DVD Studio Pro Menu button pointing to 2 targets- why?

what's it look like if you use the graphical display of the disc layout?

The menu, title and return buttons are hard-wired buttons that act a little differently that "remote" buttons. Because "remote controls" devices from different manufacturers are very different from one another these special buttons, are not as flexible as buttons you create yourself.

Some of the terms you are using are a little confusing because they are used congruently, but it sounds like you have the "menu" button attached to the first menu in a way that it's connected to tracks rather than the menu itself. Take a look at the following:

From the manual

Remote Control Settings

An important part of authoring a DVD title is to assign functions to the DVD player’s remote control buttons. For most projects, you set these functions for the entire disc. However, you can override several of the disc settings for individual tracks, stories, markers, slideshows, and menus.

If an individual element has more than one remote control setting:

• Track, slideshow, story, and menu settings take precedence over disc settings while they play.

• Markersettingsoverrideallothersettingswhilethatpartofthetrackorstoryplays. Note: All of these settings can also all be made in the Connections tab.

612 Chapter 23 Using Advanced FeaturesRemote Control Buttons

The disc’s remote control settings support seven buttons. Remote control settings for tracks, stories, markers, slideshows, and menus support only certain ones:

• Title: Supported by the disc settings only. This button is typically linked to the primary menu so that, no matter where the viewers are in the title, when they press the Title button they will always go to the same place.

• Menu: Supported by all elements that can set remote control settings (disc, track, story, marker, and slideshow) except menus. You should generally link this button to the last menu viewed.

• Angle: Supported by the disc, track, and slideshow elements. You can link this button to a menu that allows the viewer to select the angle to view.

• Chapter: Supported by the disc, track, and slideshow elements. Typically found only on specialized DVD players, you can link this button to a menu that allows the viewer to select the chapter to view.

• Audio: Supported by the disc, track, and slideshow elements. You can link the Audio button to a menu that allows the viewer to select the audio stream to listen to.

• Subtitle: Supported by the disc, track, and slideshow elements. You can link this button to a menu that allows the viewer to select whether subtitles appear and the subtitle stream to view.

• Return: Supported by the disc and menu settings only. The Return button is usually used to provide an easy way for the viewer to navigate back through nested menus.

Configuring the Remote Control Buttons

You can configure the remote control buttons either in the Inspector or in the Connections tab.

Beware of Similar-Sounding Buttons

The remote controls of most DVD players include stream select buttons labeled Angle, Audio, and Subtitle. These are not the same as the remote control buttons you can assign menus to. These three buttons allow the viewer to directly select the angle, audio, and subtitle stream without going to a menu first.

The Angle, Chapter, Audio, and Subtitle remote control buttons that you can assign menus to are in addition to these three stream select buttons, and are found only on a few remote controls, typically grouped in a “Menus” section of the remote control.

It is important to include alternative methods for viewers to get to these menus. You cannot count on all remote controls to have these buttons.

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To set the remote control buttons using the Inspector

Select the element whose remote control buttons you want to set. You can select the element in the Outline tab, the Graphical tab, or use the pop-up menu in the appropriate editor.

In the Inspector, open the pop-up menu for the button to be set, then choose the function to link to. All elements currently set in the project are available to be linked to.

The remote control settings are in different Inspector locations for different elements:

• Disc Inspector: The commonly used remote control settings (Title, Menu, and Return) are in the General tab. The Advanced tab contains the settings that are not often used (Angle, Chapter, Audio, and Subtitle).

• Track, Story, and Marker Inspectors: All remote control settings are in their General tabs. • Slideshow and Story Marker Inspectors: All remote control settings are in its main area

(there are no tabs). • Menu Inspector: Its only remote control setting (Return) is in its Menu tab.

To set the remote control buttons using the Connections tab

Click the Connections tab. You can see all source elements in the project together, or see one element at a time:

• To see the remote control buttons for all project elements at once: Select the disc in the Outline tab or click an empty area in the Graphical tab.

• To see the remote control buttons for a single element: Select that element in the Outline tab, the Graphical tab, or use the pop-up menu in the appropriate editor.

