DVD Studio Pro - Track Preferences

Track Preferences

The Track preferences allow you to set a variety of defaults used when creating tracks.

• Marker Prefix (Root) Name: Enter the name that all new markers use as their prefix. The

Generate Marker Names setting, below, controls whether this root name is followed
by a number of timecode value.

• Check for unique name: Select this checkbox to ensure you will not have two markers

with the same name within a track.

• Generate Marker Names: You can select how markers are named when you create them.

Note: You can rename the markers in the Marker Inspector.

• Automatically: This setting names new markers with the prefix followed by a number

that increments each time you add a marker. (You set the prefix below.) An advantage
of this option is that you can easily tell how many markers have been added (although
the number does not take into account any markers that you may have deleted). A
disadvantage is that, because you can add markers between existing ones, the
numerical order of the markers is not necessarily the same as their order in the
timeline—the numerical order is based on the order the markers are created, not on
their position.

• Timecode based: This setting names new markers with the prefix followed by the

timecode of the video asset. (You set the prefix below.) An advantage of this option
is that the marker names are always in the order they appear in the timeline. A
disadvantage is that you cannot easily tell how many markers you have in the track.
When you select “Timecode based,” the “Auto update” checkbox becomes available.
Selecting this checkbox causes the timecode value assigned to a marker’s name to
update if you move the marker.

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• Snap To: This setting controls what happens when you place a marker in the timeline.

In DVD Studio Pro, markers can only be placed on I-frames, which occur once per group
of pictures (GOP). A GOP is typically 12 to 15 frames long, which means that when you
place a marker, you generally will not be able to place it on the exact frame you would
like. This setting allows you to control how DVD Studio Pro chooses the frame to use.

See

Working with GOP Settings

for more information on GOPs.

• Previous GOP: This setting places the marker on the GOP occurring before the selected

location.

• Next GOP: This setting places the marker on the GOP occurring after the selected

location.

• Nearest GOP: This setting places the marker on the GOP closest to the selected

location, either before or after it.

• Thumbnail Offset: A thumbnail image of the video asset, representing its first frame,

appears in the Video tab in the Palette, in the Video Asset Inspector that appears when
you select a video asset in the Assets tab, and at the first frame of the video stream in
the Track Editor. This setting allows you to determine whether the thumbnail used in
those places is based on the video frame at the start of the video asset or on a frame
up to five seconds later in the asset. Because video assets often start at black and fade
up, this setting allows you to set the thumbnail to a frame that has video that better
represents the asset.

• Default Language: You can choose a language that is automatically assigned to all

audio and subtitle streams in new tracks. Choose Not Specified to have no language
assigned to the streams.

• Space bar toggles between play/pause: This setting controls what happens when you

press the Space bar while viewing a track. When you play a track, the timeline’s playhead
follows along. With the checkbox next to “Space bar toggles between play/pause”
selected, the playhead in the track’s timeline remains at its current position when you
press the Space bar. When the checkbox is not selected, the playhead jumps back to
where you started playing from when you press the Space bar.

Note: This setting does not affect the pause and stop controls in the Viewer tab—only
what happens when you use the Space bar while playing a track.

• Fix invalid markers on build: While creating your tracks, it is possible to end up with

markers that either are not positioned on GOP boundaries or fall outside of the V1
stream. When this checkbox is not selected, a build operation stops if any invalid markers
are detected. With the checkbox selected, a build operation automatically repositions
any markers that are not placed on GOP boundaries and removes any markers that are
outside the V1 stream.

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