Using Title Menu Button to Skip Titles in Re-authored DVD Shrink Movies

2COOL · 11th September 2003, 09:15

Using Title Menu Button to Skip Titles in Re-authored DVD Shrink Movies
Courtesy of 2CL

Tool I used: IFOedit 0.95
DVDShrink used before this guide was v3.0 Beta 5

So you re-authored your DVD in DVD Shrink. You didn’t really care for the menu but you do want to have the option of skipping from Title to Title. In this guide, we’ll do just that.

I have re-authored a sample DVD with three Titles Figure 1) which DVD Shrink has put them in separate TitleSets. Below, is a visual layout of my files. Notice that I don’t have any 0.VOBs. These are our menu VOBs and since our re-authored DVD Shrink didn’t let us have them, then we don’t have any present.

Code:

Figure 1.

VIDEO_TS.BUP
VIDEO_TS.IFO ___________
VTS_01_0.BUP 
VTS_01_0.IFO  Title 1
VTS_01_1.VOB
VTS_01_2.VOB ___________
VTS_02_0.BUP
VTS_02_0.IFO  Title 2
VTS_02_1.VOB
VTS_02_2.VOB ___________
VTS_03_0.BUP
VTS_03_0.IFO  Title 3
VTS_03_1.VOB
VTS_03_2.VOB

To repeat myself, re-authoring in DVD Shrink does not produce any menus so it is obvious that our IFOs do not have menu tables in them. Menu Tables are used to hold information of what’s in a menu, importantly the navigational commands. Let’s start our first step.
____________________________________________________
1. First, we need a menu table. If you look in your VIDEO_TS.IFO / VMGM_PGCI_UT, you’ll have this message. “There is no VMGM_PGCI_UT table”. We need one badly so find any DVD with menus and it doesn’t matter if it’s the DVD in your DVD drive or it’s already ripped onto your harddrive.
____________________________________________________
2. Merging Menu Tables

Open up your reauthored movie’s VIDEO_TS.IFO in IFOedit. Go up to your Title bar and select Tools / Merge Menu Tables. Browse to your DVD with menus and open that VIDEO_TS.IFO. You will see your IFOedit window blink. You now have a menu table.

So check it out. Go to your VIDEO_TS.IFO / VMGM_PGCI_UT. The menu you now have is the same as the DVD’s VIDEO_TS.IFO you just used. Merging menu tables in IFOedit also means “importing” menu tables. Nothing was changed in the IFO except our b]VIDEO_TS.IFO / VMGM_PGCI_UT[/b].

At this point, it’d be important to save your DVD Shrink movie now so do that.
____________________________________________________
3. Now that we have a menu table to work on, I like to show you first what DVD Shrink had in your VIDEO_TS.IFO / VMGM_MAT / First Play PGC / PGC Command Table. (Figure 2)

Code:

Figure 2.

First Play PGC

PGC Command Table:		

  1.Pre Command  If GPreg<0> == (cmp-val)<1><' then Goto line# 4   [00 a1 00 00 00 01 00 04]
  2.Pre Command  If GPreg<0> == (cmp-val)<2><' then Goto line# 5   [00 a1 00 00 00 02 00 05]
  3.Pre Command  (JumpTT) Jump to Title: 1                         [30 02 00 00 00 01 00 00]
  4.Pre Command  (JumpTT) Jump to Title: 2                         [30 02 00 00 00 02 00 00]
  5.Pre Command  (JumpTT) Jump to Title: 3                         [30 02 00 00 00 03 00 00]

As you can see, the value in GPreg<0> or General Parameter Register 0, plays a big part on deciding which Title to play next.

Another thing I want to you to see is your PGC Command Table for your 3 Titles.

Code:

Figure 3.

Title 1

PGC Command Table:		
  1.Pre Command  Set GPreg<0> mov (set-val)<0>                           [71 00 00 00 00 00 00 00]
  2.Pre Command  Break                                                   [00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00]
  1.Post Command Set GPreg<0> mov (set-val)<1>                           [71 00 00 00 00 01 00 00]
  2.Post Command (CallSS FP) Call First-Play domain PGC [Resume Cell: 1] [30 08 00 00 01 00 00 00]

Title 2

PGC Command Table:		
  1.Pre Command  Set GPreg<0> mov (set-val)<0>                           [71 00 00 00 00 00 00 00]
  2.Pre Command  Break                                                   [00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00]
  1.Post Command Set GPreg<0> mov (set-val)<2>                           [71 00 00 00 00 02 00 00]
  2.Post Command (CallSS FP) Call First-Play domain PGC [Resume Cell: 1] [30 08 00 00 01 00 00 00]

Title 3

PGC Command Table:		
  1.Pre Command  Set GPreg<0> mov (set-val)<0>                           [71 00 00 00 00 00 00 00]
  2.Pre Command  Break                                                   [00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00]
  1.Post Command Exit                                                    [31 01 00 00 00 00 00 00]

The commands in these titles are similar in a way except for the Post Command in Title 3. Also we see GPreg<0> is being set too.
____________________________________________________
4. Hexediting

Let’s work on our menu table in our VIDEO_TS.IFO. Go to VIDEO_TS.IFO / VMGM_PGCI_UT / PGC-Menu_1 / PGC Command Table. PGC-Menu_1 is your Title-menu, as shown in your VIDEO_TS.IFO / VMG Overview / Menu Language Unit section. (Figure 3)

Code:

Figure 4.

