Making a multiple VTS with Ifoedit for a Menu produced with DVD Lab

[maa]

Yes I've finally done it ! Several weeks of learning the hard way went into this so I hope its usefull to others too.

With IFOEDIT we have a tool that goes beyond most cheap software
, allowing muxing of everythng the DVD standard allows.
Including multiple audio, sub streams and differing formats from title to title.
However we need to build menus.
DVD_Lab goes beyond the normal limitations of silly little boxes
for displaying the buttons and allows complex structures.
This guide shows how to create a Multiple VTS DVD with Ifoedit using
DVD Lab for the menus.
For this exercise we will merge two Title Sets to work as one DVD
and add a Menu made with DVD Lab and modified to suit afterwards.


Software needed :
DVD Lab - 30 day trial will do for now
Ifoedit
Possably also DVDShrink and DVDfab

Part One - The fun part comes first - making the menu.
For this guide you need a Root Menu, two films, -AND- most
important - two Film Menus with one button back to the Root and one for the film
leading, not to the film, but to a BLACK MENU with One button directly before each film!
In each BLACK MENU Make the button with a simple, large text - FILM1 for the first film
and - who would have thought it - FILM2 for the second!
The structure will look like this :

----------------Root
-----------------|
---------------- - - -
------------|----------|
--- Film 1 menu---Film 2 Menu
------------|----------|
---------Black 1-----Black 2
------------|----------|
----------Film 1------Film 2


Use very small films so as not to waste space and time - you can delete
them later.
Save.
Compile to a new Directory - "DVDmenu".
Close DVD Lab

That completes Part 1 and we now have :
Video_ts.ifo (We'll be copying the command tables from this)
Video_ts.vob (a default picture -blinds- if you see it, the navigation went wrong!)
VTS_01_0.ifo (we only need the menu instructions from this)
VTS_01_0.vob (the menu)
VTS_01_1.vob (delete this)
__________________________________________________________

Part Two - merging the two VTS (Video Title Sets) with IfoEdit.
Choose two films that don't exceed around 4.3 Gb together.

Video_ts.ifo is what the DVD player reads first. Its like a table of contents but also
has the VMG - Video manager. In Part Three we add the menu instructions but here in
Part Two we shall add the information for the two films (VTS) to make them play.
There are three places where the Title Set information is stored. VMG_VTS_ATRT,
VGM_PTT_SRPT and the first page VMG -Overview.

If you have DVD Fab do Step 2. below and then use the function "Create Video Manager (Video_ts.ifo)" and then continue from (5).

1. Find a Video_ts.ifo that is for at least two VTS and copy it to the film directory.
If you don't have one then make one by using DVD shrink in re-author mode to copy two small
clips from a film to a temp directory. This is important as I found out the hard way that
adding too much to an IFO corrupts it easilly.
Make a new film directory and put the Video_ts.ifo in it.
2. Copy (or better move if its on the same partition - Ctrl+X and CTRL+V) the first film to
the new film directory without Video_ts.ifo. Re-name the second film to VTS_02_x.vob/ifo
and copy or move it there too.
3. The menu we made is contained in VTS_01_0.VOB so copy it to the film directory too along with Video_ts.vob
4. Ifoedit often doesn't refresh its infomation during editing so we do a little at a time
in each page.
Enter the data like this :

a. In VGM_PTT_SRPT change the "Number of Title play maps" to the number of VTS ("2" in this case)
b. In VMG_VTS_ATRT and change the number of Title sets ( again "2")
b. In VGM_PTT_SRPT change the "number of chapters"
the Second "Tilte Set Number (VTS#)" to "2"
and the "Title Set Title-number (VTS_TTN)" to "1"
c. In VMG_VTS_ATRT, for each VTS change :
"number of audio streams in Menu" ("1" for VTS1 and "0" for the rest)
"number of audio streams in Title"
"number of sub-picture streams in Menu"
"number of sub-picture streams in Title"
"Playback type" should be 20 or 60

the values can be found in the 0.IFOs

f. In VMGM Overview correct the audio type, channels and aspect according to the 0.IFOs
g. SAVE ! and then "Get VTS sectors" (the order IS important)

5. The two VTS should now work together so we can test this with the "DVD Play" button.
Don't even try the menus - we're just testing if the films work.
Use the dropdown box - Title (1) to change to the second VTS
If there is an illeagal command notice then look in VTS_PGCITI / VTS_PGC_1 a few pages down if there are any commands in the command table delete them with the right mouse menu.

