TMPGEnc DVD Author stripping Subs

[Holomatrix]

I just realized the other day when backing up 'Once Upon a Mexico' (don't usualy care about sub titles but this movie has alot of mexican talking) that TMPGEnc DVD Author stripped out the subs when I used it to put two movies on one DVD. When I play the DVD folder that DVDshrink made of this first movie the subs are there but when playing the DVD folder from the outputed TMPGEnc DVD Author folder there are no subs. Anyone notice this before with TMPGEnc DVD Author? Any way to fix this?
Thanks

[Dimmer]

TMPGEnc DVD Author (TDA) doesn't support subtitles. If you use it to author a DVD from VOB files, the most you can have is one video and one audio stream, everything else including subpictures is gone.

I don't think there is an easy way to fix it considering that you're trying to put two movies on one disc. If you have a profound knowledge of TDA and IfoEdit, you could probably create a DVD structure in TDA with VMG menus and two dummy titlesets, which you would replace with your two movies and then fix the navigation and structure in IfoEdit. Otherwise, you might consider another authoring software that supports subtitles such as Scenarist.

[Holomatrix]

Ok, thanks for the info. I'll try and find another way to put two movies on one DVD. TDA is so easy though, I like the custom menu selection screen that I create with it. I think nero has a way to create menu screens but have never used it.
Thanks again

[Holomatrix]

I tried DVD-lab but you can only add the VOB asset and not the whole IFO/BUP and everything. Unless you know of another way? I could join all the VOB's into ONE big one but then would proably run into problems with multi angle movies. How can I insert the subtitle stream back into my two movie folder after TDA is done?
Thanks

[Dimmer]

I have to disappoint you once again: TDA doesn't support multiangle VOBs either. It'll either keep the first angle only, or even worse it'll mix them into one video stream.

I assume you have your two movies each in a separate DVD structure with single titleset each without any menus or extras. So, for each movie you'd have files VIDEO_TS.IFO/.BUP, VTS_01_0.IFO/.BUP, and several VTS_01_x.VOB. Try this. Create a TDA project with your two movies, each as a separate track. In Menu Settings, select Only Main menu. This will create Title menu on the DVD but you won't have the chapter menus. Output the DVD, which will be stripped of subtitles etc. Then replace the first titleset i.e. VTS_01_0.IFO, VTS_01_0.BUP, and VTS_01_x.VOB files with the same files from the original movie you put as a first track. Don't touch VIDEO_TS.IFO/.BUP. Rename the original files of the second movie as if they were a second titleset, i.e. change VTS_01 to VTS_02. Copy them over the same files on the authored DVD. This should give you a DVD with main menu and two movies where you can turn the subtitles on/off with the remote.

Before burning, open VIDEO_TS.IFO in IfoEdit and click Get VTS Sectors.

If you really want to have chapter menus, you can add two more dummy tracks in order to create two more titlesets and then use their menus for navigation or anything else. It's going to be a lot of work though because you'll have to reroute in IfoEdit all the links from the dummy titlesets through the VMG to your movies.

[Holomatrix]

Ok, that makes sence :) I only create the "Only Main menu" anyway so that part is already done :) I'll try as you suggest and replace/rename what I need to, and let you know how I make out. What is this step doing though - "Before burning, open VIDEO_TS.IFO in IfoEdit and click Get VTS Sectors." Does it create some subtitle files in my authored DVD folder?

Thanks for your help.

[Dimmer]

Get VTS Sectors button corrects address tables within VIDEO_TS.IFO to reflect the change of the total VOB file size once you replaced the files. This is important only if you burn a disc, it doesn't make difference for playback from HDD.

[Holomatrix]

Awesome, thanks. I'll check it out when I get home.

[gluka]

Hi,
I post to dimmer priv. message, and decide to put my problem here.
So, I'm beginner in DVD authoring.
Till now ripped DVD's (DVD decrypter) and reauthored them with DVD Shrink (strip unwanted languages and subtitles). That was quite enough for my apetites, and DVD's were mainly cartoons for my kids. Have Play station 2 and watch movies on it.
In few DVD's found some extra small movies, clips, single cartoons and want to compile them on single new DVD. It's no problem to "author" them in DVD shrink - they will play one after another.
But I want to make menu for such DVD.
TDA offer me such possibility, and i make one DVD such way for probe.

