PgcEdit v7 discussion thread [Archive]

r0lZ

22nd April 2006, 09:48

PgcEdit v7.0 released!

As requested by many users (thanks, guys!) I have finally removed the useless leading "0." in the version number. The enormous gap between the latest official version 0.6.3.1 and this v7.0 doesn't mean that it's a particularly major upgrade, or that all bug are fixed.

Release notes:

A. Added a preview checkbox in the upper left corner of the main window. When ticked, selecting a PGC manually starts the preview automatically.
A. Menu Editor: New function "Edit -> Copy button position only" to copy the current button position. Paste it with "Paste Current Button".
A. Menu Editor: New functions "Button -> Increase / Decrease Button Number" to move the current button in the list of buttons.
A. New function Info -> Jumps from VMG to Current VTS to find out the global references to the current VTS. (This function doesn't show the references from the current VTS to itself.) Useful to verify if the last VTS is still referenced and to reroute the references before removing it.
A. Preview: In trace mode, it is now possible to blank the current cell from the preview window. In addition, when all cells of the current PGC are blanked, the user is prompted to kill the playback of the PGC.
A. Kill Playback: When killing the playback of a Title PGC, the user has now the option to blank all cells of the PGC, to easily strip the original cells later with FixVTS or VobBlanker. This function is similar to the option to remove the cells of a menu PGC and convert it to a dummy.
A. Added the menu Options -> Functions -> Kill PGC Playback -> Always remove or blank the PGC cells, to eliminate the dialog asking if the cells must be removed (for a Menu PGC) or blanked (for a Title PGC.)
A. PGC Editor: Added a function to delete all multi-angles cells, keeping only one angle. The Angle flags and First ILVU end value on the remaining cells are removed as well. It is then possible to strip the unused ILV cells from the VOB files with VobBlanker. It is necessary to remove all angles from the DVD or the domain that will be processed with VobBlanker, and to enable the "Fix Always VOB SYNCI/SRI Pointers in Titles" option!
The same function can be used to remove the ILV flags and First ILVU End value in interleaved (mono-angle) PGCs.
A. PGC Editor -> Remove Cells: Added an option to keep the program numbers in sync with the original cells. However, when this option is enabled, it is possible that several PGs are pointing to the same cell. A warning is issued in this case, since this situation might be illegal.
A. Added the menu Tools -> FixVTS, to launch FixVTS with the first VOB of the current domain already loaded. Useful to strip the blanked cells from the VOBs after a cells blanking from the preview.
A. Domain Streams Attributes: It is now possible to remove the audio and subpic streams selectively in this dialog. The streams assignments in the PGCs of the current domain are also deleted automatically. The subsequent streams are automatically shifted if necessary. The SetSTN commands are NOT modified! (Note that this dialogue is now read-only when it is called from the PGC Editor.)
A. Changed the maximum number of chanels to 8 in the Audio parameters of the Domain Streams Attributes dialog, to take the new formats into account.
E. Calls Cross Reference and Go To Calling Command: A Root menu (that is normally callable with the remote) is now considered as unreferenced if all titles of the same VTS are unreferenced, or if all titles have the PUO to prohibit calling this menu. For the Subpic, Audio, Angle and PTT menus, all non-dummy PGCs of the same titleset are checked, including the menus. For the Title Menu, all non-dummy PGCs of the whole DVD are checked.
E. Burn DVD: Support for the new /TESTMODE option of ImgBurn 1.2.0.0 (for DVD-R only!)
E. Burn DVD: Added a button in the burn setup dialog to use the faster version of mkisofs.exe, now provided with PgcEdit (under Windows only.)
E. Burn DVD: Added a check to ensure that mkisofs.exe is properly configured in the Burn Setup dialog. Some guys used ImgTool.exe instead!
E. Burn DVD: Added an option to save automatically the Graph Data file for DVDInfoPro. The file is saved with the same name as the source ISO file, but with the .IBG extension. Requires ImgBurn 1.3 or more.
E. Burn DVD: Added new burn speeds in the speed selector dropdown menu.
E. Burn DL DVD: When a suitable cell cannot be found for the layer break, PgcEdit displays now in which cell the layer break should be. You can therefore easily use VobBlanker to split that cell.
E. Remap Title Numbers: Now, this function searches for SPRM(4:Title Number in Volume) in the VM commands of the DVD. If SPRM 4 is used, a warning is displayed, as it is dangerous to remap the title numbers in this case.
E. Menu Viewer/Edit Command button: In expert mode, the "Modify the command for the 2 (or 3) groups?" prompt is not displayed anymore, except when the original commands are not identical in all groups.
E. Read DVD: Added a check for illegal entries in VMG_TT_SRPT table (Title assigned to a non existing PGC or 2 Titles assigned to the same PGC.) If the bad Title is the last one in the table, it is optionally removed, but the user must still fix the VM commands, if needed.
E. When loading a new DVD, the Fix number of streams in VMGM/VTSI_MAT tables function do not prompt the user any more to fix the Menu domains with one subpic stream defined but never used by the menu PGCs, because it's legal and frequent on commercial DVDs, and this warning confused some users. However, this check is still made when the Fix number of streams is called from the "DVD" menu, and when opening the Domain Streams Attributes GUI.
E. When loading the DVD, the End Byte pointers of the tables are now verified whenever possible to avoid stupid crashes with badly authored DVDs.
E. PGC Editor: When editing a menu PGC, only one audio and one subpic stream is now displayed, since more streams in the menu domain is illegal.
F. PGC Editor - Create New Cell: Disabling the option to create the backup of the VOB file did not work.
F. The "New 'Play All' PGC" function was broken. Also, there is now a check to warn the user if the number of programs in the new PGC is greater than 127 or the number of chapters greater than 99.
F. The target of some Jump_VTS_TT and Jump_VTS_PTT was not found by the find target routine. This caused some bugs in the Go to calling command, Calls cross references, Find jumps to nowhere, Jump to target and Highlight target functions.
F. Trace: When the Title Menu button is pressed during playback of a VTSM menu PGC, the Title menu is now called. Previously, a Resume to Title was made. The correct behaviour in this case is uncertain, because the specs are not clear on this subject, but this behaviour seems logical and many players (though not all!) are doing this. A resume is still issued when the Title menu is pressed during playback of a VMGM menu PGC.
F. Trace: Small bug fixed: when a cell command was reached, it was necessary to execute it twice, and the command was logged twice as well. However, the cell command was simulated only once.
F. Small bug in the Jump To PGC Upon DVD Insert function, introduced in 0.6.3 fixed: the resume cell of the CallSS command inserted in the beginning of the pre-commands of the resume title was wrong.
F. Fixed a bug in the Info -> Jumps from VMG to Current VTS function. The Prev/Next/GoUpPGCN links of the current VTS were wrongly displayed.
F. Burn DL DVD: When burning a DL DVD saved by DVD Remake v3.4 (without first resaving it with PgcEdit), the computation of the layer break position was wrong. To fix this problem, the DVD (including single-layer DVDs) are saved automatically when the burn function is started.
W. Added several workarounds for a (possible) bug in TitleWriter: TitleWriter assigns several Title numbers to the same PGC. Now, PgcEdit should support this strange (if not illegal) way to use the VMG_TT_SRPT table.
W. Under Windows XP, the Windows command TSKill.exe is now used instead of PSKill.exe (which caused false positive warnings of some picky anti-virus programs). However, PSKill is still used when TSKill is not found. (The kill executable is used only by the Burn DVD function to abort the creation of the ISO image when the user clicks on the Cancel button.)

Have fun!

Humpty Dumpty

22nd April 2006, 10:46

Wow!

Thank you, rOlZ!

CoNS

22nd April 2006, 11:26

Thanks a lot, r0lZ...

version 7.0 ... or 0.7 ?!? :D

EDIT: Ah, I saw the text on the PgcEdit homepage: "I am tired of this leading 0. in the version number. So, v0.6.3.1 is followed directly by v7.0!)" and in the post above! Normally you would move to v1.0 in this case, no? Thanks again for the new version, anyway!!

EDIT 2: I found a HUGE bug in the new version. It says "April 21, 2005" everywhere. :D

r0lZ

22nd April 2006, 12:26

Oops! Not sure it is needed to change that, but I will do it anyway. Thanks.

[EDIT: OK, the "huge bug" is fixed. I have uploaded a new version dated April 22, 2006. The version number is still 7.0.]

dirio49

22nd April 2006, 17:17

thanks at ton. r0lZ
:thanks: :thanks:

Adub

22nd April 2006, 20:18

YEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH BABY!!!!!! Cool man! great program, I am actually beginning to comprehend DVDs in all there complexity.
Thanks dude! You kick ass, r0lZ!

r0lZ

22nd April 2006, 21:32

:) Thanks for your enthousiasm, Merlin7777 aka "Beginning to Understand"! BTW, have you tried the trace mode? It's useful to understand how the navigation works.

And thanks also to you, Humpty Dumpty, CoNS and dirio49! :thanks:

Adub

22nd April 2006, 22:25

You know, I haven't really tried the trace mode. I don't understand how it works. Hahahahah!!!!!

Seriously, I will look into it. I am sure there is a description or guide to it around here some where. When I turn it on, things blink and windows open. Yay!
Huh, I will try out the trace mode and follow that link about DVD Glossary terms on you website. Thanks for you work man! You rule!

blutach

23rd April 2006, 07:52

More brilliancy from you r0lZ. Many many many thanks!!!

Regards

Guddi

23rd April 2006, 08:53

Thanks for the great work! This prog is a true lifesaver...

r0lZ

23rd April 2006, 08:53

You know, I haven't really tried the trace mode. I don't understand how it works. Hahahahah!!!!!
Go to trace mode and click the Run button. That's all. Simple, no?
Oh, yes, there are some things to learn if you want to become a power user, but that's not requested by the PgcEdit license agreement! Hahahahah!!!!!

jsoto

23rd April 2006, 15:03

A new toy!. Thanks, r0lZ.

jsoto

laserfan

23rd April 2006, 15:41

r0lZ your changelog was so extensive (and intimidating) that I hesitated to try the new version. But it is very comfortable and worked perfectly with my usual workflow (I like to "Jump to PGC" and "Kill Playback" of stuff on my backups).

Anyway it continues to work great so :thanks:

AlienX69

23rd April 2006, 15:51

First, PgcEdit RULES !!!!! Donated yesterday, hope everyone else does the same to keep this GREAT tool supported !!!

Now the dumb Alien has a question ?
I saw the following in the 7.0 Ver History
==============================================
A. Preview: In trace mode, it is now possible to blank the current cell from the preview window. In addition, when all cells of the current PGC are blanked, the user is prompted to kill the playback of the PGC.
==============================================
I have always wanted to Blank single cells in a Title set without blanking ALL the cells and without having to run VOBB afterwards. Like in the case where the FBI cell resides in the same VTS as the Main movie (see attach)

The preview window still looks the same, looks like no change, my version is v2.3 (see attached). I deleted the PgcEdit \bin folder and let it recreate from the PgcEdit v7.0 EXE. Still the same .....

Please walk the dumb Alien through this as I would really like to learn how to blank single cells in a VTS.

THX
AX

r0lZ

23rd April 2006, 16:50

You have to do it in Trace mode. For technical reasons, I cannot add the blank cell feature in the preview when it is not running in trace mode.
Of course, you can also remove the cell, or blank it from the PGC Editor. (To blank it, use the VOB/Cell ID button, and select the "Create a new blank VOB cell" option.)
Of course, to remove the old, unreferenced cell from the VOB files, you have to process the domain with VobBlanker or FixVTS.

Thanks for your donation!

AlienX69

23rd April 2006, 17:22

Well the dumb Alien still is lost ...I use trace 90% of the time ... "->>Next PB" for the first run through .... Kill or Blank as reqd, then I mark the movie with Ctrl+Shift+T to do a First Play .. Then I do a second run with "->>>Run", then "Jump to PGC upon DVD insert"

During all of the above Trace steps I still did not see in the preview window where I could blank a cell ? ? ? Am I suppose to see a NEW button on the Preview window ? Sorry for being so DUMB !!!!

