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Short description for creating transitions:


The transitions functionality is no 'full automatic'. Therefore the transitions should be well planned. As transitions are animations, these are only available if 'animated menus' (and advanced mode) is turned on in the default project settings. Basically a transition is just a submenu (either a mainsubmenu or titlesetsubmenu) with a background animation and  a post command (buttons should be avoided and/or formated as 'hidden'). The background animation is created with an avisynth skript, but it would be possible to just use any own (background) animation as transition too. Although possible, it is not recommended to create the 'normal' menus (the menus used for navigation, and not as transition) with animations (i.e. don't use an animated background!). That's because the transition will be calculated from the last frame in the animated menu, but you can activate buttons anytime and the last frame may not fit at all to the frame which is currently shown in an animated menu. This kind of defeats the purpose of a transition. Either case you should set up the normal menus as animated or not (if animated menus is turned on, a menu is considered to be static, if no animated elements are used and loop is turned of for the menu) before you create the transitions, as the avisynth script created for the transition is calculated differently for animated or static menus. My recommendation is to turn of 'Loop' in the default project settings and don't use animated elements exept the transitions themselves.
There are four predefined avisynth scripts (fade out/in, dissolve and fade in/out only). You may edit these scripts or use own functions as well. To have a possibility to reuse the scripts for different projects, there is one special variable: |TempDir| which is replaced with the actual temp directory (as defined in the default project settings) during the menu rendering process (after Create DVD or Create batch is started).

A simple step by step example for transitions (one main menu, two movies and a transition from the main menu to each titlesetmenu):
This example assumes a good understanding of the 'usual' working with GfD, i.e. adding and editing menus, movies, pictures...

Step 1
Default project settings (set your output directory); Start action for Titlesets = Show menu; End action for Titles and Titlesets = Titleset menu; Animated menus=on; Advanced=on; Use Titlesets=on; Default Button type=Graphic

Step 2
Add two movies and turn off the 'Animated Button' within the Video + Audio Files dialog for each movie.
Right click on each button (empty black frame) and click on 'Hide'

Step 3
Add two menus: MainSubMenu1 and MainSubMenu2. Add a picture from the movie (or another image) to each (menu-)button.

Step 4
Open the Menu Background dialog, turn off 'Loop' and set Pause=inf.
That's all for the main menu. You may add additional texts, pictures... as you like

Step 5
Open the MainSubMenu1
Right click on the back button and click 'Hide'
Open the Menu Background dialog, turn off 'Loop' and set Pause=0. Select 'jump titleset 1 menu;' as Post action (if MuxMan is used as authoring engine, select 'JumpSS vts_1, vts_ttn_1 : RootMenu' as Post action).
Turn on 'Transition' and click on 'Transition Script Editor'.
The 'From Menu' and 'To Menu' entries should be ok already (From Menu=MainMenu and To Menu=TitleSet1Menu)
Duration (seconds)=3
Select Dissolve as Transition Function
Click on 'Calculate Script' and you should see something like this:
Transscript1.png

Close this dialog with OK. Close the Menu Background dialog with OK too.

Step 6
Open the MainSubMenu2
Use the same steps as described in Step 5 for the MainSubMenu2, but use 'jump titleset 2 menu;' as Post action (or 'JumpSS vts_2, vts_ttn_1 : RootMenu' for MuxMan as engine).
Within the 'Transition Script Editor' the 'To Menu' should be MainSubMenu2 of cause.

Step 7
Open the TitleSet1Menu and design the chapters menu. Do the same for TitleSet2Menu.

Ready!.

Remark:
If you want a preview for the transition menus, it is necessary that GfD renders all the other menus (the 'From' and 'To' menus) in advance. This can be done by running 'Create batch'. After 'Create batch' is finished, you may open the MainSubMenu1 or MainSubMenu2, activate 'AVS' and click on 'Preview'.


Extension:
The above shown procedure will only show the crossfade transitions if you go from the Main menu to the titlesetmenus with the (submenu) buttons on the main menu. If you use the 'Back'-buttons on the titlesetmenus no transition is shown. If you want there a crossfade transition too, two additional submenus (for the titlesetmenus!) are necessary. The procedure is pretty similar. On each titlesetmenu you hide the 'Back'-button, add a submenu, name the submenu-button 'Back' (or similar) and design the submenus as transitions. On these submenus you should also hide the back-button. Open the Menu Background dialog, turn off 'Loop' and set Pause=0. Select 'jump vmgm menu;' as Post action ('JumpSS MainMenu' for MuxMan). In the 'Transition Script Editor' the 'From Menu' and 'To Menu' entries should be ok already (From Menu=TitleSet1Menu and To Menu=MainMenu), calculate the scripts and then you have also transitions from the titlesetmenus back to the main menus.