Editing VideoStudio menus using PhotoImpact

kebrinton · Post by **kebrinton** » Tue Feb 15, 2005 8:53 pm

There are instructions (by Jerry Jones) for editing DVD menus that are used in Ulead VideoStudio. These menus are .UFO files.

As already pointed out by others, these instructions are here: www.jonesgroup.net/media/photoimpactxldvdstepone_m.htm

I'm having trouble with this. The instructions are very clear, step-by-step -- but I'm sure I must be missing something. When I finish in PhotoImpact, I am satisfied with the edited .UFO file and save it with a new name to the same Template folder that it came from [Program Files/Ulead Systems/Ulead VideoStudio 8.0/Template/...]. But when I then run VideoStudio, I do not find my new menu. Or, I do find the newly-named menu, but it doesn't show my editing and looks the same as the menu I started with.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Keith

thecoalman · Post by **thecoalman** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 12:21 am

Never did it, no reason to I have DVDWS

But I did a test an I got the menu to load into the preview pane on the right with my changes not visible. They were visible once loaded into the big preview.... have you picked it?

I'm assuming there's limitaions on how much you can change the menus. I'll have to experiment with it some more.

phd · Post by **phd** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 7:03 am

When you edited the file, did you make a copy of the original and rename it?
Does the new name show up in the list?
When you say it looks the same, are you referring to just the little thumbnail you see or when its actiually loaded?
Did you del;ete any of the layers of the original or did you just modify them?

alosada · Post by **alosada** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 11:09 am

...I'm sure I must be missing something. When I finish in PhotoImpact, I am satisfied with the edited .UFO file and save it with a new name to the same Template folder that it came from [Program Files/Ulead Systems/Ulead VideoStudio 8.0/Template/...]. But when I then run VideoStudio, I do not find my new menu. Or, I do find the newly-named menu, but it doesn't show my editing and looks the same as the menu I started with

Keith:

If you edit an existing DVD menu template in PhotoImpact, save it in the original \Template subdirectory and cannot see in VideoStudio it is usually because you have deleted some essential element such as a button or one of the components of each clip placeholder (scene, frame, number or text).

If the new template does show in VS but the thumbnail looks the same as in the original template it is because you have not modified the IMG_TEMPLATE object to reflect your changes (this last step before saving is missing in Jerry’s tutorial). Please follow this procedure:

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + M to merge all objects in the template. Answer yes if asked the following: “There are hidden objects that your are about to remove. Do you want to continue?”. Base Image will now be the sole object in the Layer Manager

2. Press Ctrl + C and then Ctrl + Shift + V. A copy of your edited menu will appear in a new (Untitled) window

3. Go back to the previous window (the one containing your edited template) by clicking its title bar and press Ctrl + Z to unmerge its objects

4. Return to the new (Untitled) window by clicking inside it and press Ctrl + Shift + M to merge its two objects

5. Reduce the canvas size of the Untitled window by pressing Ctrl + G and typing 120 (pixels) in the Width box and 90 (pixels) in the Height box. Click OK

6. Press Ctrl + C to copy the resulting reduced image to the clipboard and then Ctrl + F4 to close the Untitled window. Click No to decline saving changes when asked

7. Press Ctrl + V to paste the reduced image over your edited menu. A new object will appear, enclosed by a dashed border, in the top left corner

8. Click the IMG_TEMPLATE object in the Layer manager and then its name (on the right). Press Ctrl + C to copy the whole thumbnail description to the Clipboard

9. Click the newly pasted object (which will normally be on top of the previous one) and then its name. Press Ctrl + V to paste the thumbnail description from the Clipboard

10. Click the IMG_TEMPLATE object again and press the Del key to remove it from the Layer Manager

11. Uncheck the Show/Hide box (the one with the eye symbol) in the new IMG_TEMPLATE entry. The small thumbnail will disappear from view

12. Save your modified template in the same directory as the original

You should now be able to see and use your modified template in VideoStudio.

Please tell us whether this works for you.

Antonio Losada

kebrinton · Post by **kebrinton** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 6:08 pm

Thank you, Antonio, for those remarkably careful instructions! They did make a difference.

I do not recommend editing menus using the JJ instructions unless one knows more about PhotoImpact than I do. My neeI is for only one little "scene" on the first DVD menu page because I only put one video on a disk. I label the initial scene "Click here to see chapters" and then on the second page present the breaks in my video.

My goal was to create one single menu that had a single "scene" at the bottom center. I could put in whatever background photo I wished, depending on the video I was making. All I needed was that one scene for people to click on, so as to get to the chapters.

What I have achieved, however, is a single "scene" on ALL the menus in VideoStudio. Editing one of them somehow affected a hidden template which controls them all. For me this is not important because that's all I want. But if somebody wants the option of three, or six, little "scenes" in the first DVD menu, then he or she will be disappointed (or possibly furious) because these are now all gone.

All is not lost, because I could simply reinstall VS8 and get them back.

This has been very educational for me, and someday when I know more I hope I'll be able to look back at my notes and smile.

Could anybody tell me how to create a menu from scratch? Where does one get the "objects" that appear in the Layer Manager?

Keith

alosada · Post by **alosada** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 9:34 am

What you say about VS ruining all your menu templates sounds very strange. Altering one and saving it under the same or a different name should have no effect on the others. In fact, I have created a number of new templates and all coexist peacefully with VideoStudio’s own templates in their different categories (Classic, Corporate, etc). Perhaps what you mean is that you used your new, custom template for both your main menu and your scene menu pages and the latter only displayed one thumbnail each. If this was the case, you only have to choose a different template with the desired number of thumbnails for your scene menus (which you can also make yourself by including additional thumbnails in your previous creation and saving it under a different name in the desired template category).

