Play All function problem in Encore 2.0

[Snakebyte1]

Hi...

I have limited access to a workstation running Encore 2.0 and have been using it to put together some home video clips (6 short clips). I've run into a problem when it comes to getting a Play All button to work. I used Encore 1.5 a couple of years ago and didn't have this problem.

The structure of the DVD I'm trying to build is quite simple. There is a first play clip that leads to a Main Menu. The main menu has buttons for each of three clips, a Play All button and a button to a second Menu. The second menu has buttons for each of three clips, a Play All and a button to return to the Main Menu. The buttons for the clips are Video buttons which display motion thumbnails of their linked clips. The other buttons are just regular buttons. All buttons are from Encore's library.

The first play clips starts off and the Main menu plays. If you select a button for a clip, that clip plays and returns back to the Menu as it should. If you select to go to the sub menu (or back to the main menu) it works. Everything seems to work fine except the Play All buttons on both menus.

If the Play All is selected, the first clip plays then the second, but after the second clip it does not play the third clip but returns to the Menu.

The End Action for the first clip timeline is set to the second clip's timeline. The second clip's timeline End Action is set to the third clip's timeline, while the third clip's timeline End Action is set to the menu. The Override property of each timeline is set to the menu.

I've tried changing the order of the clips but I just can't get this thing to Play All more than the first two clips. Is there some setting or property I'm failing to correctly set?

I understand that there is a Playlist feature that might be used instead, and I will be investigating that when I have the time (I only have access to Encore for short periods of time), however, you should be able to link more than just two timelines using the End Action property, right??

I know many people are not excited about Encore, but its what I have at my disposal at the moment. For those of you who have some experience with it, any advice is appreciated.

D.

[Snakebyte1]

Hi...

In case it helps someone in the future, using the Playlist is a workaround to the Play All problem. Simply select all the timelines (in the desired order) then go to FILE-->New-->Playlist. This creates a Playlist asset. Set the END ACTION of the Playlist back to the Menu and set the LINK property of the Play All button to the Playlist.

With that solved I thought all was good except now I have a problem with the Main menu. It is set to Loop forever, but after the first pass it stops and the DVD player's splash screen is displayed. You have to press PLAY or TOP MENU on the remote to get the Main menu back. Yet, the sub-menu which is set up the same way does loop correctly.

However, this only happens on some DVD players. It works fine on my older Panasonic CV51 and on a $30 DiamondVision, but not on my newer Sony NS78H. I see from postings on other sites that this looping problem has been encountered by others on some high, medium and low end players.

I've added Adobe Encore to my list of "Applications that suck".

D.

[GeorgeW]

I think your initial problem with the timelines/playall has something to do with setting the "Override" value. Try removing ALL Override values to see if that helps (they cause unexpected results when used improperly...)

Regards,
George

[loster]

I also hate encore random errors etc try dvd-lab

[Snakebyte1]

Hi...

I re-created the project from scratch, testing out along the way and came up with the following..

I think I have found out the issue with the Play All problem and it is indeed related to Overrides. Initially I was working with the clip's TIMELINE Override and End Action properties. I set the Override to the main menu and the End Action to the next clip. As I reported it would only play the first two timelines before going back to the menu.

I set the TIMELINE End Action to the next timeline just as before, but this time I set the BUTTON's Override property to the main menu, while leaving the TIMELINE's Override property Not Set.... and it worked.

As for the motion menu looping problem, I got that working as well, but not quite sure what is going on there. I re-created that menu using the same files as before, but I was very careful not to change any Override settings other than for the BUTTONS (so the Play All would work). I was surprised when my Sony player actually played the loop correctly. I returned to my original project and changed the Overrides on the Menu to match with the new project, but the DVD produced still had the looping problem on the Sony.

I'm hoping to go through all the properties of all the assets and make sure they match with the new project and see if that fixes it. Its looking to me that Encore is having problems managing the Overrides.

D.

[GeorgeW]

Its looking to me that Encore is having problems managing the Overrides.

From what I have seen around the net, the "Overrides" feature more often than not causes problems because they are misunderstood, or folks don't properly use them to accomplish what they want.

I would recommend disabling/removing ALL Overrides, and trying to accomplish what you want by the use of either "END-ACTIONS" and/or Playlists...

Regards,
George

[Snakebyte1]

I agree, avoid Overrides unless you absolutely know you need to have them set. Its difficult to get accurate information on how and where to use them. Encore 2.0 does not handle them as cleanly as V1.5 did.