TMPGENC MENU BUTTON ADVICE

[pantsmonkey]

Im trying to author some good looking episode guides with TMPGENC DVD AUTHOR thanks to you guys and some reading up on bitrate calculators I can fit 10, 30 minute episodes at about 1800 with 224 KB audio from my 10 avi sources.

However the menus and buttons in TMPGENC DVD AUTH are a little "clunky"

for example the only button available on the title menu is PLAY ALL is there a "Chapters" ? or "Scene Select" Button ? instead of having to click on the "text" that i edited to say "eipsodes"


aslo in the chapters menu i dont want any thumbnails but draging the thumbnails out of the "safe zone" only leaves you with text descriptions. You cannot click on text descriptions to select a chapter it appears you need the thumbnails there. I dont want any thumbnails on my dvd is there any way to make the text selectable in tmpgenc dvd author ?

Is there any detailed guides on menus and buttons for TMPGENC DVD AUTHOR ?

cheers

[daamon]

Hi pantsmonkey,

From what I know, and from what I've seen in other posts, one of TDA's limitations is the lack of flexibility it allows you with the kind of things you're asking.

The short answer is, I don't think it can be done neatly, if at all.

More powerful / flexible tools are DVDLab or Sonic ReelDVD - though I've not used them, just basing this on the many comments I've read.

Good luck...

[johns0]

Ive been using tda for the past few months but recently switched to dvd-lab because i can set my own buttons or lack of them and no stupid play all button that you have to use or try hiding plus i can change the color of the hover on the buttons or images,not the dorky yellow look,i do miss the motion menu but this has got way more flexibility.

[daamon]

@ johns0,

I was surprised that you say that DVDLab doesn't do motion menus.

I went to the DVDLab site and searched for "motion menu". It came up with numerous hits, the top 3 of which I looked at.

They gave what looked like comprehensive steps to get motion menus, starting with simple going to more and more complicated.

Part 1: A Simple Menu with a motion clip

Part 2: Motion Thumbnail and Motion Background

Part 3: Motion Thumbnails for Scene Selection Menus

I hope this helps, or am I missing something? I'm interested coz I'm gonna be trialling DVDLab once I'm comfortable with TDA, and motion menus are something I'd possibly be wanting.

[johns0]

Dvd-lab doesnt do motion menu`s such as tmpgenc dvd author has,you have to make your own clips and then insert them and then they take up the whole screen as the background,that to me isnt motion menu that tmpgenc have.And i didnt say dvd=lab didnt have motion menu`s,just that i miss the ones from tda.

[daamon]

Hi johns0,

I'm confused - In TDA, I can choose a portion (or all) of a video clip (mpg of my making) to have as a motion background (whole screen) or just on the thumbnail, or both.

Having looked at the three links, it seems that that's the same kinda thing, in varying degrees of complexity, that can be done in DVDLab. Where's the difference?

What do you understand by "motion menus"? (I think this is key...)

And i didnt say dvd=lab didnt have motion menu`s,just that i miss the ones from tda

Fair comment - My misinterpretation. Sorry.

[johns0]

Its just easier to make motion menu`s in tda,gotta go thru a bit of extra work to get motion menu`s in dvd-lab,thats all,just me being lazy after doing it the easy way.

[daamon]

Ah, I see - It's easier in TDA than it is in DVDLab, but you can achieve the same end result with both?

Phew! There was me reading great things about DVDLab and then panicking over not being able to do something that I'd need / like to.

Cheers, sorry to be a pain... Oh well - At least I found those links, I'm sure they'll come in handy...

[pantsmonkey]

I dont need anything more than an audio file playing i the backgroun i like static background images ?

Can i choose my background pic and then just drop a wav file in for the background music in DVD lab ?

And could someone point me to some good dvd lan guides for authoring ? i have the prog it just looks scarey when compared to tmpgenc dvd author !

cheers guys

[johns0]

Sure you can have a static background with wav files but its better to use ac3 cause its less file size,the help section in dvd-lab will explain things much better than i can so just click on help and pick a topic you need help with.
daamon,i finally figured out how to do mulitply motion thumbnails in dvd-lab,its takes a bit of practice and trial an error but it look about as good as tda`s motion menu`s.

[daamon]

I dont need anything more than an audio file playing i the backgroun i like static background images

See this link. But use your chosen still instead of a black .bmp.

i finally figured out how to do mulitply motion thumbnails in dvd-lab

Cool - sounds daunting though, as TDA is very intuitive and fairly simple. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it...

[LabanB]

Hi,

Producing motion menus with thumbnails is really very easy. I haven't used TDA because I started with DVD-Lab and stuck with it!

I haven't produced a motion background with motion thumbnails yet, still working on that one, but a still background with multiple (20+) thumbnails is no problem at all. The shuffle feature (whereby the loop point on each thumbnail varyies so you don't get all of them changing at the same time) is very useful.

Highly recommended, and no I don't work for the company, just like most people I am very impressed with the product!

Bill