Button creation Adobe Encore vs. DVD studio pro (mac only)

Question

I'm sitting here, trying to figure out what to do if you want to create a neat button with transparency quickly.
I remember my time at school where we used DVD Studio pro to create our DVD menues based on photoshop images.
Right now, I am trying to create a menu of that kind but guess what? I can't do it as easyly as it can be made with the other program NOT
designed by Adobe. But, what a shame, I have no mac to use DVD Studio pro -.-
Why isn't it possible to SELECT LAYERS of an image created with a program of the SAME COMPANY to represent the different status on
a DVD menu? It would be soooooo much easier. But no!
"Solid colors only
Elements on these layers must use solid colors and sharp edges. Use one solid color per layer. Do not use gradients, feathering, or anti-aliasing on the subpicture layers. Color gradations are not possible in subpictures." (http://help.adobe.com/en_US/EncoreDVD/4.0/WS2CF5669B-310A-4fa7-A52F-7D01AB25A846.html#WS AC753DA7-21EF-464a-9FC0-8D873658D760)
It's not possible??? Why??? I could create a picture in Photoshop and, later, it would be on your TV just as you saw it already while creating it.
All the annoying prefixes would be needless, too!
Instead I get some ugly colour changes, I have just one colour for a layer (ridiculous!!!) or the writing even disappears for a reason I can't understand...
Encore is a very mighty program, but the button creation is a very nasty work. Like apple showed, There is a way that guarantees a very more easy way.
Please revise this function!
Am I underskilled? Am I wrong? Please comment
sincerely
Elke Kolke

Answer 1

Actually, Button creation is easy in PS, and one can even populate a Menu with Library Buttons in Encore, and then edit them to suit in PS. This latter method saves having to do the Button Layer Set and Layer naming by hand.
"Solid colors only
Elements on these layers must use solid colors and sharp edges. Use one solid color per layer. Do not use gradients, feathering, or anti-aliasing on the subpicture layers. Color gradations are not possible in subpictures." (http://help.adobe.com/en_US/EncoreDVD/4.0/WS2CF5669B-310A-4fa7-A52F- 7D01AB25A846.html#WSAC753DA7-21EF-464a-9FC0-8D873658D760)
This is a limitation of the DVD-specs. and not Encore/PS. One is bound to those DVD-specs. Sub-picture Highlights can ONLY be 2-bit color (either ON, or OFF, plus can have Transparency - think just the opposite of Opacity in PS). There are design ways to create the "illusion" that one has Sub-picture Highlights, that get past the DVD-specs., but those are only illusions. One is still bound to the DVD-specs. This ARTICLE might offer some tips on creating the illusion.
All the annoying prefixes would be needless, too!
Those "annoying prefixes" tell the DVD player how to handle the Buttons. Without those, the player has no clue that you have a Button, and will only display a static graphic.
Jeff Bellune has a great book, The Focal Easy Guide to Adobe EncoreDVD 2.0, Focal Press. Though it was written for an earlier version, 100% of that book still applies, because the DVD-specs. have not changed. He steps one through building custom Buttons in PS for use on a DVD. He also shares a ton of tricks to create illusions within the DVD-specs.
Good luck,
Hunt