Operation Manual

ENCORE CS3
User Guide
87
See also
“Animate video thumbnail buttons” on page 90
Add audio to a menu
❖ Do one of the following:
• Select the menu in the Project panel. Then, in the Properties panel, click the Motion panel and drag the Audio
pick whip to the audio file in the Project panel.
• Drag the audio file from the Project panel to the menu in the Menu Viewer.
Note: You link directly to the audio assets, not a timeline.
Create video thumbnail buttons
A button can contain a thumbnail image of the video to which it is linked. The image can be still or playing
(animated). The Library panel includes predesigned video thumbnail buttons as well as menus with these buttons
already in place.
See also
“Add a video background to a menu” on page 86
“Specify a link” on page 154
“About menu display time and looping” on page 90
“Animate video thumbnail buttons” on page 90
Video thumbnail button restrictions
You need to understand the following concepts and restrictions when creating a video thumbnail:
Placeholder determines size You use a single layer in a button layer set to serve as a placeholder for the video. The
size of the placeholder image determines the size of the videodisplayedinthemenu.Iftheimageisnotrectangular,
Encore calculates the smallest rectangle in which the image could fit.
Always rectangular, unless masked The video remains rectangular regardless of the shape of the image layer.
However, you can overlay it with a layer (bitmap) or vector mask in Photoshop. A mask can hide portions of the
image, forming a window through which the video plays.
Layer name prefix (%) The placeholder layer must have the layer name prefix (%). The prefix includes the paren-
theses, for example, (%)Rigging.
Destination timeline displayed A video thumbnail can display only the timeline to which it is linked, that is, its
destination. You cannot play one timeline in the thumbnail and have the button lead to a different timeline. Also,
until you link the button to the video, you see only the placeholder image.
Still or moving The thumbnail video can be still or moving. Animatingvideothumbnailsisamenusetting.Allthe
thumbnailsonaparticularmenumustbeeitherstillormoving.Yousettheanimationbyusingthemenuproperty
called Animate Buttons. (See “Animate video thumbnail buttons” on page 90.)
Looping or clipped A video thumbnail plays within the boundaries of the menu duration setting. For example, if the
menu duration setting exceeds the length of the video thumbnail, the thumbnail loops, starting at the destination
chapter (or poster frame if specified). You set the menu display time and looping of the entire menu in the Properties
panel. (See “About menu display time and looping” on page 90.)