CAN ANYONE PLEASE HELP! – Text on top of button highlight – ENCORE

[Jeff Bellune]

Select one of your buttons in the Menu viewer. Look over at the Properties panel and check the option to “Create Text Subpicture”.

Does that give you what you want?

If not, please post a screen grab or mockup of the look that you are trying to achieve, and we should be able to help you out.

-Jeff

The Focal Easy Guide to Adobe Encore DVD 2.0

[Joe Bowden]

Have you got Photoshop?

[Ashley Cooper]

Hi Jeff
Thanks for you reply, I have tried the Text subpicture box and it almost achieves what I need except I just get an orange box around text that I have no control over. I need text to remain black on white background when unselected and a yellow box as a highlight with text still visible when selected and activated. Here is a jpeg of what im trying to achieve, hope this makes sense.

Cheers
Bash

[Ashley Cooper]

Hey Joe
Cheers for your reply, I do have photoshop and It is what im creating my menus in.
I have tried the Text subpicture box and it almost achieves what I need except I just get an orange box around text that I have no control over. I need text to remain black on white background when unselected and a yellow box as a highlight with text still visible when selected and activated. Here is a jpeg of what im trying to achieve, hope this makes sense.

Cheers
Bash

eghighlight.jpg [x]

[Ashley Cooper]

eghighlight.jpg [x]

Hi Jeff
sorry dont think I posted the Image correctly so here it is again.

Cheers
Ash

[Jeff Bellune]

The image didn’t show up.

If I understand you correctly, then here’s how I would do it:

1. Use the Edit in Photoshop command from Encore. Duplicate the text layer for the button in PS and rename it to (=1)TextHighlight.

2. Make sure the orange box layer is in the button layer set/group and rename it to (=2)OrangeBox. Save your changes.

3. Back in Encore, go to Menu>Edit Menu Color Set. Select the option to make a new color set and leave the name as Copy of Automatic (because you can’t edit the Automatic color set). Make sure that highlight group 1 has the following selected state colors:
1: Black. Set Opacity to give the text edges a not-too-jagged appearance. You can’t anti-alias highlight layers, so 0% may be an option (which would let the original text show through).
2: Orange (the color you want for your box). Set Opacity as desired, again to improve the appearance of the text edges.

4. Set the Activated State colors as desired, using the same guidelines.

The result (as tested here) is that when the button is selected, the black (=1) highlight will cover and outline the text, and it will also cut out the shape of the text from the orange (=2) highlight layer.

-Jeff

The Focal Easy Guide to Adobe Encore DVD 2.0

[Joe Bowden]

Jeff’s suggestion is a good way, but I was thinking of something a bit more straightforward:

Leave the text in the menu as a text layer, but alter the highlight layer (the rectangle) to “punch out” the text layer.

So from Encore, select Edit in Photoshop, and then load the text layer as a selection. Then select the highlight layer, and hit the delete key to “punch out” the shape of the text in the highlight layer. Save the file, and then return to Encore.

You should be able to test this right in the Menu Editor by turning on “Display Button Highlights” or whatever Encore labels that button at the bottom of the editor panel.

[Ashley Cooper]

Thanks Jeff

Will give your method a go. Thanks for your help! I worked out another way to do it by punching a hole through my highlight layer so that the text shows through underneath. Quite a long winded process though in photoshop! Had to select colour range of text then modify – expand by 2 pixels then cut on my highlight layer. Got the desired effect I needed. Thanks for all your help and I will try your way on the next disc.

Cheers
Ash

[Ashley Cooper]

Hey Joe

Thanks for the reply, thats the way I have worked out how to do it by punching a hole through my highlight layer. I used select colour range and and clicked on my text, then select, modify – expand by 2 pixels, then cut on my highlight layer to punch out the hole. Thanks for all your input.

Cheers
Bash

[Joe Bowden]

Glad to hear you solved it. This method is actually better than using a layered menu a la DVDSP. Layered menus rely on creating duplicate menus for different button states, and may show performance issues on some players, and don’t behave as expected in software DVD players (you must click to activate the button to go to the next button “state”).

Regarding using the “punch out” method: try Load Selection using the text layer next time, modify the selection in whatever way you want…much quicker than trying to select color ranges. Then select the highlight layer and delete the selection.