Account Closed for policy violations
Forum Replies Created
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Hi Brandon,
Any menu button you create in DVD Studio Pro in a Menu Object can be set to resume in the pop down menu for the button, and elsewhere.
You’ll probably only want to allow the viewer to activate this button when there’s resume info available from your main show (not the FBI warning, special features, etc.) So, you might create a duplicate setup menu that has a resume button in the menu graphic, that’s only accessed by your main movie Tracks’ remote menu calls (simple Connections settings), and from the Title menu if the resume info loaded in the player’s buffer is from the Movie – this option would take a bit of scripting, though.
There may be other considerations to keep control of what’s resumed to, according to your project.
Take care,
Trai
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Trai Forrester
TFDVD Research Labs
DVDVerification.com -
Hi Alan,
It sounds all too familiar, what you’re describing.
I’ve recently posted an article on my site that discusses what is no doubt, a ‘mini DVD pandemic’ going on, and has been going on, out there with replicated titles, due to holes in replicators’ quality control regimens. Here it is, if you’re interested:
TFDVD Research Labs’ Breakthrough DVD Check Disc Proofing
You can try going to your replicator and ask them to check for problems on a sampling of your run. The Eclipse report will show as passed, in these cases, however, so no help there. The replicator will also cite their faulty ‘passed’ bit-for-bit’ compare tests to show their not at fault.
You’ll have to depend on your clients’ relating of all the customer complaints to help nudge the replicator to start physically testing a sampling of the run. They’re not going to readily do this, however, as it can take a bunch of time.
Or, you could engage third party CATS physical testing of several of your discs yourself; but that’s expensive (over $1,000) and still not guaranteed to move your replicator, I’ve found.
Of course, I offer a service that’s guaranteed (sorry about the commercial). If it’s your fault, we get it fixed, if it’s the replicator’s fault, they redo the run for free – or no charge.
As for your bit rate, as long as the video and all the audio streams in any VOB fall under 9.8 mbps, then a properly manufactured DVD will play in players just fine.
Take care,
Trai
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Trai Forrester
TFDVD Research Labs
DVD Verification, Proofing, Pre-Mastering -
Sorry Megan,
It’s 3:19 AM here and the day is (was? 🙂 still going.
Did you get the idea of ‘targeting’ the individual buttons of the menu? If you set a Track (or other Menu button, or Marker or Story) to Jump to a particular button of a menu, not just the menu, that button will be selected when navigation arrives at the Menu.
Here’s the short answer to my question on the Track remote control Menu settings:
Usually, the remote menu key should always target the last menu and button the user was on before jumping into the Title (Track). So, in your case, I would set the remote menu key for each Track to target the menu and the button that launched the Track, not the ‘next’ button as you’re setting it for when each Track finishes.
Good luck with your project. For sure though, I’d recommend thinking about stacking the deck on this one by teaming up with someone that’s been around awhile and have them walk you through, and check your encoding, audio, startup and other settings, etc.
Take care,
Trai
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Trai Forrester
TFDVD Research Labs
DVDVerification.com -
Great Megan,
Now, may I ask; what are your remote control Menu key targets going to be for each of your Tracks?
Hint (if you need one): it’s not the same target as each of your Track’s End Jump settings.
Let me know, if you’d like,
Trai
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Trai Forrester
TFDVD Research Labs
DVDVerification.com -
Hi Megan,
The trick is simply setting each of your Tracks End Jumps back to the Menu and to the next button.
So, when you set the End Jump for a Track, continue with your mouse in the pull down menu until you land on not only the menu, but the appropriate next button, then let go.
Or, better yet, get to know the Connections Window which lets you make all your jump target settings for the entire project, or each particular Track/Story/Chapters or Menu objects at a glance, by dragging the Menu’s button from the Target Window into a Tracks End Jump setting in the Source Window, in this case. You can also right (control) click in the Connections Source Window where the Targets are deposited to get the familiar drop down target menus, if you’d like.
Let me know if that’s not clear.
Take care,
Trai
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Trai Forrester
TFDVD Research Labs
DVDVerification.com -
Hi Everyone,
Out of spec AC3 streams causing silent playback and even discs not to play is an issue occasionally out there.
Fortunately, I use the MEI DVD-Video Verifier here at the shop on every Image that arrives here. One of MEI’s modules is an AC3 audio verifier; it nails problem streams every time – even in DVD Studio Pro Tracks where they’ve been added improperly. Because it’s not just that the stream itself needs to be compliant, but the authoring system should be checked that it multiplexed everything in properly.
