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Buttons in Encore (Selected and not Selected)
Hi,
I am trying to create a DVD menu. I have created the annimation that I require using After Effects and the buttons for the menu. In After Effects, I created the subpicture and then joined the selected and not selected images together to create the button.
When I export this to Encore, the animation plays fine and all the buttons appear as they should. When I roll the mouse over the button, my “selected” pictures does not appear.
To give a little more information, my buttons are just rectangles with a blue gradient in them with some text on top. When the button is selected, the text should change colour.
It appears that when I roll over the button, the gradient goes, I am left with a solid blue, and there is no text.
Where could I be going wrong?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Paul
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17 Replies
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In DVD-Video, button subpictures do not support gradients, drop shadow, or any other graduated opacity effects. Instead, they are a solid block of color, although you can set the opacity of this block.
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ok, but why does the text not appear in the new colour?
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In Encore, subpicture layers are defined as having a (=1), (=2), or (=3) prefix in their layer name, and being inside the button layer set, which has a (+) prefix in its layer name.
Does your button have text layers with the appropriate prefix so Encore can make them into subpicture layers?
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yes, I have two images one placed over the other. Not Selected on top and then selected underneath.
I then assign the selected as a sub pictures wich gives it an (=1) prefix. Then I create the button in after effects in this creates a + object.
When I move the pointer of ther button, the sub picture does not come on.
If I move the sub picture away from underneath the not selected picture in photoshop (so you can see both). When I go back to Encore, I can see the not selected button, when I move the mouse over this the selecte button appears but with not text.
Hope that makes sense?
Cheers
Paul -
You workflow is not the correct one. Don’t make your menu in AE.
Encore menus are PSD files, made in Photoshop. You can do limited editing in Encore, but After Effects is not the tool for menu creation – Photoshop is.
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ok, I used after effects as I have some animation and fading before getting to the main menu (which is a PSD file). I just so happens that I created the button graphics in photoshop and then imported them to after effects to create the encore buttons.
blimey this is confusing
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That said, try creating a new menu color set in Encore, try some color and opacity settings, and see if you can get the desired effect in Encore.
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It’s difficult for me to understand what the problem could be. Could you post the PSD file someplace where I could download it?
Also, are you using the same system for AE, Photoshop, and Encore? If not, does the font exist on all systems?
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yes, I can put them somewhere when I get home and you can have a look. Also, yes all the adobe products are on the same PC.
Lets see if I can try and explain better.
The backround for the menu is a photograph that I took. I put this in AE so I could fade from blank to full picutre over about 10 seconds.
While this is happening, AE is writing one text on top of the picutre.
I then used photoshop to create the button images (psd files). each has two buttons, selected and not selected. The only difference is the colour of the text.
I then imported these to AE and placed them on the photograph, one ontop of the other. Then set the selected picture to sub picture one giving it a (=1) prefix. Then I selected both objects to create the button, this gave it a + prefix.
All the buttons fade from blank to full image over about 6 seconds.
I am not sure if that explination helps any?
Cheers
Paul -
Sorry, but that doesn’t clear anything up for me, in regards to the problem. Let’s define terms here, so that we’re both on the same page when we discuss this:
Menu: in Encore, a menu is a PSD file that has the dimensions of the frame size of the video, and also contains buttons that may have subpicture layers. This file must be imported as a menu into Encore (not as an asset).
Button: A layer set in a PSD file imported as a menu that has a (+) prefix in its layer set name. Buttons cannot overlap in DVD-Video.
Subpicture layer: A layer with a (=x) prefix in its layer name within a button layer set of a PSD file that was imported as a menu. Subpicture layers must have a single opacity (no gradients, drop shadows, glows, or any other graduated opacity), and if they do not, they are converted to a single opacity. The reason for this is the nature of the subpicture overlay in DVD-Video – it’s a single graphical layer, essentially with “holes” cut out for button subpictures.
Menu Video Background: This is a video file that is added to an Encore menu via alt-drag. Where or how this video was created isn’t relevant to the problem with subpictures.
Menu Color Set: Encore automatically generates one within the confines of the DVD-Video specification for subpicture color/opacity tables. You can override Encore’s automatic menu color set by creating one directly in Encore. A manually-created menu color set is of course limited by what is supported for subpicture overlay in DVD-Video.
So the problem here is that your subpicture layer is not behaving as expected. Let’s stick to the immediate issue, and find out why.
Do you have overlapping buttons? Does each button have a subpicture layer? Are you using automatic or a custom menu color set?
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