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Single VTS example:
This example proceeds from
homogeneous
videos, as one has e.g. with series. It is assumed that the videos are
already
multiplexed with mplex – f 8 (usually set as
post processing step in
mpeg2schnitt or cuttermaran) and the authoring engine is set to dvdauthor.
The Def. Settings (for this example) may look
like this (Use Titlesets=off), and use your output directory
For the settings in 'Menu' set all transparency values to 0, set
Default
HighLight properties to "Frame"
Keep the rest as it is.
You can see the most important
current settings also in the status bar of the main
window:
For this example another
background picture is selected
By default GFD uses automatically the file default.jpg, this can be
overwritten
with any own JPG picture if you want your own default background.
With right-click on the icon
below "Background" you can open a selection window for
pictures
in the formats JPG, BMP, PNG and GIF. The selected picture is scaled
automatically to 720x576 pixel (or 720x480 for NTSC). Alternatively you
can also simply right-click on the menu background, select 'Menu
properties' in the
context menu and select an image file in
the 'Menu and Background properties' dialog.
Within this context menu you
may also select an audio file if you like menus with background music.
This is shown in the next example.
Also the settings for background animations (if animated menus is
switched
on in the default settings) and the menu 'behavior'
(pause and post action - necessary for 'Autostart DVDs') may
be changed in
this context menu. In addition you may set
the HighLight/Activated properties and change
the raster size and blurring for the actual menu. For this
example just keep the defaults.
Then the path to the videos is selected
Navigation in the directory list box with double clicks!
The source window will
automatically list all found videos with the extensions: mpv, m1v, m2v
and mpg. If you want to use VOB files, these must be renamed to mpg.
See Notes to the source
material.
Now you can drag & drop the videos on the (main
menu-) background.
Then the 'Video and Audio Files' dialog opens
Here you can add subtitles, chapter marks
and (for elementary video streams) additional audio files. For
audio files and subtitles (within the subtitle format dialog) the
language may also be selected. The language can be set for ready muxed
material too, but you must know which stream (number) has what language
within the mpg file.
Furthermore some characteristics (size, aspect...) of the video are
indicated. In
addition it is checked if a ready muxed mpg stream contains 'Navigation
Packs' (Mux OK=Yes). Without the navigation packs dvdauthor
can't handle the file.
Elementary streams are muxed with the necessary navigation packs (by
mplex with - f 8 option). Since
version 0.75 you may also change the video file. WARNING: This will
reset all other entries (Audio,
Subtitle, Chapters...). MuxMan multiplexes the files 'on the fly' during authoring.
If you have elementary mpeg2 material, you may shrink it to a
given size. See: Notes on shrinking
The calculated Approx. Total Size (MB) is a
guess only for elementary streams. For mp2 audio this guess is correct
usually with an error of less than 1%. For other audio formats this
error may be higher. Subtitlestreams are not taken into
account!
(I have no idea how to calculate the final size for them...). If you
use shrinking, the result is calculated from the requantized video
stream.
Chapters can be read in either from a suitable file
(in
the format hour:minute:second.milliseconds,
hour:minute:second.frames whereby only hour and minute are mandatory or frame numbers only), or edited
(or
computed by automatic), or set 'visually' with the extended Chapter
editor ChapEditGFD. There it is also possible to create chapter images
or clips.
Autocreate # Chapters:
Here you can set a number of chapters, whereby these
are distributed evenly over the running time of the film
(start = 00:00:00.000 counts also as a chapter!).
Create A Chapter for each
## minutes:
Thus all ## minutes a chapter
mark is created up to the end of the
film.
Example: Autocreate 4 Chapters:
In the Default Settings tab Videos + Images you can set up your defaults for chapters, then the chapters are calculated automatically each time you insert a movie.
Click on OK and in the video file dialog likewise on OK.
Afterwards you find in the main window a button
for the film and in the explorer view also some things
happened…
If you want to restart the 'Video and Audio Files'
dialog (to change/add chapters or start
ChapEditGFD
right
click on the
icon (first node
below Film1).
The text for the FilmButton is created from
the video name without underscores and without file extension (here
mpg). This Button can be positioned now with the mouse
(if Use raster is
switched on, in 16 pixels steps, otherwise 'pixel-exactly'). With a
right-click you can change the text or the character font,
color... In order to enter text with
several lines, use SHIFT Return. For text with several lines you can
also choose
whether the text should be left aligned, right aligned or centered.
Example:
You may change also the function (Action), but there you should know
exactly, what you do! The
settings in 'Specials' are described in the next example.
In the next step a screen shot of the movie
is added. With double click on the video in the source window
or right click on
in the
explorer view
a preview window is opened, where you have
the possibility to store pictures from the video. The indicated time is
not always correct
(with ready multiplexed streams nearly, with elementary video
streams rather not, since Windows computes then
the time by assuming a constant bit
rate, what with MPEG however does not fit!) If there someone has a
better solution, am I always open for improvements! Or just use ChapEditGFD.
