'Splitscreen' and 'Roll-Overs'

Beamer2K wrote on 8/2/2004, 5:01 PM
hello forum users,

i have two questions regarding the capabilites of dvda.

1. i have a dvd here (ltj bukem - earth vol. 3) that has an interview and some bonus stuff included. it is structured like this: in the lower half of the screen there is a navigation menu visible all the time and in the upper half you can see the movies you chose with the navigation menu. during playback of the videos (in the upper half) the menu (in the lower half of the screen) is still accessible. the whole thing reminds me of a website with frames.

is it possible to create something similar with dvda?

2. are there any plans for real button-roll-overs? i know the custom-masking-possibility of dvda, but i want to have picture-thumbnails replaced by other picture-thumbnails when the cursor hits the button (color sets not involved!).

thx in advance - i really appreciate your help!

fred.

Comments

bStro wrote on 8/2/2004, 5:37 PM
Depending on the length of the videos, you could do the "split screen" effect simply by making a full "menu" for each video and include the video as part of that menu. You are limited to 1GB to use for all of your menus (including video and audio), so whether you can do this or not depends on how long the videos you want to use are and what other menus you have.

If this sounds feasible, let me know (and how much video you intend to use), and I'llgive more detailed instructions if you need 'em.

As for rollovers, I see this question a lot, but I'm not sure i've ever seen them used on a DVD. Only way I know of to do this would be to have a different menu for each possibility and set each button to auto-activate the needed menu. (DVD Architect doesn't do auto-activation, so you'd have to use another tool like MenuEdit or IFOEdit to flip that switch.)

Rob
Beamer2K wrote on 8/8/2004, 11:36 PM
dear rob,
sorry for answering this late but i was not at home for a few days.
thank you very much for your reply, it gave me some helpful ideas.

you write i could include the video "as a part" of my menu. do you mean i may include it as an animated "graphic"? this is the only clue i had.

by mapping the menu length to the video length (and then using the end-action switch) i would be able to chain some clips - right?

thx in advance

fred ;)

p.s.: as a dvda pro you may know another thing:
there are dvds that offer the possibility of clicking a hyperlink when played back in a computer. a browser window opens and you can see a specified website. can i do this with sony's dvda?



bStro wrote on 8/9/2004, 7:47 AM
do you mean i may include it as an animated "graphic"?

That's one way you could do it.

Another would be to create the entire "menu" screen in Vegas and use track motion to size the actual video content on it. Make everything look the way you want, render this all to a file, and then use the whole thing as the background of a menu. Then just add your buttons. (You could even add the button graphics themselves in Vegas as part of the video, and then just insert empty buttons in DVDA where you need them.

by mapping the menu length to the video length (and then using the end-action switch) i would be able to chain some clips - right?

Yes. As long as each menu has a button that links to the next video (menus can't link directly to videos, I don't think, but you can auto-activate buttons that are on them>).

I've actually only experimented with this a little, but you've got my curious. I'll try to whip up something interesting this week. Again, though, remember that your menus can only add up to 1GB.

...hyperlink when played back in a computer...can i do this with sony's dvda?"

'Fraid not. This is what's called a hybrid DVD -- it combines elements of DVD-Video and DVD data onto one disc. DVD Architect only does DVD-Video. There are programs for doing the multimedia DVD data content, but I don't know anything about them. Could check the Macromedia website.

As best as I can tell, you would then design and prepare your DVD-Video content in DVD Architect. Then create your DVD data content in the other program and add its files to the directory that DVD Architect added AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS to. (First prepare the DVD files, then add the DVD data content -- DVD Architect will complain if you have any files there when you prepare, and I believe it will erase anything you've got there.) You'd also have to use a different program [insert obligatory Nero plug here] to burn this all to a disc, because DVD Architect, again, will complain if you have other files in its prepare folder.

Rob
JaysonHolovacs wrote on 8/9/2004, 8:18 AM
Rob,
I think I understand your strategy: You are saying that you should create a full size menu video for each option, and actually change menus when you want to display a different button's video.

What I can't figure out is how you are switching the menus. Are you suggesting that the user should select the button in order to change the video? I think the original poster wants the video to by controlled by which button is highlighted, not which button is pressed(original poster, correct me if I am wrong). Is there a way to do that? I can't think of one, but perhaps you had some idea on this you didn't discuss fully? It's an interesting thought.

-Jayson
bStro wrote on 8/9/2004, 9:35 AM
Sounds like I didn't explain it as poorly as I thought I did... ;-)

I just assumed that the poster wanted the video to change when a button was pressed. I think going by what's selected could be troublesome for this. Let's say, for example, you have the following buttons at the buttom of your screen, with a "window" filling the rest of the screen for the video content itself.

Video 1 - Video 2 - Video 3 - Video 4 - Video 5

Let's say you're currently watching (or even just finished watching) Video 2 and decide that you want to watch Video 4. Do you really want Video 3 to start playing while you're trying to navigate from 2 to 4?

Supposing you do, there's always MenuEdit. Design and prepare the DVD in Architect, then edit the menus' VOB files with MenuEdit so that the buttons' actions are automatic. Save the menus there and then back to DVDA (or Nero) to burn.

Rob
ScottW wrote on 8/9/2004, 1:38 PM
Maybe the desire is to have a small preview window on the menu, so that as you navigate around the appropriate clip starts to preview in the window - then when you click on the clip you actually jump to it for playing.

This is pretty easy to do with DVDlab.

--Scott
Beamer2K wrote on 8/11/2004, 12:40 AM
thx alot mates!
rob got me right. i want to change the content of a smaller-than-fullscreen window by clicking buttons benath/besides this window.
though changing content by highlighting buttons seems to be a nice idea - i'm fine with the clicking solution.

this forum is really one of the best i know - kudos to all of you!

best regards, fred.