I Give IN

[spb]

OK, guys
You've changed my mind!!!!
Although I was willing to look up in DVDMaestro's manual what I couldn't find in Scenarist's. The way you talk, maestro must be way too far better than scenarist.
I have read scenarist procedures many times and I just can't get through MENUS. I get stuck with HIGHLITES.
Please, someboby tell me, how much files are needed to make a menu with - let's say - 3 options?
As far as I could get, I need a picture (called STILL) for the background, which can be captured from the movie.
From this point on, either the manual or the guides here lacks details.
I think I need another pic with the menu options in any color over a white background. I think it must be a 4-colors picture.
What about the highlites? There must be a pic for any of the options? Or just one with all the highlites?
Thanks for any help

[TRILIGHT]

Scenarist is a complex piece of software with many options. If you are having trouble figuring out how menus work, I highly recommend you stick with a simpler authoring tool such as Maestro or ReelDVD until you understand how the masks work.

[Navellint]

Most of this is already in the doom9's Scenarist guide, but here goes.
- You'll need 2 pictures:
- drag any picture into Scenarist data-editor for the background (bmp, jpg whatever) -> select 'menu still' (also you can now select if you want a 4x3 or 16x9 menu, not later on)
- drag a 4-color bitmap (720x576 for Pal, 720x480 for NTSC) into scenarist: i use white (background) and black+blue+red (buttons/options) because these are the default colors. The black/blue/red will be the selectable areas. These are not necessarily the colores displayed in the final disc, so don't worry about the exact color) - select 'subpicture with forced start'
- make a track of these: drag the first picture form data-editor into track-editor (it will be blue), select the newly created track and drag the 4-color bmp from data-editor into that track (it will be pink).
- use that track in the scenario-editor (in a title or language folder). select it and open simulation-window (if you don't know where that is, then you probably didn't read the manual and i will not explain, sor). Now select the square between the white and red arrows ('new button').
- drag highlight areas around the colored areas you've created in the 4-color bitmap. (if you would look in the track-editor you'll now find an orange stream which is the highlight-stream)
- select a colored arrow and drag links between the newly created buttons. This is needed to make your remote control arrows work...
- lift the half-window on the bottom of your screen. You'll see tabs of which you have to select 'subpicture and highlight'.
- probably this tab is on 'colors', but it can be changed to 'image', 'highlights', 'buttons' and 'advanced effects' Keep it on 'colors' for now.
- the percentages you see represent the opacity of that color in the final disc. The first columns represents the colors you've used in the 4-color bitmap you've created. The other columns speak for themselves. You see you can change the actually displayed color, or make it 100% transparent (=0%). The third column should have different colors or at least different transparencies, because you want to be able to see what button you've selected, right? Therefore it has to change in color. Usually i don't really care about the last column (it is visible only for a 1/2 second)
- if you change settings and want to see the result, select 'tools' -> 'encode'. To check if the menu works and colors change in the correct way, press the blue square with 's' and press play. USe the arrows on your keyboard to navigate.
- if you're finished press stop and encode, close simulation, go to the menu-pgc in scenario-editor and you'll now see a fourth square with 'btns'. drag from 'btns' to a pgc you want to select and then you'll be prompted to select which newly created button you want to assign to that action. If you pause on 'btns' you'll see what buttons are/aren't assigned (NOP=no operation).
- and so on. HF! ask if you need more info
- i learned that if you're finished with this and you don't press 'encode' one more time in the simulation window before you create a layout, not everything will work in the final dvd

[auenf]

Originally posted by TRILIGHT
Scenarist is a complex piece of software with many options. If you are having trouble figuring out how menus work, I highly recommend you stick with a simpler authoring tool such as Maestro or ReelDVD until you understand how the masks work.

for the benefit of spb, ReelDVD is a cutdown version of scenarist, which will help you learn the basics of scenarist (including menus) before you move to the added complexities of scenarist. DVDMaestro has *almost* the power of scenarist, but in a much simpler interface, which is probably the main reason why apple bought Spruce.

Enf...

[Tippy]

What I tried was using photoshop to make text and buttons and leaving the subpicture as a layer and not flattening the image. Maestro seemed to have np recognizing the two layers(background and subpicture) as long as I had "both" selected when I dragged the psd over from the assets bin.

[spb]

Yeah, Navellint, I got it.
It worked out all right.

I made the main menu with 3 options:
1) Show (to watch the whole show);
2)Songs (which leads to another menu from where we can choose which song to to jump to - as chapters);
3) Subtitles (just in case someone would like to see the lyrics).

