Sonic
ReelDVD
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Vegas
Video 4
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Less
costly Authoring Apps
DVD
Workshop
-
a good entry level authoring app... motion
menus, button creation. It does a lot of work for you.
DVD
MovieFactory
- a very limited, yet very inexpensive authoring app. Menu
templates, but its still a deal for $45.
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Color
Tool Explanation
It seems
as though the most difficult part of ReelDVD for new
users
to master is the operation of the color tool in
the preview window. Hopefully this will help.
Before
beginning this page, you should understand the basics of menu
creation found in the Motion
Menu Basics and Still
Menu Basics pages. |
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There
are two major areas that involve how to control the colors
in your subpictures and how they react and interact.
a) The buttons labeled below (1-4) are the "STATE"
buttons. When selected, these buttons define which "STATE"
of your subpicture you're seeing in the preview window...
original, display, selection, and action.
b) The buttons labeled (5) define the behavior of
each of the 4 (pure) allowed colors within your subpicture.
These four colors can be adjusted at each of the 4 "STATES"
controlled with buttons (1-4)
- A
DVD subpicture is allowed, per DVD spec, a maximum of 16 colors.
The 4 pure colors (white, black, red, and blue), and 3 additional
variations of each for the display, selection, and action
"STATES."
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- Original
State - This view shows you how your subpicture appears
after ReelDVD automatically converts it to a BMP (if you
didn't import it as such.) This state will also show colors
that ReelDVD does not officially recognize. More specifically
"non-pure" colors.
- Display
State - The "at rest" state. This state shows
how the buttons will appear when the user is viewing the
menu, and the buttons are NOT selected (highlighted). Keep
in mind that there will always be a default button that
will be in the "Selection State" described below.
Consider this when planning your menu's design
- Selection
State - This is the "highlighted" state. The
state in which the user has used the "arrow" keys
on the DVD remote to move to the desired selection, but
has not yet pressed the "enter" button. Note,
like mentioned above, this state will automatically apply
to your first button, as there will always be a default
starting point.
- Action
State - As described above, this is when the user selects
"enter" on the remote. This view is seen by the
user for just a second or so before the selected asset or
chapter begins to play.
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Key
Notes about the color controls:
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The controls for each SOURCE color maintain the
same location throughout ALL four states. Because
a particular color may be displayed in a different
location in a different state, does not mean you're
then adjusting that source.
For example... If your subpicture item was created
in pure black, then every adjustment you make to
that subpicture item will be done in the third color
control, regardless of what color is currently displayed.
If you're unsure about which source color you're
modifying, click on the Original State to remind
yourself.
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- There
are two common ways to change the colors of your subpicture
items. Remember, you may have a total of 16... your
4 pure colors, plus 12 additional. There are default
colors loaded by ReelDVD. You can pick from one of
these by simply clicking on the color itself in the
toolbar, or you can set the defaults by going to EDIT>PROJECT_SETTINGS>COLOR.
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- If
you don't find the color you want there, go to
EDIT>PROJECT_SETTINGS>COLOR_PALETTE. There
you can replace colors with whatever color you like
(provided it can be created using the standard RGB
methods.)
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