Back in 2010 I did a microscopic look inside the Premiere Elements disc menu theme folder to learn of its structure and use the information gained in that study to customize existing Adobe designed disc menu themes (using Photoshop Elements or Photoshop CS or higher) or to create my our own disc menu themes (using Photoshop CS or higher). That work covered the topic for Premiere Elements 8 which was the latest version at that time to Premiere Elements 4 on Windows XP Professional SP3 32 bit.
The principles for the "How to do the customization" presented in the 2010 study are for all intents and purposes the same later for Premiere Elements 9 through 12 as they were for Premiere Elements 4 through 8, but not so for the location for the Adobe existing disc menu files that are to be customized.
We are re-publishing this 2010 work in this blog post because of its valuable microscopic "How to do customization" details which are as relevant now as then. See the September 2014 blog post "PE: Disc Menu Folders/Files Locations" for the list prepared to assist with"Where to find the Adobe existing disc menu files that are to be customized" when the user wants to do the "How to do the customization" and has a computer operating system and Premiere Elements version other than those used in any of the disc menu customization blog posts. Use Photoshop CS or higher whenever a problem exists with Photoshop Elements as the .psd editor in the customization of existing Adobe designed disc menu themes. Photoshop Elements on other than Windows XP Professional SP3 32 bit has problems opening the Layer Sets of the Layers Palette of the theme's .psd files.
ATR 2010 REPORT ON DISC MENU CUSTOMIZATION AND CREATION DETAILS
Part I.
The Preface
Premiere Elements 3, 4, 7, and 8 DVD Template .psds are characterized by PAL sizing for both the NTSC and PAL users; whereas Premiere Elements 2 DVD Template .psds come in NTSC as well as PAL sizing for the NTSC and PAL user respectively. This thread will focus on the DVD Template for Premiere Elements 3 and higher and will address the Premiere Elements 2 DVD Template at another time.
Premiere Elements comes with numerous categories of DVD Templates and many themes within each category. If none of these is just right for your purposes, you could edit/customize the existing menu within Premiere Elements in the Create Menus/Disc Menus section or go into the program files and modify the .psd for the existing menu, using Photoshop or an appropriate version of Photoshop Elements. In the latter case, the issue is the opening of .psd Layer Sets which contain the layers that you need to get at to make your modifications. Layers Sets is a Photoshop not Photoshop Elements feature. However, Photoshop Elements 6.0, 7.0, and 8.0 will open the Layer Sets for these SD 4:3 and SD Widescreen 16:9 .psds, but not the HD ones which will need Photoshop for the job. (Photoshop Elements 3.0 has not been found to open these Layer Sets for SD 4:3, SD Widescreen 16:9, or HD DVD Template .psd files. I have not tried Photoshop Elements 4.0 and 5.0 for this purpose.)
Within Premiere Elements Create Menus/Disc Menus you can make several modifications
a. Menu Background Replacement (Still or Video, but for video remember max 30 sec looping)
b. Audio Background Addition or Replacement (remember max 30 sec looping)
c. Text. Change Font Style, Size, Color, Bold/Italic/Underline. In the text box, the secret to more than one line of text in the text boxes is to hold down the Control Key as you press the Enter Key to move from the end of the first line to the beginning of the next. Also, with regard to changing the text for Play All and Scene Menu in the Text Boxes, you can, but you cannot delete the whole button by trying to put no text in the text box. Typically it will revert back to the original Play All and Scene Menu text. (For Important After Note, please see footnote*)
d. Repositioning of thumbnails and text.
But if the number of main menu buttons for the Main Menu Page or scenes per page for the Scene Selection Page do not meet your needs, then you could head over to the program files and make your modifications at the level of the .psd file for the DVD Template Theme.
If all this does not work for you, then you may want to create your own menu from scratch. For this you need Photoshop CS and higher which have the Layer Set feature which is required for building the .psd file for the DVD Menu. You cannot create menus from scratch using Photoshop Elements since it does not have a feature for creating Layer Sets. Back in the days when Photoshop Elements 4 and Premiere Elements 2 were marketed as an integrated set, there was a feature to create DVD Menu from scratch, but that is long since gone. You will typically see the “requirement” of using Photoshop CS or higher for these purposes. The major reason is that Photoshop CS or higher support Layer Set within a Layer Set, whereas versions like Photoshop 7 have a layer set feature but does not support Layer Set within a Layer Set. In spite of that, I have been able to create a nice menu with Photoshop 7 with some adjustments. More on that and Premiere Elements 2’s use of NTSC and PAL sized menus, if necessary, after we conclude the major presentation which is to follow on how to create your own Premiere Elements 4.0, 7.0, or 8.0 menu from Scratch using Photoshop CS or higher.
