Utilizing the DVD Architect Properties window
by Gary Rebholz
One aspect of DVD Architect software that seems to be underutilized by many users is the Properties window. In this article I'll take a look at this window and hopefully shed some light upon why if you're not utilizing it completely, you're missing some very powerful features of DVD Architect. Most of what I discuss in this article relates to both DVD Architect Pro and DVD Architect Studio, so this discussion will help you regardless of which version you use.
The first thing to know about the Properties window is that it only shows you properties that are related to whatever object you've selected in the Workspace window. Understanding this really helps demystify the Properties window and is the first step to understanding how to integrate these properties into your workflow.
To see this, open a project that has at least one button on the main menu that leads to a video—or, create such a project if you don't have one available. Deselect all of the buttons and other objects on the workspace. Notice that the Properties window is labeled Menu Page Properties as in Figure 1. In other words, the window now shows just properties that relate specifically to the menu which is the active object since you deselected everything else.
With no objects selected in the workspace, the Properties window shows just properties related to the menu page.
Now that we know that we're viewing Menu Page Properties, we can go through some of them to get a sense of what we might use them for. DVD Architect software organizes the properties under several tabs, each of which contains related properties. If it's not already active, click the General tab. Here you can control general aspects of the menu such as turning on or off the Reduce interlace flicker property, specifying whether or not a script will run automatically when the viewer comes to this menu, set the length and loop point of the menu and adjust the colors of your menu buttons in different states.
To change a property, click its current value and set a new value. For some properties you simply choose a new setting from a drop-down list. For example, click the current setting for the Reduce interlace flicker property. This presents a drop-down list from which you can choose the value you want. Other properties present you with sliders, text boxes, or other input options that you'll use to set the property. But in all cases, to access the property controls, click the property's current value.
When you're done setting your general properties, click the Background Media tab. Here you can specify what file you want to use for the menu's video and audio media as well as other properties related to the media you specify.
Click the End Action tab. These properties enable you to dictate the behavior of the menu when it reaches the end (as specified in the Menu length property you set back on the General tab). I won't go through all of the properties, but you'll be able to experiment with them now that you understand the basic principle of the Properties window showing you just the properties related to the object you have selected in the workspace.
Now, click one of the buttons on your menu to select it. As you can see in Figure 2, the Properties window now shows you Button Properties. In other words, you can now set the properties of the specific button that you've selected on your workspace.
With a button selected in the workspace, the Properties window now shows Button Properties related to that selected button.
Notice that the Button Properties utilize a different set of tabs. Although they're different than the tabs you saw with Menu Page properties, mechanically they work the same. For instance, click the Action tab. Look back at Figure 2 to see my Action tab. Here you can set the properties related to what will happen when the user selects this button. For instance, you can dictate what the button links to and whether or not it changes the audio, video, or subtitle track for the disc.
Take a few minutes to click through the other tabs in the Button Properties to get familiar with the types of properties under each tab. The application help file has good detailed descriptions of what each individual property controls, so take a look at that for specific information.
Now, double-click a button on your workspace that leads to one of the videos in your DVD or Blu-ray disc project. As you can see in Figure 3, the workspace now shows the first frame of the video and the Properties window now shows Media Properties. By now you'll realize that the Properties window is showing only properties that relate to the media that you selected by navigating into one of the buttons on your menu.
When you navigate into one of the buttons on your menu that leads to a video, the Properties window shows you properties related specifically to that video.
Again, the Media Properties utilize their own set of tabs. For instance, click the End Action tab. You can see back in Figure 3 that these properties enable you to dictate what happens when the user watches this video to the end. Does it link to a menu or another piece of media? Does it link to a specific button on a menu? Does it trigger a change in the audio, video, or subtitle track to be used? All of this can be controlled here under the End Action tab of the Media Properties.
We could go on and discuss the properties for other objects in your project, but hopefully now you've got a good enough idea of how this window works that you can experiment with the rest on your own. In addition to those that we've looked at here, there are also:
- Graphics Properties: These appear when you select a graphic element that you've imported into your workspace (other than the background graphic)
- Subtitle Properties: These are added as an extra tab—the Subtitle Events tab—to the Media Properties (the Window then becomes labeled Media and Subtitle Properties) when you select a subtitle event on a media timeline
- Picture Compilation Properties: These appear when you navigate into a picture compilation in your project
- Music/Video Compilation Properties: These appear when you navigate into a music/video compilation in your project
- Playlist Properties: These appear when you navigate into a playlist in your project
- Script Properties: These appear when you navigate into a script in your project
Take some time to experiment with the Properties window and you'll soon discover that it holds a lot of power that enables you to customize your DVD or Blu-ray disc project in a large variety of ways. If you haven't been using the Properties window for your projects, then you haven't been taking full advantage of everything that DVD Architect has to offer.
For more training including free training videos, webinar archives, and archives of my previous newsletter training articles, visit the training zone on our website at www.sonycreativesoftware.com/training.
Gary Rebholz, is the training manager for Sony Creative Software. Gary produces the popular Seminar Series training packages for Vegas Pro, ACID Pro, and Sound Forge software. He is also co-author of the book Digital Video and Audio Production. Gary has conducted countless hands-on classes in the Sony Creative Software training center, as well as at tradeshows such as the National Association of Broadcasters show.
