Hi Everyone,
I've gotten to the point where I'm trying to create a chapter menu in MF6, but I've run into a few odd problems that I can't figure out. I think I'm just missing something simple here. I hope.
I couldn't find a blank menu template so I picked the closest thing to what I want and started fiddling with the text and thumbnail styles. I discovered right away that I couldn't delete text I didn't want. What the.... I can select text such as titles, thumbnail labels, etc, but when I click delete nothing at all happens. Can text be selectively deleted in MF6 menus?
I also noticed that I couldn't justify text - left, right, center. There aren't any obvious controls to do that. Can text be justified in this thing?
The template I happened to pick had shadowed text. However I couldn't find any way to control the shadow - offsets, color, and so on. Is text shadowing either on or off depending on the menu template selected?
There are other simple editing tasks I couldn't do but I think I'll stop here for the time being because these are actually major sticking points for me. For the types of menus I'm used to designing in DVD Workshop, I need to be able to do the things I've described here. Besides, these are such basic editing operations that I can't believe they aren't supported in MF6. No way to delete menu text? I've gotta be missing something here!
Thanks,
Big Al Mintaka
Menu editing in MF6 - no way to align, justify, delete text?
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Alan Mintaka
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pierrenev
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Editing text
You can edit text , but there are some limitations.
First, you have to choose the EDIT MODE.
To delete and modifiy the title, you have to double-click on it and type your new text.
To change the font size and style, you click on your title (only once) and then, you click on FONT SETTINGS, which becomes displayed on the left side or your window. You can then adjust the size and choose the font that you want.
But, your are right, as far as I know, it is not possible to align the text. Obviously, many users only type one line of title. So they don't need to align the subsequent lines.
This is not my case, very often, and I wish that MF6 adds this feature.
I hope that I have been able to help you, even if my English is very poor.
Pierre.
First, you have to choose the EDIT MODE.
To delete and modifiy the title, you have to double-click on it and type your new text.
To change the font size and style, you click on your title (only once) and then, you click on FONT SETTINGS, which becomes displayed on the left side or your window. You can then adjust the size and choose the font that you want.
But, your are right, as far as I know, it is not possible to align the text. Obviously, many users only type one line of title. So they don't need to align the subsequent lines.
This is not my case, very often, and I wish that MF6 adds this feature.
I hope that I have been able to help you, even if my English is very poor.
Pierre.
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Alan Mintaka
- Posts: 38
- Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2006 2:31 pm
Hello pierrenev,
Your English is perfect! What you describe is a good workaround to make text disappear if wanted. I do understand about Edit mode and typing or deleting individual characters, but even if all characters in a text box are deleted, there is still a blank text box left in the menu display. What happens to that blank text box during rendering? Also, there does not seem to be a way to add new text boxes without choosing a different template.
The ability to delete or modify characters inside a text box, but not to delete or add text boxes themselves, strikes me as a somewhat arbitrary limitation imposed on MF6. The way text editors like this are designed, there's actually more overhead involved in keeping text box manipulation disabled than there is in enabling it. It's almost as though the designers adopted a philosophy of making MF6 a subset of DVDWS2, then implemented it even when it was more costly to remove a feature than just leave it in place. Besides, the logic behind allowing single character edit/delete but not text box edit/delete is... well, not logical at all.
When I think of artificial constraints like this, I always think of the example of a four-door automobile. The manufacturer wants to market a cheaper two-door design as well. So, they lock the back doors, remove the locks and handles, and sell the car as is. All the inner mechanisms and separate body parts and moldings of the back doors are still manufactured and in place. There's just no way to use them any more. It makes the consumer wonder why all that money is being wasted on manufacturing the back doors at all, and who is paying for that unused hardware.
That came out a little long, but that's how I look at issues like this one.
Unless I'm missing something of course. If someone who knows the inner workings of this thing comes along, they may be able to tell us how to open those back doors after all.
In the meantime, Studio Architect and DVD-Lab Pro have caught my eye. If they allow complete editing of text and text boxes in this price range, guess whose car I'm gonna buy?
Thanks again for that editing advice.
Have a good day,
Big Al Mintaka
Your English is perfect! What you describe is a good workaround to make text disappear if wanted. I do understand about Edit mode and typing or deleting individual characters, but even if all characters in a text box are deleted, there is still a blank text box left in the menu display. What happens to that blank text box during rendering? Also, there does not seem to be a way to add new text boxes without choosing a different template.
The ability to delete or modify characters inside a text box, but not to delete or add text boxes themselves, strikes me as a somewhat arbitrary limitation imposed on MF6. The way text editors like this are designed, there's actually more overhead involved in keeping text box manipulation disabled than there is in enabling it. It's almost as though the designers adopted a philosophy of making MF6 a subset of DVDWS2, then implemented it even when it was more costly to remove a feature than just leave it in place. Besides, the logic behind allowing single character edit/delete but not text box edit/delete is... well, not logical at all.
When I think of artificial constraints like this, I always think of the example of a four-door automobile. The manufacturer wants to market a cheaper two-door design as well. So, they lock the back doors, remove the locks and handles, and sell the car as is. All the inner mechanisms and separate body parts and moldings of the back doors are still manufactured and in place. There's just no way to use them any more. It makes the consumer wonder why all that money is being wasted on manufacturing the back doors at all, and who is paying for that unused hardware.
That came out a little long, but that's how I look at issues like this one.
Unless I'm missing something of course. If someone who knows the inner workings of this thing comes along, they may be able to tell us how to open those back doors after all.
In the meantime, Studio Architect and DVD-Lab Pro have caught my eye. If they allow complete editing of text and text boxes in this price range, guess whose car I'm gonna buy?
Thanks again for that editing advice.
Have a good day,
Big Al Mintaka