Yes I did and I read through this overly confusing manual and have found it useless. All I want to do is have a main page that links to different sections of the same MPEG2 file. I have tried to find where there is a clear explanation of this is the manual. Can you point me to a section that I might have over looked? I read through chapter 3 and can not make heads or tails of the directions in there. I thought I followed the directions and came up with coffee coasters. My DVDs play the main title page, but none of the links work. This is very, very frustrating. Can you help more than just 'look at the manual again"? It is obvious that this program is much more powerful than other simple DVD authoring programs, so I would like to be able to use it.


Please help...

Mike

You will do yourself a huge favor by being REALLY clear on what you are trying to accomplish, what you have successfully accomplished, and what still does not work. At least, that is where I find the best answers to my own questions.

I am just venturing into the DVD side of things, having previously written my stuff back to DV tape, but I'll try to help.

It sounds to me like you are creating chapter points, or some other kind of navigation that is not working. Are you setting this in DVDA with multiple sources, or are you using markers in the MS project as your chapter points?

Does the DVD you make preview well within DVD Architect Studio?

Can you describe how exactly you created the non-working links, what you linked to, and maybe describe what the various dialogues/etc look like for the links?

I am realizing that this program is written in an overly complex way. So I'll try to step by step out what I did.

1. I clicked on "NEW" under "File" menu and picked "Menu based" DVD project.

2. I right clicked on the "Main Menu" and picked "insert media".

3. I also added a background graphic (picture) and change the text "Main Menu" to the name of the DVD.

4. I checked preview to see if it worked. It did.

5. I went to FIle/Make DVD and had the program prepare and Burn DVD.

6. DVD was burned successfully, but does not play. I'm on my fifth coffee coaster.

I hope I am just doing something stupid so I can get back on track.
Any thoughts?

Mike

I followed the steps you listed, and it does seem that you're following the right steps. For what it's worth, you might try the following to narrow down the problem:

1) Do a "Make DVD" but just do the "Prepare" step. This will create files on your hard drive instead of burning to a disk. You should then be able to see if the prepared DVD works well on your PC-based DVD player. You should be able to double-click on one of the *.ifo files and have the DVD play on your PC-based DVD player.
2) Look for any warning messages during the "Prepare" step. This might warn of file incompatibilities, etc. This might shed light on the problem.
3) Can you play the DVDs you've created on your PC (as opposed to your set-top DVD player)?
4) If everything above checks out, then maybe we're back to issues with DVD Arch Studio being compatible with your DVD Burner and/or DVD media. What brand and type of DVD media are you using? For instance, I am able to use either + or - R media in my set top player, but I get very strange results when using +/- RW media. Your comment about making coasters leads me to believe you're not using RW media, but it's worth asking.
5) You might try using DVD Shrink to create a .iso file and then use DVD Decrypter to burn the actual DVD. This is what worked best with my particular PC and DVD burner; others have had similar experiences.
6) Another thing to consider is your source media. But, then again, any problems with that should show up in the prepare DVD step and/or during the rendering during the preparation.
7) Did you get some freebie DVD creation software with your DVD burner? If you haven't already, you might try creating a simple DVD there just to eliminate problems with your PC/DVD Burner.

Hi gogiants,

Thanks for the reply. I use a Plextor 712a DVD burner with 4x DVD-R media. The MPEG2 file made from the movie studio program works. THe problem seems to be with the architect program. I can play the .ifo file, but when the program burns to DVD, the DVD brings up the menu but the file (when clicked) does nothing. In addition, I can usually render DVDs form this DVD files using Nero, but Nero states that there is a problem with the file and that it will not render properly.

Am I the only one having this problem?? Do I have to go back to my Ulead DVD movie factory program? I only bought this "upgrade" because of the Architect program.

Isn't there a tutorial somewhere (or written manual) that I can use to find the problem with my DVD authoring process. As you can see, I have followed the instructions pretty carefully and still am having problems.

I know it isn't the media (blank DVDs) that I am using. I buy in bulk and have been using this media with this burner and other software for the last 6 months.

Frustrating is an understatement. Did I waste my money on an unusuable upgrade??

Mike

Don't feel bad, you aren't the only user with this problem. I've had the same difficulty and found the only way to overcome it is to use Nero for adding chapters and burning the disc. I use Movie Studio for every thing else. Although I think DVDA has promise, it's just not burning correctly for my particular equipment.

Mark

Mike, when did you add the chapter points? That step doesn't appear in your work flow. Can you try a PC DVD player and see if everything works from the hd before you burn the DVD?

Ian G.

Ian,

I'm not really sure what you are asking. Can you walk me through the architect process. I want to be able to have the main screen come up (when DVD is inserted) with sections (chapters?) of a single MPEG2 as selections on the main screen.

I have tried to do this (as I described above) and it didn't work.
Can you just lay out the order of what to do for me?

Mike

What I'm about to describe is slightly different than what you mentioned earlier, but apologies if you've already tried it.

- Create a new "menu based" DVD as you described.
- Right-click on a blank area on the screen and choose "insert media". Add your movie file here. You should wind up with a button/screen element that links to your entire movie.
- Now right click on that button/screen element and choose "insert scene selection menu." Doing so should add a new screen element that, when selected, goes to a scene selection menu.

Is this what you did? Are you saying that the movie won't play at all? Are you saying that you created a scene selection menu but it isn't showing up? I'm grasping at straws here, but thought I'd ask...

"- Create a new "menu based" DVD as you described.
- Right-click on a blank area on the screen and choose "insert media". Add your movie file here. You should wind up with a button/screen element that links to your entire movie."

I did this part.

