Changing button commands in PGCEdit

[brownstem]

OK, here's what I frequently do in backing up discs, followed by what I want to be able to do in PGCEdit:

1) Rip with AnyDVD/Decrypter
2) Check which, if any, extras I want to keep
3) Assuming I want to keep just one featurette and nothing else, I get rid of everything in VobBlanker except the main menu, main movie with preferred audio track, and chapter menus
4) I then delete any buttons I've relegated useless in VobBlanker by using MenuEdit (e.g., I always disable the Audio or Setup button on the main menu since I don't need it and have deleted that submenu anyway)

Now, let's say I'm still at 5.5GB, meaning I'm going to run the final product through DVD-Rebuilder or Shrink. My problem is that often the one featurette I've decided to keep (maybe one of five or ten special features titles) is buried somewhere on a special features submenu. Sometimes it's a selection off of the first special features menu, but just as often it's buried another layer or two further down.

What I'd like to be able to do--instead of keeping those submenus and disabling all buttons except for the ones which eventually lead to the featurette I'm keeping--is change the commands of the "special features" button on the main menu so that clicking it simply takes me directly to the sole remaining featurette. No submenus at all. And, of course, once that featurette has played I want the end command to take me back to the main menu.

I've had a hell of a time trying to figure out how to do this in PGCEdit. No problems getting a pain in the ass dvd to go directly to the main menu upon insertion when it's not set to do so, but getting the above accomplished has been hit or miss. If anyone can direct me to a guide for rerouting a given button to go directly to a specific title as opposed to a submenu I'd appreciate it. Thanks very much.

[2COOL]

check your pm.

[2COOL]

Originally Posted by brownstem

What I'd like to be able to do--instead of keeping those submenus and disabling all buttons except for the ones which eventually lead to the featurette I'm keeping--is change the commands of the "special features" button on the main menu so that clicking it simply takes me directly to the sole remaining featurette. No submenus at all. And, of course, once that featurette has played I want the end command to take me back to the main menu.

I reviewed the DVD and this is the logical navigations I got

Main menu (Special Features, button 4)
    |
    Special Features sub-menu (Featurettes, button 5)
                   |
                   Featurettes sub-menu (Casting a Spell: Making Bewitch, button 1)
                                |
                                Title 5 - Casting a Spell: Making Bewitch
                                |
                   Featurettes sub-menu (Special Features, button 4)
                   |
   Special Features sub-menu (Main menu, button 9)
   |
Main menu

So what you request is this.

Main menu (Special Features, button 4)
      |
      Title 5 - Casting a Spell: Making Bewitch
      |                          
Main menu

[r0lZ]

Unfortunately, there are still no guides to do what you want. But it's relatively simple. The method is similar to the Jump2PGC method, except that the starting point is not when the DVD is inserted (FP-PGC.)

In short, here is what to do:

1) Go to trace mode, and trace until you reach your main menu. Select the special features button and click "Select & Break" to stop the trace. You are now at the starting point of the stuff you want to skip.

2) Use the State -> Clear 'Register Changed' Flags. This means that the trace mode will forget which registers have been changed so far.

3) Continue to trace until you reach the title you want to play (Title 5). Stop the trace when you enter the PGC, before executing any command. You are now at the end point of the stuff you want to skip.

4) What we want to do now is to simulate the changes made between the starting and ending points of the skipped part. Select Clipboard -> Copy Changed Registers as commands. Then, be sure to select the first line of the PGC of title 5 (the *** pre commands label), and click the Paste After button. This will insert some Set commands at the beginning of the pre-commands area. You may now quit trace mode.

5) Now, we need to jump directly from the menu button to title 5. If the featurette is in the same titleset than the menu (or if the menu is in the VMGM), it is possible to jump directly from the menu button to the title. If so, go to next step. Else, go to step 7.

6) Edit the menu button command to jump directly to title 5.
If the menu is not in the VMGM, use a JumpVTS_TT command. Otherwise, use a JumpTT command. Go to step 9.

7) Right-click on any PGC in the VMGM, and select New Dummy PGC. This will add a new PGC at the end of the VMGM. Select the NOP pre-command of this new dummy, and edit it to jump to title 5. Use a JumpTT command.

