DVD architect 5.2 next/previous question

[Mike Kujbida]

Make sure that the end actions for each chapter point to the desired location.

[Larry Brewer]

Thanks Mike,

The end action for each chapter was first was set to link to the main menu, and functioned correctly in that it took the viewer back to the main menu at the completion of each chapter.

I changed that setting so that the end action of “chapter 1” became link to “chapter 2”, and “chapter 3” to “chapter 4”, and so on. This also functions correctly and links the chapter when playing.

However, neither setting gives me the ability to use the NEXT or PREV buttons on the remote.

It must be something else.

Hint: I’ve never gotten these remote buttons to function correctly.

[Larry Brewer]

Mike

My workflow goes something like this.

A. edit 1 hr show in Vegas10.
B. render to mpg and ac3 elementary streams.
C. Open DVD Arch 5.2 and select menu based DVD.
D. drag .m2v video file into main menu page. (audio auto follows)
E. rename this clip “play all” and place markers at all chapter points.
F. Save markers
G. drag same clip into main menu, rename “Chapter1” and load markers
H. move Yellow Triangles to mark beginning and end of chapter one.
I. repeat steps G & H for chapter 2,3,4,5,6,7 and 8.
J. Set END ACTION for chapter1 to chapter2, and so on.
K. Set remote button TITLE PLAY to “ON” for each chapter
L. Set remote button NEXT and PREV to “ON” for each chapter.

That’s essentially it. I get the feeling that I’ve been leaving something important out.

[Larry Brewer]

Mike

My workflow goes something like this.

A. edit 1 hr show in Vegas10.
B. render to mpg and ac3 elementary streams.
C. Open DVD Arch 5.2 and select menu based DVD.
D. drag .m2v video file into main menu page. (audio auto follows)
E. rename this clip “play all” and place markers at all chapter points.
F. Save markers
G. drag same clip into main menu, rename “Chapter1” and load markers
H. move Yellow Triangles to mark beginning and end of chapter one.
I. repeat steps G & H for chapter 2,3,4,5,6,7 and 8.
J. Set END ACTION for chapter1 to chapter2, and so on.
K. Set remote button TITLE PLAY to “ON” for each chapter
L. Set remote button NEXT and PREV to “ON” for each chapter.

That’s essentially it. I get the feeling that I’ve been leaving something important out.

[Mike Kujbida]

” I get the feeling that I’ve been leaving something important out.”

Larry, I don’t think you are.
You got me curious so I went back and checked a DVD project that I just did last week that was very similar to yours.
The only times the NEXT & PREV buttons worked was when I clicked PLAY ALL.
If I was playing an individual chapter, they did not work.

The only change in workflow I would suggest to you is to place your markers while you’re still in Vegas.
They’ll be recognized in DVDA and it will save you a few extra steps.

[Larry Brewer]

Yes, I’ve placed markers in Vegas before rendering and that works very well for me. In this case I didn’t have the chapter info until after the editing was completed and mpgs rendered.

As for our common experience with NEXT and PREV, I’m kinda surprised that this doesn’t work. It seems a limitation with no workaround. The pdf manual doesn’t get too specific about these things, but has always lead me to believe this feature would work for all chapters and not just in “play all”.

One oddity I’ve noticed is that if you assign the remote button, menu command for Chap1 to link to Chap2… and Chap2 to link to Chap3.. and so on.. you can effectively use the remote menu button as a “next” command. So why not the same rules for “next” button?

A less than perfect workaround would be to only place the beginning Yellow Triangle at the start of each chapter and leave the end at the very end of the clip. This gives you a next command, but will play the remainder of the dvd no matter which chapter you select.

[Rob Strobbe]

May I ask why you’re using that workflow? It seems to me you’re using two well-known workarounds, effectively canceling each other out.

Steps A through I is what someone would normally do if they want to have a “scene selection” menu where the player returns to the menu after playing the selected scene. The reason you add the movie multiple times and change the In / Out points is to turn that one movie into several smaller movies. This allows each scene to have its own end action. They want them all to play in order without returning to the menu (the default behavior for individual movies).

But then in Step J, you set the end action for each “chapter” (And understand, they are no longer chapters — each one is added to the disc as its own VOB because you’ve set it up that way) to lead to the next chapter. This is a workaround someone would use when they have several individual movies (files) that they want to act as a single movie divided into chapters. (See post script.)

In effect, you’re trying to make a single movie act like several shorter movies…and then trying to make those all act as a single movie.

What is it you want? If you want that one movie to have several chapters, and you want the chapter skip buttons to move between those movies, then just add the movie once and set chapter markers. The rest comes naturally to any and every DVD player.

