reported
by: Christopher K C Yap
Secretary (Term
1999/2000)
On Friday, 14 April 2000 at
7.00pm, 12 members and 80 guests of the AES Singapore Section gathered at
the Digital Media Authoring Studio at Ngee
Ann Polytechnic to attend a talk on “DVD Production Process” by Mr
Nick Tay.
|
Nick Tay
presenting a talk on "DVD Production Processs" at Ngee Ann Polytechnic
- photograph by Michael Teh, Committee
Member. |
Tay started the talk by introducing the DVD, defining its many
forms. Interestingly, a DVD can be thought of as a smaller sized laser
disc with larger capacity, or an extended capacity CDROM, or even a
super video CD with improved picture quality. Based on the DVD disc, the
DVD, like the CD, takes up many forms and functionality: namely DVD-ROM,
DVD-Video, DVD-R(Recordable), DVD-RAM, DVD-Audio, DVD-RW, and Hybrid
DVD. |
One point to note is that the DVD
can store much more data than the CD can, up to a maximum of 17.08GB for the
DVD-18, with its 2 layered and 2 sided structure.
Tay went on to describe the
data format capabilities of the DVD, citing MPEG1 and MPEG2 for video, and
Dolby Digital 5.1, MPEG 7.1, DTS, and SDDS for audio. He noted that the DVD
can contain up to 8 streams of audio in various formats, from 16 to 24 bit
quantisation, 48khz to 192khz sampling rate, and from stereo to
multi-channel formats. Apart from the technicalities, Tay touched
upon the content features of the DVD. Interactive navigation, support for up
to 32 subtitle streams, slides, multiple camera angle support, and also
region coding.
Having said all
that, Tay began to talk about the DVD authoring process. A many
step process beginning with Disc Design, Tay covered each step
with as much detail as time would allow. Disc Design is the process of
storyboarding, which encompasses the overall planning of the content,
features, and interactivity of the DVD. The result of this process is
the specification of the DVD that is used in the following steps.
The next two steps are Video
Encoding and Audio Encoding, which involves passing the raw video and audio
through the appropriate encoder to obtain the digital stream that will be
recorded on the DVD. Following that is Menu Creation, the process of
creating both static and moving menus, depending on the specifications.
|
The audience at
Ngee Ann Polytechnic lecture theatre before the talk
- photograph by Michael Teh. |
Subtitles come
next, where it dawns upon you that keying in subtitles for an entire
movie, and in multiple languages, is no easy task! DVD Authoring
integrates the above, going through each of the DVD mappings through
simulation software. It is now at the Layout and Emulation stage that a
prototype DVD compliant disc image is produced. This image is pressed on
a DVD-R disc for |
validation on various DVD players,
ensuring that everything is ok before it goes into replication. Tay
stressed that constant quality checks are important throughout the whole
authoring process. The final step is of course the Disc Packaging Design,
which involves the design of not only the print on the disc, but also the
cover of the disc.
|
Section
Chairman, Mr. Jibby Jacob (left), presenting the speaker's plaque to Mr.
Nick Tay after his talk on "DVD Production Process" -
photograph by Michael Teh. |
| In conclusion,
Tay said that the DVD would also see much growth in the
multimedia markets, where more PC applications would be distributed on
DVDs, and that PC applications can exploit the benefits of the features
of DVD-video. Tay also noted that the DVD is likely to co-exist with DTV
and the hi-speed internet infrastructure. The talk ended with a short
tour of the DVD authoring facilities. |
Nick Tay (right
with tie) chatting with the audience after his presentation -
photograph by Michael Teh. |
The AES Singapore Section would
like to thank Mr Nick Tay for his wonderful and informative talk, and
also the staff at the Digital Media Authoring Studio at the Ngee Ann
Polytechnic for the use of the facility and for their generous efforts.
|
A record
attendence of 92 members and guests for the AES Singaore Section seminar
on Friday, 14th April 2000 at Ngee Ann Polytechnic with the speaker, Mr.
Nick Tay (centre with tie). Standing on his right is the section
Chairman, Mr. Jibby Jacob - photograph by
Michael Teh. |
|
