TMPEGEnc DVD Author menus don't work properly

[poraluisao]

I have just come to this unhappy and frustrating world of DVD authoring. I have tried many softwares, but none really works. My last try was with TMPEGEnc DVD Author. Easy to use, quick and bla,bla,bla... but once in my stand alone DVD player, the menu doesn't work. You just click on a chapter, go there, wacth that part, and then you can't go back to the menu. Automatically it goes to the first chapter.
¿Is that a problem of the software itself, of my copy, of my inexpertise level of knowledge?

[Dimmer]

Is that a problem of the software itself, of my copy, of my inexpertise level of knowledge?

No, it's not a software problem, software itself is great. There are two types of menus there: Main menu and Track menu. Main menu contains the list of titles (tracks) and you get there by pressing Title Menu on remote. Track menu contains the list of chapters for each title. You get there by presing the Menu button on the remote. Be sure to activate both if desired. Here's where the settings are:

[poraluisao]

Yes, I know that. In fact, this program sseems to be very simple, and, as there are no many options to check, you learn how to use it rapidly. My compilation has to have 6 tracks (different movies), but I don't need chapters in each of those tracks.
(sorry, perhaps I didn't express my self properly in my previos post; Ensglish is not my language)
The thing is, never mind which track I'm selecting with the remote control; when it finishes, it goes directly to the track number one. Even if I try to stop de playing, I can't go back to the menu. The only way to do that is by ejecting the DVD and pushing it in again.
I hope I made myself understandible... Is there a way to make it work well?

Luis.

[poraluisao]

Sorry, I forgot the most important thing: THANKS a lot for your support.

Luis.

[Dimmer]

You're welcome.

The thing is, never mind which track I'm selecting with the remote control; when it finishes, it goes directly to the track number one. Even if I try to stop de playing, I can't go back to the menu. The only way to do that is by ejecting the DVD and pushing it in again.

I guess I don't understand exactly what you mean by that. Does it start playing the track number one, or does it display a menu with the button number one highlighted? Either way, it can be controlled through a drop-down box at the bottom of my picture "Action to take place after all tracks have been played". In fact, they meant to say "Action to take place after each track has been played. You can play all the tracks, or loop them, or return to the menu. If you hold mouse cursor over the two bottom drop-down boxes, you'll see in a second tool tips with the full explanation.

Important thing: if you don't have Track menu in the project, the Menu button on the remote control won't work. Probably, that's why you can't go back to the menu.

[presto]

Even if I try to stop de playing, I can't go back to the menu. The only way to do that is by ejecting the DVD and pushing it in again.

What happens when you hit the Menu or Title button on your remote?

[poraluisao]

Presto, when I press MENU on the remote control, it just ignores it. It goes on playing until the end, or until I press Stop. Then it goes directly to the track 1, without displaying the menú.

Dimmer, may be there is something I don't understand well: I think the difference between Main Menu and Track Menu is that the Main one displays all the tracks available in the menu, right? And track menu is for, so to say, submenus, or menus within one track. Is that right? I have checked these options:

"here you check which menu items you want to include in your DVD. Only checked menues will be included in the DVD": "Only Main menu"

"Firsplay action": "Display main menu"

"Action to take after each track has been played": "Display main menu"

Is that correct? I have no chapters, so there is no chapter menus at all.

Does any of these things I'm telling make sense? Thanks very much for your persistence.

Luis.

[Dimmer]

It goes on playing until the end, or until I press Stop. Then it goes directly to the track 1, without displaying the menú.

That's normal - almost any DVD would start playing title 1 after you pressed Stop and then Play.

Dimmer, may be there is something I don't understand well: I think the difference between Main Menu and Track Menu is that the Main one displays all the tracks available in the menu, right? And track menu is for, so to say, submenus, or menus within one track. Is that right? I have checked these options:

"here you check which menu items you want to include in your DVD. Only checked menues will be included in the DVD": "Only Main menu"

"Firsplay action": "Display main menu"

"Action to take after each track has been played": "Display main menu"

Is that correct? I have no chapters, so there is no chapter menus at all.

Does any of these things I'm telling make sense? Thanks very much for your persistence.

Luis.

Yes, this all makes sense. DVD behaves exactly according to your settings. In general, you understand the menu structure correctly, but TDA has some specifics.

Look at your remote control and see if there is a button called TITLE. If yes, this is the button you have to press to go to the menu.

If you don't have TITLE button or you really want to use MENU button on the remote, then you have to create Track menus. In this software, pushing MENU on the remote means, "go to the Track menu of the current track". Pushing TITLE on the remote means, "go to the Main menu."

Therefore, if you want the MENU button to work, you must create Track menus. This is only specific to TDA.

After you created a DVD with the Track menus and the MENU button working, it's possible to modify it before burning so that the MENU button would bring up Main menu right away. It will take about one minute in IfoEdit, of course, if you know what you're doing.

By the way, if you want to use NEXT button on the remote to skip a movie, you have to create a chapter one second before the end of the track.

[presto]

By the way, if you want to use NEXT button on the remote to skip a movie, you have to create a chapter one second before the end of the track.

Yeah, I discovered that one myself. That really should be the default behavior. I love TDA but it does have it's quirks.

[Dimmer]

By the way, if you want to use NEXT button on the remote to skip a movie, you have to create a chapter one second before the end of the track.

Yeah, I discovered that one myself. That really should be the default behavior. I love TDA but it does have it's quirks.

This has nothing to with TDA, this is how all DVD work.

[presto]

This has nothing to with TDA, this is how all DVD work.

No it's not. Most DVD's that I have go to the next chapter when you hit the next button. TDA makes DVD's where the next button does nothing when you are past the last chapter mark. It is a simple matter to fix this by adding a chapter mark at the end so that TDA goes to this one and then immedieately proceeds to the next chapter. It would be good programming to have this happen automatically or to have a box pop up explaing why it might be a good idea.

(I understand that you are talking about how DVD's work but I'm talking about how DVD authoring programs work.)

[Dimmer]

Most DVD's that I have go to the next chapter when you hit the next button. TDA makes DVD's where the next button does nothing when you are past the last chapter mark. It is a simple matter to fix this by adding a chapter mark at the end so that TDA goes to this one and then immedieately proceeds to the next chapter. It would be good programming to have this happen automatically or to have a box pop up explaing why it might be a good idea.

That's exactly right. After the last chapter, Next button would do (almost) nothing. I don't recall any authoring software that would add that tiny chapter at the end automatically. Probably, it's just a common sense to add this chapter during the authoring especially since it takes only few seconds.

[muskgrave]

we can just call it a "feature" that allows for "maximum flexibility"

I use TMPGEnc DVD Author and have had much success with it. Combine it with your own custom made photoshop backgrounds/images and you can make some good looking menus. It sometimes just takes some time and trial and error. I usually author then play it from my hard drive using powerdvd. Then for the final test I burn it to a dvd-rw. Once it plays properly on the tv it's time to make the commitment