anyone know DVD Workshop 2 well?

[sdsumike619]

I have some questions about motion menus and buttons

[unclebud]

If you have questions you should ask them.

[sdsumike619]

I made an 11 second opener video for this demo dvd i'm producing. at the very end of that opener, i wanted to have the menu zoom onto the screen, i.e., no break in between the "first play" video and the menu.

I was able to do all that in the NLE. I have a few questions when it comes to DVD Workshop. I remember reading something about invisible buttons that you can lay over the motion menu. I tried that, that's all fine and great but they're invisible! the user isn't going to know which button is selected

Another thing I discovered is that since the menu comes on the tail end of that opener, after playing any of the titles, and going back to the menu, it plays that opener all over again

[ozymango]

I'm not quite sure I understand what you're doing with the motion menus and invisible buttons but I may have a reasonably "cheap and easy" kluge to make this work for you ... sort of ...

If I'm reading you correctly, you want the first part to be first-play, then the menu screen, so I'd recommend that you try doing a bit of fakery here -- create the first-play section right up until the menu zooms in, then cut it just as the menu appears. Then, take a snapshot of the last frame of that "menu" image/footage, and use that as the menu background for your menu page within Workshop. This way, your opening will play, your "menu" (which isn't really a menu yet) will zoom in like you want, then the second the menu is opened, it'll "cut" to the menu within Workshop. There might be some kind of quick flash or "jump" when it goes from your first-play footage to the menu page, but it should be pretty minimal. Should be easy to test, anyway.

Hope that made some kind of sense and will work for what you're looking to do. If not, or if this didn't make sense, drop another note and I'll try again!

[sdsumike619]

OK! yes that does make sense! I will try that....
I'm considering taking a look at the new DVDit! Pro 6
Any thoughts?

Also, all these programs, make mention of being able to import 2 layer photoshop files. What is the purpose of that? Or what is accomplished by making a "2 layer photoshop image" as a menu?

[lordsmurf]

DVDit! Pro 6 will make you want to beat up the programmers. It's a piece of crap, full of bugs. Most obnoxious problem is when it insists on re-encoding MPEG files that are compliant.

Stick with DVDWS2.

[sdsumike619]

wow I had no idea...do you know the answer to the other question about the PSD files?

[canadateck]

The PSD files are for Menu and such, One Layer for Background, One for Buttons and so on. Such easier to make menus in Photoshop.

[sdsumike619]

can you post an example of one of these multi layered menus? how do the layers come into play in DVDWS2 ?

[thecoalman]

You can drag and drop chapters, clips etc onto the objects or layers.

[sdsumike619]

can't you do that on a regular JPG background menu? I'm missing something here....is there one i can download to see how ti works somewhere?

[canadateck]

layers.psd

Somthing like this.Theres a Few Layers,But I'm sure you will get the point,each layer can Link to another Menu/Chapter/Movie.

[ozymango]

Or what is accomplished by making a "2 layer photoshop image" as a menu?

I'm guessing that this would allow you to have highlighted images, like when you select a button and it turns from blue to green or whatever -- I believe Workshop's native format use a "ufo" file extension, which is Ulead's proprietary "layer" graphic format. That's how they get the "highlight" option which you can manipulate (somewhat) within workshop.

I've never needed any very complex buttons so I've not worked much with layered graphics within DVD menus so don't use me as a reference. But I'm pretty sure that's what the 2-layer photoshop image thing is about.

If you end up working a lot with layered images in Workshop and don't have Photoshop, you might wanna check out Ulead's Photoimpact -- it'll work natively with Workshop and (theoretically) allows you to make all sorts of complex menus. You can download a trial version from Ulead; I have, and frankly I find it a pain to navigate but you may like it. It's a lot cheaper than Photoshop, anyway. If you do already have Photoshop, though, I can pretty much guarantee Photoimpact will not win you over!

[canadateck]

JPG have no Alfa Channel,It just makes it easier to make the menu in Paint/PhotoShop and Load into DVDWS.

[sdsumike619]

ok I'm not getting this, I opened the psd file u posted and put it on the menu in dvdws2, but it's not showing any layers, it just seems like a flat image in that program...what am i doing wrong?

[canadateck]

Insert as Object.

[sdsumike619]

ohhhhhh "object - general" you mean?
I get it!
Funny there's nothing in the manual about that!

[ozymango]

ohhhhhh "object - general" you mean?
I get it!
Funny there's nothing in the manual about that!

I love Workshop in a lot of ways but it has the most useless help screens, incredibly poor documentation, and an interface that will do exactly what it does and not one thing more. And when it blows up, does it ever blow up!!! Still, for doing multiple soundtracks with AC-3 (the single most important reason I love it) it's a piece of cake.

[lordsmurf]

Insert as Object.

Thanks from me too. I never did figure out PSD files like that yet.

I love Workshop in a lot of ways but it has the most useless help screens, incredibly poor documentation,

Two words: "no shit!". I'm attempting to write a detailed guide on this software, but I swear every time I go to make a guide or look up something, I learn new techniques and tips that I have to try out. DVDWS2 is a very complex piece of software, I cannot believe how many options it has, especially the buried ones or undocumented ones.

[sdsumike619]

no wonder it's so friggin expensive, but yeah, on the surface it looks almost amateur and a lot of people discount it because of that, but I use it to make DVDs that sell all over the world and no complaints thus far!

[thecoalman]

I cannot believe how many options it has, especially the buried ones or undocumented ones.

Such as...... (This works for 1.0 or 2.0 hence the *.* in the file structure.)

OPEN with Notepad: Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Ulead Systems\Ulead DVD Workshop\*.*\ dvdws.ini

AFTER

[VIODRIVER]

ADD the line

Advance=1

Save and Close



Try out your new advanced button on the compression tab when you choose custom for create disc. That's probably the single biggest hidden feature, why it's hidden in the first place is beyond me. Not sure about DVDWS2 but you can't even specify 16:9 or 4:3 withput activating that button, DVDWS just uses whatever the aspect is in the source..... Lot's of stuff to play with on that screen.

[sdsumike619]

"Then, take a snapshot of the last frame of that "menu" image/footage, and use that as the menu background for your menu page within Workshop."

What you said can work, I think. I was able to create the first play video, put it in its spot and then take the snapshot of a frame of the menu itself from the NLE. After I import that snapshot into DVDWS2 as a menu, how do I enable the user to make selections if the "text" is really just part of the jpg snapshot?

[canadateck]

Use an Overlay.

[sdsumike619]

not sure how to use those, but i guess i will fool around with them?

[lordsmurf]

A layer in the Photoshop image that matches what was done on the video, in terms of placement.

[sdsumike619]

yeah someone really should write a guide on this stuff....I can't figure it out very well on my own; i'm not graphics designer haha...I just ended up using the buttons built into dvdws2 and have them NEXT to text (image) selections on the menu...this overlay and psd layer stuff is too complicated.....

[canadateck]

A Layer is (LIKE) an Image over an Image,That can be Moved anywhere Over the Image that it is on. They are seperate Images,Not Like a JPG where everything on the Image in (ONE).

A Overlay is (LIKE) a Layer,Its an Image by itself On top of an Image,When selected it will be Highlighted.

[sdsumike619]

so the overlays are done in dvdws right? i see that option, but how do you make one?

[canadateck]

It really just an Image.

[sdsumike619]

but not a jpg? I feel like i'm not even getting the most out of dvdws because there's no help available for it