DVD Menus

There is a menu template in DVDSP called Theatre Interior. In this template the theatre curtains open to reveal a drop zone. The dropzone is behind the curtains, even behind the shadow cast by the curtains. I would like to create a similar effect but I'm having difficulty working out how it was done.
The curtains in the template are a .Mov file and I have created video files with the exact same properties as the one in the template but I can't get the dropzone to appear behind the video.
In the tutorial that comes with Final Cut Studio it shows a menu being built in Motion with all the graphic elements except dropzones. The dropzones in the tutorial are applied in DVDSP. Can dropzones be applied in Motion?
Is there some script or code that I am missing or is it that perhaps the template was created entirely in Motion and the dropzone applied there?
I did post this question in the DVDSP forum but have been advised to look for advice here instead.
Thanks
Weenie

I suspect you have used you movies in menu buttons. You may only be showing 10 or 15 seconds of the content, but the entire movie gets encoded. I always create a short movie in iMovie that shows just the section I want displayed on the menu.
F Shippey

Similar Messages

How does one use 'drop zones' in DVD menus?

Hi
I have Premiere Elements 4.0. How does one use 'drop zones' in DVD menus?
Thanks
NBK

There are a number of ways, but the easiest is to swap in your video the way you swap in a DVD background -- i.e., select a menu with a drop zone and, in the DVD menus area, click on the background of the menu in the Disc Layout monitor. This will open up a screen that will allow you to browse to the video or still you want.
Once it's in place, hold down the Shift key and, grabbing a corner handle on the Disc Layout monitor, size the image and drag it to position it in the drop zone.

Can you make custom DVD menus with PrE9?

Hello,
Is it possible to make a custom DVD menu with PrE9? I don't mean modifying a template, I mean creating your own layout.
My background is with the Nero product and with that I was able to create custom DVD menus. Adding as many or few buttons to a screen, etc.
I've been trialing PrE9 and I see that you can modify a template, but it appears that you cannot change the number of buttons, or scenes that are supported from any given screen.
Thank you in advance for your help,
-=John

Although you can modify the colors, fonts and even menu background, you can't do any deep modifications of Premiere Elements templates in Premiere Elements.
You can, however, modify and create your own templates using a program like Photoshop or even Photoshop Elements. (The templates are PSD files.) There are quite a number of rules you have to follow, however. And the order of the layer sets and the names you give each layer is very important.
I do take you step-by-step through the process in my combined Photoshop Elements/Premiere Elements book, available on Amazon.com and at Premiere Elements support site Muvipix.com.
http://Muvipix.com/pe9.php
I've also created a number of templates for http://Muvipix.com, many of which are available for free. A couple of these are very generic so that they can be easily modified in the Premiere Elements Disc Layout workspace.

How can I make DVD menus in Compressor 4?

I was wondering how can I make dvd menus in compressor 4?

I found out you can make chapters..youmake markers first...then you can re-name..there is a box nearby

How to import Elements 3 DVD menus in Elements 10?

I've just upgraded from Elements 3 to Elements 10.
E10 read in my E3 project file just fine, except...no DVD menus!
This will be a lot of work to recreate from scratch; is there a better way?
Thanks,
Stan

Steve - thanks for the response, but no, I mean that the rather elaborately constructed disc menus which were part of the E3 project were not read in to E10. The project now has no disc menus. I could construct new ones based on the E10 templates but I don't want to redo all that work.
It would seem to me that the disc menus are an important part of a project and I'm wondering why they seem to have been lost.
I am trying out the E10 trial version so have not installed all the optional E10 templates (yet); however if E10 needed them to open my E3 project it didn't say so. And E10 has "updated" my E3 project in-place so it is no longer openable in E3; fortunately I have a copy saved elsewhere.

