Showing a series of titles on a DVD?

[Balliol]

When I place a commercially created CD or DVD on my television I can see that it is divided into a number of different chapters titles or just chapter numbers and I can either just press play and see all the titles or numbers one after another or select what ever chapter title or number that I wish to see.

I have built a series of individual slide shows (projects) using Pinnacle Studio 10 and saved them with an appropriate name separately as .stx projects and I want to burn them to a DVD.

Can this be done in such a way that when I load the DVD onto a DVD player connected to a TV I will be able see the slide shows by name?

[Richard_G]

The .stx files are simply project files understandable by Pinnacle Studio. They tell Studio which file to show and when. You need to encode the project to a DVD compliant mpeg2 and then author it into a playable DVD. The authoring process is where you create the chapter points and a menu to call each chapter individually or to play all from the beginning.

[jman98]

Wrong forum, again. Does nobody actually post VCD/SVCD questions in this forum? Why does the DVD Authoring forum exist if nobody is going to use it?

[Balliol]

I do apologise but believe it or not some of us do not understand as much as others. I for one don not yet understand what terms such as VCD/SVCD DVD and Authoring mean which is why I for one use forums like this to ask for help.

[tomlee59]

In that case, you might want to spend a few moments to read the "What Is" section in the upper left-hand corner of the page. Then you will understand a bit more about what these terms mean.

[Richard_G]

You might have been better off posting in the Newbie/General Forum. To play your slideshows from a DVD disc in a set top DVD player, you need to convert them into a DVD. The only difference between this and a standard DVD will be that it is made up off static slides rather than video.

According to the Pinnacle website, Studio 10 is capable of authoring to DVD. How you do it I have no idea as I last used Pinnacle software about 8 years ago, it was crap then and I have heard so many people condemn it since that I have steered well clear of it! It might be a case of RTFM.....

[jman98]

I do apologise but believe it or not some of us do not understand as much as others. I for one don not yet understand what terms such as VCD/SVCD DVD and Authoring mean which is why I for one use forums like this to ask for help.

You signed up over a year ago and you STILL don't know what these terms mean? If you would spend a little time getting familiar with the terms, you could post your questions to the right forums and be more likely to get proper help. Note that as a newbie, posting ANY question at all in the Newbie forum is always OK. If you are just going to post one question a year and then vanish from the forums like so many do, don't be surprised if you never really learn anything.

[Nelson37]

You really should read the Dynamically Updated Master Breakdown for Access to Superb Statements, otherwise known as the FAQ.

This might explain why the answer to your original question is actually "Possibly, maybe even yes, but Definitely NO".

[Balliol]

You are of course both right but like many people of my generation, seventy plus, I look for an easy way out because I'm afraid of running out of time when there is so much new technology that I want to explore. I may well have joined over a year ago but I'm afraid that my many other interests such as digital photography, antique firearms etc etc lead me astray.
However, today I learnt a good lesson when having spent a number of days attempting to get the "Make Movie" section of Pinnacle Studio 10 to work I decided to look in the FAQs where they suggested re-installing it which I did and its actually working so it does pay to read the manuals sometimes. Thanks for the pointers.

[Nelson37]

Sir, you have put in your time and IMO have earned something of a pass.

Now if I came to you and said I want to get into black-powder hunting, and ask questions about powder type and lead alloys, and then casually wonder which end of the tube the round comes out of, you might suggest I get some basic instruction.

Nothing that serious here, but I would recommend going through the Guides list and reading a few that cover points of interest for you. These are Tried and True successful methods in use for quite some time. Many of them give real-world examples and explanations of concepts that will be helpful for you. Just as you probably liked the story of the early pioneer who developed the skill of loading his rifle while running, and was given the name by the Indians of "Gun Always Loaded".

Each one will probably raise additional questions, which another one might answer. You will reach a point when it all begins to come together. If not, come back and ask some more.

The acronym in my earlier post is meant for the young and lazy who are pressed for time, and should not be taken to apply to yourself.

[Balliol]

Many thanks for your kind reply. You are of course correct and the bonus for going through some of the FAQs was that I discovered that it was worth stripping the Pinnacle Studio 10 out and re-loading it because it then allowed me to operate the “Make Movie” facility where as previously it just kept rejecting the DVD. It’s quite amazing how this slide building project is now all coming together.
I have now finished up with a DVD showing chapter headings, slides, titles, transitions and playing music. There are a couple of points to sort out such as somehow or other I managed to lose the copy of the photographs that I had placed on the opening of chapter heading facility and although its probably staring me in the face I cant work out if there is the facility to increase the time that each slide shows on screen although I can see how to do each one individually but as I said, its all coming together so thanks for your advice and encouragement.