Sonic DVD Creator - Audio Intervisual Design, Inc.

Sonic DVD Creator®
Basic Proofing User Guide

©2000 Sonic Solutions. All rights reserved.
Sonic DVD Creator Proofing Guide - Sonic Part Number 420583 Rev A (7/2000)
This manual, as well as the software described in it, is furnished under license and may only be used or copied in
accordance with the terms of such license. The information in this manual is furnished for informational use only, is
subject to change without notice, and should not be construed as a commitment by Sonic Solutions. Sonic Solutions
assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in this book.
Except as permitted by such license, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of Sonic Solutions.
SONIC SOLUTIONS, INC. ("SONIC") MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT
LIMITATION THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE,
REGARDING THE APPLE SOFTWARE. SONIC DOES NOT WARRANT, GUARANTEE, OR MAKE ANY
REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OR THE RESULTS OF THE USE OF THE SONIC SOFTWARE IN TERMS
OF ITS CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, CURRENTNESS, OR OTHERWISE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE
RESULTS AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SONIC SOFTWARE IS ASSUMED BY YOU. THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED
WARRANTIES IS NOT PERMITTED BY SOME STATES. THE ABOVE EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
IN NO EVENT WILL SONIC, ITS DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, OR AGENTS BY LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY
CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR INDIRECT DAMAGES (INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS
PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION, AND THE LIKE) ARISING OUT OF THE
USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE APPLE SOFTWARE EVEN IF SONIC HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
SUCH DAMAGES. BECAUSE SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
Sonic, Sonic Solutions, the Sonic logo, sonic.com, AuthorScript, AutoCadence, AutoSonic, cDVD, ConstantQ, DVD
Fusion, DVD Ready, DVDit!, dvdit.com, DVD Producer, DVD Studio, eDVD, First in DVD, hDVD, High-Density Audio,
MyDVD, OneClick DVD, PrePlay, sDVD, SonicCare, SonicClarity, SonicStudio, SonicStudio HD, Streaming DVD, The
Business of DVD, The Easiest Way to Publish on DVD, The Smartest Way to Publish on DVD, TimeTwist, Varispeed and
Where DVD Meets the Internet are trademarks of Sonic Solutions.
NoNoise and DVD Creator are registered trademarks of Sonic Solutions.
Dolby Digital is a trademark of Dolby Laboratories, Inc. Dolby Laboratories encourages use of the Dolby Digital
trademark to identify soundtracks that are encoded in Dolby Digital. This is an effective way to inform listeners of the
soundtrack format, and the use of a standard logo promotes easy recognition in the marketplace. However, like any
trademark, the Dolby Digital logo may not be used without permission. Dolby Laboratories therefore provides a standard
trademark license agreement for companies who wish to use Dolby trademarks. This agreement should be signed by the
company that owns the program material being produced. Recording studios or production facilities which provide
audio production or encoding services for outside clients generally do not require a trademark license. If you would like
more information on obtaining a Dolby trademark license, please contact Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation.
Information on trademark licensing plus instructions for using the Dolby Digital trademark and marking audio formats
can also be found online at http://www.dolby.com.
Dolby Digital Surround Audio systems manufactured under license from Dolby Laboratories.
Apple, the Apple logo, Finder, Macintosh, Power Macintosh and QuickTime are registered trademarks of Apple
Computer, Inc.
Acrobat is a trademark of Adobe Systems, Inc.
All other company or product names are either trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Written and designed at Sonic Solutions, 101 Rowland Way, Novato, CA. 94945, USA

Contents
WELCOME TO DVD CREATOR ® BASIC PROOFING
Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
Related User Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv
Before You Begin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv
Sonic on the Web. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv
USING SONIC DVD PLAYER
Opening Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Auto Calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Proofing Encoded Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Proofing a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Playing DVDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Regional Coding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Regional Coding for the DVD Drive 11
Configuring Sonic DVD Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Video Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Using Sonic DVD Player with Multiple Monitors 15
Other Player Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

II
T ABLE OF C ONTENTS

Welcome to DVD Creator ® Basic Proofing
Welcome to DVD Creator Basic Proofing from Sonic Solutions! DVD Creator
Basic Proofing allows you to play back encoded assets and proof projects
before writing them to disc. The Sonic DVD Player’s on-screen control
mimics a home viewer’s DVD player so you can experience the final title
just as a home viewer would.
Audience
This guide is intended for use by media developers and video professionals
who use DVD Creator Basic Proofing as their final production proofing
tool.
You should be familiar with basic computer terms, such as click, drag, and
highlight. We also assume that you understand the basics of how to
maneuver through the Macintosh interface. If not, please review the
tutorials provided by Apple.

