Linking to Websites, Files or DVD-ROM Content

DVDSP uses a proprietary system called DVD@ccess to launch URLS, send emails or open files stored in a DVD-ROM folder on a hybrid DVD. The user must have a computer linked to the Internet for the links to work, and because DVD@ccess is a separate software, PC users will have to install the DVD @ccess software to make these links work. You should note this somewhere on your disc (or on the disc's packaging so that users aren't confused).

DVDSP will automatically add DVD@ccess to the final folder if you Build and Burn the disc directly from DVDSP. If you use an application such as Toast to burn the DVD, you will have to manually add the software.

The software is hidden in the DVDSP application. Find the DVD Studio Pro application icon, then hold the Control key while clicking the application icon once. From the menu that appears, choose Show Package Contents, then navigate to the Contents>Resources>DVD@ccess Folder.

Copy these directories into the root of your final folder if you are using links on your disc so that users of the disc can load the software on their systems. Any Mac with the DVD player will also have this software installed, however PCs won't have it installed. You will have to alert your audience to load this software if they want the links to work. The directions about how to install the software is in the About DVD@ccess installers file. You should put these directions somewhere on your project where the audience can follow them.

Make DVD Player on your Mac accept Access links:

1. Go to the applications folder and open up the DVD player on your Mac.

2. Go to Preferences and under Disc Setup, check the box next to Enable DVD@ccess web links.

Setting DVDSP to accept DVD@ccess links
Go to Preferences>Simulator in DVDSP. Check the box that says "Enable DVD@ccess Web Links."

Adding links to your Project:
Links can be attached to several items, including menus, slide show slides and chapters markers. The most likely case is that you'll want to link from a button. In that case, you have to jump to a menu with a DVD@ccess link attached to it. You can use this menu to explain to set-top box users that the link won't work without a connection to the Internet. Computer users can read this menu as the browser is launching and loading the web page. You will want to put a timeout action on this menu so that the DVD jumps back to the first menu after it launches the browser. That way, users will return to the main menu after they've launched the browser.

Linking from Buttons:
1. Create a menu (let's call it Menu 1) with buttons.

2 . You will need to create a menu -- we'll call that Menu2 -- to link the web page to. Usually, this menu will have a message to TV watchers that the link won't work unless they are on a computer with a link to the Internet.

3 . Click on Menu2 and bring up the Menu Inspector.

4. Go to the Playback options under the Advanced tab. In the DVD@ccess Name box, type the name of the link. This is just a name and will not appear anywhere in the browser or on the disk. It's for your reference and a way for DVDSP to encode the link information.

5 . In the DVD@ccess URL box, type the URL that you want the browser to open.

You must type in the full path of the URL to get this to work.

• For a URL that goes to the web, type http://www.websitename.edu
  
• For a URL that launches a file on your hard drive, type File:///dvdname/foldername/filename, where dvdname is the name that you're going to give the DVD and foldername and filename reflect the folders and files on your final burned DVD. These are case sensitive so make sure you are careful how you write this information.
• For a mail link, type mailto:myemailaddress@mydomain.com

6. Go back to your Menu 1 and link Menu2 to the button that links to the site.

7. Now, when DVDSP goes to open Menu 2 from the button link it will launch a browser and the link you've indicated in the Menu 2 Inspector.

Returning to Menu 1
If you want the user to return to Menu 1 after they're done with the Web page, you should specify this in Menu 2.

1. Click on Menu 2 to get the Menu Inspector.

2. Go to the General tab under At End, and choose Timeout and choose 5 sec. Set the Timeout Duration to 5 second so that the other menu will pop up underneath the browser and will be ready when the user is done with the Web page.

3. Under Action, choose the Menu 1 (the menu that you want to pop up after the user is done on the web site).

Linking with Chapter Markers

Chapter markers allow you to link directly to a web page without going to a menu first. Just click on the chapter marker and the Playback Options appear in the General tab in the Marker Inspector.

Linking to Files on the Disc or Adding DVD-ROM Content (creating a hybrid disc)
DVD@ccess can open files located on the finished disk. This allows you to create a hybrid disk that includes PDF files, HTML pages, high resolution versions of slides in a slideshow and even Flash or Director files.

To link to files on the Disc, use the following path:
File:///dvdname/foldername/filename, where dvdname is the name that you're going to give the DVD and foldername and filename reflect the folders and files on your final burned DVD.

You will have to burn the content onto the final DVD disc by linking it in the Disc Inspector as follows.

1. Click on the disc icon to open up the Disc Inspector dialogue box.

2. The Disc Inspector shows the properties of the disc. At the bottom of the General tab, click the Content check box and the Joliet Extension Support check box.

3. Click Choose and find the folder you want to add to your DVD.

4. Although the DVD-ROM section lists the local file path of the folder, when DVDSP formats the disc, the selected folder will be written alongside the VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders.

Testing DVD@CCESS Links to Files With the Apple DVD Player
Since the files you intend to include on the DVD for access by DVD@CCESS links are not in their actual locations until you create the DVD, you cannot test these links as easily as the others with the Apple DVD Player.

To test DVD@CCESS links that rely on opening files located on the DVD, you can either:
• Build and format the title and burn it to a disc. You can then test the disc on a variety of computers to verify that the links work as expected.

• Build and format the title and write it as a disk image to your hard disk. The disk image contains the specified DVD-ROM content in addition to the VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders. Using the Apple DVD Player, you can play the disk image as if it were a burned DVD, and the DVD@CCESS links that rely on the DVD-ROM files can be tested.

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