The menus are working just fine. I linked the buttons to the other menus. Linked the Return buttons from the other menus to the main menu. No problem up to here. However, I couldn't find the scenes I created. I don't know where to link each of the songs buttons to. The scenes show up on the Title1 track editor. But I can't find them on the Scenario Editor.

By the way, I can manage well the colors in scenarist.

[Navellint]

Double click the pgc? It is probably collapsed. You can check 'expand pgc when created' by default if you go to 'settings' -> 'preference'. I guess you were wondering why i was babbling about a 'fourth square with btns', right :-) ? The pgc will show the scenes now with a screenshot of the first frame of the scene.

If you want beautiful menus, make a good picture and merely use the 4-color bitmap as a shade (or bullet or arrow) over the buttons when selected. I make the 4-color bitmap with MS Paint hehe. Easy does it.

Keep us informed about the stuff you make!

[spb]

The PGC is already expanded. The problem is that there is only one icon called "Program". It has a flag with the number "1" on it. Below this icon there is an icon named "Cell".
That's it. Did I make the scenes (chapters) the wrong way? I created them (the 17 scenes) on the track editor by dragging the cursor and clicking on the New Scene button.
Any hint?

------------
to Tippy:
Thanks for the repply. I was trying multi-layered picture when I was working with ReelDVD. But I did it wrong (I created one layer for each option on the menu :) ). ReelDVD refused to work with more than 3 layers... Then I gave it up. As soon as I get this stuff about menus straight, I will stick up with multi-layered pix again.

-----------
to TRILIGHT:
I did try reelDVD. Its manual is worse that scenarist's. It didn't explain how to change subtitle languages from menus.

[Navellint]

I think you have to delete the pgc from scenario-editor and put it back again. Maybe you've created the scenes after putting it in scenario-editor? A lot of things don't work if you create them in track-editor when the track is already used in scenario-editor. That's the only clue i have so far.

BTW. as you are closer to Argentina than i am, do you know if there's a dvd of Astor Piazzolla? I loved his 'Milonga para tres' in 'Happy Together' (Wong Kar-Wai) and 'Introduccion' in 'Twelve Monkeys' (Terry Gilliam) so I went listeing to some of his albums today but haven't bought any yet. Maybe I rather want a dvd.

[spb]

I will check Astor Piazzolla out for you.
Yeah, I had to delete the Title1 PGC from the scenario editor.
Then I dragged it from the track window (bottom-right)and dropped it to the title1 folder. BANG!!!
I also noticed that there's much more behind those folders (first PGC, VMG and VTS.
First, I couldn' t link 1st PGC to the main menu which was on the VTS folder. Then I had to move the menu to the vgm folder. Now I can't link the main menu to the chapters pgc. :P
There is a long and bloody battle ahead.:D
It is just a matter of trial and error. I'm reading the Doom9' s scenarist guide over and over again.

By the way. It would be easier to find Tangos of Carlos Gardel's hehehe.

[Tippy]

I really like his music and have played some of it, I have maybe 8 or 9 cds of it and actually considered it for menu music but it was too interesting for that...:)

[Navellint]

Carlos Gardel is Brazilian I take it? 8-) On imdb.com I read Piazzolla also composed the Libertango (used by Grace Jones '....strange, I've seen that face before...' in Frantic (Polanski)). But I'll check some of Gardel's music out.

I think if you want to link the main menu to a chapter/subtitle/audio-menu you have to create a language-folder in a VTS and put the chapter/sub/audio-menu in it. If you want a link to the complete movie, drag a link to the title folder the movie is in. Make sure the right pgc in that folder has 'entry' by selecting the respective pgc and changing the menu ID in the properties window. If you want to play a chapter, link to the respective program-icon beneath the PGC. I haven't found a way to make it just play that chapter and then quit.
Furthermore: if you drop a track onto an existing PGC, it will be appended to that PGC instead of creating an new PGC. It's banner will be on NSM (non-seamless) but can be set to SM (seamless). Thought you might wanna try that. It's the start of seamless branching - and you're on your way to the 'advanced authoring forum' :-))
What else did you find out about FirstPGC/VMG/VTS ?

You probably did notice that the doom9-guide covers only a very little of the possibilities. It's to the point though.

Tippy: yeah it's too visualizing and emotional for menu-music. I was thinking about using parts of Koyaanisqatsi as animated background for a menu and make the entire menu 100% opacity (0% transparency) except the currently selected area. But that film is too important: maybe Powaqqatsi is menu-stuff. I'd like to see Naqoyqatsi soon also ...