Boy, do I feel dumb asking this: What's a menu?

[crystaldon]

What's a menu? What's a chapter? Do they have anything to do with each other? Do you need menus to select chapters? Is there something I can read on the subject? Thanks

[tenders]

look here: http://www.vcdhelp.com/author.htm#menu

[jkl]

cut and paste from oyher websites-

What are DVD Menus?

Menus are graphical screens that generally display when the DVD is first played. They can provide information about your dvd, or allow the user to select options on the dvd, or allow the user to instantly find a certain point on the DVD. There are 2 types of menus that can exist on DVD. The first are static menus, which are more common and less complex. The second is motion menus. These can be extremely complex, however often look better then static menus. Chapters (or also called index points) are specified times on the DVD, which can be accessed instantly. Think of them as tracks on a music CD. They do not require menus, however, menus do require at least 1 chapter point.

Static menus would have a still background. A simple menu would feature only text. More complex designs can feature still thumbnails and custom made interfaces.

Motion menus bring another dimension to your DVD. Motion menus feature moving video/animation. This can be in the foreground and/or background. Transitions can be applied from the menu to the video content. Sound effects can also be added. We also have the ability to create three dimensional menus. The possibilities can be endless, please contact us if you require any additional information regarding menu creation. Samples of our Motion menus are coming soon.


Chapters are markers within your movie that take you from one specific spot to another

[jkl]

also read this for every thing else.

http://www.dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html

[crystaldon]

Ok, thanks for the pointers, it sounds like I'm looking to figure out menus and chapters.

If I get this right:
Menus provide a method of picking "things". The "things" can be chapters or something else, like maybe volumes?.

Chapters are actually entry points into any given clip? I want a movie to be able to play continuously, beginning-to-end, without pauses. But I also want the ability to access the movie from various points, mid-movie.

I burned multiple clips(one movie split into several clips) onto a single cd (with Nero), pointed to each clip with a menu selection, then played the movie. Menu worked fine, but when I played the movie from beginning-to-end, there was a pause between clips, as if it was loading a completely new thing (which it was). Sounds like I need chapters.

Ps - Nero doesn't do chapters and VcdEasy hangs (the entire pc) at the end of the burn, so now I'm looking for an alternate method of doing chapters.

Thanks again for the help!