EDIT: I use the ~ to Open/Start the Preview Window
EDIT2: I forgot to mention, yesterday when I DL the .zip version, it was ver 0.6.3 inside ?

PS: I do understand the second method you mentioned

AX

Again, I can't say thanks enough for this GREAT tool ... I would be lost without it !!!!!

r0lZ

23rd April 2006, 18:05

Well, if you are still using v0.6.3, you will not have the blank cell checkbox in the preview. Download v7 again, and retry.

Also, you must use the preview from the trace, not with the ~ key. Enable the automatic preview mode with the play checkbox to the right of the trace menus, and run the trace.
In trace mode, each cell is played one at a time. In the preview window, you can enable the "Blank this cell" checkbox to blank the current cell.

AlienX69

23rd April 2006, 18:33

I am using 7, what I meant in the previous post is I first DL'd the .zip, when I opened/installed ... it was still version 0.6.3, I then DL'd the .exe one and then I got ver 7.0 (yesterday) .....

But now that you clarified that I was checking the WRONG check box I now see the LIGHT !!!!!!!

THX ... rOlZ .... you RULE !!!!! Keep up the GREAT work !!!

Attached a .jpg for others to view if they need to know how to use this NEW feature (check box in the bottom right)

AX

EDIT: All this time I've been using ~ ..... Dumb Alien

tomlomeo

24th April 2006, 00:49

Dear r01Z....i just installed your new version of PgcEdit v 7.0..I've been following a guide on how to make a simple menu for, let's say 2 or 3 movies that were reauthored with Dvd Shrink..... can you recommend a simple guide to accomplish just this issue.....since i can to different chapters and subtitles with my remote control....thank you

r0lZ

24th April 2006, 08:16

I don't know if a guide exists for this specific purpose.

But try the DVDShrink plugin for PgcEdit. It has a function to enable the Title Menu button to skip to the next title. It's very easy.

Also, have a look at TitleWriter. It can add menus to a DVD reauthored by Shrink.

blutach

24th April 2006, 09:39

AX

You need to setup your trace preview. Tick the little box so the preview comes on at every cell played back. Also ensure under Setup --> Preview Options when the trace window is showing that "Close preview automaically at the end of the cell playback" is unchecked. This will ensure that the cell doesn't vanish on you and you have time to decide whetehr to mark it for blanking or not.

When you have finished, simply process the whole DVD in FixVTS (www.videohelp.com/~FixVTS) or VobBlanker (http://jsoto.posunplugged.com/vobblanker.htm).

Regards

AlienX69

24th April 2006, 16:49

Hi Les,

Yes, I did do that per r0lZ instruction (see PGC_Window.jpg attachment in previous post, the one in the bottom right, yes ?) .... the only thing I notice is that when I do this (and please excuse as I'm not in front of my home screen, doing from memory) is that each cell wants to play, slightly annoying in the movie (as it wants to play each cell/chapter), what's the best way to skip though ?

Also, I can't right click on the PGC window to either "Kill PGC Playback(Ctrl+K)" or "Blank out all VTST in Titleset(Ctrl+Delete)". Not sure if I got the Hot Keys right but now that I write this I did not try the Hot Keys while the preview window was open ..... please excuse for any memory leaks above ... LOL !!!

AX

r0lZ

24th April 2006, 19:32

That's right. The problem is that the preview is a totally independent app, and I cannot have full control on it. The preview is normally launched in background, and therefore I cannot know what the user do with it, but in trace mode, it is launched synchronously, so I can test the user actions when it is closed.

I agree that playing all cells in sequence is somewhat boring, but it's currently the only way to synchronize the trace with the preview. Sorry for this limitation.

AlienX69

24th April 2006, 19:44

NP, I can work around it ..... PgcEdit stills ROCKs my WORLD !!!

Keep it running, and I will KEEP DONATING !!!!!

Have a GREAT DAY (Evening) ....

AX

foobaz

25th April 2006, 04:30

PgcEdit v7.0 released!

The enormous gap between the latest official version 0.6.3.1 and this v7.0 doesn't mean that it's a particularly major upgrade
Whoa! If this isn't a major upgrade, I'd love to see what you consider a major upgrade! Thanks so much for this wonderful gift. And your extreme humility. That is something so rare these days.

blutach

25th April 2006, 05:17

@AX

Can't see the attachment yet - it's still pending appro by mpucoder. Not to worry though.

I find when I am tracing the main title, that I uncheck the little preview box to make things go quicker. It's only on those pesky extras and warnings that I wanna see how things go. Hope that helps you speed things up a bit.

Regards

frank

25th April 2006, 20:46

I have created a hearing book title with DVD-lab.
Stills muxed with MPEG audio track.

Audio: MPEG-1, 48 kHz, 64 kbit/s, mono (1ch)
Video: PAL 720x576 stills

Then I loaded it into PgcEdit.
VTS Title works fine but I cannot change the stream attributes at all.
After pressing Current domain stream attributes all buttons of Audio 0 are greyed out! :confused:
There is a problem with mpeg audio when it is the only one track.

My workaround was IfoEdit.

r0lZ

25th April 2006, 21:50

You have to use Domain Streams Attributes from the main window, not from the PGC Editor. Now, in the PGC Editor, the DSA editor is read-only. I had to change that because it's incompatible with the new options to delete the streams.

President

26th April 2006, 07:14

WOW!!! Great thnx, r0lZ!!! PGC Edit forever!!! Excellent app. Many, many thank's!

frank

26th April 2006, 08:44

You have to use Domain Streams Attributes from the main window, not from the PGC Editor. :thanks:

blutach

26th April 2006, 12:54

Blame me, frank, for this. I am sorry. This was in response to a request to easily remove deleted streams in multi-PGC VTSs, where you had to go through the disabling process over and over again for each PGC before DSA would tell you they are no longer needed.

Regards

jm1647

29th April 2006, 02:06

@r0lZ - just to make sure - do you accept credit card donations thru PayPal. I'm new to using PayPAl and did (EDIT - not) see what type you accept.

Edit2 - I hit the wrong button and it went from by bank

r0lZ

29th April 2006, 02:19

Yes, credit cards are accepted by PayPal. It's even the preferred method! (But you have to live in a country supported by PayPal.)

Thanks in advance for your donation!

jm1647

29th April 2006, 02:35

Yes, credit cards are accepted by PayPal. It's even the preferred method! (But you have to live in a country supported by PayPal.)

Thanks in advance for your donation!

It's on it's way......THANKS again for the great program

setarip_old

30th April 2006, 05:55

@AlienX69

Check out these links:

http://forums.creativecow.net/cgi-bin/new_read_post.cgi?forumid=155&postid=859651

and

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=443646&tstart=0

hardkid

2nd May 2006, 19:31

I dunno why people do this: namely, split movies into two or more titles. But as a result, a have a single layer DVD which is a backup of a dual layer DVD which contained a movie split into two titles. I did not make a backup, so I have no idea how it happened that all layer breaks are still present on the resulting single layer DVD. I even think that there are even more layer breaks than needed. Please look at the attached pix. Pic one shows PgcEdit's first window, with all the titles.
When I open title one (see Pic 2), I see that there are two layer breaks - the first box and the last box are checked. Title 2 (plese see Pic 3) also has a layer break at the very beginning. When I watch this movie (single layer DVD) I see two pauses/freezes - about 2 seconds long each - it's those layer breaks at the end of title one and at the beginning of title 2. What do I do to make my movie play seamless? Is there a utility/function which corrects such problems automatically? If not, what should I do manually in PGCEdit?

bigotti5

2nd May 2006, 20:59

You cant see a layer break - only a NSM (non_seamless) flag.
This flag indicates how cells/vobs are logically linked together.
The first cell of a PGC is allways flagged as non_seamless.

You should do following

Open Pgcedit
Left pane doubleclick VTST1 TTN1
in Pgceditor in bottom line click "create new cell" - "pick an existing Vob/Cell ID" - in the slider Vob ID choose "2" and in slider Cell ID choose "1" - Create Cell
Repeat these steps till Vob/Cell ID 2/14
Remove the NSM flags (layerbreaks) manually by clicking it.
The Vob joint from VCID 1/12 to 2/1 is very likely not seamless muxed, so removing can cause your player to freeze stop or anything.
Test it on a DVD-RW, if your player has troubles just leave the NSM flag set.

All other NSM flags (except the first) can be removed.

Note: you will have to fit the commands in your menus too.

blutach

3rd May 2006, 10:06

In order for the chapter menu to work correctly, keep TTN2. But change the post command in TTN1 to exactly be same as TTN2's post commands (otherwise after playing the now complete movie (under bigotti5's excellent method), it'll play the 2nd half again!).

Regards

hardkid

4th May 2006, 09:59

Thank you bigotti5 and blutach! Your advices worked!

jm1647

5th May 2006, 04:50

r0lZ - I just used the trace/preview/blank pgc thing todayfor the first time. I usually use the blank all titles but my Good Night and Good Luck DVD I wanted to back up had some stuff that took up a bunch of MB that I wanted to get rid of and didn't want. All I can say is Wwwwwwoooooooowwwww and THANKS!!!

Sir Didymus

5th May 2006, 10:56

As it was discussed something about 1 year ago (it was about the title Spiderman...), the editing of menues containing multiple sets of buttons is unsupported by PgcEdit.

I fully agree this type of feature, enabling dynamic highlights in the selected buttons, is very rare, and the real benefits for the majority of users may not justify the high (I think...) implementation work which is required to give complete support for that. So forgive me for raising the topic again...

Anyway, r0lZ, maybe you could consider at least the possibility to safely export and import the whole menues into this type of scenario ?

Cheers,
SD

r0lZ

5th May 2006, 11:46

Well, the problem is that I have only one set of variables per cell. To implement dynamic menus, I should have one set of variables per button sets. And it's a pain to edit multiple sets manually, without some functions to repeat the same edit over all sets at once. These modifs would require a major rewrite of the button editor (and the viewer too.)

Also, why do you need an import/export functions for dynamic menus? If it's to recreate the buttons after a reencoding of the video, I'm affraid it will not work. I must export the button information indexed by the LBA of the nav pack. If the video is reencoded, the nav packs will not be at the same place any more, and the import function will fail.

Anyway, MenuEdit (by Dimad) is able to edit the dynamic menu buttons, but in group 1 only with the free version, and it has no import/export function.

Sir Didymus

5th May 2006, 12:35

I see!

Thanks for the precise and detailed answer!
I am always fully happy with PgcEdit.

OK, forget my post, and have a nice w/e...

Cheers,
SD

blutach

7th May 2006, 09:32

Anybody getting problems when blanking titlesets - PgcEdit (http://www.videohelp.com/~r0lZ/pgcedit/index.html) is inserting cell commands 121 and messing up the cell flags?

Regards

r0lZ

7th May 2006, 11:01

I remember I saw this problem once. Do you have a way to reproduce it?

AlienX69

7th May 2006, 13:39

@AX
I find when I am tracing the main title, that I uncheck the little preview box to make things go quicker. It's only on those pesky extras and warnings that I wanna see how things go. Hope that helps you speed things up a bit.
Regards

Yep, that's what I meant by NP above, what I have been doing is just leaving it UNchecked (old habits hard to break "`") until I get to a known problem area (from experience), I then check the box ON ....Trace .... Blank cell ... etc ..... I am gonna try to break that ole keyboard habit .... THX Les

@AlienX69
Check out these links:
http://forums.creativecow.net/cgi-bin/new_read_post.cgi?forumid=155&postid=859651
and
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=443646&tstart=0

Now we know where those .lay and .layout file come from ... THX setarip_les

AX

AlienX69

7th May 2006, 13:55

All I can say is Wwwwwwoooooooowwwww and THANKS!!!

