I tried to use both Nero7 "credits" and Microsoft Movie Maker "credits" as they were intended. Neither provided formatting to the level I sought. So I decided to use PowerPoint.
I created "credit" slides on a 10 inch by 7.5 inch (4:3) page and exported every page as a GIF image. Then I used MovieMaker to import the GIF slides, to add audio, to enable a few transitions, and to save the movie as a .wmv file. I chose the 1.5 Mbps NTSC export option, which, according to the GUI, creates a movie sized to 720x480, an Aspect Ratio 4:3, and Frames per Second 30.
Then, using Nero7, I chose to create a new DVD video. I added the credits movie as a resource, chose DVD single layer, chose video options and selected aspect ratio of 4:3, then clicked all the way through to the burn page. I burned the DVD and previewed it on the PC. It looked marvelous, just the way I like it. Because I had to fit a lot of names into just a few slides, the credits text is very near the edge of the playback viewport, but all of the text is visible.
I plopped the DVD into a player that is hooked up to an NTSC monitor (my in-laws old TV set) and the "credits" movie plays just fine, except for the fact that some of the text is clipped around the edges. I plopped the DVD into an XBox 360 connected to HDTV, and the same clipped text appeared. I made all sorts of adjustments to the XBox output settings and the HDTV sizing settings, but to no avail.
To make all of the text visible, I had to go back and decrease the font size of all of my PowerPoint slides, making sure to leave at least one inch of black space between the text and the margin.
And this approach, though workable, leaves me bewildered. How could a 4:3 aspect ratio GIF not fit perfectly into a 4:3 NTSC DVD? Any insights would definitely be appreciated.
The old nero (and other) manu making screens have the clue. They have an area defined for text which is in from the edges for just this reason. Lots of tv makers use what is called "overscan" which means that they set the picture size deliberately larger than the screen. It is to ensure the screen is always full (and in older times to make the faults at the edge of broadcast pictures less obvious). It has carried on with dvd players for the same reason. On some displays it can be as much as 10%.
