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TMPGEnc DVD Author creat still menu
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young707
Newbie
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10. January 2004 @ 12:31 |
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Is there any guide how to creat still menu in TMPGEnc DVD Author?
I assume we can get a freeze frame picture from VOB and edit it with Photoshop.
How do I get this picture for TMPGEnc DVD Author to make a simple still menu?
Thank you.
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drchips
Senior Member
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10. January 2004 @ 14:39 |
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Hiya young707,
This is what you do:
Play the film in your chosen DVD Player Application on the PC (PowerDVD/WinDVD etc.)
When you get to the frame you want to capture, pause.
Perform the capture to file as a BMP file (native size).
Close the Player Application.
Run TMPGEnc DVD Author
Do what you would normally do, up to and including creating the menu (clips, titles etc. etc)
Select Create Menu
On a bit of the menu screen area that is NOT a clip, button or title, just click ONCE
A standard browser sub-window comes up entitled Open
In that sub-window you can choose a static picture OR an MPEG (if you choose MPEG, you can choose later which frame you want displayed).
Done.
Have Fun...
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young707
Newbie
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11. January 2004 @ 14:17 |
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Thank you Dr. Chips. It works. More questions:
1. I used the "New Theme" to create my own single track menu, edited and save it as "New Menu".
But I cannot edit and save "Cool 1" theme template as different theme name?
2. When I used the "New Theme" and edit the single track menu, how can I change yellow button color when "selected" to other color? How can I change the text inside the button and the design of this button? How can I delete the thumbnail image?
3. Is there other menu template available, elsewhere?
This program does not offer a the simple menu - just "play" button.
Thank you
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drchips
Senior Member
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11. January 2004 @ 15:56 |
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Hiya young707,
glad you are getting some results.Quote:
But I cannot edit and save "Cool 1" theme template as different theme name?
of course you can't, it is a PREDEFINED TEMPLATE, that is why they give you the option of creating, editing and saving your own theme (the predefined themes are to get you started and demonstrate SOME of the possibilities).
Quote:
how can I change yellow button color when "selected" to other color?
I don't know for certain, possibly in Adobe PhotoShop: if you look in the Help file under
Work Procedure -> Create menu -> Edit menu theme then scroll to the bottom of the page it does explain that Botton Images can be created with Adobe PhotoShop and talks about Highlight Layers - maybe the highlight Layers provide that functionality, speak to a PhotoShop guru about that.
Quote:
How can I change the text inside the button and the design of this button?
Use Adobe PhotoShop to create a new button to your liking with the text you want in it (save as a PSD file).
Quote:
How can I delete the thumbnail image?
Which thumbnail image do you mean? The video? or some other thumbnail?
Quote:
Is there other menu template available, elsewhere?
I don't know of any, try asking Pegasys-inc (the people you got the program from).
Quote:
This program does not offer a the simple menu - just "play" button.
I do not understand, what do you mean by "simple menu"? What is it you want from a "simple menu"?
Try not to ask too much of the program, bear in mind it is NOT a $1500.00 program that the big pro's use, it is a $68.00 jobbie that does exceedingly well.
If you need Big-Bucks Feature you will have to spend big bucks.
Have Fun...
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young707
Newbie
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12. January 2004 @ 07:54 |
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Thank you Dr. Chips. Understood your advises. Your name is same as the Fry's Electronics icon.
I do use Photoshop. But do not know how to change and add different button designs and with different button language text, such as Spanish. I do not understand how to add new designs and how the highlighted layer works. I particularly do not like the yellow selected highlighted color. I also do not know like mandated requirements of thumbnails everywhere.
This program should allow us to add and make different menu templates. It would be better if this program allow others to contribute and share their menu templates. But so far its very limited and quite poor.
Its hard for me to make simple menu for wedding DVD albums with combination of still photos, slide shows and video and movie clips.
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drchips
Senior Member
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12. January 2004 @ 08:11 |
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Hiya young707,
if that is the level of customisation and functionality you require then your only option is to buy a big, expensive studio-level program similar to the ones the DVD Production and Design houses use.
TMPGEnc can go a little further, but I think you are expecting way too much from it.
Good Luck in your search for what you want.