IV
Related User Documentation
Before You Begin
Sonic on the Web
Please refer to the following documentation for further information:
• Creator Basic Proofing Installation Guide
Before you start using DVD Creator Basic Proofing, be sure you have done
the following:
• Make certain that the DVD Creator hardware and software is installed
and configured correctly (refer to the DVD Creator Installation Guide).
• Record the serial number of your Sonic DVD Decoder board in the
space provided in the DVD Creator Basic Proofing Installation Guide.
Sonic Technical Support will need this information should you require
assistance with your new system.
Visit Sonic’s home page (www.sonic.com) for the latest product tips and
tricks, support information and software downloads.

Using Sonic DVD Player
This User Guide shows you how to:
• Open Sonic DVD Player
• Use the on-screen control
• Proof encoded assets
• Proof a project
• Play back DVD discs
• Configure Sonic DVD Player for your system setup

2
Opening Player
To open Player:
1 Double-click the Sonic DVD Player icon in the DVD Creator Basic Proofing
folder. Sonic DVD Player’s control panel appears.
To use the control:
Sonic DVD Player’s control panel mimics a DVD player control and allows
you to navigate through a project exactly as you would through a
completed DVD disc. Sonic DVD Player presents a slightly different
interface depending on whether you are playing a DVD disc or formatted
project, an MPEG file, or some other source such as an audio CD.
DVD Control Panel
Display window
Player
function
buttons
Player controls
Keypad
DVD navigation
buttons
Non-DVD Control Panel
Display window
Player
function
buttons
Player controls

O PENING P LAYER 3
Player Function Buttons
Display
chapter, title
and time on
the video
window
Switch between
computer
monitor and
connected TV
monitor
Open
Preferences
Open
file
Minimize control
panel—only the player
controls are displayed
Volume
control
Mute
Display
more
functions
Brightness
control
Contrast
control
Color
control
Slow
motion
Capture
snapshot of
playing video
(saved as a
SimpleText file)
Segment
play—click once
to set start of
segment, click
again to set end.
Player will loop
the segment until
you click this
button again.
DVD Navigation Buttons
Language soundtrack
selector (for multilanguage
titles)
Menu selector—
displays “main”
menu
Title selector—
displays “title”
menu
Camera angle selector
(for multi-angle titles)
Subtitle track
selector
Menu
left
Menu
down
Menu
up
Menu
right
Enter

4
Player Controls
Slider
control
DVD:
Open
Keypad
window
Play/
Pause
Stop
Eject
disc
Rewind
Fast
forward
Previous
track
Next
track
Loop
on/off
Non-DVD:
Play mode—click to
select All, Random,
or Playlist
Keypad
Close window
Click
numbers
to enter
selection
Execute
selection
Previous
menu
Backspace
Click to switch between
Title and Menu keypad

O PENING P LAYER 5
Display Window
Program type
Current track and chapter Time Aspect ratio
Sound level
Play mode (items
displayed depend on
the program type)
Auto Calibration
The first time you launch Sonic DVD Player and try to play an MPEG or
DVD file, you are prompted to run the Auto Calibration procedure. This also
happens the first time you change your monitor to a new resolution or
color depth.
When you select a file and click the Play button, a warning message
appears. Click Start; Sonic DVD Player performs the calibration
automatically, then starts playing the file.
You can also force Sonic DVD Player to recalibrate at any time—see “Video
Configuration” on page 13 for details.

