I've been using VCDEasy to create my SVCDs and VCDs (I do not have a DVD burner yet) for a while. Now I thought I'd get into making some nice menus with chapter selections. I've tried some applications but none seem to fit my need.

For example I have tried Ulead's MovieFactory. It's really nice how you can make good looking menus with texts, backgrounds and screenshots from the sceenes as thumbnails. (Though you will probably get rather tired of the themes after a while). The problem is that you are given very little control over the actual authoring. For example, if I want a chapter menu it seems I must have a main menu for selecting MPEG file, even if there is only one.

On the other side. I have VCDEasy and such, where I am given full control over every button, but where I have to create the stills for the menus manually, which I do not indent to do.

So my question to you good folks is: do you know of any program in between, that gives me my good looking menus but also the control? Or do you know of any program that could help me create still menus to use with VCDEasy?

I have tried creating a menu in MovieFactory, writing a CD image and then copying the mpeg stills from the disc image and use them in VCDEasy. It's a solution, but there was too much work and too much time for rendering. If I could generate only the stills I would be satisfied.

Many thanks.