!!!! AGREE !!!! .... it's in my TOP 5 list ..... (ps: thx for donating jm)

AX

blutach

8th May 2006, 08:40

I remember I saw this problem once. Do you have a way to reproduce it?Will email you with some IFOs. It is very reproduceable on multicelled PGCs, when you blank the VTS AND "kill playback when it's safe" is selected. A cell flag type of 103 occurs with cell command number of 121.

It does not happen if you select don't kill playback.

Tends to happen more on ARccOS DVDs.

Regards

blutach

8th May 2006, 08:51

Here's the sitch:

Structure:
Precommands
Cell plays
Cell command = Set gprm(9)= 1; Link Tail PGC
Post commands

Action taken
Blank all VTST titles

Result
Precommands
Post commands transferred to precommands but NOT the set gprm(9)=1

I guess the routine stops the cell from playing, but then there is a problem. The DVD expects gprm(9) to contain 1 and it doesn't. Navigation is incorrect from this point on.

Regards

r0lZ

9th May 2006, 12:47

Thanks for the IFOs. I'll try to reproduce the cell table bug.

For the Blank Out problem, I agree that I should take the cell commands into account. But it's really not easy. In your case, the Set command is obviously needed. But what should I do when the PGC has several cells with cell commands? I can't assume that all cell commands are executed in sequence.

I propose to include the first cell command, but not the subsequent ones. Most of the time, a "normal" PGC has no, or only one cell command. But this method is probably not sufficient in the case of a game, for example.

To be safe in all cases, I need to do a full trace (from FP-PGC!) to know which cells are played, and which cell commands are executed. You know that the cell commands can be very complicated, in ARccOS DVDs for example. Therefore, analysing them without a full trace is definitively too difficult, and the trace requires too much user interaction.

blutach

9th May 2006, 13:21

Yes, maybe take the 1st cell command and then issue a warning. However, there might be a more comprehensive way.

First, for ARccOS DVDs, many modern rippers eliminate the extra ununsed cell commands, leaving only the executed cell commands. This is obviously needed.

So, if this is the case, I wonder if a better method would be for PgcEdit (http://www.videohelp.com/~r0lZ/pgcedit/index.html) to examine ALL remaining cell commands and set all required gprms according to the cell commands which are actually executed.

Another example: Suppose we have 4 cell commands, each which set a gprm but only 3 of which are referenced in the PGC Info Table (that is there 1 cell command that can't be executed because they are unreferenced). Then the normal playback (in the absence of silly ARccOS jumping around) will be to play the title sequentially and encounter those 3 referenced cell commands. So, we set the gprms according to the 3 referenced cell commands and then copy the post commands.

What do you think?

Regards

r0lZ

9th May 2006, 13:51

It is easy to exclude the unreferenced cell commands. But it is absolutely impossible to know which cell commands are actually executed without a full trace!
And there is another problem, when the PGC is not always entered at cell 1, like in many menus. Which cell command should I use?
As you can see, it's not so easy!

frank

10th May 2006, 22:48

There were no cells but some Pgc in the VMG domain. The TitleM was not referenced.
If you call cross references then TitleM will be red coloured and ALL VMG commands are lost! :(

But the TitleM can be called by remote Title button.

r0lZ

11th May 2006, 00:58

Are you really sure the TitleM can be accessed with the remote? Can you verify the PUOs?

I've just checked, and, IMO, it works as it should. TitleM is coloured in red only if there are no direct references to it, and all non-dummy PGCs in the titlesets have the Title Menu call PUO set. I'm almost sure it is not possible to call the title menu with the remote in this case. (However, I don't check the PUOs of the VMGM menu PGCs. I assume that it is not possible to call the TitleM when a VMGM menu is playing. But I may be wrong...)

President

11th May 2006, 07:58

Really great program. But... sorry r0lZ. It seems to me that the program have a little bug. I have a DVD with 8 cells movie (1 VobID and 1 to 8 CellIDs in VOBs and IFOs). I need create a separate title for each cell (don't ask me why. It's a long story). I created a new 7 titles (PGC-Clone current PGC). I removed unnecessary cells in each title (by clicking "Remove cells" button in PGC Editor), entered pre/post command and saved DVD.
I removed cells 2 to 8 for title 1 and linked cell 1/1 to title 1;
cells 1, 3 to 8 for title 2 and linked cell 1/2 to title 2;
cells 1 to 2 and 4 to 8 for title 3 and linked cell 1/3 to title 3;
and so on.
But, when I loaded VTS_01_1.IFO in IFOEdit and check a time map table, all cells has a identical "number of entries in time map". DVD has time navigation correct in the first title only. All other titles has time navigation failed. Navigational slider (Power DVD) is not locked, but don't working properly.

When I removed an unnecessary cells in each title in DVDRemakePro a time navigation is correct in all of titles. Number of entries in time map table in IFOEdit has an individual length for each title. But damned DVD Remake deleted all pre/post commands from whole DVD and damaged menu:-).

What do you think about that? Maybe I just used PGC Edit incorrectly?

bigotti5

11th May 2006, 09:16

Title 2 (cell order is 1,3,4-8) and title 3 (cell order 1,2,4-8) are not one_sequential and so there should not be a time map table.

Edit:

@President

Sorry - above statement is wrong
titles can be one_sequential even if they are not muxed sequentially

President

11th May 2006, 09:50

Title 2 (cell order is 1,3,4-8) and title 3 (cell order 1,2,4-8) are not one_sequential and so there should not be a time map table.
No, no. In each title stay a one cell only. Cells 1, 2, 4-8 was removed from title 3. Cells 2-8 was removed from title 1. Cells 1, 3-8 was removed from title 2.
Title 1 contains Cell 1/1 only.
Title 2 contains Cell 1/2 only.
Title 3 contains Cell 1/3 only.
...
Title 8 contains Cell 1/8 only.
All cells placed in VOBs one by one physically.
PGC Edit can not removed unnesessary cells from each title correctly (after that time map contains 8 identical entries of first cell, or 8 copies of whole time map, in my opinion. I don't check it detailed) or I don't understand how to do it in PGC Edit. But DVDRemake do it correctly. I just notice r0lZ on this feature. I may be wrong. Sorry.

bigotti5

11th May 2006, 10:04

No, no. In each title stay a one cell only...

......my statement is wrong in all cases even if your titles contain cells in non sequential mux order

r0lZ

11th May 2006, 10:51

There is obviously a bug here. Will have a look.
Thanks for the report, President!

frank

11th May 2006, 10:53

Originally posted by rOlZ:
TitleM is coloured in red only if there are no direct references to it, and all non-dummy PGCs in the titlesets have the Title Menu call PUO set.Oh, I see. They disabled the TitleMenu call in the PUO of vts!
Sorry.
It was THE NET 2.0. Good movie with a new crappy Sony copy protection. :D :D

blutach

11th May 2006, 12:37

The bug report is fine, but can i ask why bother removing the cells in the first place?

Just Link CN## in the precommands and put a LinkTail PGC cell command. That way only the chosen cell will be played without having to go to the trouble of removing cells in each PGC :)

Regards

President

11th May 2006, 13:53

Just Link CN## in the precommands and put a LinkTail PGC cell command. That way only the chosen cell will be played without having to go to the trouble of removing cells in each PGC :)

Thanks for advice. I know it. Offtop discussion:-)). I told don't ask me:-). Well... listen:-). This DVD contain a movie above 6,5 hours playtime (teleserial). Each series (cell) about 50 min. Player indicate whole movie time (in case 1 VobID and 1 title DVD compiling), but I want to see playtime of each part. In addition (and more essential), PowerDVD (v.5 & v.6) have a serious bug of video decompressor. If the movie playtime over 3 hours and mux to one VobID, the video playback is jerkily (since about 2h50min...2h55min). I considered simple title divide may solve the problem. It turned out, that NO! Only VobID divide compensated this bug. I reported this bug to Cyberlink team. They promised me to solve it in near release or update:-). I wait...:-).

blutach

12th May 2006, 06:16

Don't hold your breath waiting for cyberlink!

I had enormous problems with subtitles in v6 which are now solved in v7 thankfully.

Regards

jamos

15th May 2006, 02:06

Hey Rolz,

Are you going to release the beta with seamless breaks in this thread or is it already on your site?

I am getting allot of calls for the seamless option on CDfreaks site and would like to direct them to a link on your site.

blutach

15th May 2006, 08:29

There's a beta directory on the videohelp site jamos.

Regards

jamos

15th May 2006, 11:23

There's a beta directory on the videohelp site jamos.

Regards
Thanks!:) But I am still having a hard time finding this can you post a link..

note: n/m found it. http://www.videohelp.com/~r0lZ/pgcedit/beta/

r0lZ

18th May 2006, 11:32

Right link! Note that there are still some bugs in this beta (not related to the seamless LB) and I will probably also change the seamless LB function to set the seamless flag when the option is selected. Currently, the seamless flag is cleared when the option is not selected, and not changed when it is selected. (BTW, it's your request, Jamos!) But I need some time. I have a difficult bug to fix! :(

blutach

18th May 2006, 11:54

So the seamless function is working back to front?

Regards

r0lZ

18th May 2006, 12:23

Yes, as far as I know, the seamless LB function works well... unless you have a picky player! And, with the current beta, you might have to set the seamless flag manually (either in the PGC Editor, or with the "Seamless Cell" button in the layer break selection dialogue.)

jm1647

22nd May 2006, 00:22

r0lZ - any chance of a log in PgcEdit to record errors encountered when trying to open up a rip? I just had a rip that would not open in Pgcedit and a log of errors would have come in handy.

blutach

22nd May 2006, 00:36

@jm1647 - despite the PSL2 plugin, which was not written byh r0lZ, PgcEdit is mainly used to edit non-protected DVDs. It is not a ripping tool.

Regards

jm1647

22nd May 2006, 01:14

@blutach - I know PgcEdit is not a ripping tool and I was not using the plugin that r0lZ did not write. It was a backup of a DVD that was ripped by another program that I was trying to blank out some titles on to get rid of. PgcEdit could blank out some but could not blank out others. I wound up running FixVTS on it and then PgcEdit was able to blank the titles it had trouble with. I was asking for a log to record what PgcEdit was reporting it had trouble with.

setarip_old

22nd May 2006, 02:19

@jm1647

I don't know if this helps you but, I believe PGCEdit generates a log when you use "Trace" mode...

jm1647

22nd May 2006, 02:56

@jm1647

I don't know if this helps you but, I believe PGCEdit generates a log when you use "Trace" mode...

@setarip_old - Thanks, I know one rip was so bad I could not get to trace mode. When I could get the rip to open there was trouble blanking a couple titles. PgcEdit reported these in a popup window and I woulda liked to save these in a text file/log of some kind. I'm using the latest beta4.

blutach

22nd May 2006, 05:40

@jm1647 - I understand now. Sorry, I misread you. My mistake.

And I think I know what error you are referring to. You don't need to run FixVTS (www.videohelp.com/~FixVTS) on that titleset actually. Despite the PgcEdit (http://www.videohelp.com/~r0lZ/pgcedit/index.html) warning, it DOES append the tiny cell (just look at the project folder) and fixes the IFOs (save and close and re-open and all is 100% cool).

Regards

President

22nd May 2006, 06:14

Note that there are still some bugs in this beta (not related to the seamless LB) and I will probably also change the seamless LB function to set the seamless flag when the option is selected... But I need some time. I have a difficult bug to fix! :(
I constantly adding a work for you, r0lZ:-). Sorry.
To the SM flag discussion. (LB - layer break or letterbox? You complicated me:-) ). If user added some cell commands and entered a command number in the PDC Editor proper window (non zero), then SM flag MUST be cleared (according to Scenarist manual and my own practice). In other case any cell command will not execute. As a professional tool the PGC Edit don't must do it automatically, but a warning message (like proposal to edit a chapter table and red highlight an appropriate button) may be shown. Just the user don't forgot to reset this flag. Thank's.

jm1647

22nd May 2006, 08:25

@blutach - I understand, no problem :D When I got the popup can not blank, thats why I used FixVTS.

