Ghost in the Shell 2nd Gig Vol 2 - R4 VTS Issues

[Mr.Bitey]

All,

Just be aware that the R4 release of Ghost in the Shell 2nd Gig Volume 2 has some sneaky stuff which will either leave your backup with a minute of black screen, or cut the second half of episode 7.

This sort of stuff really annoys me as it means I cant watch titles without ripping them (and stuffing around with pcgedit) to be able to watch them on my HTPC!

GITS 2nd Gig, Vol1 had similar issues, but not quite as bad.

Im a novice with pcgedit so there is probably a much better way to do this :) however this will get you a working version:

Vobblanker: (this stops the minute or so of black silent screen between ep 7 and ep 8)
1. Blank cell 16 of VTS_04

PCGEDIT (start episode 8 in the right place (when launched from the menu), and turn the skipped half of episode 7 back on)
1. VTST 4,1 TTN1 - Change precommand 24 to jump to program 17
2. VTST 4,1 TTN1 - Change precommand 25 to jump to program 17
3. VMGM, LU 1 (en),2 - change precommand 18 to jump to PCG 4

Cheers,
Bitey

[setarip_old]

This sort of stuff really annoys me as it means I cant watch titles without ripping them (and stuffing around with pcgedit) to be able to watch them on my HTPC!If this is that bothersome to you, you could play your original, purchased DVD. has some sneaky stuff which will either leave your backup with a minute of black screenDoes the original DVD exhibit the same behavior?

[Mug Funky]

yes, this disc has an authoring error that unfortunately got through. we only became aware of this on thursday...

i think there's going to be a re-issue of this disc though, so stay tuned.

please note this is not a sneaky attempt at copy protection - you'll notice some missing time when you play back on a standalone as well. i'm not sure i can say much about this title (not my call, hope you understand), but i can assure you the video is there, it's just unreferenced. you should be able to rip the video out and re-assemble it. if DVDdecrypter isn't doing it in IFO mode, try rip in file mode, then use DGindex to extract the video (i think that ignores playlists).

[edit]
read this:

http://madboards.madman.com.au/viewtopic.php?t=21309

looks like there'll be a fixed version coming. from what "blind lawyer" is saying, all you need do is keep your receipt and exchange it. keep watching that thread for more info.

sorry about this...

(hmm, i wonder who "blind lawyer" is?)

[edit 2]

btw, what was the problem on v1? there shouldn't have been anything missing that wasn't the usual "black between episodes" that's on the digibetas.

[Mr.Bitey]

setarip_old,

Original has same problem.

Mug Funky,
Glad to hear it wasnt deliberate - just unfortunate - I was suspicious because the problem was around the same place on v2 as in v1 (on the transition between the first and second half of the 3rd episode on the disc)
With GITS 2nd Gig Vol 1 - On the transition between cell 12 and 13 (of the 3rd episode) I get frozen playback with some software players (powerdvd6 was fine, zoomplayer/ms dvd navigator/dscaler was not) - problem for me as my HTPC is running the latter - at least with v1 its noticable, with v2 it just skips the second half of the ep :-(

PS: Excellent transfer BTW :-) - This was comming from watching RahXephon (which was an awful transfer) :)

Cheers,
Bitey

[Mug Funky]

strange. i just tried the office copy on my machine and it was fine. i was using the trial zoomplayer (didn't have it installed before), and it was using the cyberlink powerdvd 6+ filters for decoding. i noticed it got the menu aspect wrong (strange because MPC got it right, as did the sony DVP-NS50P standalone. might be something to do with sequence display extension width=540 not being recognised by zoomplayer correctly).

i may have been on the wrong chapter though... i assume you mean the bit just after motoko knocks out the old guy on the couch with the back-of-head wire thing?

all i can suggest for this one is to reconfigure zoomplayer (man, it's quite a tricky program to get running nicely. was afraid if i let it change anything it'd break directshow for all my other players).

Excellent transfer BTW :-)
thanks, but you should be congratulating Manga Entertainment, as they did it. strange because the UK transfers are ex-NTSC whereas ours are HD-to-PAL speedups. though the original HD is NTSC i believe, which led to some ghosting on SAC v7 some months ago (full frame blending of 30p down to 25p. not anything that could be helped at our end, and only affected 3 eps. and those weren't like that all the way through).

[Mr.Bitey]

Mug Funky,

It was right on the transition of cell 12 and 13 (from memory) - the scene changes from batou and togasa (sp) (theyve just stood up from watching the survelance monitors in the van and are facing the 'camera' they have a brief discussion then the scene changes to panning vertically up on a tall building - a second afterwhich (which is where the transition is) it freezes for me. Its before the scene you mention.

Zoomplayer 4.51, dscaler5007, microsoft dvd navigator.. could just be a 'me' thing but ive never seen thie sort of behaviour before :) I agree - ZP is a mongrel (but excellent), but i have it running very well - this is the first title thats ive seen do this sort of thing..

Cheers,
Bitey

[Mug Funky]

eeks. found the bit you mean. round about 57 mins in, huh?

just trying it on some other players around here... (software and hardware)

[edit]

it's the layer break. standalones will pause slightly on it, but that's it.

hmm. pans probably aren't the best places to put layer breaks... ah well. no idea why zoomplayer is choking on it where powerDVD isn't. it'll be flagged as "non seamless" unless DVDAfterEdit wasn't working properly, or ZP is ignoring something?

[Mr.Bitey]

Cant recall from memory :-)

If you have a look in voblanker you'll be able to see the exact spot but sounds like youve found it!

There was some minor discussion on the manga forum about it - I dont think there was any official resolution as for most people it was very minor with most probably thinking it was a layer break..

Cheers,
Bitey

[Mug Funky]

yah. the break probably got moved forward by a GOP. happens with chapters a lot - spruce likes to move them when you compile.

i still have no idea why it'd stop dead in zoomplayer though. it's just a simple layer break... no different from any other disc.

well, for now you can play it in powerdvd. i was about to say MPC, but it seems it doesn't play past the layer break either. interesting.

[edit]

on my machine this is the splitter that's being used: "C:\WINDOWS\system32\qdvd.dll". it just shows up under "filters" as "DVD Navigator". both MPC and ZP were using this, and both stopped on the layer break. perhaps we should send MS an email telling them to fix it? :)

i assume powerDVD uses it's own special splitter that is able to buffer up the layer break (there was no pause at all) and play past it.

i think the decoders used are irrelevant (considering zoomplayer just uses cyberlink's stuff).

[Mr.Bitey]

Good ole MS ;-) I'll see if i have any joy with another navigator.. I know I dont have powerdvd as this breaks bit-perfect output on my audio card (sigh)..

Cheers,
Bitey

[Mug Funky]

oh, just an update on 2nd gig v2 - it's been recalled from stores and a replacement will be coming ASAP (bear in mind replication time, shipping time, re-packing and warehouse time, etc. we work pretty quick though, and the warehouse guys are absolute machines when it comes to moving stuff quickly). so if you have a receipt you're fine. watch the madman news page for more info, as that'll get updated as soon as the replacements are available.

Sly says the v1 layer break thing isn't serious enough to justify getting a new glass master as it only affects software players. so looks like you'll have to rip that one :)

(btw, motoko looks pretty good in that episode :). glad to see she isn't in that horrid outfit she spent all of SAC in).

[Mr.Bitey]

Sounds good Mug Funky, its allready an ISO (fixed) im my favourites folder ;-)

Fair enough re: V1..

Cheers,
Bitey