(A) Detailed Overview
The basic elements of a Premiere Elements DVD Template come in a set of .psd documents (one for the Main Menu and the other for the Scene Menu) that are saved to its program files. The path to the location for these .psd files is shown below for Premiere Elements 4, 7, and 8 and ultimately takes us to the Theme Folder for this DVD Template. The details below show us what can and/or should be placed in that Theme Folder for this DVD Template besides the main menu .psd and scene menu .psd. The .png files inclusion is a must if you want a thumbnail when you are in Premiere Elements’ Create Menus/Disc Menus display of menus. Audio and video file inclusions in the Theme Folder are optional. Let us begin.
Premiere Elements 3
(Details not included at this time)
Premiere Elements 4
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Premiere Elements 4.0\DVD Templates
13 Category Folders and in each Category Folder are several Folders each representing a different theme
Premiere Elements 7
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Premiere Elements 7.0\DVD Templates
13 Category Folders and in each Category Folder are several Folders each representing a different theme
Premiere Elements 8
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Premiere Elements 8.0\DVD Templates\Common
13 Category Folders and in each Category Folder are several Folders each representing a different theme
Each of these Theme Folders contains all the files needed for the DVD Menu for its theme for SD 4:3, SD Widescreen 16:9, or HD 16:9 formats. In the next section of this presentation, we will detail how to create the .psd files for the Theme Folder which will give us our new “created from scratch” DVD Menu for Premiere Elements.
(B) Theme Folder Contents
A typical Theme Folder will contain the following files:
.psd files
The Premiere Elements DVD Template comes in a set of Main Menu and Scene Menu. Each Menu has its origin in its own .psd file that is saved to the Premiere Elements program files.
These files are created in Photoshop using new document video presets for the PAL sizing (for both NTSC and PAL users) in the case of the SD and SD widescreen menus. For now we will bypass the discussion of square pixels (computer) vs non square pixels (video) and how this relates to our use of the video presets for the new document. Back to the PAL sizing which is the only sizing recognized by the program in this discussion…this same PAL sizing for menus for NTSC and PAL use started with Premiere Elements 3. The reason given at the time was that it was intended to save space at installation of the program. It was further said that, in the case of the NTSC project, these PAL sized menus were supposed to “convert seamlessly to NTSC when the actual DVD menus were generated. The language considerations for these .psd files are dealt with using designated language codes at the level of the text layers within the layer sets within the .psd..
Strict adherence to the Adobe naming for .psd file and its contents as well as the building of the .psd are important to success. Failure could result even with one misplaced punctuation mark. More details on this when we get into the section on the actual creation of the .psd.
New Document Video Preset = PAL D1/DV, 720 x 576 (with guides)
name_pal_s_mm.psd (main menu for SD 4:3 project)
name_pal_s_sm.psd (scene menu for SD 4:3 project)
New Document Video Preset = PAL D1/DV Widescreen, 720 x 576 (with guides)
name_pal_w_mm.psd (main menu for SD Widescreen 16:9 project)
name_pal_w_sm.psd (scene menu for SD Widescreen 16:9 project)
New Document Video Preset = HDV, 1440 x 1080 anamorphic (with guides)
name_pal_hd_mm.psd (main menu for HD 16:9 project)
name_pal_hd_sm.psd (scene menu for HD 16:9 project)
.png files
These are the thumbnails that display in Disc Menus/Create Menus for you to select from there and are created in Photoshop from the 720 x 576 pixels .psd sized to 160 x 128 pixels and saved as .png. Adobe describes them as “Type: Portable Network Graphic Image”. The Theme Folder contains all the .png files for the different languages, and these .png files are all prefaced by a language code:
United States
en_US_name_PAL_S_MM_OUTPUT_s_prv_mm.png (file for the thumbnail for theme’s main menu in Disc Menus/Create Menu when language = English)
en_US_name PAL_S_SM_OUTPUT_s_prv_sm.png (file for the thumbnail for theme’s scene menu in Disc Menus/Create Menu when language = English).
There would also be sets for some other countries, and the file names would be in the same format, except that en_US_ would be replaced by:
de_DE_ for Germany
es_ES_ for Spain
fr_FR_ for France
it_IT_ for Italy
ja_JP_ for Japan
nl_NL_ for Netherlands (Holland)
sv_SE_ for Sweden
zh_CN_ for China
The file format naming of these png files appears to vary between Theme Folders, but I have decided to go with the above naming format. It works.
