Tutorial - DVD Architect custom buttons

I'm not an DVDA expert or anything, never really used it until recently, but i've always wondered if there was some way to create your own custom buttons. I've tried everything, from replacing the frames and masks from the themes folders, to editing the theme file itself. But after playing around with DVDA i saw those options to replace masks and frames. Now, this doesn't create an actual button and i don't know if this is even possible, but this is a good workaround.
And i know that some of you watching this and are more familiar with DVDA than i am must be thinking: "C'mon, that's pretty basic stuff!". Well, keep in mind that i'm working with DVDA for, i don't know, two, two and a half weeks perhaps. I needed some custom buttons for a DVD i'm making, but didn't find any information whatsoever, so when i found those options, i've decided to make an tutorial for those who are in a similar situation.

[@tatuags]

thank you very much I liked your tutorial

[@5fingers5]

Excellant. You explained about 3 pages of the manual in 3 minutes much more clearly then Sony. DD

[@LzuVideoAndLove]

Parabéns pela sua vídeo aula , e ajudou bastante.

[@Greyswyndir]

Figured as much. I like John's style, no massive eighties-styled solos. He's advanced to the point of understanding that you don't have to overdo things. No serious solos, only what the song really needs. In my opinion he's one of the best guitarists out there. And playing his songs the way he plays them can be difficult. I've been trying to play his songs in the exact way he plays them, finger placement, etc. It's tough to do, and tough to do it right.

[@Greyswyndir]

I agree and am not a Frusciante clone myself. But I like to play his songs like he plays them, yet still retaining my own style. He also influences me a lot, like Hendrix does and a few other great guitarists. John has a very interesting outlook on music and doesn't take personal credit for the sounds he comes up with. He believes his music comes from a "super-consciousness", an invisible river that we can all tap into. The guy is definitely on another level compared to most other musicians.

[@almanzam]

Good job, man. Only thing left to do is go to the button properties and in the section for HIGHLIGHT, change the highlight to Mask Overlay, not rectangle, so that the button is only masked by the image on top of it, not an entire rectangle. You said "it doesn't create a real button", but you DID make one.

[@Greyswyndir]

...disc came out fine (meaning the resolution and the menu). I know you can do a lot more with DVD Architect but there's so much to learn. I want to use Adobe Photoshop to slice and join images, move around different elements in an image, etc. You've created some very awesome graphics.

[@paijocuwakep]

matur nuwun, thank you so much :)

[@Greyswyndir]

@Rkwgf, I found it last night Rk, thanks. What I really want to do is learn how to make my own images (pictures) transparent. the learning curve on Adobe Photoshop is rather steep. I don't have that kind of time to learn the program right now. I'll eventually become an advanced user but not right now. DVD Architect has a steep learning curve also. I burned a disk last night and it came out rather pixelated. I used DVD Factory by Corel after converting the file to another format and the...

[@Rkwgf]

@Greyswyndir You can work with avi files. I do. But expect to encounter some annoying problems. I made a disc in DVDA using only avi files, but i had to use a small software called AVI FourCC Changer to make them usable in DVDA. However, if you're planning to put those videos in a DVD, MPEG-2 format is recommended. Sony Vegas has some great MPEG-2 templates for DVD Architect. And the site is videocopilot(dot)net, not (dot)com.

[@Greyswyndir]

@Rkwgf, Most of the video I work with is in .avi format, torrents, etc. The DVD discs I burn are automatically encoded into MPEG-2 format. I guess it's the standard for DVD video. I have Sony Vegas but I haven't installed it yet. I have a WD Hard-drive (600 gigs) that is pretty much filled up with video. I only have a few gigs of free space left (maybe 17 gigs) and it's reeking havoc with most of my intensive programs. Programs don't work very well when there isn't much space left on a HD...

[@gamerbro70]

Come back!

[@Greyswyndir]

@Rkwgf, Your English is fine brother. In the video I noticed a small mistake in grammar and it led me to believe you were from another country. All in all you have an excellent grasp of the English language. I should be apologizing to you. Americans are woefully inadequate when it comes to speaking foreign languages. We seem to be the only people in the world who don't take the time to learn a secondary language. The main reason is our geographic location, we're isolated from other peoples.

