1. Place the Dyn_Lnk.aep file, located in ‘.

/Encore_Menu_Templates/’, into the same

2. Make sure your menu assets have their default names from the After Effects project, or
else they will not be loaded correctly by the dynamic link project. File names are case
sensitive, and must have a *.mov extension for video, and *.wav or *.aiff for audio.

Note: You will only have a separate audio file if you chose to add the music separately after
rendering your menus. If you rendered your menus with your music placed in the master
composition, you will only have *.mov assets which contain both audio and video.

3. Open Encore and select ‘New Project’.

4. Name the project and select a location.

5. Confirm the following settings:

a. Select Blu-ray or DVD ‘Authoring Mode’ depending on your project

b. Set ‘Television Standard’ to ‘NTSC’ or ‘PAL’ depending on your region

c. Set dimensions to 1920x1080 if you are creating a Blu-ray disc

d. Set codec to ‘mpeg2’ (this is not the codec of your videos, only menus)

e. Frame Rate should be set to either 29.97 (NTSC) or 25 (PAL)

f. Under ‘Advanced Settings’, set ‘Max Audio/Video Bitrate’ to 20 Mbps (Blu-ray) or

Note: The dimensions and frame rate set here for the Blu-ray disc are for the menus
only, as your videos can be SD, 720p, HDV, or full 1920x1080 (and can be mixed on a
single disc, as long as they are placed on separate timelines)

6. Click ‘OK’ to continue.

Note: It is recommended to clear your Encore and After Effects Cache before authoring a new
project, especially since the motion menu assets will have the same names from a previously
authored project. This can prevent audio and video glitches with the Dynamic Link feature.

7. To clear the Encore cache, go to ‘Edit > Preferences > Media’ and click ‘Clean Database’

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8. Clear the After Effects cache by opening After Effects, then going to ‘Edit > Preferences >
Media & Disc Cache' and clicking 'Clean Database & Cache'.

9. The cache of dynamically linked assets must manually be deleted. To do so, navigate to
the location of the After Effects Cache specified in the ‘Media & Disc Cache’ preferences,
and delete all files in the ‘Media Cache Files’ folder. This is the most important step of
clearing your cache!

10. In the Project panel, create a new folder ‘right-click > New > Folder’ and name it
‘Menu_Assets’ or similar.

11. If you are able to use the dynamic link feature in Encore, use the following method to
import your menu assets:

a. Select the ‘Menu_Assets’ folder, then at the top go to ‘File > Adobe Dynamic Link
> Import After Effects Composition’

b. Navigate to the folder of your rendered menus and select the Dyn_Lnk.aep file

c. On the right, select all the appropriate compositions and press ‘OK’. For
example, if you are using CS4, you will use the compositions in the CS4 folder. If
your music and sound fx to your menus are contained in a separate audio file,
make sure to use the ‘Separate_Audio’ compositions.

Note: If you do not own the Adobe Master Collection or Adobe Production Premium,
you will not have the ability to use the dynamic link feature.

12. If you do not have access to the Dynamic Link feature, simply import the rendered menu
assets into the project by right clicking in the Project panel, then navigating to ‘Import As
> Asset’.

Note: While using this method, your transition assets must have the music/sfx combined
into the quicktime movie, as Encore can only select a single asset for a transition. To easily
combine the quicktime video with a separate audio asset, you can open the Dyn_Lnk.aep
project in After Effects, navigate to the appropriate folder for your format, then under
‘Separate_Audio’, drag the Transition compositions into the Render Queue, then Render out
for use in Encore.

13. Create another folder in the project panel and name it ‘Menus’ or similar.

14. Import the button templates by selecting the new folder, then ‘right-click > Import As >
Menu’. Navigate to the ‘Encore_Menu_Templates’ folder, and under the folder of your
format, select all the menus and ‘Open’.

Note: Only CS3 users should import the ‘Intro_Sequence.psd’, as it is not used in the CS4
workflow.

Note: Only CS4 users should import the ‘Pop-Up_HD.psd’ when creating a Blu-ray disc, as
Pop-Up menus are not supported in Encore CS3.

15. Configure your ‘First Play’ by selecting the first menu the disc will begin with, then ‘right-
click > Set as First Play’. CS3 users will normally set their ‘Intro_Sequence’ as the first
play, and CS4 users will set their ‘Main_Menu’ as first play.

Note: You can also set a timeline or alternate menu as First Play if for example you wanted
to have a company logo or copyright warning message play before the actual menu is
displayed.

