[Tim Kurkoski]

Yes, each sequence will be it’s own comp. And you can create your own output module for the render queue and set it as the default. Then all you have to do is shift+select all of the comps, drag them into the render queue, and hit Render. Poof, you’re done.

[Tim Kurkoski]

To restate Pauls’ post:
Premiere Pro can edit QT files on the timeline. However, because Premiere Pro doesn’t handle QT natively, there may be performance problem with playback of the QT files. If you take the time to render the timeline, instead of relying on real-time playback, you shouldn’t have any problems.

Some capture cards use QT natively, so if you install one of those and use the settings for the card, you may be able to get real-time performance through the card.

Now, to be honest, depending on what codec the QT files are in, there’s a good chance you won’t have to worry much about performance. You may not be able to get as many layers of real-time as you would with DV, but Premiere Pro handles QT reasonably well.

[Tim Kurkoski]

Nope. There’s no batch processing in Premiere Pro. AE can do this for you. If you prefer the editing tools in Premiere, you could start there, then import the Premiere project into AE and send them all to the render queue.

[Tim Kurkoski]

Look at Sonic’s eDVD. It comes with a license to distribute the Interactual player, and will integrate with VOB files exported from Encore and other authoring apps.

https://www.sonic.com/products/Professional/eDVD/quicklook.aspx

Other than that, you can look into licensing other DVD player software to include on the discs. You can include the installer via Encore’s DVD-ROM folder option, but f you want it to autoplay on a PC, you’ll need to export to a DVD folder and build the disc with the extra content using another application.

[Tim Kurkoski]

Yes and yes. You’re at the mercy of the viewer and their DVD player. Even if it’s letterboxed 4:3, they may decide to use the “zoom in” feature. Some people just can’t live without utilizing every last pixel in their display. Don’t get me started on the time my father figured out how to use the zoom control on his DVD player…

[Tim Kurkoski]

Well, almost. Whether or not you use a loop point depends on how you set things up. There are two ways to do a menu with an animated intro:

1. Create a timeline that has an animation. That timeline’s end action is a menu that is exactly the same frame as the last frame of the animation. (This is what I think you’ve been doing.) The downside to this is that you can’t have audio that bridges from the animation to the menu. There’s no need to set a loop point with this setup.

2. Create the animation, but end it with a 30 sec. (or however long you want) freeze frame of the menu. This whole animation will be the background video of a motion menu. Set the loop point to where the animation begins and the still menu starts. The benefit of this is that you can have audio crossing over from the animation to the menu. But you’ll also need to import a separate PSD file that has your buttons, and start your menu from that, because the motion background can’t encapsulate that kind of data. (Likely, you’ll have created this PSD file before starting work in AE, so it’s not that big of a deal. But remember to hide all the layers in the PSD but the button highlights.)

I hope this clears things up a little. Again, the benefit of using AE 6.5 is that it has functions for creating the Encore button layer structure in the AE comp, and then (a still frame of) the comp can be exported as a layered Photoshop file. So technically you don’t need to even open Photoshop to get this done, though personally I would still start there.

[Tim Kurkoski]

If you create a disc image from your Encore project (File > Build DVD > DVD Image), then yes, you could store that on a DVD and bring it back later to burn an actual movie DVD from it. Encore can do it, and so can other DVD burning apps like Nero. But you won’t be able to make further changes to the project with Encore. A DVD Image is like a burned disc- it’s the final product.

If you’re talking about simply backing up a project file (and all of your assets) to a DVD, then you could edit it later in Encore. But Encore gets pretty picky when you move the project files around, so I wouldn’t recommend it.

[Tim Kurkoski]

shanan- When you say “linked via buttons”, do you mean buttons on a menu, or are you using buttons on the remote control?

There are some limits as to how many buttons you can have on a single menu. I think the limit is 36, although 16:9 menus are even more limited (18 buttons?).

If you’re using overrides, Encore also seems to have some sort of internal limit on the number of buttons that can link to a single timeline. (For example, if you have a menu transition video play when each button is pressed, then the timeline plays.) If memory serves, the limit was 42. If you have more than 42 buttons with overrides linked to a single timeline, it plays the timelines in the wrong order.

[Tim Kurkoski]

The audio is the problem. MPEG audio is only allowed as a part of the DVD spec on PAL systems, and even then it’s an optional codec and may not be supported by all players. Use PCM audio instead, and if possible turn multiplexing off. This will result in separate audio and video files, which is the better way to go.

Also- the “I frame rate” (odd way to put it, usually it’s described as GOP length or N frames) is the distance between I frames in the MPEG file. I frames are the “whole” frames, the ones that have no temporal compression applied to them. 15 is average for a DVD, I believe 18 is maximum.

[Tim Kurkoski]

The Encore related features are in AE 6.5. Since you only have Encore 1.0, I’m assuming that you also only have AE 6.0.

There’s nothing special about making a motion menu. What you have to remember is that the motion part is really just a background movie file. It’s not any different than preparing a background in Photoshop. (One thing that might help with your workflow is if you export the last frame of your AE comp as a PSD file. Comp > Export Frame > Photoshop Layers.)

The usual workflow would be to create all of your buttons in Photoshop, import the PSD file to AE as a comp, add your animation, and then export from there as an AVI or MPEG. Then take the PSD file (which has your button highlights) and the new animated background into Encore and combine them there.

This tutorial at Adobe’s site may help, though it may refer to AE 6.5/Encore 1.5 specific features.

Doog’s tutorials may also be helpful.

And no, you can’t edit a motion background for a menu within Encore. You can always edit the static content (buttons, text) that goes on top of the background, just like any other menu, but you can’t animate things like you can in AE.