Language Menu Unit 1: [English]		
  Menu 1: [Title-Menu]         (entry PGC) (Programs: 0) (Cells: 0)

When you press your Title button on your remote, your DVD will immediately jump to this Title Menu Hence the name, “Title Menu” button.

Now before, we go any further, this is a good time to backup your IFO and BUPs to another folder. If you mess up in your hexedits, you can always copy your original IFO and BUP over to replace your badly edited one. With that said and done, read on.

Basically, in this step, we want our PGC Command Table here to be exactly like our First Play PGC’s PGC Command Table (Figure 2). I wish we can import that PGC Command table but unfortunately, we have to do it manually by hexediting. It’s not that difficult. But first, we need to edit the following to reflect our Figure 2.

We have 5 Pre Commands so double left click on line. Change the values as below.

Code:

PGC Command Table:		
  Number of Pre Commands	5
  Number of Post Commands	0
  Number of Cell Commands	0

You should now have 5 miscellaneous Pre Commands present. Here’s is where we start our first hexediting. Double left click on Pre Command #1 and you will have your HexEdit Module window. In the window, you will see something like this.

00000000 ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ......

The ##s represent the hex value that you will edit as below, taken from Figure 2.

Code:


1.Pre Command  If GPreg<0> == (cmp-val)<1><' then Goto line# 4   [00 a1 00 00 00 01 00 04]

Using your mouse, click in the ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## and enter exactly as your Pre Command #1 in your First Play PGC. Remember to have your CAPs lock off or else you can’t enter any letters.

Press OK when done.

Refreshing Screen Tip
To refresh your screen, here’s a personal trick I do. At bottom left of IFOedit, check and uncheck your “Show Reserved Values” checkbox and your screen will refresh. A single check will do too. Anyway, scroll down to your PGC Command Table and confirm your hexedit. Repeat if wrong.

When your done, you should have the same PGC Command Table as Figure 2. Save your IFO and BUP, if you don’t want to go through that long hexediting again.

____________________________________________________
5. Now we will work on our Titles’ PGC Command Tables. Let’s start on Title 1 first so go to VTS_01_0.IFO / VTS_PGCITI / VTS_PGC_1 / PGC Command Table. You should see the same as Figure 3.

Code:

Title 1

PGC Command Table:		
  1.Pre Command  Set GPreg<0> mov (set-val)<0>                           [71 00 00 00 00 00 00 00]
  2.Pre Command  Break                                                   [00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00]
  1.Post Command Set GPreg<0> mov (set-val)<1>                           [71 00 00 00 00 01 00 00]
  2.Post Command (CallSS FP) Call First-Play domain PGC [Resume Cell: 1] [30 08 00 00 01 00 00 00]

We’re not going to touch our Post Commands in our Titles except our last Title, which in our case is Title 3. This will be explain at a later step. If you decide to press your Title Menu button to skip to the next Title, your Post Commands will not be executed. You can say they were bypassed. All we’re going to do is just edit our first Pre Command. We want GPreg<0> to hold the same value that’s also programmed in our Post Command.

Here’s the flow of navigations if you don’t press your Title Menu button during Title 1’s play. GPreg<0> is set to 0 prior to video clip of Title 1 and holds that value till video play ends. When video has ended, GPreg<0> is then set to the value of 1 and while holding that value, it makes a jump to your First Play PGC. In your First Play PGC (see Figure 2), Pre Command #1 is executed and checked for trueness and since GPreg<0> IS 1, it makes a jump to Pre Command #4 to begin our next video clip, Title 2. Makes sense? I hope so.

Anyways, let’s edit Title 1’s Pre Command #1. Like in Step 4, hexedit Pre Command #1 to our new value as follows.

Code:

OLD > 1.Pre Command  Set GPreg<0> mov (set-val)<0>   [71 00 00 00 00 00 00 00]
NEW > 1.Pre Command  Set GPreg<0> mov (set-val)<1>   [71 00 00 00 00 01 00 00]

When done, save your IFO and BUP and test out your new edit by pressing your DVD Play button in IFOedit. If you press your “Title Menu” button in IFOedit, you should skip to Title 2 as it shows in your Status Window of your DVD Play Panel. It works? Great!

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6. Press your “Get VTS sectors” button
____________________________________________________
7. Repeat Steps 5 & 6 with the rest of the other Titles EXCEPT the last one. This will be explained in the next step.
____________________________________________________
8. Optional: Endless Loop in Play

We don’t need to do any changes in our Pre Commands for our last Title or last Titleset because it’s working the way it suppose to. The way the Post Commands in your last Title works is that if you didn’t press your Title Menu button and let the video play to the end, your DVD will stop playing. Notice the “Exit” in your last Post Command? An “Exit” basically means to stop executing commands and cease play. So as an optional step, if you want your DVD to loop back and play from the start again at Title 1, here’s what we’ll do. Hexedit our last Post Command #2 as follows.

Code:


OLD > 1.Post Command  Exit                                                   [31 01 00 00 00 00 00 00]
NEW > 2.Post Command (CallSS FP) Call First-Play domain PGC [Resume Cell: 1] [30 08 00 00 01 00 00 00]

____________________________________________________
9. Save your IFO and BUP.
____________________________________________________
10. Get VTS Sectors
____________________________________________________
That’s all to it! Enjoy!

To summarize what my edited Titles look like, here there are. I decided to do Step 8 and have my whole DVD in an endless loop.