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16. If you are creating a Blu-ray disc and have imported a Pop-Up Menu, be sure to configure
the menu as a pop-up by selecting the menu, then in the Properties panel, under the
Pop-up tab, check the box next to ‘Set as Blu-ray Pop-up Menu’.

17. Create another folder in the project panel and name it ‘Videos’ or similar.

18. Import the main videos for your project by selecting the new folder, then ‘right-click >
Import As > Asset’. Locate your audio and video assets, and then click ‘Open’.

19. Create timelines for your newly imported videos by selecting both the audio and video
asset of a particular clip, then go down to the ‘Create New Item’ Icon located at the
bottom of the Project panel, click, and select ‘Timeline’. Repeat for each video until all
your videos have been placed into timelines.

20. Go through your timelines and place your chapter markers if they were not automatically
imported. The ‘Add Chapter’ Icon can be found just to the left of your clip in the Timeline
panel. It is recommended to Save your project after setting all your chapters.

21. Go through each menu and set the audio/video motion background to its corresponding
asset. You can set the motion background by selecting the menu in the Project panel,
then in the Properties panel under the ‘Motion’ tab, pick-whip the video to its
corresponding asset in the Project panel, and then do the same for the audio. For those
using the dynamic link feature, link both the audio and video to the same corresponding
composition. CS4 users will link the Main Menu’s audio and video to the
‘Main_Menu_with_Intro’ asset.

Note: The Pop-up menu should not have any audio or video background.

22. CS3 users must configure the ‘Intro_Sequence’ to not loop by selecting the menu in the
Project panel, then in the Properties panel under the motion tab, set its ‘Loop #’ to ‘None’.

23. CS4 users must configure the Loop Point of their Main Menu by selecting the menu in the
Project panel, then in the Properties panel under the ‘Motion’ tab, set the ‘Loop Point’ to
10 seconds (00:00:10:00).

24. If you would like to have your scene selection boxes play video instead of displaying a
still frame, you must enable ‘Animate Buttons’ from the ‘Motion’ tab of the Properties
panel while the Scene Selection menu is selected.

25. If you are using a Pop-up menu and have customized your colors, you will want to update
its colors to your custom ones. To do so, double-click the Pop-up menu in the project
panel, then at the top go to ‘Edit > Edit Menu in Photoshop’.

26. To change the color of text, locate the appropriate layer in the Layers Panel, select it, and
use the Character Palette to modify.

Note: Some text may use the color overlay method described below to change its color.

27. To change the color of individual graphic elements (not smart objects), click the
dropdown arrow to the far right of the layer, then double click ‘Color Overlay’ from the
listed Effects. Set the color of the overlay by clicking the box of the existing color and
changing it.

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28. Many background elements will be located in Smart Object layers. To open a smart
object, double-click the smart object icon located just to the left of the layer name. To
commit changes to a smart object, attempt to close it, and then click ‘Yes’ to save.

29. Some layers in the smart object will use a ‘Clipping Mask’ to colorize a layer beneath it,
and can be identified with a box of color to the left of the layer name. In this situation, you
can update its color by selecting the layer, and then using the ‘Paint Bucket Tool’, click
anywhere on the image to fill it with your custom color.

30. Double-click the Main Menu in the Project panel to reveal it in the Menu Viewer panel,
then click the ‘Show Selected Subpicture Highlight’ Icon located at the bottom of the
Menu Viewer panel.

31. Reposition any button highlights if necessary by selecting the button in the Layers panel
(bottom right), then using the ‘Move’ tool, drag the highlight into position or nudge using
the arrow keys.

32. If you have added more buttons and need additional button highlights, select an existing
button in the Layers panel and the ‘Move’ tool, then while holding down ‘Alt + C’ (PC) or
‘Option + C’ (Mac), click and drag the existing button to create a duplicate. In the ‘Basic’
Properties panel of the button, you will want to change its name and possibly re-order the
button numbers, with button 1 being the default when the menu appears.

33. Import the custom Color Set for the buttons by selecting the menu in the Menu Viewer
panel, and then at the top go to ‘Menu > Edit Menu Color Set…’. Now click the ‘Import
from color set file’ Icon, navigate to your ‘/Encore_Menu_Templates/’ folder and open the
color set file (*.cs)

34. If you have customized your colors, you will want to modify the imported color set to
match your custom colors. ‘Highlight Group 1’ is used for normal menu buttons and
‘Highlight Group 2’ is used for the scene selection boxes.

35. Remove any additional buttons from the Special Features Menu by double-clicking the
menu in the Project panel, revealing the Subpicture Highlights, then selecting and
deleting the buttons in the Layers panel.

