Rapid Menu Writer

[seangriffin]

Rapid Menu Writer is a wizard for creating very simple DVD menus.

Rapid Menu Writer is fast and efficient! It can add a menu to a DVD in seconds, and uses only a fraction of your hard disk space.

Examples of how Rapid Menu Writer can be used include:

• adding a menu to a DVD merged by DVDFab
• adding a menu to a DVD re-authored by DVDShrink

BACKGROUND:

I wrote this tool because I could not find a reliable solution for adding a menu to a DVD without re-authoring the entire structure of the DVD.

There are guides on the internet explaining how to combine various tools to avoid re-authoring, yet the process is awkward to follow, and unnecessarily complicated for the end user (who simply wants to add a menu to their DVD prior to burning).

The closest tool I found to performing this task is called TitleWriter, by FAllenAngel. Unfortunately, the software failed to work for me several times, and I gave up using it.

Other DVD authoring packages tend to re-create, or re-author, the entire DVD structure. If you consider a typical DVD is approximately 4.7Gb in size, the re-authoring process results in a new copy of the DVD - also 4.7Gb in size. Add to this the time it takes to re-author a DVD, and the act of simply adding a menu becomes a major undertaking.

Rapid Menu Writer automates two well known software packages (PgcEdit and DVDStyler) in a manner that takes the difficulty out of adding a menu to a DVD. The result is a very simple to use and reliable wizard that anyone can use.

REQUIREMENTS:

• PgcEdit (versions 8.5, 8.6 and 9.2 supported)
• DVDStyler (v1.7.2 supported)

Note:- Other versions of these programs may work, but have not been tested.

INSTALLATION:

Simply download and run Rapid Menu Writer below.

DOWNLOAD:

Latest Version - v1.3 (21/09/09)

Rapid Menu Writer 13.exe

Rapid Menu Writer.au3

Edited September 20, 2009 by seangriffin

[JScript]

It is really fantastic!!! Thanks for sharing.

[TheSaint]

Thanks for sharing!

I haven't tried it out yet, but I'm gonna give you a star ... just for the idea!

I love DVDStyler, DVDShrink and DVDFab HD Decrypter, and have tried PGCEdit (without much success ... and which is no longer free) and TitleWriter (same issues as you).

Most of my issues with PGCEdit are the complexities involved, so if your program eases that, I'll be forever grateful. I was gonna attempt to use PGCEdit to make a master menu for two small DVD's, where you keep their original menus intact - much like DVDRemake can, but it just seemed all too complex in the end.

I also love VobBlanker, FixVTS and DVD Decrypter.

>_<

[seangriffin]

Thanks for the great feedback, so soon after my posting!

V0.2 is now available for download.

This was just a small update, with the following changes:

• Added PgcEdit and DVDStyler program checks.
• Added an About window.

I'm using an unregistered version of PgcEdit at the moment. So Rapid Menu Writer expects to see a PgcEdit Donation/Nag window when it starts PgcEdit. If anyone has a registered version, without the Donation window, let me know. I don't think this version of Rapid Menu Writer will work for you.

Edited August 16, 2009 by seangriffin

[TheSaint]

Thanks for the great feedback, so soon after my posting!

V0.2 is now available for download.

This was just a small update, with the following changes:

• Added PgcEdit and DVDStyler program checks.
• Added an About window.

I'm using an unregistered version of PgcEdit at the moment. So Rapid Menu Writer expects to see a PgcEdit Donation/Nag window when it starts PgcEdit. If anyone has a registered version, without the Donation window, let me know. I don't think this version of Rapid Menu Writer will work for you.

Great!

But does this mean that your program doesn't work with the last free version (pre Nag)? (i.e. released about a year ago)

[seangriffin]

Great!

But does this mean that your program doesn't work with the last free version (pre Nag)? (i.e. released about a year ago)

Yes, it won't work in the current v0.2. I see the issue and will fix it in v0.3.