The preview window looks like this:
I think this window is more or less
self-describing. It is important that one can only save screen shots, if
the video is in the "pause" condition. Thus after click on
you need
to click on , otherwise
the Screenshot button is grayed out. With the Scrollbar you can "scan"
through the video".
After you have clicked on Screenshot the saved
picture is indicated in the Images window.
The filename is created from the video name
and the correspondent time (as shown in the Actual Time)
You may save as many picture as you like.
Close the preview window again.
To add an image you may chose one of the following possibilities:
- Select 'Insert - Image' from the menu bar
- Right click on the menu background and select
'Insert: Image' from the context menu
Click on the button
in the tool bar 'Insert'
Either way the mouse pointer is changed to cross hairs (if the mouse is
over the menu background). Select the position on the
menu background where the image should be
added and click again.
You will see the "Add image" dialog.
Click on a file to see a small preview in
the right lower corner.
With the buttons OwnDir,
SourceDir, OutDir, TempDir and LastDir you may switch between the
'usual' folders for pictures. If the picture was created with GFDDSView
or ChapEditGFD you will always find it in the folder: 'OutDir'.
You may select the size of the image now, or
change it afterwards with a right click on the inserted image. The
pictures are automatically scaled to the selected size. If you are using
pictures from other sources, aspect ratio will probably not be correct.
In this case use the custom size.
Since Version 0.93 more resize functions are available:
- The actual Size Presets are dependent on the selected 'Aspect
Ratio for Size Presets' in the Def. Settings.
- Within the drop down list below 'Aspect= ...' you will find additional
size presets which depend on the size and aspect ration of the original
picture. If the original picture is smaller than the max. size (700x536
for PAL, 700 * 440 for NTSC) the first entry is the original size
(otherwise only smaller presets are available).
The other preset sizes are calculated from the 'usual' size presets but
keeping the aspect ratio of the original picture.
Since Version 0.98 you may also scale 'proportional'. If proportional
is on, the image height is calculated automatically (according to the
aspect ratio before the change) if the image width is changed and vice
versa.
Example of the resize dialog (right click):
Pictures may be positioned like
buttons by
dragging them with the left mouse button.
Maybe now is a good time to save
your project.
You may also add free text labels (as title,
for copyright notes…). The procedure is quite the same as
adding pictures (as well as for animations, free buttons and menus):
- Select 'Insert - Text (Label)' from the menu bar
- Right click on the menu background and select 'Insert: Text' from the
context menu
- Click on the
button in the tool bar 'Insert'
After a click on the appropriate position on
the menu background a dialog opens.
Edit your text and click on OK. The same dialog as
for buttons is used, but without 'Action' and 'Specials'.
Do the described steps for all your videos.
To delete a film from the project, select
the film in the explorer view (it has to be the last one!)
and push "del" on your keyboard (or right click). There is
a "security" question if you really want to delete the film from the
project.
(Since Version 0.93 the
last added video may also be deleted by removing the correspondent
'Filmbutton')
Images, free animations, free buttons and text labels can always
be deleted (removed) within their context menu (right click).
The "final" project can look like this:
To have a better overview on
how the buttons look in the final DVD you may click on 'Preview'. In
the preview window you can see the menu shown as 'normal', with
'Highlight' or as 'Activated'.
This way you may try out the
different settings for colors and transparency for the buttons. These
settings may be changed in the explorer view (or you have already set
you preferences in the default settings), or within the menu background
dialog which can be accessed from the menu bar 'Format - actual menu'
or from the context menu by right click on the menu background.
Remark: If you right-click on
'Fill' or 'Frame', the value is changed by each click. However as both
values may never be zero, you always have to activate them both, and
deselect the one you don't want afterwards.
If everything is finished so far, click on
to start the creation process of the DVD (VOB and IFO files inside the
DVD\VIDEO_TS subdirectory). Since
version 0.92 it is possible to edit the author.xml file before the
final
creation process. See: Edit
author.xml file before DVD creation process
You get a window where the text messages
from the started programs (spumux, dvdauthor…) are shown.
The content of this
window is also saved to a log file: GUIAuthor.log (in the selected
output
directory as defined in the default settings). Since version 0.82 the
"main window" is hidden by GFD during the processing of the batch files
- thus you can also minimize the log window during the DVD creation
process.
As alternative you may click on
. Then
only the batch files, pictures and XML control files are saved. You may
then start
the batch files by hand (maybe after reworking with a text editor) from
a DOS
window. If you start the batch files one by one, take care for the
correct sequence, as shown in the MainBatch.bat file
(or start the MainBatch.bat directly).
Next topics:
Multi VTS example
DVD Preview (Show DVD)
Burning (using NeroCmd/imgburn)