rebuilding menus

Godfrey wrote on 11/3/2010, 9:33 AM
is there any way to save a menu with all the layout and text so that if the source file has to be corrected and then re-imported then there is no need to rebuild the menus?

I know that the buttons are tied into the markers for each chapter but the only way around this seems to be to build transparent boxes and text boxes which are stored and then amnaoevre the new chapter buttons bhind them.

Having come from Ulead dvd workshop 2 where all that was necessary was to drop the new ( corrected)chapters onto boxes saved as part of the project. In that way if there were 8 chapter images it was not necessary to line up the chapters and texts again, re-do the highlights and colours.

Comments

Steve Grisetti wrote on 11/3/2010, 10:02 AM
I'm not exactly sure what you're asking, Godfrey.

Are you saying that you've built your menu but you may need to go back and edit your original video again?

If so, that should have no effect on your DVD Architect project. I believe it should update automatically when you next launch the program, as long as the name of your original video doesn't change.
bStro wrote on 11/3/2010, 10:08 AM
I don't know if this helps in your situation, but you can save a menu as a theme. Then create a new project, add your media, insert a scene selection menu, and apply the newly created theme. You should -- fingers crossed -- see something like what you want, though you may need to make adjustments.

There are two types of themes, positional and grid-based. Without knowing more about your project, I can't say for sure which you want, but I'm guessing positional.

Another possibility is for you to simply navigate into the movie in question (double-click its main button or a chapter button), go to Track Media, and change the sources there to link to your corrected video and audio files. If you have added or deleted chapters, you will need to adjust the position of chapter markers for this video's timeline. Note that if you have the same number of chapters as before, you might not need to do anything. Buttons created by the Insert Scene Selection Menu tool are tied to chapter numbers, not chapter positions on the timeline.

Rob
Godfrey wrote on 11/4/2010, 2:49 AM
Thanks Guys.

Just what we I needed to know.

Are you saying that if we replace the original source video with the same number of chapters Architect will then dump those chapters onto the same buttons with the original atttributes eg text only and no image? That would save alot of work

We have two other problems.When justifyling text - say left- it always seems to end up with a jagged edge. How can we avoid that?

and we seem to have to set each button individually with text mask highlights. Is there no way to apply that to all buttons on a menu?
Steve Grisetti wrote on 11/4/2010, 7:01 AM
I can't promise that, if you re-edit your video, your chapter markers are all going to move into the same positions automatically. You'll probably need to adjust their positions.

But button links to the videos themselves will probably still work.
Steve Mann wrote on 11/4/2010, 7:47 AM
Click on "Load Markers" to reposition the markers to the new edit. (Page 78 of the manual)
bStro wrote on 11/4/2010, 11:35 AM
When justifyling text - say left- it always seems to end up with a jagged edge. How can we avoid that?

Jagged on which side? If on the right, well, no. ;-) If on the left, make sure that your textboxes are aligned to one anther. To do that, select all of them (you can "draw" a box around them with your mouse to select them or Ctrl+Click each one if there are other objects in the way). Then hit the Align Left button on the toolbar to the left of the menu workspace.

and we seem to have to set each button individually with text mask highlights. Is there no way to apply that to all buttons on a menu?

Select them all as described above and change their highlight style in the Button Properties window. Whatever you change will be applied to all selected buttons.

Rob
Godfrey wrote on 11/5/2010, 5:20 AM
Thanks Rob