8) Edit the menu button to jump to the new VMGM PGC. Use a JumpSS-VMGM-pgc command.

9) Save and test.

Now, when you select your Special Features button, title 5 should play directly.

[r0lZ]

To return directly from Title 5 to the main menu, you should use a similar method, but in reverse order.

1) Go to trace mode, and trace until you play Title 5. When it has finished playing, break the trace. The cursor should be on the first post command of the Title 5 PGC. It's the starting point of the stuff you want to skip.

2) Use the State -> Clear 'Register Changed' Flags. This means that the trace mode will forget which registers have been changed so far.

3) Continue to trace until you reach the main menu. You should continue to trace over the two sub menus, and stop the trace when you enter the main menu PGC, before executing any command. You are now at the end point of the stuff you want to skip.
If the menu is not in the VMGM and the current PGC is not the 'RootM', 'AngleM', or whatever, you should assign it a free type. Right-click on the menu PGC, and select Set Menu Type. Select a type that is not used in the same domain (preferably the Angle menu.)

4) What we want to do now is to simulate the changes made between the starting and ending points of the skipped part. Select Clipboard -> Copy Changed Registers as commands. Then, be sure to select the *** post commands label of Title 5, and click the Paste After button. This will insert some Set commands at the beginning of the post-commands area. Click on the Add After button several times to insert some NOP commands just after the lines you have just inserted. You may now quit trace mode.

5) Now, we need to jump directly from Title 5 to the main menu. If the featurette is in the same titleset than the menu (or if the menu is in the VMGM), it is possible to jump directly from the title to the menu. If so, go to next step. Else, go to step 7.

6) Edit the first NOP command you have just inserted to jump directly to the main menu.
If the menu is not in the VMGM, use a CallSS_VTSM command. Otherwise, use a CallSS-VMGM-pgc command. In both cases, be sure to set the Resume Cell to 1. Go to step 9.

7) Right-click on any PGC in the VMGM, and select New Dummy PGC. This will add a new PGC at the end of the VMGM. Select the NOP pre-command of this new dummy, and edit it to jump to the target menu. Use a JumpSS-VTSM command.

8) Edit the first NOP post command of Title 5 to jump to the new VMGM PGC. Use a CallSS-VMGM-pgc command. Be sure to set the resume cell to 1.

9) Save and test.

This method should work, unless all menu types are already used, so you cannot assign a menu type to the target menu. In this case, it is necessary to jump to the Root Menu PGC, and from that PGC, bounce to the target PGC with a LinkPGCN command. It's a little bit more difficult, since you have to be sure that the normal navigation will continue to work. The method involves using a free GPRM to test if the Root Menu is entered the 'normal' way or directly from Title 5. If there are no free GPRMs, it's even more complicated, but still possible.
Let me know if it is your case...

[brownstem]

Thanks, guys. I'll give this a try as soon as I can settle down with a beer and wrap my brain around r01Z's tips. And thanks for making it so plainly visible what I'm trying to do, 2COOL.

Such a cool tool, I just wish there was a dvd structure tutorial for those of us who would like a solid grounding in how these things are put together (something like Webmonkey or w3schools if you want to teach yourself html). What I know is bits and pieces from working with PGCEdit, VobBlanker, etc. It's a slow and confusing mystery being revealed.

[2COOL]

What I was going to propose for jumping from main menu to Featurette is the same concept as what r0lZ gave. Now for the returning back to main menu, I was going to suggest doing the steps in this guide instead. This guide is a generic guide for bypassing menus and executing one the button commands in menu in question.

Since Title 5 returned to Featurette menu, using the guide, you would execute the immediate return to Special Features menu when the Featurette menu is accessed. Thne you would do the same thing with Special Features menu with the "main menu" button command.

[2COOL]

Originally Posted by r0lZ

8) Edit the menu button to jump to the new VMGM PGC. Use a JumpSS-VMGM-pgc command.

In jumping from your Special feature button to your proposed featurette (Title 5), you need to edit all instances of your main menu. In your case, Bewitched, you need to edit both "special features" buttons (button 4) for cell 2 and 3.