Code:

Title 1

PGC Command Table:		
  1.Pre Command  Set GPreg<0> mov (set-val)<1>                           [71 00 00 00 00 01 00 00]
  2.Pre Command  Break                                                   [00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00]
  1.Post Command Set GPreg<0> mov (set-val)<1>                           [71 00 00 00 00 01 00 00]
  2.Post Command (CallSS FP) Call First-Play domain PGC [Resume Cell: 1] [30 08 00 00 01 00 00 00]

Title 2

PGC Command Table:		
  1.Pre Command  Set GPreg<0> mov (set-val)<2>                           [71 00 00 00 00 02 00 00]
  2.Pre Command  Break                                                   [00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00]
  1.Post Command Set GPreg<0> mov (set-val)<2>                           [71 00 00 00 00 02 00 00]
  2.Post Command (CallSS FP) Call First-Play domain PGC [Resume Cell: 1] [30 08 00 00 01 00 00 00]

Title 3

PGC Command Table:		
  1.Pre Command  Set GPreg<0> mov (set-val)<0>                           [71 00 00 00 00 00 00 00]
  2.Pre Command  Break                                                   [00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00]
  1.Post Command (CallSS FP) Call First-Play domain PGC [Resume Cell: 1] [30 08 00 00 01 00 00 00]

windtrader · 11th September 2003, 17:48

2COOL,

You come up with amazing tweaks! What about joining the VOBS with VOBEDIT then generate a new IFO using IFOEDIT? Basically, this would covert the separate titles into chapters. Buth then it would not show off your superior knowledge of IFOland.

2COOL · 11th September 2003, 18:19

Quote:

Originally posted by windtrader
What about joining the VOBS with VOBEDIT then generate a new IFO using IFOEDIT? Basically, this would covert the separate titles into chapters. Buth then it would not show off your superior knowledge of IFOland.

Thanks windtrader. Yes, it could work using the VOBedit/IFOedit method but if my Titles had chapters with more than one cell, I would have to fix the chaptering in the new Titleset. Also, keep in mind that joining VOBs with different attributes,e.g. subtitles, audio, aspect ratio, etc, would not work well. Besides, you'll never know when this would come in handy. I've seen alot of off-the-wall requests here in the forums.

windtrader · 11th September 2003, 18:52

2COOL,

Right. I did MIB2 yesterday and see another one second cell in each of the Extras title VOBs. This would mess up as you say.

I've followed many of your posted tweaks and am really curious why you choose this approach to modifying the target DVD IFOs?

The methods you devise do work but it got me thinking about authoring tools and it seems DVDLAB and TMPGEnc DVD Author are the two most popular and featured tools for all except the big-time pros who probably use Secnarist.

It seems that pulling the assets into one of these tools could accomplish the same thing with less error and probably a lot easier for the non-techie.

I could not come up with a leaning either way. Probably, my ignorance is hindering my ability to form any opinions.

What is your opinion of these two authoring tools and the pro/con of using these vs the 2COOL trick of the week :-)?

Thanks, Don

maa · 11th September 2003, 19:20

Actually apart from the "IfoEditPhobia" its a five minute job and the more you practice with IfoEdit the more you become independant of the quirks in authoring tools. This is the real power and understanding and it doesn't cause any unneccessary copying/re-muxing of the VOBs.
The guide may look long but its well writen with great explainations for newbies.

windtrader · 11th September 2003, 19:40

Hi maa,

It took me a bit to get past the IFOphobia to follow 2COOL's guides but I am able to follow along pretty well now.

I'm sure every tool and method has it quirks and pluses-minuses but I guess what seemed pretty cool is you can fairly easily create neat and functional simple menus with graphics, custom navigations, etc. with a DVDLab type tool. The 2COOL tweak method was not really intended to do this and it will never be replaced as a way to get under the covers and do internal IFO tweaking.

It just seems to me that one can expand what can be done with user authored IFO/VOBs and if these tools cover some of the more basic tweaks, why not use it for that, the expanded authoring features they do do, and still use 2COOL for the special stuff.

Do you have much experience with the ahtoring tools we are discussing?

2COOL · 11th September 2003, 20:26

@windtrader

Some time this year, I've read somewhere here that someone wanting to do exactly like my guide is intended for. I had an idea but to make my plan work, I needed to have a menu table in my movie-only files. Maa just enlightened me that I could've done this all this time. Anyway, I had this guide as a draft a couple of months ago and with that secret ingredient, I had finished up the guide.

Anyways, the authoring tools that are currently available are not, should I say, the holy grail of backup softwares. They still have irks, quirks, and areas that are limited to what me and you want for us to have the best backups. That's why I come up with work-around methods prior to or after using specific programs. A lot of times, people around here would use other tools to fix/improve each other.

As for the authoring tools you mentioned, I do use TMPGenc DVD Author sometimes but DVD Lab, which looks promising, I haven't worked with that fully. You may want to talk to Maa on that since he has a guide on using IFOedit with DVD Lab. TMPGenc DVD Author is still new and you will have menus created. You don't have an option to do a complete movie only. Having menus is not a bad thing. TMPGenc DA can do what my guide in this post can do and it does through the track menus. You would have to browse through the menus and select which Title you want to see. So the advantage to TMPGenc DVD Author is you have menus for Title skipping since it authors them into separate Titlesets. If it didn't, then this method in this thread would be useful. I only wished that TMPGenc can let us author in more than one audio and also include subtitles.