DVD menus and authoring/burning

I'm fairly new to the adobe suite, and I can't seem to find an app to create dvd menus and author/burn to dvd. I know it's probably something simple that I've missed along the way but can someone help me out.
Thanks

Encore CS6 (now discontinued by Adobe but still available to Cloud members as part of Premiere Pro CS6).
If you're a Cloud member, see http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1379993

Creating DVD menus in Encore CS4

I have only very briefly experimented with trying to create a DVD menu for my Premier Pro CS4/Encore CS4 projects. I must say I have found it not at all intuitive.
Can anyone please:
1: Recommend a nice clear tutorial on how to create DVD menus in PPro CS4/Encore CS4
and/or:
2: Recommend a nice simple not-too-costly programme with which I can create DVD menus from my PPro CS4/Encore CS4 projects.
The menus which come with Encore seem pretty naff, too. If anyone can recommend some simple software which has nicer ones I'd be grateful.
Thanks all!

Unless PSE 9 has changed things, the big limitation in using Photoshop Elements is that it cannot create the Button Layer Sets, but can edit them, from the Library Menus. Photoshop has no such limitation.
I do not know if GIMP can do the Menus, but it is often recommended as a free alternative for PS. As I have PS, I have not even seen that program in decades.
One additional source for pre-made Menus is Muvipix. These are free to subscribers, and for sale to non-subscribers. Also, they are done as PrE Menu Sets, but can be broken down and modified to function as stand-alone Menus for Encore.
There is a source for pre-made Menus, in the UK, but last time I checked they were heavily weighted to weddings.
Personally, I just start with a Library Menu, and modify/build what I need in PS.
Good luck,
Hunt

Custom DVD menus

Hi there, this is my first post, I just want to know if there's any chance to build custom dvd menus and how to do this, instead of use the default menus examples provided with Idvd, thanks a lot!!

To the questioner:
My advice:
Learn the themes which have drop zones which you like (places to put moving video or still pictures) then drop in your own background image or images. I usually edit a still picture from the video I'm using on the dvd. You can set the dvd/tv screen dimensions in Photoshop and do what you can't do in iDVD. Lay out more complicated text or process the image, and factor in the button scheme you want to use in iDVD. The results can be quite spiffy.
To the responder who reccommends DVD Studio:
At what point do you move the project from iDVD to DVD Studio? And can you put in a movie to play when a 'scene' is selected, before the video itself? I mean like the transitions iDVD can do, but an actual video instead. I have the program, I just haven't used it yet.

DVD Menus lost in 8.0

Upgraded from Premiere Elements 3.0 to 8.0. When I open an existing project, the preview screen does not show the DVD Menus and templates that had been created.

Though this applies to Transitions, and not Menus (the topic here), one nice feature that I encountered in PrPro 2.0, when I had to Import several Pr 6.5 Projects. One of the Pr 6.5 Projects had two Transitions that were no longer included in my later PrPro version, plus one third-party Transition. When the Project first Imported, PrPro notified me that there were missing Transitions. It then went about giving me complete details of what the Original Transition's name was (even pointing out that one was a thrid-party Transition), and the exact TimeCode, where they had been used. I was surprised at how well these old Projects Imported, especially as they were from the Mac and I was on PC with a version of PrPro, that was no longer available for the Mac. PrPro treated these older Projects perfectly, and all it took to get up to speed was a pencil and paper to jot down the missing Transitions and their exact location in the 8 hour Project.
Now, I'm talking Transitions (not Menus) and PrPro (not PrE), albeit an older one, Importing a Pr Project, a very old one and from a different platform. I could only hope that PrE is half as nice with older Projects, though I would still strongly suggest that all users finish their work in the version in which it was started to avoid any issues.
Now to the Menus in PrE (earlier). These files are basically "sets" of two .PSD files, with a standard naming convention, keeping them in sets. It's easy to add additional Menus, like those available for purchase, or by subscription at Muvipix. If one has an older version of PrE, with different Menus, it would be easy to copy those Menus to the appropriate folders/sub-folders in the newer version of PrE. Unless PrE has greatly changed the way that Menus are stored and implemented in PrE 8 (Steve, or ATR can verify this), these copied Menus (remember, they are SETS, so copy both the Main and the Scene Selection Menus) should function perfectly in PrE 8.
Also, using the Blank Menus, or really any other, and a bit of Photoshop work on the Background, one could customize the included Menu Sets to match those older, lost Menu Sets.
IIRC, Steve has done a series of articles on how to customize Menu Sets for PrE at Muvipix.
Just some observations and ideas,
Hunt

