Hown Do I rename a link???

Cliff Etzel wrote on 5/8/2008, 7:35 AM

Note: Cross posted this on DVDA forum to expedite a response

After many frustrating attempts at performing what should be a simple procedure and going through the help files, I'm needing to send out a plea for help.

I originally had an MPG with chapter points exported from Vegas Pro 8 and imported into DVDA 4 - I showed it to the client, they wanted one scene deleted. Did that - re-rendered out the MPG with the same name and when I open DVDA, the scene's are broken accordingly on the chapter points. I reset the chapter points on DVDA timeline. Now I can't rename the scene selection menu. And I have less than 4 hours to get this done and off to the DVD printer who is labeling the disk and then deliver to the client.

Details: I have a songs list for the first page. One of the chapter points was removed, which moved all other chapters up accordingly. Now I want to rename the links to correspond correctly with the chapter markers, but no matter what I try , I cannot rename those links.

Do I have to rebuild the whole project based upon this one simple issue??? I can't believe I have to do that when all else looks correct for the project regarding template, menu items renamed, etc.

What am I missing???

n00b alert: Ok - I figured it out - duh!!! Found that I needed to highlight each menu item on the template and then relink on the right side properties for each chapter.

Cliff Etzel - Solo Video Journalist
bluprojekt

Comments

johnmeyer wrote on 5/8/2008, 7:54 AM

This does point out, once again, a significant flaw in DVDA, namely that when you add or delete links, DVDA makes the assumption that you want all links after the insertion or deletion to move. This means that if your menu pointed to a link called "Wedding Vows," if you then added a new link to something prior to that and called it "Trumpet Solo" you would now find that the Wedding Vows link now also points to "Trumpet Solo." This is due to the fact that DVDA linking logic points to chapters based on their "count." So, if the Wedding Vows chapter was the fifth chapter on the timeline, and you now add a chapter point in front of that one, that new chapter point is now the fifth point, and Wedding Vows is now number six. The stupid logic, however, says that the Wedding Vows chapter is always going to point to the fifth chapter stop on the timeline, and since that is now Trumpet Solo, that is what you are going to get.

This nonsense happens even if you insert one of those "newer" chapter stops that were introduced in DVDA 4. Also, the same thing happens if you delete chapters, as Cliff found out.

Is this EVER the behavior that anyone wants? Is this EVER useful to anyone??

Some features are a matter of personal taste and preference: what is great for me doesn't work for you. However, in this case, I think this feature implementation is always wrong, for everyone, and should be changed.

Cliff Etzel wrote on 5/8/2008, 10:08 AM

One of the features I DO like in Adobe's apps is the pick whip - you literally drag an anchor to the file and it links. I have used this for years in Adobe GoLive 6 and I consider it a real time saver - Again, I wonder why SONY doesn't seem to get it at times with regards to application interface and usability.

Cliff Etzel - Solo Video Journalist
bluprojekt