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boon23's guide to creating animated menus with dvd lab pro

boon23

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ok... after DJ asked (and he wasn't the first one) I have decided to give this its own guide...

First of all you will learn how to create a basic animated menu
Next you will learn how to easily create a custom scene selection menu.

maybe later on I will add some more complicated techiques for using animated buttons, special buttons, animated text and things like that.
 

boon23

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creating a basic animated menu:

first of all we need a movie or a slideshow. To create this you need a video editing program like Ulead Media Studio Pro, Womble MPEG DVD WIZARD, TMPGxpress, VEGAS VIDEO, Pro Show Producer or something else.

In this case we will add a red bar to the bottom and put our buttons there.

It works pretty well to do anything but the video with DVD LAB PRO.

In this case I used Ulead to create a video with my desired length for the main menu.

1. Put your video into Ulead and make a composition for your main menu. You can use images and video files for that.
01.jpg



Save your composition: file --> create video (change options to constant 8000 and 100% quality) --> choose a name and save.

you can also make a slideshow with proshow producer of course or use any other video editor.

A good length for a main menu is between 30 sec and 1 minute.

2. Open DVD LAB PRO:
import your video --> drag it into menu 1
select the rectangle shape to create a shape and place it at the bottom where you want your buttons displayed.
02.jpg

and choose it in the color you want from the upper right bar.

Now add some text to it and maybe some more rectangles to make it look nice and also your buttons text.
Link the buttons. Set the link colors to what you like.
03.jpg


and now to make this animated:
menu --> render motion --> set the time for the menu --> render
04.jpg


voila. You have a motion menu.

I hope this was a bit helpful.
 

boon23

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Creating your own animated scene selection:
start DVD LAB PRO --> start creating your DVD as usual by importing video and audio files and setting them up as movie and create your chapters by either setting automated chapters (faster) or setting them manually (always better).

create scene selection menus for your movie using the automated feature:
menu --> scene selection menu --> thumbnail scene selection
01.jpg


I usually use this one, because it produces only a few menus:
02.jpg


Your regular and ugly scene selection menu will be created.
Now create a new menu by right clicking on the main menu in the upper left bar:
03.jpg

this will be the first menu for your customized scene selection. You may name it chapters 1 for better order.
switch to this menu.
now paste a nice background image there. You can copy any image and paste it or you can create your background image and import it as image and drag it to the screen.
In this case I have left a blank space at the bottom, where I later on want to have some buttons for navigation.
04.jpg


now it gets interesting:
switch to the one of the automated scene selection menus.
05.jpg

delete the frame around the chapter box --> click on the chapter box --> right click --> copy
switch to your new chapters menu and right click --> paste
voila. there is your chapter box.
(it does not work any other way for me to have a working chapter box in one of my self created menus)
06.jpg


now copy/paste the chapter box as many times as you want it on your first chapters menu. You can also change the size of the box to your likings.
07.jpg


now you can add text and buttons and set the links for the boxes for each chapter.
08.jpg


nice so far.
Now we need this for the other chapter menus too.
The fastest and best way to do this is this:
Menu --> export menu --> as menu
09.jpg


now let's animate the first chapters menu:
Menu --> render motion
set the time for your scene selection menu --> render
10.jpg


voila. here is your personal animated scene selection menu.
It is essential you check the links and the connections, because DVD LAB PRO tends to produce wrong or unwanted connections and directions.
Click "Show Navigation links" --> show all
11.jpg

if anything is not to your likings, disable auto route and set the directions yourself by clicking on the arrows and dragging them from one link to the next.

Now that all is correct, add a new menu as described above.
Switch to this new menu (name it chapters 2) --> menu --> load
12.jpg

load your previously saved menu.
correct all links and entries to the second chapters menu and render motion again.

Do this with all following chapter menus until all chapter menus are finished.

Delete the automated scene selection menus.
Link form the main menu to your chapters 1 menu.
done.
 

dark jedi

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Damn Boon,this is great!

and I really hope you decide to add these too

"maybe later on I will add some more complicated techiques for using animated buttons, special buttons, animated text and things like that."

thanks this will really help us out.
 

boon23

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try it and let us perfect the guide. :)
 

AvP

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thanks boon,would it be possible could you show us how to make a static menu but with motion image like your jailbird edit....thanks
 

boon23

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you mean a menu in which the buttons fade in?
as in creasy?
[youtube:3ucx8f4v]

take a look.

This was completely done with Ulead Media Studio Pro. Only the bullet buttons (not visible here) were installed with DVD LAB PRO.

If people are interested I can write a guide for that too. That's a pretty much advanced menu.
 

AvP

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nope,you have a static background but you have a motion image overlaping it sithlord did it on his starwars remixs.
 

boon23

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ah, that one. Was also completely done with Ulead and it works with several layers.
 

AvP

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boon23 said:
ah, that one. Was also completely done with Ulead and it works with several layers.

oh so... i take it cant be done with dvdlab pro then?
 

boon23

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nope.
DVD LAB PRO cannot create video layers. You need an advanced video editing program for that like Vegas Video, Adobe Premiere, Ulead Media Studio Pro, etc.
 

dark jedi

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Boon,
Great work onthese,I am going to put together my menu now,but I was wondering,is there anyway to make these viewable offline?
I like to shut down the internet connection when I do encodes and authoring and such.

thanks

DJ
 

boon23

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hmmm...
maybe if you save the website... or maybe you can copy paste the guide to word. That's not my expertise.
 

AvP

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you can C/P the url put in your search engine and it should say Workoff line after you disconnect from the net.
 

Ghostcut

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Hit Ctrl-S...make it save as "Web page, complete". If u want to save the video then just google it up, it's easy enough to find a way.
 

AvP

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I just gave this a quick shot...works perfect thanks again boon
 

InfoDroid

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THANKS, Boon! This will really help me out! :smile:
 

krakatoan

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Hey I am trying to remake the halo movie in hd, cos I was able to get the hd versions of cutscene's in mp4 and wmv format, also got the ac3 off the Wis3 rip; and wondered how I would make a menu like this

Code:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9crGX-MbZk

I found the original menu video without the buttons

Code:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5yVOFokLVY

I also have the menu image in jpg format.

Code:
http://i32.tinypic.com/155malk.jpg

So wondered how I would add buttons like those to my menu?

Ideally I will keep 'campaign' as it is [act as the play button]

I want to remove the 'multiplayer' option and replace with 'extended' cos I'm gonna do a sd version of the movie there, but with the gameplay included between the cutscene's

I want to remove profiles and settings

I want to keep the credit's option but link to to the credit's cutscene on the extended sd version. Cos I couldn't find hd credits anywhere

---

Although I might not do the sd extended at all depending on time constraints.
 
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