Audio and Video Files
The Theme Folder can include just an audio file (labeled A in directory in program files), just a video file (labeled V in directory in program files). If the directory shows AV, that could be that the theme includes one file video with audio OR two files video file + audio file. An important aspect of the movie creation for these DVD Templates is that these movies appear to be created with a copy of just the Background Image from whichever menu (Main or Scene) for which it will be used. Titles, button and any other text in the .psd are not brought into the video creator--just the Background Image. The end result is that the existence of this completed movie file in the Theme folder masks over the actual Background of the .psd file (Main and/or Scene) in the same Theme folder, but not the Title, button text, and any other text in the .psd. So you end up with a menu with 30 sec looping movie with editable titles and text buttons intact.
AUDIO FILES (.mp3 or .wav)
You can include an .mp3 or .wav audio file in the Theme Folder to have an audio background for both the main and scene menu, just the main menu, or just the scene menu. Remember that the program offers max 30 sec with looping. So your audio files cannot have duration greater than 30 seconds. Although there are some variations found, the typical naming convention for the audio file for a DVD Template labeled "A" is:
name_audio_bg.mp3 or name_audio_bg.wav (this one audio file in the Theme Folder will give music for both main menu and scene menu)
name_mm_bg.mp3 or name_mm_bg.wav (this one audio file in the Theme Folder will give music just for main menu)
name_sm_bg.mg3 or name_sm_bg.wav (this one audio file in the Theme Folder will give music just for scene menu)
VIDEO FILES (.avi, or .mpg) with or without audio in the video file.
The videos have PAL formats. A swf file can also be used. Here again there is a max 30 seconds with looping.
Typical required naming of video file for standard 4:3 project
name_pal_s_bg.avi
name_pal_s_bg.mpg
name_pal_s_bg.swf
For a standard widescreen 16:9 project, the corresponding file name would be:
name_pal_w_bg.avi
name_pal_w_bg.mpg
name_pal_w_bg.swf
The above naming should add the movie to both the Main Menu as well as the Scene Menu. If you want to restrict the movie to just the Main Menu or just the Scene Menu, the typical naming format for that would be:
name_pal_s_mm_bg.avi (for the Main Menu of a standard (4:3) project (.avi video format)
name_pal_s_sm_bg.avi (for the Scene Menu of a standard (4:3) project (.avi video format)
And so on for the other video formats.....
If you want to have a video as well as an audio file included in the same Theme Folder, I have found that I obtained the best naming results (in this example, for .avi movie + .mp3 file for a standard (4:3) project:
name_bg_aud.mp3 (for audio file)
name_pal_s_mm_bg.avi (for video file, with no audio track as part of .avi file)
But there was no reason why I just could not have put an audio track in the movie as well as the video track and omitted the separate audio file.
(C) Theme Folder Contents Continued and Concluded
Examples of use of video inclusion in DVD Menus that came with program.
SWF
See DVD Template Drive In Theme (labeled V) in the Entertainment Category where this .swf video is used to show a Universal Counting Leader in the Drive In’s movie screen for just the Main Menu. Included in the Drive In Theme folder are:
Drivein_pal_s_mm_bg.swf (file for main menu of a standard 4:3 project)
Frame Size: 600 x 480 pixels; Frame Rate: 24 frames per second; Duration: about 11 seconds; Average Data Rate: 46 KB/second; Pixel Aspect Ratio: 1.094
and
Drivein_pal_w_mm_bg.swf (file for main menu of a standard widescreen 16:9 project)
Frame Size: 600 x 480 pixels; Frame Rate: 24 frames per second; Duration: about 11 seconds; Average Data Rate: 46 KB/second; Pixel Aspect Ratio: 1.4587.
No audio file is included in this Drive In Theme folder.
See DVD Template Snowman Theme (labeled V) in the Seasons Category where this .swf video is used to show falling snow as a bird flies from left to right across the screen for just Main Menu. Included in the Snowman Theme folder are:
snowman_pal_s_mm_bg.swf (file for main menu of a standard 4:3 project)
Frame Size: 600 x 480 pixels; Frame Rate: 24 frames per second: Duration: about 25 seconds; Average Data Rate: 6 KB per second; Pixel Aspect Ratio: 1.094.
and
snowman_pal_w_mm_bg.swf (file for main menu of a standard widescreen 16:9 project)
Frame Size: 600 x 480 pixels; Frame Rate: 24 frames per second: Duration: about 25 seconds;
Average Data Rate: 6 KB per second: Pixel Aspect Ratio: 1.4587.
and
snowman_pal_hd_mm.bg.swf (file for main menu of a HD 16:9 project)
Frame Size 600 x 480 pixels; Frame Rate: 24 frames per second; Duration: about 25 seconds;
Average Data Rate: 6 KB per second: Pixel Aspect Ratio: 1.3333 described in properties as representing HD Anamorphic 1080.
No audio file is included in this Drive In Theme folder.
