Editing a DVDFlick template file 

By WaltP

First thing to do is choose the format of the existing menu template you like. I will use Mosaic in these instructions. For some of the templates provided, you will eventually notice they output the text for Play \ Resume and Select title while for others those labels are in the actual image and cannot easily be changed nor moved. Look at the .bmp file to quickly see how these selections are handled.

Once you have chosen the template you wish to start with, go to the template folder for DVDflick. Normally this will be (for the Mosaic template):
         C:\Program Files\DVD Flick\templates\Mosaic

Copy all the files in this folder to a new folder under templates, for example:
         C:\Program Files\DVD Flick\templates\NewMenu

Now go into this new folder and you will see the following files:

	arrowselect.bmp		The image used to make a selection.
	background_blue.bmp		The background image for Main and Title pages.
	background_green.bmp		The background image for Audio pages.
	background_yellow.bmp		The background image for Subtitle pages.
	example.bmp		The image shown in DVDflick when choosing a template.
	template.cfg		The menu structure definition.

Make a copy of template.cfg and call it template.sav. Now when we make an error while changing the menu -- and break it -- we can get the working version back. Just copy template.sav back to template.cfg, replacing the broken menu. In addition, as you make changes, you can copy the template file as often as you wish (and under different names) so when that break happens, you don't have to redo everything

As we continue, there will be terms you may not be familiar with (like pixel, RGB color). That's OK. Think of the context where the word is used and play with the setting. It should then become apparent.

The screen size of the menu is 768x576 pixels. Keep these numbers handy as we start placing things on the menu.

The transColor line you can ignore for now. It will be explained in the Selection Images section.

The rest of the file is in 4 sections: audioMenu, subtitleMenu, mainMenu, and titleMenu. Each of these define the different Menu screens. Within these sections are the components that will be displayed on the specifies menu page.

These instruction will concentrate on the main and title menus. Once you understand how these work, audio and subtitle use the same techniques.

The { }'s are used to goup which sections go with the name specified. For example:

mainMenu
{
    Title
    {
    }
    playText
    {
    }
}

mainMenu
{
    backgroundImage = "background_blue.bmp";
    highlightColor = "192,0,0";
    selectColor = "255,0,0";

    Title
    {
        Type = "text";
        
        X = 85;
        Y = 120;
        Width = 595;
        Height = 70;
        xAlign = "left";
        yAlign = "center";
        
        Text = "%projectTitle%";
        Font = "Arial Black";
        fontSize = 56;
        Outline = 4;
        outlineColor = "0,0,0";
        textColor = "255,255,255";
        Bold = 1;
    }

    playText
    {
        Type = "text";
        X = 147;
        Y = 382;
        Width = 200;
        Height = 40;
        Text = "Play \\ Resume";
        Font = "Arial";
        fontSize = 38;
        Outline = 2;
        outlineColor = "0,0,0";
        Bold = 1;
        textColor = "255,255,255";
    }

    selectText
    {
        Type = "text";
        X = 147;
        Y = 430;
        Width = 200;
        Height = 40;
        Text = "Select title";
        Font = "Arial";
        fontSize = 38;
        Outline = 2;
        outlineColor = "0,0,0";
        Bold = 1;
        textColor = "255,255,255";
    }

    buttonPlay
    {
        Type = "button";
    
        X = 120;
        Y = 396;
        
        selectMethod = "image";
        selectImage = "arrowselect.bmp";
    }
    
    buttonTitleSelect
    {
        Type = "button";
    
        X = 120;
        Y = 444;
        
        selectMethod = "image";
        selectImage = "arrowselect.bmp";
    }
}

That defines the main screen for the Mosaic menu.

Title Menu

    defaultThumb
    {
        Type = "image";
        Parent = 1;
		
        Width = 170;
        Height = 128;
		
        Outline = 4;
        outlineColor = "0,0,0";
		
        selectMethod = "outline";
    }

Except for Parent, each of these values are the same as before. Parent defines this sub-section as an inherited section. This means the section will not directly be displayed on the screen, but rather used to enhance one of the sections that will be displayed. The inherited sections allow many displayed items to be defined in one place rather than each item duplicating identical values. In this case, each thumbnail that inherits this definition will be 170x128 pixels in size, and the outline will change to RED (255,0,0) when selected.

    defaultThumbCaption
    {
        Type = "text";
        Parent = 1;
        Width = 288;
        Height = 34;
        xAlign = "center";
		
        Font = "Arial";
        fontSize = 18;
        textColor = "255,255,255";
        Outline = 2;
        Bold = 1;
        outlineColor = "0,0,10";
		
        selectMethod = "text";
    }

    defaultBottomButton
    {
        Type = "button";
        Parent = 1;
		
        Y = 512;
        Width = 128;
        xAlign = "center";
		
        Font = "Arial";
        fontSize = 20;
        Bold = 1;
        textColor = "255,255,255";
        Outline = 2;
        outlineColor = "0,0,10";
		
        selectMethod = "text";
    }

We will see how these attribute definitions are used momentarily.

