Animate DVD Menu Buttons (Encore)

[osbornes5]

I know it is possible to change the picture that shows up on the buttons of an Encore menu and to animate it as well. Can someone lay out the steps to do that?

[Bill Castello]

OK Ozzie - I'll try to lay out simplified steps and once you've got those figured out, you can take it from there..

1. Drag a clip from the Project window onto the Menu.  Encore creates a button using the default design template from the Library palette and creates the links to and from the timeline.  

2. You should see a poster thumbnail image of the first frame. This still image is displayed by default.  In the Menu Properties palette, you'll find a check box that says "Animate Buttons".  Click this and Encore creates a motion menu and uses the Loop and Duration settings.

3. Each button with a video thumbnail now displays a segment from the linked clipl, starting from the associated chapter point (or poster frame), continuing for the duration of the menu.

Note that you can also add video clips that are not buttons, and composit for unique effects.

Also note that in order to preview your motion menu, you must click the "Render Current Motion Menu" button.