The frame around the buttons

B.Verlik wrote on 10/1/2004, 8:32 PM
I'm still on DVD-A 1.0 and whenever I import a video I usually end up using either the default frame or no frame. There's quite a few others in the menu, but they cut off so much of the picture that I never use them. There are some oval and rectangular frames that look kind of interesting but when I choose them, they end up being round or square. ??? . I don't mind the default frame, but the color gets old after a while. Are there any alternatives? Can a person design their own frames? If so, then how? Are there some that can be downloaded from somewhere? I did do a search on this, but could find nothing that was about the frame. PS: Not financially ready to upgrade to DVD-A2 yet, in case that's an option. Thanks in advance.

Steve

Comments

bStro wrote on 10/1/2004, 9:26 PM
Can a person design their own frames? If so, then how?

Yes. The frames are just image files (the includes ones are PNGs, but you can use any of the formats supported in DVDA...JPG, BMP, GIF). I personally like PNG the best as they are small, are high quality, and can use alpha channel transparency.

The frames work the same in both 1.0 and 2.0, so there's no matter in that regard. Well, okay, there is one difference. In 2.0, you can randomly choose whatever image files you want for frames. In 1.0, however, I believe that DVDA only lists frames that are part of the installed themes. So you would have to either create a new theme (and then your frames would show up in the listing) or simply copy one of the old themes to a new theme and simply replace the frame images.

To get started on making your own themes (or just frames), I'd recommend opening up some of the current ones in your favorite image editor (I use Paint Shop Pro). You'll find the theme folders (including the frames and other graphics) under Program Files / Sonic Foundry / DVD Architect 1.0 / _Themes. (Note the underscore and capitalization. This directory holds the actual themes that DVDA uses. The directory called themes is different -- it holds the archived versions of the themes.

Also see Sony's DVDA Themes page for more info on making themes.

Rob
B.Verlik wrote on 10/2/2004, 1:38 PM
Thanks a lot, Rob. I'll try your suggestion and hope I don't screw something else up. I think I understand what you said though. Thanks again.

Steve
bStro wrote on 10/3/2004, 6:03 PM
Just back-up the files from the themes directory to another folder. If anything gets screwed up, copy them back. No fuss, no muss.

Rob
B.Verlik wrote on 10/3/2004, 7:02 PM
Glad I saw this before I started. Thanks again.

Steve