adding audio to a menu using tmpeg authour

[efiste2]

can someone help me to add audio to a menu screen using tmpgen authour, its the file types im having trouble with ie which ones to use for both the picture/movie and the audio file???:(

[Dimmer]

In TMPGEnc DVD Author, you can't simply add music to a menu. Instead, you have to create MPEG-2 file with your music and a static image, and use it as a motion menu. This kind of MPEG files usually referred to as slideshow, and there is a number programs by Ulead, Adobe etc. to create it. Here's one method to achieve your goal using TMPGEnc (the original one, not DVD Author!):

1. Get you menu image in BMP format and your music in WAV format.
2. Open TMPGEnc, set your image as Video Source and music as Audio source. Set output file name to whatever name with MPG extension.
3. Click on Load button and load DVD template (NTSC or PAL).
4. Click Start - in a minute it will create a DVD-compliant MPEG file.
5. Go to TMPGEnc DVD Author, open your project or create a new one and add your video tracks.
6. On Create Menu screen, click on Display menu settings - Motion menu, check Use motion menu, Additional pictures, Use audio of the background video. Set Length of the motion menu to the length of your music.
7. Select menu theme, click on the background and assign your newly created MPEG file as menu background. You might have to do it for each menu screen separately.

Then output your project, and you're done. Note that apparently DVD Author doesn't support AC3 for the menus, it always converts menu audio to PCM.

Search the forums and the web for "DVD slideshow" to find out about other methods.

[efiste2]

when you say select template do you mean the standard PAL DVD template (pal because im in UK) and when im using TMpge authour and selecting a background with sound shopuld i be able to hear the sound in the screen that pops up! forgive my nievity as im relativele new to this:)

[Dimmer]

Yes, that's correct. Load the standard PAL DVD template, which is stored in a file called "DVD (PAL).mcf" within Template folder of TMPGEnc installation. To ensure that the MPEG file you create is fine, play it in Windows Media Player or any other player you use to view your video clips. It should be a static image sized 720*576 with your music playing. Use this file as menu background in TMPGEnc DVD Author. You won't hear the actual sound in the DVD Author, but your DVD will be just what you need.

[NDENT]

Hey m8 i try what you said to do by adding the bmp as the video & the wav as the audio but i get a invaild video source error everytime.Is there another way i can do this.I got abunch of files that i wanna add music to but i don't know how.

Thanks

[Dimmer]

@ NDENT:
Welcome to the forums. It would help if you elaborated at what point you get your error message. Anyway, if you want to add music to your menus, you'll need to use some additional tools since TMPGEnc DVD Author doesn't support this. If you want to stick with DVD Author, you have to create a very simple DVD slideshow (not VCD slideshow!) with your picture being the only slide, using whatever software available to you, and then use the video and audio streams of the resulted DVD to create MPEG-2 file that would serve as menu background.

Here are some programs capable of doing this (I didn't try all of them myself):
Ulead DVD Workshop
Ulead PictureShow
Sonic Scenarist
Sonic MyDVD
Adobe Encore

Once you created your slideshow as a DVD folder on your hard drive (probably named VIDEO_TS), open TMPGEnc, go to File - MPEG Tools - Simple Multiplex. Use VTS_01_1.VOB file from the folder with your slideshow as both video and audio input. Output is a standard MPEG-2 file, which you can use in DVD Author as a menu background. If you play this file in any file player, it should be exactly as you expect your background to look and sound like.

You can also try using another authoring program that has the required capability, although in my opinion TMPGEnc DVD Author is a great entry-level program. Search the forums and manufacturers' web sites for the information on the programs I mentioned above.

[NDENT]

Thanks m8 i'll give some of those programs i try 2night.