If it works you've done everything right and we're through with Part Two

[maa]

Part Three - importing and modifying the menu instructions.



When the DVD is started the Video_ts.ifo is read and the command in
VMG_MAT / First Play PGC is executed. From there a chain of command
can be used to set all sorts of circumstantial
navigation instructions. DVD Lab has set all this up for us and we
don't need to change too much.Unfortunatly IFOedit can't directly add
a lot of the commands we need but its easilly done with the provided
HEX edit dialog.

1. Open Video_ts.ifo,

2. Open Video_ts.ifo / VMG_MAT / First Play PGC and page down to the
command table.
In a second copy of ifoedit open the Video_ts.ifo from the
"DVDmenu" folder and organize the two windows so you can see
both command tables at the same time.
Here we have a list of "Set" commands that are used to allocate
memory for the buttons later on.
We need to copy them into our new IFO so heres how its done.
In the new films IFO right-click on "There is no PGC Command table"
and choose "Add pre command". Click OK an we now have an empty
command - NOP. Make as many pre commands as in the other IFO.
(There are around 15 pre-commands)
Double click the first command in the DVDmenu ifoedit window and
mark the 8 double digit number after the row of 8 zeros. Copy with
Ctrl+C, double click the same (empty) command in the new IFO, mark
the same row of double digits and press Ctrl+V. Click OK. After
the window is closed, the command shows "00" but we'll refresh
this later.
Do the same routine for all the other commands including the last
one which should be a JUMP command.
Now right click on any of the commands and choose "edit" and then
cancel - this refreshes the view and if everything looks right hit
SAVE.

Now the DVD Player will load all the commands, jump to VTS1 and read the
ROOT menu and play VTS_01_0.VOB So the ROOT menu is next.

3. Open VTS_01_0.ifo, go in the menu "Tools" and click on
"Merge Menu Tables"
(it doesn't merge menus at all, it imports them - overwriting
existing menus)
A dialog asks you for an IFO and you point it to the VTS_01_0.ifo
in the DVDmenu folder. SAVE.
Get VTS Sectors.
Import the same menu into VTS_02_0.IFO but delete all the root
commands first and then add a pre command:
(JumpSS VMGM) Jump to VMG PGC: 1

If you press DVD play now you can navigate right up to one of the
black menus.

4. Logic time - Take over Mr. Spock!
Below PGC1 (Program Chain 1) you now should have 1 Menu Language Unit.
A double click on a menu with more than "0" programs and cells brings
up a preview window with which you can identify it. We're now going
to do some logical jumps.
The following steps are nearly equal for VTS1 and VTS2.

a. Find your Film Menu with the button leading to the Black Menu, note
the number(e.g. Menu 2)
b. Find the black menu "Film #" and take note of its number.
c. Open VTSM_PGCI_UT with a click on its + sign and click on the menu
number you found in (a). A GPreg<> is set here to a value
which stays in memory and is read when you press the remotes "menu"
button. Take note of the value.
d. Take note of the GPreg value set in (b).

What we're going to do is use the Black Menus to jump via the VMG to the Film
before they get a chance to show up - so their function ends here.

e. In VTSM_PGCI_UT / Black Menu#
Right Click the second command and choose edit. Change this to
(JumpSS VMGM) Jump to VMG PGC: 1
f. Look in the command table of the ROOT menu for the "If" line
containing the value you found in (d). Copy its HEX number,
something like (00 A1 00 00 05 05 00 10) with CTRL+C
g. In Video_ts.ifo / VTSM_PGCI_UT / LU_1, add FIVE pre commands,
double click #1 and mark the 8 double digit number as before.
Press CTRL+V. The last two digits refer to the line number and need
to be 04
If you want more than two VTS you'll need an "IF" line for each film which will
change the numbers of the following command lines. In this example we have two
"If" commands so line three is what happens if the "If" questions are not true
h. The next command is then:
(Jump VTSM) Jump to TitleSet(vts): 1, Title(ttn): 1, root-menu.
i. Following that we add need two commnads to start the Films:
(JumpTT) Jump to Title: 1
(JumpTT) Jump to Title: 2

