DVD creation - many short Video Clips and 1 Menu - Possible?

[lifeson99]

I have approx 500 of those "eBaumsWorld" and other online downloadable video clips, and I converted about 50 of them to DVD-compliant format.

I cannot find a way to create one Main Menu, with all 50 clips available at the click of a button, and return to the menu after completion of each. Because there are 50 or more entries I need to use a Text-based menu.

If I set them up as Chapters - then the clip completes BUT the next clips automatically begins playing. So I need to set them all up as separate tracks.

But all the DVD Authoring packages I have are limiting my main menu to a specific number of objects. DVD Author "custom menus" max out at 24 text items. It seems a simple thing to do, and that many people would like to do this with either funny short clips, family video clips, etc. Is there any way to do this?

I thought about converting all clips to VOB's and then trying to create my own IFO files and my own menus somehow - is that possible with IFOedit ??? I think it will create the IFO files but NOT the main, text menu I need.

[mudda_t]

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[setarip_old]

According to the built-in "Help" file, "TMPGEnc DVD Author" v.1.6 can handle 99 tracks/Titles:For a standard DVD, it is necessary with between 1-99 tracks on the DVD.

[lifeson99]

You can import up to 99 tracks. You can also have up to 99 "Chapters per Track".

But you can only have 24 objects per menu because DVD Author does NOT have "truly custom menus". You can to edit the existing Templates, but you cannot add an object to a menu, other than a text box or a picture - but no reference objects that link to clips. So, you are limited to 24 tracks - and to just ONE menu (the Main menu) that contains links to tracks. All the other menus are called "Track menus" but they can only contain one track - with 1 to 99 Chapters.

I would be OK with that if there was an option to return to the Track menu after a chapter has completed, but the DVD Chapter plays, and then the next one automatically plays.

My goal is one Main menu with links to several sub-menus. such as "Pranks", "Stunts", etc Each sub-menu will have a bunch of links to tracks, where each track is a separate video clip. Then the user can go through and play the clips he wants, and then return to the menu - sort of like using Windows Explorer to play video clips, and when WMplayer finishes playing the clip you are returned to Windows Explorer. Frustrating that DVD Author cannot do this - it should have the ability to reference multiple "tracks" on the submenus, just like you can on the Main menu, instead of only being able to reference Chapters.