Background image as a button

tomadonna wrote on 10/14/2005, 6:01 PM

Is there a way I could have the background image be the button on itself?
Meaning when the dvd is inserted and the background imagecomes up, I can press the enter button I will go righ to my clip.
I know that this can be done in Encore, when you set the "convert object to button" option but can this be done in DA3 as well?

Comments

rsp wrote on 10/15/2005, 12:10 AM

There is no "convert object to button" option but you can try to create the same effect by using an 'invisible button':

-insert media
-on 'button properties' :
tab 'highlight' choose 'custom' ( the others set to 'none' and 'transparency')
tab 'media' set 'button style' to ímage only'

If you need the background you can set "thumbnail media" and stretch it to the size of your screen.

let me know if this is what you're looking for

Rudi

TheHappyFriar wrote on 10/15/2005, 7:35 AM

you dno't even need to do that. You can have the button be 1x1 pixel in size, but the thumbnail highlight cover the entire screen. That way you could have multiple "whole screen" buttons on hte same menu. If the user gets bored & moves left/right/up/down they could have a different clip played. :)

tomadonna wrote on 10/15/2005, 12:44 PM

Thanks for the help guys,

It's too bad you have to go throught this work-around to achieve this...

TheHappyFriar wrote on 10/15/2005, 3:38 PM

i wouldn't call it a work around... odds are the other DVD program just has thissetup as a shortcut, that's all.

johnmeyer wrote on 10/15/2005, 4:57 PM

I wouldn't call it a workaround either -- it simply is a different way of accomplishing the thing you want to do. I would go with the invisible button because you don't have to spend time re-sizing the button and since it is the only button, its size really doesn't matter. Also, no matter how small, anything that is visible may show up as a glitch on the screen.

Curtis Burga wrote on 11/5/2005, 1:49 PM

I found a more pleasing way for me to make a piece of the background image become a menu button.

Open up your background image in an image editor like Photoshop.

Crop a section of the image that you want to use as a button.
Save this image as "button1.jpg" or whatever you want to call it.

Now, lasso a specific area of this cropped area, and adjust the color of the lasso'ed section. Intensify the color, change the tones, whatever, so that it looks markedly different in color than the first image. Save this images as "button1-highlighted.jpg"

On the menu screen you are editing, adjust the location of the menu choice button you want to have activated over the area of the background image you want to use as the button location.

In the button properties window, thumbnail properties, change the thumbnail media to "button1.jpg".
In the mask line, enter "button1-highlighted.jpg" for the file.
You will have to do some adjusting of the button for it to line up with background seamlessly. You just need to adjust the button. The mask image will match up with button when applied.

Click on the highlight tab in button properties, and choose "image mask overlay" as the style.

Do this for other menu buttons you want to create.

When you use the DVD remote directional buttons, you will highlight the portions of the background image that you wish to use as your buttons.
I did this for a wedding video. The background image is a table setting with a wine bottle centerpiece. The cork is highlighted to play the entire movie. The bottle is highlighted to go to a menu selection.
A bowl of nuts is highlighted for bloopers.

Hope this helps!