Chapter Point Manager

[babyleon]

I have seen reference to this problem but can't find a solution if there is one.

I have tried using the Chapter Point Manager to add and name chapter points at specific and irregular time points in my rendered .avi file.

Using the Chapter Point Manager, I "Add" names to those points. When I go to add a name, the name box that pops up already contains the characters "&p" which are highlighted. I don't know what that means so I delete them, and put in the name I want and the appropriate time code.

Problem 1: when I go to the share module and select add chapters, all of the chapters are marked on the timeline. When I go to create a thumbnail menu, the chapters and associated images are all there but the names are just "Chapter001" etc., not the names I have given them. If I have previously edited those menu names, say from "Chapter001" to "Night", the next time I load that project and got to the same menu, the name of that chapter will have been changed to "Chapt", the same number of characters as "Night".

Problem 2: After saving the project with all the Chapter Points I have created and named, the next time I open that project, all of the names will have been changed to the corresponding time code, so the time code appears twice for each point.

Either something is going wrong for me or there is really no purpose to naming Chapter Points using the Chapter Point Manager.

Any ideas?

[sjj1805]

I only ever do my chapters in the authoring stage but my understanding of this is that the naming of chapters during the editing stage is for ease of reference whilst editing so that you can use the chapter points to quickly jump to a part of the video whilst editing. Same applies to cue points.

I think you will find that the setting of a chapter point simply sets a flag in the underlying video which is then detected by the authoring program. The temporary name that you gave for editing purposes will not be included.

[babyleon]

Thank you for the reply. I understand what you are saying but I don't see the purpose of having a Chapter Point Manager function in the edit stage to name Chapters when those names are automatically replaced by duplicate time codes in the Chapter Point Manager the next time that project is opened. Seems like a bug. I won't waste time doing that anymore but if it doesn't work it would be better to not even be there.

I use chapters a lot for my kind of projects - taxonomic grouping of bird species for example. The clips may not be very long but it is a big help to be able to skip around to specific species. In this regard, I have even bumped into even the 99 chapter limit on some projects.

I have already discovered that the Names I have entered in the Chapter Point Manager do no carry through to the authoring stage, but even when I enter the names of chapters on thumbnail menus in the authoring stage itself, there is apparently no way to save those names - they revert to generic 'Chapter###" if the project or file is later reopened for updating or minor revision. I will know now not to waste time entering chapter names in menus until what I think will be the last edit for a long time and recognize that I will have to do it all over again the next time I add more species or whatever.

I have another question relating to Chapters in the authoring stage. In the Add/Edit Chapter function there is a drop-down box under urrently selected clip:? The box only ever contains one choice, either "Untitled" or the name of the file which has been added directly to the Share function. There is never any other choice and there seems to be no way to change the one provided or do anything at all with it. What is the purpose of this function?

Thanks again for the help this forum provides. The Help function within the program itself provides little in the way of assistance on these issues.

[Ken Berry]

Like Steve, I only ever make my chapters in the burning module, and frankly, I have never used the (new with VS11) chapter markers in the Editor. So I can't help you there.

But you also said:

In the Add/Edit Chapter function there is a drop-down box under Currently selected clip: The box only ever contains one choice, either "Untitled" or the name of the file which has been added directly to the Share function. There is never any other choice and there seems to be no way to change the one provided or do anything at all with it.

When I open the burning module, and insert more than one video clip into the burning timeline, then click on the Add/Edit Chapters button, then in the drop down box to which you refer, I have the names of all the clips I have inserted in the main timeline. I can then choose which clip I want to add chapters to. If this is not happening for you, then there is something wrong with your installation.

[babyleon]

Thank you Ken. There must be something wrong on my end then. Even with lots of chapters indicated and lots of thumbnails on that timeline, I only ever get the one choice in the drop-down box. I am afraid to try a re-installation or even upgrade while I am in the middle of a big project for fear of losing something but I will try them when I get a couple of projects finished.

Thanks again.

Wayne

[sjj1805]

........ when I enter the names of chapters on thumbnail menus in the authoring stage itself, there is apparently no way to save those names - they revert to generic 'Chapter###" if the project or file is later reopened for updating or minor revision.......

That shouldn't be happening, Here is what I do.
When you are ready to go the the authoring stage.

File | New (To start a new project)
Immediately use File | Save As then give it a meaningful name (even though at the moment it is empty)
Now go to the Share tab and then Create Disc.

If for any reason you leave the authoring stage - manually SAVE the project.
IGNORE the misleading message that appears that states it is saving - I don't think anyone here has yet worked out precisely what it is saving but it certainly isn't saving what you expect it to be.

[MrA]

Either something is going wrong for me or there is really no purpose to naming Chapter Points using the Chapter Point Manager.

Any ideas?