This week has been a particularly rough one for several good authoring studios I’ve been fortunate enough to just meet and work with (replication troubleshooting jobs); and it’s underlined what I’ve known for years – any studio that sends discs out to market without having the MEI test run to assure the DVD’s spec compliance, is taking a great risk.
Take care,
Trai
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Trai Forrester
TFDVD Research Labs
DVDVerification.com
Entering 10 years of full-time support of DVD Production Studios, worldwide -
Hi Richard,
Players are notoriously weak with their random generating function.
If I may recommend, it’s really much better to use the players built in Shuffle mode to randomly play the Title PGC’s programs (with no repeats). No scripting / programming at all, and very fast navigation on computers and DVD players, since navigation doesn’t have to seek the IFO file at the head of the VTS where your scripts are, after every segment plays. Also, the remote next and previous keys become operational, and they’ll play the next random program – too cool. Up to 99 programs can be set up for Shuffle mode (a bunch of clips in the same Track demarcated 99 Markers).
You would need DVDAfterEdit to implement it, only thing. Here’s a recent thread going over our tests several years ago to get this feature nailed down and 100% compatible:
https://www.dvdafteredit.com/node/1771
Since then, I’ve worked on all kind of ways to integrate this functionality into DVD SP builds, without having to reauthor the disc from scratch; basically authoring in DVD SP to receive the particular functionality once the shuffle mode is set up in the build after the fact (in DVDAfterEdit).
I’ll have an article on this feature and some implementations with some examples somewhere soon, hopefully.
Take care,
Trai
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Trai Forrester
TFDVD Research Labs
DVDVerification.com
Entering 10 years of full-time, professional DVD Studio Pro troubleshooting and support
Lead the development of DVDAfterEdit (formerly named ‘TFDVDEdit’) – Divested 50% interest in Nov. 2005 -
Whooa there, Bill!
You were doing pretty good until you said “You can’t fight the DVD Spec” :-).
For sure, George, the way your project is currently set up, the menu remote key will resume back to the last Title location played (spot in the Track), unless you disable it. It may take some getting used to, and some project planning to live with it, but that’s the way it is. But if I may correct Bill – Trying to Resume without resume information is clearly defined by DVD Spec;
DVD Specifications for Read Only Disc – VIDEO SPECIFICATIONS, 3.3 System Model, 3.3.3.2, page VI3-19:
“…if there is no RSM Information (this is possible if the Menu is called by JumpSS or from Stop State), the player stops. (Same as Exit Instruction)”
That’s an exact quote, parenthesis and all; so be sure to pick up some resume information before your menus play for the first time, and make sure you’ve got your startup action to either mimic or account for what the player does when starting up from stop – As your First Play setting in DVD SP or any authoring system is only relevant when the disc is inserted for the first time, i.e., start from stop ignores even the most mundane to most elaborate First Play authoring sequence.
Anyway, back to the subject –
For those authors who just can’t stand it, they can get control of the remote Menu key, and program it to traverse up and down menu hierarchies, etc. It just takes some work (and not fighting the “spec” :-). Several major Titles were authored this way and they work great.
Placing your menus in the Title domain (Track) is how it’s done; because then, the ‘obvious’ happens when the remote menu key is operated, even while in a ‘Menu’; navigation jumps (Call System) to the ‘Root Menu Program Chain (PGC) in the adjacent Video Title Set Menu Domain, where then, DVD SP’s abstraction layer auto-programming in that PGC’s pre-command area, will link to another nearby ‘dummy PGC’ (your script) that can have a whole slew of “conditional’ commands waiting to route navigation.
True, it would be better to set this type of structure and programming up in the Scenarist authoring program, or, redo DVD SP’s commands with DVDAfterEdit, for various reasons – Better button highlight control- leaner code, etc.; but it can be done in DVD Studio Pro only, and some have thought the lag time acceptable – kinda like layered menus.
But if I may correct another statement by Bill –
“The problem with all of this is you cannot build menus this way in DVDSP. It creates its own non-standard menu structure”.
It is very possible to build Menus in the Title Domain with DVD SP and you can get control of the remote Menu key this way, as I mentioned, but the idea that DVD SP somehow creates a “non standard menu structure” is simply against the facts.
DVD SP’s project Menus are set up, by default, write this down – exactly like over a huge percentage of Scenarist and Toshiba authoring system created discs out there are structured. Identical. Grab a stack of Hollywood movies off your shelf and Trace out their commands and take a look at their structure.