I'm a little mentally drained right now so I hope I answered your question.

maa · 11th September 2003, 21:29

Yes I use DVD Lab because it makes more or less any menu I can think of. It is of course a creation tool but you can also re-make menus or parts of menus from backups. Its easy to cut up bits of menus with DVDShrink in re-author mode and use the files in DVD LAB.
It allows all types of buttons from normal text to underline to invisible hotspots to imported overlays and vector objects.
Moving menus, moving button backgrounds - skys the limit on that.
The draw backs 'till now are :
1. It doesn't output multiple VTS (all films go in one tittle set)
2. It doesn't create multiple audio streams (althouth it will import VOBs with multiple streams that you can change with the remote.)
There is a guide for this here

And thats why I wrote the guides:
Making a multiple VTS with Ifoedit for a Menu produced with DVD Lab
Guide to a Multiple Audio Menu with DVD Lab and IfoEdit

windtrader · 16th September 2003, 03:56

Maa,

I finally got around to evaluating DVD Author and DVDLab. So far DVD Author is the winner since I can not get DVD-Lab to get past the fatal compile error as you also encountered.

http://www.mmbforums.com/modules.php...ewtopic&t=1490

So, just why did you lead me down this rat hole?? :-) You forgot to mention that it crashes.

Don

maa · 16th September 2003, 08:50

Ah - you mean the 1.3BETA 2 ?

Well the completed version 1.1 works as I mention at the bottom of that same post.
Try it if you need better menus

windtrader · 16th September 2003, 15:56

Actually, I am getting the error using version 1.1.

FYI - there is this last parting comment in the last post. :-)

Quote:

Well I found out how to change the time code by running it throught the cut / join feature of TmpegEnc but it didn't help DVDLab - it just doesn't work.

I will play around with DVDLab more today to see if it was just ad odd condition.

btw - what is your opinion of DVDit and Ulead Workshop? I was going to give them a spin as well,

maa · 16th September 2003, 17:52

Actually thats not funny - you are quoting me out of context - anyone reading this thread will missunderstand and you make it look as if my words are not to be trusted. Read the whole thread.

Sorry I havn't tried DVDit and Ulead Workshop.

windtrader · 16th September 2003, 19:40

Maa,

I did not mean to create any understanding or mistrust. You are always supportive, knowledgable, and helpful. I did go back and reread the whole thread. I read the whole thread initially.

Just to claify - I get compile errors using 1.1 today. You had the error using Version 1.3 beta 2, redid it using 1.1 and it worked for you. So we have two different experiences.

The point I want to make is DVD-Lab has bugs and can not assemble relatively simple movies as you have reported. I had no intention of creating misunderstanding or any mistrust.

Sorry for the confusion,
Don

maa · 16th September 2003, 21:31

Ok, then lets see if we can solve the problem (if you want to continue with DVD Lab that is)
DVD Lab supports one VTS but can misslead people with its "Movie" windows to thinking they can mix sources. Well that doesn't work. All source material must be of the same type and ratio. The audio in each movie must be the same type too.
The menus can be of a different ratio and audio source than the movies but must be consitant from menu to menu.

What material are you testing with Don ?

windtrader · 17th September 2003, 18:46

Quote:

What material are you testing with Don ?

Maa,

I have a number of trailers that I have collected and saved away on HD. As a way to test/eval the various tools, I was trying to combine a few of them together and a create a menu structure over them.

I did various things such as create multple titles, some titles have multiple clips from the trailers, combined as chapters, others have a single vob asset as a title. I tried capturing a single frame from the trailer and using it as the menu button.

Maybe I was pushing the tool too hard by combining some many features into a single output. If I get time I can go back and do a few very simple jobs. However, it would only demonstrate that DVD-Lab can do simple jobs as DVD Author can.

I'm also looking at Ulead, Sonic, and Premier tools for feature comparison, tool robustness, and stability.

maa · 17th September 2003, 23:02

As long as DVD_Lab remains single VTS its not really suitable for that kind of job. Its aimed at creating DVDs for new material from a NLE app. Multiple VTS is comming later according to the author.
It just outshines the competiton with its menu making abilities thats why I like it so much and why I worte the guides to do the rest manually.
I hope you find a tool you like.

windtrader · 22nd September 2003, 08:57

Maa,

I've been busy evaluating a few authoring/editing tools. DVD Author is really nice and easy to use. It will all easy adding of chapters and setting the begin-end points of the clips.

As you say, DVD-Lab is more flexible and powerful. I did find the fact you can trim the end only quite a limitation. The fatal compile error I was getting was coming from a out of disc space condition. Once I pointed the work and temp areas to an open drive, the error went away. I set up some transition menus and more fancy backgrounds etc. Quite nice but it does take more time to learn and get going.

The ulead products are good too except they started acting up on my system. I could swear they handled AC-3 but after awhile I lost the ability to process any AC-3 audio in the clips. This pretty much put the end to those tools; however, they had pretty nice features and it was pretty easy to learn.

manic_d · 6th October 2003, 03:38

2CooL, your guide was very useful as usual but now I was wondering how to start (resume play) a re-authored movie from a stopped condition. On my set top player when playing a Shrink re-authored movie and pressing the stop button on my remote the only way to resume play seems to be to eject the disc and reload. Pressing play does nothing. So what does the program logic do when the play button is pressed? Is there a guide to what the remote control buttons relate to in the IFO program language?
cheers
manic_d

maa · 6th October 2003, 10:16

Didn't search then ?

Hardware Resume

It also depends on your player.
Mine comes with a message about resume if I press stop once, a second press causes the DVD to be re-started on Play.