6
Proofing Encoded Files
You can play assets you have encoded using Transcoder or MPEG Encoder
to check the quality before you use them in a project.
To play an encoded file:
1 Launch Sonic DVD Player.
2 Choose File > Open File or click the Open File button, navigate to the
file you want to play and click Choose.
3 Click the Play button to start playing the file.
4 For video assets:
• To view full-screen video, choose Sizes > Full Screen (-4)
• To view the image on a connected TV monitor, click the TV/PC
Monitor switch.
To create a playlist of files:
Rather than select each file individually, you can use Sonic DVD Player’s
playlist feature to select all your encoded files.
1 Choose Edit > Preferences. In the Preferences window, click the Playlist
tab.
2 In the Volume list, click the drive where the encoded files are stored.

P ROOFING E NCODED F ILES 7
Sonic DVD Player searches the drive and lists all the playable files it finds in
the Title List.
Click Playlist
All playable files
on the volume
are listed
Choose a
Volume
Drag individual
files to the Play
List (or click Add
All)
3 Drag file names into the Play List to add them to the list. Or click Add All
to move all the files into the Play List. (To remove a file, drag it back to the
Title List—or click Remove All to remove all the files from the list.)
4 Click OK to close the Preferences window.

8
5 In Sonic DVD Player, click the Play Mode button until “PLAYLIST” is
highlighted in the display window.
Click until
“PLAYLIST” is
highlighted
6 Click the Play button to begin playing the selected files. Sonic DVD Player
plays the files in the order they appear in the playlist.
Note: The playlist is not deleted when you close Sonic DVD Player. You
must remove the files from the playlist if you do not want to keep them.
To remove the files from the playlist:
1 Choose Edit > Preferences. In the Preferences window, click the Playlist
tab.
2 Click Remove All, then click OK.

P ROOFING A P ROJECT 9
Proofing a Project
When you format a project, all the presentation and navigation elements
are multiplexed together into the file structure required for DVD. When you
play the formatted project, you are viewing an exact duplicate of what will
be on the DVD disc. This should be done as a final check before burning
the project to disc or building a disc image file.
To proof a project:
1 Format your project using the Format application. Do not select Write
DVD Disc.
2 In Sonic DVD Player, choose File > Open File or click the Open File
button.
3 Navigate to the DVDVolume folder that was created when you formatted
the project, open the VIDEO_TS folder, and choose the file named
VIDEO_TS.IFO.
4 Click the Play button to begin testing:
• To view full-screen video, choose Sizes > Full Screen (-4)
• To view the image on a connected TV monitor, click the TV/PC
Monitor switch.

10
Playing DVDs
Sonic DVD Player can also be used to play back DVDs, as well as audio CDs
and MPEG material from CD-ROMs.
To play a DVD:
1 Insert the disc into the DVD drive.
2 Launch Sonic DVD Player. Player recognizes the disc and displays
information about it in the Display window.
3 Click the Play button to start playing the disc.
Regional Coding
The DVD standard requires DVD publishers to specify which regions of the
world their discs can be played. The first time you play a DVD disc, you
must specify your region before Sonic DVD Player will start playing the
disc.
1 If your region is not already set, a warning message appears when you click
the Play button. Click Yes to open your DVD Region Preferences.

P LAYING DVDS 11
2 Click your location on the map, then click Change.
Click to select a
region.
Click Change
to set the new
region
3 A confirmation message appears. Click OK to set the region, then click OK
to close the Preferences window.
Caution! The region can be set only five times. After the fifth time you
will not be able to set the region again.
REGIONAL CODING FOR THE DVD DRIVE
Some newer DVD drives require you to set the region for the drive itself. If
you try to play a DVD disc that is not enabled for all regions and the drive’s
region has not been set, you will get an error message saying that the disc
is unreadable and asking if you want to initialize it.
To set the DVD drive’s region:
1 In Sonic DVD Player, choose Edit > Preferences or click the Preferences
button.
2 In the Preferences window, click the DVD Region tab.

12
3 Choose your DVD drive from the Choose your Region for list.
4 Click your region on the map, then click Change.
5 Click OK in the confirmation dialog, then click OK again to close the
Preferences window.
Note: After you set the drive’s region, you can only change the region
again if you have a DVD for the new region inserted in the drive. For
example, to change the drive from region 1 (North America) to region 2
(Europe), insert a region 2 DVD in the drive before opening the
Preferences window. The limit of five region changes also applies to the
DVD drive.