Use the View pop-up menu in the Connections tab to control which of the remote buttons are visible:

• Basic: Shows the disc’s title button, and the track’s, story’s, and slideshow’s menu buttons.

• Standard: Shows all basic buttons plus menu buttons for a track’s markers. • Advanced: Shows all possible remote buttons.

Set the link for the remote button by either dragging the target to the source element or Control-clicking the button’s setting in the Target column, and choosing the element to link to from the shortcut menu.

To get the information on button links the way I think you may be asking, use the "connections" tab. It indicates what button name is attached where.

actually, you can't trust the simulator. Not everything in it works at all, let alone correctly. I'd burn a disc and test it. I always do anyway.

Those buttons exist on most remotes, but aren't always programmed the same way. And you see that in DVDSP they tend to follow disc settings. I find that the menu and title ones get screwy on different players. I usually create my own "main menu" and "back" buttons so I direct the viewer right where I want them to go, not where the DVD players lets them go. DVDSP isn't perfect, but it's extremely competent for what it is. It also saved us $21,600 with the first purchase. This was back when it was sold separately. We were about to but another offering from a different vendor. A last moment suggestion from one of the publishers suggested that we look at it. Despite the rantings of other publishers that "it won't work," we found that there was nothing we needed that it couldn't do, including subtitles and closed captioning. That was long, long ago and it's been a workhorse ever since.

Perhaps the landing point on the menu is set to automatically play the first clip, essentially creating a loop. Where does the 'title' button take you?

I think it is something like that, Paul. I have a video as first play, our copyright and theft warning. Done that for about 10 years. Never been a problem. It jumps to the first menu (titled main menu, BTW), and I have it highlight the primary "play video" button.

You can just pick a menu for a jump-to, you don't have to pick a track or a button

why not define the Remote button to go to an invisible do-nothing button?

I've never used the name Menu 1. I've always used main menu or something like that. Just so my brain doesn't hurt later. And I label the buttons for what they are, not button 1, button 2, which tells me nothing when trouble shooting.

You know. When I started with DVDs it was test after test after test to get the things to work right. But those tests, over time, took less and less time. Apparently I got the hang of it and made fewer mistakes. keep on.

Hang on a sec... you have got a DVD that plays a track, then goes to a menu, and when in the menu if you press the 'menu' button on your handset you go back to the track?

That is *exactly* what I would expect to happen.

By playing a track you have stored the resume information in the DVD player - remember that the menu button acts a a resume button in certain cases - such as when there is resume information! If you play *any* track and go to your menu, then press the menu button you'll go back to the track at the point that you last left it. If the track had completed it is likely you'll go to the start of the last track played, no matter where else on the DVD you have navigated to.

You have a couple of options to get around this, one with and one without scripting.

Without scripting: set the first play to be a short piece of black slug, around 1 second long (or less), and end jump to a menu which has video footage of the clip that you want (with a hidden button, possibly). I would then either use the menu loop point to bring in the menu buttons, or use the 'at end' property to jump to a second menu with buttons on.

With scripting: use some scripts to prevent the first play track from replaying simply by setting a flag once it had played once and checking before it plays whether the flag has been set. If it has, go to the menu. This is so much neater than the previous solution.

To do this, add a script as the end jump of your 'first play' and add two lines:

mov GPRM0, 1

jump menu1 //assuming menu 1 is your main menu

Now, add a script and set it as a 'prescript' to your first play track. It has one line:

Jump menu1 If (GPRM0 =1)

So, what should happen is you put the DVD in to play, the pre-script will evaluate if GPRM0 does equal 1, and if not it plays the track. The end jump then sets the flag to make GPRM0 equal 1, so in future the track will not play from that first menu.

Once you go on to a different track then your resume info will have changed and you won't see it happen again.

Don't try to always work around the menu resume function - it is how DVDs work and is what is supposed to happen. It's OK to do it for the first play (often a copyright warning, etc) but from there on you'll ties yourself in knots... not to mention what your viewers will make of the menu button not behaving!