Here is an example of how it could look:

1.Pre Command If GPreg<0> == (cmp-val)<771><''> then Goto line# 4
2.Pre Command If GPreg<0> == (cmp-val)<1028><''> then Goto line# 5
3.Pre Command (JumpSS VTSM) Jump to TitleSet(vts): 1, Title(ttn): 1, root-menu
4.Pre Command (JumpTT) Jump to Title: 1
5.Pre Command (JumpTT) Jump to Title: 2

So if the GPreg that was set in the Black Menu is true the film will start.
However after the film is running and we press the remotes Menu button it
will restart the film! So now we need to change GPreg< > to the value from
our real menu - the one you noted in (c) above.

j. In VTS_0#_0.ifo open VTS_PGCITI / VTS_PGC_1 and add a pre command
Set GPreg< > to the value found in (c)
k. Add a post command so that after the film the menu comes back
automatically (CallSS VMGM) Call VMG PGC:1 Resume Cell: 1


That completes Part 3 and by now everything should work in Ifoedits player so
now test in PowerDVD - burn to a DVD RW and test on your standalone.

Its plain to see that one could apply this to many VTS with varying content
and with a little practice this can be done quite quickly.

Comming shortly - A guide to making menus for changing the audio.

[oceansky]

This is surely a great way to use one dvd-r to burn two movies.
Great work. maa bro.

I have to save it now for my future reference. ^^

[megahurts]

Good work maa

After looking at part 2, I was wondering why you couldn't use DVDtoolbox to create the VIDEO_TS.IFO file. With the 2 titlesets and their ifos in the same folder, DVDtoolbox does all the work for you in 1 sec.

Is there a reason you can't do it this way?

Regards

Chas

[maa]

I'm open to suggestions on all this - had no idea that Toolbox can do that - will test!
Ifoedit has a function "make Video_ts.ifo" but its always been grey....

Ok - I tested it and it worked! It does however produce a very small file. My file didn'r corrupt after adding the commands so if a few others will test too I'll change the steps in Part Two. (Although you learn quite a bit doing it that way :)

edit 14 August 03

DVDToolbox is now called "DVD Fab"

[megahurts]

Hello maa

In part 1, do you end up with 3 menus? A root menu with 2 links to 2 black menus with a link each film?

If so, after the selected film it returns to the last menu, not the root menu when testing in WinDVD. Is this to be expected? The connections show it should return to the root menu.

In part 3 step A "Find the black menu "film #" and take notice of its number". Where do I find this number?

Regards,

Chas

[maa]

In part 1, do you end up with 3 menus? A root menu with 2 links to 2 black menus with a link each film?
4 Menus as shown in the diagram. Each black menu would lead to its own film if the button were pressed - but we don't let it get that far!If so, after the selected film it returns to the last menu, not the root menu when testing in WinDVD. Is this to be expected? The connections show it should return to the root menu.This is a fixed program limitation of DVD Lab that you re-program in Part Three."Find the black menu "film #" If you do this in order you will in 3. have merged the Menu Tables and be looking at the first page of VTS_01_0.IFO.
It then saysBelow PGC1 (Program Chain 1) you now should have 1 Menu Language Unit.
A double click on a menu with more than "0" programs and cells brings up a preview window with which you can identify it.So in there you have these lines :
Menu 1
Menu 2
Menu 3
etc.
Double click those.
I used Film# because it depends which Films Black menu you're currently doing.

In my test project I used menu transitions too and all menus except the black ones with sound so I ended up with 8 menu entries and thats why I didn't want to be more specific about the numbers - its supposed to work universally for Mutiple VTS.

[maa]

So .... who's going to be the first ?

[megahurts]

Hello maa

I'm having difficulty with part 3. So to begin with, I'll describe the way I made the menu to be sure we're on the same page.

