Create new menu template

retpgmr

Newbie Location: Eatonville, WA Joined: Jun 06, 2012 20:26 Messages: 15 Offline

Solved by

Feb 03, 2013 15:30

1. Project ready for menu
2. Went out to Create Disc
3. Clicked on Menu Preferences which brought up Menu Desiger default template with the Root Menu showing.
4. I want to delete Item 3, so I selected it (see print screen 1)
5. How the heck do I delete it? I tried the Delete key, that didn’t work. I went to the Edit Menu and tried Cut and Remove and neither one of them deleted the highlighted item.
6. Not being able to accomplish anything on the Root Menu I went to the Titles/Chapters Menu (see print screen 2).
7. I don’t want Item 1 to have anything but the name of my chapter and I want the text to be what gets highlighted when selecting a chapter to go directly to, so I tried to delete the little window with the picture of the bicyclist in it by selecting it (see print screen 3) and pressing the Delete key and trying the Edit menu’s Cut or Remove and once again nothing happens. So I previewed my video with the little picture and that is what gets highlighted when scrolling through the menu choices. That isn't what I want. I want the chapter text to be highlighted and don't want a picture of the beginning of the chapter. I used to use Pinnacle Studio and I was able to do just what I wanted but can't seem to figure out how to do it in PowerDirector.
8. I’m getting very frustrated. I want to create my own menu template from scratch and am finding it nearly impossible to do. Can someone please help me by showing me the steps that are involved to creating my own menu or maybe there is some tutorial somewhere that could help me.

Here is my system information:
• Windows 7 Professional (64 bit)
• PowerDirector 11.0.0.2516
• SR – VDE130107-01
• PowerDirector 10 is also installed on this computer
• Virus source – Microsoft Security Essentials


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Description	Print screen 1
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Filename	Print Screen 3.png	Download
Description	Print screen 3
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James1

Senior Contributor Location: Surrey, B.C., Canada Joined: Jun 10, 2010 16:20 Messages: 1783 Offline

Feb 03, 2013 17:08

Hi,
Here is a quick text tutorial (my way)..you have to be familiar with the screen tho').
In disc creation screen there is a Tab that looks like Paint swatches "Create Menu"...select that.
You have now a Black preview screen with default title and Item #.
On the top of the preview there are various options..a film strip with a small+ sign..that lets you import background images, import your image and select stretch to fit (or appropriate aspect). This is for "Root menu")..but the same applies to Chapter/Title menu.
Select the navigation buttons and then select the 'cloud/frame" image this gives the design menu , likewise with the title gives you font styles.
The same idea in the chapter/Titles design.
If you have designed your own stuff just import your stuff.
when finished save the template, (it show up in custom templates)..
Now for your project find that template and apply to all pages here is where you rename stuff as you prefer.
JIm
p.s. Hope that helps some of the templates cannot be modified...
edited: attach Pdf

Filename	Disc Menu Tutor.pdf	Download
Description	qucicky tutor
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This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at Feb 04. 2013 02:02

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Xerox

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

Feb 04, 2013 02:40

Item 3 on the root menu is used only if you have created subtitles in the Subtitle Room and the subtitles are for disc. Item 3 will be blank if you don't have any subtitles. Item 2 on the root menu is used only if you have 2 or more chapters, otherwise item 2 is blank. Item 1 is for the "Play" button.

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retpgmr

Newbie Location: Eatonville, WA Joined: Jun 06, 2012 20:26 Messages: 15 Offline

Feb 07, 2013 13:48

First let me say I really appreciate all of the help I have received from everyone while I try to learn how to do things in PowerDirector.

I have another question.

On the Titles/Chapters Menu screen - I added a button and changed the default layout of the thumbnail and text by resizing the thumbnail and placing it in front of the text. I also changed the font type, face, shadow of the text. Now I want to create 4 more buttons that look exactly like the first one.

I selected the thumbnail and text together, went to the Edit tab at the top of the screen and tried to Copy the selected items but that function was greyed out. Am I doing something wrong? All I want is to make sure I have 5 buttons that look exactly alike. It seems to me that I should be able to duplicate items and not have to do the same resizing, font type, font face, and font shadowing changes 5 times.

Please help.