2COOL · 6th October 2003, 16:25

Quote:

Originally posted by manic_d
2CooL, your guide was very useful as usual but now I was wondering how to start (resume play) a re-authored movie from a stopped condition. On my set top player when playing a Shrink re-authored movie and pressing the stop button on my remote the only way to resume play seems to be to eject the disc and reload. Pressing play does nothing. So what does the program logic do when the play button is pressed? Is there a guide to what the remote control buttons relate to in the IFO program language?
cheers
manic_d

I was going to reply earlier but maa beat me to it. Stopping your movie and having it play at the lat spot you were at is a player's feature/option. Look inside your set top's setup menu and browse through it.

11th September 2003, 09:15	#1 \| Link
2COOL PGC Navigator in Training Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: NTSC Land Posts: 3,552	Using Title Menu Button to Skip Titles in Re-authored DVD Shrink Movies Using Title Menu Button to Skip Titles in Re-authored DVD Shrink Movies Courtesy of 2CL Tool I used: IFOedit 0.95 DVDShrink used before this guide was v3.0 Beta 5 So you re-authored your DVD in DVD Shrink. You didn’t really care for the menu but you do want to have the option of skipping from Title to Title. In this guide, we’ll do just that. I have re-authored a sample DVD with three Titles Figure 1) which DVD Shrink has put them in separate TitleSets. Below, is a visual layout of my files. Notice that I don’t have any 0.VOBs. These are our menu VOBs and since our re-authored DVD Shrink didn’t let us have them, then we don’t have any present. Code: Figure 1. VIDEO_TS.BUP VIDEO_TS.IFO ___________ VTS_01_0.BUP VTS_01_0.IFO Title 1 VTS_01_1.VOB VTS_01_2.VOB ___________ VTS_02_0.BUP VTS_02_0.IFO Title 2 VTS_02_1.VOB VTS_02_2.VOB ___________ VTS_03_0.BUP VTS_03_0.IFO Title 3 VTS_03_1.VOB VTS_03_2.VOB To repeat myself, re-authoring in DVD Shrink does not produce any menus so it is obvious that our IFOs do not have menu tables in them. Menu Tables are used to hold information of what’s in a menu, importantly the navigational commands. Let’s start our first step. ____________________________________________________ 1. First, we need a menu table. If you look in your VIDEO_TS.IFO / VMGM_PGCI_UT, you’ll have this message. “There is no VMGM_PGCI_UT table”. We need one badly so find any DVD with menus and it doesn’t matter if it’s the DVD in your DVD drive or it’s already ripped onto your harddrive. ____________________________________________________ 2. Merging Menu Tables Open up your reauthored movie’s VIDEO_TS.IFO in IFOedit. Go up to your Title bar and select Tools / Merge Menu Tables. Browse to your DVD with menus and open that VIDEO_TS.IFO. You will see your IFOedit window blink. You now have a menu table. So check it out. Go to your VIDEO_TS.IFO / VMGM_PGCI_UT. The menu you now have is the same as the DVD’s VIDEO_TS.IFO you just used. Merging menu tables in IFOedit also means “importing” menu tables. Nothing was changed in the IFO except our b]VIDEO_TS.IFO / VMGM_PGCI_UT[/b]. At this point, it’d be important to save your DVD Shrink movie now so do that. ____________________________________________________ 3. Now that we have a menu table to work on, I like to show you first what DVD Shrink had in your VIDEO_TS.IFO / VMGM_MAT / First Play PGC / PGC Command Table. (Figure 2) Code: Figure 2. First Play PGC PGC Command Table: 1.Pre Command If GPreg<0> == (cmp-val)<1><' then Goto line# 4 [00 a1 00 00 00 01 00 04] 2.Pre Command If GPreg<0> == (cmp-val)<2><' then Goto line# 5 [00 a1 00 00 00 02 00 05] 3.Pre Command (JumpTT) Jump to Title: 1 [30 02 00 00 00 01 00 00] 4.Pre Command (JumpTT) Jump to Title: 2 [30 02 00 00 00 02 00 00] 5.Pre Command (JumpTT) Jump to Title: 3 [30 02 00 00 00 03 00 00] As you can see, the value in GPreg<0> or General Parameter Register 0, plays a big part on deciding which Title to play next. Another thing I want to you to see is your PGC Command Table for your 3 Titles. Code: Figure 3. Title 1 PGC Command Table: 1.Pre Command Set GPreg<0> mov (set-val)<0> [71 00 00 00 00 00 00 00] 2.Pre Command Break [00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00] 1.Post Command Set GPreg<0> mov (set-val)<1> [71 00 00 00 00 01 00 00] 2.Post Command (CallSS FP) Call First-Play domain PGC [Resume Cell: 1] [30 08 00 00 01 00 00 00] Title 2 PGC Command Table: 1.Pre Command Set GPreg<0> mov (set-val)<0> [71 00 00 00 00 00 00 00] 2.Pre Command Break [00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00] 1.Post Command Set GPreg<0> mov (set-val)<2> [71 00 00 00 00 02 00 00] 2.Post Command (CallSS FP) Call First-Play domain PGC [Resume Cell: 1] [30 08 00 00 01 00 00 00] Title 3 PGC Command Table: 1.Pre Command Set GPreg<0> mov (set-val)<0> [71 00 00 00 00 00 00 00] 2.Pre Command Break [00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00] 1.Post Command Exit [31 01 00 00 00 00 00 00] The commands in these titles are similar in a way except for the Post Command in Title 3. Also we see GPreg<0> is being set too. ____________________________________________________ 4. Hexediting Let’s work on our menu table in our VIDEO_TS.IFO. Go to VIDEO_TS.IFO / VMGM_PGCI_UT / PGC-Menu_1 / PGC Command Table. PGC-Menu_1 is your Title-menu, as shown in your VIDEO_TS.IFO / VMG Overview / Menu Language Unit section. (Figure 3) Code: Figure 4. Language Menu Unit 1: [English] Menu 1: [Title-Menu] (entry PGC) (Programs: 0) (Cells: 0) When you press your Title button on your remote, your DVD will immediately jump to this Title Menu Hence the name, “Title Menu” button. Now before, we go any further, this is a good time to backup your IFO and BUPs to another folder. If you mess up in your hexedits, you can always copy your original IFO and BUP over to replace your badly edited one. With that said and done, read on. Basically, in this step, we want our PGC Command Table here to be exactly like our First Play PGC’s PGC Command Table (Figure 2). I wish we can import