About the log, I'm just trying to get away from having to do screen shots, one isn't bad but when there are multiple warnings or error messages working on a already ripped DVD it can be a pain.

r0lZ

22nd May 2006, 10:20

I constantly adding a work for you, r0lZ:-). Sorry.
To the SM flag discussion. (LB - layer break or letterbox? You complicated me:-) ). If user added some cell commands and entered a command number in the PDC Editor proper window (non zero), then SM flag MUST be cleared (according to Scenarist manual and my own practice). In other case any cell command will not execute. As a professional tool the PGC Edit don't must do it automatically, but a warning message (like proposal to edit a chapter table and red highlight an appropriate button) may be shown. Just the user don't forgot to reset this flag. Thank's.
That's right, the seamless flag must be clear on the next cell, or the cell command will not be executed. BTW, I've just changed the trace mode to not execute the cell command (with a warning in the log) when the seamless flag is set.
I don't like too much the idea of changing the flag automatically, and outputting a warning in a dialog can be annoying if you have several cell commands to add, but maybe I'll display the LB checkbox in red when the flag is still set...
Thanks anyway for the idea.

[EDIT] OK, done. Now, the LB checkbox of the cell following a cell with a non-zero cell command number is now highlighted when it is not ticked (ie, when the seamelss flag is set.)

r0lZ

22nd May 2006, 10:26

@jm1647
There is no log in PgcEdit. Originally, I've designed it to load a good DVD. PgcEdit is not a verifier! But with the new protections, authoring errors are now very common in commercial DVDs, so, maybe it's time to add a log. However, I will not do it in the next version. I have too many work for now. Maybe later...

jm1647

22nd May 2006, 16:11

voo_doo99

22nd May 2006, 22:18

It happened when adding a new tool configuration or editing an existing one. The error message is:

Application Error
Error: can't read "::config(fixvts_exe)": no such element in array

The Tool menu configuration dialog box became unresponsive after the error. Had to end PgcEdit process to close out.

r0lZ

22nd May 2006, 22:45

Right! I have fixed the bug. Thanks!

If you have FixVTS, just call the FixVTS option in the Tools menu, and browse to FixVTS.exe. Then, close the FixVTS window. Save the tools configuration. You should not have the problem any more.
If you don't have FixVTS, let me know. I'll explain how to avoid this problem. But anyway, you should have FixVTS! It's an invaluable tool.

voo_doo99

23rd May 2006, 01:23

jagman

23rd May 2006, 02:19

I tried to use a guide and they assume more knowledge than I have at this point.
Thought PGCEDIT would be the answer but as far as I can tell, it will only let me open up a DVD not a ripped copy file that is the output from DVDDecryptor in the VOB format.

Is this true??

I want to do the same thing u are looking for.
Want to stack some files that are currently in MPEG, AVI etc. Combine them and put menu (titles??) and burn to a DVD in VOB format so I can play them on my Sony DVD player.

If you get an answer, would appreciate letting me know.

Thx.

r0lZ

23rd May 2006, 08:25

... it will only let me open up a DVD not a ripped copy file that is the output from DVDDecryptor in the VOB format.You mean in ISO format, right?

PgcEdit can open the DVD files only. If you want to modify your DVD with PgcEdit before burning it, you should rip the original with DVD Decrypter in file mode.

Anyway, PgcEdit is not a tool to convert your videos to the DVD format, nor to create menus. It's a reauthoring tool, to modify an existing DVD to suit your needs, or to remove unnecessary material. It can also be used to create compilations of titles imported from several DVDs.

To create a DVD from AVI or MPEG files, with menus, you have to buy an authoring program. None are free, I'm affraid. I recommend DVD Lab (Pro), but it's a complex and relatively expensive program. You can also do it the hard way, with an MPEG encoder and muxman. There are guides on this matter on the main Doom9 site.

President

24th May 2006, 06:37

Hi, r0lZ!

A next portion:-). Cosmetic bugs. Just note for future. We will make your program a really perfect.

First.
1. Start windows explorer.
2. Start PGC Edit.
3. Open any DVD in PGC Edit.
4. Run "Clear all VOB PUOs".
5. Switch to windows explorer.
6. Switch back to PGC Edit.
7. That's all. You will see a parts of PGC Edit interface window and wait until PGC Edit go end of current task.

Second.
1. Start PGC Edit.
2. Open any DVD.
3. Open PGC Editor (double click on any Title).
4. Click on any "Prog" button. Warning window appear.
5. Don't click the "Ok" button. Continue clicking "Prog" button time and again:-).
6. Fun bug:-). Isn't that so?

erdoke

24th May 2006, 09:22

Using latest beta version of PgcEdit and latest official version of ImgTool Classic files, I've found this strange error message from mkisofs.exe:

r0lZ

24th May 2006, 09:27

@President

First bug is a Windows bug! When a program is busy, its GUI is not refreshed, unless the program pauses a little bit from time to time, just to allow Windows to refresh the GUI. That's totally stupid, and I don't want to waste some time in long operations like "Clear all VOB PUOs" just for cosmetic purposes. But maybe I can display something in the status line, for example each time a new cell is encountered. That's sufficient to force Windows to refresh the GUI.
Anyway, a good OS should not react this way. In the good old days, Intuition, the Commodore Amiga GUI manager, was well designed. The GUI was refreshed automatically by the OS whevener needed. Bill Gates has still many things to learn!
Linux has a similar problem, though less noticeable.

The second bug is my fault. I used a wrong window ID for the warning dialog, and therefore it is still possible to use the PGC Editor window when this dialog is present. I've fixed this little problem. Thanks.

r0lZ

24th May 2006, 09:32

@erdoke

Could you post your screenshot at ImageShack (http://imageshack.us/index.php)? It takes usually a long time before an attachment is approved.

blutach

24th May 2006, 10:06

In the 2nd bug, most people would click OK anyway and there would be no problem.

Interesting find President!

And I like the idea of the little slider when a long operation is in progress.

Regards

President

24th May 2006, 10:43

In the 2nd bug, most people would click OK anyway and there would be no problem.

Interesting find President!
I am not finding easy ways:-).

Of course, I find this bug by pure accident. I want to remove all programs from Title and clicking on Prog buttons fast and successively. I had time to do 3 or 4 clicks before observe a warning:-).

r0lZ

24th May 2006, 10:54

I haven't noticed this problem, because I usually work in expert mode, and in this mode, this warning is never displayed (though the Edit Chapter button turns red.)

Note that there is already a progress bar displayed when the VOBs are scanned for PUOs. When this progress bar is updated, a short pause occurs, and Windows should have some time to update the GUI. But the progress bar is updated only when the VOB file changes, and that's not frequent. Anyway, I have increased a bit the delay to let Windows refresh the GUI on slow machines. Of course, I can't use a very long delay, or the processing will be slowed down too much, and I don't want to penalize Linux and Mac users for a Windows limitation! Aaargh! I hate Windows! :devil:

erdoke

24th May 2006, 11:06

@erdoke

Could you post your screenshot at ImageShack (http://imageshack.us/index.php)? It takes usually a long time before an attachment is approved.

Sorry, I thought that this approving problem disappeared long ago.
Here is the screenshot:
http://erdoke.uw.hu/Pix/mkisofsError.png

President

24th May 2006, 11:15

I haven't noticed this problem, because I usually work in expert mode, and in this mode, this warning is never displayed (though the Edit Chapter button turns red.)
Maybe I will work in the same mode in future, but now I must learn many things before changing mode.

Of course, I can't use a very long delay, or the processing will be slowed down too much, and I don't want to penalize Linux and Mac users for a Windows limitation! Aaargh! I hate Windows! :devil:
:-)).

Thank's for your work.

r0lZ

24th May 2006, 11:26

@erdoke

This message is strange, indeed.
Could you send me your IFOs (if possible, the original ones, before the burn, and the IFOs modified by PgcEdit for the burn), and a list of the VOB files with their sizes? (The output of the DIR command is sufficient.)
Also, do you use the 32K gap option? And is it a DL-DVD?

I don't think it's a PgcEdit bug, but I want to verify...

erdoke

24th May 2006, 11:48

I can send you DRM Pro output files (which are PgcEdit input files) and PgcEdit modified files. Originally VOB files were not modified by PgcEdit but after this error I tried to blank out everything in VTS2 (left only for intact navigation). It didn't help BTW.
Size is 4454.41 MB, target size is DVD+R.

President

24th May 2006, 12:06

@erdoke

What version of DRMP you using? If it non-official release (cracked), then you can take a fully broken DVD include menu VOB (VTS_XX_0.VOB).

erdoke

24th May 2006, 12:44

I know about DRM issues when using a cracked version, but I'm a beta tester (or sg like that) of DRM so I only use official versions when not testing. ;)
It was DRM Pro 3.5 (latest public) this time.

@r0lZ

PM was sent with link to requested files.

ocular

24th May 2006, 14:19

Thanks for a great program, Am new to all this burning and DVD authoring stuff. But have started to collect some edited mpeg2 files from DVB-T recordings- edited out the commercials and then made DVD compliant mpegs and then authored them with Tsunami DVD author. End up with VIDEO_TS folder. For 3 hr recordings to maintain quality I have migrated to DL DVD. After a frustrating time I have learnt to steer clear of DVD -R DL and have much better success with DVD+R DL (especially with a DVD burner that came be bit set to DVD-ROM).

If I open the VIDEO_TS folder in PgcEdit and Burn DVD/ Create Iso I get this

5831

seems that PgcEdit is seeing the VIDEO_TS folder as 22GB and includes the DVD-ROM files!

and get a message DVD size too big to fit on DVD-9. Please remove some material or shrink the DVD. The VIDEO_TS folder only has 7.7GB and so should fit on a DVD-9.

But if I use RecordNow 7.3 and I can copy the VIDEO_TS folder to a DVD+R DL as a Data Disc. The resulting DVD-ROM seems fine on standalone DVD Players (few frames stall on the DL break) but the DVD plays all chapters and the menu works.

I then copy the VIDEO_TS folder back to the Hard Drive and open up the folder in PgcEdit and then this time the BurnDVD shows
5832

The DVD-ROM files are excluded and the folder is the correct size.

I do a sfv crc check and compare the folder and find out that it is the Vts_01_0.ifo and Vts_01_0.bup files that are different. How can I edit these or get PgcEdit to see the VIDEO_TS folder's true size?

r0lZ

24th May 2006, 15:39

PgcEdit takes everything that is in the parent of VIDEO_TS to build the compilation. Therefore, if you don't want to burn DVD-ROM files, you have to remove them, or move the VIDEO_TS folder in another, new folder.

The correct structure is:
<DVD folder, the root folder of your compilation. That's the folder that is burned.>
---- <VIDEO_TS folder, with the DVD-VIDEO files>
---- <AUDIO_TS folder, created automatically by PgcEdit if it doesn't exists>
---- <JACKET_P folder, optional, with jacket pictures>
---- <optional DVD-ROM files and folders>

Note that the files and folders with "backup" or "copy of" in their names are excluded automatically from the compilation.

r0lZ

24th May 2006, 17:31

@erdoke

I've analysed your IFOs, and everything seems normal. However, the size of the VOB files of VTS 1 are in MB in the screenshot I have received, and it's not accurate enough to be sure. Could you send me the size of VTS_01_0.VOB to VTS_01_5.VOB expressed in KB or bytes? Thanks.

