Maximum times of background audio and video for title screen

Berzelius · Post by **Berzelius** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 10:04 pm

Could you explain the reasons for the various maximum times for the above. As far as I can see, if you do not have a background video running with the title screen then there is no limit to the length of the background audio. However, if you have a background video, then the audio is limited to the maximum time of the video, namely 30 seconds. Why is this and why is the background video limited to 30 seconds?

When I used to use Roxio EMC I discovered that the background audio for the title screen was limited to 30 seconds and was told that this was some sort of industry standard and that this limit was unbreachable. Obviously, VideoStudio has managed to breach it for audio without any difficulty, so why not for video?

Black Lab · Post by **Black Lab** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 2:06 am

Are you talking about a menu?

Post by **Ron P.** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 3:53 am

It would appear that you're referring to the background audio/video of the menus. This is apparently by design. I don't know why anyone would want a menu background that would last longer. I don't know of many that stay on a menu page for even 30 seconds.

Post by **Ken Berry** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 4:13 am

I also thought that the audio was limited to 30 seconds, regardless of whether you have a video or still image background to your menu. The stock clips provided with VS are short. And when I add my own music, I either use SonicFire Pro and tailor a clip to be exactly 30 seconds, or else an audio editor to trim a music clip to the required length and add a fade out. Moreover, this has been my understanding of, and resulting practice with, successive versions of VS, including VS11/11.5+.

Berzelius · Post by **Berzelius** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 1:25 pm

Thanks for the replies. Yes, I was talking about the menus. The main reason for wanting more than 30 seconds is to be able to finish the audio clip at a suitable point rather than having an abrupt break in the middle of a passage. I always seem to find that if I could just stretch it to 31 seconds it would sound much better.

The ability to do this in VideoStudio, if you're prepared not to have a video clip in the menu, is extremely useful.

I also suspect that I'm not the only person who would like this facility. Referring back to Roxio EMC, there was quite a lengthy thread on this topic which included one or too extremely complicated work arounds that I never managed to actually get to work.

Post by **Ken Berry** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 1:48 pm

Do you really think people are going to sit there watching the menu just because you have nice music, for more than 30 seconds? Why not trim the music as I suggested?

Black Lab · Post by **Black Lab** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 2:19 pm

Furthermore, VS gives you the ability to fade in/out the menu music, whether it be a 10 second clip or a 30 second clip.

Berzelius · Post by **Berzelius** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 9:55 am

Ken Berry wrote:Do you really think people are going to sit there watching the menu just because you have nice music, for more than 30 seconds? Why not trim the music as I suggested?

I do trim the music - I normally use Audacity or Roxio Sound Editor. My point was simply that, sometimes, it would be convenient to trim it at, say, 35 seconds to avoid a jarring break. And, yes, I fully agree that people won't sit there for hours listening to the menu but they might well, for any number of reasons, wait for more than 30 seconds before starting the video. Having a smooth transition back to the start rather than a jarring break is one of those unessential, but rather nice, things to do if it is possible. I suppose it depends on how perfectionist you feel.

Berzelius · Post by **Berzelius** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 9:57 am

Black Lab wrote:Furthermore, VS gives you the ability to fade in/out the menu music, whether it be a 10 second clip or a 30 second clip.

Thanks. I didn't know that; it sounds useful. I shall check it out.

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 4:50 am

You seem to have answered your own problem!
Menus that contain any form of video are limited to 30 seconds maximum duration. This includes menus that contain one or more of the following:

Moving background
Moving thumbnails.
Animations such as GIF's

Static menus can have audio that lasts several minutes - there may or may not be a maximum duration but I have created for someone a wedding DVD where I had a static menu and used a background song that lasted roughly 3 / 3.5 minutes.