In any case, I don’t think re-installing VS should be necessary as simply removing the template (.ufo) files you have created from their respective directories in Windows Explorer should suffice to solve any problem they might have raised.

There is a Customize button in the bottom right angle of the menu template dialog box. If you click it you will be able to access three object categories (Layout, Frame and Navigation button). The layout templates allow you to choose a specific number of thumbnails and their spatial arrangement in your custom template. The purpose of the frame and navigation button objects is obvious. Unfortunatey, the number of available choices is very limited, but you can expand it by “extracting” objects from the menu templates provided by VS (Classic…).

So, if you’d like to save the fancy frame in the first template in the Home Movie category for future use in a custom template do the following:
1. Open the template file (Home01.ufo) in PhotoImpact. Make sure you check the “Open as read-only” box in the bottom left corner of the dialog box to avoid saving unwanted changes to the original template.
2. Click the object FRAME_1 in the Layer Manager and then, while holding the Ctrl key, also click SCENE_1.
3. Press Ctrl + C and then Ctrl + Shift + V to copy the frame to a new window (Untitled-1 if no other windows were open when you started) and press Ctrl + Shift + M to merge the objects in it.
4. Press Ctrl + C and then Ctrl + Shift + V to copy the merged objects to a third window (Untitled-2)
5. Click on the title bar of the Untitled-1 window and press Ctrl + Z to unmerge its objects.
6. Return to Untitled-2 and press Ctrl + Shift + M to merge its objects. Then, reduce its canvas size as described in step 5 above (my description for modifying menu templates), copy its contents to the Clipboard with Ctrl + C and paste them over the objects in Untitled-1 by clicking its title bar and pressing Ctrl + V.
7. Go back to Untitled-2 and close it. Same with Home01.ufo.
8. Click the new object in Untitled-1 and then its name, and write “IMG_TEMPLATE”. Then, uncheck the Show/Hide box (the one with the eye symbol) in this new entry.
9. Save you new frame, under a descriptive name (for example, “Fancy01.ufo”), in the \Template\Customize\Frame subdirectory of your main VideoStudio directory.

Your new, Fancy01 frame should now be available for use in any menu in VS.

The procedure for extracting button sets is very similar. The only difference is that you must start from one of the existing templates in the \Navigation button subdirectory and replace those in it, one by one, with the buttons from an existing menu of your choice. Rebuild the IMG_TEMPLATE object as you did for your frames and save the modified button set as a new file in the \Template\Customize\Navigation button subdirectory.

In this way, you can substantially expand VideoStudio’s range of custom frames and buttons. In most cases, however, it is easier and faster to open the menu templates containing the different frames and buttons you want to combine and transfer them as required to replace their counterparts in the target template you will eventually save. Always remember to rebuild your IMG_TEMPLATE object to reflect the actual appearance of the new template.

Hope his helps.

Antonio

htchien · Post by **htchien** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 10:37 am

If you have PhotoImpact 8 or higher, you can download the free DVD Menu Template Plug-in for PhotoImpact from http://www.ulead.com/pi/plugin.htm to edit/create your DVD templates, which can make the steps to be more easier.

Hope this helps.

H.T.

alosada · Post by **alosada** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 1:50 pm

You're right, HT. The plug-in makes it easier to understand the function of each object type in the templates. However, some users have complained that it messes things up and you sometimes end up with an unusable template. That's why I prefer to edit templates directly in PhotoImpact and create or re-build the IMG_TEMPLATE object in it.

kebrinton · Post by **kebrinton** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 1:03 am

Thank you both, Antonio and H.T., for your attention. You've really got me interested in this all over again. So I downloaded the template plugin and will work with it, as well as with my own. I'm not going to let PhotoImpact push ME around!

This forum is the best I've ever belonged to!

Keith

htchien · Post by **htchien** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 4:40 am

Glad I can help.

Although the statement of the plug-in claims it only supports to create DVD menu templates for DVD WorkShop, it still can be used to create templates for other Ulead DVD products.

There are 2 styles of DVD menu this plug-in can create/edit, one is Text Menu style and the other is Thumbnail Menu style. Text Menu style is for Ulead DVD WorkShop only, you can use Thumbnail Menu style for other Ulead DVD products and UVS.

Hope this helps.

H.T.

phd · Post by **phd** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 11:22 am

The Thumbnail menu doesn't seem to work in other Ulead products though unless you change the name of the layer that looks like the miniature template of the menu to conform with the other products.

Is that correct HT?

alosada · Post by **alosada** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 9:10 pm

The "miniature template" is an object of the IMG_TEMPLATE type that usually contains the template name (Name) and the colour pairs (CP) to be used by your DVD player to highlight buttons (NavHL) and thumbnail frames (FrameHL) when you select them.

As you can see if you import a menu template into the DVD Menu plug-in, the colour pairs represent combinations you can choose for selection (highlighting) and action (pressing the Play or Enter button on a previously selected button or frame).

You can indeed use menu templates from Movie Factory and DVD Worshop in VideoStudio as long as you place their ufo files in the appropriate directories (I don't know if the opposite is true because I have not tried). The only apparent restriction is that Text Menus (i.e. those where secondary menus are accessed via text tags rather than image thumbnails) can only be used in DVD Workshop.