1. When I am modifying a custom template for a different episode of the same show, I have to save it three and four times in the design process because PD has a tendency to crash as I am making the template and I lose my work. Then, when I go back to delete the intermediate templates once the final is finished, the menu designer has a tendency to keep defaulting back to the final and deleting the wrong template, usually the final! Very frustrating to say the least!
2. I just spent an hour making a custom template, only to have menu designer delete it when I tried to rename it. This too has happened more than once. I highlighted the template, clicked rename. When I clicked the delete button to remove letters in the highlighted title text, the designer deletes the template. To my chagrin, I clicked the delete button twice because I wanted to remove several letters in the first word, and PD deleted the current template as well as defaulting back to the first template in the custom templates folder and deleted the first template too. Other programs at least ask you first to make sure you want to delete a complete template before performing the operation.
3. As noted in a previous post, the disc designer has issues not highlighting text links and navigation buttons, even though I click on the appropriate commands in the button menus. For some reason, the highlight colors do not carry over into the preview or the disc burn. The only way I have found around this problem, is to rebuild a menu from scratch every time. Not very time/cost effective.
4. Why does the alignment on the text links always go out of alignment whenever I reopen the template for editing?
5. Why does the disc designer not default to apply to all pages instead of defaulting to only applying a particular feature to just the first page, and having you click the apply to all pages button? I can understand the current page default when initially working with a template, but when you have to check the box every time on templates that are already built, it seems the program should default to previous settings for a template to make menu editing easier.
6. I am not able to delete images used on a previous template that I am modifying for a new episode. When I try to click and delete, the image stays. If I click on the "deleted" image again, PD crashes. Consequently, I often have menu templates for a series of shows with menus having two and three images from previous episodes hidden in the background. This has to pose size and memory issues which causes crashes.
7. There is no feature to allow background image changes in text menus as exists with thumbnail menus. The only real workaround is to add an image and expand the borders to cover the menu screen. But then, this poses annoying issues with editing text on the same screen as the designer has a nasty habit of giving the image precedence even when you try to put the image in the background. Usually I have to resort to the Object Menu to navigate between text objects. If I wait until the end to add the image and add all my text first, I can usually forestall a few PD crashes and the above noted navigation headaches. However, I invariably need to adjust the text around the image, and the crashes, alignment annoyances and navigation gymnastics ensue. Heaven forbid, I need to open, close and reopen the template more than once; and this does not take into account all the intermediate templates I have to make between the first and final versions and the gauntlet I run when trying to sort out which templates are keepers and which are to be deleted, not to mention having to rename the good ones (which I cross my fingers and hope I perform correctly so the designer does not delete it).
Another long post on annoying features with PD6. If I am doing something the hard way, will someone please tell me something easier. I am spending way too much time remaking templates, troubleshooting the program, writing on forums and justifying the expense of this program.
Jim
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at May 30. 2008 15:42