making a dvd title screen

[austininin]

greetings!

i have been working with a filmmaker for a while now and have been making his dvd title screens too. recently, it seems like what i've been making is somehow sub-par for him, but i've been doing everything exactly the same every time as far as i can remember.

does anyone have some advice on what i'm doing wrong? he now says the text is pixelated and the photo quality isn't high enough. however, the document is at 900 ppi and at 864x480 px. i think this is just a regular widescreen ratio.

his main concern is that since his films are shot with hi-res digital cameras the title screens should reflect the same quality. however, it seems like i'm not getting through to him that you can only go so high with quality before it doesn't make a difference anymore. the images he provides get trumped by the resolution and i am going to leave the text as smart objects in photoshop.

i'm totally out of options. any help would rule.

[HomeBrewed]

Most of the video projects I've done are widescreen NTSC @ 720x480 (1.2 pixel aspect) or 1280x720 HD (1.0 pixel aspect ratio).

I've created title screens and imagery in photoshop at both 720x480 (then adjusted them in Premiere) and at 864x480, and I've never had any issues.

Is he trying to resize them at all? maybe he is and that's screwing it up.

[c0met]

You're actually making the title screens in 900 dpi?

Actual pixel size for video output is pretty much always around 72 despite what your original dpi was unless you're zooming or enlarging the original images.

Sounds like maybe he is stretching them or panning or something.

[macthulhu]

If it's standard definition, i.e. not HD on BluRay, 720 x 480 is all you need. The dpi isn't going to matter, pixels is pixels when it comes to video. I don't care if they're shooting it with the Hubble Telescope, if it's going to standard def DVD, it's all going to be 720x480, 29.97 frames per second, 2 interlaced fields. If the title screen is a movie file, the problem is in the editing software. If it's a still picture, it's a setting in the DVD construction software.