Previous & Next buttons causing problems

[Wendall Woodbury]

First of all Jeff, thanks for responding on a holiday.

Half the problem is that I’m an ‘almost newbie’ with Encore. There are some things I’m still trying to grasp.

AN OVERVIEW:
Initially, the client wanted to have an automatic opening of 4 mins which the viewer must watch (like the FBI warning) which automatically goes to the Main Menu. They then wanted the ability to play a segment, then if the viewer decided(mid-play) that they wanted to go back to the Main Menu all they would have to do is click the Previous & Next buttons. I explained to the client that the ‘Root Menu’ button on the wand was meant to do that. They also wanted each finished chapter to automatically return to the Main Menu. Then the viewer could decided which segment they would like to watch next. I think they’ve given up on the idea of using the Previous & Next buttons to return to THE Main Menu (which WOULD be ideal) and will have to settle for just being able to change chapters with the Previous & Next buttons and to automatically return to the Main Menu after each chapter play.

Having said all that…here’s the the sequence desired:

* Auto DVD start leading to the Main Menu
* The ability to start any chapter
* The ability to back up to the Previous chapter or go forward to
the Next chapter
* When each chapter ends it would go back to the Main Menu
* They don’t need or want an ‘All Play’ capability
* At this point, the only thing I don’t have is each chapter
automatically returning to the Main Menu

Now, in response to your information…I think you are absolutely right about the ‘orphans’, because presently I see 7 timelines (including the first play Intro). I have all 6 chapters on the 8th timeline, except the first play Intro. As I understand it, I should ‘erase’ all those timelines, except the intro?

Regarding this………..
[Wendall Woodbury]
 Pick-whipped each of 6 chapters to their counterparts on timeline
 Pick-whipped each segment name in Flowchart to each segment on timeline, starting with bottom name
 Pick-whipped from Properties End Action of each segment to Main Menu in Flowchart

I was following a tutorial by Brian Williams of England. It seemed to work…at first, but the project has gotten more complicated since. On the face of it, I’m obviously being redundant, but I thought I needed to connect the chapters to the timeline AND then have an ‘End Action’ back to the Main Menu in the Flowchart(in order to accomplish my above goals.) Should I only use one of the actions above and which one is advised? Or, perhaps you could simply delete the actions I DON’T need, in the ‘DVD Creation List’ I provided earlier?

Regarding the ‘Playlist’…I have not even delved into that aspect yet and don’t know where to start. The only thing I see, under Menu, is Create Chapter Index. Looks like I need some more tutorial training.

Sorry for the long response.

Thank you for any further information.

Wendall

Filmmaker42

[Jeff Bellune]

1. Delete all timelines except the Intro timeline and the segment timeline.

2. Link all menu buttons to their chapter counterparts.

3. Disregard the advice about Playlists. If you don’t need a “Play All” function, then they are not necessary.

4. Put an end action to return to the last menu on each chapter except the last chapter. When the last chapter is finished playing, the end action for the timeline will execute. Remember that if you want to return to the menu after chapter 1 is finished, you put the end action on the chapter marker at the beginning of chapter 1, *not* on the marker for chapter 2 (which is the marker at the end of chapter 1). It is very tempting (because it makes sense visually) to put the end action on the chapter marker that is at the end of the current chapter. Don’t do that.

5. Double-check again that no overrides are set anywhere in your project.

-Jeff

The Focal Easy Guide to Adobe Encore DVD 2.0

[Wendall Woodbury]

Thank you Jeff.

I’m confused (no unusual) but, I think I understand why you connect the End Action to the same chanpter marker you are in. I’ve done all that, plus deleted all chapters except the Intro & the segment timelines, but now do I go to the Flowchart (which [presently has all the chapters in the Orphans area) or, do I just proceed directly to the Timeline & Set Timeline User Operations to None and then Render Motion Menus? In other words what’s the next step to take, without messing up the project.

Thanks.

Wendall

Filmmaker42

[Jeff Bellune]

Here’s a screenshot of what your project should look like. I used four chapters instead of six.

Encore Screenshot

-Jeff

The Focal Easy Guide to Adobe Encore DVD 2.0

[Wendall Woodbury]

Thanks for taking the time to build a screenshot for me Jeff. Much appreciated.

I noticed that you imported your video as Assets. I have been importing my video as Timeline (recommended in my tutorial.) Although, I did import my ‘moving background’ as an Asset. I don’t know if that makes a difference.

I do have a couple of questions for you. First of all, my flowchart looked exactly like yours, using my old method of creating a DVD. At present however, the main menu & chapters are all still residing in the orphan area. I linked the first 5 chapters, as you suggested, by pickwhipping the End Action down to each ‘beginning’ chapter marker (but skipped the last.) However, when I review the End Action window of each chapter they all name segment #1 and not the main menu as the End Action. Is that correct? Shouldn’t it say Main Menu?

