Creating a DVD-like menu

[xar256]

Hi everybody,

Ok...I don't really know where to post this, and I've done a whole bunch of searching...But the truth is...I don't really know what to look for with this idea. I'm hoping somebody can point me in the right direction.

Here's what I wish to accomplish.

I have a whole bunch of DivX movie files that I would like to place on DVD's. However due to thier current size, I can only fit one file per DVD if I converted them to Mpeg <and having over 100 dvds is a little out of the question at this point> I'm using an HTPC for DVD playback, so I'm a little more free to work with different formats.
I would like to put about 12 DivX files on a single DVD-R disc, but I would like to create a menu that will play on a PC that will let me choose whatever file I like. I could do this in HTML of course, but I'm trying to put something together that will run by itself, and not require memory intensive things like Internet Explorer, and the like. I'm trying to avoid the Windows look as well, and a dvd menu would fit the bill just fine.

Is this making sense? Does anybody have any ideas on where to look or what to create this out of?

Any ideas would be appreciated
Xar256

[Capmaster]

Moved to Newbie Conversion forum.

[guns1inger]

You probably need to look at CD menu creation programs. HTML will require a browser of some sort, although it does make the disk a little more universal.

Something like this might fit the bill

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/mediamenu.html

Otherwise there are more here

http://www.snapfiles.com/downloadfind.php?st=cd+menu&search=Search&action=s

[jimmalenko]

I know it uses a browser, but the following works and your HTML coding will determine how good you can make it look.

I used Media Player Classic to play movies dependent on their selection from a html menu, which is set to autorun when the disc is inserted. Check out my sample (~2MB zipped) http://members.dodo.net.au/~jimmalenko/autorun.zip.

[Baldrick]

capmaster: this is no conversion. moving again.

[Craig Tucker]

capmaster: this is no conversion. moving again.

[xar256]

You probably need to look at CD menu creation programs. HTML will require a browser of some sort, although it does make the disk a little more universal.

Something like this might fit the bill

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/mediamenu.html

Otherwise there are more here

http://www.snapfiles.com/downloadfind.php?st=cd+menu&search=Search&action=s

Awsome! This is exactly the type of thing I'm looking for. I'm going to check this out tonight.

Thanks very much!
Xar256

[Cornucopia]

You could also use Adobe Acrobat to do a "full screen, menubar-less" PDF menu screen with hotlinks that open up individual movies (and even put the "player" on the disc!).
Or for that matter, you could even use Powerpoint (Ugh! ). There are many others--Director, iShell, etc. Most of those require a larger investment of time and $$$.

Problem with most are that they really only do single "top-level" menus well, not branching submenus etc, as that requires support for actions concerning the actual media itself. That's where complete CE multimedia applications like VCD and DVD shine.

Maybe Microsoft/Panasonic's "HiMat" or OSTA's MPV specifications will make this easier for all..

HTH,
Scott

[Capmaster]

capmaster: this is no conversion. moving again.

<kicks dirt>