DVDlab V1.2.2b

Menu1 has 2 options, film1 which links to menu2 and film2 which links to menu4.
Menu2 has 2 buttons, one which links back to menu1 and one that links to menu3.
Menu3 is a black menu with text "film1" that links to movie1.
Menu4 is the same as menu2 except one button links to menu5.
Menu5 is same as menu3 except for film2 and movie2.

Does this sound correct?

Fast foward to part 3 step 4c. This the list of the PGC Command Table for that menu (PGC-Menu_3).

PGC Command Table:
Number of Pre Commands 1
Number of Post Commands 1
Number of Cell Commands 0
Size of Command table in bytes 23
1.Pre Command Set GPreg<11> mov (set-val)<2> [71 00 00 0b 00 02 00 00 ]
1.Post Command (LinkPGCN) Link PGC 3 [20 04 00 00 00 00 00 03 ]

This is the command table for the root menu.

PGC Command Table:
Number of Pre Commands 10
Number of Post Commands 1
Number of Cell Commands 0
Size of Command table in bytes 95
1.Pre Command If GPreg<11> == (cmp-val)<1><' then Goto line# 6 [00 a1 00 0b 00 01 00 06 ]
2.Pre Command If GPreg<11> == (cmp-val)<2><' then Goto line# 7 [00 a1 00 0b 00 02 00 07 ]
3.Pre Command If GPreg<11> == (cmp-val)<3><' then Goto line# 8 [00 a1 00 0b 00 03 00 08 ]
4.Pre Command If GPreg<11> == (cmp-val)<4><' then Goto line# 9 [00 a1 00 0b 00 04 00 09 ]
5.Pre Command If GPreg<11> == (cmp-val)<5><' then Goto line# 10 [00 a1 00 0b 00 05 00 0a ]
6.Pre Command (LinkPGCN) Link PGC 2 [20 04 00 00 00 00 00 02 ]
7.Pre Command (LinkPGCN) Link PGC 3 [20 04 00 00 00 00 00 03 ]
8.Pre Command (LinkPGCN) Link PGC 4 [20 04 00 00 00 00 00 04 ]
9.Pre Command (LinkPGCN) Link PGC 5 [20 04 00 00 00 00 00 05 ]
10.Pre Command (LinkPGCN) Link PGC 6 [20 04 00 00 00 00 00 06 ]
1.Post Command (JumpVTS_TT) Jump to Title: 1 [30 03 00 00 00 01 00 00 ]

What to do in step 4c-4e?

Regards,

Chas

[maa]

Does this sound correct? Yes.

From your example I see that Ver 1.2.2b is a little different.
The root command table changed.
I'm using the demo 1.1
Still it doesn't matter because we don't need to change that.

So "Set GPreg<11>" is being used instead of Set GPreg<0>

Which means Ver 1.2.2b is using register "11" instead of "0" for memorizing where you've been or are right now.

I agree that (4) was a little confusing so I changed it around a bit and hope that its easier now.
So to continue in the modified version you need to do this:

4 c. Write down "2" for GPreg<11>
4 d. Write down what GPreg<11> is set to in the black menu belonging to Film 1.

4 f. Here you need the line saying If GPreg<11> == (cmp-val)<probably 4 or 5> link.....

If its still confusing let me know.

[sonontop]

Can you guys expand a little on DVDtoolbox and how it can make the VideoTS file with the multiple movies we have. Where can I get DVDtoolbox? I downloaded something called DVD-toolbox, but it doesn't look right. Is that a different piece of software? If I do a yahoo search on dvdtoolbox, I get a lot of foreign eurpean language links that pop up. A little clarity on this would help.

thanks,

Son

[maa]

Sorry - DVDToolbox has been re-named to DVDfab!

There is a picture of the button you need on the home page here (http://www.dvdfab.com/index_e.html)
Create Video Manager (Video_ts.ifo)

So in Part Two you would need to do step 2. only, then use DVD Fab and continue with step 5.

[Lord of the Discs]

Nice guide, maa, but it still can be simplified:

You don´t need any black menus, when you can put "the logic"
in the pre-command area of the films themselves.

DVDlab produces garbage in "first play PGC" command table,
"allocating memory for the buttons" is nonsense, delete all
GPRM-assignments except the one which is really used
(that´s fixed in v1.22).

