Using Glyphs

PeterMac wrote on 4/28/2004, 9:06 AM

Can anyone guide me on a different way of selecting from a menu?

Instead of the thumbnail or the text being hilighted or masked when it has the focus, I want to place static text menu options on the screen and, to indicate when each one has the focus, make a small graphic appear alongside - something like an arrow or pointer. If the option is then clicked, I want the graphic to change colour momentarily - from yellow to white (say) - before the requested navigation takes place. If the option does not have the focus I want the graphic to be invisible.

Much of this already happens, but only with text/thumbnails. How can I implement my little graphic pointers instead? I'm sure someone's done it by now :)

-Pete

Comments

GaryKleiner wrote on 4/28/2004, 9:52 AM

>to indicate when each one has the focus, make a small graphic appear alongside <

You can do this with DVDA 2.0 using the new masking features.

Gary

PeterMac wrote on 4/28/2004, 10:03 AM

Quite. But I was hoping you'd tell me how. ;-)

-Pete

SonySDB wrote on 4/28/2004, 11:17 AM

There is a document on using the new features of DVDA2 which can be found at the following URL: http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/Products/DVDArchitect2NewFeatures.pdf. Check out "Creating custom highlight masks" starting on page 51. This illustrates one way of creating custom highlights for buttons in DVDA2.

PeterMac wrote on 4/28/2004, 2:43 PM

Thank you, I'll look into that.

-Pete

richard-courtney wrote on 4/28/2004, 3:24 PM

Like everyone else has been applauding the new features in DVDA2
that open a new door to our artistic ability! (well my dream of being an
ARTIST is closer.)

If you have a copy of "DVD Demystified Second Edition" by Jim Taylor
the Zuma Digital Design Reel has some cool menus.

farss wrote on 5/20/2004, 9:46 PM

OK,
I've downloaded the document, printed it out and read it and I'm still none the wiser as to how to do this. It should be simple. I (we?) don't need to highlight anything or mask anything. All I want is say an arrow that points to what the user is going to select and the arrow is moved by the players navigation buttons.
I'm simply trying to get away from the rather lame look of highlighted text / thumbnails.

Any help much appreciated.

Bob

richard-courtney wrote on 5/21/2004, 7:40 AM

The highlight is the button.

I have one I generated for a mystery and the button looks like
Sherlock Holmes' magnifying glass.

bStro wrote on 5/21/2004, 10:35 AM

I (we?) don't need to highlight anything or mask anything.

You may not think you do, but you do. ;-)

All I want is say an arrow that points to what the user is going to select and the arrow is moved by the players navigation buttons.

As the DVD viewer, you can't "move" anything on a menu. What's there is there, and you can't change it. What you can do, though, is make invisible what you don't want to see and make visibile what you do want to see.

This is precisely what highlighting and masking is for.

In your example, you want an arrow to "move" from item to item. Say you have Item 1, Item 2, Item 3, and Item 4. When you're on Item 3, the arrow next to it is highlighted. The arrows next to Item 1, Item 2, and Item 4 are masked. You can see the one next to Item 3, you cannot see the ones next to the other items.

Read the section of that document called "Creating Custom Highlight Masks" on page 54. Following those steps will do what you want. And nothing else will. ;-)

Rob

bStro wrote on 5/21/2004, 10:37 AM

Read the section of that document called "Creating Custom Highlight Masks" on page 54. Following those steps will do what you want. And nothing else will. ;-)

And might I add, it's pretty freakin' cool!

Rob

farss wrote on 5/21/2004, 4:36 PM

Thanks guys,
I think I've got it under control. I just got a bit lost in the maze of new widgets in V2. I knew I couldn't actually make anything 'move' and I'd already worked out that it was a matter of controlling the 'visibility' of objects to create the illusion that they'd moved.
Been doing a bit of experimenting and lots of useful control has been added in V2, timeout is one I'll be making a lot of use of, just for those viewers who might get 'lost'. Also should make it easy to build in a screensaver, most DVD players seem to take care of that anyway, still a polite feature to include in a DVD.