[brownstem]

Outstanding! You can't buy this kind of help. Thanks, guys.

[2COOL]

Please let us know how it worked out for you.

[voo_doo99]

Originally Posted by brownstem

Outstanding! You can't buy this kind of help. Thanks, guys.

Here! here! Cheers to the edit masters

That was a great question and such a cool solution with PgcEdit. Just what I wanted to do.

[brownstem]

Well, I had a 50% success rate. I got the first part (going directly to the featurette from the main menu) to work, but the second part didn't (still went to the featurettes submenu after playing the featurette). I'm relatively certain I did everything correctly, though I was suprised that when I saved the dvd after the second procedure that I didn't get the usual "do you want to make a backup" warnings. It simply saved. Perhaps I'll give the second part another shot.

The only issues (and they were minor) I had with the instructions came with instruction 3 of the first procedure "3) Continue to trace until you reach the title you want to play (Title 5). Stop the trace when you enter the PGC, before executing any command. You are now at the end point of the stuff you want to skip." and instruction 3 of the second procedure "3) Continue to trace until you reach the main menu. You should continue to trace over the two sub menus, and stop the trace when you enter the main menu PGC, before executing any command. You are now at the end point of the stuff you want to skip."

With the former I wasn't sure exactly when to stop the trace, since it enters the featurette and plays it automatically, then pops up the post menu just a few seconds later. Thinking that was too late, I redid the procedure and manually hit break once I saw that Title 5 had been selected, but before the post menu came up. I assume that's what you meant.

As for the latter, continuing through the two submenus seems ambiguous to me, but I just took whatever choices got me back to the main menu eventually. Also, was I supposed to stop the trace before the main menu preview pops up? If so, how?

In any event, I thought I had followed the instructions properly, and the only things I could think of were a particular command at the end of the string of several NOP commands for Title 5, and perhaps the dummy PGC in VMGM (which sent things to the main menu, though the first three entries are dummy menus before the newly-edited "angle" menu--the real menu), so I changed that to send it directly to the angle menu. Didn't make any difference.

Here are two screenshots, though I don't know if they are what you might need to troubleshoot this:




Thanks, guys, and please let me know what else I can try or provide.

[r0lZ]

Originally Posted by brownstem

I'm relatively certain I did everything correctly, though I was suprised that when I saved the dvd after the second procedure that I didn't get the usual "do you want to make a backup" warnings. It simply saved. Perhaps I'll give the second part another shot.

It's normal. The backup of the menu VOB is made only when you have modified a menu button and when the menu VOB has not already been backuped.

The only issues (and they were minor) I had with the instructions came with instruction 3 of the first procedure "3) Continue to trace until you reach the title you want to play (Title 5). Stop the trace when you enter the PGC, before executing any command. You are now at the end point of the stuff you want to skip." and instruction 3 of the second procedure "3) Continue to trace until you reach the main menu. You should continue to trace over the two sub menus, and stop the trace when you enter the main menu PGC, before executing any command. You are now at the end point of the stuff you want to skip."

With the former I wasn't sure exactly when to stop the trace, since it enters the featurette and plays it automatically, then pops up the post menu just a few seconds later. Thinking that was too late, I redid the procedure and manually hit break once I saw that Title 5 had been selected, but before the post menu came up. I assume that's what you meant.

There are two methods to stop the trace mode exactly where you want:
1) You may use the Step button to execute the commands one at a time. (If you use the Run command, you will probably be unable to stop the trace at the right point.)
2) Before launching the trace, right click on the target PGC and set a pre/post breakpoint. Then use the Run button. The trace will be stopped automatically when you reach the first pre-command (and the first post command, but you don't need that) of the target PGC.

As for the latter, continuing through the two submenus seems ambiguous to me, but I just took whatever choices got me back to the main menu eventually.

Right.

Also, was I supposed to stop the trace before the main menu preview pops up? If so, how?

Same as above. Use the step button or set a breakpoint.

In any event, I thought I had followed the instructions properly, and the only things I could think of were a particular command at the end of the string of several NOP commands for Title 5, and perhaps the dummy PGC in VMGM (which sent things to the main menu, though the first three entries are dummy menus before the newly-edited "angle" menu--the real menu), so I changed that to send it directly to the angle menu. Didn't make any difference.

