DVD Menu Maker.... ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

[makntraks]

Just wondering if this piece of software is the way it it... or is it really quirky? By quirky I mean that creating and modifying boxes is such a hit and miss proposition - just dragging the boxes is "CLUNKY" for lack of a better word. Also using "file" to save, pretty much does not work. Using the "icon" to save is also an iffy proposition as I keep waiting for it to quit instead of actually saving the menu.
Please take this as constructive critisism as I thing SVCD2DVD is a just short a godsend for someone like me... a 43 yr old noob....

Anyway is the menu maker a part of SVCD2DVD or another program developed by someone else?

And after all that... oh yes there's more... I guess I'm asking - Is it my setup or the program itself?

edit: Why is the default when saving buried somewhere else when I'd rather save it somewhere more familiar??? Like to parent folder of my *_TS folders????

Thanks and again I think this is one excellent piece of software for my purposes!

[ChrissyBoy]

DVD MenuMaker is a seperate program written by me. In its current guise it is best used only as launched by svcd2dvd - whilst is is posible to execute without svcd2dvd.

saving: Well you are not saving but encoding. In future releases you will be able to save your menu "project" and return to it later or have a commonly used template. That is why you have the file menu item - it is a place holder for open/save etc.

When you encode you are finished with the session so the program exits. The encoded mpeg, the button spec & the preview image are all needed by svcd2dvd so that is why it is "buried away". In fact it goes into the designated application folder for the program (set by Windows). That way svcd2dvd knows where it is. There is nothing saved which is useful to the user.

Quirky/clunky: well its pretty smooth on my PC. That said it is my first attempt at a graphic intensive windows application and its not quite Photoshop!

[makntraks]

Please accept my apologies if I sounded negative on the program. It's just that when I am dragging boxes around it is really jumpy and it is hard to get things (text) to line up on specific menu items.
Currently running AMD 1400+/512/ATI Radeo 7500... I don't think my hardware is an issue but then again you never know...
I do find that it works as good as I need, except for the quirks....

As a suggestion for a future release... Is there any way the "generated code" can be saved somewhere else instead of being buried in My Documents........ folder??

Again thanks!

edit: I should have read your reply better as I now realize why it does things the way it does...
Also if you recommend running the menu maker from inside SVCD2DVD why the warning about creating boxes? Also I noticed the generated output is XML... is this not editable by me?

[ChrissyBoy]

The warning boxes: ok maybe i should disable them when lanched by svcd2dvd.

you can edit the xml till the cows come home but i can't see why you'd want to edit the button coordinates by hand in notepad......

[makntraks]

The warning boxes: ok maybe i should disable them when lanched by svcd2dvd.

Which ever you'd prefer - if it doesn't bother anyone else, I'd prefer to have you put your time to other issues or enhancements...

you can edit the xml till the cows come home but i can't see why you'd want to edit the button coordinates by hand in notepad......

Just wondering that's all..... goes toshow how much I know... but I keep learning and I guess thats the most important thing!

Again Thanks!