Posted by Ken Maltby on 11/16/05 01:13

"Bob" <spam@uce.gov> wrote in message
news:4379de1d.85082015@news-server.houston.rr.com...
>
> I am actually not that big of a DVD author. All I wanted to do was
> collect a bunch of short movie clips onto one DVD with a simple menu
> so I could watch them when I wanted. After years of successfully
> editing MP3 files with SoundForge I did not expect to run into massive
> problems with DVDs. This industry is still rather immature compared to
> the audio industry.
>

A few startup hints for TDA.

1. Make your own Menu Themes.

2. Click on the Blue "Add new track..." to add separate clips/
movies/episodes, if you want them to play and return to the main
menu. Or if they have differing parameters. (you can have them
play the next track, instead of returning to the menu, if you want)
{This is what you should do with your "short movie clips".}

3. Click on everything. Right Click on everything also.

4. RTFM/Help files.

5. If you label the "Tracks", that text will automatically appear in
the "Create Menu" for that menu selection.

6. Try a Text Only layout, instead of one with thumbnails.
(layout 6#3 is the first one, in the listings.)

7. Often a 'Main menu only" works best. How often do you
want to select a chapter from a menu? And if you did most
players will have a Chapter selection menu, anyway.

8. Make chapter points even if you aren't using a chapter
menu; they also serve a navigation function.
{If your "Short Movies" are small enough you might not
need to set any.}

9. Motion Menus are a breeze with TDA, just click on the
existing background and open your own .mpg to be the
background image and music. I use VideoReDo to cut out
the opening credits of the shows I'm collecting, and use that
as a background on a text only layout. This also gives me the
show's theme song as the BGM (Background Music).

10. Once you have a menu theme as you want it save it with
the background clip/image and most of it's settings, under an
appropriate name. For my TV series I use the series name,
I also have some "standard" ones for a two movie DVD, or
mini-series. Once you have your own theme, you can edit it
each time you use it , if you want.

That should give you a start.

Luck;
Ken

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