Image highlight on menus

I'm not sure if this was addressed before, I looked, but couldn't find it.

What I'm wondering is if there's a way to highlight an image (button) when it is in it's selected state. I know there was a lot of talk about "mouse-over effects", and I'm not sure this qualifies. I think I've been able to do this in the past with different software, but can't remember how.

I have a little icon (video still) and text, and I know I can get the text to highlight, but is there a way to get the icon to highlight? I know I can do it with shapes, but I can't figure this out.

Is there any way to do it...a workaround maybe?

Thanks,
Casey
www.unitedvideoinc.com

I KNOW it's possible within the DVD spec...I just saw it on someone else's DVD, but I don't know what they used to author it.

Can it be done in DVDSP?

It is certainly possible to create a highlight effect over (or around) an image when you select and/or activate a button - this is usually done with a simple overlay style menu where you create an overlay file that *only* has the highlight shapes in place. The process I tend to use is something like this:

1) create your menu background with all of the graphics in a single layer - make it look like you want the menu to be when no button is selected. Add all text, etc for the buttons. Flatten it and save as a pict file, 24bit colour.

2) add a layer to this photoshop image and just add the highlights that you want - a tick, arrow, underline, etc. Hide the background layer and convert this new layer to grayscale (you will need to flatten the image), then save it as a .pict file, 4 bit max - 2 bit could do it, too (You might now want to use the history tool to undo certain steps and save the file as a psd file so that you can make changes if you need to).

3) import both .pict files into DVDSP and set one as the background and the other as the overlay into your menu. In the menu editor, click and drag the mouse over the places where the buttons need to be. Click in one of those button hotspots and look in the property inspector under the 'color' tab. Use the sliders there to adjust what you want the highlights to be in each button state - remember that you are using a simple overlay in gray scale.

In your case, step 2 is the important bit - you can ONLY have four colours in your highlight, so outlines, underlines, shapes, etc are all good. A full colour overlay image just isn't going to happen.

Thanks Hal,

I never learned how to use overlays...or for that matter...any of the advanced features of DVDSP...I know enough to have gotten by for the past 2 years. Haven't used overlays since my days with Sonic's ReelDVD.

Thanks, I'll give it a shot!

Casey
www.unitedvideoinc.com

Hal,

How do you save your pict files as 24 bit, or 4 bit? I only have options for 16 and 32 with Photoshop 7. There's also questions about JPG compression...is that what you use?

At any rate, the overlay worked as described! However, I have another question...I want the button to not only include the image highlight, but also text and a black underline under the text. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Casey

An overlay menu is really the most basic in DVDSP, unless you use templates and assets from those. Ultimately, you really only need a background image which is what your menu looks like when nothing is selected, and an overlay file which is mostly white except for a few shapes that will become the highlights when you bring it in to DVDSP.

As such, you have two routes open to you, but for now I suggest you use the simplest, which is to convert your file in photoshop to 2 bit black and white only, and then save it as .pict. Apply no compression at all - you could also use .tiff if you wish, but steer well clear of JPEG as these do not convert to MPEG2 particularly well.

When you bring the overlay in to DVDSP anything white will become transparent, and when you drp this file over the menu background you may not see anything at all. Click on the menu and drag out a button rectangle over the space where the highlight is and you should see the shape you had in the file appear in your menu, as long as your button state is set to be 'selected'. What you then see will still be the wrong colour, but you can now use the colour setting sliders in the property inspector for the button to make this change. Effectively, you are mapping a colour on to anything black.

When you get used to this it is really simple and much more flexible, although at irst may not be as graphically rich - how good are your photoshop skills? You can also use greyscale images instead of black, and then use the advanced colour mapping to set different colours for the shades of grey. Remember that you only have four colours in an overlay, as it wil be part of the sub-picture stream when the disc is built.

When you have the hang of this, try using a four colour overlay file, and use the advanced colour mapping to change yellows to reds, etc... gets quite challenging! Just remember that your design is pretty important, and that most colours can be mapped to be different colours when in DVDSP.

I should also say that if you convert the image to greyscale in photoshop and save as 24bit .pict with no compression you will also be able to use that just fine. You'll probably then want to use advanced greyscale colour mapping in DVDSP though.

Typically, I've been making the background image in Photoshop (which I have to admit, I've been using since version 1.5!), and then doing all the text and buttons in DVDSP itself. I have not quite figured out making custom buttons very easily...say to have a yellow star appear only on the selected item, and have text next to it. The trouble I have is, when people are using the DVD on a computer, and they are using the mouse, they have to hit the tiny little star to change or activate the button. It seems that using these overlays would make things a lot easier as far as having a larger, clickable area...it's just that I've been doing half my design in DVDSP, and maybe I need to be doing virtually all of my menu designing in Photoshop...is that what most people are doing?

Thanks!
Casey

Yes - absolutely!

What you do is create the background including the text that is to be the button text, then save this as a full clour .pict file. Next add a layer and add in the star shape in one colour (black), or greyscale and position it where you want it to appear when the button is selected. If you want to make the text 'glow' as well, then add in some text outline too. When done, hide the background and you should have just a few shapes and outlines on screen. Save as .pict and call it 'overlay' or whatever.

Now in DVDSP add the background image to your menu and then the overlay file. When you create a button rectangle you will see the shapes for the overlay file appear as long as you have got the 'selected state' showing in the three buttons underneath the menu design area.

When you assign colours to the overlay and set up your button navigation anything in the button rectangle that is on the overlay file will be the highlight.

The template items are fine if you are using the templates, but I seldom find them useful when making my own menu. Occasionally they are, but generally I tend not to mix the two. The biggest issue comes when I use MPEG2 footage as the background - adding a template item will force DVDSP to re-encode the whole lot, making a mess of the background in the process.

Using Photoshop for the design (or Illustrator, or both) gives you creative freedom. Just understand the basic principles of how a menu works and you'll do far better in the long run. Lots of folks also use layer based menus too - there are times when they are useful, but ultimately they are best avoided as they work in a particular way which is slow and sometimes confusing for your viewers. Keep it simple, use standard overlays and use Photoshop... with the years you have put in I don't think you'll have too many problems!

Yep, I've been playing with that for a little while since yesterday, and it's working great.

It's just that you can't have two colors on the same highlight...an image that has a white highlight and an underline beneath the text that is black when highlighted...it has to be all one color it seems.

Actually, I'm not going to do the image highlight along with (or without) the underline, because the way my menu looks, it just looks like part of my menu is underexposed (compared to how the rest of the DVD navigates) and looks out of place since it's not being done the same way on the the rest of the menus.

Thanks for all your help...I've gotten quite an education in DVDSP! Let's just hope DVDSP will support my near-future Blu-Ray endeavors...I may have to switch to Encore...but that's another topic!

Casey Petersen
www.unitedvideoinc.com