36. Change the Color Set of the Special Features Menu to the imported one using the ‘Color
Set’ dropdown list located in the ‘Basic’ tab of the Properties panel.

37. Have the name of your Special Feature buttons take the name of the timelines they will
be linked to. To do so, go into the ‘Menus’ tab (upper left), select the Special Menu, then
below where the buttons are displayed, select all the buttons except for the Main Menu.
Then in the ‘Basic’ Properties panel, check the box for ‘Set Name from Link’.

38. Change the Color Set of the Scene Selection menu to the imported one using the same
method as the previous menu.

39. Change the Highlight Group of the scene selection box buttons from ‘1’ to ‘2’ by selecting
the Scene Selection menu in the ‘Menus’ panel, then below, select all the buttons except
‘Main_Menu’, ‘Next’, and ‘Previous’, and then in the ‘Basic’ Properties panel, change the
‘Highlight’ to ‘Group 2’.

40. Have the Scene Selection boxes ‘Set Name from Link’ while they’re still selected from the
previous step (also located in the Basic Properties).

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41. Uncheck ‘Sync Button Text and Name’ in the ‘Basic’ Properties panel while selecting the
‘Next’, ‘Previous’, and ‘Main Menu’ buttons of the Scene Selection Menu.

42. If your Scene Selection menu uses text for the ‘Next’ and ‘Previous’ buttons and you
have customized your colors, you may need to change the colors of the text by using the
‘Selection Tool’, selecting the text, then in the ‘Character’ panel (upper right), change the
‘Color’ to that of your custom color. Repeat this for the other button.

43. Set the link of the Scene Selection menu’s Main Menu button by selecting it in the Menu
Viewer panel using the ‘Selection Tool’. CS3 users can select the ‘Main Menu >
Scene_Selection’ from the dropdown list of the ‘Link’ and then proceed to the next step.
CS4 users will select ‘Specify Link’ from the dropdown list, and then in the Specify Link
window, select the ‘Scene_Selection’ button of the Main Menu. Also, make sure to
enable ‘Set to Loop Point’ located near the bottom, and click ‘OK’.

44. Set the transition of the Scene Selection Menu’s ‘Main Menu’ button by selecting the
button with the ‘Selection Tool’, then in the ‘Transition’ tab of the Properties panel, pick-
whip the ‘Link’ to the ‘Transition_Scenes_to_Main’ asset in the Project panel.

45. Open your main timeline, from which your chapter index will be generated, by double-
clicking it in the Project Panel. Make sure the Scene Selection Menu is visible in the
Menu Viewer panel.

46. Drag the first chapter marker of your video from the Timeline panel into the first scene
selection box (upper left) in the Menu Viewer panel. You should notice it fills the blank
box with the poster frame of the first chapter.

47. Create the Chapter Index by going to the top and selecting ‘Menu > Create Chapter
Index’.

48. CS3 users will start with the ‘Intro_Sequence’ menu, and in the Basic tab of the
Properties panel, set its ‘End Action’ link to the ‘Main Menu’.

49. Moving on to the Main Menu, set the links of the buttons by first selecting the button, and
then in the Basic Properties, set its ‘Link’ using the dropdown list.

a. Link the first button (such as ‘Play Movie’) to the first chapter of your video.

b. Set the links of any additional videos accessible from the main menu as well.

c. Link the ‘Scene Selection’ button to ‘Scene_Menu_1’.

d. Link the ‘Special Features’ button to the ‘Special_Menu’.

50. Set the transition of your main menu buttons by first selecting the button with the
Selection Tool, then going into the ‘Transition’ tab of the Properties panel, and pick-
whipping the ‘Asset’ to the appropriate transition asset in the Project panel:

a. Set the transition of any video accessible from your main menu to the
‘Transition_Main_to_Video’ asset.

b. Set the transition of the Scene Selection button to the

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 c. Set the transition of the Special Features button to the
‘Transition_Main_to_Special’ asset.

51. CS4 users who are creating a Blu-ray disc will now want to configure the button links of
the Pop-up menu:

a. Set the link of the Main Menu button by selecting ‘Specify Link’ from the
dropdown list, then choosing the ‘Main_Menu’ in the Specify Link window. Also,
make sure to enable ‘Set to Loop Point’ at the bottom, and click ‘OK’.

b. Link the Scene Selection button to ‘Scene_Menu_1’ from the dropdown list.

c. Link the Special Features button to the ‘Special_Menu’.

52. Set the button links on the Special Features menu:

a. Link the special feature content buttons to the first chapter of their respective
videos.

