insert scene markers

Scene markers allow your viewers to jump directly to marked scenes. For example, I'll insert markers at the start of the movie, when guests start arriving, when the clown starts performing and the year in review slide show, among other scenes, so my viewers and I can quickly access them.

Think about scenes in your movie you want viewers to be able to directly jump to and work with me.

customize thumbnail

Each scene menu contains button frames with a video thumbnail. Premiere Elements uses the first frame of the scene by default, but sometimes that's not the best choice. Here's how you change the thumbnail to a new frame:

Note that you can move the marker by clicking and dragging it, or open the DVD Marker window to change the name or thumbnail image by double clicking the marker.

choose a template

All Premiere Elements menus come from templates. Let's choose one for your DVD.

In the taskbar on the top right of the Premiere Elements screen, click DVD to load the DVD Workspace.

This shows the first menu that DVD viewers will see, which always has at least two buttons .

I'm not crazy about this menu, so I'm going to change the template. On the bottom right of the DVD Layout window, click Change Template (see previous page).

Click OK (on the top right) after making your selection.

customize your menus

This template matches some of the titles I inserted into the video, which is good, but the text title is too long.

Double click the title text to open the Change Text dialog.

You can only type new text, you can't change font, font size , or color .

Here is Scenes Menu 1.

preview your dvd

After finalizing your menus , preview your production before recording the DVD. Check that you've spelled all of your buttons correctly, that your capitalization is consistent between buttons and that your chapter markers are at the desired location.

To get started, click Preview DVD in the bottom right of the DVD Layout window.

In preview mode, Premiere Elements displays the same controls typically found on a DVD remote.

You can navigate with the buttons on the bottom, or simply click the buttons with your cursor.

record your disc

Now let's burn the DVD. Click Burn DVD on the bottom right of the DVD Layout menu.

Premiere Elements displays the

Burn DVD Progress status screen.

Burn time relates to project length and speed of your computer, but longer projects can easily take a few hours.

After successfully recording the disc, Premiere Elements will eject the disc and display Export Completed in the Burn DVD Progress screen.

extra bits

insert scene markers p. 104

Main Menu Markers place a text link directly on the main menu. Stop Markers stop video playback at that location and return the viewer to the main menu.
Note that you can add scene markers at any time, before or after choosing a template, and Premiere Elements will automatically update all necessary menus .

record your disc p. 110

If your button labels are too long, they will overlap and Premiere Elements will open an error window to this effect before burning. To locate the overlapping buttons, click More in the upper right of the DVD Layout window and choose Show Overlapping Menu Buttons .
Premiere Elements should work with most DVD- recorders , but if it doesn't work with yours, burn the project to a folder, then use software that came with your recorder to record the project to a disc.
Theoretically, you can produce DVDs with any amount of video, but quality may suffer if you go beyond 80-90 minutes.