MPG
See DVD Template Broadway Theme (labeled AV) in the Entertainment Category where this .mpg video is used to show a moving spotlight beamed at a theatre marquee in the Main Menu. Included in the Broadway Theme folder are:
Broadway_pal_s_mm_bg.mpg (file for main menu of a standard 4:3 project)
Frame Size: 720 x 576 pixels; Frame Rate: 25 frames per second; Duration: about 13 seconds; Average Data Rate: 363 KB per second; Pixel Aspect Ratio: 1.094.
and
Broadway_pal_w_mm_bg.mpg (file for main menu of standard widescreen 16:9 project)
Frame Size: 720 x 576 pixels; Frame Rate: 25 frames per second; Duration: about 13 seconds;
Average Data Rate: 363 KB per second; Pixel Aspect Ratio: 1.4587.
and
Broadway_pal_hd_mm_bg.mpg (file for main menu of a HD 16:9 project)
Frame Size: 1920 x 1080; Frame Rate: 25 frames per second; Duration: about 13 seconds;
Average Data Rate: 4.7 MB per second; Pixel Aspect Ratio: Square Pixels 1.0.
The Theme folder contains one audio file whose music is heard for both the Main and Scene Menus. The naming of this file is:
name_bg_aud.mp3.
AVI
See DVD Template Night Vision Theme (labeled AV) in the Entertainment Category where this .avi is used to show a beam of light searching across the screen, accompanied by audio. (This .avi video has audio as part of its file, and, from its properties, appears to be DV AVI.) Included in the Night Vision Theme folder are:
NightVision_pal_s_bg.avi (file for main and scene menus, standard 4:3 project)
Frame Size: 720 x 576 pixels; Frame Rate: 25 frames per second; Duration: about 10 seconds; Average Data Rate: 3.6 MB per second; Pixel Aspect Ratio: 1.094.
And
NightVision_pal_w_bg.avi (file for main and scene menus, standard widescreen 16:9 project)
Frame Size: 720 x 576 pixels; Frame Rate: 25 frames per second; Duration: about 10 seconds;
Average Data Rate: 3.6 MB per second; Pixel Aspect Ratio: 1.4587.
In Part III to follow, we will create a DVD Template from scratch for Premiere Elements 8.0.1.
We will detail:
a. creating a new Category Folder to go in the Premiere Elements 8.0.1 DVD Templates Folder
b. creating a new Theme Folder to go in that new Category Folder
c. creating the main menu .psd and scene menu .psd for our new DVD Template Theme as well as the .png files for the Premiere Elements 8.0.1 Disc Menus display
d. adding some audio to the Theme (maybe also some video)
Part III. DVD Template Creation From Start
(A) Inside Photoshop Building the DVD Template .psd
Exercise involves Premiere Elements 8 DVD Template for NTSC/PAL Standard 4:3 Project
In the Premiere Elements 8 program files…..
The program files folder structure to house “the created from scratch” DVD Template is important and needs to be set up in the program files. This exercise will involve creating a new DVD Template category as well as a new theme within that category. So we need to create a Category Folder (named “My DVD Templates” in this exercise) in the Common Folder that is in the DVD Template Folder in Premiere Elements 8’s program files. Next a Theme Folder (named “Generations” in this exercise) is created in this Category Folder. It is this Theme Folder where the essential and optional DVD Template files created are placed.
Now out of the program files and on to the opening of Photoshop CS or higher where the essential PAL sized .psd files are to be created, one for the main menu and one for the scene menu, as well as the .png files for Premiere Elements 8’s Disc Menus section display that will be used when in the program searching for the menu there that we want to apply to the project.prel.
1. In Photoshop the document size for this exercise is set (File/New/….) with the new document video preset = D1/DV, 720 x 576 (with guides).
2. Independent of whatever language was designated when the Premiere Elements 8 to be used was installed, you are going to create first one main menu .psd and then one scene menu .psd to go into your Generations Theme Folder, and each will have a basic structure consisting of major Layer Sets each named according to the Adobe convention with its important code prefix. Even if you want to have the DVD Template for multi-language purposes, thee is but one main menu .psd and one scene menu .psd. The language considerations are dealt with within the major Layer Set at the level of the Text Layer prefix language codes to be detailed when we get into the major Layer Sets.
Main Menu .psd Major Layer Sets
From top to bottom in the Photoshop Layers Palette, the major Layer Sets which will contain main menu assets plus other layer sets with main menu assets are:
Title (there is no code given)
(+<) previous arrow
(+>) next arrow
(+^) main menu
(+*) main menu or (+*) credits or (+*) behind the scene, and in some cases just (+) main menu
(++) scene menu
(+-) play movie
Background (there is no code given)
Note (a). For Background, there is no code, and, depending on the complexity of the Background, may not be in a Layer Set…in the simplest case, just sits as a Background or Layer 1 at the bottom of the Layers Palette. In some Adobe designs, there can be seen a Foreground or Additional Textures Major Layer Set (also no associated code) above the Background Layer which may or may be contained in any kind of Layer Set.
