Is it possible to do all this with a DVD?

[tmad40blue]

First, I'm new at Macrumours. Hi there.

Second, I'm wanting to do the following with a DVD project I'm working on:

• Use an AVI file I have on my hard drive as the actual movie on the DVD
• Use a menu that's on another DVD that I can't recreate anymore due to outdated software

Is it possible to put these two together into one DVD, and have the old menu lead to the new movie that I'm putting in?

Thanks for any help - please do ask questions if you need more info.

 

[Griffter]

Hi and welcome!

No problem to use the old avi, I personally would use something basic like iDVD (if it can cope with the codec of the avi), failing that I would use Toast to create a basic dvd.

The menu on the other hand may be more complex. I don't think you can simply 'rip' the menu like you can with with the video footage, you will have to build it from scratch in software like dvd studio pro (which comes as part of final cut studio). Is it really important you use exactly the same menu or will an iDVD or Toast template suffice?

 

[tmad40blue]

Hello Tom,

Thanks for the suggestions. It really is important that I use the old menu, since it was created a very long time ago with PC software that I no longer have any access to, and I created it exactly how I wanted it. It would be impossible to recreate it through the software I have now.

I forgot to mention that I also have VMware Fusion running XP SP3 - so if there's any Windows software that I could use to do the menu part of this, that would probably work.

Thanks for your help!

 

[huntercr]

Hello Tom,

Thanks for the suggestions. It really is important that I use the old menu, since it was created a very long time ago with PC software that I no longer have any access to, and I created it exactly how I wanted it. It would be impossible to recreate it through the software I have now.

I forgot to mention that I also have VMware Fusion running XP SP3 - so if there's any Windows software that I could use to do the menu part of this, that would probably work.

Thanks for your help!

In general it's not possible to have an old menu be able to work with different files. If you are a master at the DVD format spec, you might be able to pull it off if you have the mastered original DVD and can hex edit your way into having it refer to a differen mpeg stream.

So in short... no.

The iDVD themes are pretty cool though, have you tried them out?

 

[tmad40blue]

In general it's not possible to have an old menu be able to work with different files. If you are a master at the DVD format spec, you might be able to pull it off if you have the mastered original DVD and can hex edit your way into having it refer to a different mpeg stream.

So in short... no.

The iDVD themes are pretty cool though, have you tried them out?

Oh wow, I had no clue it was so complex. Never mind.

I'm pretty much an expert with iDVD, so I know my way around there. I was just wondering if there were any way to revive my old menu. Oh well, I'll look into other options.

Thanks for your assistance, everyone!

 

[treehorn]

You can extract the menu using Cinematize, which, depending on how complicated the menu is and your needs for it, might work (or at least give you something to work with)