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Please HELP…Menu Remote Abnormal Condition
I’m not an expert in DVD Encore 2.0 and I’ve come across a problem I can’t resolve. I have what I think is a standard project…timelines with chapters, menus, sub-menus, chapter playlists, etc. Everything is perfect except for one thing; the remote menu button doesn’t work. If I click on it during a preview with Encore, I get the ‘Sorry, an abnormal condition has been detected…’ error message. During the ‘Check Project’ routine no errors are detected. If I burn the project to a DVD and play it in a regular player, everything works but if I press the Menu button (not the Top Menu button) the DVD player freezes up. I have to turn the player off and on again to get the disc out. At first I just left the ‘Menu Remote’ field in the ‘Properties’ menu at the default return to last menu. Then I tried manually setting each Chapter Playlist’s Menu Remote to the appropriate menu with the same result. I have to deliver this project in two days and I’m at my whits end.
some specifics…
2 timelines…first play and main timeline
23 chapters on the main timeline
23 chapter playlists with a different chapter in each
8 menus…3 main and 5 sub-menus
NTSCIf anyone can help I would be most greatful!
Best Regards,
Mike -
9 Replies
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You have too many Chapter Playlists…
This is a bug, and a nasty one.
Drop the number of Chapter Playlists to 19 and you will be okay.
There is no other workaround. -
I did some digging and and came across the bug you are talking about. In the end I duplicated the main timeline, deleted the last 12 chapter points on the first one and deleted the first 12 chapter points on the second one. The project became too large at this point to fit on a 4.7. The second duplicate would never be played in it’s entirity so I trimmed the first half off.
This is indeed a serious bug/problem. Will we ever see a patch for this or will we just be expected to purchase the new CS3 package?
Best Regards,
Mike -
How do you want your menus/playback to work? Do you want the ability to play a single chapter, then return to a menu? Do you ever need a “Play All”?
If you only need to play a chapter and return to a menu, then on the timeline, select each chapter, and change its END ACTION (for the CHAPTER).
If you need a PLAY-ALL, then perhaps add one Chapter Playlist that includes all chapters?
Regards,
George -
Hi George,
Thanks for the response. Yes, I need a play all and the ability to play each chapter individually. I thought about adding all the chapters to one playlist for the play all and having the chapter end action to return to the menu for the individual chapter call. In the end no matter how I organized the navigation, it wouldn
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It’s not 19 or more chapter points in a timeline that’s the issue – it’s 19 or more chapter playlists per timeline that’s the bug.
So maybe George’s advice will work for you.
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ahhh…I think I see the concept. Link to the chapter points with an end action to return to what-ever menu. for the play all, have one chapter list with all the chapters in it. Because all the chapters are coming off the same timeline, there would be no pausing between chapters in the play list. Sorry I didn’t fully understand the ‘Bug’? I delivered the final DVD yesterday but there’s an ‘Advance’ section to come later in the year. I think George’s idea and your clairification just saved a wholelotta room on the disc. Thanks for helping me out!
Best Regards,
Mike -
There is still a possible hidden Gotcha with the suggestion to use Chapter End Actions.
IF the chapters do not fade to black, then there will be a noticeable pause at the point where each Chapter End Action is, because the player will freeze up whilst it reads the cell command & decides if it needs to act upon it or not.
So, there is really only one option and that is to set up the Chapter/Scene Selection menus as “Entry Point Only”.
Otherwise you will either hit the bug, or hit a pause as the player crosses the Cell Command. -
Thanks Neil for that info. It’s exactly the information I was looking for. I just authored a DVD for the first time using the chapter playist function. I had 23 chapter playlists and also experienced the problem of the menu botton carshing encore during testing and the DVD player upon using the sub-menu button. I wish I would of found this thread before I re-authored the DVD uing chapter end actions and discoverd the noticable pause between chapters.
I guess I need to go back to using the override function when I need the playback to return to a menu selection. Tell me, is it the Chapter end action itself that causes the pause, or chapter playlists? In other words, can I still use chapter playlists and not have the problem of pausing between chapters as long as I don’t have end actions? If So, then I suppose I can use the override function to return to the menu… or am I confused here?
Ron
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If you eliminate all chapter end actions is a single timeline, then you will get seamless playback for the timeline.
Is there a natural break at any chapter point in your timeline? If so, you could split your 23-chapter video into 2 timelines, and then use individual chapter playlists for each of the timelines like you did for the big, original timeline.
If you want to use overrides, then each chapter will need to be in its own timeline, and you will need a second copy of the entire program for seamless Play All. You may not have room for all of that on your blank media.
Adobe Encore CS3 has fixed all of these issues, so if you are using Premiere Pro as your NLE, you may want to consider an upgrade.
-Jeff
The Focal Easy Guide to Adobe Encore DVD 2.0
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