John Doe Comes to Sci-Fi

[markatisu]

Its a shame this show was cancelled, but I guess if it was not we would not have Prison Break. Either way if anyone was looking for episode upgrades or missed an episode this might be the chance to get it

According to the January Sci Fi channel schedule, reruns of former Fox series John Doe will be added to the cable network's Friday night lineup at 7/6c p.m.. starting January 20, 2006.

This move is more than a little ironic to Firefly/Serenity fans. After Firefly was cancelled by Fox in the 2002-2003 season, it was John Doe that replaced it on the that network's schedule.

John Doe the series follows the life of the character "John Doe," a man with amnesia, played by Dominic Purcell (Prison Break, Blade Trinity, Mission Impossible II). As the show progresses, we discover abduction and government conspiracy issues as Mr. Doe tries to find the answer to his true identity.

Adding the sci-fi (or spy-fi) zing, it is apparent from the very beginning that Mr. Doe has some astonishing talents; talents that go way beyond those of normal humans.

Although John Doe lasted longer on the Fox Network than Firefly, it too was cancelled at the end of the season. Networks executives thought the show's 20- and 3-something audience was a little too old for its tastes.

[ninjagirl]

Its also re airing here in the UK in february, i am making a direct to DVd set when it re airs. Also got ahead of myself and made a menu for it.




I actually enjoyed this show and thought a 2nd season was going to happen, pity it got cancelled before it got given a chance.

[lordsmurf]

How about using this menu instead? (overscan hidden)





Large version, shown in Photoshop, with overscan visible:
http://www.tvpreservation.com/cartoo...ndoe-large.jpg

The font I used was X-FILES. (also available in my fonts zip file)
http://www.tvpreservation.com/cartoo...xfilesfont.zip

And the PSD file for Photoshop:
http://www.tvpreservation.com/cartoo...oe-psdmenu.zip

Don't use the episode text in the PSD file. You'll create new text in your authoring software. Hopefully you're using Ulead DVD Workshop 2. Just be sure the fonts are about the same size, about in the same place. And be sure they line up nicely. Also be sure the highlight color fits the theme: for example, red or yellow would be a poor choice here, but a medium gray would do nicely (adjustable in DVDWS2).

How's that sound?

[ninjagirl]

DVD workshop 2 is the only program i use, been using it for about a year now. Way much better then the previous program i had.

That menu is way much better then mine, but do you have the image without the text i can use?. I was actually using star cine, but i have change it to x-files now. The font size is set to 24, for the highligt i have use a mid-dark blue which covers all the black.

[lordsmurf]

The text is just a text layer in Photoshop. It's not embedded into the image or anything. To get rid of it, simply go to the layers menu (one of the many toolboxes that should be on the right side of the screen when using Photoshop) and de-select the eyeball.

As far as the highlight color, use the colors already found in the theme of the menu. Here we have a muted brown, a light muted green, white and gray. For a highlight, white and green probably won't work well. So use either a medium gray or a muted medium brown. Personally, I'd go for the gray. Blue is nowhere to be seen in the menu theme, so that color would be distracting from the rest of the menu. Remember that highlight colors don't have to be bright or colorful, they merely have to be different than the non-selected color, and then still be legible.

[ninjagirl]

Duh! I forgot about the layers, should of known that since i work with pictures. Ok i have done it as you have and used the muted medium brown as a highlight.

what about the Play all, where's the best place to put it?

[lordsmurf]

Don't use a PLAY ALL button. You can edit the playlist in DVDWS2 just like you can in DVD Studio Pro. In other words, when you select the first episode, it acts like a play all button.

I edit the playlist for all my buttons or text links in DVDWS2. The first episode button links to the first episodes and all latter episodes. The second ep button links first to the 2nd ep, and then all subserquent eps.

"PLAY ALL" buttons can be rather tacky looking, especially if they don't have a natural location, or a special icon. THe only real reason to use a "play all button" is when you have a multi-page menu, or when you're unable to playlist your video clips.

When you drag an episode from the video assets timeline, and link it to a button or text link in DVDWS2, the "PLAYLIST" options appear on the left side of the screen in your various menus. After you drag the first clip onto the button, drag extra clips to the attributes list.



In this image here, my S2-DVD2 disc of Boston Legal, I have a text link. The text is actually hidden, I used >>> for my selector (not very imaginative, but it worked). This is not important. The point is that I used text. It would work the same for a graphic button (PSD files made in PS7 or higher, imported as a general object, while under the button tab).

Anyway, drag your video clip to the text link or button and drop it. It links. Now drag the other videos behind it onto the attributes list. On the first episode of the menu, be sure that link is selected as the DEFAULT HIGHLIGHT BUTTON. In essence, this is a play all. This is all a PLAY ALL does. You've accomplished your goal without needing any extra buttons.

In fact, this is better than a play all. Who here watched all 2-4 hours of a disc in one sitting? Not me. I select the episode I want, and then stop the disc when I'm tired of watching tv. Next time, I can pick the next episode I want, and that will be a "play all" for my next tv watching sit-down, as it will play the episode I selected, plus all the others behind it.

Editing a playlist is actually how you create "play all buttons" in professional software. DVD Studio Pro, for example. DVDit! PE was another (a software I used for years).

Very often, I place bonus content on my cartoon DVDs. Usually network promos and commercials for upcoming episodes, contests or toys. I don't want those on my "play all", so this setup lets me pick and choose what a play all really does.

The "play all" button is also very specific, in that your timeline must be in the order in which you would like things to play. Now, it's probably better to keep your timeline in order anyway, but there have been times where I wanted menu videos early in the VTS structure, and a "play all button" would have played my menu segments before it played episodes. In fact, I don't want a "play all" button to play my menu transitions at all. When I create my disc, I simply did not add them to the playlist on the first episode.

This also gives you the chance to make many "play all" buttons. You can have one for episodes, one for bonus content, etc.

[lordsmurf]

I've not authored a lot of PAL discs, especially not in DVDWS2.

For NTSC, menus are all encoded 720x480. Menu images must be imported 720x540.
For PAL, menus are all encoded 720x576. I don't know what size to make the menu image.

I gave you a 720x576 image. If the image does not resize correctly, if it has resize artifacts (blockiness or aliasing on the final output), or does not fill the screen, then resize the image. It will be either 720x540 or 768x576, if the 720x576 I gave you is not cooperating as good as it should.

Only just now did I remember this.

I know WIGAM has dealt with this before, as I've made him menus. YOU may want to check with him on any peculiarities in authoring PAL in DVDWS2.