Buttons in DVDSP

Hello,
So this is my very first post. How exciting! So my question is, I used motion to create a menu with some motion. The background is something i created in FCP and I borught it into motion to add the titles and buttons. I created an overlay layer and exported it as TIFF. I brought the motion FILE into DVDSP and I created buttons, but for some reason when I simulate it. A black box appears along with the highlighted color. Does anyone have any ideas.
Thanks,
Hak
G5 dual 1.5GHZ Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Wlecome to the boards, some things to look at
http://dvdstepbystep.com/motion.php
http://dvdstepbystep.com/useelements.php
http://dvdstepbystep.com/buttons07.php

Similar Messages

Buttons for DVDSP

I am not a motion Pro. I have Motion 2.0 and DVDSP 4.0. I have a Template I have done in Motion 2.0 and want use it in DVDSP 4.o. how do I make the text that I added in Motion be a button in DVDSP.
In other words I have about 4 lines of text that "zoom in" that was done in Motion. I want these to be active buttons on a menu in DVDSP.
Not sure if this is DVDSP question or Motion Question so I post both places. Sorry.

Take a look here
http://dvdstepbystep.com/motion.php
It is a fade in, but same concept. You would need to make the final button text an overlay.
(Also posted this in DVD SP froum, did not know wher eyou would look first )

Highlight Buttons in DVDSP

I create a button and select a highlight color for it, but when the DVD burns I cannot see which button I am selecting when played in my DVD player. Pleae help!

OK - let's go through it a step at a time...
You have created a button by dragging out a rectangle in the menu editor. Click on the button once and look in the property inspector under the 'Style' tab. In the middle, look for the Shape drop down and navigate through to whatever shape you want to use. For simplicity, select something like 'L shape highlight', which will create an underline and left hand upstand for whatever is on the background image.
Now click on the 'colours' tab and select 'simple' at the top. You should then see three sliders, one for 'Normal' one for 'Selected' and one for 'Activated' button states.
Leave the 'Normal' one set to 0 opacity (regardless of the colour in the box). This means that nothing will show up at all when the button is not selected or activated - so just whatever is on the background at that point will show through.
Move the 'Selected' slider to full opacity (15) and set the colour to what you want. It defaults to yellow, and I like to change that to red, personally. With this in place the button will then get a red underline when it is selected in your DVD player. You can check this by using the middle of the three buttons underneath the menu editor window that allow you to show the different button states... make sure that you haev a button clicked on in the editor first (i.e. has drag handles around it).
Now change the colour in the 'Activated' slider to be yellow, and set the opacity to 15 as well. This will make the button highlight change colour momentarily when a user activates it. If the selected colour is red, using something diferent (like yellow) allows you to see that the button has indeed been activated. Use the three buttons under the menu editor now and switch between the different states - you should see the highlight appear and change colour.
Now, repeat the process for every button that you have got on the menu, then go into the 'settings' drop down box and click on the text that reads 'Auto Assign Buttons now' (if it isn't already assigning the navigation). If you click on a button and then go into the 'Advanced' tab of the property inspector you should see which button the user will go to if they press a directional arrow on their remote control.
Finally, click on the background, away from any shapes, buttons or drop zones, or click on the menu icon in the outline view, then check the property inspector again - it should now show the options for the menu. Click on the 'Menu' tab and check the setting for the default button. It should say button 1 (if you didn't name the buttons as you went along), or whatever the name is of the first button that you created. This button will be the one highlighted in the 'selected' state when the menu plays.
That should be it.
If you do decide to create an overlay layer, all you do is create the background image in Photoshop (or whatever) and save it as a .pict file (don't use JPEG). You then add a layer and on that draw only the highlight shapes that you want - in our example you would simply draw a few lines to appear under the text on the background layer.
Hide the background so that just the highlight lines are showing and then convert this to grayscale. Export that as a .pict image as well, then import both to DVDSP. Set one as the menu background, one as the overlay and then proceed as above but don't use a shape... draw out the rectangles around the button text and you should see the highlight shapes appear. Set the colours for the states as before.
Lastly, don't forget to assign the button targets no matter which method you choose!