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Staff Member
2 product reviews
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12. January 2004 @ 15:09 |
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You might want to try DVD-Lab instead. It's a little more expensive ($99), but it has a lot more options for menus and it's very easy to use after just a little work. You can find a 30 day trial at http://www.mediachance.com/dvdlab/index.html
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 12. January 2004 @ 15:09
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drchips
Senior Member
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12. January 2004 @ 15:47 |
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Hiya vurbal,
I like the look of that program...
I love the way he describes pre-formed templates etc. as fit for kids only.
Lots more for me to tweak and twiddle ;-)
Do you have a download link that works?
Cheers.
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Staff Member
2 product reviews
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12. January 2004 @ 17:33 |
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drchips
Senior Member
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12. January 2004 @ 18:04 |
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young707
Newbie
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13. January 2004 @ 07:50 |
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Well, often I heard Rosy positive only posting and end up paying for another piece of useless junk, just like this TMPGEnc DVD Author.
I have looked up forum postings on DVD-Lab, here and elsewhere, before I worked on the TMPGEnc DVD Author. I read quite a lot of negative forum postings. In particular, the poor menu creation and amateurish fonts and letterings.
What I want to know is the negatives, what is wrong, and what cause these piece of software practically useless, in this forums and elsewhere. Rosy and positive advertisement are readily available by the seller. Like TMPGEnc DVD Author seller, they do not ever offer satisfaction guarantee. My take is this TMPGEnc DVD Author did not spend more than 10 minutes to write up instructions on how to modify and create different menu templates. I am sure they know how to create the ?Play? button in Spanish using Photoshop. They has not spent much effort on providing flexible menu creation and allow the sharing of menu template library.
All I want is simple, easy to use, flexible, DVD menu creation for doing weddings, birthdays and events with video / still photo / slide show DVD disc for customers. So far, I have tried over 5 packages, none is worth the money I paid for.
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drchips
Senior Member
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13. January 2004 @ 11:22 |
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young707,
Right then.
Obviously there is NEVER going to be an authoring package that is going to be GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU:
according to you, the people who developed them only spent a few minutes on the Menu Templates and Functions.
Fine, GO AND WRITE YOUR OWN AUTHORING PACKAGE THEN...
Obviously there is never going to be any help that anyone can give you that will be GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU:
so, go and WRITE THE GUIDES YOURSELF....
And as for PAYING for TMPGEnc DVD Author and DVD-LAB, they were both free 30-day trials you used, so don't give us that.
You MAY get the software, help and guidance YOU EXPECT in another area, try WWW.CLOUD-CUCKOO-LAND.CON
Good Luck and Have A Safe Journey(tm).
Nice chatting with you, Byeeee!!!
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young707
Newbie
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13. January 2004 @ 17:07 |
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Dr. Chips, we appreciate your advise and suggestions. Thank you.
Every year we paid $29 for Norton Antivirus for every systems here. We know we have a good reliable product. I do not need to go to any forum and ask for advise.
When we have to pay and spent time to learn these new coming DVD Author programs, we want to know what are the show stoppers that could caused it to be another piece of unless junk. I have no interested to write my own program. We just want something useful and not waste our time. We want to vote with our wallet for new useful programs.
Sadly people will not even brother to try this TMPGEnc DVD Author or DVD-Lab, afraid to get burnt again. So the authors have no chance ever recover their investment, the cycle goes on. That?s the reason why 95% people around the world use only one kind of software from Microsoft & Adobe.
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Staff Member
2 product reviews
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14. January 2004 @ 04:32 |
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There is no way to know what program you will like without trying it. As far as DVD-Lab goes I can tell you that you won't get a more professional authoring program without paying thousands of dollars for it. Your original post said you wanted to make a menu from a still you've edited with photoshop. DVD-Lab will do this. I don't know what you've read about problems with DVD-Lab's menu creation, but you can quickly and easily create high quality menus in just a few minutes. If you aren't willing to put in the effort to try it for free, what more can anyone here do for you?
