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  1. Many folks have run into issues when rendering motion menus in Ulead DVD Workshop, i.e. crashing. Here's a way I've found to make the menus that so far works well and actually adds some flexibility, like looping your video clips with longer audio, and having selection buttons/text OVER the video clips. You basically create the menus in a seperate session resulting in an mpeg video, complete with motion clips, to be used as a background.

    Here's how:

    1. Create your DVD project exactly how you want the menus to look and work (with motion video clips, audio, navigation buttons, etc.)

    2. Use SAVE AS, to create a seperate project for each of your motion menus. It is important to work from the DVD project, instead of creating the menu projects from scratch, so that you have proper alignment of the menus when using frames (see step 9).

    3. In each menu project, remove everything but the ONE menu to be worked on. Remove, all navigation buttons and audio.

    4. [While this step is not necessary, it makes the motion menu rendering process much easier for DVDWS as it is not trying to load up huge videos. I have yet to crash it this way.] Use TMPEG to create complient mpegs of the video clips that you want to see in the menu. I use 20 second clips and the processing time is about 30 seconds each (you don't need the audio). In DWS, replace each of the menu video links, with the shorter mpegs created by TMPEG.

    5. Now, make DVD selecting Create DVD Directory. Once DVDWS has finsish the rendering motion menu stage, hit CANCEL.

    6. You now should have an mpeg video in the ~MENU directory of the project folder. It will have some name like d8783e97-e06e-4295-9f46-5e1cd1c5b3f6.mpg, rename it something more suitable like menu1.mpg.

    7. If you want to loop the menu video AND audio skip the next step and go to step 8.

    8. If you wish to loop the menu video while a longer song is being played. Use the Merge tool in TMPEG MPEG Tools, to merge the menu mpeg as many times as necessary to be LONGER than the song for the menu. i.e. if the song is 90 seconds long and the menu is 20 seconds long, add the mpeg 5 times. BE SURE TO SELECT THE CORRECT VIDEO FORMAT FOR THE MERGE. You will now have an mpeg video of the looped menu.

    9. Once you have all the menu mpegs finished, in the DVD project, use the menu mpeg as a background video for you menu. Keep MOTION MENU checked, but UNCHECK MOTION BUTTONS!!!!! You already have a motion menu background, so you don't want to render again. Be sure to set you background audio. If you are using frames for the selection, you will now have the still clip selection frames sitting directly over the menu mpeg, so you need to make the chapter or video selection buttons invisible, by selecting 99% TRANSPARENCY under DISPLAY. Alternatively, you can now use selection buttons, or text over the mpeg video clip, which you couldn't before as that would result in overlapping buttons. (I use a menu with 8 video clips for 8 episodes of a TV shows, and have the episode number show over video clip when highlighted and disappear when not highlighted. To do this set the normal transparency to 99% and the selected transparency to 0%)

    10. Now make the DVD. DVDWS shouldn't render anything, but will go straight to multiplexing. It may take a couple of tries to bet the mix of navigation vs background video right, but if you remember to start with the DVD project, and then create menu projects from that, you shouldn't have any problems with alignment.

    I'll try to anser any questions and change the instructions. I'll also try to add screen shot clips at a later date.

    Good luck.
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  2. bobsolo That's a good work-around but DVDWS should not crash. I assume you, or someone else, documented this problem to Ulead Tech support. Ulead, since their reorginzation, has been very reponsive to solving problems.
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  3. The Ulead Forum is riddled with posts of this problem. Some folks have experienced crashes only when rendering multiple chapters within one mpeg and have no problem with multiple mpeg. Other (like myself) see crashes with both cases. My guess is that it's due to the size of the mpeg files. DVDWS is trying to load 4, 5, 6, etc seperate mpegs to obtain each clip frame for every menu mpeg frame. Or worse trying to load one mpeg and jump to 4, 5, 6, etc chapters to obtain each clip frame for every menu mpeg frame.

    So far Uleads answer has been to reinstall the program...

