The Final Step: Testing and Creating Your Menu


If you’ve read this far, you’ve learned how to create your main menu and submenus as well as choose their look and function. Now you’re ready to do one final test run before taking it prime-time. You can use the Test Menu command to do this, which takes all the settings in your Main Menu Properties and Project Properties dialogs into account, so you end up with a very accurate view of what your audience will experience.

image from book

There are a couple of different methods for testing your menus:

  • From the File menu, choose Test Menu….

  • Click the Test Menu icon (image from book ) on your toolbar.

image from book

I recommend testing out your menus thoroughly before bothering to create the real deal. Click on each and every menu item and check out every submenu to make sure everything works as expected. Remember, the menu creation process entails pulling together all your different file elements and saving them in one place, which means that both time and file space get expended every time you do it. Do make sure the menu is problem-free ahead of time.

Menu Creation

Now that you’ve extensively tested your menu, it’s time to create it. This final step packages all your file-type menu items, menu executable, autorun file (if desired), icons, and audio files into one central place where it can finally be burned onto a CD-ROM, ready for duplication and eventual distribution to your audience. Fortunately, since you’ve already done most of the work, the creation process is pretty painless.

Caution 

Other than testing, the one other thing you must do prior to creating your menu is to check the Content tab of the Main Menu Properties dialog of any of your menu screens. At the bottom of this tab, the Approximate disk space used by Project is displayed. Make absolutely certain that whatever media you’ll be using has adequate space for your project.

image from book

To create your menu, just do the following:

  1. Click the Create Menu button (image from book ) on the toolbar.

    or

    From the File menu, choose Create Menu….

  2. The Camtasia MenuMaker Wizard will appear. In it, you can specify a directory in which to place your new project folder, either by typing in a path or by clicking the Open button to browse for the directory. Then type in a folder name. This field will already be populated with the name you gave your menu, but you can change it at will.

  3. Click Next, and you’ll be prompted to confirm the creation of the folder if it doesn’t already exist. Click OK. Of course, if you have already created a menu under that name, then you’ll get a dialog asking if you want to overwrite it. Click Yes.

  4. At this point you’ll have a wait, the length of which depends on the quantity and size of the files you’re compiling. Once done, the wizard will finish, with a final screen asking if you would like this new folder opened for you automatically. If you leave this option checked and then click Finish, your menu will appear in Windows Explorer, ready to burn to your media. Unfortunately, Camtasia MenuMaker does not sport any built-in burning capabilities as of yet, but just about any CD-ROM creation tool should work just fine. Remember to include the contents of your exported menu folder, and not the folder itself. Also, be certain to include everything, including all subfolders; otherwise the menu will not work. Once the burn process is complete, you’re done! The disc is ready to ship off to a friend or to a production house for mass duplication.

image from book

Caution 

Just because your menu tested out well using MenuMaker’s Test Menu feature, that doesn’t mean your testing duties are over. After creation, test the created menu by opening the project’s executable (.exe) to make sure everything is working. After you burn your disc, be certain to test the disc on a couple of different machines. Does the disc autorun work okay? Does the menu (and your videos, for that matter) display as intended at different monitor resolutions? Is the playback hiccup-free on slower drives? While testing can be time-consuming depending on the amount of content, it costs far less time, money, and hassle to ensure that things are working properly before you pay for duplication services and send a million of these discs out into the world. So test early, test often, and then rest assured that your audience is viewing your content exactly as you intended.




Camtasia Studio 4. The Definitive Guide
Camtasia Studio 4: The Definitive Guide (Wordware Applications Library)
ISBN: 1598220373
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2007
Pages: 146
Authors: Daniel Park

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net