Play All as default selected menu button

douglay wrote on 4/17/2007, 5:56 AM

I have a menu-based project with 10 chapters. Chapters are numbered 1 through 10 in the order they were added to the project. Pressing the corresponding number on the player’s remote numeric keypad starts the appropriate chapter (i.e., number 1 on the keypad stars chapter 1, etc). I want to add a Play All button to the menu & have it be the default selected/highlighted button. I can do that by placing Play All at the top of the chapter list in DVDA’s left-hand window. However, doing so assigns Play All number 1 in play order & results in all chapters being “off” by one on the remote’s number keys: Chapter 1 now corresponds to the remote’s number 2, chapter 2 reacts to keypad number 3, etc. How can I make a Play All button the default selected button yet keep each chapter linked to its corresponding number on the remote?

Comments

GeorgeW wrote on 4/17/2007, 2:12 PM

Which version of DVDA are you running? If DVDA4 with scripting, you could add a script that simply links to the menu, and sets the destination button to your PLAY-ALL button. If you rt-click on the script in the tree on the left, you can set it as DVD Start Script.

MPM wrote on 4/18/2007, 8:48 AM

A DVD includes both numbers assigned to buttons & instructions on which is the default button to select & highlight when a menu page loads. Unfortunately in DVDA you cannot set a button as default -- you can easily do this is PgcEdit after rendering the project to hdd.

However in DVDA any actions include a target button that you specify, so the trick is to include something in your project that will target your menu page highlighting your desired PlayAll button. This could be an intro video, or another menu page with a button set to auto-activate. Either can be extremely short, just black if you like to minimize distraction, or add to the viewer's overall experience watching your DVD.

George's suggestion of a script would work as well... Whichever method you choose, be sure and include a setting for the default button at the end of your PlayAll video, as well as setting it for the root menu button.

Personally I don't recommend allowing use of the Title button as results are a bit erratic in DVDA authored DVDs due to DVDA scripting & use of just a few general registers throughout.

douglay wrote on 4/19/2007, 6:05 AM

Thx GeorgeW & MPM for your suggestions. MPM, you mentioned that
"in DVDA you cannot set a button as default -- you can easily do this in PgcEdit"
How, exactly, can this be done? I played around in PgcEdit but didn't see an obvious way to set a menu button as default. Could you be more specific on how this is accomplished? Thanks again to both for your replies. ...Doug

MPM wrote on 4/19/2007, 12:35 PM

"I played around in PgcEdit but didn't see an obvious way to set a menu button as default. Could you be more specific on how this is accomplished?"

Done... See new post on Default Selected Menu Buttons

johnmeyer wrote on 4/19/2007, 12:59 PM

I didn't spend too much time on this, but I just created a DVDA project where I put the Play All button at the end of the list instead of the beginning. This gives you the navigation with the remote's numeric buttons the way that you want.

Next, I created a menu that has the same background as the original, and the same buttons. I set this to be the menu that plays on start. I then set the background media to the minimum duration, and set the end action for the default button so that it points to the REAL main menu. Under the ACTION section for that button, I set Destination to the real main menu, Destination Item to Start, and (this is the key) the destination button to the Play All button. Thus, the play all button can be anywhere in the order of what button will be selected next (in this case it is at the end), but the "dummy" menu forces it to be selected.

All end actions for the media should be changed to point to the dummy menu.

This is similar to the script idea, but without requiring scripts. The only downside compared to the script is that the minimum duration for the button action is one second, so there is a slight delay before the "real" menu appears. However, since the two are visually identical, this is not too jarring to the user.

If I think of a better way to do this, I'll post again.

douglay wrote on 4/20/2007, 5:08 AM

Thanks John & MPM for your alternative solutions. All are appreciated, even though one would think this should be easier to accomplish. At least there are work-arounds, as each of you have suggested. MPM, your post on Default Selected Menu Buttons is truly epic in scope: comprehensive & exceptionally informative. Thanks for taking the time to provide additional insight into PGCEdit as well as DVDA4.