hi terry

thanx for getting back to me,

this is where i added the image, size is 1080 x 600 - 72 resolution ( tho i have tried different sizes resolutions but still the same..)

this is the end result, the video itsel seems to be ok just the menu.. i have also tried it with magix MEP mx 18, and it seems to work ok with that version.. i did buy this program a few months ago and had the problem then, so i returned it, but i bought it again as it had an update so i thought the fixed the problem, but no.. so if i cant resolve it ill be returning it again..  steven

Hi,

Thanks for the screenshots. Perhaps it's the low res of the Magix image embedding, but I can't see any significant difference in quality!

There seem to be very few DVD menu templates in your version. What is the exact product name? And is that template the default?

Can you upload these at their original resolution to a host site such as Dropbox?

yes i just clicked on the image and it doesnt show you the full image, ive uploaded them again to this address

https://mega.co.nz/#!Lg02zR4I!E_qnU84SPW2-0S_VnE4fmb5SU_7pWYwnYRqEYlF4jWs

https://mega.co.nz/#!z1VRlDRC!KLVo7nS32spOZ2-Jr9u58xGnRq7w0_j4pSLH7NCyZdk

just download them

Movie Edit Pro 2015 is the product im using

I think it's probably an issue of size and aspect ratio. Also, downsampling of a large image is best done externally, before importing to a PAL DVD project in a video editor.

So in your image editor I'd try cropping and/or resizing your menu image to 1024 x576 for a 16:9 DVD (or 768 x 476 if for some reason you want a 4:3 DVD).

Did you actually burn the DVD and play it on your TV to observe the pixelation? Or just view the DVD folder (VOB files) on your PC? It should look better on the TV.

hi terry

i did reduce the sizes to what you said but to no avail, i did contact magix support but they said they cant do anything about it, so really thats it then, looks like ill be requesting a refund, i do have magix pro MX and have no problems with that..do you or know anyone  have or tried the Magix Edit Pro 2015 , if so do they have the same problems

thanx for trying to help with the problem, maybe in a couple of years they might get it right

i did view it on the samsung tv and still terrible,

steven

Hi Steven,

Sorry to hear my resizing suggestion didn't help.

But don't give up yet. There are several users here with MEP 2015 and I'm hoping they might be able to help.

You apparently don't get this problem if you repeat the identical exercise in MEP MX. I'm assuming you're 100% confident of that crucial point. If so, that does indicate a significant issue with MEP 2015. If you've included this in your report to Magix then I'm very surprised at the response you describe. FWIW, my money is still on some other explanation!

I'll refer Magix to this thread.

hi terry

yes im sure about the MEP MX that i have, adding jpegs to the menu are ok, a lot better and not pixalated..

i did a quick slideshow this morning just adding images, hi res images and burned them to a disc, played it in my dvd player and the quality was just as bad.. so i think this program doesnt like adding images, they look ok in the monitor window , its just when you burn them to disk

Hi Steven,

One other thing you might try for your menu image. Start with 1024x576 in your image editor. These are square pixels and the DVD needs rectangular pixels. So resize it to 720x576 (which will look squashed inwards of course) before you import into MEP with the Burn > Edit tool.

I don't have the program myself (I use PaintShop Pro) but if your editor is Photoshop then I gather it has a preset specifically for this purpose, called something like PAL Widescreen 720x576.

Here's the result of a test i did using that approach (in MEP 2014):

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4019461/MenuTest-Comparison720x576.jpg

As I mentioned earlier, I'd be very surprised to learn that MEP 2015 has a fundamental flaw in the way it burns still images, compared to earlier versions. Within the obvious limitations of 720 x 576 on a widescreen TV, my MEP 2014 (and earlier) DVDs look fine to me. This point will hopefully be resolved by feedback from another MEP 2015 user.

Another possibility you might want to rule out is that MEP 2015 is somehow set to wrongly burn NTSC Instead of PAL DVDs. I've posted about this (or the reverse case) several times recently.

I had a reply from MAGIX and gather your ticketed support request is ongoing.

hi terry

magix just got back to me heres what they said.. (( .I have spoken to Development and we are releasing a patch shortly (next week or so) that should improve the standard settings for the encoders.

We changed encoders in the last release and some of the settings are not optimal, compared to the older encoders. This should affect the menu encoding that you are concerned about. ))

i did try what you said in your last message, but still the same, i use photoshop cs5

am i adding the image to my template correctly, where i showed you on the first screencap?  ( design page edit )

i also did a small 2 minute video the same proceedure with the same image, but burned it in achvd to my desktop and the image was a lot better quality, it it just the dvd menus thats having problems..

Hi Steven,

So your problem seems to be down to a degradation in MEP 2015 after all. Doesn't speak well of pre-release testing IMO. Maybe there are other factors but I think there's no point pursuing them until after you've installed the promised patch.

It's a bit surprising there have been no other reports here of low quality DVD menus as far as I know. Maybe there aren't many of us making DVDs anymore!

Yes, that Edit button method looks fine if your aim is to use a large background image that is not on your timeline. But if you still want to probe further while waiting for the 2015 patch I'd also explore two other sources

1. The dropdown list of built-in backgrounds
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4019461/MEP-Backgrounds-Dropdown-1.jpg

2. The Arranger
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4019461/MEP-Backgrounds-Arranger-1.jpg

hi terry

thanx for your help, when i contact magix next week, ill let you know what happens..

while your here i have another teaser..

i have about 20 music video clips and want to put them onto dvd, the clips are all different volume levels, some are louder than others.. the reason i bought the MEP 2015 is because it has a volume effect that adjusts the loudness to the same level, its new as its not on other magix products ive bought...my question is can it be done say in the MEP MX  in a different way but same result, i thought if you select all the videos audio and normalise them that would do it, but just makes them louder...   thanx

steven