Menu Buttons and remote buttons in DVDSP 4.2.1

Hi
Sorry, this is the first real DVDSP project for me that involves menus and chapters. I used template from the program. I deleted the 3 bottom buttons and added text in a different place for play and scene menu. I then drew a button box around the text to make the text a button. Got all the navigation set. However there no highlight on the preview so you don't know which button your pushing. I burnt a DVD to test everything.
I have COD's FCS tutorials but the DVDSP isn't giving me what I need.
So what did I do wrong? My scene selection menu is all text buttons, no graphics at all.
Also when playing the DVD on my TV, the menu on my remote didn't work. I had to push the title button on the remote. Am I supposed to map the remote buttons as well.
Thanks for any help. Be nice to find a video tutorial with basics like scene selection and laying out an highlighting buttons. I"m totally lost here! ;-(
Allen

Thanks.. I know it use to be there but could not find it in the new version.. will test it out...
I've put a snap shot of the project at :
http://gallery.mac.com/herstik#100124
Can DVSP4 also allow me no next jump to menus???
I could only ever set it up to next jump through the movies... for a total of 99 tracks...
After that I need to make menus into movie tracks.. but these are not navigable...
Cheers
Thanks for the help...

Help with creating highlighted buttons in DVDSP 3

OK, I'm going nuts. I set up a "template" in iDVD using the "Brushed Metal Two" form. It has "arrow buttons" that "highlight" when selected in whatever color I set. They're a shadowed grey metal, like the background, when not selected.
When I open this "template" in DVD Studio Pro 3.0, they arrows show up, but they lose their highlighting ability. I've tinkered with the settings in DVDSP, Button attributes, and have no even gone so far as to try designing my own buttons in Photoshop. Nothing is working. re: Photoshop, I don't know the program very well. Layers and all that is basically another language to me.
In the end, I don't understand why everything I do in iDVD gets imported into DVDSP EXCEPT for the highlight fuction for the buttons. The "button" shows up, but it loses the ability to be highlighted.
Anyone have any thoughts?
Chip Tredo - Dallas

iDVD templates will not import properly into DVD SP depending on the version of iDVD, DVD SP 3 will be further back than this
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=4650585&#4650585
DVD SP 4 can do iDVD before iDVD 5, do not recall the ones for DVD SP 3
If you go to the menus section here
http://dvdstepbystep.com/
There is some info on making buttons including using Photoshop look at
http://dvdstepbystep.com/qm.php
http://dvdstepbystep.com/newmap.php
http://dvdstepbystep.com/motion.php
http://dvdstepbystep.com/useelements.php (using elements from DVD SP, you can also access iDVD elements the same way)
http://dvdstepbystep.com/buttons07.php
http://dvdstepbystep.com/buttons07m.php

Are there any problems with motion menus and buttons in DVDSP 2 on OS 10.4?

I have not used DVD Studio Pro 2 since upgrading to Tiger but it appears to no longer be showing moving motion on menus and buttons.
Are there any problems that I should be aware of when using DVDSP2 on OS 10.4?
I have not upgrade to a newer version only because I do not have any HD software to create DVDs.
Thanks
Paul

New Discussions ReponsesThe new system for discussions asks that after you mark your question as Answered, you take the time to mark any posts that have aided you with the tag and he post that provided your answer with the
tag. This not only gives points to the posters, but points anyone
searching for answers to similar problems to the proper posts.
If we use the forums properly they will work well...

DVDSP Buttons??