By the way, I did try to make further adjustments by moving the Main Menu in the flow chart up to the disc and then brought up the Intro Clip, then brought the Main Menu back up to the Intro Clip Icon. But, this time (unlike before) the moving backkground video did not show up to the right of the top Icon (as yours in the screenshot does.) Also, when I clicked each chapter boxe, it said my End Action was not set, but of course I did set it.

So, at this point, I’ve backed up to where I left off…setting the End Action of each chapter on the timeline. What must I do next to finish the process?

Sorry this is taking so long.

Wendall

Filmmaker42

[Jeff Bellune]

[Wendall Woodbury] “I linked the first 5 chapters, as you suggested, by pickwhipping the End Action down to each ‘beginning’ chapter marker (but skipped the last.)”

What I actually suggested was that you link the menu buttons to the chapter markers, not the chapter end actions to the chapter markers. Make sure to link every button to its corresponding chapter.

The chapter end actions should all link back to the menu (except for the last chapter).

-Jeff

The Focal Easy Guide to Adobe Encore DVD 2.0

[Wendall Woodbury]

Yes, I did link the menu buttons to the chapter markers earlier (via the LINK button in the Properties panel.

What is confusing me I guess is paragraph 4 of your earlier response:

((Jeff said 4. Put an end action to return to the last menu on each chapter except the last chapter. When the last chapter is finished playing, the end action for the timeline will execute. Remember that if you want to return to the menu after chapter 1 is finished, you put the end action on the chapter marker at the beginning of chapter 1.))

If I pick whip from End Action to the Main Menu in the Project Window OR do the same in the Flowchart, will that do the trick?

Is there anything else to do before trying to Build?

Thanks.

Wendall

Filmmaker42

[Jeff Bellune]

[Wendall Woodbury] “If I pick whip from End Action to the Main Menu in the Project Window OR do the same in the Flowchart, will that do the trick?

Is there anything else to do before trying to Build?”

Nope. You got it. 🙂

Pickwhip from the chapter’s end action in the Properties panel either to the menu in the Project panel, or to the menu in the Flowchart panel, and you’ll be good to go.

-Jeff

The Focal Easy Guide to Adobe Encore DVD 2.0

[Wendall Woodbury]

This is a tough one! Now, only the INTRO CLIP is working upon preview.

I started over with only the MAIN MENU & MOVING BKG VIDEO in the Encore project. Here’s what I did step by step. Obviously, I’ve made a mistake somewhere along the way.

 Imported INTRO CLIP as TIMELINE
 Set INTRO CLIP as 1st PLAY
 Imported VIDEO SEGMENTS as TIMELINE
 Erased all TIMELINES, except INTRO – created NEW TIMELINE & NAMED
 Added all 6 VIDEO SEGMENTS to the NEW TIMELINE
 NAMED & SAVED project
 Clicked MAIN MENU – pick whipped MOTION to VIDEO BKG
 Clicked ANIMATE BUTTONS
 Pickwhipped each of 6 SEGMENTS to CHAPTER MARKER on TIMELINE
 Selected each chapter (in red) – used MONITOR to SET POSTER FRAMES
 Checked CHAPTER NAMES (Set Name From Link selected)
 SAVED
 Selected CHAPTER ONE MARKER & pick-whipped (via Properties Panel)to MAIN MENU in PROJECT PANEL – ALL CHAPTERS DONE THAT WAY, except the last chapter which I left as END ACTION ‘Not Set’)

 Clicked TIMELINE & SET TIMELINE USER OPERATIONS & NONE
 Clicked FILE – RENDER – MOTION MENUS

NOTE: Flowchart shows ONLY the INTRO CLIP…the MAIN MENU & SEGMENTS remain in the ORPHAN AREA – after previewing I tried to BUILD but it shows that I have the following errors.

 INTRO CLIP … End Action not set
 IN EACH SEGMENT 2 errors – Orphan timeline & End Action not set)
 NEW TIMELINE End Action not set

Filmmaker42

[Joe Bowden]

Wendall, it’s really not that tough…

The Flowchart and Check Project dialog are telling you exactly what’s wrong with the project: your First Play timeline (INTRO CLIP) has no end action. That means nothing happens on the disc after INTRO CLIP plays. If you want something to happen, you’ve got to set its end action.

Set your NEW TIMELINE end action to what you want to happen when the timeline has played out.

I guess I don’t understand why you are setting your Timeline User Operations to None. That means your Next/Previous chapter buttons won’t work, and you won’t be able to fast forward, rewind, pause, stop, etc. Not even click go to a menu on the DVD while the timeline plays. Nothing. If that’s what you want, then set the timeline user ops to None. Otherwise, set it to All, or set it to Custom and check which operations you want available when video is playing.