PGCEDIT - Create a new button?

[rock_king_my]

Hi.

How do you create a new button & position it where you want?

I tried Menu>Show/Edit Menu Buttons > New Button & I managed to create a button. The size is OK, just what I want.

Now, How do I align it slightly to the right side? The X position slider is disabled so I can't move it.

So what can I do next?

Also, is it possible to copy the button shape from a current menu? e.g. The button is of a special shape/color like a green car or something... you know what I'm talking about here, right?

[blutach]

Please see the help file - chapter 9. Essentially, in the edit button menu, you go to the button menu and click on align on same column or row. Or if you just want fine movements, select the button, click edit and then select a group. The X will not be disabled then. You will need to do this for both groups.

In order to make the button shapes visible, you will need to change the subpictures for the VOBU. The easiest way here is using DVDSubEdit's Edit Subpic Bitmap With External Tool feature (I simply use M$ Paint). Load the menu VOB into DVDSE and find the menu cell you want. The feature is on the file menu. Then make and position your button shape correctly (copy and paste it). Make sure you do this for all groups (there may be a WS and a Letterbox, for example).

Note, the button created in PgcEdit only needs to envelop the button shape in the subpic pack. It can be larger, but note that if it is too big, it could highlight other buttons.

Regards

[r0lZ]

BTW, when you work in a specific group mode in PgcEdit's button editor, don't forget to return to the pseudo-group "All" as soon as possible, or your edits will be applied only to the current group!

[rock_king_my]

I still don't get it

Hi.

I don't understand these parts.

"You will need to do this for both groups"
Do what for both groups? I selected Group 1 & moved the button to where I wanted it. What about Group 2? Group 3 is disabled.

Note that the button I just made is a boring blue square which only works the 1st time I click on it. When I click on it, it takes me to where I wanna go but when I try to go back to that menu page, that button I made dissapear/doesn't work.

"Load the menu VOB into DVDSE and find the menu cell you want."
Well I "Open VOBs files" & chose VTS_0X_0.VOB
I see the menu to be altered. I see 4 buttons links but not the button icons (3 original + 1 I just made).
So the original 3 buttons has that car icon I want. How do I copy n paste the car icon into the 4th button?

If somebody could do a proper sticky guide with pics (showing both PGCEDIT & DVDSUBEDIT), that would be nice. Assume the extra button is for a music video or extra trailer.

[r0lZ]

1. Well, do exactly the same thing after having selected group 2. If group 3 is disabled, that means that it is not used.

2. If a button works the first time, it works also the next times. Are you sure that it's the same PGC and cell that is called the second time? Often, the main menu of a DVD uses another PGC or cell the first time, so that it is played continuously with the intro sequence. You have probably created your button on that menu cell only. In PgcEdit, verify also that you can select your new button with the cursor keys when another button is selected by default. If you can't, you will have to modify the adjacent button links.

3. In DVDSE, save the highlight as BMP, edit the BMP to copy/paste the highlight where you want it with any paint program, and import the modified BMP in DVDSE.

[rock_king_my]

Button overlap in PGCEDIT

Hi.

When I finish positioning for Grp1, the view of the menu I see in PGCEDIT is slightly "Zoomed"/close up.

Also if I follow all the same positions of that 4th (new) button from Grp1 for Grp2 (X, Y, Width & Height), the 4th button overlaps one of the old buttons.

Is it supposed to be like that?

Note that I have only so far made changes with groups for the new 4th button. Am I supposed to do anything else to the original 3 buttons. I don't wanna change anything about them.

[r0lZ]

The two groups are two different button layouts used for two different display modes. A 16:9 menu must have at least two display modes. One display mode is used for the 16:9 TVs, full screen, and the other mode(s) for the 4:3 TVs, in pan & scan or in letterbox (or both when there are 3 groups.) According to what you said above, the 4:3 display mode of your menu is pan & scan. This is the mode used by almost all menus anyway. Note that, since you cannot see the whole image on a 4:3 TV in pan & scan mode, you have to place your new button carefully, so that it is inside the visible area.

In PgcEdit, there is also a "pseudo mode" called "all", where you can change the settings for all modes at once, as, most of the time, you need the same settings in all modes, except those related to the position of the button. In that "all" mode, you cannot change either the X position and width, or the Y position and height of the buttons, or both, depending of the modes that are supported by the menu, because those settings have to be different.

