What program is best for this...

[cento]

I've been trying a bunch of different programs but I can't seem to get the result I am looking for. The project I'm looking to do right now is to put some episodes of a show on a DVD with animated thumbnails for each episode.
This is a list of what I want to do:

-Wide array of supported video types(.avi, .mkv, .ogm, etc)
-Multiple tracks
-Multiple audio tracks
-Add subtitles, if it doesn't recognize the .mkv or .ogm sub stream
-Animated thumbnails of the tracks
-Animated background
-Background music
-Ability to set up chapters

Currently I use ConvertXtoDVD. I find it to be a very good, dependable program but its a bit too basic on the menu editing end. I've tried searching for quite a bit but I can't seem to find anything that can do what I'm looking for. What I really want is the animated thumbnails, which I used to do but I can't remember what program it was. I'm on a newer computer since then and I'm getting back into authoring. Is there a program that can make a menu from a basic DVD? As in I'll author the files using ConvertX(with no menu) then use the output folder and another program to make the menu for it?? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[redwudz]

You are trying to do something extremely complex with very simple tools. I don't foresee that happening.

One of your requirements: Wide array of supported video types(.AVI, .MkV, .OGM, etc) Won't really work with DVD standard video. See 'WHAT IS' DVD' to the upper left for the DVD format and specification.

If you want to start out in a new way and make a proprietary format that only you can play, fine. But that won't work for everyone else.

There are limitations with the DVD format, and the Divx format and most other formats. Strike out on your own if you want, but you need followers if you ever plan to become mainstream.

Even with DVD, ConvertX is a very simple converter. You need to look into more advanced authoring solutions, like DVD Lab Pro or similar. Also separate encoding and editing programs.

This is not so simple an exercise. It's been done before and unless you have the capability to rewrite or formulate fairly advanced code, you would be better off with established programs and protocols.

I don't mean to discourage you, but you need to have a much better idea of what is used and what is available at present, then come up with a new and better way to do all that. Good luck.

And welcome to our forums.

And look into some of the higher end authoring programs.

[cento]

Thanks for the welcome... and maybe I wasn't too clear... I'm authoring this for my own use, not for anyone else or to sell or anything... strictly for my own collection. I'm not trying to do anything new and innovative lol Thats kind of beyond my scope.

Anyway, maybe you can suggest a program for my task at hand? I'm trying to put fan-subs on a DVD so I can watch them on my TV. I'm kind of a perfectionist, hence I want all the bells and whistles. I'm trying to do 24 episodes with 8 episodes or so on a disc. The file type is .avi and the subs are hardcoded, so it should be pretty straight forward. I just want thumbnails with a short preview of the track playing. Basically, I want it to have a menu with a still image and BG music and 8 animated icons, one for each ep.

Everything I mentioned earlier was for all the projects I might be doing for myself. I guess I was hoping for a all-purpose solution that probably doesn't exist. I already have about 2 thirds of the eps done via ConvertX, but I just want fancier menus... is there a program that can take the DVD output from ConvertX and make a customized menu, without encoding all over again? Thanks again!

[redwudz]

Fancy menus. Then you need a good authoring program. The one that comes to mind and is affordable is DVD Lab. TMPGEnc DVD Author has limitations. One is no subtitles, though the newest versions may do that.

There are alternatives. GUI for dvdauthor can do most anything the payware programs can, but it takes external programs to get the most out of it. DVD Authorgui is similar. Even with mainstream programs like DVD Lab Pro, it takes a bit of study to learn all the ins and outs.

BTW, there are a few guides that might get you started. Look to the left under 'AUTHOR' and you can see some.

Good luck.

[cento]

Thanks again for the advice. I just discovered that my DVD player can play Divx files. It doesn't say it on my DVD player, but a few people on this site said so. I noticed while I was looking at some reviews for DVD players... so I think I'll just convert everything to AVI and watch it like that. I wont be able to watch them anywhere else, but thats not really an issue. And the trade off is pretty good... either a DVD with a nice interface and 8 episodes(without loosing much quality) or no menus, but also quality lose from the original files and it holds about 24 eps(depending on size.) I only wish I had looked that up earlier but I never botherd, since I didn't think my DVD player could even do that. I was actually debating between the one I bought and another one I saw that did Divx, but it was a lot more at the time... glad I went with the cheaper one since it does the same thing

[redwudz]

Divx/Xvid is a good format for storing lots of videos. I don't miss the menus myself. The ability to get a decent looking movie in about 700 to 1500MB is a big plus and lets me store more video than is possible in the same filesize as a MPEG, DVD format video.

The latest versions of Divx let you make a menu, but needs a Divx 6 certified player to display them. But most any regular Divx player will also give you a internal menu of sorts.