Hey. I'm currently making a dvd that has several episodes. However, I want to add a simple menu in the beginning that leads to different chapters/start points that I can select and name. I've found this guide,(http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/archive/sefy/chapters1.cfm) but is this the only way to add a menu? Is there a way with DVDShrink, Nero Express, or DivX? Thanks
Hello. DVD Shrink is a big no, as is Nero Express (I assume you don't mean Nerovision Express). I assume you mean you created a video DVD and not a data DVD with divx files on it, so DivX is a no as well. You need authoring software to add the menus. It can be done with PGCEdit or DVD Lab, but both have a learning curve that's fairly steep. The easiest way would be to use Nero's Nerovision Express, part of the full Nero suite. Create a video DVD, import the DVD titles, create a menu, code, and burn. The Nero suite has a trial mode that's fully functional. http://www.nero.com You could also use TMPGEnc DVD Author. Version 1.6 is fully functional in trial mode. In TMPGEnc, create a new project, add each DVD title to its own track, create a track menu, code, and burn. http://tmpgenc.pegasys-inc.com/en/download/tda16.html
yo thanks. I have one more question, I'm a bit confused when you were talking about using Nero. You said import the dvd titles, these can be .avi files right? Because these episodes are in .avi format(175mb each), and I tried other tools like DivX and Nero Express which allowed me to place the episodes into a list, but I wasn't sure they would play on the dvd after I burned them? Hope that makes sense
My 2 cents.... Make sure you are talking about the correct Nero application. "Nero" has a bunch of them. Nero Express is a DVD/CD burning application. NeroVision Express is a file converting, editing and authoring program- It can convert various types of video files to DVD-Video. you can add a menu with it. You can add your .avi files. NeroVision Express will convert them to DVD-Video compliant files that can be burned to a DVD and played in your DVD player.
I'm not sure I know what you want to do. Are you leaving the files as AVI files or are you converting to DVD compliant files? Are these AVIs created from a DVD that were converted to divx/avi? Are you going to make your own menu or are you trying to utilize a menu from an existing DVD? If you just have a data DVD with AVIs on it, all players I've seen will automatically have a list menu with the filename as the title. For episodic disks you can title episodes, for example, as S03E01The First Episode. Some players allow longer titles than others. TMPGEnc DVD Author 3 will allow editing, chapter marking, and menu creation for divx files. There's also this: http://labs.divx.com/DivXMediaTool
------------------------------------------ Sorry guys, I should have put in more detail. Anyway, I think laddyboy got it. I have about 25 of these episodes in .avi format. I intend to leave them as they are, and they were downloaded not created from a dvd.(They have xvid-lol in the filenames). I intend to make my own menu, however what you said about the list menu is what I needed(I have the nero suite), and I might put my own titles for them. "Are you leaving the files as AVI files or are you converting to DVD compliant files?" - Do they have to be converted though? If what you guys said about NVE works, then I should be fine I'm assuming. Thanks for the help guys, I will post if anything comes up.
You just need to burn them onto a data DVD. You won't want to convert them to be DVD compliant as the size will increase by about 3 1/2 times. Divx DVD players usually will order them alphabetically based on the filename, so be careful how the files are named.
Ah, I see. Do you know if most dvd players could handle this kind of dvd? I've lost the manual for my samsung dvd-v2500, but most would right?
Here is some info on your player: http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-DVD-V.../B00006JQQ0/ref=de_a_smtd/103-8463108-3834212 It didn't mention anything about playing DivX.
Most dvd players do not play divx files. However there are several models available. I believe Philips has one that usually sells for $40US. A lot of the upconverting DVD players also play divx files. It'll be listed upfront. It's not a hidden feature. If you don't have a divx player, you will have to convert your AVI files to be DVD compliant if you want to play them on your standalone player. Honestly if you're going to have lots of AVI's, I'd get a divx player, otherwise you'll spend hours and hours just doing all the converting. Some play both divx and xvid, some just divx.