_______________________

"- Now right click on that button/screen element and choose "insert scene selection menu." Doing so should add a new screen element that, when selected, goes to a scene selection menu. "

I didn't do this part.

After I read your post, I tried this and I got yet another page (menu) where the chapter can be "clicked on" to get to the media file.

Is this how it needs to be done? When I did this, I got another shortcut on the main menu page. What happens to the first? Do I get two links to the same file? Do have to have the viewer go through the main menu, then the chapter menu, then click on the file to just get to the file?

I was hoping I could have the person access the file from the main menu.

I'm just plain confused....

Mike

Just one more thing to try...

Make sure the firmware on your burner is up to date.

If all you want to do is to play one single media file all the way through, then no, you do not need to do the scene selection menu. Simply insert the media as you described, and create the DVD. But, you're saying that the menu appears on your DVD player, but then nothing plays when they select the menu item?

If you want to have one main movie, and then also be able to add entry points to different subsections of the movie, then you will need the scene selection menu.

I guess I'm confused about what exactly is going wrong in your DVD. Can you play any section of any movies at all?

Depending on the options you choose for highlighting, etc. it is possible to confuse what is actually highlighted/chosen in the menu screen. Maybe by adding two media items into the menu it will be easier to tell which one is chosen?

Mike

Normaly I'd expect to have a number of different entry points to a DVD, defined by chapter points and linked to the different menu items. However, it looks like that's a red herring since the single menu item that you've created is automaticaly linked to the start of the video.

On the other hand, I've just tried following your instructions and I get a DVD with the audio_ts and video_ts folders, but no content! I'm sticking with DVD-Lab!

Ian G.

Mike - before I say anything, let me tell you that I have yet to create a single DVD. Up until now, all my work has been written back to DV tape. My personal opinion was that the quality was actually better than DVD. However, it is not really convenient, so I ordered a DVD burner and it is due to arrive tomorrow. In anticipation of that, I have been playing with DVDA for a few days so I would have some idea as to what I was doing. Even so, I have a long way to go before I know 1/2 as much as what the experts guiding you here have already forgotten! While I can "play" around with DVDA, I have no way of actually creating a DVD yet, so you are going to have to keep trying things out here and keep us posted on the results. One other suggestion - use RW discs until you get this straightened out - no reason to keep generating coasters.

Now, with that disclaimer out of the way, here is my very "newbie" suggestions.

Follow the above instructions regarding creating your main movie link as well as the "insert scene selection menu". Caveat: If your original Movie Studio production did not have "markers", or you did not export those markers (might be an "advanced render" optionn), then you have to create them in DVDA. From what I can tell, you might be able to set them a bit more precisely in MS. You definitely want to have all your chapters set BEFORE "insert scene selection menu" since the menu will not regenerate itself if you add more AFTER you have already created the scene selection menu.

Once you have created your scene selection menu, it will create a second "main menu item", as you have noticed. This can be either an image only, text only, or both. Regardless, select that item, which will take you to your new submenu. With your cursor active as a "selection tool" (arror), not sizing tool, draw a box around all the chapter items that were created in the scene selection submenu. Once selected, either right-click, then copy, or "edit-copy" from the menu.

Then, return to the main menu, and right-click, paste (or, "edit-paste"). That should then copy all those chapter links to your main menu.

If, for example, your main movie had 3 chapters, following the above description would result in your main menu now having 5 items (excluding any menu title): The main movie link, the chapter submenu link, and the 3 chapters you just copied.

Assuming this is true, still from the MAIN MENU, select the chapter submenu link created in the "insert scene selection menu" and delete it. This will delete the submenu completely. You should now have 4 remaining items (assuming my example of 3 chapter points): The main movie link, plus your 3 chapter/scene links. A little bit of text insertion, graphics, or moving things around on the screen, and you should be able to divide your screen logically into a portion that is the the entire movie (ie, "play all"), and another section of the screen to select a desired chapter (ie, scene selection).

I still have no idea why your original project does not play the movie. It almost sounds like the element in the menu does not get "focus", or in other words, is not actually selected. The fact that there is only a single item, as someone else pointed out, might not make it obvious that it is not, in fact, selected, and therefore nothing plays. However, one would think that this application is written to automatically select that one particular item, if only one exists. I am also wondering if a particular selection can start automatically if no selection is made within XXX amount of time. That might be an option, but I just have not dug that far.

I hope this helps you, or someone else. If not, it gave me the opportunity to try it myself before I ever posted this reply, thereby becoming a bit more familiar with the program before my burner arrives! :o)

Good luck, and keep us posted on your progress - we all learn from this type of exchange!

=Don=

Hi Don,

Your post was an eye opener. I decided not to try to access all the media chapters and such from the main menu (just seemed too problematic). I instead followed your directions (very good direction!!) to have access to the main MPEG2 on the main menu and then have a chapter page with access to various points in the MPEG2. It worked well and the final burned plays on everything including a home DVD player (like it should).
I wish you had written the manual, your short explanation made much more sense than the lengthy manual.

Thank you again!,

Mike

Glad it worked out for you Mike. I installed my new burner yesterday. No doubt I will soon be posting tons of my own questions/problems too! LOL!

This is a long thread and someone might allready have suggested that you use a DVD-RW as a trial disc. Then you can burn it over and over without getting the coasters.

Yes what was described is really how you should put it togehter.
Think about how your regular commercial DVD is normally composed.
You have a menu option to start the movie from the beginning <play> and a menu option to get to a sub-menu where you can select the specific chapters.

DVD Architect is nice in the way that it gives you complete freedom when it comes to composition of the DVD compared to Ulead, but the drawback is that it is easy to get lost ...

Great job hanging in there. This board is a very, very valuable source for learnings !