Also, given the values in the IFOs, the 32K gap option was not checked when you tried to burn the DVD. Could you confirm?

erdoke

24th May 2006, 19:04

Directory of L:\DVDW\VIDEO_TS

2006.05.24. 19:52 <DIR> .
2006.05.24. 19:52 <DIR> ..
2006.05.24. 19:52 0 lista.txt
2006.05.24. 12:58 <DIR> PgcEdit_backup
2006.05.24. 12:59 18˙432 VIDEO_TS.BUP
2006.05.24. 12:59 18˙432 VIDEO_TS.IFO
2006.05.24. 12:59 112˙640 VTS_01_0.BUP
2006.05.24. 12:59 112˙640 VTS_01_0.IFO
2006.05.24. 09:41 74˙852˙352 VTS_01_0.VOB
2006.05.24. 09:57 1˙073˙739˙776 VTS_01_1.VOB
2006.05.24. 09:58 1˙073˙739˙776 VTS_01_2.VOB
2006.05.24. 09:59 1˙073˙739˙776 VTS_01_3.VOB
2006.05.24. 09:59 1˙073˙739˙776 VTS_01_4.VOB
2006.05.24. 09:59 300˙003˙328 VTS_01_5.VOB
2006.05.24. 12:59 18˙432 VTS_02_0.BUP
2006.05.24. 12:59 18˙432 VTS_02_0.IFO
2006.05.24. 10:27 10˙240 VTS_02_0.VOB
2006.05.24. 10:27 10˙240 VTS_02_1.VOB
2006.05.24. 12:59 18˙432 VTS_03_0.BUP
2006.05.24. 12:59 18˙432 VTS_03_0.IFO
2006.05.24. 09:44 10˙240 VTS_03_0.VOB
2006.05.24. 09:44 10˙240 VTS_03_1.VOB
19 File(s) 4˙670˙191˙616 bytes

Since I've run into playback problems with certain standalones, the 32K gap function is always turned off.
I don't burn my ISO files automatically, usually burn them later with ImgBurn. This was the case this time too, only wanted to create the image file.

odbo2005

25th May 2006, 03:35

PgcEdit add a "Play All" pgc,the seek bar can't work in WinDVD.
Scenarist add a "Play All" pgc,the seek bar work fine in WinDVD.

I check the vts ifo in IfoEdit,
PgcEdit VTS_TMAPTI number of VTS_TMAPs is "5",
Scenarist VTS_TMAPTI number of VTS_TMAPs is "6",
It's mean PgcEdit add a "Play All" pgc,but did'nt add it to VTS
time map table?

Grave

25th May 2006, 08:05

i have encountered same error once before, i solved it by adding blank cells to problematic vob increasing its size to 40k
the 32k gap worked too but i have it turned off too because of playback issues

bigotti5

25th May 2006, 08:13

@odbo2005

Creating TMAPS is in work - see http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=111436

Create a TMAP table is not enough, Pgcedit creates Prev/NextPGC links to itself in a "PlayAll" title.
WinDVD will disable seek bar if these links are set, so you will have to set these links to zero too.

r0lZ

25th May 2006, 10:01

Since I've run into playback problems with certain standalones, the 32K gap function is always turned off.
I don't burn my ISO files automatically, usually burn them later with ImgBurn. This was the case this time too, only wanted to create the image file.
OK, thanks for the directory listing.

If you don't use the 32K gap option, maybe you could try to do a "Get VTS Sectors" with IfoEdit on the IFOs prepared by PgcEdit for the burn, and burn them with ImgTool Classic. The result should be exactly the same than with PgcEdit (for a single layer DVD w/o the 32K gap option.) If you don't have issues, send me those IFOs too. It will be easy to see where is the difference.

Are you sure the playback problems are caused by the 32K gaps? Seems strange. Those gaps are lagal, and I have already encountered many commercial DVDs with gaps. IMO, enabling this option cannot hurt.

r0lZ

25th May 2006, 10:07

@odbo2005

Yes, I am currently working to solve the missing time map problem.

For the Prev/Next PGCN link, seems only software players have issues with them. I have tried this feature on approx 10 standalone players, and all of them accept the Prev/Next PGCN pointing to the same PGC without problem. I'm not sure this trick is legal (in a sequential title), though.

r0lZ

25th May 2006, 11:30

@erdoke

OK, thanks to your new directory listing, I have verified all VTS pointers. Everything is fine! The burn function of PgcEdit is not the culprit!

However, there is something really strange. VTS 3 exists, but is not referenced in the VMG tables! Also, the PGC in VTS 3 is not associated with a title number, and is therefore missing in VMG_TT_SRPT. IMO, that's illegal, and might be the cause of the problem, though I don't understand why mkisofs complains on VTS_02_0.BUP.
Note that this problem is present in the original IFOs, too.

You should try to remove VTS3 completely. There are 2 jumps from the VMGM domain (in PGCs 4 and 6) to VTSM 3, root menu, but anyway, this root menu PGC doesn't jump directly or indirectly to the title PGC in VTS 3. Therefore, the navigation is broken anyway.

Try the DVD -> Delete last VTS in DVD function (and remove lines 3, 5 and 6 in VMGM PGC 4 and 6 to fix the navigation.) This will probably solve the problem.

I wonder what you did to obtain this strange structure, and if PgcEdit is the culprit. Do you remember exactly what you did to produce the original IFOs (named "IFOsFromPgcEditBackup" in your archive)?

ocular

25th May 2006, 14:07

rOlZ

Thanks for advice on parent directory. Have cleaned it out and burnt iso onto DVD+R DL via ImgBurn, PgcEdit handles layer break perfectly with its default settings, better than recordnow.

DVD+r DL + PgcEdit + ImgBurn = success at last on standalone DVD player

r0lZ

25th May 2006, 14:14

Thanks for the info, ocular! I'm glad it worked! :)

erdoke

25th May 2006, 22:31

My SONY standalone doesn't even start playing DVDs with 32K gap enabled.

VTS_03 should be referenced in VIDEO_TS.IFO because PgcEdit misses phisically deleted VTS_03 files when importing. After deleting last VTS just like you advised, another strange error message appears:
http://erdoke.uw.hu/Pix/PgcEdit_Get_VTS_Sectors_Error.png

If clicking "Yes", same error occurs when creating ISO file. If selecting "No" a couple of more windows of the same kind appear, but in the end there is a "Fatal error" message.

IFOEdit did not show any sector problems.

It is a movie I got to fix, I couldn't create anything like this. :)

r0lZ

25th May 2006, 22:44

Well, seems your DVD is really damaged! Strangely, I have tried to remove the last VTS on the IFOs you send me, and I have no problem!

VTS_03 should be referenced in VIDEO_TS.IFO because PgcEdit misses phisically deleted VTS_03 files when importing.I don't understand. What have you imported, and how? PgcEdit should not need the VOB files when loading the DVD (except to find the BOVs, but it's not really needed.)
Anyway, there is a big error in VTS 3, and you have to find a way to get rid of this titleset. Try to start with a new DVD (File -> New DVD), and import the valid VTS titles and menus...
But, IMO, it is easier to restart everything from the beginning.
BTW, is it an ARccOS protected DVD?

My SONY standalone doesn't even start playing DVD-s with 32K gap enabled.I can't believe that! If it's true, it should hang on many commercial DVDs, too, since the gap method is widely used. Are you sure the problem was caused by the 32K gaps? Have you tested it with several DVDs? What is the model number of your Sony player? I have a very old Sony DVP-S725D, and it has no problem with the gaps.

erdoke

25th May 2006, 23:04

Thank you for your help r0lZ!

I've removed VTS_03 with DRM Pro and now ISO file creation is OK.
You guess right, it is a copy of an ARccOS protected DVD, but I had to remove 59 cells and many cell commands from the movie PGC. Some poor AnyDVD stuff I guess. :devil:

As far as the 32K gap function is concerned, I had to throw out many discs because they simply did not play at all. Though it was a long time ago, I should check it again with my new player and the old Sony as well.

r0lZ

25th May 2006, 23:23

Thanks. Please keep me informed. At my knowledge, you're the first person who reported a problem with the 32K gaps, and I want to be sure the method is accepted by all standalone players. Anyway, the method is legal, so, if your Sony has trouble with the gaps, it's probably a bug in your player.

jinjin_jp

26th May 2006, 09:50

I've been understood "the first cell of PGC must be Layer-Br. cell".
But when ripping ARccOS DVD by AnyDVD(ver5.9.6.1/trial), the first cell of PGC is not Layer-Br. cell.
http://img116.imageshack.us/img116/8012/anydlb0605261gy.th.jpg (http://img116.imageshack.us/my.php?image=anydlb0605261gy.jpg)
Isn't it illegal ?
Is it better to correct the cell-type to Layer-Br. cell ?
Or, my understanding is wrong ?
Regards.

bigotti5

26th May 2006, 09:55

Yes, first cell of a pgc must be flagged as non-seamless ("Layerbreak")

blutach

26th May 2006, 09:56

Somebody gunna tell me how we get 171 titles on erdoke's DVD?

And yes, jinjin_jp, the flag should be 2.

Regards

jinjin_jp

26th May 2006, 10:29

@bigotti5, blutach
Thanks for the reply. I understand.
It seems to be AnyDVD's bug.

the flag should be 2.
I think the cell type should be 2(STC discontinuity), too.
But when ripping ARccOS DVD by DVDFabDecrypter(ver2.9.7.7), the first cell type of PGC is "0".
Is it legal or bug ?

Regards

r0lZ

26th May 2006, 10:32

Somebody gunna tell me how we get 171 titles on erdoke's DVD?I can!
There are only 2 titles in this DVD, for 3 titlesets!

I'm not sure the fact that the last titleset is not referenced in the VMG_TT_SRPT table, and therefore has no Title number associated with it, is a part of the protection, or if the ripper did something wrong.

Anyway, when you remove the last titleset, the PgcEdit method to verify that the title numbers present in the last titleset are really the highest titles in the DVD is correct, but fails when there are no titles. The number of titles in VMG_TT_SRPT table is therefore decreased by a nagative number, and so it is increased! The table, however, is truncated at the right position. Therefore, the number of entries doesn't match the table length, and the new (bad) entries are just garbage.

I did not notice this problem yesterday, before the message pops up only then the DVD is saved, and in my test, I haven't saved it.
I have fixed this problem. Now, when the user remove a titleset with no title numbers in VMG_TT_SRPT, this table is not modified at all.

r0lZ

26th May 2006, 10:38

Is it legal or bug ?
It's illegal!
But maybe in the protected titles, it's something that the protection adds, though I don't think so. It's probably a bug in the ripper.

erdoke

26th May 2006, 11:00

@jinjin_jp

Do not bother if it is legal or not, just remove every cell that has been inserted to be able to rip the DVD. Your first cell should be the first movie cell and of course be marked as non-seamless (2). Remove all unnecessary cell commands as well.

r0lZ

26th May 2006, 11:55

Look at the screenshot. The sells are removed, and there are no more cell commands. IMO, the ripper removes one cell too much, and doesn't clear the seamless flag as it should.
DVDFab Decrypter is not a very good ripper!

jinjin_jp

26th May 2006, 13:01

Comparing the first cell of ARccOS DVD(example is "Bewitched).
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/7950/compfirstcell0605269it.th.jpg (http://img154.imageshack.us/my.php?image=compfirstcell0605269it.jpg)
(1)AnyDVD : CellType：8(Seamless、 STC continuity)
(2)DVDFAbDecrypter : CellType：0(no-Seamless(LayerBreak)、 STC continuity)
(3)DVDDecrypter and Plugin :CellType：2(no-Seamless(LayerBreak)、 STC discontinuity)

Only (3)"DVDDecrypter and Plugin" seems to be legal.
Why it remains one more cell which others remove as first cell ? Is there any reason ?
(Edit) Is it related to cell type ?

r0lZ

26th May 2006, 13:20

It confirms that DVD Decrypter is still the best ripper around!

However, DVDD do not remove the bad cells because it's an old program, and it is not aware of the newest ARccOS protections.
If you remove this cell manually in PgcEdit, it will fix the cell flags for you!

BTW, the bug of the other rippers is probably caused by the fact that they remove the protected cell. They omit to fix the cell type flags of the next cell (that is now the first one in the PGC).

jinjin_jp

26th May 2006, 15:46

@r0lZ
Thanks for the reply.
I think also DVDDecrypter with PgcEdit-plugin is best.

