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Brettallica
Participating Frequently
November 15, 2018
Question

Change Menu Background when User Presses Up or Down on Remote

  • November 15, 2018
  • 2 replies
  • 2343 views

Hello,

I am creating a menu for a Blu-ray where I want have some pseudo-animation going on, based on user input. I don't really want to describe it as true "animation" per se, so bear with me here for naïveté, as I'm sure there's a better and more technical term for what I am trying to do. I would like it so that the background changes to a different image when the user presses up or down (or left or right) on their remote and selects or goes through the available menu options. It would have the effect of being animated for all intents and purposes of the application because as soon as they make a selection, the background changes to support the menu option they've selected.

An alternative to this would be for the menu buttons themselves to relocate when the user makes the selection, but that sounds more troublesome and convoluted for what I am trying to accomplish.

I don't want to spoil the design too much because it's for a very special client and I'm trying to keep it a surprise, so I'm trying to describe it without showing actual pictures of what I'm doing. I could set up a mock illustration of what I am seeking if this is unclear.

Thank you for the support and patience.

[Moderator note: moved to appropriate forum.]

This topic has been closed for replies.

2 replies

Stan Jones
Community Expert
Community Expert
November 16, 2018

Scripting is one way to do this. But Encore doesn't do scripting. And the equivalent for Blu-ray is highend, and I don't know whether any reasonably priced options will.

You can fake this by using autoactivate to go to a different menu that has a different presentation for that menu.

Mouseover won't autoactivate, so it doesn't work like that on a  computer unless you use an option like a remote control in the computer players design.

So you set "autoactivate" on a button and when the remote "enters" that button, it automatically goes to the link for that button, such as a a different menu that changes the image in the background for that button or other elements.  You create multiple menus, with an ordinary state for all buttons in all menus, except for the difference for the "selected" button.

Brettallica
Participating Frequently
November 16, 2018

Thanks, Stan! That sounds like a pretty straightforward workaround. Do you have any resources for autoactivate tutorials? Just something where I can see an example in action. It sounds like I will need to have several backgrounds prepared for each "menu scene" or whatever that is called, which is definitely what I had already expected going into it.

While we are at it: is there a preferred playback software for Blu-ray on the Mac these days? Preferably free, obviously, as this would only be used for the purposes of testing this functionality before I burn to disc. I'm wondering if VLC Player would suffice for something like this, as I would prefer not to waste physical discs if I don't have to.

Stan Jones
Community Expert
Community Expert
November 16, 2018

I don't recall a tutorial.

I'm on PC and use PowerDVD. My old go to was Total Media Theater. For routine use, many players will work, but some use cases don't work on most.

R Neil Haugen
Legend
November 16, 2018

You would need to ask this on the Encore DVD authoring app's forum ...

Neil

Encore

Everyone's mileage always varies ...
Brettallica
Participating Frequently
November 16, 2018

Thank you, R Neil. I appreciate you pointing me in the right direction. I definitely don’t want to be cluttering the wrong forum.

I am new Adobe video editing applications, so I am trying to get acclimated. I had assumed that this functionality was included with Premiere, based on the cursory studying I’ve done so far.

My last experience with authoring was back in the DVD Studio Pro days, so it’s been a while. I’m hoping something like what I’ve descrobed above is possible, as it will really make an impact on the project.

R Neil Haugen
Legend
November 16, 2018

Stan and some of the others here can help a lot. And it's not that you were "cluttering" the PrPro forum, but that the help you needed most precisely is here in the Encore forum.

Encore is acquired through downloading/installing the CS6 version of PrPro from the CC app ... but the program is actually separate, and after installing it and the libraries necessary for it to actually work (a second part of the process) ... you can uninstall PrPro CS6 and Encore will be working fine.

Neil

Everyone's mileage always varies ...