Scenarist BD: Highlighting The Chapter in use on an always-on menu?

fob · 28th March 2012, 08:49

hi,

i'm authoring a music based br where my main feature is a dtshd album with background videos. each music track is a chapter and i have an always-on menu with tracklist where each track is a chapter-linked button.

i want to highlight the trackname which is being played and i couldn't figure it out. i have the dummy button to make the calculations but i think i'm missing something. clearly, there are two ways of choosing a song from the list. one is simply using arrow keys on remote and press ok, the other one is browsing among them using the 'next chapter' key on remote. i managed to highlight the chapter name on first option but when i press "next" it doesn't highlight the next track.

can anyone tell me nav commands to do this? i'd really appreciate.

another question: is it possible to have an always on menu AND a pop up menu on the screen at the same time? it seems not, but i just want to be sure.

thank you.

rik1138 · 28th March 2012, 21:47

Use the PSR value for this. PSR 5 is the current chapter of the video, so no matter how they get there (selecting it on the menu, chapter skipping, or just watching the video from song to song), PSR 5 will always store the current chapter number. Just read that when the PopUp menu is opened or when you jump out to the top menu and select your highlighted button accordingly.

Only one IG can be displayed at a time... So you can't have a pop-up menu over the always on menu.

fob · 30th March 2012, 10:30

hi Rik

thank you for your response. i know how to do this for popup menus but i still couldn't figure out how in always-on menu.

i tried a start-up dummy button but it's not working. i tried adding the command in each button, still no luck.

can you give me a little example of the command lines needed and where to put it?

when i click on a button in menu, it of course works fine for the track but when this track ends and the next one gets started i cannot let the highlight move to the new one. same for the 'next chapter' button.

i tried these commands at dummy and they didn't work either:

if ( (PSR)Chapter[ID:5] == 0) EnableButton trk01[ID:0]
if ( (PSR)Chapter[ID:5] == 1) EnableButton trk02[ID:1]
if ( (PSR)Chapter[ID:5] == 2) EnableButton trk03[ID:2]
...

srfscenar · 30th March 2012, 15:13

hi fob.

try this.

Create an auto dummy button in your chapters page.
Register a GPR with the name “Chapter” for e.g.
So, you have to check what is the value of your PSR 5 and copy it to the Chapter GPR you just created.
So add:
Move (GPR)Chapter[ID:x] (PSR)Chapter[ID:5]

Now, you have to subtract a value of “1” because when you are playing the chapter 3 for e.g.,
the actual number ID is 2 because BD starts chapters from 0.
So add this:
Sub (GPR)Chapter[ID:x] 1

And now, just highlight according to your GPR Value.
SetButtonPage Button: (GPR)Chapter[ID:x]

I think that will work.

fob · 30th March 2012, 19:37

hi srfscenar

i tried this already. this works for popup menus but not for the menus who are always on. thank you.

mp3dom · 31st March 2012, 13:24

Probably it's easier to do it in BD-J.

The only thing that comes in mind that can potentially have similar results is to:
- Have one clip for each song
- Do the tracklist at playlist level (with playitem/playmark list)
- Change from a single "out-of-mux" IG to a multplexed IG.

Basically every clip should have its own IG (actually you're probably using one IG for all the clips, as an out-of-mux IG). At clip level, you have the video, its audio and its -muxed- IG.
The IG are all identical, the only thing that change is the default selected button that you will change to the clip you want to highlight.

In this way, every time you press the next chapter, the new IG will be loaded with its right default selected button and the old IG will be unloaded from the player.
I think that this is the only way to do "something" at IG level while the user press a button on the remote.

fob · 1st April 2012, 23:11

thank you for the good advice mp3dom.

i decided to do something similar to your scenario. making separate clips will be so much work because i have 8 different albums so more than 100 tracks in br.

so i started editing my background videos and highlighting the track name within the video and make my buttons all transparent except a little crystal ball right next to the 'selected item'. it's still a lot of work but i think that's gonna solve it.

i didn't think that was gonna be such a problem since it seems pretty simple on paper.

rik1138 · 2nd April 2012, 20:39

Oh wait, I think what is happening is that once you launch the Top Menu, you are now playing a new piece of video, which will be on Chapter 1 again... Try using the backup register of PSR 5 (PSR 37) in your Top Menu code. See if that works.

You won't be able to get the highlight to automatically move from Chap 1 to 2, etc while just watching the Chapter selection page. That would require Java programming as nothing in HDMV is actively listening for any events to fire... You can make it change everytime you open/close the Chapter page (with a dummy entry button on the chapter page), that's the best you can do in HDMV...

fob · 3rd April 2012, 14:03

yes rik, that's the exact situation.

i'm re-encoding my background videos with track highlighting for each chapter. actually it looks really good but as you said, the highlighting item of selected menu never moves with automatic chapter change. well, that makes sense since i cannot put a command in a chapter. when i use remote's arrow keys and press ok on a chapter, there's no problem.

i think i'll have to live with that since i don't know about bd-j at all.