But I can't understand one thing.
http://img376.imageshack.us/img376/6038/crap0605261jb.th.jpg (http://img376.imageshack.us/my.php?image=crap0605261jb.jpg)
Inspite that "Remove crap(after rip)" of PgcEdit-plugin recognize cell_22 as "tiny cells[<1sec]"(blue letter), the cell is not recognized as "automatically find cells to remove".
"Tiny cells[<1sec]" isn't to be removed cells ?

r0lZ

26th May 2006, 16:07

Well, I'm not sure of the reason, but I know that the plugin deletes only the cells up to but not including the last one with the seamless flag clear.
I guess the reason is that it is possible that the first cell with real video begins with an open GOP. Deleting the previous cell can therefore be dangerous.
The last non-seamless tiny cell is normally used as the target of the last jump made by the cell commands, and therefore, it should be safe to cut the video at this point.
Anyway, leaving a tiny cell of 1/2 sec that is normally played doesn't hurt.

jinjin_jp

26th May 2006, 16:52

@r0lZ
Thanks for the reply.

I tested according to your advice, I could find the feature of PgcEdit plugin.

"Remove crap(after rip)" of PgcEdit-plugin recognize cell_22 as "automatically find cells to remove", after correcting cell_23 to LayerBreak cell (celltype=0).
It seems to judge whether remain the last tiny cell or not, depend on that next cell is LayerBreak(non-seamless) cell or not.

(by the way, Cell_23 is not-closed GOP.)

Regards

(Edit)
And as information,
Before, DVDFabDecrypter2.9.5.2 and AnyDVD5.3.2.1 was the same as DVDDecrypter and plugin (remain the last tiny cell).
But now, DVDFabDecrypter2.9.7.9 and AnyDVD5.9.6.1 are always remove the last tiny cell.

blutach

27th May 2006, 04:48

Great research jinjin_jp!!!

Remving the last tiny cell can be a pain if you want to fast forward through the credits and no Next PGCN = current PGC is set.

Regards

jinjin_jp

28th May 2006, 08:14

Thanks for the info blutach, too.
But I couldn't reply to you because I couldn't what you meaning a little.
Do you mean about tiny cell which is the last of PGC (not ARccOS)?
If so, DVDDecrypter, DVDDFabecrypter and AnyDVD all remain the last tiny cell of PGC.
(I remember DVD2one movie-only mode removes the last tiny cell, and I don't like it.)

bigotti5

31st May 2006, 19:58

@r0lz

Are you sure your low mux rate identification is correct?

Here a screenshot from Pgcedit

http://members.aon.at/video.digital/lowmux.png

A check in Vobedit shows - each cell has 146 scr-ticks difference and not 184

r0lZ

31st May 2006, 21:28

Well, I can't be sure without seeing the VOBs, but it works fine with my DVDs.
The check works by comparing the scr of the first two nav packs of the cell. If the difference is 146, the mux rate is high, otherwise, it is low. What's wrong?
Have you checked the last VOBU of the previous cell and the first one of the current cell?

frank

31st May 2006, 21:28

I hope I'm not too late. There is no need for scanning the bitrate! I have made many DVDs at high bitrate 8000-8500 kbps.
All my players (Two players older than 5 years and one new Philips) play smoothly, no pause at LB.

The implementation of seamless layer break in PgcEdit is very useful.

By the way who introduced the Layer Break Flag? The dvd specs?? No, there are only cell type flags about continuity!
I think it was IfoEdit that indroduced that wrong name.

The layer break discussion results from a stutter/pause problem of standalone players what PC software players don't have. Because I come from the hardware front, a short explanation.

We have three access layers:

1. DVD drive
The drive can access to LBA blocks/sectors, organized in ECC blocks of 16 physical sectors. It's firmware recognizes the media, translates the physical sector numbers into logical ones, and corrects errors. Encapsulated user data (=logical block) is 2048 bytes/sector. Any firmware READ/WRITE access to the media is an ECC block access! If you sequential read from drive the the controller of the drive ensures that you'll get a continous data stream.
To read double/dual layer continously the specs say that the Layer Break address shall be an ECC block (LBA divisable by 16 = ECC block address). Means that the 16 sectors of the ECC are laying on the same layer - LB is starting on L1.

Any application can read logical blocks, it cannot see any layers or other physical structures!! The drive delivers user data continously to the calling operating system.
To read properly the double/dual layer dvd specs say that the Layer Break address shall be an ECC block (LBA divisable by 16). That's a basic demand for double/dual layer recording, regardless of data format (video, audio, data).

The laser focus time is only some milliseconds! If the track buffer doesn't reach you lose one revolution until the block comes again under the laser <100 ms at 1x. To compensate this all special dvd player drives rotate at least with 2x!!

Example:
DVS DSL-710A (One of the oldest well known and most used dvd player drives from Korea)
Speed: 2x (CLV), 1200 rpm to 2800 rpm
Average access time: 250 ms (over the data area)
Data buffer: 512 kbyte

It's data buffer can store up to 256 sectors = 48 msec video, encoded at highest bitrate.
At 2x speed one rotation needs < 50 ms!

As you can see already now: all discussions about lowering bitrate/muxrate are CRAP!

2. File System
OSTA Universal Disk Format (UDF) is the standard DVD file system (v1.02) for DVD-Video disks.
Defines Logical Volume and file access.
That structure is realized by MKISOFS.
Again: This layer does nothing know about dual layer or Layer Breaks! It reads LBA from drive.

3. Play back Control PBC
DVD-Video presents a special data structure hierarchy: Video Manager VIDEO_TS.IFO, Title Sets VTS_xx_xx.IFO, Video Objects VTS_xx_xx.VOB. The access is very primitively via pointers, tables. VOBs have the limit of 1024 kbytes.

And here we meet the cell type flags and this Seamless Playback Joint flag, controlling some behaviour of timers and decoder.
But again: This layer does nothing know about dvd layers! We must tell it by setting the flags.
If the drive is able to deliver the sectors seamless - and the drive does it - then all things should work flawless.

My experience is that there are too much bad dvd media on the market, so that the second layer has 5-10 times higher error rate. After layer break the drive runs into problems.

So far in short.

Greetz
frank

r0lZ

31st May 2006, 21:55

By the way who introduced the Layer Break Flag? The dvd specs?? No, there are only cell type flags about continuity!
I think it was IfoEdit that introduced that wrong name.
That's right. The layer break flag doesn't exist! And IfoEdit introduced this wrong name.
But I have added the LB checkbox in PgcEdit's cell table so that the average user can verify or remove it easily. The layer break flag is actually the inverse of the seamless joint flag. It is a fact that the seamless joint flag is usually clear on the layer break cell. When this configuration is found in the middle of the main title, it indicates the position of the layer break, and the seamless joint flag must be set to avoid the pause if you burn a single layer DVD. Since, for most users, the cell type flags are just Chinese, I have decided to leave the LB checkbox, with the IfoEdit name. Note the question mark in the label of the checkbox. It indicates that this flag can indicate the layer break position, but it's not a guarantee!

About your technical explanation:
If your players are happy with a seamless layer break, that's very good. However, I have already read sometimes that it doesn't work with some players. In some case, seems it's useless to set the seamless flag, because the player pauses anyway. In some other cases, the player hangs completely! So, I guess mpucoder is right. It is best to be sure that the mux rate is suitable for this trick!
And anyway, if all players were able to switch layers without the pause, how do you explain that 99% of the commercial DVDs have the seamless joint clear on the LB cell?

bigotti5

1st June 2006, 13:19

@r0lz

Here are the values from cell 48

First Nav-pack in Cell 48

[Pack Header]
[0000] Pack identifier (start code) 442 [000001ba]
[0004] SCR (System clock reference) 68 199 118 144 222 59 [44 c7 76 90 de 3b ]
SCR 209146395.285
[000a] Program Mux Rate: 25200 (1260000 BPS) (10080000 bps) 1 137 195 [01 89 c3 ]
......
[0045] Cell elapsed time (BCD) 64 [00000040]
00:00:00.00 / 25 fps
[0049] International Standard Recording Code
............
............
[041b] VOBU third reference frame end block 142 [0000008e]
[041f] VOB ID 1 [0001]
[0421] Reserved 0 [00]
[0422] Cell ID 48 [30]
[0423] Cell elapsed time (BCD) 64 [00000040]
00:00:00.00 / 25 fps
............

First pack following Nav-pack (Video-Pack)

[Pack Header]
[0000] Pack identifier (start code) 442 [000001ba]
[0004] SCR (System clock reference) 68 199 118 149 116 141 [44 c7 76 95 74 8d ]
SCR 209146542.070
[000a] Program Mux Rate: 25200 (1260000 BPS) (10080000 bps) 1 137 195 [01 89 c3 ]
[000d] Pack stuffing length: 0 248 [f8]

[Video Stream]
[000e] Video Stream start code 480 [000001e0]
[0012] Length 2028 [07ec]
................

Same in cell 49, 50, 51, 52, 53. 54, 55
so why is 48, 49, 52 and 55 shown as low mux rate?

Cant find any distinctions to other DVDs except the multiplex delay
which is normally between 20000 and 30000 ticks shows 4478

And anyway, if all players were able to switch layers without the pause, how do you explain that 99% of the commercial DVDs have the seamless joint clear on the LB cell?

the DVD Specification requires that the layer break begin at the start of a non-seamlessly linked Cell and so most replicators would reject compilations with a seamless cell at layerbreak point

just to increase the confusion about seamless flag on layer break cell I have a Superbit DVD that has the layerbreak cell flagged as seamless and the mux rate is high........

r0lZ

1st June 2006, 14:32

OK, it's a bug! The remaider part of the SCR value is ignored in my computations, and therefore 209146542 - 209146395 gives 147, not 146. If the floating point values are used, the result is 146.785, which is sitll close to 147.
I will change the test.
Thanks for the bug report!

laserfan

1st June 2006, 14:50

...all discussions about lowering bitrate/muxrate are CRAP!
That's right. The layer break flag doesn't exist! And IfoEdit introduced this wrong name....The layer break flag is actually the inverse of the seamless joint flag...
While I don't appreciate some of frank's sentiment/choice of words, I am very glad for his post, because it makes (for me) something crystal-clear which never was before, that the LB flag checkbox really means "this is NOT a seamless joint"! So I think r0lZ that continuing the error of naming as IfoEdit was a mistake. I think it should instead be named "Non-Seamless Joint" or whatever the spec truly says it is.

:stupid:

p.s. r0lZ lest my post sound too harsh, I understand and appreciate/admire that your "floating tooltip" over the Layer Break? column header makes everything perfectly clear. Maybe I should let you whip me with a wet noodle for being so hyperactive as to never have paused & reflected over this point in the past!

:o

r0lZ

1st June 2006, 15:08

Well, of course, you're right. I should not use the "layer break" name. But, as I said, I kept this name for the average user. If I rename the flag "non-seamless joint", Mr. Average Joe will not understand that it can represent the layer break point.

It's always the same problem. I can't use only the official terminology, or PgcEdit will be even more intimidating!

laserfan

1st June 2006, 15:19

Well, I'm "Mr. Average Joe" just trying to absorb/understand all this stuff myself! But I agree with your decision.

Beside being hyperactive, I am also "anal" and there's no way you could make "non-seamless joint" look good as a column header! :D

r0lZ

1st June 2006, 15:22

Right! :D It's also something I must take into account!

mpucoder

1st June 2006, 19:04

And you don't want it to look like Scenarist, which would simply be NSM :scared:

frank

1st June 2006, 19:20

Originally posted by rOlZ:
And anyway, if all players were able to switch layers without the pause, how do you explain that 99% of the commercial DVDs have the seamless joint clear on the LB cell?...
It is a fact that the seamless joint flag is usually clear on the layer break cell.Yes, but then in every case is a change of VOB-ID -> non-seamless. Internal counter and decoder/buffer resets follow in the dvd-controller logic. Slow 8-bit controllers. That needs time.

The specs are about 10 years old. At this time they didn't know enough about electronics. They stated a VOB-ID change, set STC and cleared seamless playback cell flag. That works, but some players stop because of slow reset operations.

Test this:
If you set STC and clear the seamless joint flag on a cell of a single layer dvd then most players will stutter. I think the STC is the critical part. Now we know: they have a slow mpeg/dvd controller.
But has nothing to do with the drive. It can't see cell flags.

