Help with understanding workflow

Moderator: DVDDoug

Jjay
Posts: 16
Joined: Wed Nov 09, 2011 9:11 pm
operating_system: Windows XP Pro
System_Drive: C
32bit or 64bit: 32 Bit

Help with understanding workflow

Post by Jjay »

Hello all. Well, I finally relented and purchased Movie Factory 7 pro. I really miss DVDWS.

Anyway, my needs are ( IMO ) very basic, yet ... being an idiot, I can't figure out what I'm doing. If I may, let me first explain what I'm trying to accomplish. Then you can tell me if it is even possible, because I'm not having any luck trying to figure it out.

What I'd like to do is very simply import a video that has already been converted from VHS to AVI via my Canopus 300. Then after some minor edits, I convert it to mpeg in Premiere Elements. I save the first frame of the video as a jpeg still. Once that is done I save the file and close the editor.

Now this ... seemingly should be the easy part. I only want an opening menu screen. I'd like that opening screen to be the first frame of the video that I have already saved in jpg format.

I'd like to add the video clip to the play list. Of course it will be the only one. Then, have the menu background be the jpg that I saved prior. I did manage to get the still in the menu window in the program, but it is cluttered with all kinds of junk from templates the program has.

I try to delete all these things, but the best I can do is set transparency to 99. That leave all those annoying dotted lines unless I click out of the window.

Next I'd like to add a button that will start the video. ( I would love that to be a custom jpeg that I add to the menu, but I think I'm asking for too much there. )

Anyway, I would like to simply add a button to start the video and ... I'd like to type some text on the menu screen, but the text settings is grayed out and I can't even type ANYTHING in the menu window.

I must be going about this all wrong. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

On a side note, I tried to download the trial version before I bought it, but when I did it wouldn't let me try it claiming I had no internet connection. When I contacted someone in the Corel chat .. it was of no help. Frustrated, I just bought the darned thing and now ...I wish I had my DVDWS all over again. :)
Jjay
Posts: 16
Joined: Wed Nov 09, 2011 9:11 pm
operating_system: Windows XP Pro
System_Drive: C
32bit or 64bit: 32 Bit

Re: Help with understanding workflow

Post by Jjay »

After another half hour of playing with this thing they call an authoring program, I'm beginning to think you simply CAN'T type text in. Rather, you can only edit default lines of text that appear in pre-made templates. It's like its a kids program. < sigh>