Importing Sopranos Chapter Points

[nickysix]

Okay, this is my first project but I have looked thru the forums for an answer for the past week. I'm trying to make backups of the The Sopranos Season 2 disk 1. Here are my steps...

1. Used DVD decrypter to demux the first PGC (49:22) in lenghth.
2. Imported the ac3 and m2v streams into maestro.
3. Built all the motion menus and stills.

It compiles and everything works fine, except that i cannot import the EXACT chapter points for the scene selection menu.

The first chapter point is at 1:38. I get the i-frame error when i try to import the chapter list file I created with chapter extractor, and when i manually try to enter the chapter points in Maestro the time is off, ie the first chapter will always be 1:38:02 when I input 1:38. Very annoying. So I tried the dummy file tech, ie creating a blank file, importing the blank file, then chapters, then replacing the black with the orginal movie clip. But the chapter points still got screwed up. I don't know if i'm just not creating the blank file correcting or if its the properties of the video clip. I think its the latter since given the length of the clip I get from maestro, even though the "real" length of the file is 49:22. Heres what it looks like... http://plaza.ufl.edu/nickysix/movieproperties.JPG

Does "Drop" have anything to do with the problem?? Do I need to rip the movie file with different settings ?? or reencode them with different setttings. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Lemme know if u need me to post any more scr shots.

[hendrix]

your format is probably like this %hh:%mm:%ss:%ff
change it to %hh:%mm:%ss;%ff

*note the semicolon before the frames.
drop frames uses semicolons and non drop uses colons

hope this helps

[nickysix]

Well I changed the format to include the semicolons, yet when I tried to import I got a "0 chapters imported" error. Here is my new chapter list...

$Spruce_IFrame_List

00:00:00;00
00:01:38;00
00:06:32;66
00:14:46;70
00:22:39;53
00:32:32;70
00:41:52;66
00:49:21;50

Any more ideas??

[TIM2]

Sounds like you encoded with CCE with the default timecode set to 01:00:00:00. Just add 1 hour to each of the chapter points and it should import fine (or you can reencode with the time stamp set to 00:00:00:00, but that would be a pain). It also won't line up EXACTLY, since it will have to round to the nearest GOP header. I usually have it set to round to the previous header, but the choice is up to you.

[hendrix]

Originally posted by TIM2
Sounds like you encoded with CCE with the default timecode set to 01:00:00:00. Just add 1 hour to each of the chapter points and it should encode fine. It also won't line up EXACTLY, since it will have to round to the nearest GOP header. I usually have it set to round to the previous header, but the choice is up to you.

ya..i was thinking the same thing - set your cce time to 00:00:00:00
you can use restream to reset your timecode 00:00:00:00

[nickysix]

I didn't encode with CCE at all. Just wanted to put 2 episodes per disc. Should I perhaps do a pulldown and try to get the framerate down to make up for the excess time on the file. Its suppose to only be 49:22 instead of 49:24;15, or is this just how maestro intreprets the video clip??

Or is it just impossible to have the chapter points the EXACT same as the oringinal no matter what?? Thanks guys!!

[TIM2]

Ok, try this -

Check the beginning timecode for the clip in Maestro - should be ont he left side of the "Movie1 window", second one below "Wall Clock". I'm guessing by what you've written that it says "00:59:59:15"? If so, change that to "00:00:00:00", and try importing these chapter points:

$Spruce_IFrame_List

00:59:59;15
01:01:37;17
01:06:34;02
01:14:48;21
01:22:41;17
01:32:35;23
01:41:56;06
01:49:25;04

Good luck!

[destemido]

hello there... i've been having this kind of problem lately...
i really don't know why...
as for that 00:00:00:00 stuff in maestro, it doesn't work for the chapters, but it does work for the subtitles, so if any1 is having that kind of problem...
i'm having this problem with "Shallow Hal" (no transcode needed, but it's a multi-pgc title) i don't think it is related to the fact that it is a multi-pgc, as i've done SW EP2 and had no problem at all.
i've ripped in IFO mode with stream processing. to get the m2v and the ac-3.

[nickysix]

I just decided to mannualy enter in the chapter times and use the "advance to next gop button" to get the chapter points exactly right. Still confused as to why i can't import, but I will try destemido's idea on my next project. Thanks all!!

[hendrix]

@nickysix and destemido

since you both demuxed the video files without the need to transcode to a lower bit rate the timestamp is not a 00:00:00:00 thus giving you both I-Frame problems
you can use pulldown.exe to reset the timecode back to 0 by

pulldown.exe -nopulldown -drop_frame true your_movie.m2v your_new_movie.m2v

It will not change anything in your movie (it already has drop_frame flags and no pulldown opperation will be done) but will recalculate timecode from the 00:00:00

for more info
go here (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=40468)

hope this helps