Should work. At the end of the playback of title 5, the jump to VMGM PGC 8 takes you back to the angle menu.

But I forgot to explain something: when playing Title 5, if you press the root menu button, you will enter the root menu of the current titleset (VTSM 6, PGC 1.) This PGC is certainly used to go back to the featurette submenu.
So, if you want to return directly to the main menu when using the menu button on the remote, you must also modify the root menu of VTSM 6. Just copy the post-commands 1 to 6 of title 5, and paste them as the first pre-commands of VTSM 6, PGC 1.

When you say "still went to the featurettes submenu after playing the featurette", I suppose that you have pressed the menu button before reaching the end of the playback. Right? If it's not the case, you should retry, but this time use the step or breakpoint trick explained above to be sure to stop the trace before executing the first pre command of the angle menu.

If it still doesn't work, send me your original IFOs (and the modified ones if you wish.) I will try to understand what's wrong.

[2COOL]

@brownstem

When you have the time, give my suggestion a try also with navigating from your Featurette menu back to your main menu. It's a different method and does not need any unused GPRM or even setting a menu type. Who knows? You might have use for it one day when you encounter a DVD with a language selection or aspect ratio menu.

[voo_doo99]

Originally Posted by r0lZ

Should work. At the end of the playback of title 5, the jump to VMGM PGC 8 takes you back to the angle menu.

@brownstem
I dont have this title but something similar happened to me on a different title when the return went to a different menu in the same Menu PGC. Apparently the Menu PGC has different menus in diffrent cells and I think the GPRM values in the return commands did not accurately point to the right menu cell. What I had to do was doing a separate trace to track the GPRM values coming to the correct menu, and used that to tweak the return commands [in your case the GPRM(8), (9), (11), (13)]

Hope it helps, can you post a screen of the command list for the VTSM 2, PGC 4, Angle Menu to see if it applies?

@2COOL
I am not really clear of your method. Does it involve blanking the sub-menu and adding cell command to return to the main menu, or something else?. Could you post the pseudo-codes/steps for this title?. Thanks.

[2COOL]

Originally Posted by voo_doo99

@2COOL
I am not really clear of your method. Does it involve blanking the sub-menu and adding cell command to return to the main menu, or something else?

Yes. And here's the link to the guide again.

[voo_doo99]

Originally Posted by 2COOL

Yes. And here's the link to the guide again.

Great colorful guide, used it all the time. Worked really well with older titles, but I could not get it to bypass the ARM the last time I tried [Monster In-Law], had to tweak the IFO to do it. PgcEdit has made backup life so much easier. The trace method that r0lZ used for bypassing menu was very exciting, I am learning its power each time. Maybe you could research a new generic method and guide us to bypass the ARM with just editing the IFO commands; it seems very doable with PgcEdit.

Thanks r0lZ for a super editing tool and your continuous dedication to enhance it.

[2COOL]

Originally Posted by voo_doo99

but I could not get it to bypass the ARM the last time I tried [Monster In-Law], had to tweak the IFO to do it.

Not to get OT but it worked for me on this R1 movie.

[brownstem]

Sorry for the response delay, guys, but I finally got around to redoing r0lZ's second phase and giving 2COOL's method a go. Both worked, I'm happy to say. I actually tried them on a different movie (Cronicas) since Bewitched kind of sucked anyway ;-) I think the key for the former method was making sure I went through and toggled the pre/post breakpoints at the appropriate places. I was sure I was breaking exactly where I needed to.

The only minor issue I still have is with hitting the root menu button during playback of the featurette. On Cronicas this still results in going to the submenu, even though I'm 99% certain I found the correct place to insert the copied post commands to get things back to the main menu. No matter, however.

Thanks again, guys. Between these two methods I've got 95% of my PGCEdit needs handled.

UPDATE: Well, as it turns out perhaps I haven't had that featurette-root menu problem after all. I burned the disc and when I tried it in my Sony set-top player it did return to the main menu when I hit menu from the featurette. I double-checked my software player (WinDVD) and it has the problem, but I couldn't care less about that (except that it would be nice if it reflected what a "real" dvd player does).