Editing with the Clip properties tool

Pinnacle Studio 240 video tool icon   properties Editing with the Clip properties toolThe Clip properties tool for disc menus allows you to create, edit and fine-tune chapter links, and provides access to the Classic Title Editor for adjusting the visual content of the menu.

Like the Clip properties tool for other clip types, this tool lets you set a custom name for the menu by editing the Name field and trim the clip by editing the Duration field.

Pinnacle Studio image002 Editing with the Clip properties tool

The Edit menu button at the top right of the tool opens the menu in the Classic Title Editor. There you can change every visual aspect of the menu: its background and button images, the appearance and contents of its captions, and more.

The preview area on the left side of the tool shows how the menu looks and also has interactive features you can use when establishing chapter links.

The other controls are in four groups:

·    Menu-previewing controls

·    The Menu type options

·    Link property controls

·    Chapter-editing controls

Menu-previewing controls

These controls are located below the preview area.

Pinnacle Studio 241 menu tool   page selector Editing with the Clip properties toolPage selector: For menus with multiple pages (those with more links than a single page can accommodate) the arrow buttons let you select which page is active in the preview area. You can select any page in the menu for which links have been defined.

Alternative methods of selecting menu pages:

·    Step through the pages by clicking the page link buttons in the preview area.

·    Use the Button selector control to choose a button on any page of the menu.

Pinnacle Studio 242 menu tool   link checkbox Editing with the Clip properties toolShow link numbers checkbox: Check this box to cause link numbers to be displayed in the preview area over every button in the menu. The link numbers match the format and color of the chapter flags on the menu track.

The Menu type options

This pair of options determines whether you or Studio will organize the chapter links for this menu.

Pinnacle Studio image005 Editing with the Clip properties tool

If you choose Auto scene index, Studio will ensure that your chapter links are in the same order on the menu as they are in the movie itself, seven if you shuffle the order of the clips in the Movie Window. With the Manual setting, the order in which chapters are shown on the menu is up to you. If you want to sort your chapter links yet still retain future control of their order, you can click Auto scene index first (to sort the links), then Manual.

Availability: The option of manually ordering menu chapters is available in Studio Ultimate only. In standard Studio, the Auto scene index feature is permanently enabled.

Link property controls

The controls in this area set the display properties of the chapter links on the menu.

Pinnacle Studio 242 menu tool   button selector Editing with the Clip properties toolButton selector: Every link button in your menu, no matter which page it is on, has a unique sequence number. Use the arrow buttons on this control to select the menu button you want to work on. The selected button is highlighted in the preview area. You can also select a button by clicking on it in the preview area.

Pinnacle Studio image007 Editing with the Clip properties toolButton caption text field: Edit the text for the current button without opening the Classic Title Editor. The “#” character in button captions has a special meaning: Studio replaces it with the button’s sequence number. Use this feature to ensure that your buttons are correctly numbered regardless of changes in the layout of the menu. To edit other characteristics of a button caption – its position, font, and styling – click the Edit menu button to invoke the Classic Title Editor.

Pinnacle Studio 243 menu tool   thumbnail button Editing with the Clip properties toolSet thumbnail button: By default, the thumbnail frame displayed on a menu button is the frame to which the button links. You can choose any frame in your movie
to be the thumbnail, however. Just move the Timeline scrubber to the exact frame you want (as shown in the Player), and click the set thumbnail button.

Pinnacle Studio image009 Editing with the Clip properties toolMotion thumbnails checkbox: Check this option if you would like your menu’s buttons to show moving video from their target chapters rather than a static thumbnail frame. Because this feature requires that the moving thumbnails be pre-rendered, the results won’t appear immediately when you preview your movie in the Player. Instead you will typically see a colored bar appear in the Timescale over the menu clip. This bar indicates that the clip is being rendered in the background, without interrupting your session.

Background rendering is optional. You can disable it, if required, in the Video and audio preferences options panel (Setup Ø Video and Audio Preferences).

Availability: The Motion thumbnails feature is available in Studio Ultimate only.

Chapter-editing controls

The controls in this area select or modify the individual chapter buttons within a menu.

Pinnacle Studio image010 Editing with the Clip properties toolThe Set chapter buttons: These buttons set or sever the link between the currently-selected chapter button on the menu and its target clip.

To set a link: Position the Timeline scrubber within a menu, video, theme or still image clip, and click the Create chapter Pinnacle Studio 244 menu tool   set chapter button Editing with the Clip properties tool button. For video and still image clips, the chapter point is set to the exact location of the scrubber within the clip.

To clear a link: Click the Clear chapter Pinnacle Studio 244 menu tool   clear chapter Editing with the Clip properties tool button.

Pinnacle Studio image013 Editing with the Clip properties toolSet return button: This creates a “return-to-menu” link at the end of the current clip, which is where you almost always want it. During playback, the link causes an immediate jump to its menu. To create a return-to-menu link in the Clip properties tool, position the Timeline scrubber in the clip where you want the link, and click Set return to menu.

Availability: The Set return button is available in Studio Ultimate only.

The Return after every chapter checkbox: Set this option to add a return-to-menu link after every chapter in this menu. Clicking this checkbox, whether to set or clear it, removes all existing return-to-menu links for the menu. Return-to-menu links are normally draggable, but while this box is checked they remain anchored to the end of their clips.

Creating links with drag-and-drop

The Clip properties tool for disc menus supports drag-and-drop as a quick and convenient way to establish links for menu buttons.

To create a link using drag-and-drop:

·    Click the clip in the Movie Window that you want to link to, and drag it onto a button in the Clip properties tool preview area. The button is linked to the first frame of the clip. Or,

·    Click the button for which you want to create a link, and drag it onto a clip in the Movie Window. In this case you are linking to the point within the clip at which you “drop” the button – generally not the first frame.

Editing with the Clip properties tool