GfD animation before menu

[michcio]

hi!

In GfD I want an animation to be played and then the menu background+buttons etc. to show. So in the menu-propeties I input both a background and animation (+audio file)...but then the animation gets under the menu ... and I can see the buttons I insert to my menu on top of th animation...how do I make the animation play for a given duration and then show the menu??

michcio

[guns1inger]

You have to create the appropriate animation first, outside of your authoring application. I am not familiar with how GFD handles motion menus, however Borax says it uses cells, so I will assume for the moment that it is similar to how DVD Lab Pro works.

In that case, you have to create your entire motion menu clip as a single video in your editing application of choice. When I do this, I tend to find a point in the video where I can loop back to. Just prior to this I begin to fade in my menu text, so that it is solid by the time the loop point is reached. In DLP I set my first cell to cover the introduction part of the menu clip, and the second cell to cover the looping area that forms the actual menu. It is in this cell that I add the overlays for the menu.

[usually_quiet]

Settings->Project->Intro Movie

This is a basic feature that is covered in GFD's help files. Unlike some other freeware programs, GFD has good help files. They were provided for a reason and you need to make use of them. You should not be coming to the forum with every little problem you encounter.

[michcio]

Settings->Project->Intro Movie

This is a basic feature that is covered in GFD's help files. Unlike some other freeware programs, GFD has good help files. They were provided for a reason and you need to make use of them. You should not be coming to the forum with every little problem you encounter.

right intro movie...I knew it were somewhere .. have done that before..yes sry should look at the gfd guid first but thanks for your help !!

[michcio]

but hm I still can't get it working...I select my intro movie and an audio file and then check the 'Use Intro' chackbox..then after creation of my project it jumps to he menu directly without any intor at all :S

[usually_quiet]

The Intro Movie plays before the main menu only. It plays just one time. Only the animated main menu itself loops. If the settings are correct, it should work. I never had a problem using Intro Movie with an animated main menu using either muxman or dvdauthor. If that is what you are doing, check your settings again. If you want a clip to play before loading some other menu, Intro Movie will not work for that.

[michcio]

yeah I wan the intro to just play before the main menu and here's how my default settings-> Project does look like before I 'Create DVD':



I have tried several times now and it always gets wrong..what could possibly be the problem?

thankfull for futher answers

michcio

[usually_quiet]

What you posted is correct, and should work, but it does not seem to be part of a project you already used to create problem DVD files. It appears that you have not done much of anything else in this particular project other than choose the project settings. Otherwise, most of the items under "General Settings" would be grayed out as soon as you added titiles.

[michcio]

What you posted is correct, and should work, but it does not seem to be part of a project you already used to create problem DVD files. It appears that you have not done much of anything else in this particular project other than choose the project settings. Otherwise, most of the items under "General Settings" would be grayed out as soon as you added titiles.

yeah I know ... but then I just input a video (the same I have in my intro) to the project and create DVD ... still can't see the intro

[usually_quiet]

Are there any error messages in the Batch Run Log, or from HCenc, avisynth, etc? How are you playing the DVD files on your HDD? Are you using something other than Windows XP? (The picture you posted does not look like it came from a machine running Windows XP.)

[michcio]

how do I check the batch run log for errors do you mean the file: MainBatch.bat after pressing 'create Batch' ?...there is no error message in either HCEnc or avisynth...playing the DVD files...I just choose 'Show DVD' after creation in GfD

[michcio]

I have now reinstalled GfD and it worked :S...really weird..must have messed up with some settning ... well thanks for all your help guys

[usually_quiet]

After you click "Create DVD" a window appears which display the Batch Run Log. You can examine it after the DVD creation process is finished.

Inside GFD, I use PowerDVD with View->Menu Preview. I also used MS Windows Media Player to test my DVD files outside of GFD. Both played the intro movie before loading the main menu.

If there are no error messages/warnings and you are using a good software player from within GFD, I can't think of a reason why it does not work. Maybe Borax will have an idea.

[Edit] OK, I see the problem was solved while I typed this message.

[michcio]

ah that window...no there was no error messages in batch run log either...I'm using media player classic to show the DVD and play the videofiles ...but yeah problem solved now ...thank you one more time

[borax]

@usually_quiet
Thanks for the support!
@michcio
I'm glad that it works now. It is still a little bit disturbing... It should not be necessary to reinstall because of such a basic setting. But ok, as it works now, there is probably no possibility to trace the error. I hope it was just a unique problem...

[michcio]

ah I think I get it now...before I was using VLC player to show my dvds...then the intro doesn't show...but if I change it to media player classic insted ... then it's shown

but just one more wierd thing...I have made my intro in adobe after effects and seelcted NTSC settning everywhere..and while I export my .avi I get 12.00 fps :S...anyway I've now created this avisynth script:

FFvideoSource("C:\Users\Michal\Desktop\Comp2.avi")
spline36resize(720,480)
AssumeFPS("ntsc_film")
ConvertToYV12()

but then after encoding my .m2v the video first is kind of smaller then 720x480 (so media player classic adds borders on top and bottom of the video) then when the video comes to it's end (about 10 secs.) the video is resized :S (the borders are taken away) why is that??

[borax]

If you open the avisynth script directly in media player classic (before encoding), what size does it show?

[michcio]

It looks right (doesn't resize like I'm describing in my last post) whatever I open my.avs in media player classic, virtualdub or Avisynth script editor...it only gets wrong while I create my dvd and 'show DVD' in gfd :S

[michcio]

ah! now I get it ...That's not the video itself resizing but I have an intro and the the same background as the intros end...the size of my project background and my intro must be different sizes and that's why I see it 'resize'...but I don't get it I have chose a NTSC project and my intor is in NTSC resolution/framerate as well (720x420 / 29.970 )...so what could be the problem?

(it looks like the video is smaller on the hight or that my background is higher...that's why I see borders on top/bottom in the beggining which later on are erased)


michcio

[michcio]

have solved the problem now as well...I had chosen 'Global aspect ratio for menus' to 4:3 instead of 16:9 and that was why my background was larger then the usual 16:9...I have though another wuestion now...

while I've now changed the aspect ratio to 16:9 the TV-safe area cut out some of my background pictures that I wanted to be on the TV...but now ehn I preview the DVD before or after creatien the things that are outside the TV safe area are shown anyway...and if I remember right that's also the case when I show a done DVD on my television...so what are the TV-safe-ares for?

michcio

[borax]

When a 16:9 menu is shown on a 4:3 TV with the option Pan&Scan, then quite a lot on the left and right side of the menu is lost. Thats why the TV-safe-area looks so 'strange'. Of cause, if you show the menu on a 16:9 TV (or a 4:3 TV with the letterboxed option), you can see nearly the whole area...

[michcio]

ah ok then I understand completly thanks!