DVDArch5: Loss of Menu Selection after FF in Menu

[Sam Houchins II]

DOH!
i guess i could do a screen shot...
this compares the 2 structures i tried; whew!
and screen shots of the soloists performances seconding as menus
The actual class performances will play between the soloists, if not specifically selected by the user ahead of time.
I guess one of my goals was to include the soloists in standard sequential play, while also spotlighting them in menus. I wanted to spotlight them without potentially isolating them from normal viewing. I also think it spices up the "menu."

[Edward Troxel]

Guess I'm still being dense. As a user, I see all the menu options so I assume it's a menu. I wouldn't think of fast forwarding. Instead, I'd pick the menu option I wanted and probably do it fairly quickly. They all LOOK very nice, though. You did a good job designing them.

[Sam Houchins II]

Originally Posted by Edward Troxel

So... basically ALL of your content is menus and ALL of the content has buttons over them?

Typically, I would have:
Menu pointing to the 6 soloists individual videos as well as buttons to each of the "extras" you have scattered throughout the various menus. Click on their button, their video plays (as a VIDEO - not as a MENU) and then returns to the menu. Click on an "extras" option, that video clip plays and then returns to the menu.

I can certainly say I've never had a menu long enough to fast forward through. I tried to duplicate in DVD Architect in the preview. I could not duplicate. And I really don't want to burn a DVD to check this out. But it's possible that it COULD be the player. Have you tried in multiple players?

The class performances between the soloists are standard video clips.

Heretofore, your typical scenario had been my typical scenario as well. The difference here was that i did not want to relegate the soloists to a location that was subject to not being seen. I wanted to have action menus and allow them to be seen in the course of normal sequential viewing :-). I wanted my cake and to eat it too!

Thank you for reminding me to check the obvious, which i didn't. Having done it now, i observed tht DVD player #2 does not FF at all in the "menus," but still will in the standard clips of the class performances. When i play the DVD in my desktop comp. via Windows Media Player, the button highlight disappears after jumping forward on the progress bar, but i can still subsequently access any of the buttons by clicking on them with the mouse. As a matter of fact, just moving the mouse over one of the buttons re-highlights it. So.... once the highlight is gone on DVD player #1, i have lost the navigability with the remote. If there were some way to restore/ensure some button would be selected, awaiting activation upon coming out of FF. I guess i'm asking too much.

[Sam Houchins II]

Originally Posted by Edward Troxel

Guess I'm still being dense. As a user, I see all the menu options so I assume it's a menu. I wouldn't think of fast forwarding. Instead, I'd pick the menu option I wanted and probably do it fairly quickly. They all LOOK very nice, though. You did a good job designing them.

Keep in mind that it's not a static menu, but rather a complete performance by that soloist. So.... I'm thinking a viewer may want to review a particular segment of that performance, in addition to others wanting to use it as a menu. It was just unexpected to me for the button highlight to disappear after a FF function, so i thought perhaps i was missing a setting somewhere :-).

I'll gratefully accept your compliment on their appearance, thank you!

[Sam Houchins II]

All right fellas, forgive me for asking you to consider the issue in a different light. So far a large amount of focus has been given to the problem in the context of a menu, as I originally intentionally painted it in that light because that's how I was using the button feature.

Allow me to widen the issue/conversation, because what I'm really just doing is "Adding Buttons to Video," as it's listed in the DVDA help files. If we ignore the menu aspect of my particular scenario... anyone trying to Add Buttons to Video will experience this "glitch" (in my world it's a glitch), where a Button Added To Video will lose its selectability if the video is fast forwarded once inside the "button region."

This seems to be an inappropriate side affect.

Any ideas/interest in this light?

Thanks some more :-)

[Sam Houchins II]

Ok, if there's anyone else who cares, here's a work-around to this problem of button selectability disappearing after pressing fast forward or advance. Note that this fix works when using "Adding Buttons to Video" to a video clip, but not for an actual menu.

After selecting a video clip that has added buttons, go to the timeline and add several button "Markers" interspaced along the clip's timeline. The effect of this is that of course a button will show up at the beginning of the clip, but upon fast forwarding, the button highlight will disappear, rendering it unselectable. However, with the additional added button "markers," once the video progresses past the next button marker at resumed normal speed, it will reactivate the onscreen button again. That way, no matter where the user fast forwards to, given a few additional seconds, they will eventually cross another re-activating marker. The more markers, of course, the shorter their wait.

Unfortunately, this work-around isn't available for an actual "MENU," because button markers and marker regions are not an available feature for a menu's timeline.

Thank the Lord, at least I'm "fixed" for this project in the mean time.

Thank you to those who took the time to comment/question during my struggle.
God bless.