Creating and editing playlists

Playlists provide an excellent way to link a project’s titles together in different sequences. A playlist simply instructs the DVD player to play a selection of titles in a particular order. The instructions can specify which chapter or slide to start from in each title, and which audio or subtitle tracks to play. Because playlists are simply sets of rules, they take up almost no disc space.

A popular use for playlists is in discs that contain several episodes of a TV series. The disc’s author creates a “play all” menu button that links to a playlist containing all the episodes. The author also creates button links to each title, with different instructions controlling what happens after the title finishes. Another use might be to provide several different combinations of routines on an exercise DVD.

To create a playlist:

  • Choose File > Add Playlist. The Edit Playlist window appears.

The Sources column lists all the titles in the project.

  • Double-click a title in the Sources column to add it to the Playlist column.

  • Change the title’s Item Properties if desired:
  • Start Chapter/Picture: To begin playing the title from a particular chapter point or image, choose the chapter/image from this list.

  • Set Audio Stream: To force a particular audio track to be heard, choose from this list. This setting overrides the viewer’s language preference.

  • Set Subtitle Stream: To force a particular subtitle track to be displayed, or to force subtitles off, choose from this list. This setting overrides the viewer’s preferences.

  • Continue adding titles to the list and order them as desired:
  • To change the playlist order, click a title in the Playlist column, then click the up or down arrow buttons.

  • To remove a title from the playlist, click it, then click the X button.

  • When you’re finished, click the OK button. The new playlist’s icon appears in the Project window’s Playlists group.

To edit a playlist:

  • Double-click the playlist’s icon in the Project window. The Edit Playlist window appears.

  • Add, remove, and rearrange the titles in the Playlist column as desired.

  • Set the Item Properties for individual titles as desired.

  • Click the OK button.

Creating and editing playlists