DVD@ccess & Intellidisc - Someone please Help?

+what you recommend+

why not down load the free trial and see how it works for you?
give it a test and post back your findings

the software only costs £100 so I bought it to give me time to test it fully -the trial only lasts for 10 days

this is the only software that does work properly to create Blended DVD discs


+variety of computers+

the only computers Intellidisc will not function with on the users machine are Mac (you would use DVD@access instead) and if the security settings are set to disallow running an executable file ( in other words Intellidisc Player )

+word documents+ +few menus linking to pdf's+

Intellidsisc will launch word and Adobe reader to accomplish this-then view navigate and print out pages if needed

Thanks Gary. I really appreciate the info.

It looks like I will give it a test run.

So if wanted to play in a Mac, I would have to author a separate disc for Macs using DVDSP?

Thanks,

Vince

To create a disc that would run on Mac and PC you would use a combined workflow using, DVDSP, DVD@Acess and Intellidisc.


look at this

http://www.intellidisc.com/support/workflows/

Gary,
You are a life saver, I skipped right over that!

Along these lines, maybe should be a new thread, but...

Can I put links within a pdf that would jump the viewer farther down to a specifiied point?
What I would like to do is have a link within a pdf that takes you to a separate pdf, but didn't see a way to do that...

Thank you!

Vince

You would need Acrobat to control navigation within a PDF document such as which page the file would open at, control the size, and to create hyperlinks to let the user navigate through the document


http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobatpro/acrobatstd.html

Thanks Gary and Stannard.

Does the user need Adobe Ac Pro or just the standard version to view the links within a pdf?

Vince

I am working on creating a blended dvd with DVDSP and Intellidisc using Gary's instructions above. (Thanks again Gary!) This is the closest I have come in many attempts, and I'm very excited, but do have two questions.

1) The preview worked great with one pdf. Then I used a pdf where I previously created a link to another pdf. the preview worked to see the first pdf, but said "page not found" when i clicked on the link to get to the second. The link works great in acrobat. I did include both separate pdfs in the workspace folder. Any thoughts on what I did wrong?

One future note... I hope to create a pdf that links to 6 other pdf's and back again. Any new potential issues with this set up if it all works fine in Acrobat?

2) I have NEVER used an pc so my apologies... I am not sure which is the best option for burning a dvd with Roxio. My dell has Roxio creator Plus with many options for a dvd. With little optimism I tried adding files as a "data Disc", but once burned it skips the first menu and plays a video on a pc and navigates great on a MAC except it does not go to the first pdf but jumps to menu 2 from Gary's instructions.

I appreciate any help!

Thanks
Vince

Vince

Good to hear you are trying out a Blended DVD.

1)
"page not found" when i clicked on the link to get to the second


Once the hyperlinks are made to link from one PDF file to the next, they must remain in the same folder, if they are moved, the links are broken and Acrobat does not know where the files are moved to. If you move the files out of the folder you will have to edit every link to recreate the path, not much fun if you have made hundreds of links. Once Intellidisc has created the blended folder it will copy the PDFs, but the links will work at this stage.

It won’t matter if you are linking two PDFs or 20, if the links are set correctly they will work. Once Intellidisc launches Acrobat Reader, it is Acrobat that does all the work not Intellidisc.


2)
On the Dell machine, as you are using Roxio Media Creator, you must only use the Creator Classic option to create a UDF Data disc.
(Don’t use DVD Builder option as the project is already built in DVDSP)

1 -open Roxio Creator Classic
2 -select Project>Data tab
3 -Set Data project size to DVD 4.7GB bottom left
4 -Set Default recorder to correct device bottom right


If you prefere burning discs on the Mac, you could of course transfer all the required files and folders over to the Mac and burn the disc using Finder or Toast as you would normally do.

As to not playing the menu, try importing a black still into DVDSP, at the correct pixel dimension. Insert this in to a video track to play for 2 seconds with an end jump to the intended first menu.

Gary

THANKS Gary for the previous info.

I went back and changed the pathways and made sure the linked pdfs are in the same folder trying to make sure all my pdf links are correct, but am still getting the" page not found" error. I am wondering if it is caused by linking all these on the mac and then copying the folder they live in to a thumb drive and then copying them to the workspace folder o the pc?
Any other suggestions?

Does anyone know of any phone tech support options with intellidisc? That inquiry has gone unanswered from intellidisc. I'd pay...please pm me at vince@peregrineproductions.com.

Another basic pc question... Gary mentioned using Roxio Media creator and the Creator Classic option to burn the final disc. I have Roxio Creator Plus and can't find an equivalent option... any ideas. Maybe I should just dump them back over to my mac, but trying to save a step.

Thank you very much,

Vince

Hi Vince
Sorry to hear you still have issues with the PDF's


Remember, all the PDF's must be in the same folder BEFORE the links are created.



Two things to try:

1
Once you have created the links in Acrobat, do the PDF's link OK from one file to the other?

If they do link, I can't think of a reason why they wont link once they are batched into the blended folder, Intellidisc is just copying them into the blended folder, it dosnt do anything internally to the PDF.

2
Get two PDF files, preferably ones not used before, no links in them.
Create a link from one PDF to a second PDF and a link back to the first.
move the folder with the files in it to a different location on the computer.

Test if they link OK if so test these files with Intellidisc.



As to burning, any version of Roxio will do as long as it can burn a UDF format disc to DVD disc.


Keep me posted


Gary

Gary,

Thanks for the help.

I tested moving around the pdf folder and links worked fine outside of intellidisc. I think my problem is that I am trying to use 2 pdfs and only link one through the open in browser command and the other is linked internally to the first via an adobe link. So once I linked the 2nd menu to a dummy button it seemed like intellidisc saw it and allowed the internal link to be completed. Hope this makes sense. So think that is solved....

Still having issues burning a functional DVD. So the preview of the disc in intellidisc works great. then drag the files gary mentioned above into toast titanium 6 and select the udf option under data disc. I get a disc that plays, but it skips over the command to open a pdf and just navigates to the designed next menu. Happens in both PC and MAC. So all the navigation and other videos are there, but no pdfs open. I tried another setting in Toast included one called Mac & PC but leads to bad disc. I also tried using just plain old finder to drag folders into a new DVD but no success playing it.

Anything I need to add that is not on your list Gary? Adobe reader? Other thoughts.

All thoughts are much appreciated!!

Vince

Hi Vince

This sounds as if Intellidisc is not playing back the video but Windows Media Player or the resident DVD software player; ie Win DVD.

Can you confirm which application is playing back the DVD?


Gary

Hi Gary,

Sorry for the slow reply...I do appreciate your help. To answer your question... the DVD was played in Power DVD on the PC and DVD Player on the mac.

On another front... I wanted to clarify what the compatibility will be. From Intellidiscs FAQ's page it says not compatible with Macs and Vista. So I am getting around the Mac issue with DVD@ccess, but was curious if it was just the autorun function that won't work with Vista or if the disc won't work at all.

Thanks,

Vince