Originally posted by rOlZ:
In some case, seems it's useless to set the seamless flag, because the player pauses anyway.Same case as above - slow controller.
...In some other cases, the player hangs completely!They set the seamless flag and there was a VOB-ID change (STC flag set) ->non-seamless Layer Break.

If your players are happy with a seamless layer break...I have a lot friends - same procedure... they are happy with seamless Layer Break :D

Originally posted by bigotti5:
I have a Superbit DVD that has the layerbreak cell flagged as seamless and the mux rate is high........No wonder :D
Seamless Layer Break (no VOB-ID change) or new player.

Summary:
The drive reads all ECC-blocks without a break. It reads linear numbered blocks from start to end of a double layer dvd. Because of that the dvd-controller needs no information about Layer Breaks.
The dvd-controller, especially the mpeg decoder (buffer management) needs information about time wasting operations: VOB ID change, synch ops, timer resets, jumps... This is done by flags.

My rules to LB point:
1. If VOB-ID changes then CLEAR the seamless joint flag. (Set LB in PgcEdit)
Or remux title into only one VOB-ID - then see case 2.
2. If VOB-ID not changes - seamless Layer Break - then SET the seamless joint flag. (Clear LB flag in PgcEdit) Cells are continous linked, STC cleared.

r0lZ

1st June 2006, 19:39

Yes, but then in every case is a change of VOB-ID -> non-seamless.
Not always! There are many DVDs with the layer break inside a VOB (where only the cell ID changes.) The seamless flag is set, too.

Anyway, I don't say you're wrong. IMO, it is necessary to test the method to be sure it works with a specific player. And it is best to have as much info as possible on the cells, and that's exactly what I've tried to do in PgcEdit. We can discuss the necessity to display the pink warning in some circumstances, but that's not essential.

ux-3

2nd June 2006, 06:36

small observation: when choosing burn speed in the pgcedit menu, I am offered 2.4x AND 2,4x. I wonder if this is a feature or a glitch?

greetings
ux-3

r0lZ

2nd June 2006, 09:32

r0lZ

2nd June 2006, 11:14

PgcEdit v 7.1

A. Burn DVD: New "Seamless Layer Break" option in the Layer Break selection dialogue, allowing to set the seamless flag of the LB cell. Theoreticaly, the Seamless flag must be clear, but it appear that it is possible to set it in most circumstances. However, this method can be incompatible with some old players, but is used on some commercial DVDs (among others, Sony Superbit DVDs.) A pink warning is displayed in the risky cases. Technical info: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=819669#post819669
A. Burn DVD: New option (under Linux and MacOSX only) in the layer break dialogue to modify the IFO files only, without creating the ISO image. This option can be used to burn the DVD files directly with growisofs.
A. New function to recompute the VTS_TMAPTI table (Time Map) of the current Title PGC, or all time maps of the current title domain or of the DVD. This function is called automatically when a time map needs to be modified but can also be called on demand via the "DVD" and "Title" menus to fix bad time maps, or to build the time maps of non-sequential titles.
E. Kill Playback: The first cell command that is normally executed is now included in the pre-commands to minimize the risk of navigation errors (but only if this command is useful and legal in the pre-commands.)
E. PGC Editor's cell list: When a cell command is defined and the seamless joint flag of the next cell is set, the "Layer Break?" checkbox is now highlighted in pink, to warn the user that the cell command is executed only when this seamless flag is clear (ie, layer break checkbox ticked.)
E. When a titleset is present on disc but not referenced at all in the IFOs, it is now possible to move it automatically to a special backup folder. Previously, the user has to do it manually.
E. Improved the VOB desynchronized error check to identify the tiny black cell added by PgcEdit at the end of the VOB files but not referenced in the IFOs. (This situation can happen when the IFOs are not saved by the user after the creation of a new cell.) It is now possible to reuse this cell with the PGC Editor functions "Create new cell" and "Reassign VOB/ Cell ID" with the option to create a new blank VOB cell. Previously, a VOB Desynchronized error message was issued.
E. Burn DVD: The Shutdown Computer option is not remembered any more from session to session. That was too dangreous.
F. After an Import VTST Title, Import FP Clip or Import Title intro/closing clip, the number of BOVs were not initialized correctly, which caused some other functions (notably Clone PGC) to crash.
F. Clone PGC function did not update the TTN internal variables correctly.
F. Trace: A warning is now issued if a cell command exists, but the cell that follow the current cell has its Seamless flag set. The cell command cannot be executed in this case.
F. Blank Out all Title PGCs: The cells table was wrong when this function was applied to a Title domain without VOB files present on HDD.
F. Replace VTST Titles: The streams attributes of the current menu domain were copied from the imported IFO. Now, the table is left untouched.
F. Remove cell in PGC Editor: When removing the last Program, the PG number was kept in the table, and forced to 0. Now, it is correctly removed.
F. Info -> Jumps from VMG to Current VTS: Some menu buttons or BOV commands were wrongly included in the output.
F. Fixed a bug occurring in very rare circumstances: The number of BOVs of the PGC was sometimes wrong after a delete cell from the PGC Editor.
F. Tools configuration didn't work if FixVTS was not used before calling it.
F. When a titleset was removed or imported, the parental management table VMG_PTL_MAIT was not updated.
F. Some minor GUI bugs fixed.
F. The Download Daemon Tools link was dead. Changed to current one.
W. Workaround for a little discrepancy in the faster mkisofs.exe program provided with PgcEdit. This exe doesn't set the error level like the original one, and therefore PgcEdit was unable to discover if it has failed.

DVDShrink plugin v 2.0

A. New function to redo completely from scratch the authoring of a DVD created by DVDShring in reauthor mode.

LU (Language Unit) plugin v 1.1

A. New function to clone the current LU, with a new language code. Useful to translate a still menu to another language.

Enjoy!

Rippraff

2nd June 2006, 12:24

Thanks a lot r0lZ for the new version(s). :)

Cu Rippraff

Grave

2nd June 2006, 12:47

amazing, just tested on one dvd with missing time map and after pgcedit did its black magic it finally works as expected.
great job, many thanks :)
in upcoming days i'll be going through other dvds with missing/empty tmaps i encountered.
btw is there a way to check actual timemap info (eg pgc editor?) or see summary information (info menu?), its no big deal though i can check it with ifoedit :)

ux-3

2nd June 2006, 13:12

I just downloaded the new version. Thanks a lot. I have both 7 and 7.1 on my desktop. I was about to process a DVD with 7.1, when something odd occured. I went back to 7.0 and that worked as expected. A look at the changes suggests this: E. Kill Playback: The first cell command that is normally executed is now included in the pre-commands to minimize the risk of navigation errors (but only if this command is useful and legal in the pre-commands.)

Here is what happens in 7.1: I trace to a thirty seconds clip (no buttons). When I hit "kill playback", I see no change in the instruction window.
before and after:
********** pre commands:
********** post commands:
[30 06 00 01 01 83 00 00] 1 (JumpSS) Jump to VTSM 1, Root menu (TTN 1)
********** cell commands:

When I hit "Next PB" the adjacent button "Run" changes to "Break" and turns red. I won't get any further this way.

In 7.0 I am told "you killed a menu PGC playback".
A softplayer will play the disk, I shall burn some part to see if a hard player gets to the menu too.

r0lZ

2nd June 2006, 13:15

@Grave:

No, to be able to display really meaningful info on the time maps, I have to read all nav packs of the VOBs, and that's very long.
But I can add a function to display a summary of all PGCs of all VTS, with the time unit and number of entries in the map, if you wish. It's not sufficient to be sure the time map is correct, though.

r0lZ

2nd June 2006, 13:20

ux-3, I'll look into it...
Thanks!

r0lZ

2nd June 2006, 13:27

ux-3, you're right. The Kill Playback function is broken.

Will release a bugfix as soon as possible...

ux-3

2nd June 2006, 13:32

I just burned the first GB to DVD+RW. Stand alone skips the killed "whatever" and goes right to the clip that initialises the menu, as I wanted it. This worked with 7.0

With 7.1, I am stuck after hitting "kill PGC".

Phew... glad its not me... no need to hurry for me, I am still discovering 7.0... ;)

r0lZ

2nd June 2006, 13:44

The bugfix is not only for you, ux-3! I know that Kill Playback is one of the most used functions of PgcEdit. It should work as expected! Anyway, PgcEdit v7.1.1 is already available. Please download it!

r0lZ

2nd June 2006, 13:51

As discovered by ux-3, the Kill Playback function is broken in v7.1. Please update to v7.1.1!
Sorry for the trouble!

blutach

2nd June 2006, 14:01

Thanks for the quick update r0lZ and another big changelog :)

It reads v 7.0.1.1 though, is that right?

Regards

r0lZ

2nd June 2006, 14:09

Oh, no! :( Yet another error!
I'll post v7.1.1 final immediately!
Thanks, blutach!

Jeffster

2nd June 2006, 14:10

Thanks for the new version, r0lZ :)

I have a slight problem with ISO creation in this version though. It get's to 100% and the log pop's up as usual but at the bottom of the log it says "NEQ was unexpected at this time" and the ISO file doesn't exist. :(

If it makes any difference, I'm still using the mkisofs from Image Tool, not the new faster one.

(ISO creation is successful if I step back to v7.0)

Edit:
Tried again with the new faster mkisofs and still get the same error with v 7.0.1.1

r0lZ

2nd June 2006, 14:40

Hum, "Jamais deux sans trois!" as we say in french!
OK, it's another bug. It is fixed in v7.1.2, already available.
3 releases in one hour! I think it's my record! I hope it's the last one!

Sorry again. I stop smoking, and my brain works slowly!

Jeffster

2nd June 2006, 14:55

And as we say here, "Third time's a charm"... ;)

Thanks again for the new version, r0lZ.

LIGHTNING UK!

2nd June 2006, 17:38

Well, it's because ImgBurn needs 2,4 instead of 2.4 on european systems (where a floating point number is really a floating coma number.) Since I don't know how to test the locale settings, I kept both numbers.
If somebody can tell me how to know the numbers format, I'll change that.

Ok, basically you want to be doing something like this...

char GetDecimalSeparator(void)
{
LCID CurrentLCID;
int RetVal;
TCHAR Buffer[2];

CurrentLCID = GetThreadLocale();

RetVal = GetLocaleInfo(CurrentLCID, LOCALE_SDECIMAL, &Buffer, sizeof(Buffer));

if(RetVal > 0)
{
return (char) Buffer[0];
}
else
{
return '.';
}
}

I've not tested that code so don't blame me if it doesn't compile :p

Just run that function once at startup and use its return value to fill a global variable or something. Then refer to that variable throughout your code wherever you want to use a decimal separator.

r0lZ

2nd June 2006, 18:07

Thanks, LUK! However, I can't use this code from Tcl/Tk. GetThreadLocale() and GetLocaleInfo() have no equivalent in Tcl. I need something to retrieve this value directly from the registry, for example. But I'll try to find a way myself. I have a good tool to compare the registry before and after a change in the user environment. It should be sufficient. Thanks again.

dirio49

2nd June 2006, 19:33

Thanks for the new version.:)
:thanks: :thanks:

ron spencer

2nd June 2006, 23:11

thanks rolz.....not sure if this has been added or not, but can you add a check to ensure that the first cell is not seamless (ie., not 8 0 but 2 0)? see posts 124 and 125

selyb

3rd June 2006, 00:28

Sorry again. I stop smoking, and my brain works slowly!

lol
around here, when someone 'smokes', their brain works slowly

Grave

3rd June 2006, 02:28

r0lZ

3rd June 2006, 09:29

thanks rolz.....not sure if this has been added or not, but can you add a check to ensure that the first cell is not seamless (ie., not 8 0 but 2 0)? see posts 124 and 125
Currently, the so called "Layer break?" checkbox of the first cell is highlighted in red if the cell is seamless. But the seamless joint flag is not automatically changed. The STC discontinuity flag is not checked at all.

r0lZ

3rd June 2006, 09:31

thanks, the summary would be quite sufficient (just to see which time maps are missing/empty), i dont think ifoedit scans nav packs either :)
OK, i'll try to implement the summary, probably also with the total duration of the time map, so that you can easily compare with the PGC duration. I think I'll implement this function in a plugin.

bigotti5

3rd June 2006, 11:41

thanks rolz.....not sure if this has been added or not, but can you add a check to ensure that the first cell is not seamless (ie., not 8 0 but 2 0)? see posts 124 and 125

Neither Philips nor Interra verifier will complain if the first cell of a PGC is flagged as seamless :confused:

r0lZ

4th June 2006, 01:45

thanks, the summary would be quite sufficient (just to see which time maps are missing/empty), i dont think ifoedit scans nav packs either :)
OK, the tmap plugin v1.0 (http://www.videohelp.com/~r0lZ/pgcedit/beta/tmap_plugin_v10.zip) is ready. It has only one function to display a summary of the time maps of the DVD.
If it detects some missing time maps, or some time maps with a wrong duration, a dialog pops up to ask the user if he wants to rebuild the bad time maps. (This operation is made when the DVD is saved.)
Note that this check is only a basic check. Only the global duration of the PGC is checked. If, per chance, a time map has the right duration but with wrong LBA values, it will be considered valid!

