This guide is aimed at getting alpha and beta-testers up and running with HDAfterEdit v1 as quickly as possible. It assumes a good knowledge of DVDAE Version 3 and DVD authoring in general, and will be continually under development. As we near release the documentation will come online and make it redundant.
The guide will highlight things which are different from the old version, features we would like tested as a priority, and sometimes just Really Cool Stuff :-)
First of all, a heads-up:
As you know, we aren't quite ready to lock off the features and go into beta-testing just yet. The exciting thing about this for us testers is that new features may appear at any time, and our comments may be used to improve what's already there. However it also means that not all the features are unlocked, yet.
Please check the Summary Of Features section at the end of this guide to see exactly what features will be present in the 1.0 release, and what the state of play with the current alpha version is.
When you first run HDAE, it will prompt you to enter your administrator password, and then browse to a VIDEO_TS or HVDVD_TS folder. Along with requiring the password, Mastering and Editing can be locked to prevent unauthorised access. By default there will be no passwords on these locks, but this can be changed if security is important to you. When a suitable folder has been selected, the Disc Overview window will open, plus the Preview window. This behaviour can be changed via the Preferences, if you like.
Notice that now we have proper Project files, Open and Save on the File menu relate to Project files. To open a new VIDEO_TS folder and create a new project, choose New From DVD.... To write changes to a new folder, choose Save DVD.... This will take some time, since a complete new VIDEO_TS folder will be built, however Project saves will be very fast, and crucially, non-destructive.
Many menu items in the application change their appearance and meaning dynamically while the shift, command (Apple) or option (alt) key or keys are held down. To change this behavior and see all the commands at all times choose Expanded Menus from the Edit menu. when you get accustomed to the way the commands work and want to return to simpler menus simply choose Collapsed Menus from the Edit menu and return to the default setting.
This displays a graphical representation of the data in the project, and allows Formatting ( Pre-mastering ) operations. For dual-layer projects, the layer-break can be set by dragging the slider, and a choice of PTP or OTP can be made. Everything is pretty self-explanatory - click "Switch View" to browse the project by viewing the VIDEO_TS, HVDVD_TS and ADV_OBJ folders, or the "Browser" button to open a Browser Window.
The Browser Window is effectively the equivalent of DVDAE's Main Window, and at the moment is set out in a very similar way to it's predecessor. So, it is divided into two halves - the Structural Pane and the Editing Pane. You should find most of it quite familiar, but here are some things to notice:
DLT will not be supported (There will be a separate application) There will be no Tracer/Player functionality in 1.0