Creating a menu DVD - help (newbie)

doowopper wrote on 11/2/2005, 4:27 AM
For my first project, I created a video with Vegas Movie Studio and then burned it to a dvd with DVD Architect Studio. I now would like to create a dvd with a menu using the same video I created with Vegas Movie Studio. The manual for Vegas Movie Studio is clear, but I am having lots of difficulty figuring out how to create a menu from the manual for DVD Architect Studio. I would like the items in the menu to be associated with various points in my dvd video so the user can click on a menu item and that would cause the video to begin at a specific point. I read the DVD Architect manual several times, but I can't quite seem to grasp the sequencing of events in creating a menu dvd video and how to relate a menu item to a specific point in the video. As I am sure you know, the initial screen that appears when creating a video with a menu in DVD architect Studio shows a blue screen with the word Menu on it. I am not sure where to go from there. Do I then load my mpeg file created in Movie Studio? Do I create a menu first? How do I link various points in my video to a menu item? That kind of thing.
Is it possible for you to provide me with an outline of the steps to create a dvd video with a menu, in which clicking on a menu item would start the video at a specific point? Better yet, is there some tutorial that could lead me through the steps of creating a menu based dvd?
Sorry for the naive questions. Before reading the DVD Architect Studio manual I thought I was capable of figuring out most computer related things from a manual -not true.
Thanks.
Richard

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 11/2/2005, 4:35 AM
If you rendered your video with markers on the timeline for chapters then this task is very easy. Add the movie to the main screen in DVD Architect, which i'm sure you've already done. You end up with a button that you can click to play the movie. Right-mouse-button click on this button and choose "insert scene selection menu". Choose the number of buttons/chapters to be displayed on each menu page. If you don't mind a plain bland menu then you're done.

If you didn't add chapter markers before rendering the video then the process is still relatively easy, just a bit more time consuming. Double-click on the movie button to open up the movie. You'll see a miniature timeline in the lower right corner. Add markers there to define the chapter points. Then go back to the main screen and add the scene selection menu.

This will get you started with menus. Of course, you'll probably want to make them a lot fancier by arranging and formatting, adding background images, etc.
doowopper wrote on 11/2/2005, 6:00 PM
Chienworks,
Thanks so much for your response - very helpful.
Richard