I see the last pre-nag version of PgcEdit is v8.6. It looks almost the same as v9.2, though the File menu is slightly different. Enough to make my script fall over. PgcEdit is written in the Tcl language, and AutoIT doesn't seem to recognise the PgcEdit/Tcl menus and menu items. I get around this by using keyboard actions to select menu items (ugly, but works). Since there is no Tcl support (scripts or UDFs) in the AutoIT forums yet, I'm stuck with using the keyboard approach for now.

Good news is that the Help menu has a Version history menu item, in the same location in both v9.2 and v8.6 of PgcEdit. This menu item gives the current version of PgcEdit, and I can use this to determine where menu items will be located in each version of PgcEdit. I notice even versions as early as 0.6.0 (July 2005) have this menu item in the same location.

So I have a solution for now. Will try and put it into Rapid Menu Writer v0.3.

Edited August 17, 2009 by seangriffin

[seangriffin]

Version 0.3 is now available for download.

Changes include:

• Changed the Options and About GUI to be modal.
• Changed the path of the DVD player to be read from the Options window.
• Changed the DVDStyler XML to use the path to DVDStyler from the Options window.
• Added support for PgcEdit versions 8.5 and 8.6 (pre Nag versions).
• Added a DVDStyler preview option.

Edited August 17, 2009 by seangriffin

[TheSaint]

Once again, Thanks!

Soon as I get over my Ubuntu installation experiment/woes/annoyances, I'll give your prog a run through.

[seangriffin]

Version 0.4 is now available for download.

Changes include:

• Added a heading picture to Main and About GUIs.
• Added the ability to work with DVDs that already have a menu.
• Added an "Open PgcEdit" button to view the DVD in PgcEdit afterwards.
• Added a NSIS installer and uninstaller.

Edited August 19, 2009 by seangriffin

[seangriffin]

Version 0.5 is now available for download.

Changes include:

• Added a help file and help menu item.
• Added more logging commands.
• Moved the "Open Log" button to the "Tools" menu.
• Fixed the Back button to be disabled on the first wizard page.

[TheSaint]

And again, Thanks! >_<

Testing soon!

[seangriffin]

Version 1.0 is now available for download.

Changes include:

• Titles menu checkbox is forced on (checked) at the moment.
• Changed the default paths of PgcEdit, DVDStyler & DVD Player to use the current Program Files path.
• Removed the storage and retrieval of button labels.
• Updated the system requirements to include 32 bit Windows.
• Added keyboard mnemonics (shortcuts) to all buttons and menu items.
• Fixed the Next button. It was missing the ">" sign.
• Added a Tool menu item to start PgcEdit.
• Added a Tool menu item to start DVDStyler.
• Updated tooltips to warn user about using the mouse and keyboard.
• Updated help.
• Fixed paths with spaces issue.
• Added a donation button to the About GUI and last page of the Main GUI.
• Changed the default DVD player to Media Player Classic Home Cinema.
• Added menu titles (headings on each menu screen).
• Added video preview button.
• Added title menus (major update).

This is a major update, to include menus at the title level (as well as the existing titleset level). Also added the ability to preview titlesets and titles (using PgcEditPreview which is already bundled with PgcEdit).

This should make Rapid Menu Writer much more useful than before.

Edited September 13, 2009 by seangriffin

[seangriffin]

Version 1.1 is now available for download.

Changes include:

• Back button is currently broken.
• Changed previews to move the Main GUI side-by-side with the Preview window.
• Fixed the bad check for the "Find BOVs (Buttons Over Video..." popup following the "PgcEdit: Save DVD" popup.
• Titles menu checkbox re-enabled - titleset only menus now working.

[seangriffin]

Version 1.3 is now available for download.

Changes include:

• Fixed the Back buttons (broken from v1.1).
• Fixed the Finished message at the end to be shown (was previously hidden).
• Changed the DVDStyler Preview message to include Yes and No buttons to continue or go back.
• Added an error message when the DVD player doesn't exist when Play DVD is clicked.
• Updated the error messages for missing PgcEdit and DVDStyler executables to include the path.
• Added a "Restore Defaults" button to the Options GUI.
• Updated the help file.
• Added verbose logging to the "Assign commands to the menu buttons" section.
• Changed the style of menu buttons to use frames with borders.
• Changed the default menu colour scheme to be blue buttons with white text and borders.