Problem is that some movies have subtitles.

DVD Maestro offers possibility to make DVDs with subtitles, but I'm lost in making menus.
DVD Lab offers easy making menus - but subtitles can't be put.
TDA as I say is also very easy but don't offer to put subtitles, unless found these cheat. But it's impossible to leave other menus than main - they are useless, as chapters.

Main problem is that I'm very "green" with IfoEdit, a little bit scared and not such familiar with DVD architecture and scripting language in general.

Think maybe's possible to get some simple (extended) explanation with it as in last cheat.
Want to have main menu with movies titles on it, when point to movie 1 to get menu with his chapters and to point on chapter 1,2 ...; also with other movies on DVD.
Is it possible, if it's complicated I'll go as till now.
Thanks.
gluka

[Dimmer]

Since there appears to be some interest in creating chapter menus for the titles you substitute with your own movies with subtitles, I'm going to describe a method simplified as much as possible. We're going to use the following software:
IfoEdit (http://www.ifoedit.com/)
MenuEdit (http://www.dimadsoft.com/menuedit/download.php) (free version)
TitleSet Blanker (http://www.sysh.net/titlesetblanker.html)

TDA creates each title - referred to as track - in a separate VTS. The idea is to create a dummy title with chapter menu for each movie, and then route links from these menus through VMG to the actual movie chapters. The chapters must be already present in the original movies. Let's assume we want to put two movies on a DVD.

1. Create four tracks in TDA (two for each movie). Add first movie to the tracks 1 & 3, second - to 2 & 4. The first couple of tracks will become menus, the second couple - movies.

2. Go to track 1, double-click on the movie to get into Chapter Cut Edit screen. Create a chapter on each keyframe; the total number of chapters should be exactly the same as in the original movie. On the next available frame click Set as end frame. Repeat this for track 2.

3. Go to Create Menu. Click Display Menu Settings, in General tab select Main menu and Track menu option. Select Display Main menu in both drop down boxes. Note: here you can also choose to create a motion menu, but leave it alone for now.

4. Click Edit Menu Theme and create a new theme. Important suggestion: for our purposes, it's much easier to have all movie icons on the same page of the main menu. Therefore, in our example select Layout 2 for the top-menu (i.e. Main Menu). Select whatever you like for all other menu features. Click OK.

5. Main menu includes two screens now. We're going to use only first screen. Therefore we need to get rid of Next/Last page buttons and page number. Double-click page number (1/2) and set font size to 4 (almost invisible). Select Next/Last page buttons and resize them to the smallest possible size.

6. Double-click on each menu element and customize it as you wish. When you double-click on a thumbnail, you can choose a frame from the movie to be displayed. Do it for the first page of Main menu and first two out of four track menus. Each track menu can include several pages depending on the number of chapters.

7. Output the project. At this point you can play it in a software player like PowerDVD. You will see all your nice menus, and if you click Play All, it will play two very short clips first, then two full movies without subtitles. Important: Make a backup copy of all IFO files and VIDEO_TS.VOB

8. Open VIDEO_TS.IFO in TitleSet Blanker, clear all the boxes except VTS_01_*.VOB, VTS_02_*.VOB, select options Remove audio... and Remove stops. Click Blank. If you play the DVD now, Play All button will lead you straight to the movies.

9. As I described earlier, rename the files of your first original movie as if it was VTS_03 and copy them over the newly authored files. Repeat for the second movie renaming it to VTS_04. If you play this DVD now, you can see the movies with subtitles if you directly choose titles 3 and 4 from the player menu. Play All won't work properly.

