Encore 2.0 Motion Menus

[Kevin Merker]

Also I have rendered the motion menus before previewing, they always jus show a working menu , but no motion , the links are correctly pointing to the ae composition or the video when i try to get it to work but still nothing

[Jeff Bellune]

Are you trying to create a menu with an animated background from which the audience can make a selection, or are you trying to make an animated menu that transitions to a static menu? Viewers would then make their selection from the static menu.

If it’s the latter, you don’t need separate menus. Create your animation in AE, using whatever menu elements you want. When it’s time for the menu to become “static”, make sure all animating elements in your AE comp stop moving and are at rest in their final positions. Give yourself at least a minute with everything static before ending the comp.

When you add your animated/static AE clip to the Encore menu as a background, set the loop point for the menu a few seconds after the elements stop animating. What will happen is that when the menu first appears on-screen, the animated bit will play, then at the loop point the subpicture highlights will become active and the audience can make their selection. When the menu duration expires, it will loop back to the loop point as seamlessly as the audience’s DVD player will let it, giving the illusion of a static menu that stays on-screen forever.

If you want to go back to this menu later in the program or from other parts of the menu system, you can make a static copy of the menu so the viewer won’t have to watch the intro again. If you want to force them to see the animation each time the menu is selected, then you don’t have to make a copy.

[Jeff Bellune]

I forgot to add that you need to turn off the visibility for all layers of the menu once you are back in Encore. The static menu elements that used to be animating in your AE comp will function as the button graphics. Don’t delete the button layers in Encore, just hide them. Otherwise your button won’t work.

-Jeff

[Kevin Merker]

Thanks Jeff, i will try this today, hopefully it will work out. If not ill post any probs and hopefully you will be able to help out.. Thanks again

[Kevin Merker]

As you stated, i want a motion menu to become a static menu seamlessly. I get the video to play, and the “buttons” to fade in and it to loop. After that , nothing, i cannot select the menu to link the buttons (as it apparently doesnt see the buttons i made in AE (with create encore buttons option)). I am using the Dynamic link feature, it does everything but create the actual buttons. In encore (obviously) the menu i am using is hidden so that we can view the motion menu. I have also created a simple menu to test to see if i had something complex. To create that menu i simply made a solid fade, and a single button in the middle. It does the same thing , as im sure encore works perfectly fine for this , i am obviously goofing up somewhere still. I can create an .ncor and .aep for the simple menu if need be so you can view any my mistakes or something. Thanks for your time

[Jeff Bellune]

Hi Kevin,

Let’s try this:

1. Create your static menu in Encore.
2. Go to File>Create After Effects Compostion. Save the menu as a .psd file in a location that is convenient for you.
3. AE will open and load the menu from Encore as a comp.
4. Open the comp and animate as desired.
5. Save the AE project in a location that is easy to get to.
6. Return to Encore (it should still be open) and do File>Adobe Dynamic Link>Import After Effects Composition.
7. In the dialog box that opens, navigate in the left pane to where you saved the AE project and select it.
8. In the right pane, choose the comp that contains your animated menu. Click OK.
9. The AE comp is now an asset in the Encore Project panel.
10. Make sure the Encore version of the AE animated menu is loaded in the Encore Menu viewer.
11. Alt+Drag the AE comp to the Menu viewer to make it the new background of the menu.
12. Make sure the Properties panel is forward in one of Encore’s frames. Click with the Selection tool in the Menu viewer to load the whole menu into the Properties panel.
13. Select the Motion tab in the Properties panel. Verify that the Duration is the same length as your AE comp.
14. Set the Loop point to a time where all of the menu elements are static, but also close to the time that they stop animating. For example, if the buttons animate for 5 seconds, choose a loop point of 6 or 7 seconds.
15. Set the Loop # to Forever.
16. Bring the Layers panel forward in its frame.
17. Poke out the eyeball for each and every layer that you can in the Layers panel. That ensures that only the subpicture highlights for the menu will be visible when the various buttons are selected.
18. Right-click in the Menu viewer and select “Preview from here”.
19. During the preview, the buttons should animate, then become static. When the menu duration reaches the loop point time that you set, the subpicture highlight for the default button should become visible (and active!).
20. When the menu duration expires, it should loop seamlessly back to the loop point timecode that you set.

Let me know if you still are unsuccessful creating this motion menu.

-Jeff

[John Cuevas]

Kevin,

First off, kudos to Jeff for basically creating a pretty darn good motion menu tutorial.

From one of your earlier posts though I see one of your problems.

As you stated, i want a motion menu to become a static menu seamlessly. I get the video to play, and the “buttons” to fade in and it to loop. After that , nothing, i cannot select the menu to link the buttons (as it apparently doesnt see the buttons i made in AE (with create encore buttons option))

When you click the create encore buttons, that creates the correct naming format for the buttons. An encore menu created externally can only be a photoshop.psd. The ae comp, rendered out, is just a flat movie, they aren’t buttons.

When you have the final placement of your buttons, have hit the “create encore buttons” “highlights”, go to top bar “composition”—“Save frame as” “photoshop layers”. Then when you go into encore, you import this .psd as your menu.

Seems you were there, just misunderstood exactly what the create encore button meant.

Good luck
johnny

[Kevin Merker]

Yay, after fiddling a bit more , i figured it out, thank you SO very much. hopefully i will have not further issues with this. Oh , one last question , can set it up in AE so that when a menu is highlighted, it fades another still picture over a current one .. say main is Black and white pic , but when selected it turns visible ? Or, have a still image fade from nothing to a photo and become static ?
h++p://home.comcast.net/~renzor/scene7.jpg , obviously im having a few problems with overlapping buttons i suppose that would be the biggest problem there.

[Jeff Bellune]

If you want to do a fade effect for each button, you’re going to have to use multiple motion menus (one for each button) and make the fade part of the background video for the next menu. On each of the button menus, the default button will link to content, and the other buttons will be set to Auto Activate and link to the appropriate menu.

You can achieve a similar effect (without the fade and without pure black and white for the starting image) by altering the Menu Color Set for the menu. Make the subpicture layer for the button exactly the same shape and size as the picture for the button. Then make the Normal subpicture highlight a neutral gray color and set its opacity to 70% – 90%. Make the Selected subpicture highlight transparent. When the audience navigates to a button, the gray, opaque Normal subpicture highlight will disappear and the image will look like it popped into full color.

-Jeff

[Kevin Merker]

You guys are my lifeline, thanks a lot. I fixed the motion menu problems. Now I have to create the button design and layout. Thanks agian