James1

Senior Contributor Location: Surrey, B.C., Canada Joined: Jun 10, 2010 16:20 Messages: 1783 Offline

Feb 07, 2013 14:38

Hi,
Could you post a screen shot of the preview window, it would give a better idea what you have. From what you have described you can only edit one item at a time.
Now I am not sure how you created the button, but PD when you add 'Buttons' and have 4 chapters the button you applied is the same for all chapters..you can't mix button styles.
Jim Intel i7-2600@3.4Gz Geforce 560ti-1GB Graphic accelerator, windows 7 Premium 12GB memory

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retpgmr

Newbie Location: Eatonville, WA Joined: Jun 06, 2012 20:26 Messages: 15 Offline

Feb 08, 2013 12:54

Quote: Hi,
Could you post a screen shot of the preview window, it would give a better idea what you have. From what you have described you can only edit one item at a time.
Now I am not sure how you created the button, but PD when you add 'Buttons' and have 4 chapters the button you applied is the same for all chapters..you can't mix button styles.
Jim

As you can see from the first print screen attachment, I have 1 chapter shown in the layout I want for each button on the Title/Chapter menu. I want to duplicate this button on this screen 4 times so all 5 chapters from my video are accessible from this menu. On the second print screen you can see I have selected both the thumbnail & the text then clicked on the Edit drop down menu at the top of the screen and the Copy function is greyed out and not available for use.


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James1

Senior Contributor Location: Surrey, B.C., Canada Joined: Jun 10, 2010 16:20 Messages: 1783 Offline

Feb 08, 2013 14:51

Hi,
This may be a long post and graphic intense.
The screen shots you supplied the image is a placeholder (not actual button). I am attching a PDF file
with some description, maybe it will help.

Jim

Filename	Chapter creating.pdf	Download
Description	Chapter Creating
Filesize	1100 Kbytes
Downloaded:	430 time(s)

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Feb 08. 2013 15:22

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ynotfish

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

Feb 08, 2013 15:16

Hey Jim -

I like the look of some of your customised thumnail buttons & masks. Good job! They are customised, aren't they?

retpgmr -

It is frustrating working your way through the Create Menu process. Many users, I'm sure either don't bother or just modify existing templates. You've given yourself a challenge.

In your Chapter/Scenes Menu page, the thumbnail buttons need to be inserted separately, by dragging them into place, then resizing & re-positioning. They cannot be copied & pasted.

Cheers - Tony


Filename	Menu Buttons.png	Download
Description
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This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Feb 08. 2013 15:17

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James1

Senior Contributor Location: Surrey, B.C., Canada Joined: Jun 10, 2010 16:20 Messages: 1783 Offline

Feb 08, 2013 15:27

Hi Tony,
Yes I created quite a few so far from scratch using my vector drawing program it lets me design using a 1920X1080 size and I can preview the look.. I just modified my last response and attached a quicky pdf maybe that will also help.
I am not an experienced PD user like some of the members here, but I try to help based on my experience as a novice.
Jim

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Feb 08. 2013 15:30

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Frederick

Newbie Joined: Feb 17, 2013 06:02 Messages: 1 Offline

Feb 17, 2013 06:09

"Many users, I'm sure either don't bother or just modify existing templates"

This is the problem. It's not the company. It's those darn users.

After having a pleasant experience putting together a movie, I've started (trying to start) menu creation. What a disaster.

It's like the best software engineers put the main program together, and the janitors threw some junk together and called it "Menus."

Never seen such a difference in intuition between two parts of the same software suite. PLEASE have those who wrote the main program do something about that horrible Menu subprogram.

retpgmr

Newbie Location: Eatonville, WA Joined: Jun 06, 2012 20:26 Messages: 15 Offline

Feb 17, 2013 13:16

I totally agree.

I'm a retired computer programmer and if I had ever produced such terrible code as exists in the Menu subprogram I would have never lasted the 25 years in the industry.

ynotfish

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

Feb 17, 2013 15:46

Guys -

I don't disagree with you at all about PD's Menu module. It is the weakest link in an otherwise strong chain. I certainly wasn't saying it's the users' fault. My point was that many users are so baffled by PD's Menu module, they resort (as I generally) do to modifying an existing template to save work... you can't copy & paste, items have to be added & formatted separately... it's clumsy.

Quote: On the Titles/Chapters Menu screen - I added a button and changed the default layout of the thumbnail and text by resizing the thumbnail and placing it in front of the text. I also changed the font type, face, shadow of the text. Now I want to create 4 more buttons that look exactly like the first one.

On the menu pages, no item can overlap another. Each button & label needs to be in a separate space (like in the screen shot I posted above).

Once you've formatted a title, you can save that (font, colour, size etc) as a preset to apply to other titles.

Here's a basic guide from PD8 - process hasn't changed much http://directorzone.cyberlink.com/posts/list/2589.page#9225

Cheers - Tony

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