Creating custom DVD menus

I have has Premiere Elements 3 for quite a while now but I tihnk Im ready to bring my home movies to the next level so I would like to create my own DVD menus.
I have got Premiere Elements 3 and Photoshop CS3 but can you please give me some help on creating such a project and how to import them into each others software.
I would be greatful if you could give me a simple step by step guide as I'm not very techy
Thanks in advanced

The best way to start with Menu design is to Open one of the existing PE Menu Sets in PSE and spend time looking carefully at the Layer structure of each, the Main Menu and the Scene Selection Menu in the Set. When you do any editing, before you go to Save, consider that you do not want to overwrite the existing Menu Templates. You will want to alter the name, but only a little bit, as PE needs many of the characters in the Menu file name to function. Also, remember that you will need to work with a Menu Set, so you will need to do a Save_As and apply your new naming convention to both the Main Menu and the Scene Selection Menu that you create. I do this in a new sub-folder within the Menu Template folder structure, and name it "Hunt_Menus" (in my case). This keeps the existing PE Menu Template Sets intact, and keeps my Menu Sets in a separate folder.
Notice also the naming conventions of both the Menu PSD's and especially the Layer Sets, plus their individual Layers in each set. These aspects are very, very important.
PE does most of its DVD authoring automatically, and relies on things being the same throughout all of the Menu Sets, that are included. If you alter the format of the Menus, or break up the Menu Set, PE will be lost and will not be able to work with what you create.
Little things to notice will the the Color Sets in the Button Layer structure. These are the "(+2)," and similar names for the Layers. These are important, as they tell PE what colors you are using, and also tells the DVD player what colors to display.
One important aspect to learn is that the Subpicture Highlights can only be 2-bit color w/ Transparency. Think of Transparency as the exact opposite of PSE's Opacity. These cannot have any Effects on them, and will, by design, appear above all other Layers in the Menu and the Button Layer Sets. They WILL be on top of anything else. No way around this, as it's part of the DVD-spec.
Once you have looked closely at the structure, it's probably time to go see a tutorial, or two. Muvipix has some great articles by Steve Grisetti (MOD here) on Menu design for PE. He covers some "must-do," and "must-not-do" aspects, as the designs relate to PE.
An entire book could be written on Menus, and especially what PE needs from the PSD files. Since PE does much of its authoring on semi-automatic mode, the requirements differ, from say Adobe Encore, where everything is done by hand.
For some great info on Menus for DVD (though not the unique requirements for PE), Jeff Bellune (MOD on the Encore and PrPro fora) has written a great book, Focal Easy Guide to Adobe EncoreDVD 2.0, published by Focal Press. Though the title belies that it was written for an earlier version of Encore, 99% of it covers work in even newer versions of the program. Also 100% of the discussion on Menus applies to all DVD Menus, leaving out only the special aspects that PE demands. Great book, even if one does not use Encore.
Good luck,
Hunt

Industry standard DVD Menus?

I make a lot of DVD menus from footage that is 4x3, 16x9, HD etc...
From all the "hollywood" movies I put in my DVD Player i notice everything is 4x3 menus.
is there a reason for this? or should i adopt to the 16x9 menus for my widescreen footage?
I have made both but have been torn on what I like better.

I think you noticed wrong or watched the 4:3 version. 16:9 Menus display in both 16:9 and one of the other options. You need to change your DVD Players Setup options or in the Apple DVD Player put the DVD in and press Apple+1 to see the actual size and you'll be able to see it is 16:9 probably!
Most if not all 'Hollywood' movies will have 16:9 Menus.