The command table for the root menu prevents the remote´s
"root menu"-key from working properly (like megahurts said),
maybe there´s a better solution.

I hope these sugestions are useful

LotD

[maa]

Nice guide, maa, but it still can be simplified:

You don´t need any black menus, when you can put "the logic"
in the pre-command area of the films themselves.

The "Films" don't exist because they were in PGCs of the vts_01_0.ifo that we threw out at the end of Part 1

Here's the reason:
The Black menus create menu PGCs which is where the film BUTTON takes you to! I could have edited the button with the registered version of MENUEDIT but prefere it this way - there is method to this.
Leaving out the Black Menu makes DVD LAB create a BUTTON for the second film looking for PGC2 in vts_01_0.ifo. This button could have hundreds of entries in the VOB if its a motion menu.
Sure - I considered keeping the extra PGCs in vts_01_0.ifo but that means a lot more work if you are creating a 6 episode DVD - it would mean 12 Play Maps!

DVDlab produces garbage in "first play PGC" command table,
"allocating memory for the buttons" is nonsense, delete all
GPRM-assignments except the one which is really used
(that´s fixed in v1.22).

They don't hurt at all - I just ignore them.

The command table for the root menu prevents the remote´s
"root menu"-key from working properly (like megahurts said),
maybe there´s a better solution.

Not true - the default behaviour is a return to the menu you just came from, as normal. This behaviour is kept intact!
(Part Three, #4 f. to j.)


Try doing it - both the root button and the title button return you to the previous menu as is the standard output from DVD Lab.

I now have an extra method of bypassing the normal method of return to last menu and can return to root when pressing the title menu button - but I don't consider it worth re-writing the guide for.

I spent a lot more time doing this than you might think - I had three working and yet different versions / methods but this is the best and easiest.

[megahurts]

Hey maa

Still having problems in Part3. My DVDlab menus DO NOT produce any "If GPreg<X> == (cmmp-val)<XXXX><00'> then Goto Line# XX" Pre Commands in VTSM_PTCI_UT/LU_1 PGC-MENU_1 (Root Menu).

Still not sure about the my DVDlab menu structure. For a very basic 2 movie menu, what are the TOTAL number of menus used in DVDlab counting the root menu? What part of the menu creates the above Pre commands?

I would like to see this working as I like the menus created by DVDlab and the ability to use mulitple titlesets.

Regards,

Chas

[maa]

Hey what do you think - I'll make a guide on a downloadable DVD !
I should be able to keep the whole structure down to about 4mb.
Any good ?
I've just finished a DVD with 6 VTS using the above method.
I'm sorry if the guide is missleading you somewhere -
In PART ONE above you see my drawing of the structure ?
It shows 5 menus.
The Ifo shows 6 ! because technically the "Root" is just commands and contains ["0" programs and cells]and you can't play it with a double click in Ifoedit (although it still plays your first menu - don't know why that is)
My DVDlab menus DO NOT produce any "If GPreg<X> == (cmmp-val)<XXXX><00'> then Goto Line# XX" Pre Commands in VTSM_PTCI_UT/LU_1 PGC-MENU_1 (Root Menu). I did all this with the DEMO Ver 1.1
Have you looked in the IFOs I sent you ?

[sonontop]

Ma,

I'm having some trouble with Part 3. I need some clarity which should help others as well.

4.F. Says to look in the Root menu for the "If" statement containing the value we noted down in part 4.A. That doesn't seem right. I think you want us to look for the GPreg value noted down in either part C. or part D. Which one is it? Do you want the Film Menu value or the Black Menu value?

4.G. Add 5 precommands. Modify the first precommand to copy what was found in 4.F. However, modify the last two hex digits of 4.F. to 04 so that it references line 4.

