How to change Root menu thumbnail

G8Footage

Newbie Joined: Oct 15, 2009 04:32 Messages: 2 Offline

Solved by

Oct 15, 2009 05:00

I set an mpg clip on the timeline, then went to Create Disc. The first frame of the mpg clip is automatically used as the root menu thumbnail. I now realize I don't want that frame as the thumbnail, but no matter what I try to do, the first frame remains as the thumbnail.

I went back to Edit and created a chapter, and then set the chapter thumbnail to the frame I wanted, but when I went back to Create Disc, the first frame is still set as the root menu thumbnail. Powerdirector doesn't recognize that I made a change to the chapter's thumbnail.

For a test I started a new simple project. Before going to Create Disc I created a chapter and set the chapter thumbnail as the one I wanted. This works fine - the chapter thumbnail is automatically set as the root menu thumbnail when I go to "create disc." However, if I now try to go back and edit the chapter thumbnail to a different frame, the original frame remains the root menu's thumbnail.

The first time you go to Create Disc, the first frame of your project, or the selected thumbnail of your first chapter is written into the script as the root menu's thumbnail. But if you go back and try to change it - you can't.

As I'm explaining this I wonder why there isn't an option to set the root menu thumbnail on the template as easily as you can change the text and move the text boxes...?

I described a simple project above to make my point. Unfortunately this happened to me on my most complex project to date. I'd like to know if there was a way to change the root menu's thumbnail after it has been set - even if I have to find the reference to it in the .pds file's script.

Any takers on this one...

Xerox

Contributor Location: California, USA Joined: Aug 09, 2009 01:36 Messages: 446 Offline

Oct 15, 2009 07:23

Greetings Agnew.

The title thumbnail is set in a different location, which I just discovered after reading your post.

1. Click on "Create Disk" button.
2. On the "Content" tab, hover your mouse over the title thumbnail to make the Play button visible.
3. Click the Play button.
4. When the title starts playing, click the Stop button on the navigation control.
5. Slide the frame pointer to the frame you want as the title thumbnail.
6. Click the button to the left of the "Mute Volume" button to "Set the current frame as the title thumbnail."

Hope that helps.
Gateway DX4380, AMD A8-5500 Quad Core 3.2GHz with ATI Radeon HD 7560D; 16GB RAM; 1 TB SATA 7200 RPM; Windows 8 Pro 64-bit; PDR11, PDVD12.

ynotfish

Senior Contributor Location: N.S.W. Australia Joined: May 08, 2009 02:06 Messages: 9977 Offline

Oct 15, 2009 12:34

Well done Xerox -

I had no idea you could do it that way... an excellent tip that many of us would probably never have discovered for ourselves.

Cheers - Tony
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R. J.

Newbie Joined: Oct 15, 2009 18:39 Messages: 1 Offline

Oct 15, 2009 18:58

I'm having a problem with the root menu thumbnail. After I set the slider to the frame I want, and the thumb nail is changed, and I try to save the project the program stops working. The work around I've been using is to make this my last change and then burn the project before I save this last change. I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem.

G8Footage

Newbie Joined: Oct 15, 2009 04:32 Messages: 2 Offline

Oct 16, 2009 01:23

Really good tip Xerox - Just what I was looking for. I was stuck in my own way of thinking since by default PD8 chooses your title thumbnail as a projects first frame, or the thumbnail that is set for chapter one while working with the timeline (in Edit mode). Great that they let us change the thumbnail for the title menu while authoring...

skmami

Newbie Joined: Sep 30, 2013 16:48 Messages: 6 Offline

Oct 31, 2013 15:23

Awesome tip. You saved my day and project.

Thanks

Jade

Newbie Joined: Mar 16, 2014 23:28 Messages: 1 Offline

Mar 17, 2014 01:20

I'm using PowerDirector 12 and I followed the step to change the thumbnail of the video to a particular frame in the video using the following steps mentioned above:

Click on "Create Disk" button.
2. On the "Content" tab, hover your mouse over the title thumbnail to make the Play button visible.
3. Click the Play button.
4. When the title starts playing, click the Stop button on the navigation control.
5. Slide the frame pointer to the frame you want as the title thumbnail.
6. Click the button to the left of the "Mute Volume" button to "Set the current frame as the title thumbnail."

This works great. The thumbnail in PowerDirector changes to the new frame I selected. However, when I go to "Produce Video" and convert it into an MP4 format, the thumbnail doesn't stick. It reverts back to picking some frame early into the video, not the first frame however, for the thumbnail. I had originally done a frame capture and moved the frame I wanted to the beginning of my video thinking that the MP4 format would utilize the first frame for the thumbnail. It doesn't. This is when I discovered this post and thought this would fix it. However, for some reason, the conversion to MP4 isn't keeping this portion of the editing intact. Does anyone know how to fix this? I'm creating a library of videos on a website and really would like the videos to have a thumbnail with the presenters not having strange expressions, etc.

Hopefully, someone has figured out a work around. Thanks...

sarah.craig

Newbie Joined: Nov 07, 2017 10:28 Messages: 4 Offline

Nov 07, 2017 11:48

How do I do this if I'm trying to Produce an MP4? I'm not making a CD but creating a file that will then be uploaded into PPT and Sway. Currently, the thumbnail makes me look like a crazy person lol

Please help!