28th March 2012, 08:49	#1 \| Link
fob Registered User Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 5	Scenarist BD: Highlighting The Chapter in use on an always-on menu? hi, i'm authoring a music based br where my main feature is a dtshd album with background videos. each music track is a chapter and i have an always-on menu with tracklist where each track is a chapter-linked button. i want to highlight the trackname which is being played and i couldn't figure it out. i have the dummy button to make the calculations but i think i'm missing something. clearly, there are two ways of choosing a song from the list. one is simply using arrow keys on remote and press ok, the other one is browsing among them using the 'next chapter' key on remote. i managed to highlight the chapter name on first option but when i press "next" it doesn't highlight the next track. can anyone tell me nav commands to do this? i'd really appreciate. another question: is it possible to have an always on menu AND a pop up menu on the screen at the same time? it seems not, but i just want to be sure. thank you.

30th March 2012, 15:13	#4 \| Link
srfscenar Registered User Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 492	hi fob. try this. Create an auto dummy button in your chapters page. Register a GPR with the name “Chapter” for e.g. So, you have to check what is the value of your PSR 5 and copy it to the Chapter GPR you just created. So add: Move (GPR)Chapter[ID:x] (PSR)Chapter[ID:5] Now, you have to subtract a value of “1” because when you are playing the chapter 3 for e.g., the actual number ID is 2 because BD starts chapters from 0. So add this: Sub (GPR)Chapter[ID:x] 1 And now, just highlight according to your GPR Value. SetButtonPage Button: (GPR)Chapter[ID:x] I think that will work. __________________ " 2 minds are better than 1 "

28th March 2012, 21:47	#2 \| Link
rik1138 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: LA Posts: 620	Use the PSR value for this. PSR 5 is the current chapter of the video, so no matter how they get there (selecting it on the menu, chapter skipping, or just watching the video from song to song), PSR 5 will always store the current chapter number. Just read that when the PopUp menu is opened or when you jump out to the top menu and select your highlighted button accordingly. Only one IG can be displayed at a time... So you can't have a pop-up menu over the always on menu.

30th March 2012, 10:30	#3 \| Link
fob Registered User Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 5	hi Rik thank you for your response. i know how to do this for popup menus but i still couldn't figure out how in always-on menu. i tried a start-up dummy button but it's not working. i tried adding the command in each button, still no luck. can you give me a little example of the command lines needed and where to put it? when i click on a button in menu, it of course works fine for the track but when this track ends and the next one gets started i cannot let the highlight move to the new one. same for the 'next chapter' button. i tried these commands at dummy and they didn't work either: if ( (PSR)Chapter[ID:5] == 0) EnableButton trk01[ID:0] if ( (PSR)Chapter[ID:5] == 1) EnableButton trk02[ID:1] if ( (PSR)Chapter[ID:5] == 2) EnableButton trk03[ID:2] ...

30th March 2012, 19:37	#5 \| Link
fob Registered User Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 5	hi srfscenar i tried this already. this works for popup menus but not for the menus who are always on. thank you.

31st March 2012, 13:24	#6 \| Link
mp3dom Registered User Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Italy Posts: 1,135	Probably it's easier to do it in BD-J. The only thing that comes in mind that can potentially have similar results is to: - Have one clip for each song - Do the tracklist at playlist level (with playitem/playmark list) - Change from a single "out-of-mux" IG to a multplexed IG. Basically every clip should have its own IG (actually you're probably using one IG for all the clips, as an out-of-mux IG). At clip level, you have the video, its audio and its -muxed- IG. The IG are all identical, the only thing that change is the default selected button that you will change to the clip you want to highlight. In this way, every time you press the next chapter, the new IG will be loaded with its right default selected button and the old IG will be unloaded from the player. I think that this is the only way to do "something" at IG level while the user press a button on the remote.

1st April 2012, 23:11	#7 \| Link
fob Registered User Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 5	thank you for the good advice mp3dom. i decided to do something similar to your scenario. making separate clips will be so much work because i have 8 different albums so more than 100 tracks in br. so i started editing my background videos and highlighting the track name within the video and make my buttons all transparent except a little crystal ball right next to the 'selected item'. it's still a lot of work but i think that's gonna solve it. i didn't think that was gonna be such a problem since it seems pretty simple on paper.

2nd April 2012, 20:39	#8 \| Link
rik1138 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: LA Posts: 620	Oh wait, I think what is happening is that once you launch the Top Menu, you are now playing a new piece of video, which will be on Chapter 1 again... Try using the backup register of PSR 5 (PSR 37) in your Top Menu code. See if that works. You won't be able to get the highlight to automatically move from Chap 1 to 2, etc while just watching the Chapter selection page. That would require Java programming as nothing in HDMV is actively listening for any events to fire... You can make it change everytime you open/close the Chapter page (with a dummy entry button on the chapter page), that's the best you can do in HDMV...

3rd April 2012, 14:03	#9 \| Link
fob Registered User Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 5	yes rik, that's the exact situation. i'm re-encoding my background videos with track highlighting for each chapter. actually it looks really good but as you said, the highlighting item of selected menu never moves with automatic chapter change. well, that makes sense since i cannot put a command in a chapter. when i use remote's arrow keys and press ok on a chapter, there's no problem. i think i'll have to live with that since i don't know about bd-j at all.