Chapter Playlists - Way to Go!

Just finished off our first major project with 2.0, and all I can say is Give
Chapter Playlists a spin!

Time spent planning the project by drawing up a proper flowchart before
importing anything at all was about a day - but as you will see in a moment,
this was time very well spent.
Contents were as follows:
28 AVI files as assets
6 Motion Menus
6 Chapter Playlists with multiple chapters
22 Chapter playlists with single chapters on them.

All the assets were placed on a single timeline - we were supplied everythhing
as individual video clips, and these had to be subdivided into Speeches, Songs,
Artists, Prayers etc.
So, all went on the single timeline for a "Play All" button.
Then, for the speeches, we had another "Play All" button, pointing to
a chapter playlist with all the speeches, followed by individual buttons to pick
one speech or speaker on his or her own.
Same thing with the songs and the rest of it.

The point is, that once the thing had been planned, importing all assets, menus
and linking the whole lot together took a mere 2 hours. For a Dual Layer project
- and it worked right first time too.
What would have taken either scripting, or serious usage of Overrides in earlier
versions, or duplicating assets (not possible here as it's just short of 4 hours
worth of material in all) - was an absolute cinch to author.
So, 2 things really:
1 - It still pays to plan, plan & then plan some more before importing
anything to Encore.
2 - The new Chapter Playlists are wonderful, and simple to use. No more complex
projects with timelines here, there & everywhere - unless that is what is
needed.

The new Flowchart also helped immensely.
All in all, I love this new version. Seriouslt stable for me, and very easy to
use.
The new possibilities are endless.

Neil, you know I've had the need for chapter playlists for a couple of years now
and had to use another authoring software to accomplish the needed tasks. On the
day 2.0 was introduced, I mentioned that it was a major upgrade with some
exciting new features...naming chapter playlists as the most significant for me.
Someone else said these changes were not major and I chose not to get in an
online argument with him, but obviously he didn't understand how powerful this
single feature makes Encore in relation to most other authoring software out
there.

Neil, you know I've had the need for chapter playlists for a couple of years now
and had to use another authoring software to accomplish the needed tasks. On the
day 2.0 was introduced, I mentioned that it was a major upgrade with some
exciting new features...naming chapter playlists as the most significant for me.
Someone else said these changes were not major and I chose not to get in an
online argument with him, but obviously he didn't understand how powerful this
single feature makes Encore in relation to most other authoring software out
there.

BJ, Seamless branching will indeed be the next biggie, along with web
connectivity. Most crucial for me is going to be a way to verify DLT contents
too. Then I know I can totally trust Encore 110%.
What has really got me going about the chapter playlists is how smooth the
pickup is - even in simulated mode coming off a string of FireWire devices.

BJ, Seamless branching will indeed be the next biggie, along with web
connectivity. Most crucial for me is going to be a way to verify DLT contents
too. Then I know I can totally trust Encore 110%.
What has really got me going about the chapter playlists is how smooth the
pickup is - even in simulated mode coming off a string of FireWire devices.