Ok assuming I got the right value in 4.F., why are there 5 precommands added? Why do we modify the last two digits in Precommand #1 to reference line 4 of the 5 precommands. If I follow the rest of the instructions, line 4 has no command in it. In 4.H., you tell us to create a command (JumpSS) Jump to title 1 for precommand #3. So now I have commands in Precommand #1 and #3. Currently #2, #4, and #5 have no commands in them. Ok then you say repeat everything for VTS_02 our second title. It's not quite clear, but I'm guessing Precommand #2 should be the value I find in step 4.F. for the second movie. Then Precommand #5 should be the similar to step 4.H. Jump to title 2. So now I have commands in #1, #2, #3, and #5, however nothing in #4. Yet precommand #1 references line #4.

Finally just to make things a little smoother for people following the guide, I think in 4.H. you mean (JumpTT) not (JumpSS)

Thanks for your help. Hopefully I'll get this menu finished soon so I can give more feedback.

-Son

[megahurts]

maa

I finally got it working 100%... maybe.

After looking at the ifos you sent me, step 4e should read "... change this to read (JumpSS VMGM) Jump to VMG PGC: 1".

Also in step 4f I believe it should read "... value you found in (c)", not (a).

Works whith DVDlab v1.1 and v2.2b but with the latter it's more confusing because the button numbers could be simular to the menu number as in step 4f if step 4f is not corrected.

While playing the 1st movie, you can jump back to a menu. But playing the 2nd movie, you have to go to the end of the last chapter to get back to the menu. Is this normal?

One puzzling thing is that the disk palys in my Pioneer DV-333 but freezes at the root menu on my Apex AD-1200. The Apex is usually more forgiving than the Pioneer with altered DVDs. Any thoughts?

Thanx for the quide, I'll play around with it more and maybe get some new ideas.

Regards,

Chas

[megahurts]

sonontop

After maa sent me the after ifos it cleared things up a bit.

If you're using DVDlab v2.2b (as I was) after step 4g it should look something like this.

1.Pre Command If GPreg<11> == (cmp-val)<3><' then Goto line# 4 [00 a1 00 0b 00 03 00 04]
2.Pre Command If GPreg<11> == (cmp-val)<5><' then Goto line# 5 [00 a1 00 0b 00 05 00 05]
3.Pre Command (JumpSS VTSM) Jump to TitleSet(vts): 1, Title(ttn):1,root-menu [30 06 00 01 01 83 00 00]
4.Pre Command (JumpTT) Jump to Title: 1 [30 02 00 00 00 01 00 00]
5.Pre Command (JumpTT) Jump to Title: 2 [30 02 00 00 00 02 00 00]

With DVDlab v1.1 (as he was) it might look something like this.

1.Pre Command If GPreg<0> == (cmp-val)<771><'00'> then Goto line# 4 [00 a1 00 00 03 03 00 04]
2.Pre Command If GPreg<0> == (cmp-val)<1028><'00'> then Goto line# 5 [00 a1 00 00 04 04 00 05]
3.Pre Command (JumpSS VTSM) Jump to TitleSet(vts):1,Title(ttn):1,root-menu[30 06 00 01 01 83 00 00]
4.Pre Command (JumpTT) Jump to Title: 1 [30 02 00 00 00 01 00 00]
5.Pre Command (JumpTT) Jump to Title: 2 [30 02 00 00 00 02 00 00]

It's very difficult to make a guide for a project as complex as this one without examples.

Hope this helps till maa gets back,

Chas

[maa]

Originally posted by sonontop
4.F. Says to look in the Root menu for the "If" statement containing the value we noted down in part 4.A. That doesn't seem right. I think you want us to look for the GPreg value noted down in either part C. or part D. Which one is it? Do you want the Film Menu value or the Black Menu value? Thanks for your detailed bug report!
I corrected the guide and hope its clearer now. It had several mistakes. In 4.H., you tell us to create a command (JumpSS) Jump to title 1 for precommand #3. So now I have commands in Precommand #1 and #3. Currently #2, #4, and #5 have no commands in them. Changed this too, added an example.


Finally just to make things a little smoother for people following the guide, I think in 4.H. you mean (JumpTT) not (JumpSS)
True - see corrected guide - hope it works now.

[maa]

DVD LAB doesn't use the Video Manager or Title manager in Video_ts.ifo and all commands are within VTS1. Due to the native command structure of the DVD norm you can't jump from one Title Set to another, you can only get "out" of a Title Set with a Jump to the Video Manager which is the menu table in Video_ts.ifo which we create.

