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adding multiple videos to the DVD Architect 5.0 Timeline…
I’ve got about 20 different videos, clips etc. to add to the DVD Architect Timeline so that I can create one DVD that runs for 95 minutes.
The problem I’m running into is that Architect doesn’t want to allow me to add past the end of a video/audio timeline. If I drag in more media, it just replaces the old one. I’ve tried to move the end point to the right to open up the time line more, but nothing happens. I’ve tried to add multiple scenes onto Menu 1 and tried playing one to see if the others would come up afterward, but again nothing happens.
How do I add multiple video/audio tracks to the timeline so that I can have them all play one after the other for the full 95 minutes?
Thank you!
Owen
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8 Replies
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You can’t add them to the timeline. What you need to do is add the first one to the timeline. Then drop the rest of them into the root of the project tree on the left. Finally, set the END ACTION of the video that’s on the timeline to play the next video, then change the next video’s END ACTION to play the next one, etc. until they are all played. This makes a big chain of video clips that will play one after the other.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
Thank you!
I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Owen
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Using end actions is one way to go, but it has its problems. This method adds each video as an individual title, which means that after each one finishes, the player has to find what to do next. This will cause almost all players to pause for a moment. Maybe for half a second, maybe for a few. Navigating between these videos using the Next Chapter and Previous Chapter buttons may not work as expected either — since, technically, they’re not chapters.
There are two alternative methods that are more reliable. The first is to insert a Music / Video Compilation (called simply a Music Compilation in some versions, but works just as well) and add your videos to that. DVDA will create a single title from them with each one as a chapter.
The other method is to give DVDA a single file in the first place. If the videos you’re working with are not already DVD compliant, then drop them all on a Vegas timeline and render out to MPEG2. If the videos are already MPEG2 (and DVD compliant), use something like VOBMerge or Womble to put them into a single file without having to re-encode them. (Vegas Pro 8.0 and up can smart render MPEG, but you have to get the settings just right.)
Rob
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where do u get vob merge or womble and how do they work within architect. thanx
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Talk about bringing a thread back from the dead… 😉
Anyhow. VOBMerge is a free tool and can be found many places online auch as CNet.
Womble is actually a company. They makes a few programs for working with video files. Far as I know, they all cost money, but there are free trial versions available. For combining videos, MPEG-VCR is probably their most basic, cost-effective option.
These programs don’t work “within” DVD Architect. You would use them to edit video files (in this case, combining several into one) before bringing the file(s) into Architect.
Rob
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And three years later… back from the dead again. Just wanted to say your suggestion rocks. I have been creating multiple videos doing the whole start/end action to link them and never even noticed the Video Compilation option. Much nicer. Thanks!!
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Tip to save any fellow nubes a few minutes of confusion/frustration:
You can’t drop your videos directly to the timeline in a “Music/Video Compilation”.
You drag them instead to the tab (at bottom) called “Compilation”.
If you drag them in the order that you want them to playback, then DVD-Arc automatically butts them up in that playback order:
If you try to drag videos directly to the timeline, you get an initially baffling stonewall (grayed out options and the “no” icon):
I can’t comment yet on the robustness of this technique, since I’m trying it now for the first time, but I have high hopes. If I hit speedbumps, I post about them.
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I found the downside of using “Music/Video Compilations” to stitch piecemeal videos together in DVD-Arc. You can’t add chapter markers! This is a big deal, since my customers expect to be able to skip forward or backward on their remotes to find a favorite scene, or to skip a laggy one. The only chapter markers in a “Music/Video Compilation” is the start of each next constituent file. And cutting up my source video files into pieces for each chapter is a super awkward workflow, saving no time, and creating extra coding opportunities for image degradation.
Unfortunately, this means I can’t really use this trick, which puts me back to re-exporting video into a single file. Fooey.
Screenshot of chapter markers allowed on a regular video:
And one of chapter markers button grayed out on a “Music/Video Compilation”:
Roger Parsons. Semi-pro video dabbler (my evenings/weekends job since ~2014), shooting mostly community theater and orchestra.
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