    Title
    {
        Type = "text";
		
        X = 64;
        Y = 48;
        Width = 640;
        Height = 48;
        yAlign = "center";
        xAlign = "center";
		
        Text = "%projectTitle%";
        Font = "Arial Black";
        fontSize = 56;
        Outline = 4;
        outlineColor = "0,0,10";
        textColor = "255,255,255";
        Bold = 1;
    }

    Thumb1
    {
        Inherit = "defaultThumb";
        thumbID = 1;
        X = 144;
        Y = 128;
    }
	
    Thumb2
    {
        Inherit = "defaultThumb";
        thumbID = 2;
        X = 464;
        Y = 128;
    }
	
    Thumb3
    {
        Inherit = "defaultThumb";
        thumbID = 3;
        X = 144;
        Y = 326;
    }

    thumbCaption1
    {
        Inherit = "defaultThumbCaption";
        thumbID = 1;
        X = 86;
        Y = 264;
    }
	
    thumbCaption2
    {
        Inherit = "defaultThumbCaption";
        thumbID = 2;
        X = 404;
        Y = 264;
    }
	
    thumbCaption3
    {
        Inherit = "defaultThumbCaption";
        thumbID = 3;
        X = 86;
        Y = 462;
    }

buttonMainMenu
    {
        Inherit = "defaultBottomButton";
		
        Text = "Main Menu";
        X = 320;
        xAlign = "center";
    }
	
    buttonNext
    {
        Inherit = "defaultBottomButton";
		
        Text = "Next page";
        X = 576;
        xAlign = "right";
    }
	
    buttonPrevious
    {
        Inherit = "defaultBottomButton";
		
        Text = "Previous page";
        X = 64;
        xAlign = "left";
    }

They start with inheriting the defaultBottomButton settings. Then the button Text is defined. Finally location and alignment.

The Main Menu button will return to the Main menu.
Previous and Next will be displayed only when there are more videos than defined on the title page. So, in our case, if two videos are loaded, only Main Menu will be displayed. But if 5 videos are loaded, 3 videos will be displayed with Main Menu and Next on page 1. On page 2, the last 2 videos, Main Menu, and Previous. More than 6, well, you get the idea.

Testing is simply loading the menu after you make changes.

In DVDFlick, after loading your videos, choose Menu Settings. Choose your menu from the list on the left and place a check in Enable Menu. Now, simply click on Preview and your menu is displayed. You can use the mouse to highlight and select choices. When you see a change that you want to make,
1) edit the template
2) save your changes
3) exit the menu (press ESC or right-click) and you'll be back to the settings screen.
4) select Preview again.

If you made a change that causes an error, DVDFlick will disappear. You can either try to find and repair the error (doing this will come with time) or copy one of your saved configurations back onto template.cfg. This is why after a few changes, you should make another copy of the file. You are then never far from a restorable copy.

The size of each of the menu pages are 768x576 pixels, or a 4:3 ratio. You can use any image you can find, and they don't have to be exactly that size. The image you choose will be stretched or shrunk to fit. But if the image is not a 4:3 ratio, the background may look off. Also, they don't have to be .bmp files. You can also use .jpg and .gif images too.

The images used for everything except backgrounds are best defined with only 2 colors:

1. a light foreground color (preferably white). This color will be replaced by the color specified by the selectColor keyword.
2. a darker background color. Use the color defined with the transColor keyword at the top of the file.

The transColor keyword is used to make portions of an image transparent, allowing the background image to show through. For example, if you look at the arrowselect.bmp image. Notice the two colors, white (0,0,0) and magenta (255,0,255). And transColor is defined as magenta. So when the arrow image is displayed, the magenta disappears and the background shows through. Therefore, only the arrows are shown. But never use .jpg files because the images are compressed which causes the edges to blend together and therefore will not 'disappear' properly. The recommendation is to make all images that need transparent sections .bmp files. You should also be able to use .gif or .png files, just verify the image carefully.

All keywords are case sensitive. Make sure each keyword is specified exactly as shown in this table.

Keyword	Values	Description
Inherit	defined sub-section	Reads in another sub-section that contains additional formatting definitions to be used by this display item
Parent	1	Defines a section tha will not display, but can be inherited
highlightColor	RGB color	The color a selection will change to as you move through the menu
outlineColor	RGB color	The color that outlines the item's display
selectColor	RGB color	The color a selection will change to as you select the item
textColor	RGB color	The color of the displayed text for the item
transColor	RGB color	The transparent color used when an image is displayed
audioID	video number	The number of the audio channel associated with a video
subID	video number	The number of the subtitle entry associated with a video
thumbID	video number	The number of the video for this menu title selection
Bold	0=no bold 1=bold	Text can be normal or bold
Font	font name	Then font for the text selection, use font name exactly as displayed in any other program
fontSize	numeric value	The size the font will be displayed in
Height	size in pixels	The height of the area associated with a displayed item
Width	size in pixels	The width of the area associated with a displayed item
X and Y	location in pixels	The upper left corner of the display area
xAlign	center left right	The horizontal alignment of the item within the area defined
yAlign	center top bottom	The vertical alignment of the item within the area defined
Type	button image text	The type of item being defined
Outline	number of pixels	The size of the outline surrounding the item
Text	%projectTitle% menu title	The text displayed for an item defined as a text Type
backgroundImage	image file name	The image displayed for the menu page background
Image	image file name
selectMethod	image outline text	The type of display for a menu selection
selectImage	image file name	The image used when a selectMethod is defined as "image"

Colors are specified in RGB (Red, Green, Blue) format. The first number is how much red, the second is green, the last blue. These numbers range from 0 to 255.

For example, black is 0,0,0 (no red, green, nor blue), while white is 255,255,255 (full red, green, and blue).

Each of the color values in the template can be set to any RGB value you would like to use. For example, each section has a highlightColor (192,0,0 -- a medium red) and a selectColor (255,0,0 -- a bright red).

At the end of this file is a chart of some of the colors. If you want to tweak a specific color, just change the values to slightly modify it. Go ahead an play around with the colors in the templates.