Working with menu markers

You can easily add menu markers to your videos. You can add scene markers automatically or manually. Premiere Elements creates a menu based on the markers. The type of menu markers you add to the Expert view timeline depends upon how you want your viewers to access the video.

You can use all types of markers in a movie. However, once the disc player encounters a stop marker, it returns to the main menu. Later, if you rearrange clips in the Quick view timeline or the Expert view timeline, the markers remain in their original locations. You might have to update their locations and edit their names to keep them relevant to the movie.

Main menu markers

Main menu markers divide the video into separate movies. Buttons on the main menu link to main menu markers. You manually place main menu markers to indicate the beginning of each movie that you want listed on the main menu of your disc. If the main menu template you select contains extra buttons (buttons other than the Play Movie or Scenes buttons), those buttons link to the main menu markers. In addition, they play from each marker until they reach a stop marker or the end of the media in the Expert view timeline. If the main menu does not contain enough main menu marker buttons, Premiere Elements duplicates the main menu. In addition, it adds a Next button on the primary main menu. If you have no main menu markers in your movie, Premiere Elements omits the extra buttons from the main menu.

If you use main menu markers, choose a template with at least three main menu buttons. (The first button, Play Movie, plays the movie from beginning to end. The second, Scenes, links to Scenes Menu 1.)

Scene markers

Scene markers divide a movie into separate scenes. Scene buttons on the main menu link to different scenes in your movie. They appear on scene menus one after another (not grouped by movie). Use scene markers (without stop markers) when you want the movie to play from start to finish. You can also use scene markers when you want your viewer to be able to jump ahead to specific scenes.

You can add scene markers automatically or manually. Premiere Elements uses scene markers to create a scene menu. The scene menu is accessible from the Scenes button on the disc main menu. If you have no scene markers in the Expert view timeline, Premiere Elements omits the Scenes button and the scenes menu.

Stop markers

Stop markers designate the end of a movie. When the disc player reaches a stop marker, it returns to the main menu. If you add a stop marker to the Expert view timeline, a disc player doesn’t play the movie from start to finish. Therefore, you generally add stop markers only if you’ve divided your video into separate movies. In addition, you don’t need to play the clips in the Expert view timeline from beginning to end.

You add stop markers manually. Use stop markers to indicate the end of each movie that you want listed on the main menu of your disc. Whenever a stop marker is reached, the movie stops and returns to the main menu.

Add scene markers automatically

The Generate Menu Markers command places scene markers for you. Sometimes you can save time if you let Premiere Elements initially place scene markers, which you can clean up later as necessary. You get the best results when each scene in your movie is a separate clip. In adiition, all the clips you want marked are on the Video 1 track. If your movie consists of multiple clips that overlay each other, you might prefer to place scene markers manually or place them at set intervals.

Automatically placed scene markers do not have names. Therefore, the buttons on the scene menu remain as named in the template. To customize the buttons, you can either name the markers after they are placed or rename the buttons after you select the template.

Add menu, scene, or stop markers manually

When you manually add markers, you can name them as you place them. The name you choose appears as the label for a button in the main menu or scenes menu.

On some templates, the menu buttons include thumbnail images of the video to which they are linked. If the default frame does not represent the best frame for a button, you can change it in the Menu Marker dialog box.

Add a main menu marker or scene marker

The marker is added to the Expert view timeline, below the time ruler. A main menu marker is blue, a scene marker is green, and a stop marker is red.

Add a stop marker

The marker is added to the Quick view timeline. In the Expert view timeline, the marker is added below the time ruler.

Find a menu or scene marker

Move or delete a menu or scene marker

Whether you placed a marker automatically or manually, you can move and delete markers easily.

You can delete individual markers or clear all markers from the Expert view timeline at once. If you have edited your movie since you first selected menu templates. You may find it is easier to delete all the markers rather than drag them to new positions.

Move a marker

Delete a marker

Edit menu or scene marker attributes

After you place a marker, you can change its name, type (scene, main menu, or stop), and the thumbnail image displayed in a thumbnail button on a menu. The marker names become the button names in the main menu or scenes menu.

Some menu buttons include thumbnail images of the video to which they are linked. By default, the thumbnail displays the frame visible at the marker. You can change the marker to better suit the content. For example, for a button representing a scene of a day at the beach, you might want to change the button image to a close‑up of the kids splashing in the water rather than the frame marked by the marker. Changing a thumbnail for a button does not change the start point of the video to which the button is linked.