Creating your Menu-Buttons

In the menu-editor of Studio are included a number of buttons, which you can use in the CD/DVD menu’s. If you are not convinced these buttons will do your production any good, you can make your own (new) buttons. The only thing you need is a graphical programm, with which you can make TGA-files with transparent layers.

Such a TGA-picture exists of three parts:

1. A certain figure, which reproduces the button. This figure can have any form of measurement.
2. The area outside this figure must be transparent. In this external area the background video must be visible.
3. A transparent area within the figure. In this ‘internal’ area the image (or the video) of the chapter point will be visible.

All transparent areas within your figure must be defined as a transparent selection (mask or layer) in your graphical programm. Now, save your file as a TGA (keeping the existing transparency property - layers). Import your figure into Studio menu-editor and you are done.

Try with your favorite graphical programm to create such kind of file, you will see how easy it is to customise your menu (you need to learn a little bit about transparent layer, also called mask).

For information, you can also read the tutorials of saby "Create transparent areas in still images with Gimp" or "Handling layers with Gimp" that will give you the foundation needed to perform all these operations with Gimp which is free.