audio for DVD menu

[coeng73]

Is there any way to add background audio for menus in TDA? I recall that I used to add an audio track when I authored with Sonic some time ago.

[Megahurts]

Create a short Mpeg file with audio and use it for Backround image. Enable motion menu.

[coeng73]

OK, got that to work. Thanks.

Only thing is that my menu background is now black in color since I did not select a video source when I created the audio-only MPEG in TMPGEnc.

I even tried to select a random JPEG file to use for the video source, but I still ended up with a black menu background after the MPEG was created. I assumed it would just play the audio and display the JPEG image.

All I want is a nice background (maybe even a nice wallpaper if I can dig one up) since I have six chapter thumbnails per menu screen (26 total chapters) and they cover most of the screen anyway.

How can I do this?

[Megahurts]

Did the Mpeg playback in WMP?

Did the image show up when selected as background image?

When you playback the VIDEO_TS_VOB file TDA creates in VLC does it work?

[coeng73]

OK. This is getting weird.

I took another crack at it tonight.

This time I got the background image AND the audio track successfully in the MPEG file. I even verified it when I played it back in WMP.

When I output the project with TDA, this time there is no audio for the menu, only the background is seen (as well as the thumbnails). I even played the video on my PC (via WMP) directly from the VIDEO_TS folder.

In the "Motion Menu" settings, I made sure that I enabled "Use audio of the background video as the menu BMG."

So basically the first time I tried this, I had audio but no background image. The second time I tried it, I had the background image but no music.

What did I do wrong?

[Megahurts]

In the "Motion Menu" settings, did you enter the "Lenght of motion menu" in seconds?

The menu is stored in the VIDEO_TS.VOB file. If played back in VLC does it have audio?

[coeng73]

Yes I did. The MPEG file is 57 seconds long (according to WMP).
That is the value I entered for the length of the motion menu.

Also, no audio heard in VLC player.

[hklozzo]

Coeng,

I also had this problem. What i 'think' you're missing out is to set the duration of your image, the same as your music and also, the same as the motion menu.
I used Windows Movie Maker for this.
1: Add your required background image into the collections menu.
2: Drag it onto the VIDEO timeline
3: Add your music file into the collection menu and drag it onto the audio timeline.
4: Now drag the little handle on the image until its equal to the music duration. You're effectivley saying display this image for X duration. (i.e same as music duration.
5: Check it plays as you require in the media preview.
6: Output the file to your required quality/file size.
7: Now import the mpg file as your background image in your project.
8: Set the motion menu in TMPGenc to the SAME duration as the new mpg file.

This method works fine for me.
Hope this helps.
8)

[coeng73]

Hklozzo, thanks for the tip.

I'm going to try that in Premiere instead and then use TMPGEnc to convert my AVI (containing audio and "still" video) to MPEG.

Will post my findings later.

[daamon]

I also believe that audio for background menus in TDA can only be MP2 (but maybe it's only WAV, but I'm sure it's only MP2).

[coeng73]

Hklozzo, thanks for the tip.

I'm going to try that in Premiere instead and then use TMPGEnc to convert my AVI (containing audio and "still" video) to MPEG.

Will post my findings later.

It still did not work. Any other suggestions?

Am I selecting the right type of output for my MPEG in TMPGEnc ? I select SYSTEM (Audio + Video). I don't output elementary streams.
After creating the MPEG, I can play the menu in VLS and WMP just fine.

[Megahurts]

If you use "Mpeg-1 Audio Layer I" to encode the mpeg file, the TDA menu won't have audio. Must use "Mpeg-1 Audio Layer II".

Other than that, reinstall TDA.

[coeng73]

If you use "Mpeg-1 Audio Layer I" to encode the mpeg file, the TDA menu won't have audio. Must use "Mpeg-1 Audio Layer II".

Other than that, reinstall TDA.

Where do I set that? I forget.

[Megahurts]

TMPGEnc/Settings/Audio

All the templates default to 'Layer II' but check it to be sure.

Also, after selecting the background mpeg does it play with sound in the "Change picture" window?

[coeng73]

TMPGEnc/Settings/Audio

All the templates default to 'Layer II' but check it to be sure.

Double-checked. MPEG-Layer II.

Also, after selecting the background mpeg does it play with sound in the "Change picture" window?

Yes. In TDA "Menu Edit" mode I select "change background for all pages to specified file" (or whatever the correct wording is) and when I do, I see a window popup containing the background image. When I press play on the popup I hear the music.

Could it be the long duration I selected? The MPEG is actually 57.04 seconds long, but in TDA you can only specify precision to a second, so I set it to 57 seconds.

I'm going to try another test tonight. This time I will select nothing for a video source. I want to see if the resulting MPEG file (it will have to be an ES Audio-only stream), when set as my background, will result in TDA producing a black background (but with music playing). This is how I got sound the other night. I just want to make sure it wasn't a fluke.