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 14. January 2004 @ 04:33
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young707
Newbie
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15. January 2004 @ 07:53 |
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http://www.dvdrhelp.com/tools.php?tool=171#comments
Posted December 27, 2003 by ark. Tool version 1.3 using OS Win98
Ease of use 10 of 10 Functionality 9 of 10 Value for money 8 of 10 Overall score 9 of 10
I have to agree with other users. This authoring program really does it, subtitles not included. I love the flexibility and the all the tricks that can be done with just a little imagination!! My only beef with the program, and one which I don't see much about, is the crummy text quality in menus... I just can't believe no one is complaining about this. I have tried importing PSD layered images with the text already plugged in, i've tried generating the text directly with DVDLab, and finally resorted to just using an object (like a circle) beside the text option.... and it was just mega-jaggies, for lack of a better word. If you are going to just use straight horizontal lines or rectangles as selection objects you are fine, but if its got a curve in it... CRAP! I understand the three layer antialiasing limitation, but come on, DVD Workshop menus, while lacking in features, blows DVDLab away quality wise. Audio preview to set chapter points wouldn't be a bad addition either.
Sorry don't beat me up to bad... I want to see this program dominate the big boys at Adobe and Ulead!
Posted September 03, 2003 by Deem. Tool version 1.1 using OS WinXP
Ease of use 7 of 10 Functionality 8 of 10 Value for money 8 of 10 Overall score 9 of 10
Maybe its just me, but I've found dvd-lab to be an incredibly piece of buggy software. Sure, it has a decent interface that allows the user to almost effortlessly create menus, motion menus, insert chapters, etc. However, whats the point if the final output you get doesn't work on software players or a set top player?
I've tried most of the tools around, and I can't really suggest you buy DVD-Lab. Believe me, there's nothing worse than spending 3 days meticulously preparing your sources and authoring menus, only to find out that the end result wont get past the title-menu because of a bug in the software.
If you can afford to get DVDMaestro or find a "free version" of it, go with Maestro, you'll be glad you did.
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Staff Member
2 product reviews
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15. January 2004 @ 09:47 |
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And what did it do when you tried it?
I can't speak for the text since I only do simple menus (a captured frame for a picture and an invisible button), but obviously I wouldn't be recommending software if I thought it was buggy. In the time you've spent worrying about whether the negative posts you've seen are accurate you could have downloaded the software and tried it out. If the results you get are what you're looking for does it matter what those posts say?
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 15. January 2004 @ 10:27
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pbailey
Member
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15. January 2004 @ 14:28 |
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Whoah! Slow down you three. ;)
Young707, most of the people on this site use this this type of s/ware for just throwing there divx/avi porns they have floating around their hard drives (correct me if i'm wrong here guys) and prolly not up to the standard you're looking for.
And you won't find it in this price range, it doesn't have to cost thousands tho, there are plenty of good programs out there that do this, just be prepared to pay $300 AUD and upwards.
Don't bash the people who have used it and found it did every they wanted it to do, they had a good experience with it, they posted it. You had a bad experience/it didn't do what you wanted, you let people know, as you're doing now.
And if you paid for it before trying out the trial version that's nobody's fault but your own. And don't take one person's perception on something, have you asked other people if dvd labs is buggy, it sounds like a user error to me, why would they release s/ware that doesn't work on pc's or dvd players?
See what i'm getting at? Rosy or negative perceptions are still that person's perceptions, not yours. Don't take others words for scripture.
Bailey
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drchips
Senior Member
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15. January 2004 @ 14:57 |
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Awwwww!!
It was just about to get interesting, too.
I would have thought an Aussie might have appreciated a bit of verbal ding-dong, ah well...
Nothing to see here, move along please.
Have A Nice Day(tm).
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pbailey
Member
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15. January 2004 @ 17:45 |
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LOL @ Dr Spoon, the man who can stir anything up... ;).
I think we aussies only become passionate about anything after a few coldies, otherwise we're very level headed, mature, rational people. LMFAO.
Bailey
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drchips
Senior Member
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15. January 2004 @ 18:22 |
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Hahaha...Quote:
very level headed, mature, rational people
how does that fit in with:
The Young Doctors
Prisoner
Sons and Daughters
Neighbours
etc.
etc.
Suppose those programs are a result of being upside-down the whole of your life....