Note (b). The use of (+^) main menu, (+<) previous arrow, and (+>) next arrow does need some explanation. Their use is indicated and becomes essential in navigating multiple main menu pages generated in Disc Menus by the program. The multiple pages of main menu are due to spill over related to the number of Timeline main menu markers exceeding the number of (+) or (+*) main menu Layer Sets designed into the main menu .psd. The text = Main Menu from a Text Layer within the (+^) main menu Layer Set typically is placed at the bottom left of the displayed main menu and has the previous and next arrows from their respective Layer Sets at the bottom right of the main menu. In use, on the first page of the Main Menu, typically you will see just the next arrow of this trio. On the second page of the displayed Main Menu, you will see the Main Menu text and previous and next arrows to click on for the appropriate navigation and so.
Note (c). I have found that I could use the (+) main menu Layer Set OR the (+*) main menu Layer set for text main menu buttons OR thumbnail with text main menu buttons.
However, in the program files, you will see (+*) used as the code for a Layer Set named Credits or Behind the Scenes even though they are essentially main menu buttons and seem to work the same as the (+) variety.
Note (d). Premiere Elements 8 used was installed with the designated language = English. So, it was interesting to observe that in the above list of prefix codes and related Layer Set names, I could type the major Layer Set name in French or German instead of English, and my Text typed in English in a Text Layer within that Layer Set would display and function as editable text in English within the DVD Main Menu.
(B) Inside Main Menu psd Major Layer Sets
(+-) Play Movie Major Layer Set Contents
If you want a Play Movie text button which will be highlighted (change colors) when you move your mouse cursor over it in the program’s Disc Menu Preview or when you use the TV Remote at DVD-VIDEO playback…….
The (+-) Play Movie Major Layer Set contains two Layer Sets each named (^^)
Each of these (^^) Layers Sets has a Text Layer with text = Play Movie in a different color than the text in the other (^^) Layer Set.
The Text Layer of the first (^^) Layer Set (for this English language exercise) is named (en_US[-]) Play All
Text Layer of the second (^^) Layer Set is named (en_US[=1]) Highlight and is aligned so that its position is the same as the text that it is highlighting in the other (^^) Layer Set.
For languages other than English, the following prefix country codes would replace en_US in the Text Layer name format.
fr_FR for France
de_DE for Germany
ja_JP for Japan
it_IT for Italy
sv_SE for Sweden
es_ES for Spain
nl_NL for Netherlands (Holland)
zh_CN for China
pt_BR for Brazilian Portuguese Country
Text Layers could be included in the (^^) Layer Set to represent more than one country. Only the layer visibility icon of the one in preparation would be left ON. But, it has been observed in these cases at the level of use of the DVD Template in Premiere Elements that, even if you have the visibility icon ON for a given country in the .psd in the program files, Disc Menus in Premiere Elements will display only the DVD Template text language based on the language that was designed when Premiere Elements was installed.
If instead you want a Play Movie text button which you can highlight with a Shape that moves back and forth between the Play Movie and Scene Menu text…….
The (+-) Play Movie Major Layer Set contains within it one (^^) Layer Set with a Text Layer with text = Play Movie and named (en_US[-]) Play All. Also within the (+-) Play Movie Major Layer Set (Not the (^^) Layer Set)is a Shape Layer with your shape, and this Shape Layer is named (=1) Highlight.
(++) Scene Menu Major Layer Set Contents
Same as (+-) Play Movie, except of course the Text typed would be = Scene Menu, not Play Movie.
(+^) Main Menu Major Layer Set Contents
Details here are the same as for Text highlighted by change of color for (+-) Play Movie and (++) Scene Menu. See full details above.
The (+-) Main Menu Major Layer Set contains two Layer Sets each named (^^).
Each Text Layer has text = main menu.
The Text Layer within the first (^^) Layer set is named (en_US[-]) main menu.
The Text Layer within the second (^^) Layer set is named (en_US[=1]) highlight.
(+>) Next Arrow Major Layer Set Contents
The (+>) New Arrow Major Layer Set contains two layers.
Both are Shape Layers with the head of an arrow pointing right.
The first layer is the Shape in one color, and this layer is named (=1) Highlight.
The second layer is the Shape in the original color, and this layer is named next arrow.
Since text is not involved, there are no language codes involved.
(+<) Previous Arrow Major Layer Set Contents
Similar to (+>) Next Arrow Major Layer Set, except Shape is the head of the arrow point left.