    I hope Ulead works this one out, but till then I'll make my menus seperate (I prefer the added flexibilty).
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  4. Ulead solved the pulsating artifacts problem with MSPro 6.5 mpeg now encoder (same as DVDWS) in about 2 weeks. I just ftped to Ulead a 250m DVDWS project, at Ulead's request, to help solve a slide show problem. If you take the time to give them a detailed description of the problem, problem analysis and include all prior emails in your response, so there is continuity, Ulead will solve the problem. If you have done a uninstall/reinstall tell them and it will avoid the first response.
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  5. Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
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    Rio de Janeiro - Brazil
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    Hi,

    Maybe you could point me a solution to 2 questions :

    1 - Best way to have a motion menu ( or maybe it should be called a transition between the main menu and a secondary menu ) with text object links. Something like all the text entering from the right side of the screen and then freezing ...
    If I use DVDWS text objects, they will appear right at the beginning of my motion menu, and that is not what I want.
    I thought of running a video for the motion menu and then setting AFTER PLAY to call a still menu with the text object links. BUT don't know if it will work since :
    a - the video is 720 x 480 and the still image (would be equal to the last frame of the video that was used as the motion menu) should be 768 x 576 according to DVDWS instructions at learning center on Ulead's web site
    b - maybe there would be some delay between the video and the still menu

    2 - We all have seem many commercial DVD's that show some kind of picture ( usually an arrow ) when a text object is selected. When you change selection the arrow disappears from the previous choice and appears beside the new choice. How can that be done with DVDWS ?

    Thank's in advance .
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  6. Lula 1,
    DVDWS isn't flexible enough to do the sort of menus you are looking for. You could use a video creation software (Adobe Premiere, etc.) to create the effects you are looking for, and just have the navigation bottons in DVDWS over the background video. However, because DVDWS doesn't have a delay option for the nav buttons, they would be available immediately, even if you text is just appearing.

    The best resoultion for a background image is 768x568, however if you are going to have a background image come up after a video clip, you should use a still from the video i.e. 720x480 to ensure they are exactly the same.

    You menu tree could be:

    Menu 1: Main Menu with nav button to menu 2.

    Menu 2: Transition menu with background video and 1 hidden (99% transparent) nav button leading to menu 3. Time out the menu at the end of the video.

    Menu 3: Background image (still frame from video) with nav buttons to videos.

    You would have a small delay like you said.

    As for your second question, this ones easy. Set the transparency of you buttons to 0% when selected, and 99% (hidden) for normal display. You will no longer see then on the menu, but when selected they will appear. This is a cool effect.

    Hope this helps some.

    PS I say your question the other day on making a menu with still clips that become motion clips when "seleted" and I've been trying to work this one out, but I don't think it's possible. The selection of a button, only changes the state (color, transparency) of the masking over the button, so you couldn't have a still appear over a vido backgound. I'm still trying though.
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  7. Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Rio de Janeiro - Brazil
    Search Comp PM
    Hi bobsolo,

    Thank's for trying to help. I think I did not make myself clear, or maybe I am missing something on your reply.

    You said :
    "As for your second question, this ones easy. Set the transparency of you buttons to 0% when selected, and 99% (hidden) for normal display. You will no longer see then on the menu, but when selected they will appear. This is a cool effect. "

    I am aware of the possibility of making a transparent button that will appear when highlighted. But that is not what I want ( and what I see on commercial DVD's). I am talking about a menu with text link objects. When any one of them ( the TEXT OBJECTS ) is selected, an image (most of the times, an arrow) will appear BESIDE the selected TEXT object. When another TEXT OBJECT is selected, the arrow will move (SHOW) beside the newly selected text object.

    *********************************************

    You said :

    "DVDWS isn't flexible enough to do the sort of menus you are looking for. You could use a video creation software (Adobe Premiere, etc.) to create the effects you are looking for, and just have the navigation bottons in DVDWS over the background video. However, because DVDWS doesn't have a delay option for the nav buttons, they would be available immediately, even if you text is just appearing. "

    Yes, that is the idea. The menu (video) will be created using Premiere, and I want to place the navigation buttons over it, using DVDWS objects.

    Then you said :

    "The best resoultion for a background image is 768x568, however if you are going to have a background image come up after a video clip, you should use a still from the video i.e. 720x480 to ensure they are exactly the same. "

    As you can see on the tutorials at Ulead's web site, they recommend using 768 x 576 for the dimensions of the image to be used as background. If I use a still frame from the video , at 720 x 480, it will NOT fit the whole screen ( you will see black horizontal borders on top and bottom of menu ). That was the reason for my question.

    Thank's again.
    I appreciate any extra help.
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  8. Member
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    Sep 2002
    Location
    Rio de Janeiro - Brazil
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    Hi bobsolo,

    Still waiting for your reply on the above topics.
    Hope you can think of some workaround for them as I have yet not been able to do so.
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