I assume you are trying to create a DVD. DVD menu structure is very strict. How you edit a video, and apply your chapters and names, is relatively meaningless to the actual creation of the DVD. Sort of, anyways. For the EDITING portion, it's merely a convience with the naming conventions. For the AUTHORING side, there are no means by which what you named a particular chapter can correspond to the actual chapter location, hence the conversion to a time code.

To really understand what I am trying to explain here, you would have to see Steve's tutorial on creating a menu using Photoimpact and what is required to make it work. Even if you don't use PI, it's worth a look, as it delves into the nuts and bolts of a DVD Menu. (take note of the naming conventions needed to make the menu to work)

Attn Steve, add a link please..

[sjj1805]

...
Attn Steve, add a link please..

Tutorial: PhotoImpact: Creating DVD Menu from scratch

[babyleon]

I will certainly a look at that link.

For the moment, just to continue and report on my further efforts with Chapters, using the Chapter Point Manager, I deleted all chapter points I had set in my project (consisting of an .avi file). All of the Chapter Point markers on the timeline went away. I saved this project under a new name and opened it as a new project. I went to Share and Add/Edit Chapters and verified all the chapters were indeed gone.

Then, I added the chapters through the Add/Edit Chapters function in the authoring stage by entering the appropriate time codes. Then I entered the thumbnail menu creation function and there were indeed four screens worth of thumbnail boxes, all with generic names.

I closed that and went back to edit to manually save what I had done so far. I guess adding chapters in the authoring stage also adds the associate chapter points to the timeline because they were there at that point. I manually saved the project, and then reloaded it as a new project and went to the authoring stage to edit the menu thumbnails for color and text. After editing a couple of them, I closed and manually saved and then re-opened as a new project. In the authoring stage, my edited names were still there. I editing the rest of them, 43 in all, and then closed the authoring stage and manually saved and re-opened as a new project. When I went to the authoring stage and looked at the thumbnails in the first menu screen, the names had all reverted to generics. But the next three screens of thumbnails were still the edited versions.

Even if I am doing something wrong, I am trying to be consistent in the steps I take. Even so, the results seem to vary randomly. I am going to keep experimenting and see if I can at pinpoint the problem and whether it is mine or the program's.

If I find anything definitive, I will report back.

[babyleon]

Just an update of sorts.

I burned about 20 DVDs yesterday and then closed the burn module and manually saved my project. When I opened it today and went to the authoring stage and looked at the menu thumbnails, the edited thumbnail titles I created were still there, but only on the first page of thumbnails. The other three thumbnail menu screens had all reverted to the generic menu captions..... My experience before buring yesterday was the opposite - only the first page of thumbnails had reverted and the other three had saved.

Still confused but still experimenting.....

[babyleon]

After trying several different paths, I have pretty much come to the conclusion that there is no reliable way to save chapter names in the menu function. I will try re-installing the program at a later time to see if that makes a difference but what I have found so far is that menu thumbnail names will save to some extent when one closes the menu creation screen and some kind of automatic save takes place. Once back to where I can make a manual save, I do that as well. What I find when I restart VS, reopen that project and go to the menu creation screen, only the thumbnail names which were edited and saved in the most recent session will still be there. Any names which had been edited in sessions prior to that will have reverted to the generic names. Sounds weird but that is about the only consistency I can find.

As that seems to be the case, I can live with it and work around it, re-typing thumbnail names as needed.

But now I have run into an even more exasperating menu creation problem:

I am starting with one .avi file and it does not make any difference if I take it from the edit stage to the authoring stage or bring it directly into the authoring stage. Once in the authoring stage I choose a thumbnail template with nine thumbnail boxes. When I do that, even though I have multiple chapters, only one thumbnail appears. The Currently Displayed Menu drop down box in that screen reads Main Menu. If I change that drop down box to the only other choice, which is the name of my .avi file, the nine thumbnail boxes appear. At this point everything looks okay. But when I go directly to the Preview function and press Play, I get the menu with only the one thumbnail box. That is also what I get if I burn a DVD.

What do I need to do to get a product with the nine thumbnail menu boxes?

[sjj1805]

You have one thumbnail on the main menu because you have one Title (or if your prefer one video)
You get several thumbnails on the chapter menu because you have several chapters.

Please view the following link for further explanation
Authoring a DVD

[babyleon]

Thank you Steve!

It just wasn't getting through to me that there are two menues: a Main Menu AND a Chapter Menu, with the one leading to the other......

I can be so dense.......

Back to my project.....

Wayne

[Ken Berry]

Just think of it as being like a book. So you have a project which you render into a DVD compatible mpeg-2. That contains a single 'title' on the outside cover. But inside that single title, the entire story is broken down into chapters.

Incidentally, should you prefer to have only one menu which shows just the chapters, then on the Edit tab on the second page of the burning module, there is an Advanced Settings button where you can choose to have a main menu, or a Chapter menu, or both or none...

[babyleon]

And thank you Ken!

So THATS what that Advanced Settings button is for.......

Like I said, I can be sooooo dense. A few lights have been coming on today though, thanks to this Forum!