Play All 2 - stories
Play All with Stories
By Hal MacLean
Using scripts to create a play all situation is really only viable when you have got a lot of different content spread into several different tracks. If you are looking for a quick way to create a ‘play all’ situation then you need to think about using a single track and adding chapter markers.
A track in DVD Studio Pro is more accurately called a title set. You can place multiple clips one after the other and they will play through without interruption if you simply play the track itself. However, in many cases you want to be able to play the track (the play all situation) and yet also play the individual clip. To do this you use stories.
A story container holds chapter markers - your track will need to have markers set at the beginning of each clip. The end of the clip is marked automatically by the next chapter marker, and the end of the track. To play a single clip you need to place it into a story and play the story.
You could, on the other hand, add end jumps to your chapter markers to go back to your menu, but if you do so they your play all situation will need you to add a single story with all of the chapter marker starts in it.
A chapter is not a single point in time, more a length of time. It has a start point and an end point - the end jumps are attached to the end point of the marker, whilst the entry points can be used in a story very easily. If you set up a story and drop markers in to it you will see that these are the entry points only.
The alternative is to create as many stories as you have got clips for and then drop a single chapter into each story. You can then point the menu buttons to each story container, and set the end jump for each story to go back to the menu. This way the play all button only needs to point to the track itself.
Be careful when setting the button targets - it is too easy to set them to go to a chapter instead of the story itself. Additionally, don’t confuse both of these methods - either use end jumps on the chapter markers for the individual clips and a single story with the chapter entry points for the play all, OR use multiple stories (one for each clip) and use the track itself as the play all. Don’t do both!
Stories are a very useful tool when authoring. However, they are limited in number. You can only have 99 chapter markers in a track and you can only have 99 tracks, stories and slideshows on your disc in total. This means that if you are building an intense disc with lots of tracks then it is probably better for you to consider using end jumps on markers and a single story for the play all. However, if you have a less intense project with only a few clips then using a single track and a story for each clip will not be a problem.