How many tricks does this pony do?

vitalforce2 wrote on 5/7/2003, 2:10 PM

Maybe I'm too thick to glean this from the manual, but who can suggest a way to mimic a common DVD interface that the big-boy films use: There is a background graphic and, say, three menu buttons. Clicking on any of the buttons causes the whole background to animate as the button zooms to full size and the video starts.

Alternatively, wonder if I can make the button zoom out even without a moving background? I'm thinking the trick has something to do with creating a loop that doesn't play as part of the movie.

Comments

jetdv wrote on 5/7/2003, 2:16 PM

To do what you described, the button zoom out effect would have to be made a part of the movie the button points to. IOW, The beginning of the movie would be the effect. But it WOULD work.

vitalforce2 wrote on 5/8/2003, 10:44 AM

Excellent suggestion and thank you. Just had to update the 'software' inside my head. That's a perfect solution to chapter point #1, which would be a movielet of the menu screen and button #1, doing the zoom effect along a Vegas timeline as it blends straight into the clip.

Of course the remaining problem seems to be, how to insert the #2, #3, etc. menu button zoom effects at the chapter points in the middle of the movie, without the #2, #3, etc. zoom effects playing as the viewer reaches that point in the movie? I don't think I can program even the great Vegas to skip over a timeline segment in that manner, i.e., during playout of the movie.

radcamdvd wrote on 5/8/2003, 11:27 AM

Motion menu segues (transitions) are each individual clips. Look carefully at a theatrical DVD and you'll see the slight hesitation between menus, transitions and titles. This is a function of the DVD specs in that each element is contained in its own PGC (program chain).

You can not do everything in Vegas and then directly import to DVDA. The intro to the menu is separate so it must be rendered by itself. The menu itself must be rendered separately and finally the zooming button transition must also be its own element. In the authoring process you would tie these together in sequence.

DVD players have NO editing or compilation functionality. Therefore, everything you see has been constructed as individual elements that utilize "seamless branching" to appear as a single video stream.

DVDA has many shortcomings and this is one of them. The process to link sequential clips together to form a cohesive motion menu is so difficult as to not be worth the effort. Coupled with the fact that the author has no control over button sequence or subpicture highlights that the application can not be used for true professional work.

Look to ReelDVD or perhaps Encore DVD for an authoring app that will do what you seek in minutes rather than hours.

vitalforce2 wrote on 5/8/2003, 2:52 PM

Thanks for the explanation. Feels better to understand the process, at least, and know what to look for in software.