andrewq wrote:
(1) Are there details anywhere of what the limitations are of the new DVD publication type? There isn't much information in the help file and lots of surprising actions seem still to be available if one chooses a DVD publication.
For example, storage actions (like write to disk file)... key press... registry... variables (like SYSTEM_TIME_DATE)...
Correct me if I'm wrong, but surely these can't function on a standalone DVD player, so why are they options in the editor when Opus has been told that this is a DVD publication?
Actually these things do work, sort of. The video export stage of the publish basically runs the publication as the player would run it, but records the results as video. So you can use variables, writing to registry, writing to disk files in the same way you would in a normal publication, but it affects how the video is produced, not what happens when the end user puts the DVD in their DVD player. So if you used SYSTEM_TIME_DATE, it would show the time and date that you published, not the time and date of being viewed.
You can also use the recorder feature to record your mouse movements and key presses and affect how the video is produced at publish time. This is very useful if for example you wanted to produce a demonstration DVD of an interactive publication.
Quote:
2) Is it possible to create a DVD publication that plays for longer than the standard 120 minute length of a DVD by using pauses and timelines? What I have in mind is an instructional, mainly audio, publication where the narration stops periodically to permit activities to be undertaken and then resumes. How could I accomplish this? Are there any pitfalls?
Just jump to a menu page. A menu page can have just one button that continues with the publication.