[@Greyswyndir]

@Rkwgf, I tried to insert media (an avi file) but DVDA rejected it. I then used a conversion program to convert the avi, thinking that was the problem (it was) but I made a mistake and must have dropped the quality by accident. I'll have to make sure either way so it doesn't happen again. It was the second coaster I made using DVDA. Corel's DVD factory is nice because it's fast but there aren't many options for customizing within the program. You can import your own animation and art though.

[@Greyswyndir]

@Rkwgf , Thanks man. I've been checking out some step by step tutorials on the net and I'm learning fast. What is Adobe After-Effects primarily used for? Do you use it?

[@Greyswyndir]

You play brother? After your post I picked up my guitar had a little jam session!

[@Rkwgf]

@Greyswyndir Thanks for the compliments! To create your own styles in Photoshop you have to double click the layer in the layer tab: there you can add gradients, drop shadows, glow and other stuff. There is also a slide bar that says "Fill". Bring it down to 0% and you can create a transparent effect.

[@Rkwgf]

@Greyswyndir If you mean that transparent style i used on the button, it's included in PS. But you will need to locate it. In the styles tab there is a tiny button on the upper right corner. Click it and a menu will show, listing a bunch of types of styles. Select the one named "Buttons" and you will find the one I used.

[@Rkwgf]

I'm not really sure of what might be happening to your disc though. It's been a while since i did anything on DVDA, but i think there must be some options to increase quality when you burn the disc.

[@Greyswyndir]

Hey man, I don't see (on my CS5) all of the different backgrounds and textures your program is showing. Are they add-ons or do I have to choose a different view or something? Thanks, great vid so far, I'm almost done creating my yin-yang.

[@Rkwgf]

@Greyswyndir AE is a great piece of software man! Is used to create visual effects for you films, like earthquakes, light-sabers, explosions. It can also create motion graphics and stuff. I've used to make a animated menu for a DVD. I recommend it for sure, but the learnig curve is way steep. Check videocopilot(dot)com for some awesome tutorials and plugins for it. And yeah, Sony software doesn't handle .avi files very well. That's a recurring problem in all versions of their software. =/

[@Greyswyndir]

@Rkwgf, Hey man, thanks for the advice. Sony programs don't handle avi files too well huh? So what would you recommend I do about that? What format should I convert my avi files into? I'm definitely going to check out that tutorial site for AE, thanks. I'm juggling so many different programs at once right now that it's difficult to learn any single program with any serious efficiency.

[@Greyswyndir]

@Rkwgf, ...Thanks for correcting the address. I checked out the .com and was a bit confused. There were some tutorials but nothing like the .net page. Thanks for taking the time to help me out brother. I'm curious, where are you from? For some reason or another I got it into my head that you're not from the U.S. I think it had to do with some of the grammar you used in your button tutorial.

[@Rkwgf]

@Greyswyndir No prob man, I'm glad I could help! I'm from Brazil. I've skipped a lot of English classes, so grammar isn't my strong suit! =P

[@Greyswyndir]

Did you check out his KZbin videos, the ones in which he is teaching a bit of his style? You should check them out, they're really neat.

[@Rkwgf]

@KillaDanny77 Adobe After Effects

[@Greyswyndir]

Haha! He rocks.

[@loshermomtes]

Olá! Estou trabalhando com o Architect sem problemas. Desejo no entanto saber como fazer o menu repetir indefinidamente quando não é acionado nenhum botão. Os menus que tenho feito até então, roda o áudio os 15 segundos e quando acaba, fica mudo o menu. Desde já agradeço. Estou usando já a versão 5.

[@nigszxy]

2018??

[@thatsbradnjosh]

vid was great post more how did u make the intro

[@neihuslim]

Very good. So much better than SONY help, but they do set the bar rather low, useabilitywise. It wouldn't hurt to show the button in action. Click "Preview" > click the button. Show us what happens. Thanks for sharing!

[@Pivotmaster34]

How the heck did you make your opening title