(no code indicated) Title Major Layer Set Contents
For a Title with subtitle
The Title Major Layer Set would contain 2 Layer Sets each named (^^).
The first (^^) Layer Set would house a Text Layer named (en_US) Main Movie Title.
The second (^^) Layer Set would have a Text Layer named (en_US) subtitle and, of course, the subtitle text would be position below the main movie title.
For just a main movie title, the second (^^) Layer Set in the above could be omitted.
(+) or (+*) Main Menu or Credits, Features Major Layer Set Contents
If a text button in addition to the Play Movie and Scene Menu buttons on the main menu page are required, then the considerations for this text button would be similar to those for the (+-) Play Movie Major Layer Set and (++) Scene Menu Major Layer Set, but the name of this major Layer Set would be (+) or (+*) Main Menu and the Text Layer text would = Main Menu, etc. Please refer to the complete details above in sections for the Play Movie and Scene Menu Major Layer Sets.
However, if you had multiple movies on the Timeline and you wanted your viewers to make viewing choices from Main Menu thumbnails, then you might consider this scenario using a (+*) Main Menu Major Layer Set for each of the thumbnail needed for each movie. This scenario would feature:
a. Thumbnails for your movies on the Main Menu
b. Editable Text for a short naming of Thumbnail
c. A frame highlight that would appear around your selection for viewing when your mouse cursor came near the thumbnail in the program’s Disc Menus Preview or would appear with use of the TV Remote at playback.
The (+*) Main Menu Major Layer Set would contain one Layer Set named (^^). Inside that (^^) Layer Set would be a Text Layer with text = main menu 1, and this Text Layer would be named (en_US[-]) main menu 1.
In side the (+*) Main Menu Major Layer Set (Not the (^^) Layer Set), there would be two other layers. The one could contain a 4:3 frame to go around the 4:3 rectangle in the second layer. This “frame” layer would have the name (=1) Highlight. The second layer would have a 4:3 color or photo filled rectangle and have a name (%) video. This 4:3 rectangle area will display the appropriate main marker Timeline location in Disc Menus Preview in the program. If you are using the Photoshop Rectangular Marquee Tool to make your rectangle make sure that Fixed Aspect Ratio 4:3 is set in the Options Bar.
C. Inside Scene Menu .psd Major Layer Sets
Scene Menu .psd Major Layer Sets
From top to bottom in the Photoshop Layers Palette, the major Layer Sets which will contain scene menu assets plus other layer sets with main menu assets are:
Title (there is no code)
(+<) previous arrow
(+>) next arrow
(+^) main menu
(+) scene 8
(+) scene 7
(+) scene 6
(+) scene 5
(+) scene 4
(+) scene 3
(+) scene 2
(+) scene 1
Background
The principles cited for the Main Menu .psd Major Layer Sets would be similar to those for the Scene Menu .psd Major Layer Sets. Each scene thumbnail is represented in a different (+) Scene Major Layer Set. The space available and the sizing used for the thumbnail assets limit the number of thumbnails (scenes) per page that are practical. Beware of scene overlapping. As many as 8 scenes per scene menu page can be found in at least one of the DVD Templates that came with Premiere Elements 8 (Category General/Theme Generic 1). Below we will look at a few scenarios for creating a thumbnail for the scene selection page.
(+) Scene 1 Major Layer Set Contents
If you want
(a) thumbnail with the text = scene 1
and
(b) highlight being a frame that appears around the thumbnail when the thumbnail is selected OR a Shape that moves to the thumbnail selected
Then, (+) Scene 1 Major Layer Set contains one Layer Set named (^^). In the (^^) Layer Set is a Text Layer named (en_US[-]) scene 1 and the text in that Text Layer = scene 1.
Also in the (+) Scene 1 Major Layer Set (Not the (^^) Layer Set) are two layers. The first layer is named (=1) Highlight and has a 4:3 frame on a transparent background or can be a Shape Layer. The second layer is named (%) video and has a 4:3 rectangle filled with color or photo on a transparent background.
If you want
(a) thumbnail with the text = scene 1
but
(b) you did not want a frame or shape highlight, you just wanted the scene 1 text to change colors as the highlight
Then, (+) Scene 1 Major Layer Set contains two Layer Sets each named (^^). The first (^^) Layer Set would have a Text Layer named (en_US[-]) scene 1 and the text would be = scene 1 in a color. The second (^^) Layer Set would have a Text Layer named (en_US{=1]) Highlight and the text would be = scene 1 in a color different from the text in the first (^^) Layer Set. Also in that (+) Scene 1 Major Layer Set (Not the (^^) Layer Sets) would be a layer named (%) video which would have a 4:3 rectangle on a transparent background.
There are all sorts of variations, but we will leave it there for now.
