10 Replies Latest reply: Jan 5, 2010 5:15 AM by jesskaat RSS

    Downloadable Zip Files on DVD menu?

    jesskaat Community Member

      Hello all,

      I've got a client who would like me to include a menu page on his DVD that would have downloadable material; photos, and documents. Is this possible??

      Jessica

        • 1. Re: Downloadable Zip Files on DVD menu?
          jesskaat Community Member

          Sorry,

          I'm using CS4

          Thanks in advance for your help.

          Jess

          • 2. Re: Downloadable Zip Files on DVD menu?
            John T Smith CommunityMVP

            No... that is not part of the DVD specification

             

            What you may do is create a "menu" that is a text screen that the user may read to tell them where to go (on a computer) to look for the files or directory that you add to the ROM CONTENT in Encore

            • 3. Re: Downloadable Zip Files on DVD menu?
              jesskaat Community Member

              John,

              Thanks for this. I'm going to try it tomorrow morning? I'll let you know how I do.

              Cheers.

              Jessica

              • 4. Re: Downloadable Zip Files on DVD menu?
                Bill Hunt CommunityMVP

                Jessica,

                 

                Good luck, and please make note of John's comment about ROM Content ONLY being accessible from a computer. No DVD set-top player will ever see it, and cannot use it. A computer can.

                 

                I'd also give the user some instructions, so that they will know that the ROM Content is available, and how to access it from their computer. I will put a Title in the Video portion of my DVD material, plus instructions on either the disc's label, or the DVD case, or both. Otherwise, some users might miss it entirely.

                 

                Hunt

                • 5. Re: Downloadable Zip Files on DVD menu?
                  jesskaat Community Member

                  Thanks Hunt,

                  I'm about to tackle this this morning. I'll report later how I set up instructions.

                  Thanks again.

                  Jessica

                   

                   

                   

                  veccvideography.com

                  • 6. Re: Downloadable Zip Files on DVD menu?
                    jesskaat Community Member

                    I loaded up the ROM Content and successfully added it to my disc. I'm designing a menu now and will post it when I've completed it.

                    I hope this isn't a stupid question......but...... will Apple users be able to access these files? I'm creating it on PC.

                    Jessica

                    • 7. Re: Downloadable Zip Files on DVD menu?
                      Bill Hunt CommunityMVP

                      Jessica,

                       

                      That is a very good question. There are some issues with Mac's and ZIP files. That is why Adobe, and some other companies, that do X-platform programs, have gone to the 7z (similar to ZIP, but easily opened on a Mac). On my PC, I have no problem with either, straight out of Windows Explorer. I do not know if Mac's come with the "unzip" utility for 7z, but I believe that it's available all over the Internet. Many years ago, I had to add that utility to an older PC, and IIRC, it cost US$10. Have not had to install that on later machines.

                       

                      I also do not know what the problems are with ZIP and Mac's. I'd have thought that there would be "unzip" utilities for it too, but so many have gone to 7z, that there must be some issue.

                       

                      Now, PDF is a X-platform format, that many use. The "compression" can be altered, though one might still not get the same quality vs file size as from a full compressing archive utility.

                       

                      Whichever format you go with, I'd have a disclaimer line, giving instructions, like "if necessary, download and install Adobe Acrobat Reader," for .PDF, and the same for one of the archive formats, just to keep users from pestering you with questions. When downloading Adobe programs, we still get dozens of "what the heck is a .7z file?"

                       

                      Good luck,

                       

                      Hunt

                      • 8. Re: Downloadable Zip Files on DVD menu?
                        jesskaat Community Member

                        Actually, there were so few files that I loaded them individually.

                        I'm going to look into that zip file for the future.

                        Thanks so much.

                         

                        Here's the copy I used for instructing how to find the files:

                         

                         

                        To access these files, follow these instructions:

                         

                        1) Insert the DVD into your computer's optical drive

                        2) Double click on the Computer Icon in the Start Menu

                        3) Right click on the DVD drive in the computer's Hard Drive list

                        4) Double click on "Explore"

                        A dialog box will open and display the materials listed above.

                        Copy and paste the items to a folder on your desktop

                        • 9. Re: Downloadable Zip Files on DVD menu?
                          Bill Hunt CommunityMVP

                          Looks good to me. Even a dense old-guy, such as I, could follow those instructions. If you are doing any artwork for a DVD case, you might want to add those to the case "liner notes."

                           

                          Never will forget a DVD that I bought, that had a performance's entire score on it. When I played the music, I kept wondering why such a short program was on a DVD. No where was mention made of any ROM content. Perplexed, I explored the DVD and found a bunch of ROM content with still images and full scoring notations. Who knew? I certainly did not. Had the size/type of the disc not been a puzzle, I still would not know of that ROM content.

                           

                          Good luck,

                           

                          Hunt

                          • 10. Re: Downloadable Zip Files on DVD menu?
                            jesskaat Community Member

                            I would also like to report that yesterday, I decided to add a few items to the ROM content list. I added four items into the folder on my desktop and then went into Encore and added the folder. It just added the new items and didn't re-add what already exisited.

                            Thanks for all the help.....

                            Jessica