A few questions about the DVDa...
 

I have finally burned a successful DVD with Architech - few problems though :

1) The audio/sound seems to have picked up annoying clicks and smacks when the actor talks - I am don't know if this is a case of compression of the sound? Any suggestions on how to get rid of this?

2) I rendered this in VV widescreen 24p HD - but when I ran DVDa it boxed it 4:3 - is it just a matter of changing the properties to widescreen?

3) I want to take snapshot images of the first image in the chapters - how can I do this and insert that into a button?

4) Since I rendered this out in VV, do I need to prepare the disc in DVDA? Isn't it already prepared from the rendering?


Thanks in advance.

1) The compression shouldn't cause this. Are you sure it's not on the original audio? Could also be an issue with the PC or playback device.

2) Yes - you need to set the DVDa properties to Widescreen to create a widescreen DVD.

3) Not quite sure what you are asking. When you say insert an image into a button, do you mean choosing the image to display on a button? That is simply a matter of setting the button properties (Button properties, media, thumbnail settings). You can chose still or animated and select any frame or section of any video or still.

4) If you have rendered out in VV, then DVDA won't need to re-render the video. But it still needs to prepare - the prepare step is creating the DVD structure. Most likely it will also need to render the menus.

Thanks Mark,

For the thumbnails, I thought it would automatically pick the first frame of the chapter for me (video frame) and put it in the button - so instead, I pick thumbnail?

I see what you are asking now.. and yes - if you create a scene selection menu, by default it sets the thumbnails to be a still of the first frame of the chapter. (Now it may not be exactly frame accurate... possibly in VV7/DVDA4 it is if the markers are set at I-frames). You can change them to a different frame if needed.

David, the other thing you could do is go back to the project in Vegas, do a still frame capture at the chapter start, save that image and use it in DVDA as the button image.

Yeah, it is not automatically putting an image in the thumbnail for some reason. I have 7 chapters and none of them are showing up.

How did you create the menu options? Did you create a "scene selection menu"? If yes, that should have put the first frame of the chapter as the image for the button for that chapter.

If you Fade-In to your chapters, then the very first frame will be black... as will the thumbnail on the button.

No I picked one of the templates to do it, but I can't find for the life of me, the option to pick thumbnails for the buttons...Alot of my chapters start with a graphic/image, so they shouldn't be black, but they are...

In DVDA - go to your Scene selection menu

- Single Click on the first button/thumbnail
- In the "Button Properties" window, click on the "media" tab
- There you will see "Thumbnail properties": The media file, if it is still or animated, and the "start time". For a still thumbnail, "start time" is the specific frame to be used. You can also use a still (e.g. jpeg) file as the media file, in which case the "start time" will be 0.

Or, it might be easier to delete the Scene Selection you've done, and add it back using the "Insert Scene Selection" method.

Ok, I do notice the start time, but it is greyed out...
Maybe the problem is I am using the FILM negative buttons (provided in the template) and they won't allow me to put an image in the middle of it?

If start time is greyed out, it means either:

- The thumbnail media is a still (in which case the start time will be all zeros), or
- The thumbnail media file specified can not be found. (which would explain why you'd be getting black thumbnails). Check that the media file path is correct.

Sorry you've lost me - I'm not sure what "the FILM negative buttons" are.
When you say you applied a template, do you mean a theme?
What version of DVDA are you using?

Yes a Theme. It is the film theme with the clap board in the background image. It has some ready made buttons of a film-negative - so that is my guess why I can't add an image into the center of them (but it also seems weird that I can't either because it would be a perfect fit).

It's the theme called "Movie 1", right?
I just took a project and applied that theme, I can still change the thumbnails.
I don't think the theme is the problem.

I don't get it then...
It doesn't really give me much in the way of options to place a picture in there. I can open up the FILM NEGATIVE in a graphics editor, but it doesn't do what I am guessing it is supposed to do - and the fact that the START TIME is greyed out makes me wonder. I really don't want to start this project over because it was a pain getting the navigation to work properly, but I am not sure if I have much choice...

Makes me wonder too.
Highlight the clip and then do the following:
On DVDA 2: Button Properties > Graphics > Thumbnails > Start Time.
On DVDA 3: Media > Thumbnail Properties > Start Time.
No reason this shouldn't work.

Under the "Thumbnail properties" - is the name of the media file valid?

I am using DVDA3

If I highlight the clip, it doesn't give me the properties you specified - I get this
1) General
2) Track media
3) Colour Sets
4) End Action
5) Remote buttons

Only with the buttons do I get the MEDIA option in Properties.

My scene tree looks lke this :

CHAPTER.dar
Project name folder
Project name
Button links ( 8 of them)
Button links
Button links
Button links
Button links
Button links
Button links
Button links

DVD file.

I'm getting ready to go to night school but, when I say to highlight a clip, I mean to just click on it (button link in the main screen) once. Then go to the menu on the right hand side and follow the steps I listed. I'll check back in a few hours to (hopefully) see that you got this worked out :-)

Well, I think I figured it out, sort of. I went and inserted a scene selection and it brought all of my buttons up (not the ones I wanted) with thumbnails. I am really sort of confused how this all works and why when you insert a button it didn't do it for me before. I dont' know if it is the order in my scene tree or something else I am doing, but it seems to work. I am going to have to get a tutorial on this because I have obviously missed a step somewhere along the way...now hopefully burning it will work!