I recently ordered a bunch of DVD templates from a company called pixelpops (www.pixelpops.com) for some wedding DVDs to add a variety to my DVD authoring selection. The files on the disc are photohop files and the templates are not a "plug and play" setup as with Adobe Encore for ther PC, the program it is optimized for. I have been able to use these photoshop files as background images in DVDSP. I delete all the titles and buttons on the theme and save a copy to my desktop to import into DVDSP.
The probelm I have is that I would like to be able to use some of the cool buttons that accompany these templates, but DVDSP does not recognize these buttons as buttons.
Does anyone know the type of file DVDSP does recognize to import buttons into DVDSP? And is there someway I can separate these buttons from the menus, save them and import them into DVDSP to use? I called the company and they could only say that they are photoshop files and are not familiar with what Apple has DVDSP set up to accept these files.
Thanks,
Scott
Post Response

I have not seen the files from the place you mentioned and do not know how they are laid out, so keep that in mind. But it sounds like if they are Photoshop files and you can move/copy sections, you can use them.
1.) Make one layer with your background portion
2.) Use the other parts as overlays
Take a look at
http://dvdstepbystep.com/quickmenus.php
as a start, you can download the movies and scroll through to see how it is done
EDIT TO ADD: looked over there and they look like they are just layered photoshop menus. You should be good to go, let me know of questions after you take a look at the above

Delaying buttons

Hi all.
Quick question concerning buttons. I like to have my menus transition onto the screen. (you know, they either fade on or slide on.. etc..) I'll usually make a quick video in motion where the background will fade in and the writing for the buttons will write on or fade on. The problem I hit is that when I create my actual buttons in DVDSP, the buttons are there the whole time.. (it looks really stupid when the background is black and there's a white dot on the screen.) I know a quick solution is to just make two videos, one that's the intro and then one that's the actual background in which I place my buttons, but then I hit a problem if I want to use sound in my intro that I want to carry through the menu.
Is there a way to get buttons to delay appearing until the appropriate time? Or is there a better method I could use to get the effect I'm wanting? I'm fairly new at these Mac programs (as I'm used to PC), so any advice I can get, the better.

Yes, there is...
The usual way is to set the loop point for the menu in the proerty inspector to be at a point where the text has faded up completely. You then need to add a simple overlay file to define the button highlights. When you add this to the menu it gets attached to the loop point marker and so the buttons only appear once the loop point is reached.
Read up in the manual about setting the loop point - it should help clarify all this.

Help making a circle simplebutton highlight & button...(Snapshots provided)

Hello, I've searched the forums regarding buttons and circles, but seems that I'm still having trouble understanding.
I've noticed DVDSP4 is filled with more rectangular/square buttons, I have been using them in the past. This time, I'm working with circle buttons on a menu screen.
Here's a snapshot of what I'm working with today:
The circle button that came with DVDSP is called "Circle Highlight" and is the only one I can find. However, it's really pixealated:
/___sbsstatic___/migration-images/464/4647754-2.jpg
Is there a way I can recreate this button without it being pixelated? Does it need to be in exact dimensions with each circle in order for it to not be pixelated?
I'm a fan of the "simplebutton" that DVDSP provides, I currently have my settings set to this:
/___sbsstatic___/migration-images/464/4647754-3.jpg
The above image is when it is activated. I would like to basically make a "simplebutton" button and highlight that not a square or rectangle, but a circle. I would like to know the means of achieving that.
Thanks so much for your time! Your help is greatly appreciated.
iMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.7)

When doing something like this, I usually make a layered menu in photoshop. I don't know if that's the best way to do it but it works...
You need to make a photoshop document with a few layers for each button - one layer for the inactive state, one for the active state and one for the selected state. All your inactive buttons can be flattened to one background layer because they stay on the screen all the time. So create your menu background first and flatten it into one layer.
Then, create 2 new layers for each button. One layer will be show how the button will look when selected. Perhaps you can put a glow behind your circle when the user navigates to it. The second layer will be how the button will look when it is activated. Maybe you color the circle in to indicate it was selected. Essentially, your photoshop doc layer should look something like this...
button 4 active
button 4 selected
button 3 active
button 3 selected
button 2 active
button 2 selected
button 1 active
button 1 selected
menu background
Once you have the .psd created, import it into DVDSP, preserving the layers (do not flatten on import). Then select 'create new layered menu' (not create menu). Drop the document into the menu and all your layers will show up. Go to the menu inspector and turn off all layers except the background layer.
Next, create your 4 standard buttons like you showed in your picture - you can use the square buttons. Click on your first button, go to the inspector and you can select which layers will be visible there. So check the 'button 1 selected' box in the second column and the 'button 1 active' box in the third column. By checking these boxes you are turning that layer on when the user either selects or activates the button. Do this for all 4 buttons.
By creating the menu this way, you can still use the square buttons that DVDSP provide. When the user selects the button, it will only show what is on the layer that you selected in the inspector, which is the glow circle or colored circle you created in photoshop. Everything else is on different layers so if there is overlap with the next button you won't see that button's highlight because it is on another layer.
I'm not sure if this is the best way to do it but this is how I would do it. I haven't had any trouble doing it this way in the past.

