Introduction
VCD Menu Lite

Version 1.0

Copyright © 2003 Kent Briggs

Briggs Softworks

Introduction

VCD Menu Lite is a Video CD menu / title page generation program for Windows. Add this utility to your video toolkit and quickly produce simple but attractive menus as front-ends for your VCD / SVCD movie and slideshow presentations. No more fiddling with a complicated graphics presentation program trying to align graphics and text captions. With VCD Menu Lite you just pick your colors, type in titles and menu captions, grab the frames from your movie clips, export to a JPG image, and you are done. The WYSIWYG preview window shows all changes instantly so you can experiment with different colors and fonts.

Once your JPG menu has been created, convert it to an MPEG still image with a VCD authoring program such as VCDEasy where it can be linked to your movie clips before burning the CD.

Software License

VCD Menu Lite is copyrighted software distributed as freeware. There is no fee required for continued use.  It may be freely copied and distributed as long as it remains unmodified and all the original distribution files are included.  You are encouraged to share it with friends and business associates.

Disclaimer

This software is provided as is and without warranty. The author assumes no liability for damages, either direct or consequential, which may result from the use of this product.

Briggs Softworks Contact Information

Kent Briggs

14314 Cashel Forest Dr.

Houston, TX  77069  U.S.A.

E-mail: kbriggs@briggsoft.com

Web site: http://www.briggsoft.com

Download other Briggs Softworks programs from the web site:

Calendar Commander - is a program for making great looking calendars that you can print out and place in a notebook or hang on the wall. Add your own personal events, holidays, and pictures. A variety of daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly calendars are included and ready to use. A scripting function is also available for advanced users to create custom calendars from scratch.

CryptaPix - is an image viewing program with a secure encryption option. Manage and view your JPG, GIF, PNG, PCX, TIF, and BMP image files with CryptaPix's advanced thumbnail and slideshow features. Print images with full control over output size and placement. Use the Blowfish encryption function to keep your private image collection away from prying eyes.

Directory Snoop - is a low-level forensic utility that can recover erased files in an emergency, wipe sensitive data, and search for hidden data at the cluster level. Step through your File Allocation Table (FAT) and map individual clusters back to the file that owns them. Purge orphaned (and possibly sensitive) file names right out of the directory structure.

File Maven Pro - is a dual directory file manager that makes copying and moving files much easier than with Windows Explorer. You can jump to any subdirectory with a few keystokes or find files with the advanced search feature. File Maven Pro also includes a universal file viewer, a text editor, a file splitter, a ZIP file handler, and more.

Link Maven - is a parallel port file transfer tool for Windows. Connect two PCs together with a parallel link cable and copy, move, and delete files and directories between them.  A dual list window displays a full directory tree and file lists. Synchronize your laptop files with your desktop PC.

Order Maven - is an order form creation program for online merchants. Produce standalone Windows EXE programs that customers can download and run from your site. With a few button clicks, products are selected, payment information is automatically secured with the built-in public key encryption function, and the data is then emailed directly back to you for processing.

Puffer - is a general purpose encryption utility that is used to protect your most sensitive data from unauthorized viewing. You can use Puffer to securely exchange email with other Puffer users, compress and encrypt your data files into zip-style PUF archives, use steganography to hide data among the pixels of image files, and distribute self-decrypting archives to non-Puffer users. Extensive wiping options are also available to permanently erase sensitive data.

Space Quarry - is an asteroid blaster arcade game. Spin your space ship around and fire at the incoming asteroids from all directions. Each new round brings more rocks at a faster pace. Score extra points in the bonus rounds. A high score list keeps track of your best 10 missions.

Credits

•	Delphi 5 Pascal compiler licensed from Borland

•	Inno Setup installation package created by Jordan Russell

•	PNG unit created by Gustavo Daud

•	GIF unit created by Anders Melander

•	DSPack unit created by Henri Gourvest


Interface

The VCD Menu Lite interface consists of a scalable preview window on the right and a two-page control tab on the left.

The WYSIWYG preview window displays your menu page. It is updated in real time as you make changes in the control panels on the left. The preview is automatically scaled to the current window size as needed. Depending on your screen resolution, you may need to maximize the program window to see the preview at full (100%) size.

The Main page of the control panel contains the following controls:

Background color – click the < button to the right of this control to set the menu background color.

Text color – click the < button to the right of this control to set the menu text color.

Text font – Select the typeface that you want to use for your menu text. The pull-down list contains all the screen fonts currently installed on your system.

Title – Type in the title that you want displayed on your menu.

Subtitle – Type in the subtitle that you want displayed on your menu.

Footnote – Type in the footnote that you want displayed on your menu.

The Items page of the control panel contains the following controls:

Total items – Set the number of menu items you want to appear on your menu. Values can range from 0 to 9.

Captions – Type in the captions that you want to display for each menu item. Each item will automatically be numbered to correspond with the number key on your DVD remote control.

Thumbnails – Click the < button next to each menu caption to select a movie frame or still image as a thumbnail over each caption. The dialog shown above will be displayed. Click the Movie Frame button to load your movie file. You should be able to load any movie format that you can play in your Windows Media Player. Slide the trackbar left or right to select the particular frame that you want to use. Click the Image File button if you want to use a regular graphics file for your thumbnail. The following formats are supported: BMP, GIF, PNG, and JPG.

Show thumbnails – Check this box if you want thumbnail images to be displayed with each menu caption. Otherwise, the captions will be displayed in a column without graphics.


File Menu

The File Menu contains the following commands:

New – Select this command to clear the menu of all captions, thumbnails, and to return to the default state.

Open – Select this command to load a previously saved menu.

Save as – Select this command to save the contents of the current menu to a *.vmenu file for later retrieval. If your menu has thumbnail images, only their file names are saved, not the actual images. If you move or delete those files, you will not be able to reload the menu as it was saved.

Image size – Use this command to set the image size: NTSC for American systems, PAL for most European systems.

Export JPG image – Use this command to export your menu to a JPG file. It can then be converted to an MPEG still image with a VCD authoring program such as VCDEasy where it can be linked to your movie clips before burning the CD.

Note: you can also use the "Export JPG Image" button in the bottom left corner to invoke this command.

Exit – Select this command to exit the program.