Working with Adobe Encore and After Effects



You can use After Effects to quickly create buttons and button layers for use in Adobe Encore®. Adobe Encore uses a naming standard to define a button and the role of individual layers as subpicture highlights and video thumbnails. When you select a group of layers in After Effects to use as an Adobe Encore button, After Effects precomposes the layers and names the precomposition according to the naming standards for buttons.

Highlight layer names receive the prefix (=1), (=2), or (=3), and video thumbnail names receive the prefix (%).

After Effects includes template projects that include entire DVD menus for you to use as a basis for your own DVD menus. To use Adobe Bridge to browse and import these template projects, choose File > Browse Template Projects. (See Template projects and example projects.)

For information on using Dynamic Link with After Effects and Encore, see Dynamic Link and After Effects.

For video tutorials about using After Effects with Encore, go to the Adobe website:

Create a button for Adobe Encore

  1. In the Timeline panel, select the layers for use in the button.
  2. Choose Layer > Adobe Encore > Create Button.
  3. Enter a name for the button.
  4. Use the menus to assign up to three highlight layers and one video thumbnail layer, and then click OK.

    A new composition is created with the button name. In keeping with the Adobe Encore naming standards, the prefix (+) is added to the name of the composition to indicate that it is a button.

    Important: If you rename the button, be sure to retain the (+) prefix. The prefix ensures that Adobe Encore recognizes the file as a button.

Assign a subpicture highlight and video thumbnail to a layer

  1. Select the layer.
  2. Choose Layer > Adobe Encore > Assign To Subpicture [number] or Assign To Video Thumbnail.

Export a button for use in Adobe Encore

  1. Open the composition that represents the button, and move the current-time indicator to the desired frame.
  2. Choose Composition > Save Frame As > Photoshop Layers.