C ONFIGURING S ONIC DVD PLAYER 13
Configuring Sonic DVD Player
To configure Sonic DVD Player for your system setup:
1 Choose Edit > Preferences or click the Preferences button. The
preferences window opens.
2 Click the tabs to move between the different sets of options and change
them as required. See “Other Player Preferences” on page 16 for details.
3 When you have finished, click OK to close the Preferences window.
Video Configuration
Sonic DVD Player’s video configuration tools allow you to fine-tune your
video setup. Normally you just need to run Auto Calibration to get a perfect
setup. You can also adjust the video borders manually, if necessary.
To force Player to recalibrate the video monitor:
1 In the Preferences window, click the Settings tab.
2 Click Configure. The Configuration dialog appears.
Click Auto calibration
to force Sonic DVD
Player to recalibrate
Click Adjust border to
adjust the video border
manually

14
3 Click Auto Calibration to run the calibration procedure.
If you still see a colored border around the video, try adjusting the video
borders.
To adjust video borders manually:
1 In the Configuration dialog, click Adjust Border. A dialog window appears.
Click the control
arrows to move
the black
rectangle
The top black
rectangle should
cover the lower
colored
rectangle
completely
Click to
decrease black
rectangle’s width
Click to increase
black rectangle’s
width
Use to fine-tune the
horizontal movement of
the black rectangle
If the video image on the computer screen
“jitters”, adjust this setting to stabilize it.
2 Click the control buttons to move the overlay rectangle so that it lines up
exactly with the top and left edges of the colored rectangle underneath.
Tip: Hold down the Shift key while clicking the control buttons to
increase the movement by 10 times.

C ONFIGURING S ONIC DVD PLAYER 15
3 Click the increase and decrease buttons to change the overlay rectangle’s
width to match the colored rectangle exactly.
4 If the video image on the computer monitor “jitters”, adjust the Stability
setting until the jitter disappears.
5 Click OK when done.
USING SONIC DVD PLAYER WITH MULTIPLE MONITORS
If you have more than one monitor connected to your Macintosh, you must
tell Sonic DVD Player which monitor is connected to the Sonic DVD
Decoder card.
1 In Sonic DVD Player, choose Edit > Preferences.
2 Click the Settings tab, then click Configure.
3 Choose Select Screen from the Advanced list.
4 A dialog window appears. Select the monitor that is connected to the Sonic
DVD Decoder card and click OK.

16
Other Player Preferences
Settings Tab Parameters
Parameter Definition Recommended
Setting
Controller on
Top
ToolTips
Keep Aspect
Ratio
Dim Other
Screens in
FullScreen
Mode
CD/DVD Drive
Autoplay
Audio Output
TV 1:1 Ratio
When enabled, the controller is always in front of the
video window.
Enables pop-up tool tips that show the function of each
Player button
Maintains the correct aspect ratio when resizing the video
window.
If you have another monitor attached to your Mac, this
option dims that monitor when you switch to fullscreen
mode.
Select your preferred drive if you have more than one
drive connected.
When enabled, Player starts playing a file or DVD as soon
as it is selected or inserted in the drive.
Specifies the audio output type and where the output is
directed (analog through the Mac speaker or stereo
minijack, or AC3, DTS or PCM digital through the S/PDIF
output)
When enabled, Player plays PAL video on NTSC monitors
and NTSC video on PAL monitors properly, by scaling the
video to maintain a 1:1 output ratio.
On
On
On
Depends on
setup
Depends on
setup
Depends on
setup
Depends on
setup
On
TV Standard Specifies the video format. Depends on
setup

C ONFIGURING S ONIC DVD PLAYER 17
DVD Tab Parameters
Parameter Definition Recommended
Setting
Rating Control
Default
Language
Preferred
Display Mode
Use the radio buttons to check your movie’s parental
rating levels.
Specifies your preferred language for multi-language titles.
Specifies how widescreen movies are displayed—wide,
pan & scan, or letterbox.