Hidden DVD Menu Buttons

Sometimes in DVD Architect you want to create your own buttons and link them videos manually instead of always dropping media files on menus to create buttons. In fact you can make a “secret” button (sometimes referred to as “easter eggs”) by creating an empty button, turning off the text, and not assigning it any image but linking it to a video so that the video plays when someone presses ENTER on their DVD remote. (hint: This is how “Easter Eggs” and made on Hollywood DVD menus) Here how it’s done:

  1. Choose the menu item Insert | Empty Button
     
    emptybutton_step01a

    Your menu should now look like this with an empty button with no image and the default text:

     
    emptybutton_step01b

    Next we will remove the text.
  2. Right-click the button and select Button Style | Image Only

     
    emptybutton_step02a

    Your button should now have the text removed like the picture below. If you Preview your DVD you will still see the button highlight. We’ll get rid of that in the next step.:

     
    emptybutton_step02b
  3. With the new button selected, click on Highlight property under Button Properties (on the right) and Change the Style to Custom

     
    emptybutton_step03
  4. Now let’s insert our video. Right-click on the root of the DVD hierarchy pane (on the left) and choose Insert Media… (note: you could also drag-n-drop a file from the explorer to the root of the DVD too)

     
    emptybutton_step04
  5. Navigate to the movie you want to link the button to, highlight it, and press OK

     
    emptybutton_step05a
    Your media will now appear in the hierarchy and be available in the DVD tree for linking to, which we’ll do in the next step.

     
    emptybutton_step05b
  6. With the Empty button selected, Click on Action property under Button Properties. Notice that the destination link to the button is broken because we haven’t associated any media with it yet. We will fix this in the next step.

     
    emptybutton_step06
  7. Select Destination and change it from Broken Link to the name of your movie via the drop-down list.

     
    emptybutton_step07a
    Below is a Before and After of the DVD tree showing that the broken link has been fixed.

     
    emptybutton_step07b

Your DVD menu now has an empty button that links to your video. You can assign an image to the button using the Media button under Button Properties or leave it empty to have a “hidden” button (sometimes referred to as an “Easter egg”).

emptybutton_final

It is important to note that DVD Architect supports drag-n-drop so you could have dragged the media from the Explorer window to the DVD root and also dragged it from the DVD root over to the Destination and it would have be assigned to the button. There are always multiple ways of accomplishing a task in DVD Architect. Also, you did not have to assign this button to play a video. You could assign it to go to a menu too. Using Empty Buttons and assigning them yourselves gives you a lot of control over how your DVD navigates. Explore and have fun. Until next time…

Happy Editing,

JRSig

Johnny “Roy” Rofrano

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About John Rofrano

John Rofrano is a Senior VASST Trainer and the author of Instant ACID, a book on Sony ACID Pro software, from CMP Books. He is also the developer of Ultimate S Pro, Vegas Pro Production Assistant, Mayhem, and other software plug-ins including the FASST Apps for Sony Vegas Pro NLE software. John has been a performing musician, singer, songwriter for over 40 years, and programmer and computer architect for the past 28 years. He is also a forum moderator at the Creative COW.