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MrENGLISH™
2006-04-20, 16:57
Is there any way to make a DVD image file display on a webpage?

I'm thinking I will have to recreate the DVD using Flash or Director.

Basically, my boss wants to show off our DVD Authoring and would like to do this on our website.
ghoti
2006-04-20, 17:00
Not directly, no (it would also take forever to download). You could convert the DVD to a QuickTime or other video, but then you'd lose the interactive features (which I guess you want to show off). So I think you will have to recreate it in Flash.
MrENGLISH™
2006-04-20, 17:03
Thanks for the quick response!

It looks like Flash would be my best bet.
Brad
2006-04-20, 17:23
Not directly, no (it would also take forever to download).
To clarify this, note that the typical webpage is a few dozen kilobytes in size whereas the typical DVD is 4 to 9 gigabytes.

1024 kilobytes make up 1 megabyte and 1024 megabytes make up 1 gigabyte.

So, the typical DVD is roughly 100,000 times larger than the typical webpage.

FYI. :) Keep that in mind as you're planning this project.
MrENGLISH™
2006-04-20, 17:36
FYI. :) Keep that in mind as you're planning this project.

Yeah, I wasn't thinking about that at first. The DVD image file is about 100mb. I hope I can make the Flash file around 25mb. Add a loader ;). I think I'm going to have to cut the size down from DV 720x480 to 360x240.
Dave
2006-04-20, 18:28
<opens mouth to say something, stops, thinks>
...
<opens mouth to say something else, stops, thinks>
...
Yeah, you should prolly resize that video.
MrENGLISH™
2006-04-20, 18:38
<opens mouth to say something, stops, thinks>
...
<opens mouth to say something else, stops, thinks>
...
Yeah, you should prolly resize that video.

Good thing typing doesn't require open mouths.

EDIT:
I just converted the Main Menu video to FLV 720x480 @ 150kps and it came out to be 780kb.

The total amount of video is only about 2mins in length so I might be able to pull off 720x480 and keep the SWF at a reasonable size.
curiousuburb
2006-04-20, 18:50
You can simulate a DVD on a webpage quite easily.

It goes without saying that you'll have to edit/compress the video quite heavily compared to DVD for anyone on less than T1 lines.

You can build a webpage akin to the chapter index, with a few 320x240 (or less) QT movies (trimmed to under a few minutes and run through sorensen or similar quality/performance codec) using the embed (http://www.apple.com/quicktime/tutorials/embed.html) tag or java. Save the larger movies for subsequent pages if you want more space for text accompaniment.

You can also hyperlink the menus of the DVD from a screengrab of the original menus (if you don't have the DVD project itself to export from). If you want motion menus, you can recreate them on the web, bearing in mind that you're adding download overhead to the page that many strain some users... but do you need to?

You could also do the same with FLV Flash files, but plugin availability for all users may require download. (Whereas QT embed support is native to more browsers). Flash pages still don't index properly in most major search engines, but perhaps that isn't a factor for you. OTOH, Flash does provide a richer media experience than your average web page...

With the exception of the full MPEG-2 video, you can certainly provide a sampler of your DVD experience online, if that's what your goal is.

You might be able to do the same thing via Director/Shockwave, but again there's a potential plugin hitch, and the video still needs trimming.

How much of the experience do you need to give users a taste of the experience?
ghoti
2006-04-20, 18:56
Another option would be to offer an ISO file for download. 100MB isn't that bad for a download, and your potential customers could download it and burn to a DVD themselves, and then look at the original. You would have to provide instructions how to do this with different programs.

For a flash-based site, 25MB is still way too big, though. You should think about something that loads incrementally, so people won't have to watch "please wait" for several minutes until the whole thing is downloaded.
MrENGLISH™
2006-04-20, 19:05
Another option would be to offer an ISO file for download.

I tried that and spent an hour on the phone with some guy explaining how to mount it using Daemon Tools *(he did not have a DVD drive/burner either). If EVERYONE had OS X I would just have a DMG download and be like "Open DVD Player". Unfortunately, I do not have the money to buy EVERYONE a MacMini ;).
Dave
2006-04-20, 19:16
The total amount of video is only about 2mins in length so I might be able to pull off 720x480 and keep the SWF at a reasonable size.
OOOOOHHHHHHHH... I thought you wanted the whole thing up. I'm much less flabbergasted now. :D
MrENGLISH™
2006-04-20, 19:34
OOOOOHHHHHHHH... I thought you wanted the whole thing up. I'm much less flabbergasted now. :D

I do want the whole thing up. There are 3 videos (:30, :45 & 1:17), an info menu and a main menu. The menus are motion menus that loop (:23 in length). Actual total video time is 3:18. That is why the ISO is only 100mb or so.

EDIT:
fixed total video time
MrENGLISH™
2006-04-21, 02:09
In the event anyone is interested in seeing a test of my "Flash DVD"*:

360x240 Version (8mb) (http://www.fathomproduction.com/downloads/MontessoriDVD.html)
720x480 Version (14.7mb) (http://www.fathomproduction.com/downloads/MontessoriDVD2.html)

You can download the original DVD below
ISO Image File (http://www.fathomproduction.com/downloads/MontessoriDVD.zip)


*This is NOT the greatest thing ever made.:lol:
drewprops
2006-04-21, 10:38
Love the laid back music, I think I spotted a kid in a red sweater peeing into an open cabinet though, you should probably report that.

Very nice job converting it into a Flash show, how long did that take and how close to the actual DVD menu screen is the Flash show?
MrENGLISH™
2006-04-21, 10:45
Love the laid back music, I think I spotted a kid in a red sweater peeing into an open cabinet though, you should probably report that.

Very nice job converting it into a Flash show, how long did that take and how close to the actual DVD menu screen is the Flash show?


It took about 8 hours off and on last night to recreate in Flash. Only 2 things different in the DVD version. 1) A blur transition from menu to video and from video to menu. 2) The tour in the DVD version is not a video but a slideshow and is a cube transition from beginning to end (back to the main menu).