DVD Author Menu Problem. Very Frustrating

[Nocontact]

I'm trying to set a new starting point for my menus so they're not just black screens.
Every time I find the point at which I want to start I get a message saying

"Video preview position has changed but the playback start and end points are not finalized yet. Set the background picture start and end points by clicking no and return to the settings window and set the start and end points."

I don't know what this means or what to do. Can anyone help?

Thanks

[Relayerman]

All the message is telling you is that you have positioned yourself at different spot in the clip other than at the beginning. DVD Author assumes the clip will start at 0 on its timeline and then run for the specified length. You just need to position the clip where you want it to start and click on the button which should set the beginning time of the clip (which will not be 0, obviously). Common sense should tell DVD author to automatically set the ending time of the clip based on how long you want the clip to show, but it doesn't do that because you can technically have a shorter clip than what you really want to display and it will then auto-loop to fill up the remaining time. Therefore you have to then set the ending position and on the timeline and push the button to set the end point. Now you can exit the dialog box without the message.

Here's a hint: lets say you specified that you want the clip to run for 30 seconds before starting over. The best thing to do is to find a starting point on the time line that is an even number such as 20:10 (read that 20 minutes, 10 seconds). That way you can easily calculate where the 30 second end mark should be placed which would be 20:40.

Relayerman

[Nocontact]

Thanks for the reply

But where do I set this? If I set in in the clip itself it'll only play this long when authored.
I just want to change the image that's show in the menu for each track.
I'm trying to make this change in the menu section of the program and by clicking on each track and then adjusting it but I keep getting that message.
I've tried setting the start and end point withing that box too but I still get the same message.
Am I not understanding you?

[Relayerman]

If you are not using motion menu then the start / end points don't mean anything at all. You then need to go the Global options (at the top in the main menu dialog) and set the settings for 'use background picture' and make sure 'motion menu' is unchecked. Unless I'm missing something this is what you want.

If you ARE using motion menu then there is a check box in the motion menu dialog to tell it to loop the clip if the clip is shorter than the actual amount of time you want the motion menu to be displayed. Its kinda hard to describe without sitting right in fron of it (I'm at work and don't have it here).

Relayerman