You can not make TRUELY custom buttons inb Photoshop

After several weeks of research, dozens of forum posts and replies, I have come to the conclusion that only BASIC, SIMPLE buttons can be made in Photoshop and ported into DVDSP where the only attribute for the selected state is a highlighted background. (ver 3.x)
One of the reasons for needing to create a custom button is for outlined text. This is needed to be able to see smaller buttons on a picture backgrounded menu where there is a lot of dark/ bright spots. Even when porting into DVDSP a button that is outlined text (by applying "Stroke" to the text and rasterizing) the text is solid when in DVDSP.
I was able to do a lot to buttons in Adobe Encore, I can make a line appear when selected as well as change the background color. It was simple to do. Each button was a single .psd file with a Specific name for each Layer SET, not layer. It seems that buttons in DVDSP are embedded objects within a master file.
I defy anyone to create a button for DVDSP (or say how) with the following attributes:
Not Selected--->Outlined text, nothing else
Selected------->Same text, with a line above and a line below and slightly highlighted background.
Activated (optional) Same as selected but with a different highlight color.
Thanks
Mike
G5 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

I am not sure if I am understanding the issue, did you look at the examples in the other post?
http://dvdstepbystep.com/newmap.php
http://dvdstepbystep.com/qm.php
If I understand what you want, create an overlay with 3 colors, the Black, Blue and Red with the Chroma keys, the outline is Black in the file, the lines are Blue in the file and and the Highlights Red in the file
1.) Selected - Map Black to whatever percentage color you want, Map Blue and Red to 0 percent
2.) Selected- Map Black to whatever percentage color you want, Map Blue for the line Color/Precentage and then Red to a color semi transparent number (lower numbers more transparent) which will highlight/tint the background
2.) Active - Map Black to whatever percentage color you want, Map Blue for the line Color/Precentage and then Red to a color semi transparent number (lower numbers more transparent) which will highlight/tint the background
Not sure if you envision something else for the highlight on the background? If you mean change the actual background color of the entire background you probably want to use layered menus

Making buttons in photoshop

There is a way to create custom buttons in Photoshop that exibit the 3 states that a button has:
1. Not Selected
2. Selected
3. Activated
I believe that 3 layers need to be created, one for each state??? If so Just How do you Specify Which layer is which?????
When I was doing the PC thing (using Adobe Encore) all that was needed was to Name the layers with a special name, however, that does not work in DVDSP (at least not the naming convention)
I believe that I am within one foot of a 10000 mile journey, I just need the Meat and I will be there.
Thanks
Mike
G5 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Hal,
So far, I have been able to create a button by creating a photoshop file with the word "Test". I then created a blank button in DVDSP by dragging the mouse in a shape I wanted. I then drug the fie from the finder onto the blank button and selected "Set Asset".
Using the colors tab in the inspector I found out that the 4th "Key" for color set 1 controls the Background highlight, the other 3 "Keys" control nothing (for This button)
I want to have lines and objects "Light up" when selected, not just the background.
I believe that there is a relationship to the "Keys" and what they control. So far , "Key" 4 (the bottom one) controls the background. Are objects in layers 1 through 3 controled by "Keys" 1 through 3??
If so I need a little help on how to create a line or something in a specific layer.
Thanks
Mike
PS I can drag psd files into DVDSP menus and buttons, but if you right click in the buttons area and select "Import" , it does not want photoshop files.
G5 Mac OS X (10.3.9)
G5 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Custom button sizes and function

I've read a lot of posts on custom buttons, but none address how to make my .psd pen button move from selection to selection. Also, for some reason, the pen appears, but it is very tiny. I made the pen a size of 720x480, used a mask and made it transparent. I just want the pen to move to whatever link I have on my main menu screen. And I can't get the pen to appear at each line link. Any ideas?