The command flow I've writen looks like this:
First Play -> Vts 1 Root-menu
Title 1 Root-menu -> Vts1 Film# Menu
Vts 1 Film# Menu -> Vts1 Black# Menu
Vts 1 Black# Menu -> Video_ts.ifo / Video Manager "If" commands
If commands -> Choice of Film or menu

Pressing the Root Menu button on the remote will call on the GPreg number and go to the menu it applies to. A repeat press activates the "Resume" function and that was worth hours of work in which I disgaurded other methods that kept starting the film from scratch! This works from either film.

If you want the Title Button to work you only need to change two things:
1. Change First Play to: (JumpSS) Jump to VMG title-menu.
2. In Video_ts.ifo / VMGM_PGCI_UT / Menu_1: VMGM_PGC Catorgory Menu mask Change the Value to 82. After a refresh it reads Title Menu.

So have fun and I hope to get some positve success reports soon :)

[maa]

This is driving me nuts:

I've just realized that my browser has been giving me wrong versions of the guide!
I go to edit something and see that the edit I made yesterday isn't there anymore!

Anyway I think its right now and I'm keeping a copy off-line in case anything needs changing again.

[sonontop]

Maa,

I'm making some progress. I have a couple of questions. After I've completed part 4. with my first movie VTS_01, I now do the same procedure for my second movie VTS_02.

Well my questions are:

4.E. In VTSM_PGCI_UT / Black Menu# Right Click the second command and choose edit. Change this to (CallSS VMGM) Call VMG PGC:1 Resume Cell: 1
My second Black menu happens to be menu #6. Should I change the second command to exactly as written above for the first movie or should it be changed to Call VMG PGC:2 Resume Cell:1 ?????

4.J. and K. Again same type of question. Working with VTS_02 now, should I add the post command exactly as the guide written "(CallSS VMGM) Call VMG PGC:1 Resume Cell: 1" or should there be a 2 somewhere because this is the second movie.

Finally last question.

4.D. You have us take note of the GPreg value that was set in the Black menu section, but I can't see where that number is ever used. Are we suppose to use that info somewhere? Am I overlooking something?

thanks,

Son

[maa]

Originally posted by sonontop
4.E. In VTSM_PGCI_UT / Black Menu# Right Click the second command and choose edit. Change this to (CallSS VMGM) Call VMG PGC:1 Resume Cell: 1
My second Black menu happens to be menu #6. Should I change the second command to exactly as written above for the first movie or should it be changed to Call VMG PGC:2 Resume Cell:1 ?????
No, its as writen (CallSS VMGM) Call VMG PGC: 1 Resume Cell: 1
This is our return point and we need to go through the "if" commands.
- if you used DVD FAB you'll have more PGCs but we don't use them.

4.J. and K. Again same type of question. Working with VTS_02 now, should I add the post command exactly as the guide written "(CallSS VMGM) Call VMG PGC:1 Resume Cell: 1" or should there be a 2 somewhere because this is the second movie.
No - same as above.


4.D. You have us take note of the GPreg value that was set in the Black menu section, but I can't see where that number is ever used. Are we suppose to use that info somewhere? Am I overlooking something?Woops - you're right. I had all this in notes and also had three different versions. When I finally had the best version I copied / pasted the guide together. The "if" command Pointing to a Title must contain the GPreg number from the black menu.
I changed F. to "the value you found in (d)."

[sonontop]

Maa,

I think I've completed your guide correctly per your instructions and created a menu for two movies. When I first play the movie I see essentially the Root Menu, which has two choices Menu 1 (Film 1 Menu) and Menu 2 (Film 2 Menu).
I choose Menu 1, which then gives me two more buttons: Root (back to the previous menu) and Black 1 (which if I click, plays the first movie automatically). Menu 2 works the same way and will lead me to play the second movie.
The problem I encounter is that when I watch the first movie in IfoEdit, I can hit the Menu tab ... then Root Menu and jump back to my menu structure. That works great. However, if I'm watching the second movie, I cannot hit the Menu tab ... then Root Menu and jump back. There appears to be no way to get back to the main menu from the second movie. Do you have this same problem?

