DVD menu with multiple tracks- DVDSP
 

I have a video of 4 different ballets on one DVD. I want to be able to show all 4 as a complete "movie" or individually from a menu. After each ballet, I want to be able to go back to the menu and not continue with the remainder of the ballets. This is unusual because when navigating to a chapter in a movie, it is usually to begin where you left off and want to continue to the end.

By placing each ballet into a different track I can do this but then I am not able to view all 4 ballets from one menu button "play all ballets". If the "end jump" function of a track continues on to another track, this also defeats the purpose.

Is there a script or something I can use to have the ballet continue on to the next ballet or go back to a menu based on which menu item was initially selected "Play All" or "Play Ballet 1", "Ballet 2", etc....?

Another solution would be to place all the video into a single track for complete playback as well as individual tracks for each ballet. However, there will be either too much compression or all the files won't fit onto a DVD.

What you need is a playlist for the "play all" function and individual timelines for playing them one by one, with the end action poiting back to the main menu.

Doug,

what authoring software are you using? Unless I misunderstand something in your post, a "story" is what this is called in Apple's DVD Studio Pro. Basically, you can define a variety of subsets of chapters for a track and then play just one subset - or play the entire track, too, if you like.

Not sure what this is called in other authoring software packages...

- Martin

Yes, DVD Studio Pro
 

Martin-

You are stating that I create a main track with chapter markers. Then create stories specifying the start and end points by chapter. At the end point, which would not necessarily be the end to the track, it would jump back to a menu.

Thanks, I'll look for more specific instructions in the reference manual.

Doug,

yes, that is correct. I just looked at the DVD Studio Pro 4 manual; take a look at chapter 11, section "Working with Stories". It should explain the process in more detail.

- Martin

Interesting....Is there a way to do that in DVDA 4.5?

I'm trying to do the same thing as Doug, four videos with individual play buttons, plus a "play all" option using DVDA.

Bob T.

Dvdsp-4
 

I just found the script I was looking for in chapter 14 on p.512 of the DVDSP-4 user manual. Has anyone gotten good mileage from this script?

Bob- Does DVDA 4.5 use scripts?

According to the manual, it does. But I've never tried it.

I have done a little with scripts in Vegas, so I should be able to figure it out.

Bob T.