Secret DVD 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 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
   
   
   
   Your menu should now look like this with an empty button with no image and the default text:
   
   
   Next we will remove the text.
    
2. Right-click the button and select Button Style | Image Only
   
   
   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.:
   
   
    
3. With the new button selected, click on Highlight property under Button Properties (on the right) and Change the Style to Custom
   
   
    
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)
   
   
    
5. Navigate to the movie you want to link the button to, highlight it, and press OK
   
   
   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.
   
   
    
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.
   
   
    
7. Select Destination and change it from Broken Link to the name of your movie via the drop-down list.
   
   
   Below is a Before and After of the DVD tree showing that the broken link has been fixed.
   
   

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").

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,