Rob

PS: Note that the “several files acting as one movie” trick is very unpredictable. The DVD player manufacturers apparently do not agree on what should happen when chapter skip buttons are used when there’s no chapter to skip to. Personally, I think your player’s behavior makes the most sense, but behavior in the wild has varied from jumping to some seemingly random movie (probably the file that’s physically adjacent to the current one) to stopping playback an returning to the player’s default screen.

[Larry Brewer]

Rob
Let me first say thank you for taking the time to actually read my posting, understand the issue, and reply.

Step “J” (Set END ACTION for chapter1 to chapter2) was a change I made after my first effort failed.

Step “J” was originally to set the end action of each chapter to link to the main menu.

Having said that, I’ll describe the action I’m trying to achieve and maybe you can tell me if it’s even possible.

I have a 1 hr m2v/ac3 video clip. I want to author a DVD that will allow the viewer to either “PLAY ALL” or to skip to any one of 8 segments. So the DVD menu has nine buttons. So far I have achieved this functionality and it’s pretty straight forward. Nothing new here.

But if the client, for example, were to be playing segment 5, and halfway through they wanted to skip to the beginning of segment 6… I’m trying to use the NEXT button on the remote to move to segment 6 without going back to the menu and selecting chapter 6. This isn’t working.

BTW, regardless of my setting the end action to the next chapter or the main menu, it really doesn’t matter because all I get is the illegal operation symbol (circle w/ slash) when I press the NEXT remote button. The only way the NEXT or PREV remote buttons will operate is on the PLAY ALL segment.

One thing about your reply I don’t understand. “understand, they are no longer chapters — each one is added to the disc as its own VOB because you’ve set it up that way) ”

The 9 button menu DVD I burned has only 4 VOBs. One for the menu, and 3 others that break at 1GB like any other DVD file structure. So not really a VOB per chapter as you stated.

Anyway, that’s about it. Like most of us I’m self taught on DVD Architect and usually learn something new every time I use it.

Any help would be appreciated.

Larry Brewer

[Rob Strobbe]

> I have a 1 hr m2v/ac3 video clip. I want to author a DVD that
> will allow the viewer to either “PLAY ALL” or to skip to any
> one of 8 segments.

That, I get. But what do you want to happen after that segment finishes? If you want it to continue playing the movie (with the ability to use the skip buttons), then all you need is one movie with chapter markers. After you add the chapters, right-click your Play All button and choose Insert Scene Selection Menu. DVDA will add another menu with a button for each chapter. The main menu will have a button linking to the Scene Selection menu. If you’d rather have all buttons on the main menu, copy all of the Scene Selection Menu buttons and paste them back onto your main menu, then delete the Scene Selection menu.

> BTW, regardless of my setting the end action to the next chapter
> or the main menu, it really doesn’t matter because all I get is the
> illegal operation symbol (circle w/ slash) when I press the
> NEXT remote button.

Right. Because you’re pressing the CHAPTER skip buttons, and they’re not chapters anymore. You’ve changed the In and Out points so that each “chapter” is its own movie. When you hit the NEXT button, the player can’t find a chapter to skip to — because that movie doesn’t have any more chapters.

Now, if you want individual scene selection buttons that play a segment and then return to the menu UNLESS the viewer presses a chapter skip button, you’re out of luck. (Maybe through the use of scripts, but I really don’t know.)

> The 9 button menu DVD I burned has only 4 VOBs. One for the menu,
> and 3 others that break at 1GB like any other DVD file structure

Okay, change “VOB” to “movie.” The point is, each segment is limited to the In and Out points that you set. The player can’t go beyond the points you set, so if there’s not another chapter marker within that segment, the player has nowhere to go.

Rob

[Larry Brewer]

I believe the “Insert Scene Selection Menu” feature will give me most of what I’m asking for.

But for the purpose of discussion…

I guess the quandary is this… I’m trying to give the viewer the option to play a segment of the 1 hr clip, and have it return to the main menu at the completion of that segment, while also giving the viewer the option to skip to the next segment if the segment they’re viewing hasn’t completed.

Thanks to input from more advanced users like yourself, I finally see the paradox in what I’m asking the DVD to do.

Would the solution be to put the entirety of the 1 hr video clip on the DVD twice? Once as a continuous clip, and then as 8 individual short clips. Where PLAY ALL selects the continuous clip, while a segment button takes the viewer to an individual clip that has an END ACTION linking to the next segment.

I guess I’m asking the NEXT remote button to trip the END ACTION and link to the next event in the project overview window.

Thanks you for your patience and info.