For various reasons, most of the professional Scenarist authoring community has been loathe to place the Title Menu and other Menus in the Video Manager Domain; preferring instead to place them in the Video Title Set Menus – usually VTSM 1, just like DVD SP does. These authors will allocate their menus to other VTS’s, for sure, and you can do that too in DVD Studio Pro. The Video Manager is used mostly for routing with dummy PGCs.
One reason these pro’s shun the Video Manager for all but multiple language warning screens, and other startup video clips, is that no CSS encryption can be applied to the Video Manager, leaving cool menu designs ‘unprotected’. But I’ve heard ‘superstitious’ reasons as well – Pro’s worrying about compatibility if their menus are in there. They need fear not, Astarte DVDirector and DVD Studio Pro 1.x put all the menus all those years in the Video Manager! Those authoring systems had issues, but placing all the Menus in the Video Manager wasn’t one of them. Good discs made from that authoring system played in everything (if they would start up 🙂
And as far as your last comment Bill, after you said after about DVD SP’s supposed non standard menu structure creates the need to – “be careful that you provide all the links in the menus for where your viewers need to navigate to.” Shouldn’t menus have navigation buttons that link and go to all relevent places, no matter what DVD authoring system is employed?
Anyway, good luck on your project, George.
Take care,
Trai
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Trai Forrester
TFDVD Research Labs
DVDVerification.com
Entering 10 years of full-time, professional DVD Studio Pro troubleshooting and support -
Hi Adrian,
iDVD is extremely limited; for instance, you can’t even place precise chapters, only intersperse them occasionally in the movie by time interval. And there’s no capability of individual Part of Title (Chapter) returns to the menu after they play. Heck, you can’t even import Mpeg 2 video into iDVD.
You’re going to need DVD Studio Pro to set up and program in what your client wants.
Really though, the idea of ‘clients and iDVD’ is pretty scary – you do plan to update soon? You knew that was coming, right? 🙂
Best to you,
Trai
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Trai Forrester
TFDVD Research Labs
DVD Verification.com
Entering 10 years of full-time, professional DVD Studio Pro troubleshooting and support -
Hi James,
You’re almost close 🙂
The procedure for setting up next and previous remote functionality between Video Title Sets (Tracks), in any capable authoring system, has been defined for us by Specification. Basically we have to set up what’s called ‘multi-PGC Titles’ for each Track (VTS).
The ‘playing’ Title PGC (in each Track) has settings that can determine what the ‘next’ and ‘previous’ target PGC (Program Chains) is. The pre commands in these target ‘dummy’ next and previous PGCs, receive navigation with the next or previous UOP, and route playback to a VMG PGC, where commands lie in wait to send the viewer to the next assigned Track (VTS Title PGC), as Eric said navigation from one Track to another cannot be direct, but must pass through the Video Manager (VMG).
DVD Studio Pro’s Abstraction layer auto-programming sets this complicated new structure up for us, automatically, if we reveal the Advanced Connections View and choose to set the Next and Previous Jump settings for each Track.
No slugs are needed with this method, and it is much more reliable nexting and previousing between the Tracks in players out there. Only drawback to this method is the DVD Specification did not allow the display of running time on the players LED with the use of mult-PGC Titles, just in case that’s important to this project.
Otherwise, the best method normally for setting up nexting and previousing between assets Eric mentioned, and which I’ve advocated for years, is encoding all the target assets into one Mpeg video and audio clip, separated by chapter, and placing them into a single Track.
However, since you have different aspect ratios, I wouldn’t recommend all the clips go into a single Track; I would composite your 4:3 clips into a 16:9 frames and put them into their own Track and set the display for Pan and Scan, putting as many former 4:3 ciips together in each Track as your ‘slideshow’ order allows. This Pan and Scan setting will allow the 4:3 clips to display full screen on 4:3 TVs, instead of an inappropriate letterbox presentation (Only one display resolution setting allowed per VTS, so, you’d set the 16:9 clips for letterbox in their own Tracks, of course). Then set the the Next and Previous Connections settings for each Track.
For many years, I’ve advocated matching aspect ratios for everything on the disc, but the last few years I’ve banished altogether 4:3 asset residence on any DVD I’m allowed a say in (4:3 video stretches out wide to fill the screen on most players attached to big screens. Yuck).
Anyway, there’s more to it, but hope you get the idea.
Take care,
Trai
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Trai Forrester
TFDVD Research Labs
DVDVerification.com
Entering 10 years of full-time, professional DVD Studio Pro troubleshooting and support