DVD Main Menu Button Selection Question

[netpasya]

Hi Guys,

I wanted to see if someone knows how to do this.
I'm working in VideoStudio X9 Ultimate.
When creating a DVD, I want the selection to be on the play button when the main menu appears.

This screen capture explains what I'm trying to do.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

Thanks a Million,

Netpasya

[lata]

Hi Netpasya
And welcome to the forums

Just a few questions
You have created a Sub / Chapter menu, is that intentional? Do you need the Chapter Menu?

Do you need the main menu? If no, you can hide that menu.

Go to Edit Tab – Advanced – deselect Add Title Menu

When you preview the main menu will be hidden, the chapter menu will show first allowing you to play the first chapter.

By the way, the name you mentioned ”video 1” is the name of your project.

[netpasya]

Thanks for the reply Lata.
I do need the chapter menu. The video is too long. I'd like to give the option of going to specific sections of the video.
"Video 1" is the name of the project.
Selecting which button is highlighted first seems like something that should be simple to do. Especially the Play button.

[lata]

Hi

How does it work for you if you did not have the Main Menu
Go to Edit Tab – Advanced – deselect Add Title Menu

The problem really is that you are using two menus, a Main / Title menu and a Sub / Chapter menu.

You could create a main menu only without the chapter menu.
You would have to render the project into 3 separate videos. (Mpeg2 DVD compliant files)
Each being a Title for the main menu.

Start a new project Share DVD, add those video files to the burner module, now you have one menu containing 3 Titles.
You can play all or play individual titles depending on your Navigation choice.

By the way rendering the project into 3 video files will take the same time taken to render in the burner module. The overall time to burn the disc will be the same.
I always convert / render my projects to a video file before burning any disc.

In addition, the first video shows the preview as black, you can change the frame used for that display -- from the first window, play the clip, pause, right click clip for Change Thumbnail.

[netpasya]

Trevor,

Are you saying I can't or shouldn't have a title menu and chapter menu?
Also, if I create 3 separate video files, each file will stop after play.
I'd like it to be 1 file with chapters in it. That way, it plays continuously. But if people want to jump to a specific section, they can jump to it.
That's how I've always create my discs (DVD or Bluray).
Maybe that's how Videostudio does it.

I was able to output the video as mpg2 and create the DVD in Encore and DVDStyler. But I'd like to do it in VideoStudio. That way, everything is done in one place. Also, I like some of the templates in VideoStudio.

Netpasya

[lata]

Hi
1 / Creating 3 video files.
If you create three separate video files, they are treated as Titles and show on the main menu.
The Navigation Controls via the Project Settings cogwheel ( lower left) allows us to choose a Back to Menu option, we select any Title which plays and returns to the menu allowing us to choose another title.
As far as I know there is also a Play All option which will do just that.
Please be aware the Navigation Controls only affect the Titles and not Chapters.


2 / As you are now, using one Video file or Project file and add chapters.
This creates a main menu containing the single Title.
Then Add Chapters to that Title will create a Sub / Chapter menu.
When we play the disc it accesses the main menu containing the single Title, selecting that opens the Chapter Menu, whats the point if we can open the Chapter Menu automatically.
That is where you are now.
If you hide the Main Menu, playing the disc will display the Chapter menu allowing you to choose one of the Chapters.
Then that will play the disc to the end including other chapters.
So when selecting Chapter 2 it will also play Chapter 3

Having a single Title and Chapters there is little need to see that Main Menu

Go to Edit Tab - Advanced and deselect Add Title Menu
Then Preview to see how it works

[netpasya]

Here's how I envision it. That's how I've done DVDs for probably 16 years now.

When you place the disc in the player, the main menu is the first menu that appears.
The "main menu" contains 3 buttons (Play, "Chapter Selection", "Bonus Features"). The first highlighted button is Play.
- Pressing Play = plays the main video. When it finishes, it brings you back to the "main menu".
- Pressing "Chapter Selection" = brings you to a page where you can select chapters from the main video. If you select ch 2, when chapter 2 finishes, it seamlessly continues to ch 3, and continues to ch4, all the way to the end of the video. At the end of the video, you're brought to the "main menu". The first highlighted button is ch 1.
- Pressing "Bonus Features" = brings you to a page where you can select other videos to play. If you select a video to play, it plays the video. When the video finishes, you're brought to the "Bonus Features" page again. The first highlighted button is the first video on the page.

I'm starting to think that videoStudio doesn't have those capabilities. Maybe it's something "DVD MovieFactory Pro" can do.

[lata]

Hi

I have run a test using a single video clip.
I then created 5 chapters using the thumbnail templates.
I set Navigation to Back to Menu

When I preview the project it shows the Title menu having one thumbnail
I noticed the Play All triangle is selected.

1 / Pressing play starts playing the disc from the beginning to Play All chapters, the entire disc.

2 / If I choose “1” on the keyboard, that selects the single title, the sub menu / chapter menu opens allowing me to choose any chapter.

3 / Playing any chapter plays the disc from there to the end, the title menu now shows.

4 / Hide main menu and the disc shows the Chapter menu first, again the Play All triangle is selected, pressing play plays from the beginning.


Using 5 individual video files

1 / I add the 5 videos to the burner module
2 / no chapter menu required
3 / Preview and the Main / Title menu shows 5 thumbnails.

4 / Again Play All is selected, that starts playing the entire disc, then returns to menu when complete, I can now select any title, that plays the selected title and returns to menu.
Unlike the Chapter option that would play to end of disc.

I am sure both options are doing what you wanted.