Each navigational link has a different meaning depending on which type of element it appears in. Here is a précis of what we’ve learned so far.
The navigational links for a menu define the End Action (and optional Override) taken if no user selection is made before the menu times out, as specified in the Properties palette (see Figure 7-22). To display the Properties palette for a menu, choose Window → Properties, and then select the menu name in the Project (or Menus) tab, or click the menu background in the Menu Editor window.
As described in Chapter 5, you can design a menu to hold forever, or permit it to time out (and therefore perform the end action). You control the timeout period by specifying the Loop # count and the Duration for each time the menu is displayed, possibly as a motion menu with an Audio track, background video behind the menu, and even with Animate buttons set for the video thumbnails.
If Hold Forever is not set (and Loop # is not set to Forever for a motion menu), the menu will time out after it loops for the specified count. Playback will continue by taking the End Action link specified in the Properties palette.
You also can specify an Override link, to override the default end action for the target menu or timeline. For example, the end action could play a generic timeout clip that explains how to use the DVD, and then the Override could return play back to the same menu again.
The Properties palette for the menu also includes the Default Button field, which specifies the button that will be highlighted when the menu is displayed (or None). Any link to the menu can override this default, if desired, and explicitly select a menu button to be highlighted (for example, to step through consecutive clips and automatically highlight the next button after each clip finishes playing).
The navigational links for an individual menu button define the link (and optional override) taken if the user activates that button, as specified in the Properties palette (see Figure 7-23). To display the Properties palette for a button, choose Window → Properties, and then select the button name in the Menus tab, or click the button in the Menu Editor window.
As with other links, you can specify both the link target and an optional override of the default end action for the target menu or timeline. For example, you can use the override to move through a series of buttons on a menu by playing a clip, and then linking back to the same menu, but with an override to specify that the next button in a sequence be highlighted. Or, instead of playing through a series of clips in a playlist, you can use an override to define a button that plays just one clip, and then have playback return to the menu.
You also can set the button to Auto Activate. Instead of requiring the user to first select (highlight) the button and then activate it by pressing the Enter key on the DVD remote control, the button is immediately activated (and the link taken) as soon as it is highlighted.
Automatic activation is not advisable for navigating standard menus because it is disconcerting to have the DVD suddenly start doing something without the normal feedback process. Automatic activation can be useful for providing quick-path navigation, for example, to step through a series of still images by just pressing Left and Right for Next and Previous. And it provides interesting opportunities for creating hidden Easter Egg features in a DVD, as discussed in Chapter 9.
The navigational links for an individual timeline define the end action taken when playback reaches the end of the timeline, as specified in the Properties palette (see Figure 7-24). To display the Properties palette for a timeline, choose Window → Properties, and then select the timeline name in the Project (or Timelines) tab, or click a background area in the Timeline or Monitor window.
As with other links, you can specify both the End Action target, and an optional Override of the default end action for the target menu or timeline.
The Timeline Properties palette also includes a Menu Remote link. This link defines the action to perform when the user presses the Menu key on the DVD remote control as the timeline is playing. It’s intended to be used to return to the menu from which this timeline was accessed, and therefore can be used to help navigate through a hierarchical menu structure on a DVD. In contrast, the Title button on the DVD remote is intended to return to the beginning of the entire disc and restart playback, similar to the First Play action.
Although the Menu Remote key is typically ignored by consumers, it should at a minimum be set to perform a reasonable action, and can be used to provide enhanced navigation for more advanced users, as discussed in Chapter 9.
Besides defining the navigational links between menus and timelines in your project, you also need to set the links that specify how the disc initially starts playing, including the First Play (and optional Override), the Title Button action, and the initial audio and subtitle tracks, as specified in the Disc Properties palette (see Figure 7-25). To display the Properties palette for the disc, choose Window → Properties, and then select the Disc tab, or click a background area in the Project, Menus, or Timelines tab.
The First Play link in the Disc Properties palette specifies the entry point into the DVD navigation: the menu or timeline that will be displayed when playback of the DVD begins.
The first play can simply start at the main menu in the DVD design, or you may want to play a short introductory clip before the menu (such as the copyright warning on a commercial DVD).
You also can use the Override link to reuse an existing clip in your DVD as the first play: set the First Play to link to the clip’s timeline, and set the Override to have the timeline link back to the main menu when it finishes playing. We showed an example of playing a small portion of a timeline earlier in the chapter, then overriding the timeline’s end action to jump to the main menu.
The first play is always marked with a yellow play icon in the Project window, as shown in Figure 7-26. Encore will default the first play to the first menu or timeline defined in the project so that the disc always has somewhere to start. You also can set the first play in the Project, Menus, or Timelines tab: select the element and choose File → Set as First Play, or choose it from the pop-up context menu.
The Set Audio and Set Subtitle fields in the disc Properties palette are used to specify the audio and subtitle tracks to be selected when the disc is initially played. Specify the tracks to be used (or set the subtitle display to Off), or specify No Change to default to the DVD player settings. If target tracks are specified, they are displayed in the Properties palette after the link, prefixed by “A” and “S”.
As the disc author, you can explicitly specify the tracks to be initially played on your DVD. This is useful for a DVD with commentary and other alternate tracks, or special subtitle overlay tracks, to make sure the main tracks are displayed when the DVD is first started. However, if you are creating a DVD with full alternate language tracks (audio and even subtitles), it is best to permit the user to select their desired language tracks as the default on the DVD player’s built-in menu, and then have your disc use those defaults and begin playing in the desired language.
Finally, the Title Button field in the Disc Properties palette is used to set the link to take when the user presses the Title button on the DVD remote control. The Title button is usually used to restart at the beginning of the DVD, typically by playing the first play clip, or by jumping back to the main menu. In contrast, the Menu button on the DVD remote is intended to jump to a more local menu associated with the currently playing timeline, and therefore is specified with each timeline.
Although this is the convention for the intended uses of the Title and Menu remote control buttons, the actual action performed is totally under the control of the DVD author. Again, although many consumers do not use these buttons, it is still useful to have them perform their intended functions.
Although the Title button is intended to restart playback of the disc, you may want to skip any first play clip and simply jump directly to the main menu. You can, however, use the override to play some other transitional clip before jumping to the main menu.
In some cases, it is necessary to control the range of operations a user can perform with the DVD remote control, such as preventing skipping over mandatory material in a training disc. By default, all such options are enabled, but Encore provides several levels of control over such user operations, both for the entire disc, as well as for individual menus and timelines. We covered timeline and menu operations in Chapters 4 and 5.
To set user options for the entire disc, click the Operations: Set button at the bottom of the Disc Properties palette, or choose File → Set Disc User Operations. Encore displays the Disc User Operations dialog (see Figure 7-27).
Figure 7-27. Use the Disc User Operations dialog to enable or disable specific user actions for the entire disc.
Four options can be enabled or disabled in this dialog. Figure 7-28 shows the options as they map to a standard DVD remote control.
You can choose to permit all or none of the user operations, or choose Custom to select specific items. Note that if you disable a function at the disc level, it will be disabled for both menus and timelines as well. However, you can enable a function here and still disable it at either the menu or the timeline level if you want to have more localized control.