At least you antipodeans are Civilised(tm).
LOL..
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Staff Member
2 product reviews
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16. January 2004 @ 04:29 |
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drchips:
Have you gotten a chance to try out DVD-Lab yet? From the level of knowledge you seem to have you should like it a lot. It's the only tool I use for DVD authoring.
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drchips
Senior Member
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16. January 2004 @ 05:11 |
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Hiya vurbal,
Yes, I am "evaluating" it.
First impressions are, it is NOT for someone starting out, too easy to get it wrong and end up in a confusing state.
There ARE some issues with media compatability which I am testing.
I shall let you know my opinions when I am satisfied that I have FULLY tested it.
Byeee...
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Staff Member
2 product reviews
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16. January 2004 @ 06:09 |
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drchips:
By media compatibility do you mean the burning feature? The reason I ask is that I've never tried burning with it, which may explain why I haven't had any of the compatibility problems that pbailey was asking about. I use RecordNow Max 4.5 for all my burning and I've never had a problem.
I don't completely agree about whether the program would be useful for a newbie. There's a good tutorial in the help that covers pretty much everything you need for making simple DVD's and everything can be done either by drag-n-drop or a wizard. More complex DVDs do require more than that, but that's not something a newbie should be worried about anyway. As long as you can get help from either a site like this one or the actual DVD-Lab forum if you don't understand something I think just about anybody should be able to use it. Now that they have a version that comes with TMPGEnc that's probably more true than ever (although I haven't checked out the TMPGEnc plugin since I use CCE).
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drchips
Senior Member
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16. January 2004 @ 06:36 |
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Hiya vurbal,
by media compatability I meant MPEG1, MPEG2, AVI etc files (we are, after all, talking about an Authoring program, not a burning program).
Media does not only refer to blank disks, it is commonly used to refer to source files as well, the trick is to use the context to ascertain what is being talked about.
As for suitability for a raw novice, compare it to the simplicity and hand-holding of TMPGEnc DVD Author.
Bear in mind, the novice will PROBABLY know NOTHING of file-types, compatability standards, methods of linking, audio streams, DVD Command syntax or even what a correct DVD Structure consists of.
Too much information or too much choice at too early a point in the learning curve can cause confusion and frustration.
With the prevalence of the "I want it NOW" type of attitude you can see all over the net, introducing a powerful, free-choice software like DVD-Lab as a "starter" package is doing it a dis-service.
Admittedly, there are going to be those who have competency with PC's in general, who WOULD be capable of learning from scratch with it, but they would be in the minority (you, for one, are an exception to the general rule).
Good tutorials are available for most things, but how often have you seen in the forums the advice to "read the guides/tutorials", lots of people don't....
Hence the prevalence of "Wizards" and things like Nero EXPRESS, dumbed-down versions.
When a person out-grows TMPGEnc DVD Author (some never will, because it does ALL they require), then DVD-Lab and its ilk come next.
Have Fun...
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Staff Member
2 product reviews
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16. January 2004 @ 07:28 |
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drchips:
Gotcha on the media issue. I just assumed the common usage of media since there is a burning feature. I guess I don't worry about compatibility with different files since anything I author with it are DVD compliant MPEG-2 files I encode with CCE.
I'd agree with you about the comparison with DVD Author, but just because DVD Author is easier doesn't mean DVD-Lab isn't easy enough. The important issue is what you mentioned about user requirements. If DVD Author meets all the user's requirements I'd certainly recommend it (although I find it much faster and easier to use DVD-Lab for even my simplest authoring). In fact I'm thinking about buying a copy myself now that they have an AC3 encoder. It would be nice to have one of my own instead of having to use the copy from work (but it's nice to work somewhere they'll pay for it). Now if I can only get my own copy of CCE SP I'll be really happy.
My perspective is probably a little different than yours. I've been teaching various computer and networking classes at a community college for a few years now and I'd have to say that of the students I've had in that time, including quite a few people who never touched a computer before taking classes, only a couple of them would have had any real problems with DVD-Lab. Like you said, it's not as easy as DVD Author, but then again I'd still recommend it to most newbies as long as they're reasonably computer literate and don't mind a very slight learning curve.
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