Full DVD menu functionality from Exported file when played on PC and TV?

[CollinsNet]

I have created a Home Movie video with several clips (kids birthdays, etc.) using Adobe Premiere Elements 2020.  I treated each event (clip) as a separate Scene.  Using a Movie Menu with Main Menu and Scene Menu, my movie preview behaves as expected (skip back and forth between scenes, etc.).  Rather than burn DVDs, I want to Export this video to a file that will play on a computer (I welcome suggestions for video player software) and/or from a thumb drive on my TV with the full Menu functionality I would get from a DVD.

1.  Is this possible?

2.  How?

[Steve Grisetti]

Disc menus are only available for discs, Collins.

[CollinsNet]

Steve,

Thanks for that info.  It is what I expected, but not what I wanted to hear!  On to plan B.

Doug

[Bill Sprague]

It seems the current version of what you want is to create each event as a separate video file with an appropriate title.  Then when you put them on a thumb drive in you TV, the TV's remote will select from the titles viewed on the screen.   You can use the Work Area Bars to output the separate sections to the individual files.   It is time to abandon DVDs.  Picture quality is so good on current video cameras that the old DVD quality all but ruins it.  

[CollinsNet]

Mr. Sprague,

Thanks so much for your reply.  You figured correctly that I want to abandon the old DVD technology and move on to a modern approach.

One of my larger projects during my isolation at home during the coronavirus pandemic is to finally deal with about 70 years of family movies.  This includes movies from the late 1940s originally captured on 16mm film by my father through Mini DV in the late 1990s and early 2000s.  My parents transferred the 16mm to a VHS tape many years ago, and I hired a service to convert my Super 8mm movies to Mini DV in the early 2000s.  I have now captured all of this video to my computer and have backed it all up.  Now comes the hard part!

I am working on separating the long videos into separate videos of individual events and cleaning them up.  My hope (the reason for my original post) was that there was a modern capability for videos with multiple chapters that a person could skip between.  I would like to, for example, put a year's worth of videos (bithday parties, holidays, etc.) in one file that would be easily navigable with a DVD-like interface.  I guess there is no market for this these days because most people just stick their shorter videos on YouTube or some other web-based service.  That doesn't seem to me to be a good way to archive family events for my offspring.  I envision putting all of these video files on portable hard drives, organized in a folder structure based on year, and give a hard drive to each of my sons. It may be better to put all the files in a single folder with file names beginning with YYYY-MM so they are in chronological order in the folder.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

Doug Collins

[Bill Sprague]

Doug,

There may be a better one but I don't know of a better way than an organized and disciplined file naming structure.  It might have the advantage of not relying on a fading technowlogy like DVD.    

[Peru Bob]

If you create an .iso file on a USB drive, VLC Media Player will play the menu page on a computer if you have the correct settings in VLC's preferences.

[CollinsNet]

Peru Bob,

Thanks for your suggestion.  I have tried playing an iso file using VLC.  It played, but with a number of glitches.  I used the default settings following installation of VLC.  I have not been able to find documentation that tells me what settings I need to change in VLC's preferences to allow it to properly play DVD ISO files.

Doug

[Peru Bob]

I'll find the settimgs for you.  They are kind of obscure.  The default settings won't work. Give me some time.

[Peru Bob]

Have a look here:

https://muvipix.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=15735&hilit=vlc+vlc+player

[CollinsNet]

Peru Bob,

Thank you!  Very helpful, and not something I would have discovered on my own.

Doug

[Peru Bob]

You're welcome.