Before Exiting Photoshop
1. For Main Menu .psd and Scene Menu .psd, save each as .psd 720 x 576 pixels, using the appropriate file name. For this example:
For Main Menu .psd
generations_pal_s_mm.psd
For Scene Menu.psd
generations_pal_s_sm.psd
2. Then, for the Main Menu .psd and Scene Menu .psd, save each as .png 160 x 128 pixels, using the appropriate file name. For this example::
For Main Menu .png
en_US_generations_PAL_S_MM_OUTPUT_s_prv_mm.png
For Scene Menu.png
en_US_generations_PAL_S_SM_OUTPUT_s_prv_sm.png
These four files are saved to the Generations Theme Folder in the My DVD Templates Category Folder in the Common Folder in the Premiere Elements 8 DVD Template Folder in the program files.
Back in the Program Files
We select music to be played in the display of both the Main Menu and Scene Menu. The best that I could find at the moment was 29 second .wav clip of Mozart Night from SmartSound. I named the Mozart Night file generations_audio_bg.wav and saved it to the Theme Folder along with the .psd and the .png files for this Generation DVD Template.
Next, Part IV will be the conclusion of this series. It will detail how I put together all these miles of words and details into the DVD Template that I wanted. I will also post some links to reading material on the subject.
Part IV. The Wrap Up
The plan was to create a DVD-VIDEO (titled My Parents) which contained 3 movies, each representing family photos and videos for three generations as well as scenes within each movie representing events such as early days, marriage, children, and retirement. The first movie was named “Great Great”, the second “Great”, and the third “Mom and Dad”. Since Premiere Elements does not allow each movie to have its own Scene Selection Page, how to organize the “pool” of sequential scene thumbnails on the Scene Selection Page was a major consideration. As you will see, we did this “organization” with the use of “Subtitles” created into the Scene Menu .psd.
1. The Premiere Elements Timeline had the movies sequentially on the Timeline (no gaps), each with a Main Menu Marker (blue) at its beginning. Within the movie were 3 (no more or less) scene markers (green).
2. Main Menu Plan included 3 thumbnails, one for each movie, and each thumbnail highlighted by a colored frame; Play All and Scene Menu buttons available and highlighted by a ship shape; Main Menu plus Previous and Next Arrows for navigating multiple main menu pages if necessary; editable text for the movie thumbnails and Main Menu Title. The Background was a photo in keeping with the theme.
3. Scene Menu Plan included 9 thumbnails, 3 for each of the 3 movies; thumbnails 1 to 3 placed in a vertical column headed by Subtitle 1, thumbnails 4 to 6 in the next vertical column headed by Subtitle 2, and thumbnails 6 to 9 in the next vertical column headed by Subtitle 3; Main Menu plus Previous and Next Arrows for navigating multiple scene menu pages if necessary; editable text for the scene thumbnails text, Scene Menu Title, and Subtitles. The Background was a photo in keeping with the theme.
This is what it all looked like**. Since I did not have any of my own pictures of the Statue of Liberty and to avoid copyright issues, this sample contains a plain blue background. So, please imagine that you see the Statue of Liberty in that blue background.
http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?pi...bQ5UBt8Xdd6Vp0
For what was done, the structure of the .psd Layer Palette was:
Main Menu
Background
JPEG Photo sized to 720 x 576 pixels.
(+-) Play Movie Major Layer Set
…..(^^) Layer Set
……….Text Layer (en_US[-]) Play All
…..Shape Layer (=1) Highlight
(++) Scene Menu Major Layer Set
…..(^^) Layer Set
……….Text Layer (en_US[-]) Scene Menu
…..Shape Layer (=1) Highlight
(+*) Main Menu 1 Major Layer Set
…..(^^) Layer Set
……….Text Layer (en_US[-]) main menu 1
…..4:3 Frame Layer (=1) Highlight
…..4:3 Rectangle (%) video
(+*) Main Menu 2 Major Layer Set
(Same structure as for Main Menu 1, but Text Layer text = main menu 2.)
(+*) Main Menu 3 Major Layer Set
(Same structure as for Main Menu 1, but Text Layer text = main menu 3.)
(+^) Main Menu Major Layer Set
…..(^^) Layer Set
……….Text Layer (en_US[-]) main menu
…..(^^) Layer Set
……….Text Layer (en_US[=1]) highlight (text = main menu, but different color)
(+>) Next Arrow Major Layer Set
…..Arrow Shape Layer (transparent background, arrow color 1) (=1) Highlight
…..Arrow Shape Layer (transparent background, arrow color 2) next arrow
(+<) Previous Arrow Major Layer Set
(Same structure as for Next Arrow, except arrow facing left rather than right.)
