How do I program a "Play All" button?

[Clydesdale]

I have a set of clips. I have buttons set up which link to each clip but I also want to be able to click on a Play All button which will play all clips, one after the other.

[thecoalman]

Well providing each clip is set to go to the next clip just point it at the first one.

Which authoring program are you using?

[Clydesdale]

Each clip is set to return to main menu. But in that case how do I get a Play All button to work also?

[canadateck]

what program are you using? Wont get much help without that info.

[JimJohnD]

If you were/are using DVDLab you would add a "Play List" object to the Connections window and assign all of your clips to the list. Then in your menu you would have your "Play All" item linked to the "Play List" object. How you would do it in anything else I'll have to leave to other members of this forum

[Clydesdale]

I am using DVD Maestro. It does have play lists. Your idea sounds logical. I will try it and see...

[Clydesdale]

Playlists do not work. They can only be used for a specific clip, to mix up the chapters or something....command sequences seem to be the only possible answer but they use arcane programming language. Looks like I will have to give up on this idea.

[dcsos]

In Maestro I think you need to encode one long clip to have a play all without programming many dummy PGC's
So If you can't re-encode your source, perhaps you can concencate the files with a tool like MPEG2VCR
and then do the reverse, that is, make buttons that lead to the individual chapters within the new lengthy MPEG-2 clip

[David K]

It's not that hard in Maestro. Consult the Manual. Here are my notes from when I fooled around with it.

Making a Menu with Play-All and with separate links for each movie, so that the play all plays both back to back but the separate link stops after each one and returns to the main menu.

Use playlists. Make a playlist for each movie, by right clicking the movie. Set up the end action for the last chapter of each regular movie to follow each other (and the last one to go the main menu so it doesn’t loop forever. By the way, the next and previous key assignments seem to supersede the end action assignments.) Use this chain to link the play all link to. Then for the individual movie links, link them to the playlist versions of the movies, and change the end action of the last chapter of the playlist version to return to the main menu. (It will not work the other way, playlist settings override main movie settings, but not vice versa. The main movie settings set the general settings and then only a limited amount of override is allowed through the playlist versions.)

[Clydesdale]

Thanks, this works.

[dragonkeeper]

Play All in Maestro isd pretty siple. I do it all the time. With episodes of TV shows like Enterprise and battlestag galactica, using command sequences
I even take it a notch further by having the player play opening creidts from the first episode play all through the first ep skipping the end credits then jump to the second episode skiping the opening credits and keep doing this until the lase episode and then play end credits.
So all you see is the opening & ending credits once each.
I also put an episode button to select which episode that you would like to see and the eah play normally, playing both begginng and end cradits.