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Possible to make a pause – end action?
Hello!
I’m a total newbie at Encore, and in a terrible hurry to figure something out. I can’t seem to find out if Encore can do this:
I want to author a DVD where there will be chapter points. Is it possible to put an end action (or something else) at the end of each chapter, so that the DVD pauses (freezes the last frame of the movie)? And in addition, after it has been paused for a while, I can hit “Play” on my table-top DVD-player and the next chapter starts playing instantly (no black in between)? This DVD is going to be projected onto a screen above a stage where there will be live actors performing, and although the intention is that the DVD will be synched with the live performance, we need to have the option to freeze the last frame and instantly go to the next chapter when neccesary.
I appreciate any help and advice you may have!Kind regards,
Eric -
5 Replies
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What you describe isn’t exactly possible in the way you described it. But there are a couple of other ways to accomplish the same thing.
First option would be to break out each chapter into it’s own timeline. At the end of each timeline, set the end action to a menu with the freeze frame as the background. Create an invisible button (a button with no visible content or highlight) that links to the next chapter’s timeline. When you’re ready to start playing, just hit enter; as it’s the only button on the menu, it will be selected automatically.
The downside to that method is that, depending on the DVD player, there may be a slight pause or even a black screen flash when switching between the menus and timelines.
The other way to do it is simply to build the freeze frame into your video. You can pause it manually when it appears, and then when the scene on stage is ready to move on, un-pause and hit the next chapter button.
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Thank you for your reply!
I’m trying to do this with the “invisible” button, but so far I haven’t figured out how to make an invisible button. Could you please decribe the procedure to do that? (remember, I’m a total Encore-rookie )
Kind regards,
Eric -
It’s pretty simple to do if you edit the menu in Photoshop. Create the a new layer set with the proper name, like “(+)InvisiButton”. In the layer set create one layer and draw something on it, like a circle or a rectangle. Doesn’t need to be big or fancy. Lower the opacity of this layer to 0%. Boom. you’re done.
What happens is that Encore respects the fact that the layer is there, and understands the boundaries of what you drew as the boundaries of the button. However, it also respects the fact that the content of the layer is transparent. And since there are no highlight layers in the button, nothing will appear when you click it.
There are ways to do this from within Encore, too, if you’re new to Photoshop, too. Let me know if that would work better for you. I just can’t remember how to do it that way off the top of my head. 🙂
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Thanks again for your help! I think I’ve got it now. 🙂
Kind regards,
Eric -
if it is to be part of a performance, you will want to avoid pause-play functions, because if you are using a dvd player your on-screen display will probably show the PLAY indicator on the screen you are using for display – I would go with the menu method
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