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  1. Member
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    Hi,

    In Nero Vision it is possible to have animated thumbnails of the videos in the DVD menu.
    I have problems with Nero Vision (the program crashes often and the sound is not synched).

    Do anyone know any other programs that can make DVD menus with animated thumbnails (playing thumbnails or whatever it should be called)??

    Please give example of as many programs as possible that can make DVD menus with animated thumbnails...
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  2. Member Alex_ander's Avatar
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    TDA2(3) - the easiest to use.
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  3. DVDAuthorgui or Gui for dvdauthor (two different programs!) are the cheapest (freeware). Both support animated menus with thumbnails.
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  4. Member kush's Avatar
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    DVD-Lab/DVD-Lab Pro/DVD-Lab Studio can do it too, but they're even costlier than TDA...Far more powerful a program however. ($80/$130/$250 for the various versions available)
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  5. Banned
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    Originally Posted by borax
    DVDAuthorgui or Gui for dvdauthor (two different programs!) are the cheapest (freeware). Both support animated menus with thumbnails.
    But do either of those programs generate/make "animated thumbnails", not just "support" them ?
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  6. Always Watching guns1inger's Avatar
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    There is no such thing as animated thumbnails. There is a video asset that is used as a backdrop that happens to have small clips on it. The simplest way to do this with any level of quality is in your NLE. NeroVision, ConvertXtoDVD etc are toys, not authoring tools. They are built primarily to convert dodgy quality avi files into standard DVD format as quickly and as simply as possible. This means a lot of features go by the wayside.

    DLP can do create the video required for animated menus, however I never use this feature as I find I get the results I want using my video editor.

    Ulead DVD Movie Studio (or similar - not Workshop, the cheap one) can probably do menus like this for you as well, however it will probably be even worse than NeroVision when it comes to converting.

    If you want fancy menus then you have to learn how to convert and author manually, using different tools at each stage. If you want simple conversions then you have to live with simple menu features.
    Read my blog here.
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  7. ...But do either of those programs generate/make "animated thumbnails", not just "support" them ?
    No neither one 'generates' them. But both can create a suitable avisynth script which is encoded to mpeg2 and used as menu.
    GfD automates the process very much: Activate 'Animated menus' in the default settings, set an appropriate playing time and size for the thumbnails and just pull the video files on the menu background.
    An installed avisynth is of cause necessary.
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  8. Member Alex_ander's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by Noahtuck
    But do either of those programs generate/make "animated thumbnails", not just "support" them ?
    TDA2&3 generate selectable menu templates, some of them - with thumbnails. If you enable motion for thumbnails in global menu settings, you can select video range for each one from currently authored video or external movie file.
    Main background can also be built this way + can have its audio (in both still or motion background cases).
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  9. Banned
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    Originally Posted by guns1inger
    There is no such thing as animated thumbnails.
    Okay, motion thumbnails.... we all know what the OP meant

    Originally Posted by Alex_ander
    Originally Posted by Noahtuck
    But do either of those programs generate/make "animated thumbnails", not just "support" them ?
    TDA2&3 generate selectable menu templates, some of them - with thumbnails. If you enable motion for thumbnails in global menu settings, you can select video range for each one from currently authored video or external movie file.
    Main background can also be built this way + can have its audio (in both still or motion background cases).
    And i know all the TDA's make these types of menu's, obviously i was talking about the programs borax listed (see where i quoted borax) & NOT any TDA programs

    as the OP asked
    Originally Posted by blizzery
    Do anyone know any other programs that can make DVD menus with animated thumbnails (playing thumbnails or whatever it should be called)??
    As i was pretty sure neither of those programs do what the OP asked.
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  10. Member GeorgeW's Avatar
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    Ulead's DVD MovieFactory 6+ gives you some nice "Animated" menus -- even gives you "fly in" buttons (if you like that stuff). The menu generation is wizard/template driven, and they have some nice themes to select from (imho).

    Sony's DVD Architect Studio ($49 or less if you shop around) can also generate Animated menus. Nice thing with this package is you get more control setting up your menus in terms of navigation and title links.

    And as stated above, you can generate you animated menus in your favorite NLE, and then use them in Authoring programs that others listed (one of the most advanced on the PC would be DVD Lab PRO 2.x).

    Regards,
    George
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  11. Member Alex_ander's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by Noahtuck
    And i know all the TDA's make these types of menu's, obviously i was talking about the programs borax listed (see where i quoted borax) & NOT any TDA programs
    Mea culpa. I'm sure you know this I simply didn't notice the question was not from OP and tried to help him in finding an automated solution. Anyway now he has enough info to make a choice.
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  12. Member
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    Thank you all for your great help!
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  13. Member
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    I just wanted to make sure I was getting this all down right: the whole business with GFD having that animated gif program included (gif/bmp to avi, or whatever) is just so you can make what you think is an animated button, but in fact, in the end, what you have is a a single animated background?

    Are highlights part of the DVD standard? Something to do with overlays or something?
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  14. but in fact, in the end, what you have is a a single animated background?
    More or less, yes. But this applies for all authoring programs. The 'animated gif program' is only to convert animated gif clips (as these are very common) into an avisynth compatible video (avi).
    Are highlights part of the DVD standard?
    Yes. But these are quite 'static' as they are 'subtitles' (you cannot update them for each frame) and may have only three colors (+ one transparent background color). There is a possibility to 'animate' the highlights too (fade, cut, and wipe), but this feature is not supported by Gfd and AFAIK it is not 'synchronized' with the background 'movie'.
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