that PGC Command table but unfortunately, we have to do it manually by hexediting. It’s not that difficult. But first, we need to edit the following to reflect our Figure 2. We have 5 Pre Commands so double left click on line. Change the values as below. Code: PGC Command Table: Number of Pre Commands 5 Number of Post Commands 0 Number of Cell Commands 0 You should now have 5 miscellaneous Pre Commands present. Here’s is where we start our first hexediting. Double left click on Pre Command #1 and you will have your HexEdit Module window. In the window, you will see something like this. 00000000 ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ...... The ##s represent the hex value that you will edit as below, taken from Figure 2. Code: 1.Pre Command If GPreg<0> == (cmp-val)<1><' then Goto line# 4 [00 a1 00 00 00 01 00 04] Using your mouse, click in the ## ## ## ## ## ## ## ## and enter exactly as your Pre Command #1 in your First Play PGC. Remember to have your CAPs lock off or else you can’t enter any letters. Press OK when done. Refreshing Screen Tip To refresh your screen, here’s a personal trick I do. At bottom left of IFOedit, check and uncheck your “Show Reserved Values” checkbox and your screen will refresh. A single check will do too. Anyway, scroll down to your PGC Command Table and confirm your hexedit. Repeat if wrong. When your done, you should have the same PGC Command Table as Figure 2. Save your IFO and BUP, if you don’t want to go through that long hexediting again. ____________________________________________________ 5. Now we will work on our Titles’ PGC Command Tables. Let’s start on Title 1 first so go to VTS_01_0.IFO / VTS_PGCITI / VTS_PGC_1 / PGC Command Table. You should see the same as Figure 3. Code: Title 1 PGC Command Table: 1.Pre Command Set GPreg<0> mov (set-val)<0> [71 00 00 00 00 00 00 00] 2.Pre Command Break [00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00] 1.Post Command Set GPreg<0> mov (set-val)<1> [71 00 00 00 00 01 00 00] 2.Post Command (CallSS FP) Call First-Play domain PGC [Resume Cell: 1] [30 08 00 00 01 00 00 00] We’re not going to touch our Post Commands in our Titles except our last Title, which in our case is Title 3. This will be explain at a later step. If you decide to press your Title Menu button to skip to the next Title, your Post Commands will not be executed. You can say they were bypassed. All we’re going to do is just edit our first Pre Command. We want GPreg<0> to hold the same value that’s also programmed in our Post Command. Here’s the flow of navigations if you don’t press your Title Menu button during Title 1’s play. GPreg<0> is set to 0 prior to video clip of Title 1 and holds that value till video play ends. When video has ended, GPreg<0> is then set to the value of 1 and while holding that value, it makes a jump to your First Play PGC. In your First Play PGC (see Figure 2), Pre Command #1 is executed and checked for trueness and since GPreg<0> IS 1, it makes a jump to Pre Command #4 to begin our next video clip, Title 2. Makes sense? I hope so. Anyways, let’s edit Title 1’s Pre Command #1. Like in Step 4, hexedit Pre Command #1 to our new value as follows. Code: OLD > 1.Pre Command Set GPreg<0> mov (set-val)<0> [71 00 00 00 00 00 00 00] NEW > 1.Pre Command Set GPreg<0> mov (set-val)<1> [71 00 00 00 00 01 00 00] When done, save your IFO and BUP and test out your new edit by pressing your DVD Play button in IFOedit. If you press your “Title Menu” button in IFOedit, you should skip to Title 2 as it shows in your Status Window of your DVD Play Panel. It works? Great! ____________________________________________________ 6. Press your “Get VTS sectors” button ____________________________________________________ 7. Repeat Steps 5 & 6 with the rest of the other Titles EXCEPT the last one. This will be explained in the next step. ____________________________________________________ 8. Optional: Endless Loop in Play We don’t need to do any changes in our Pre Commands for our last Title or last Titleset because it’s working the way it suppose to. The way the Post Commands in your last Title works is that if you didn’t press your Title Menu button and let the video play to the end, your DVD will stop playing. Notice the “Exit” in your last Post Command? An “Exit” basically means to stop executing commands and cease play. So as an optional step, if you want your DVD to loop back and play from the start again at Title 1, here’s what we’ll do. Hexedit our last Post Command #2 as follows. Code: OLD > 1.Post Command Exit [31 01 00 00 00 00 00 00] NEW > 2.Post Command (CallSS FP) Call First-Play domain PGC [Resume Cell: 1] [30 08 00 00 01 00 00 00] ____________________________________________________ 9. Save your IFO and BUP. ____________________________________________________ 10. Get VTS Sectors ____________________________________________________ That’s all to it! Enjoy! To summarize what my edited Titles look like, here there are. I decided to do Step 8 and have my whole DVD in an endless loop. Code: Title 1 PGC Command Table: 1.Pre Command Set GPreg<0> mov (set-val)<1> [71 00 00 00 00 01 00 00] 2.Pre Command Break [00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00] 1.Post Command Set GPreg<0> mov (set-val)<1> [71 00 00 00 00 01 00 00] 2.Post Command (CallSS FP) Call First-Play domain PGC [Resume Cell: 1] [30 08 00 00 01 00 00 00] Title 2 PGC Command Table: 1.Pre Command Set GPreg<0> mov (set-val)<2> [71 00 00 00 00 02 00 00] 2.Pre Command Break [00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00] 1.Post Command Set GPreg<0> mov (set-val)<2> [71 00 00 00 00 02 00 00] 2.Post Command (CallSS FP) Call First-Play domain PGC [Resume Cell: 1] [30 08 00 00 01 00 00 00] Title 3 PGC Command Table: 1.Pre Command Set GPreg<0> mov (set-val)<0> [71 00 00 00 00 00 00 00] 2.Pre Command Break [00 02 00 00 00 00 00 00] 1.Post Command (CallSS FP) Call First-Play domain PGC [Resume Cell: 1] [30 08 00 00 01 00 00 00] __________________ 2COOL Last edited by 2COOL; 12th September 2003 at 06:49.