Note: If the buttons do not automatically get renamed to the names of the timelines
after they are linked up, and instead get named to ‘Chapter 1’, you must manually
rename the buttons to their correct names.

b. Set the link of the Main Menu button by selecting ‘Specify Link’ from the
dropdown list, then choosing the ‘Main_Menu’ in the Specify Link window. Also,
make sure to enable ‘Set to Loop Point’ at the bottom, and click ‘OK’.

53. Set the transition of the Special Feature’s Main Menu button to the
‘Transition_Special_to_Main’ asset in the Project panel.

54. Set the End Action of your timelines by revealing the ‘Timelines’ panel (upper left),
selecting the timeline, then in the Properties panel, specify the ‘End Action’:

a. Set the End Action of the main videos to the ‘Main_Menu’. If CS3 users would
like the menu to start from the beginning of the Intro Sequence after the main
video finishes, they should set the end action to the ‘Intro_Sequence’. If CS4
users would like to have the main menu start after the intro sequence, select
‘Specify Link’ from the dropdown, then select the Main Menu from within that
window, and also enable ‘Set to Loop Point’ at the bottom, and click ‘OK’.

b. Set the End Action of your Special Feature videos to the ‘Special_Menu’ from the
dropdown, then select the button from the additional dropdown list that
corresponds to the timeline you are linking from (for example, if you are setting
the end action of a Photo Montage, you would select ‘Special_Menu > Photo
Montage’ from the ‘End Action’ dropdown list).

55. CS4 users who are creating a Blu-ray disc and using a Pop-up menu will need to set the
Pop-up menu for each timeline. Select the timeline, and then in the Properties panel, link
the ‘Set Pop-up Menu’ to the ‘Pop-Up_HD’ from the dropdown list.

56. Manually set the button routing on each menu by selecting the menu, then in the Basic
Properties panel, uncheck ‘Automatically Route Buttons’.

57. Reveal a menus button routing by clicking the ‘Show Button Routing’ icon at the bottom
of the Menu Viewer panel.

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58. Click and drag the button routes onto the button you want it navigating to. The button
route will display the button number it is linking to.

59. Manually route buttons for each menu. This should include the ‘Main_Menu’,
‘Special_Menu’, and each ‘Scene_Menu’.

Note: For intuitive navigation, it is advised to link the right-navigation of the upper-right
scene selection box to the lower-left scene selection box, and also the reverse by linking the
left-navigation of the lower-left scene selection box to the upper-right scene selection box.

Note: To disable the navigation for a particular direction, drag the button route to any area
in the menu viewer that is not part of a button.

60. Configure the Disc Settings by selecting the ‘Build’ panel (upper left), then under the
Properties panel, change the disc ‘Name’ to whatever you want. CS3 users will set the
‘Title Button’ to the ‘Intro_Sequence’, and CS4 users will set the ‘Title Button’ to the
‘Main_Menu’. Confirm the Main Timeline of your video (the default timeline that will play if
the user presses the ‘Play’ button while on a menu).

Note: If the disc properties do not appear when selecting the Build panel, you can click
anywhere out in the open in the Project panel to reveal them.

61. If you are having Encore transcode your main videos, you will want to specify the
transcode settings of those videos by right clicking on them in the Project panel, then
selecting ‘Transcode Settings’ (you can also select multiple videos at the same time):

a. For best Blu-ray quality encoding, use the H.264 codec. If speed is more
important than quality, use MPEG2.

b. For Blu-ray authoring, set the dimensions and frame rate to that of your original.

c. Use the Quality Preset of ‘Automatic’ to maximize the bitrate while still fitting all
the content on a single disc.

Note: In our tests, enabling the ‘Maximum Render Quality’ resulted in an “Encode
Failed” error message during the build process. This setting only benefits HD to SD
conversions, and we do not recommend enabling it, nor do we recommend doing HD to
SD downconversions inside of Encore.

Note: We have found that the authoring process goes much smoother when the videos
have been transcoded in the Adobe Media Encoder prior to importing them into Encore.
This of course prevents the use of an ‘Automatic’ preset, and you must manually
calculate the bitrate using a Bitrate Calculator.

Note: When manually calculating the bitrate, remember to leave space for the menu
assets. The following generous estimates below are for a typical disc using all menus
including 4 separate scene selection screens.

DVD Menus ~ 300 MB

Blu-ray Menus ~ 750 MB

62. If you are using the dynamic link feature for your menu assets, you must Save, Close,
and Open your project before building. Go to ‘File > Save’, then ‘File > Close Project’,
and finally select your project from the ‘Recent Projects’ list on the window that appears.