10. Open VIDEO_TS.VOB in MenuEdit. Double-click Vob ID 1 - Cell ID 1. You will see layout of the buttons of the main menu. Click on the tiny images that correspond to Next and last page buttons (probably #1 & 4), they should turn red, click Delete, keep default delete options. The buttons are gone. Click OK, confirm file update. In case you messed up VIDEO_TS.VOB, use a backup you made in step 7.

11. Double-click Vob ID 2 - Cell ID 1. Now you're looking at the second "hidden" page of the main menu. Click on the button corresponding to the Movie 1 icon (i.e. track 3), click Edit, write down the command from the box that would pop up, something like JumpSS VMGM (pgc 11), cancel. Repeat for the Movie 2 button. Cancel out of this screen.

12. Open VTS_01_0.IFO in IfoEdit, expand VTSM_PGCI_UT. Open VTS_01_0.VOB in MenuEdit and click Expand. All the cells here represent the pages of chapter menu for the first movie. Double click on the first cell, click on the button corresponding to the first chapter, click Edit, look at the command, something like LinkPGCN 5. In IfoEdit, go to the menu PGC with the same number, in this case PGC-Menu_5. There should already be two Pre commands, replace them with:
1) Set GPreg<0> mov (set-val)<1> (you'll have to double-click and type in code 71 00 00 00 00 01 00 00)
2) (JumpSS VMGM) Jump to VMG PGC:11 (you can right-click on the 2nd command and choose Edit - JumpSS_VMGM)
Important: Value 1 in the 1st command is a chapter number that we're going to use as a flag kept in GPreg<0> (referred to as GPRM0). PGC 11 (or whatever it may be) comes from the button command for the 1st movie you wrote down in step #11.

Repeat this step for every chapter button in VTS_01_0.VOB each time incrementing the value in the first command by 1. Save VTS_01_0.IFO.

13. Repeat step #12 for VTS_02_0.IFO and VTS_02_0.VOB. This time change VMG PGC number in 2nd command to whatever value you wrote down in step #11 for the 2nd movie. If you need help generating command codes, here is an interactive web page that can do this for you: http://www.dvd-replica.com/DVD/vmcmdset.php. There is a lot of other useful info on that site. Save VTS_02_0.IFO.

14. Open VTS_03_0.IFO in IfoEdit, expand VTSM_PGCI_UT. If there is no table there, it means Menu button on the remote is not going to work during the movie, only Title. If you see Root menu in the list, go there and set the first Pre command to JumpSS_VMGM - Title menu. If there are no Pre commands, right-click either on a Post command or on the words "There is no PGC command table" and select Add Pre command.
Right click again to edit command. Sometimes IfoEdit crashes when adding commands, in this case restart it and try again. Save the file but don't close the program.

15. In a separate instance of IfoEdit, open backup VTS_03_0.IFO you made in step 7. Go to VTS_PGCITI - VTS-PGC_1, scroll down to the Post commands, there should be 3 of them. Copy these commands to the same location of the new VTS_03_0.IFO that you have opened in another window. You can double click on any command, select, and copy/paste the hex code. Save the new file, close the backup file.

16. Above the Post commands you just added to the new VTS_03_0.IFO, add as many Pre commands as you have chapters in the first movie minus one. Set the Pre commands as follows:
If GPreg<0>==(cmp-val)<2> then (LinkPGN) Program 2, [button=0] (code 20 A6 00 00 00 02 00 02)
If GPreg<0>==(cmp-val)<3> then (LinkPGN) Program 3, [button=0] (code 20 A6 00 00 00 03 00 03)
...
and so on for each chapter except the first one, which is default. Save the file.

17. Repeat steps #15 & 16 for the new VTS_04_0.IFO and it's backup.

18. Open VIDEO_TS.IFO in IfoEdit, click Get VTS Sector, confirm all files.

That's it. If you have 3 movies then VTS 1 - 3 should contain chapter menus and VTS 4 - 6 - actual movies, and so on. This is might not be the best way to author DVDs but certainly is a good start to figuring out DVD structure and scripting using simple but powerful tools. I'll be happy to hear any feedback you might have.

[gluka]

Thanks dimmer.
I'll try this procedure on weekend days, and will post experiences.
gluka