11th September 2003, 19:20	#5 \| Link
maa Registered User Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 896	Actually apart from the "IfoEditPhobia" its a five minute job and the more you practice with IfoEdit the more you become independant of the quirks in authoring tools. This is the real power and understanding and it doesn't cause any unneccessary copying/re-muxing of the VOBs. The guide may look long but its well writen with great explainations for newbies. __________________ Whats more usefull: E=MC² or (CallSS VMGM) Call VMG PGC: 1 [Resume Cell: 1]?

11th September 2003, 20:26	#7 \| Link
2COOL PGC Navigator in Training Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: NTSC Land Posts: 3,552	@windtrader Some time this year, I've read somewhere here that someone wanting to do exactly like my guide is intended for. I had an idea but to make my plan work, I needed to have a menu table in my movie-only files. Maa just enlightened me that I could've done this all this time. Anyway, I had this guide as a draft a couple of months ago and with that secret ingredient, I had finished up the guide. Anyways, the authoring tools that are currently available are not, should I say, the holy grail of backup softwares. They still have irks, quirks, and areas that are limited to what me and you want for us to have the best backups. That's why I come up with work-around methods prior to or after using specific programs. A lot of times, people around here would use other tools to fix/improve each other. As for the authoring tools you mentioned, I do use TMPGenc DVD Author sometimes but DVD Lab, which looks promising, I haven't worked with that fully. You may want to talk to Maa on that since he has a guide on using IFOedit with DVD Lab. TMPGenc DVD Author is still new and you will have menus created. You don't have an option to do a complete movie only. Having menus is not a bad thing. TMPGenc DA can do what my guide in this post can do and it does through the track menus. You would have to browse through the menus and select which Title you want to see. So the advantage to TMPGenc DVD Author is you have menus for Title skipping since it authors them into separate Titlesets. If it didn't, then this method in this thread would be useful. I only wished that TMPGenc can let us author in more than one audio and also include subtitles. I'm a little mentally drained right now so I hope I answered your question. __________________ 2COOL

16th September 2003, 08:50	#10 \| Link
maa Registered User Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 896	Ah - you mean the 1.3BETA 2 ? Well the completed version 1.1 works as I mention at the bottom of that same post. Try it if you need better menus __________________ Whats more usefull: E=MC² or (CallSS VMGM) Call VMG PGC: 1 [Resume Cell: 1]?

16th September 2003, 17:52	#12 \| Link
maa Registered User Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 896	Actually thats not funny - you are quoting me out of context - anyone reading this thread will missunderstand and you make it look as if my words are not to be trusted. Read the whole thread. Sorry I havn't tried DVDit and Ulead Workshop. __________________ Whats more usefull: E=MC² or (CallSS VMGM) Call VMG PGC: 1 [Resume Cell: 1]?

11th September 2003, 17:48	#2 \| Link
windtrader Registered User Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Region 1, SF Bay Area Posts: 460	2COOL, You come up with amazing tweaks! What about joining the VOBS with VOBEDIT then generate a new IFO using IFOEDIT? Basically, this would covert the separate titles into chapters. Buth then it would not show off your superior knowledge of IFOland.

11th September 2003, 18:52	#4 \| Link
windtrader Registered User Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Region 1, SF Bay Area Posts: 460	2COOL, Right. I did MIB2 yesterday and see another one second cell in each of the Extras title VOBs. This would mess up as you say. I've followed many of your posted tweaks and am really curious why you choose this approach to modifying the target DVD IFOs? The methods you devise do work but it got me thinking about authoring tools and it seems DVDLAB and TMPGEnc DVD Author are the two most popular and featured tools for all except the big-time pros who probably use Secnarist. It seems that pulling the assets into one of these tools could accomplish the same thing with less error and probably a lot easier for the non-techie. I could not come up with a leaning either way. Probably, my ignorance is hindering my ability to form any opinions. What is your opinion of these two authoring tools and the pro/con of using these vs the 2COOL trick of the week :-)? Thanks, Don

11th September 2003, 19:40	#6 \| Link
windtrader Registered User Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Region 1, SF Bay Area Posts: 460	Hi maa, It took me a bit to get past the IFOphobia to follow 2COOL's guides but I am able to follow along pretty well now. I'm sure every tool and method has it quirks and pluses-minuses but I guess what seemed pretty cool is you can fairly easily create neat and functional simple menus with graphics, custom navigations, etc. with a DVDLab type tool. The 2COOL tweak method was not really intended to do this and it will never be replaced as a way to get under the covers and do internal IFO tweaking. It just seems to me that one can expand what can be done with user authored IFO/VOBs and if these tools cover some of the more basic tweaks, why not use it for that, the expanded authoring features they do do, and still use 2COOL for the special stuff. Do you have much experience with the ahtoring tools we are discussing?

