Authoring tools
In the Disc Editor, the timeline toolbar provides a number of authoring tools that you can use directly without switching windows or views.
Tools on the Disc Editor timeline toolbar.
Create link: This button links the currently-selected chapter button in the Player to the location of the timeline scrubber.
Insert link: This button facilitates work with multipage menus by moving all existing button links (starting at the currently selected chapter button in the Player) one position towards the end.
In a multipage menu, the act of inserting a link may begin a chain reaction by forcing an existing link onto the next page, a link from there onto the page following, and so on to the final page, which itself will be created if necessary.
Remove link: Clicking on this button will remove the link that exists between the button on the menu and the chapter marker on the Chapter Track. An ‘unlinked’ chapter marker will remain on the Chapter Track. This unlinked chapter can be manually linked by drag-and-drop to another button on the Menu Preview, or it may remain as an unlinked chapter, in which case, during playback, it will work to jump through your disc using the jump button on your remote control. You may also right-click on one or more chapter markers and choose Remove Selected Link.
Button cycle: By clicking on the left and right arrows of this control, you can scroll through available buttons and make them active for editing. Click on the button caption to edit it. Buttons also may be selected by clicking the button links in the Player when a menu is previewed.
Set thumbnail: Clicking this button generates a thumbnail image of the frame at the timeline scrubber position, and displays it on the menu button selected in the button cycle control if it is of the Thumbnail type.
Create unlinked chapter: Unless the timeline scrubber is exactly positioned at a chapter or return marker, clicking this button will add a chapter marker to the Chapter Track, but will not link it to any menu. The unlinked chapter can later be manually linked by drag-and-drop to a button on the Menu Preview if that’s what you want. However, an unlinked chapter also serves a useful purpose: during playback, it designates one of the points to pause at when browsing a DVD with the jump button on the remote control.
Remove chapter: When the timeline scrubber is positioned at a chapter, the Create unlinked chapter button takes on the opposite function, and a modified symbol. Clicking on it will remove both the chapter marker and the link that binds it to a menu, if it has one. You can also remove chapters with the Delete Selected Chapter context menu command when one or more chapter markers are selected. To remove the links from chapter markers, leaving them unlinked but still on the Chapter Track, use Remove Selected Links from the same menu.
Create return: Unless there is already a marker at the timeline scrubber position, this button will add a return marker to the Chapter Track.
A return marker is active during viewing only if playback commenced from the same menu the marker is associated with. (On the timeline, the marker color should match that of the associated menu’s icon in the Menu List.) When playback reaches the frame associated with an active return marker, it will jump back to the associated menu.
Delete return: If there is a return marker at the scrubber position, the Create return button converts to Delete return, with an appropriately changed symbol.
The Remove chapter button, and the Delete selected chapter context menu command, can both also be used to delete return markers.
Timeline editing of chapter and return markers
Chapter and return markers are tied to particular frames on your timeline at which playback will be launched from a disc menu (chapters) or at which playback again gives way to the originating menu (returns). Both types of marker can be dragged with the mouse to change the location at which they take effect in the movie.
When you are previewing a menu, dragging a chapter marker from the Chapter Track to a button on the Player will relink the button. The reverse operation, dragging a button from the Player to a point on the Chapter Track, is an alternative method of creating a new chapter marker.
A project that contains one or more disc menus must have a return marker permanently positioned at the end of the Chapter Track. This guarantees that any chapter played on the disc will encounter a valid return. The final return marker can thus not be deleted.