When displayed on a 4:3 TV in pan & scan, the image is zoomed, and the left and right borders of the image are hidden. In letterbox mode, horizontal black borders are added, but the entire image is visible. When you select a specific group, PgcEdit modifies the display of the menu to simulate the way it will be displayed in the mode that is associated with that group.

Of course, you don't have to modify the buttons that you haven't created yourself. But you have to modify the position of your new button in each modes, to place it correctly over the background, as it is displayed by PgcEdit. In your case, the X position and width should be identical in the 16:9 and in the 4:3 p&s modes, but the Y pos and the height must be different. Don't forget to go back to the group "all" as soon as possible, to be sure to modify the other parameters of the button, such as the command and adjacent buttons in all groups.

Also, if you copy the highlight of a button to use it for your new button with DVDSubEdit, you have to do the same work for the two subpic streams, as, again, one stream is used for a specific mode, and the other stream for the other one.

Unfortunately, it is difficult to test the 4:3 display mode with a software player, as, as far as I know, all players use the 16:9 display mode. So, you will have to test your menu on an hardware player, configured for a 4:3 TV (even if you have a 16:9 TV!)

This complexity is due to the fact that the backhround image is zoomed automatically by the player, but the subpic containing the highlights and the position of the buttons are applied without deformation. Since the background image is not at the same place, different button layouts must be used.

[rock_king_my]

PGCEDIT solved, still trouble with DVDSUBEDIT

Hi.

The menu in question is a special features menu & I want to use that extra button for a music video.

In DVDSUBEDIT, I exported the black BMP file (includes 3 ori white icons) & made a 4th one by copy & paste.

I did this twice, one for W/S & one for P&S.

I imported them back one at a time into DVDSUBEDIT 1.41.

I Save all modifications.

When I play it back on POWERDVD, that [features] menu didn't work at all & the player just stop. In Media Player Classic, it didn't work too. All other parts like main menu. movie etc works [well all the stuff I didn't change!]

Have I missed anything out?

[r0lZ]

What do you mean by "it didn't work"? Can you see it? Can you select it? Can you activate it? How did you modify the VM commands to call your new music video?

[rock_king_my]

New button link works but button still looks boring ...

Hi.

Oh… I screwed up at the description! I’ll start again.

Before I go to DVDSUBEDIT, I tested the DVD edited though PGCEDIT & it worked the way I want it to work. But the 4th button is a boring blue highlight square, but it works!

Now I have this main menu with 3 original buttons [Play, Scenes & Setup]. The new 4th button is for special features menu (could be one I made up or got from another DVD).

I open up this main menu in DVDSUBEDIT 1.41 with "Open VOBs files" & chose VTS_0X_0.VOB [the relevant VOB of this main menu].

In DVDSUBEDIT, I “save subpics as BMP” file (containing 3 ori white icons) & made a 4th one by copy & paste somewhere on the right side of the 3rd button. The main color of that bitmap is green-ish instead of black as I said before when I did the “export” thing.

I did this twice, one for Widescreen & one for Pan & Scan.

I imported them back one at a time into DVDSUBEDIT.

I “Save all modifications”.

I play the DVD, I get the main menu. I tested “Play” link, it works. “Scene selection” & “Set up” also works. That "special features" menu also works [don’t know where I screwed up last time!]. The new 4th button links also works but its icon is still a boring dark blue square but this time with a car shaped silhouette in that square. The original 3 icons are white cars & that's what I want for the 4th button too.

So I guess I need to change that 4th button’s icon color properties either in PGCEDIT or DVDSUBEDIT, right?

Also, how do you delete a title in a VTS with PGCEDIT assuming there are more than one title? I tried to do it in VOBBLANKER but it still shows up in PGCEDIT when I check after VOBBLANKING.

Peace!

[r0lZ]

So I guess I need to change that 4th button’s icon color properties either in PGCEDIT or DVDSUBEDIT, right?

Right. In PgcEdit, have a look at one of the good buttons, and note its color scheme number. Edit your new button, and use the same color scheme.

Also, how do you delete a title in a VTS with PGCEDIT assuming there are more than one title? I tried to do it in VOBBLANKER but it still shows up in PGCEDIT when I check after VOBBLANKING.

VobBlanker doesn't delete the titles completely, as this could screw up the navigation. If you did things correctly, the title has been replaced by some very small black cells. There is also an option (Copy post to pre) so that the blanked title is not played any more when it is called.

It is possible to remove a title completely with PgcEdit, but that's not easy, and not recommended unless you know exactly what you are doing. Anyway, once blanked, the title does not consume disc space any more, so you can safely leave it in place.