how do i add a new menu to a reauthored dvd?

[nick_harambee]

hi,

i would like to know the simplest way of creating a compilation dvd with a menu with text that when selected would skip forward to the correct title on the dvd.

so, this is where i have got to. i have used dvd shrink to create the dvd, and have created a menu using dvd menu studio, but here i am stuck. i have been unable to work out how to add the menu to the dvd and link the text on the menu to the various titles.

in trying to work this out i have come across dvd-lab pro, which may do both jobs for me (i don't need to compress the titles at all). but when i import video into this program it suggests demultiplexing to elementary streams, and breaks down movies into component vobs, and so seems to be getting rather complicated.

i would be grateful if someone could suggest the simplest way of proceeding here. i don't need to actually use dvd-shrink. if there is a simpler way of adding various titles to a project, then creating and adding a menu with text links to the various titles this is what i am looking for. there is no need for any compressing

thanks

nick.

[Pudah]

see Chetwood's guide (http://www.dvdshrink.info/chetwood/PgcEdit_menuimport.php)

[nick_harambee]

is there not a simpler way of doing it than this?

[nick_harambee]

maybe i should explain what i want to do from scratch. i have various ripped titles which i want to put together in a compilation dvd without any compression. i want to strip audio and subtitle streams so i am just left with english. i would then like to add a new menu to the dvd which is very simple - just some text pointing to the different titles on the dvd.

one way i thought of doing it was to author the dvd using dvd shrink and then find a way of designing a menu which would then point to the titles. i have succesfully created such a menu, but haven't found a way of adding it to the dvd file or getting it to point to the titles. pudah kindly pointed me to chetwood's guide, but this is too complicated for my purposes.

so, i then thought of using dvd-lab pro and either (i) importing vob files and then demuxing, or (ii) ripping from original dvd using dvd decrypter and processing streams/demuxing, and then importing. the problem i am having with method (i) is that when dvd-lab pro demuxes it doesn't list a subtitle stream, and i can't find it anywhere. with method (ii) i get video files, a vob file which is probably the audio, but again i can't see the subtitle stream.

regardless of which method i use when i try to create a dvd in dvd-lab pro by combining the menu and movies ('compile dvd'), the output i am getting is not in the format of a dvd file: there are no bup or ifo files, just 9 vob files, most of which are 0kb in size, so clearly something is going wrong here.

if anyone could help me with these various methods or suggest an alternative (simpler!) method, then i would be very grateful. in particular i would be interested in a method that doesn't involve demuxing, i.e. where i could simply combine vobs and a menu to create a dvd

thanks

nick.

[M7S]

You could use DVDStyler (http://dvdstyler.sourceforge.net) to make a menu if you already authored with DVDshrink. It's quite easy to use. The only thing you need to know is, that if you have more than one vob for a title, you should perss ctrl while dragging the vobs to the timeline (not for the first vob, though). Otherwise the program thinks that every vob is a new title. Damn, now I made it sound more complicated than it is. It's quite straight forward.

[nick_harambee]

thanks M7S

i have tried using DVD styler, and it does look just like what i am looking for. however, once it has finished demultiplexing i get an error message saying that the process has failed:

Prepare
Generating menus
Check MPEG-files
Fix MPEG-file: E:\video\blanked\twin peaks 4\VIDEO_TS\VTS_01_2.VOB
Failed

there is nothing wrong with the vob files that i am processing.

any ideas?

thanks

nick

[richarddd]

First set of vob's I tried with DVD Styler I got the same error message.

[Ebobtron]

Let’s see if I can explain this. Not all VOBs are created equal. DVD Shrink creates VOBs for use with the “ifo” files it makes so the DVD player can play the files. Using Shrink to Rip a dvd title to your hard drive works great but there are a few steps to make menus.

Authoring a DVD has little to do with the “VOB”, it contains the video and audio and sub pictures the "ifo" is the authored component.
The "VOB" has to have nav packets that match up with ithe info in the "ifo" files. Many authoring programs want elementary streams which are multiplexed into VOBs that contain the correct nav data.

Authoring programs that use VOBs directly often want VOBs with blank nav packets such as "Mplex" option "-f8".

Try this it is simple and you can get everything you need except a image creation software package.

http://www.videohelp.com/~liquid217/dvdauthorgui.pl

If you can add text ontop of a jpeg file then you can make a menu. If you can not, learn. Read the guide and work thought the learning curve. http://www.videohelp.com/~liquid217/dvdauthorgui.pl?p=guide1

Hint, rip or reauthor the dvd one title at a time and you won't need to edit the vob that Shrink creates.

Have fun.

[fewtch]

Originally posted by nick_harambee
is there not a simpler way of doing it than this?
Use TMPGEnc DVD Author (http://www.pegasys-inc.com/en/product/tda.html)? Can't think of any simpler, a 6 year old child could make simple DVD menus with this :D.

[yu4844]

InterVideo DVDCopy 3 can do it,using merge function.