when the track finishes, the remote control settings, and DVD@CCESS settings.
371 Chapter 17 Creating and Editing Tracks