Editing menus on the Timeline

Menus can be trimmed on the Timeline just like any other still image clip.

Setting the clip duration is generally less crucial for menu clips than for other types, since menus cycle during playback while waiting for user input. If you want a looping video background or looping audio with your menus, though, you will want to match the menu’s duration to that of the clips involved.

The menu track

Pinnacle Studio 237 menu example overview Editing menus on the Timeline

Pinnacle Studio 237 menu track icon Editing menus on the TimelineMenu buttons link to particular points within your movie. Those points are marked by flags on the menu track, which materializes above the video track the first time a menu is added to your movie (and vanishes again if all menus are removed).

The menu itself is marked by a colored rectangle in the menu track (M1 and M2 in the illustration above). Each link to a chapter is shown by a “C” flag. Here is a close-up of the first part of the Timescale, showing the rectangle identifying the first menu, and the chapter flags for three of the clips it links to.

Pinnacle Studio 238 menu example detail 1 Editing menus on the Timeline

The next part of the Timescale in the overview illustration above includes the fourth chapter link from M1, and a link (the left-pointing arrow) from the end of the previous clip back to the menu. A result of setting this link is that the C4 clip can only be reached from the menu. The C4 clip is followed by menu M2, which – along with the flags that belong to it – is automatically drawn in a new color.

Pinnacle Studio 238 menu example detail 2 Editing menus on the Timeline

Availability: Discs with multiple menus are supported in Studio Ultimate only.

Editing on the menu track

Flags on the menu track can be moved by dragging them with the mouse, thereby changing the location at which the link takes effect in the movie. When a video clip is moved, any flags attached to the clip are moved along with it.

To create a link:

Right-click the menu track or the video track and choose either Set Disc Chapter or Set Return to Menu, depending on the kind of link you want to create.

Return to menu links are always created at the end of the current clip, rather than at the exact point where you click. You’ll rarely want to return from the middle of a clip, but you can drag the link flag to a new position if the occasion arises.

To reposition a link:

Click the flag for the link and drag it along the menu track to its new position.

To delete a link:

·    Right-click the link flag and choose Delete from the pop-up menu; or,

·    Select the flag, highlighting it, then press the Delete key.

Editing menus on the Timeline