Re: further clarification of my confusion...

Okay, thanks. This is very helpful. Still have a couple questions just to make certain I understand.

I understand that I need 2 menus -- a first play timeline and then the menu itself. That was question #2.

But on question #1, I have the video and I put the text links into the video. Do I need to remove those text links from the video and do them in photoshop? Or can I use the video menu and somehow put a layer for each link that I have in there? I'm still not clear on this.

The first way I did this is I set up a video background and built the links menu in photoshop. When I put that in, the links were showing up even before the loop point, so it looked weird to have the links sitting there, obviously, while it played up to the point where they were supposed to appear.

So assuming I can use the video the way I have it now -- with the links moving into position, how do I create a clear layer or whatever in photoshop which I can use as markers for where those links are on the screen? (I'd rather not bring after effects into the equation if I don't have to, trying to keep it simple, though if that's the only way...)

Thanks.