63. Build your project from the Build panel:

a. Set the ‘Format’ for the type you are creating; Blu-ray, DVD, or Flash

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 b. Set the ‘Output’ to ‘Disc’ if you will be burning a disc directly from Encore. Set the
output to ‘Image’ if you will be burning or mounting to a drive using a 3rd party
application. Images can also be burned in Encore without loading the project.

c. If you will be creating an Image, you will need to specify its ‘Location’ under
‘Destination’.

d. If you will be burning directly to Disc, you will need to specify the drive to which
you will be burning, the speed at which you want to burn, and the number of
copies. For the fewest number of errors, Single Layer DVD’s should be burned
no faster than 4x, Dual Layer DVD’s at 2.4x, and Blu-ray at 2x. Also, never
attempt to burn faster than your drive or media supports.

e. Click on ‘Check Project’ and then ‘Start’ to see if Encore detects any potential
problems with your project.

f. Under ‘Disc Info’, specify the type of disc you will be authoring (single/dual layer)

g. Click ‘Build’ to begin the build process.

64. Save your project after building has completed to retain transcoded assets.

65. After rendering out the HD menus from After Effects, author the Blu-ray Disc following the
Tutorial or Quick Reference Guide.

66. Copy the ‘HD_to_SD.aep’ project file, located in the ‘./Menu_Assets_Downconversion/’

67. Create a new Encore project, using the standard DVD settings.

68. Manually clear your After Effects Cache following the instructions in Step 9.

69. If your Encore supports the use of the dynamic link feature, then while you are importing
the After Effects Compositions for your menu assets, use the ‘HD_to_SD.aep’ file
instead of the Dyn_Lnk.aep.

70. If your Encore does not support dynamic link, you must open the HD_to_SD.aep file in
After Effects, and render out the appropriate compositions by dragging them into the
render queue, setting their output location, and click ‘Render’. For example, if you are
creating an NTSC SD DVD in Encore CS4, and your audio is contained in separate files
from your video, you will render all the compositions from the ‘CS4 >
Use_Separate_Audio > HD to SD (720x480)’ folder. You will then import the newly
rendered SD assets directly into Encore.

71. Import the SD menus and continue to author your project normally for a standard DVD.

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 It is normal for a saved project with long pre-transcoded assets to take a great deal of
time to open (possibly several minutes, especially with a large Blu-ray project). It may
appear as if the program has frozen, however it is working hard in the background to
index all the mpeg / h264 frames, and conform the audio files. If you encounter this, you
should know that it is normal, and eventually it should open the project. A fast processor
and hard drive, with lots of ram should help.

 We discourage the use of Encore’s ‘Preview’ function for Blu-ray projects, as it does not
accurately represent your final disc. For example, menu transitions will not display, the
motion background will restart every time a button is highlighted, etc… all of which will
function perfectly fine on the final build.

To preview a disc, you can build an ‘Image’, and then mount using a program such as
Daemon Tools (PC), and playback using a software DVD / Blu-ray player. You can also
burn to a rewritable disc and test in a set top player.

 We don’t recommend rendering motion menus before building your disc (File > Render >
Motion Menus), as Encore will always re-render them during the build process. You can
however transcode your main video and audio assets before building, as these will not be
re-rendered.

 Setting Menu User Operations on a Blu-ray project results in an error message during the
build process. This feature was designed for DVD discs only.

 Using the same quicktime asset for audio and video as a motion menu background on a
Blu-ray project may result in an 'Encode failed' error message during the build process.
This is one reason we utilize the dynamic link feature.

 If you are not using the dynamic link feature, occasionally the transcoding of a motion
menu background will stop prematurely while building a Blu-ray project, causing the
menu to only last a few seconds. If you encounter this problem, it is advised to use the
dynamic link feature if it is available to you.

 Although Adobe promotes how easy it is to create a DVD from a Blu-ray project, simply
by changing the format from Blu-ray to DVD in the Build settings, the resulting DVD has
horrible quality issues, including the DVD menus, button highlights, and main videos. We
can only recommend creating a new project and following our instructions above for
creating both a Blu-ray and DVD of a single project.

 It is normal for the imported menus to be black until the motion background has been set.

 Under CS4, It is normal for your Main Menu to appear black until you set the ‘Loop Point’.

 If Encore is still displaying black on all your menus after setting the motion background,
and you remembered to clear your cache, then you may have to launch AE in the
background, then temporarily change the loop point of your menu to anything (00:05:00)
and then back to it’s original amount to refresh the background image.

 If you discover any errors in this guide or have any additional questions, please email
support@[Link]