11th September 2003, 21:29	#8 \| Link
maa Registered User Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 896	Yes I use DVD Lab because it makes more or less any menu I can think of. It is of course a creation tool but you can also re-make menus or parts of menus from backups. Its easy to cut up bits of menus with DVDShrink in re-author mode and use the files in DVD LAB. It allows all types of buttons from normal text to underline to invisible hotspots to imported overlays and vector objects. Moving menus, moving button backgrounds - skys the limit on that. The draw backs 'till now are : 1. It doesn't output multiple VTS (all films go in one tittle set) 2. It doesn't create multiple audio streams (althouth it will import VOBs with multiple streams that you can change with the remote.) There is a guide for this here And thats why I wrote the guides: Making a multiple VTS with Ifoedit for a Menu produced with DVD Lab Guide to a Multiple Audio Menu with DVD Lab and IfoEdit

16th September 2003, 03:56	#9 \| Link
windtrader Registered User Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Region 1, SF Bay Area Posts: 460	Maa, I finally got around to evaluating DVD Author and DVDLab. So far DVD Author is the winner since I can not get DVD-Lab to get past the fatal compile error as you also encountered. http://www.mmbforums.com/modules.php...ewtopic&t=1490 So, just why did you lead me down this rat hole?? :-) You forgot to mention that it crashes. Don

16th September 2003, 19:40	#13 \| Link
windtrader Registered User Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Region 1, SF Bay Area Posts: 460	Maa, I did not mean to create any understanding or mistrust. You are always supportive, knowledgable, and helpful. I did go back and reread the whole thread. I read the whole thread initially. Just to claify - I get compile errors using 1.1 today. You had the error using Version 1.3 beta 2, redid it using 1.1 and it worked for you. So we have two different experiences. The point I want to make is DVD-Lab has bugs and can not assemble relatively simple movies as you have reported. I had no intention of creating misunderstanding or any mistrust. Sorry for the confusion, Don

16th September 2003, 21:31	#14 \| Link
maa Registered User Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 896	Ok, then lets see if we can solve the problem (if you want to continue with DVD Lab that is) DVD Lab supports one VTS but can misslead people with its "Movie" windows to thinking they can mix sources. Well that doesn't work. All source material must be of the same type and ratio. The audio in each movie must be the same type too. The menus can be of a different ratio and audio source than the movies but must be consitant from menu to menu. What material are you testing with Don ? __________________ Whats more usefull: E=MC² or (CallSS VMGM) Call VMG PGC: 1 [Resume Cell: 1]?

17th September 2003, 23:02	#16 \| Link
maa Registered User Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 896	As long as DVD_Lab remains single VTS its not really suitable for that kind of job. Its aimed at creating DVDs for new material from a NLE app. Multiple VTS is comming later according to the author. It just outshines the competiton with its menu making abilities thats why I like it so much and why I worte the guides to do the rest manually. I hope you find a tool you like. __________________ Whats more usefull: E=MC² or (CallSS VMGM) Call VMG PGC: 1 [Resume Cell: 1]?

22nd September 2003, 08:57	#17 \| Link
windtrader Registered User Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Region 1, SF Bay Area Posts: 460	Maa, I've been busy evaluating a few authoring/editing tools. DVD Author is really nice and easy to use. It will all easy adding of chapters and setting the begin-end points of the clips. As you say, DVD-Lab is more flexible and powerful. I did find the fact you can trim the end only quite a limitation. The fatal compile error I was getting was coming from a out of disc space condition. Once I pointed the work and temp areas to an open drive, the error went away. I set up some transition menus and more fancy backgrounds etc. Quite nice but it does take more time to learn and get going. The ulead products are good too except they started acting up on my system. I could swear they handled AC-3 but after awhile I lost the ability to process any AC-3 audio in the clips. This pretty much put the end to those tools; however, they had pretty nice features and it was pretty easy to learn.

6th October 2003, 03:38	#18 \| Link
manic_d Registered User Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 3	2CooL, your guide was very useful as usual but now I was wondering how to start (resume play) a re-authored movie from a stopped condition. On my set top player when playing a Shrink re-authored movie and pressing the stop button on my remote the only way to resume play seems to be to eject the disc and reload. Pressing play does nothing. So what does the program logic do when the play button is pressed? Is there a guide to what the remote control buttons relate to in the IFO program language? cheers manic_d

6th October 2003, 10:16	#19 \| Link
maa Registered User Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 896	Didn't search then ? Hardware Resume It also depends on your player. Mine comes with a message about resume if I press stop once, a second press causes the DVD to be re-started on Play. __________________ Whats more usefull: E=MC² or (CallSS VMGM) Call VMG PGC: 1 [Resume Cell: 1]?

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