The tutorial link in the previous post is what you want. Here's another one: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=134402 Scroll down a few posts and you'll see the steps.
Basically, you've got to make another file, called an overlay in Photoshop (or GIMP). There ARE some buttons in DVDSP that will do what you want, but not all of them. You're looking for the buttons to be invisible until you select something.
The "simple button" (I think it's called) will do this. Most of the buttons in DVDSP that look white in the shapes tab can be set to 0 opacity for the normal state, meaning invisible. There are others that aren't white colored as well, but you need to test them out.
To test, I'd just do ahead and drag a button over, start with the square simple button. Drag it over to the menu. It should say button 1. Add text if you want and then click the button with the mouse so it's selected.
Cycle through the various states, normal, selected, and activated, and note the color changes. Change the "normal" state colors in the button inspector so that it has a setting of 0 for opacity. If the button disappears then you're good to go. If it doesn't, then you need to use a different button then.
You should really learn the photoshop overlay method though as it allows you to really customize your buttons and use any shape in the exact way you want. For one of my last menus, I had a menu overlay where the buttons where little martini glasses that moved from menu item to menu item. It is a very valuable skill to learn for DVDSP!
Look in the zip file the previous poster uploaded. In there is an overlay file. Use that on your menu (but not the other files) and you'll see football shaped buttons appear whenever you select a button. This is what you want to do. Create an overlay with arrows in the appropriate locations. Even though you'll have many black arrows together, only one at a time will appear in DVDSP *** you select them.
I hope I managed to clear it up a little and didn't confuse further!

Fading buttons in.

Is there anyway to fade a simple button in? Basically i made an entire moving background in FCP. When i add a button in DVDSP and simulate, the button is seen before the fading in of the movie background. So i am wondering if you can fase a button in to popup, fade in, or anything just to match the transition. Thanks in advance.

These two should do the trick, basically background movie does animation including button fade ins, then set loop point there, add overlays, and you are done
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=2379104#2379104
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=2381898#2381898

Livetype titles as buttons for DVD Studio Pro 4

made a title in Live Type that I want to use a button in DVD Studio Pro 4. Is there a tutorial, or can anyone tell me exactly what I have to do to import it and make it a button in DVDSP 4? When I try to import it and drop it on a menu, the button is small but the surrounding button box is big. When I try and make the letters bigger, the button box gets bigger as well.
All I want is to make just the letters bigger and not the whole surrounding box.
Please help.
Thanks in advance

That's not funny.
No one posted because you can easily find the answer yourself in the DVDSP manual. Creating buttons for DVD menus is a complex operation if you want it to be. LiveType by itself is not appropriate for the task. LT will create some embelishments and animated fluff that you can use to augment the buttons you make in DVDSP. Scaling imported assets is covered extensively, if undecipherably, in the DVDSP manual.
bogiesan

On TV the left part of shape button disappear

Hi to everyone, please a little help...
This is the problem: I choose a shape for my button in DVDSP, try with the simulator, all is OK, try with the DVD player on my iMac, all is OK, but when I insert the DVD in my player on TV (PAL) when the button is highlited the left part disapper.... just like incomplete.
I tryed another shape button but is the same thing ... Why?
Thanks to all

It could be that it is outside title/action safe areas.
In menu/settings pulldown (right beneath the right side of the red box here http://dvdstepbystep.com/layofland.php), select to show title safe and action safe.
Title safe guides (everything will show up within those lines), action safe (area from title safe to action safe usually shows up) and then outside action safe should not be counted on.

Buttons in DVDSP

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