Authoring Dvds Using Pre-Built Menus/Submenus

Encoremenus.doc rev 04/21/2015

Authoring DVDs Using Pre-Built Menus/submenus

·  Today—add chapters and create a menu and a submenu screen

Adding additional chapter points (Scenes) and Naming the Chapters

Review: DVD Creation

·  Use Premiere to assemble assets onto a timeline

·  Export as h.264 file (compressed movie)

·  Media Encoder to create mp4 file (container)

·  Open in Encore and burn DVD

·  Start Encore

·  Open your latest .ncor project (mine was CatsDvd.ncor) Can double-click on the file name) (Or create a new one: Import as Timeline and specify the .avi file)

·  Recall that the first frame of your file on the Encore timeline is initially named Chapter 1: Encore created it for you

Note: If you don’t see a timeline, File>Import as Timeline and select the mp4 file

Reminder: To show chapter names , right-click anywhere on the timeline (the black area) and choose to Show Chapter Names.

You should see the Chapter 1 tag on the timeline

Renaming Chapter 1

·  Select the chapter marker (the white object below the playhead); it will turn red:

·  Select the small white chapter indicator

·  Find the PropertiesChapter>Name window

·  Change to Begin or Play or …I chose Play

Adding additional chapters (Want to end up with 5)

·  Click the Monitor tab

·  Set your yellow playback head to where you want the second chapter: (watch the Monitor window as you move the playhead)

·  Right-click and choose Add Chapter Point

·  Select the chapter (the white marker)

·  Name it appropriately (I used Black Cat )…yours will have different chapter names

Add three additional scenes (end up with about 5 chapters):

·  Move the playhead to the next desired location. Then:

·  Right click the gold play head

·  Choose Add Chapter Point

·  Select the new white marker, which turns red

·  Name the chapter in the Properties panel

Create the additional chapters

Here are my chapters: Yours will be different

·  Save as CatsDVDMenu1.ncor

Menus and Submenus

Generally a commercial DVD has at least two screens (may be more depending on how many scenes you have…. )

·  A main menu …(Encore just calls it a menu) screen/page and

·  One or more submenu screens, with buttons that link to chapters, etc.

We will select menu and submenu screens from the Encore Library.

·  The first screen (Main menu) usually has buttons for Play, Scenes, Set up, Language etc. We will delete un-needed buttons and modify the remaining ones.

·  The Submenu page is usually a series of links to the scenes (chapters)…a scene is viewed by clicking a button on the submenu page; the video then plays from there to the end

·  One of the main menu buttons typically links to the submenu, and vice versa

Choose a Menu from the Library

·  They are Photoshop psds

·  We want a main menu screen and a submenu page (shows chapters/scenes plus a Play button).

·  You can modify or create your own from scratch

·  The pre-built menus are in the Window>Library tab: The GENERAL (maybe “Common”) set is selected below

·  Notice they are grouped into sets: NTSC, General PAL etc.

·  I Choose Green Grid Menu and Submenu

To select: double-click the Library name(s)…Menu and Submenu items

In general:

·  Scroll and find the templates (menu items) you want.

·  We want a Menu and a submenu pair

·  Stay away from HD, Wide and PAL menus (European TV format)

·  Look for a menu and a submenu screen (pair)

·  Here is my Project window after selecting the two menus: Green Grid Menu and Green Grids Submenu:

The menus

The main menu

And here is the submenu screen:

·  Click the Menus tab:

·  Double-click on the main menu to open it in the Monitor. . .

Delete buttons you don't need:

·  Use the Selection Tool (White Arrow)

·  On the tool bar at the top…

·  We only want Play and Scenes

·  Select and then delete the ones you don’t want,

·  Change Main Menu to say CATS (use text tool)

·  Result:

Disc Properties

·  OK, a DVD is inserted, what normally happens?

Don’t want to go to Chapter 1, as in the last module…instead jump to the main menu screen, the one you saw above

i.e. First play action…

·  Select the Project tab

·  Click in the gray (unused) area of the Project tab, below the “Name” objects

·  Look at the Properties>Disc window

·  Choose the First Play property

·  The default is to go to the Play chapter…see above…we don’t want that…want to go to Main Menu screen instead

·  Use the First Play drop down (OR use the whip) to choose your Main Menu>Default option:

·  For example:

·  Or use the whip and drag to the main menu on the Project window

·  To test: File>Preview (or right-click>Preview)

First Play should now look like this: ( Encore also changed the Title value to route the viewer to the Play chapter)

Main point: when the DVD is inserted, show the main menu

Save

Main Menu Button Routing a.k.a wiring the buttons

We will specify two Main Menu-related actions- what to do when:

·  The PLAY button on main menu is clicked…go to chapter named “Play”

·  The Scene Selection button is clicked (Go to the submenu screen)

First, the Play Movie Button

·  Select it

When PLAY is clicked, we want the DVD player to go to the Play chapter (or whatever you named your first chapter)

·  Look at the Properties>Button>Play; the key for us is “Link”…right now, it’s “Not Set”

·  Want to go to the Timeline>Play chapter…

·  Drag the Link whip to the Play chapter on the timeline:

·  Result:

Summary: Using either method: when the PLAY button is clicked, play the movie by going to the “Play” chapter

Preview so far

·  File>Preview , or Right-click>Preview from here>

Next: Routing the Scene selections button

What do we want to do if the Scene Selection button is clicked?

Submenus

·  When someone clicks the Scene Selection button on the main menu page; we want to show the submenu.

·  To do so, to "wire" the Scene selection button on the main menu, to the submenu :

Select the Scenes button

·  In the Link dropdown (Properties>Button) choose the submenu, (Or use whip to the submenu in the Project window)

·  The result:

·  We’re done with the main menu page

·  Save

Test (File>Preview)

Select the main menu in the Project window, right-click and choose to Preview from here …

Wiring the Submenu Buttons

·  Open the submenu screen in the Project window (Double-click it)

·  We need 5 buttons, but only have four:

·  Copy/Paste one of the four

·  Rearrange the buttons

·  Change the CHAPTER SELECTION to SCENE SELECTION

Now, link each “button” to the corresponding chapter name (all five)

·  Select each of the five buttons, then use the Link dropdown (or the whip...easier ) and specify/select which chapter to go to when that button is clicked.

·  Rename the buttons using the button panel

Here is a possible fourth button’s information:

It’s named it Cozmo and is linked it to a Cozmo chapter

I then linked the other four buttons to their corresponding chapters:

·  Link MAIN MENU button to the main menu screen

·  Save

Because we have a single submenu, the next and previous buttons aren’t needed, so delete them

·  Be sure all buttons are linked to the corresponding chapter name

·  So, now you should have 5 buttons, with names, linked to associated chapters.

Also, you should have a new submenu title, and there should be a linked “Main Menu” button:

End Action

·  Specify what to do when the movie ends

·  When the movie ends, let’s loop back to the Main Menu screen

·  That is, make the End Action property link back to the Main Menu

·  Select the timeline (The dark black area)

to reveal the timeline panel and properties

·  Use the Whip (or dropdown) and wire the End Action to the main menu

Motion Menus

Let’s animate the buttons

·  Click the submenu in the Project window

·  There should now be a Motion tab inside the Menu tab

·  Click the Animate Buttons check box (see above)

Now, need to make several tiny video clips, one for each submenu choice: Encore does this:

·  Choose File>Render>Motion Menus

·  Click Preview when Complete

·  Check for errors (Build>Build)

Test by running the preview

Build the DVD:

·  File>Build>Disc

Ignore any errors … Have fun

DVDs with menus Page 1