How can i edit a Menu?

[shay86]

Hello,

I have a menu with 4 buttons ready.
I'd like to change/add an effect that whenever
i move my mouse on a button, it will appear a small arrow next to it (thus i can tell that im on that button when using my DVD's remote control).

Any idea which software (even not freeware) can do that easily?

Thanks in advance.

[Baldrick]

dvdremake pro.

[shayke]

Well, I have DVDReMakePro but i don't even know where to start with (in order to do what i need).

Any ideas how i can create these little arrows im talking about using DVDReMakePro?

Any known tutorial out there?

[Alex_ander]

With DVDRemake you can only edit still background image (by exporting frame/importing encoded edited image) and add/remove rectangular button highlight areas. For what you want (add new highlighted pointers) you have to edit subpicture stream of the menu (demux, convert to image file, edit, convert back to subpicture format with original timing etc. and remux for further menu replacement). It is much more difficult than authoring a new menu for replacement. If you had a menu with already existing pointers for text buttons, then it would be easy to edit without touching subpicture.

[OldeMan]

Breaking news...
the latest version of DvdSubEdit 1.396 by Jeanl (search doom9) lets you easily export/import subpic highlights from a VOB menu into/from your favorite bitmap editor. Does not require a lot of skill. Easy trick is stick with the subpic color as its imported. You can move, change subpic shape, remove unwanted highlights etc.
It will not re-import changed bitmap if you have screwed up big time. You can also change color but that requires understanding highlights a little more.

This something I've neeed for a long time. I have several good authoring apps and love DVDReMake Pro (for changing operational flow after authoring) but none of them let you easily fiddle with the highlight subpics. It's just too hard for me to get it right with Photoshop and import it correctly..

A caveman can do it now with DvdSubEdit...

[Alex_ander]

Thanks for the news, really worth trying. Here's direct link for those interested:
http://forum.doom9.org/showpost.php?p=1050765&postcount=709

[spiritgumm]

On a slight tangent, if you want to change the background image on the main menu, is Rebuilder the only tool? Can you edit with Vobblanker or Pgcedit?

[manono]

If it's a static menu and you're only replacing the background image, it's easily done using VobBlanker (and Muxman). Scroll to the bottom of my menu editing guide to The Easy Way:

https://forum.videohelp.com/topic313743.html#1606732

[shay86]

Thanks everyone for the replies but i still don't understand how to do that.
I've tried using DVDSubEdit but i don't understand is how to export my menu with the buttons
for example into photoshop in order to add arrows.
Further more, i need these arrows to be shown when putting the mouse over the button,
therefore, i need to add this to the highlighted button option or so.

I'll be happy for further explainations, or a simple guide to talk me through.

[manono]

I haven't had a look yet at the new DVDSubEdit, but I have a friend that has, and he says it makes what you want to do a whole lot easier. He says extracting the SubPic for editing, and then later sticking it back into the DVD is easy now. But you'll have to figure that part out for yourself. But assuming you get it extracted, edited, and then reinserted into the DVD, the next step is making your new arrows light up when you place the mouse or remote control over them. For that you need PGCEdit. You have to create new buttons for those new arrows you created. There's a bit of a guide here:

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=99306

Begin at about number 15. But even creating the buttons isn't the end of it. You also have to create new menu commands in order to make the buttons do what you want when you activate them. If that guide looks like gibberish, and if you have had little or no experience with PGCEdit and editing and creating menu commands, you may be biting off more than you can chew with this project.

[jeanl]

What you're trying to do is a bit complicated (unfortunately) with the current tools. You need to do a few things:
- Modify the highlights (add the arrows). You can do that easily with DVDSubEdit, but you're not done yet!
- Understand how button highlights work, and that's really not that easy. Buttons have 3 states, not-selected, selected and activated. Each state has its own "colorscheme" (which is defined in the navpacks), which controls how the highlight is displayed in each state. For example:
- In the not-selected state (which is the default state, which DVDSubEdit shows), all pixels are usually set to fully transparent, so you don't see the highlights.
- In the selected state, the colorscheme normally sets the transparency to full opaque, and picks a set of colors in the CLUT of the PGC.
- In the active state, the transparency is also usually opaque, but the selected color might be different.

This is complicated, no doubt! that's the bad news. The good news is that PgcEdit lets you edit all these attributes! So, if you know what you're doing, you can do what you want.
Of course, if your menu does not have commands attached to it, you have to add that as well! But I'm assuming that your menu already works, and you just want to add the "selected" effect, right?
At one point, I had a goal of letting you see the appearance of the button highlights in various states in DVDSubEdit but I haven't found the time to write that part of the code... It would help a little bit...
jeanl