Vista - DVD Maker and scenes

'I'm having a problem customizing the DVD maker. It seems to make it own
scenes (usually up to 6) but I would like to have more control over the
scenes, what is placed inside the menus, and similar. Is this beyond the
scope of the program or am I missing something?

To define chapters in DVD Maker, you need to make each chapter a separate
project in Movie Maker. You can then add all the projects to DVD Maker and
it will treat each as a different chapter.

Unfortunately, you cannot add a title to each chapter in the menu
without making it part of the video. This is an incredibly lame omission on
the part of Microsoft.


"Rus787" <Rus787@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8203F7AE-64A8-4678-96DF-31E790A23611@microsoft.com...
> 'I'm having a problem customizing the DVD maker. It seems to make it own
> scenes (usually up to 6) but I would like to have more control over the
> scenes, what is placed inside the menus, and similar. Is this beyond the
> scope of the program or am I missing something?

On Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:15:44 -0700, "Evan Barr" <X@Y.com> wrote:

>To define chapters in DVD Maker, you need to make each chapter a separate
>project in Movie Maker. You can then add all the projects to DVD Maker and
>it will treat each as a different chapter.
>
>Unfortunately, you cannot add a title to each chapter in the menu
>without making it part of the video. This is an incredibly lame omission on
>the part of Microsoft.

And then some. Crude doesn't even come close.

My opinion, at minimum any DVD Authoring application should be able to
generate unlimited chapters up to the spec max,(forget what that is)
and allow you to design the menu system if desired by hand, from
scratch using third part graphic applications if you so desire without
restricted to using some included cheesy templates to avoid the cookie
cutter look.

Also chapter thumbnails should have the option of being any linked
image or text, or any frame of the linked video and if desired by user
to be animated and loop a range of frames on the main or sub menu
page. You should also have full control of the end action when
embedded links are clicked.

Since Microsoft didn't see fit to include DVD Maker in Vista Business
I can't tell if DVD Maker is capable of any of this basic stuff. Is
it?

It is not. Some of the default templates produce rather stunning menus with
multple video loops but I find it all completely useless because you can't
even add text to the sub-menus. In some cases, I have chapters that start
out the same so the video clips in the menu end up looking the same. I know
the inf format allows you to specify the start and end frame of each clip
but DVD Maker is targeted to the "one DVD per year" crowd and contains
almost no settings in the entire app. (I'm part of the "five DVDs per year"
crowd and would like to have more control.)

So, do you know of any programs that can do what you said?


"Adam Albright" <AA@ABC.net> wrote in message
news:1b3va3pcfaj5i3i33o0d9ia3pec6p7caik@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:15:44 -0700, "Evan Barr" <X@Y.com> wrote:
>
>>To define chapters in DVD Maker, you need to make each chapter a separate
>>project in Movie Maker. You can then add all the projects to DVD Maker
>>and
>>it will treat each as a different chapter.
>>
>>Unfortunately, you cannot add a title to each chapter in the menu
>>without making it part of the video. This is an incredibly lame omission
>>on
>>the part of Microsoft.
>
> And then some. Crude doesn't even come close.
>
> My opinion, at minimum any DVD Authoring application should be able to
> generate unlimited chapters up to the spec max,(forget what that is)
> and allow you to design the menu system if desired by hand, from
> scratch using third part graphic applications if you so desire without
> restricted to using some included cheesy templates to avoid the cookie
> cutter look.
>
> Also chapter thumbnails should have the option of being any linked
> image or text, or any frame of the linked video and if desired by user
> to be animated and loop a range of frames on the main or sub menu
> page. You should also have full control of the end action when
> embedded links are clicked.
>
> Since Microsoft didn't see fit to include DVD Maker in Vista Business
> I can't tell if DVD Maker is capable of any of this basic stuff. Is
> it?
>

Thank you guys for simply confirming what I figured: that stock Windows DVD
authoring is really lame.

I had very little issue with splicing home movies with movie maker and
imported my vids perfectly, but to get my vids into a nice DVD with good
menus have been a pain.

I have done a little research into Abobe Premiere Elements 3.0 (just became
Vista-ized) and like what they claim. I've looked into others, but I am
familiar with Adobe and use their other products. Do you know of any
community forums that deal with 3.0?

Thank you for your help.

"EvanBarr" wrote:

> It is not. Some of the default templates produce rather stunning menus with
> multple video loops but I find it all completely useless because you can't
> even add text to the sub-menus. In some cases, I have chapters that start
> out the same so the video clips in the menu end up looking the same. I know
> the inf format allows you to specify the start and end frame of each clip
> but DVD Maker is targeted to the "one DVD per year" crowd and contains
> almost no settings in the entire app. (I'm part of the "five DVDs per year"
> crowd and would like to have more control.)
>
> So, do you know of any programs that can do what you said?
>
>
> "Adam Albright" <AA@ABC.net> wrote in message
> news:1b3va3pcfaj5i3i33o0d9ia3pec6p7caik@4ax.com...
> > On Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:15:44 -0700, "Evan Barr" <X@Y.com> wrote:
> >
> > Since Microsoft didn't see fit to include DVD Maker in Vista Business
> > I can't tell if DVD Maker is capable of any of this basic stuff. Is
> > it?
> >

On Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:57:32 -0700, "EvanBarr" <X@Y.com> wrote:

>It is not. Some of the default templates produce rather stunning menus with
>multple video loops but I find it all completely useless because you can't
>even add text to the sub-menus. In some cases, I have chapters that start
>out the same so the video clips in the menu end up looking the same. I know
>the inf format allows you to specify the start and end frame of each clip
>but DVD Maker is targeted to the "one DVD per year" crowd and contains
>almost no settings in the entire app. (I'm part of the "five DVDs per year"
>crowd and would like to have more control.)
>
>So, do you know of any programs that can do what you said?

Same one I always recommend:

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/...=446&PageID=73

You would want the version that comes with DVD burning support. I've
seen three different versions in stores and on the web.

While it is hard to see in the below image DVD authoring in Sony
products is easy and professional at the same time. Basically you have
three windows in the work space. You drag and drop files into the
middle window, which would be an already edited and FINISHED ready to
go DVD compliant MPEG-2 file for example. You then work on linkage and
desired features in the right window selecting what parameters you
want to add/control. The left window just builds a project tree as you
go along. Comes with a built-in on screen remote control so you can
play as you edit to see the results of your progress in real time.

You can use included templates or design from scratch making the
thumbnails any size or position or arrangement you want them.

My own personal preference is I typically have between three and eight
separate vids with thumbnails of each on a single main menu page with
each thumbnail animated playing some menu background song that plays
in an endless loop until a thumbnail is clicked. You can if you want
arrange in a series of sub menu pages. You can also add text which
itself can become a "hot" clickable area that leads to something else.

Another nice feature is a size to fit option so if you get carried
away and end up with too much to fit on a single DVD it will
recompress selected files part of your project or the entire project
so it does fit on a single DVD. While it looks a bit geeky, with a lot
of controls it really is easy to learn.

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/...tect4_Full.jpg

I would suggest you download and play with the sample to see if it
meets your needs. Usual cautions, I'm speaking from using the full
version that comes with the Vegas suite, I haven't actually played
with the studio version or some features may be different so try
before you buy.