Title Major Layer Set (no code)
…..(^^) Layer Set
……….Text Layer (en_US) Movie Title
Scene Menu
Background
JPEG Photo sized to 720 x 576 pixels
(+) Scene 1 Major Layer Set
…..(^^) Layer Set
……….Text Layer (en_US[-]) scene 1
…..4:3 Frame Layer (=1) Highlight
…..4:3 Rectangle Layer (%) video
Then 8 additional (+) Scene 2 to 9 Major Layer Sets, each with its appropriate naming.
(+^) Main Menu Major Layer Set, (+>) Next Arrow Major Layer Set, and (+<) Previous Arrow Major Layer Set have same structure as described for Main Menu.
Title Major Layer Set (no code)
…..(^^) Layer Set
……….Text Layer (en_US) Scene Menu
…..(^^) Layer Set
……….Text Layer (en_US) Subtitle 1
…..(^^) Layer Set
……….Text Layer (en_US) Subtitle 2
…..(^^) Layer Set
……….Text Layer (en_US) Subtitle 3
What I have described in this series on DVD Menu Creation for Premiere Elements is not insider information from Adobe. It was based on my reading on the topic, studying existing DVD templates, and doing a lot of exploration and experimentation. This is what worked for me.
My Generations DVD Template was based essentially on the structure of Adobe’s DVD Templates/General Category/Generic 1 Theme with some variations as indicated. So, if you do not have Photoshop, you can come very close to simulating “creating Premiere Elements DVD Templates “from scratch” by using the appropriate version of Photoshop Elements to modify/edit the DVD Template .psd files which come with the program and are located in the program files. Some times just swapping the main menu with the scene menu by swapping their file names can be made to serve your purposes if you want to put thumbnails on a Main Menu Page. Lots of possibilities.
The Premiere Elements 2 DVD Template situation is different from that of version 3, 4, 7, and 8, and I will leave that for another time. There is some detailed information on that dated 2005
Premiere Elements 2.0 – DVD and Title Template Guide for Designers
http://videoinasnap.chuckengels.com/...gners_1105.pdf***
but the link is no longer functional. And, there is a classic Steve Grisetti version 3 FAQ “How can I edit DVD templates for Premiere Elements 3” which I believe was lost in a recent Adobe Forum’s restructuring. Information on that can be supplied on request. But the latter should be covered in the information presented in this thread.
_______________________________________________________________________________
2010
*Clarification On Text Button Renaming/Removal
............ I wrote:
True, but what I have discovered (thanks to Peter’s work), there
is a way to remove Play All and have nothing in its place. That point
came to light after I wrote the above and then later read Peter’s thread
in depth where he wrote:
See Peter (SchnepelPeter9) post #4 in
http://www.elementsvillage.com/forum...ad.php?t=56159
This is what I think Peter did and which I did and was able to remove the Play All text from the Main Menu and have no text and signs of a Play All Button on the Main Menu.
(a) Double click Play All to bring up the Change Text dialog
(b) Delete the Play All text
(c) Hit the computer keyboard spacebar, followed by OK in the Change Text dialog
The Play All text is gone and nothing replaces it.
What I was doing in quote in post #1 of this thread were steps (a) and (b) and then hitting the OK in the Change Text dialog.
2014
**"This is what it all looked like" screenshots are views from photo editor when working at .psd level with the gold frame highlights visible around all of the thumbnails. At playback of the Premiere Elements DVD-VIDEO on DVD with these menus, the orange frame highlight appears only around the thumbnail which is selected for viewing by the viewer.
***No longer a functional link in 2014 as it was in 2010.
ATR
Quote:
| Also, with regard to changing the text for Play All and Scene Menu in the Text Boxes, you can, but you cannot delete the whole button by trying to put no text in the text box. Typically it will revert back to the original Play All and Scene Menu text. |
Quote:
| Finally, I hide the ‘play whole film’ option by editing the text and replacing it with a space….. |
http://www.elementsvillage.com/forum...ad.php?t=56159
This is what I think Peter did and which I did and was able to remove the Play All text from the Main Menu and have no text and signs of a Play All Button on the Main Menu.
(a) Double click Play All to bring up the Change Text dialog
(b) Delete the Play All text
(c) Hit the computer keyboard spacebar, followed by OK in the Change Text dialog
The Play All text is gone and nothing replaces it.
What I was doing in quote in post #1 of this thread were steps (a) and (b) and then hitting the OK in the Change Text dialog.
2014
**"This is what it all looked like" screenshots are views from photo editor when working at .psd level with the gold frame highlights visible around all of the thumbnails. At playback of the Premiere Elements DVD-VIDEO on DVD with these menus, the orange frame highlight appears only around the thumbnail which is selected for viewing by the viewer.
***No longer a functional link in 2014 as it was in 2010.
ATR
