dvd-menu(1)

📦 version 0.8.6.1, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

💖 dvd-menu(1) 💖

okay bestie so you found the dvd-menu page, part of the dvd-slideshow family, and honestly? you're about to have the cutest little DVD menu of your life. let's get into it. 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

dvd-menu — Creates a DVD navigation menu with buttons.

like, an actual clickable menu. on a DVD. with buttons. iconic behavior fr fr. 💅

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

dvd-menu -t <ButtonText1> ... -t <ButtonTextN> -f <XML_file1 |
MPEG_file1> ... -f <XML_fileN | MPEG_fileN> [-o <output directory>] [-n
<DVD Title>] [-b <background jpeg>] [-e <embed image>] [-a <audiofile>]
[-p] [-c] [-D] [-W] [-mp2] [-iso] [-nomenu] [-L]

see how it's like, a million -t and -f pairs? that's the whole vibe. 🦋

💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

Creates a simple top-level DVD menu with buttons that link to movies. Accepts the output XML files from dvd-slideshow or your own self-defined MPEG movies.

so basically: you hand it your movies, it hands you back a menu that ties them all together. top-level, simple, does exactly what it says. no cap. ✨

🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

  • -t <Button text> — The button text visible on the menu which will link to each corresponding (in order passed) -f option. Use this option multiple times with -f to define multiple titles/buttons.
so like, the ORDER matters here bestie — the first -t goes with the first -f, and so on. pass it as many times as you have titles. 💅
  • -f <Input file> — Can be an XML file output from dvd-slidshow or a full-scale mpeg2 video in the proper format (.vob). No error checking is done if you pass a MPEG2 .vob input file, so you are on your own. Use this option multiple times with -t to define multiple titles/buttons.
ok so, important: if you hand it a raw MPEG2 .vob there is NO error checking. none. zero. you are on your own, bestie. you've been warned. 😭
  • [-o <Output directory>] — Directory where the final DVD filesystem files VIDEO_TS/ will be written.
  • [-n <DVD Title>] — This will be printed at the top of the DVD menu page.
  • [-b <Background jpeg>] — Image to use for the background DVD menu. If no file is specified, a blue gradient will be used for the menu background.
  • [-e <embed image>] — Embed an image in the menu screen. This image will show up to the left of the menu buttons.
  • [-a <Audio file>] — Audio file to play while the menu is active. Supports mp3, ogg, or wav formats at this point.
  • [-mp2] — Use mp2 audio by default (requires ffmpeg with ac3 encoding). The default audio format is now AC3 instead of mpeg2 sinceI have found that many DVD players do not play the audio when it is in mp2 format, so this may be a better, more compatible option for most people.
ngl AC3 is the default now because mp2 audio just… doesn't play on a lot of DVD players. so -mp2 is lowkey a compatibility downgrade, but it's there if you need it. 🫶
  • [-p] — Use PAL output video format instead of NTSC.
  • [-c] — Use continuous <post> commands within dvdauthor. This will make each video play one after another without going back up to the main menu until the last video is finished. If this option is not used, the dvd will return to the top menu after playing each track.
  • [-D] — Do not call dvdauthor. This will tell dvd-menu to create the menu and output xml files to pass to dvdauthor, but will not actually run dvdauthor. Useful for people who want to modify their xml file before running dvdauthor.
  • [-W] — Do not generate 50% transparent white background overlays under the title and menu buttons.
  • [-iso] — Create iso image with genisimage when finished.
  • [-nomenu] — Do not create a menu. Useful for just finishing the dvdauthor xml file from one video that you want to just start playing when the user puts it into a dvd player.
  • [-L] — Create a low quality, half-slize menu. This works with dvd-slideshow so you can render your whole project in low-quality mode and still test everything quickly.
  • [-theme <themefile>] — Use the given theme when setting variables/colors/etc. Themes are installed in /opt/dvd-slideshow/themes or in a local directory ~/.dvd-slideshow/themes
  • [-fadein] — Fade in from background before menu
  • [-fadeout] — Fade to background after menu buttons are pressed.
  • [-vcd] — (alpha) Create vcd .cue and .bin files (requires vcdimager)
  • [-svcd] — (alpha) Create svcd .cue and .bin files (requires vcdimager)
  • -h — Prints help file (basically this manpage).

🌈 CONFIGURATION 🌈

Settings can be passed on the command line, in a default ~/.dvd-slideshow/dvd-slideshowrc file, or in a theme file. The order in which the script reads the settings is as follows:

Default script settings --> ~/.dvd-slideshow/dvd-slideshowrc --> theme --> command line

so each successive setting will over-ride the previous settings if they are already set.

literally the way that works: later beats earlier. command line always wins. main character energy. 👑

🍓 ~/.dvd-slideshow/dvd-slideshowrc

With the syntax shown below, the following variables can be specified in the ~/.dvd-slideshow/dvd-slideshowrc file. All lines are optional, and everything after the # character is not read.

# general:
menu_continuous_play=0 # set to 1 to play one file after another without going back up to menu.

menu_fadein=0 # set to 1 to fade in to menu
menu_fadeout=0 # set to 1 to fade out from menu after a button is pressed.

menu_background=steelblue  # or, use hex #RRGGBB
#menu_background="#882211"      # use a hex RGB color if you wish
#menu_background="mybackground.jpg"     # specify a real image if you want
## pick other colors here:
http://www.imagemagick.org/script/color.php

menu_fade_to_image="black"     # image to fade to/from before/after menu
#menu_fade_to_image="#ff3344"
#menu_fade_to_image="myimage.jpg"

#menu_title_font="/usr/share/fonts/default/Type1/n019004l.pfb" # Helvetical bold URW font
menu_title_font_size=40
menu_title_font_color=black
menu_title_white_height=125
menu_title_location_x=80
menu_title_location_y=50
#menu_title_justify=center

menu_panel_height=28
menu_panel_width=288
menu_panel_location_x=360
menu_panel_location_y=175  # distance of the top of the first menu item to the top of the screen

#menu_button_font="/usr/share/fonts/default/Type1/n019004l.pfb"
#Helvetical bold URW font
menu_button_font_size=21
menu_button_font_color=black
menu_button_hilight_color=red

#menu_audio=myaudio1.mp3

see all those # lines? those are commented-out examples, bestie — everything after a # is literally not read, so copy them, tweak them, whatever. all lines are optional. 🦋

🧚 THEMES 🧚

A theme is just a file containing a list of configuration variables, and possibly also background images, fonts, or audio in the same directory.

Any of the configuration variables can be placed in a dvd-slideshow theme file to control dvd-menu also.

This will be explained more later...

yes it literally says "more later". we love a mysterious queen. 💀

⭐ FILES ⭐

  • dvd-slideshow
  • dvd-menu
  • gallery1-to-slideshow
  • dir2slideshow
  • jigl2slideshow

🔥 EXAMPLES 🔥

There are a few heavily-commented examples available in the examples section of the dvd-slideshow webpage, which you can find at http://dvd-slideshow.sourceforge.net

heavily commented = literally made for you to read. go look. obsessed. 🫶

👑 AUTHORS 👑

💖 SEE ALSO 💖

and that's the whole page, bestie!! written by Scott Dylewski, version 0.8.4, for dvd-menu(1) — go make something cute, and remember: the order of your -t and -f flags is the whole plot. slay. 💅✨🎀

📦 where this page comes from