DSP3: Multi Language DVD Menus

Hi All,
here I am to tell about my doubt in the an International DVD authoring, trying to figure out the correct workflow procedures.
So I have 7 languages, 5 menus and 1 video with 7 subtitles stream.
In my case, I'd like to use the internal language menu layout that could be great,
but I think that can be used only with the internal DVD player language configuration.
I'd like to put a language selection menu at start-up, instead, how can I do?
The Apple manual is very light in this section...
Many Thanks an advance and best regards.
Paul

last time i had to make a multi language dvd i dropped the language in DVD SP and managed it with GPRM from the first language select menu.
Also tutorial here http://www.kenstone.net/fcphomepage/dvd_languagenattress.html, looks the same as my workflow.

After burning DVD, menus work on DVD player but assets won't play

When I click on the "play movie" button the dvd freezes and won't play. But it works just fine in the simulator. Please help ASAP

You realize there's almost nothing we can do for you, don't you? Authoring a DVD is not trivial and we were not watching to know what you did or did not do in what can be a tricky set of procedures.
You can start by telling us what your source media is, how you built your menus, the level of complexity of your project, how many other DVDs you've successfully completed. Stuff like that.
bogiesan

Edit existing DVD menus/play order?

Can DVD Studio Pro edit an existing DVD's play order?
Of course, I'm talking about authoring a new DVD with re-ordering of things, but not to extract everything and then create a new project, new menus, generate new video files, etc. in DVD Studio Pro, which would be a lot of work. I'm hoping to make the simple edits to the .IFO files, or whichever files would need to be changed for this intended purpose.
I hear of a PC app called IFOEdit, which could be used for this purpose. Can DVD Studio Pro do this too? or is there another Mac solution?

Yes...Hal is the man. The best way would be to download or buy one of the tools listed and start answering questions on forums. DVDAFterEdit site is good and so is videohelp.com. Either that or sit in with someone who work with spec authoring tools. Ralph LaBarge's book on DVD production is great along with DVD Demystified.
Another site to look at:
http://www.dvd-replica.com/index.php

DVD menus compatibility

I moved DVD templates from Premiere Pro 2.9 to Encore DVD 2.0 (or 1.5).
When I open the menu library with Encore, only submenus are displayed.
What must I do to get the main menus too ?
Thank you in advance

I would advise you not to do this, as the menu structures used by Encore and PPro are different.
If you would like to do it, then open the DVD template file in Photoshop, then format the layers so they conform to Encore's menu standards. There's more info in the Encore Help for details on Encore's menu structure and layer prefixes.

Ripping DVD Menus for DVD Studio Pro 4

I have a company DVD which I don't have the original assets for. They want me to use the same menu as a submenu for a compilation DVD that I'm putting together. I can't import any files from the Audio or Video TS files. Is there a program which will let me rip just the menu to use? I've already used Handbrake to rip the movie elements, but can't find a way to rip the menu elements for use in DVDSP. Any help would be great, I really don't want to recreate the entire menu.

Not really anyway to do this with full functionality intact (unless you can use something like DVDAfterEdit to basically reedit the original DVD to add the new stuff... but that is quite complex...)
However...
You can use MPEGStreamClip (free download) to rip the Menu VOBs to get the content back into a state that is usable by DVD-SP. If they are still menus then you can expeot a still version. If they are moving you can export the m2v and AC3 if they have sound. As all the menus are usually lumped into one place you may have to step through thm and use MPEGStreamClips editing facility to extract what you need... but it can be done. The only other problem then is the highlights - using a program like SubRip (PC only) you can rip the highlights from the menus but it can be a bit trial and error. Alternatively you could create new ones by using maybe a symbol or underline or some such and create them in Photoshop by using a frame grab of the ripped menus...
Thta's the way we've done it in the past when we've been faced with just such a problem (usually when we haven't created the original assets)
Hope that helps

DVD Menus

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