2nd issue ... after going back through your guide again, I think Part Two ... step #3 you want us to copy the VTS_01_0.VOB created by DVD Lab not the VTS_01_1.VOB.

thanks for all the help .... I'm learning alot!

Son

[maa]

Well done sonontop,
please go through section 4 and make sure you are up to date with it as I had that problem editing older versions that my browser came up with and its been wrong for a couple of days.

[sonontop]

Hello Maa,

I only see Part One, Two, Three in your guide. I don't see a section 4 that you are referencing.

thanks,

Son

[maa]

Originally posted by sonontop 19th August 2003 05:15
After I've completed part 4. with my first mo.....
Part Three section 4 sound better ?

[sonontop]

Good news Maa!!!!!

I have success with the entire project. Multiple titlesets and a custom menu. Thank you very much!

The problem I had with the 2nd movie not being able to jump back to the menu was because for some reason my second movie IFO did not have a root menu under the VTSM_PGCI_UT. It must have a root menu for the root command to work, otherwise that command is greyed out in Powerdvd or Ifoedit play preview. So I found another second movie that had the appropriate root menu. Now the command is available to jump back to the root, however I get an illegal navigation error at this point. That is because the VTS_02_0.IFO root menu is from a different movie and references some other menu structure, not the menu we created. The solution is to make the first Precommand in the root menu under VTSM_PGCI_UT of VTS_02_0.IFO say (JumpSS VMGM) Jump to VMG PGC: 1. This forces it to go to our created Video_TS file which then references our menus. So I definitely think your guide needs to add that line in or else I can't see how the 2nd, 3rd, ... titlesets will ever be able to reference back to the main menu.

Side note: I've been making some modifications and extrapolating from your guide and I made a simpler initial menu structure that will work just the same. Instead of your original structure:

...........Root Menu (with two buttons: Film 1 and Film 2)
..............................|
.........-------------------------------------------
.........|.........................................|
....Film 1 (two buttons: Root and Black 1).....Film 2 (similar)
.........|.........................................|
.....Black 1 (one button: Play Movie)..........Black 2 (similar)
.........|.........................................|
.......Film 1 plays............................Film 2 plays

I think the structure can be simplied to the following for a cleaner look/navigation.

...........Root Menu (with two buttons: Film 1 and Film 2)
..............................|
.........-------------------------------------------
.........|.........................................|
.....Black 1 (one button: Play Movie)..........Black 2 (similar)
.........|.........................................|
.......Film 1 plays............................Film 2 plays

So in this new structure, the first menu you see when playing the DVD is two buttons that state Film 1 or Film 2. If you click on either, the movie plays immediately, and if you want to go back to the root menu, you see these two options again.

Thanks for making the guide. I'm going back to customizing my collection now.

-Son

[maa]

Well firstly a big Well Done for your success!

Do you know how often I updated the guide not realizing that my browser was showing me the actual version but when I pressed "EDIT" it was giving me an older version from my Temp files? Well thats caused such a mess! Actually I had a section in there saying import the menu to each new VTS and then delete all commands and add the pre command you discovered. The Simple menu is also one of the first I came up with but I disguarded it from the guide because I wanted to offer moving backgrounds and language choices in the secondary menus for each film.
So the subtitle and audio-choice guide I'm working on will be ready soon...

[kikounet]

It seems incredible how hard it is to just merge two films on one DVD! Are there really no other way to put my "seasons/episodes" captured from satellite on a DVD-R
- DVDLab is not free (and buggy?)
- DVDFab is not free (except 0.17.0)
- MenuEdit is not free anymore
- Ulead products seems to allways recompress (according to user's posts)

So what to think about
- TMPGEG DVD Author
- Daikin's Scenarist
- CeQuadrat's VideoPack
or what else?

Anyway your guide is a huge work and shows clearly how complex a DVD structure is.

[maa]

Hi there,

the reason for this thread is; at the time DVDLab would only output a single VTS so making a menu stucture for more than one VTS was not possible without the above. Now, DVDLab pro is in public beta and can do the above quite easilly.

If your source material is of the same type you can put severel films together without Multiple VTS.

cheers


maa