Also, I don't understand why the time map begins with the very first LBA of the first cell of the PGC (and has therefore one extra entry) on some of the commercial DVDs I have tested. I'm not sure it's illegal. Currently, the plugin doesn't check this case. So, a time map is considered valid if its duration (number of entries x time unit) is almost equal to the PGC duration, with a tolerance of 1 entry. Let me know if you think it's not correct.

kumi

4th June 2006, 01:56

Great work r0lZ, PgcEdit just keeps getting better and better.

Just curious, what kind of symptoms (on hardware players) have you seen or heard of when a PGC's timemap is missing? Or when it contain the wrong duration?

r0lZ

4th June 2006, 02:12

When a time map is missing, you cannot jump to a specific time in the title. (On software players, you cannot use the time slider.)
When a time map is wrong, the jumps will be made to an incorrect location in the title. If the time map is really wrong, you can even jump in another title, or crash the player.
Note that the Fast Forward and Rewind functions are based on different pointers, and will still work as expected.

Also, it is theoretically not possible to use the time functions on non-sequential titles (titles that are composed of several PGCs) and sequential pgcs with random or shuffle playback mode. For those titles, the time map is usually empty. However, some non-compliant players are able to use the time map table anyway. Therefore PgcEdit can rebuild all tables, including for those non-sequential, shuffle or random titles.
A menu PGC cannot have a time map.

blutach

4th June 2006, 09:53

@kumi - to test this for yourself. Backup your IFOs and change the timemap for a title. Make the 1st 20 entries the same. Then from somewhere before entry 20 (80 seconds if each unit is 4 seconds) press go back 5 seconds on your software player.

You will go back to the start!!!! To fix, restore your IFOs (or run PgcEdit's new function).

This new functionality of PgcEdit (http://www.videohelp.com/~r0lZ/pgcedit/index.html) is very very good. I have had some DVDs which have ended up with bad time maps and so this is a very cool thing to have fixed up.

Merci beaucoup r0lZ!!!

Regards

kumi

4th June 2006, 18:04

I have had some DVDs which have ended up with bad time maps and so this is a very cool thing to have fixed up.
I just went through 30 of my backups, and 9 have wrong TMAP durations in the main PGC :scared: (usually too small by 1 time unit) So this is a most welcome addition.

By the way, PgcEdit runs some sort of sanity check when loading the PGC Editor window. If there's a problem, it offers to fix a discrepancy (related to PGC playback time I think...) via a popup window. I haven't seen this in a while, so I can't remember the details, and it's not documented in the manual AFAIK.

What does this check do? Compare PGC header playback time vs. cumulative cell playback time?

EDIT: Ah, I guess so. Just checked the source: if {$end_time != -1 && $end_time != $::pgced::__pgcpbtime} {
set txt "WARNING: The PGC Playback Time ([BCDtime $::pgced::__pgcpbtime true]) doesn't match"
set txt "$txt\nthe total of the cells times ([BCDtime $end_time true])."
set txt "$txt\n\nFix it?"

r0lZ

4th June 2006, 18:44

Exactly. But that's not a guarantee that the total time of the PGC is wrong. It can be one or several wrong times in the cells (for example with ARcc0$ protected titles.)

Also, note that a single missing entry in the time map is probably not really a big problem, especially if the PGC is followed by a tiny black cell of one second or so. This cell is there so that you can use the Next Chapter button of the remote when the real last chapter is playing, and is usually intentionally not included in the time map, because it doesn't make sense to jump to that black cell.

jm1647

5th June 2006, 11:07

@r0lZ I was able to repeat this 3 times while trying to blank cells. In the trace in the movie VTS I wanted to blank the studio logo intro and a warning. I followed the prompts about kill play back etc. I hit save dvd and then quit and then the window this DVD has been modifed save it popped up again. I hit save and then quit and it kept popping up. The only way I could get out of Pgcedit was emergency exit. I'm running XP Pro SP2 on a AMD 1500+ 1GB RAM.

r0lZ

5th June 2006, 11:20

Hum, strange. Could you confirm some things?

1) How did you blank the logo and warning? Have you used the "Blank this cell" option from the preview in trace mode?

2) There are no warning or error messages when the DVD is saved?

3) Options -> User Interface -> Expert Mode is not ticked?

jm1647

5th June 2006, 11:25

r0lZ

5th June 2006, 11:45

OK, thanks. I'll try to figure out the problem...

jm1647

5th June 2006, 11:47

OK, thanks. I'll try to figure out the problem...

I'll try it again here also

Thanks!!

jm1647

5th June 2006, 11:59

I'll try it again here also

Thanks!!

The movie is Dr Doolittle 3 and the same thing just happened. Trace mode, preview window, blank cell I chose on 2 different cells. I hit close trace and break. Save dvd, chose quit and the window to save dvd has been modified pooped up hit yes, hadda emergency quit to get out.

President

5th June 2006, 12:16

@r0lZ

Great! Many thank's!

President

5th June 2006, 13:03

@jm1647

Kill playback? Skip ads&warning? I am never doing this automatically. Because a some company including in its products a hidden protection from this trick "post to pre commands":-). Try to find like line in pre PGC section (may be last or near last):

XXX if (any condition) then break.

Break - is a key word and condition is always true. You must to analyse all commands after Break line attentively. Most likely, all of it - any commands which will never executed (abstractive, trash commands). Or this line is LAST of pre commands section. It's a very stupid. Why Break command placing in LAST line??? Just to protect DVD from automatically cleaners:-).

It's a favourite trick for protect from automatically ads killers:-).

Just to replace this line with post command(s) manually and be happy without annoying ads:-).

r0lZ

5th June 2006, 14:32

The Break command has never been a problem, and is still not a problem in the case you describe, at least for PgcEdit.

PgcEdit's Kill Playback replaces the break by a GOTO to the first post-command that is copied to the pre-commands area. The condition is left untouched. Therefore, if the condition is always true, the GOTO will always be executed, as well as the post commands, and the playback will be skipped (as well as the fake pre-commands.)

Anyway, the problem reported by jm1647 has nothing to do with the fact that Kill Playback works well or not, but is related to the way the DVD is saved.

But I have never noticed the protection you describe. Do you have an example? Could you send me the original IFOs?

jm1647

5th June 2006, 18:51

@rolZ - I reripped the DVD with a different ripper and went through the trace mode and blanked cells on the preview screen. I started at the first play PGC this time and got the kill playback popup , went thru to the movie and blanked the 20th century fox intro screen and another one. It worked. I think my early probem could have been also caused by operator error.
I am just getting into and learning all the great things PgcEdit can do. I have regulary using it to blank titlesets in the pgc and was used to the speed at which it done that. First time for me blanking cells.

Just in case I'm gonna do it again with the other ripper and see if that mighta caused the problem or it was me not waiting long enuff before I hit the quit button. I think this was the problem and not caused by Pgcedit.

Sorry for the false alarm, which I really think it was, because I was used to the speed of blanking the titlesets.

r0lZ

5th June 2006, 20:31

jm1647

5th June 2006, 21:06

Hum, yes, it is possible that the new function to recompute the time maps (which takes usually a long time, and is necessary when you blank some cells of a PGC) was not finished yet when you tried to close PgcEdit. If the flag "DVD Modified" was still on, the "Are you sure" dialog was issued again. Normal.

I'll try to inhibit the action of the save and quit functions when a save operation is still in progress. That should be sufficient to avoid this problem.

Thanks for your help.

I had the tower on the floor and didn't see the drive activity light lit...my bad...it's now on the table top :p

Maybe a busy hour glass or something for noobies like me.

As I said I am used to the speed of blanking titles and am just getting into blanking cells using the trace and preview window.

Thank you for the program !!!

r0lZ

5th June 2006, 21:18

Maybe a busy hour glass or something for noobies like me.
When a long operation is in progress, the status bar displays a progress indicator.

jm1647

5th June 2006, 21:27

When a long operation is in progress, the status bar displays a progress indicator.

Ah my bad again......I got to start looking...first long operation I ever attempted..I gotta get my wife a "I'm with stupid T shirt ":p

Thanks again!!!!

r0lZ

5th June 2006, 21:43

I've just added the check to ensure a save operation is not already in progress when you call the save or quit functions. It's a lot more secure now! :)

jm1647

6th June 2006, 01:58

I've just added the check to ensure a save operation is not already in progress when you call the save or quit functions. It's a lot more secure now! :)

Ya mean secure from jm1647 right :p

Thanks!!!

rpboy

6th June 2006, 08:13

I often use the option to create a new blank cell and replace titles with it. This doesn't seem to work with 7.1.2. I've tried with several DVDs (ripped to the HD with DVD Decrypter) and it just doesn't work.

I double-click on the Title to open the PGC Editor. I click on the VOB/Cell ID button and display the "Assign VOB/Cell ID..." window. I select the "Create a new blank VOB cell" option and uncheck the "Copy original VOB to Backup folder" option. I click OK and it just returns to the PGC Editor window. It doesn't say the DVD will be saved now. The VOB/Cell ID button was not changed.

If I go back to 7.0 and try the same thing on the DVD, it works fine.

What's up with that? :)

r0lZ

6th June 2006, 08:31

I did it just now, and it works fine.
It works exactly like before. However, the new function to recompute the time map takes some time, so, the save operation takes longer.

The function can fail if the VOB files are desynchrinized (not matching the IFOs.) But an error message should be displayed in this case.

Could you try with another DVD?

Note: I don't understand why you create a new VOB cell with the Assign V/CID function. With this function, a cell is added in the VOB file, but no new cell is created in the PGC. If you want to replace the cell with VobBlanker, you can probably replace the original cell directly. To create a new cell in a PGC, you should use the Create New Cell button.
Anyway, both functions work equally well.

President

6th June 2006, 13:26

...PgcEdit's Kill Playback replaces the break by a GOTO to the first post-command that is copied to the pre-commands area...
Very well. It's true and easy in one case only - if the Break command sets on the last line of pre commands. In this case a Break is 100% fake. But fake Break command not always placing at the last line (I has a many variations). How do you know what this command true or fake? Or PGCEdit has an artificial intelligence?:-)
Edited: Hmmm. I thinking now... yes, you're right. Correct way in all cases exclude this - full pre section:-).
...Anyway, the problem reported by jm1647 has nothing to do with the fact that Kill Playback works well or not, but is related to the way the DVD is saved...
I know. My post concerning all persons who wants to stop playback of ads and other rejects. jm1647 try to do this by using automatically function. IMO this operation demand a manually work with analysis of all commands.
...But I have never noticed the protection you describe...
Heh:-). You are living in LA with strong laws and copyrights (include ads time and quantity). But this "protection", I think, a new russian feature only:-). Our DVD-authors are know about "post to pre" trick and trying to take counteractions against it. Ads, ads and ads (PUOs, hidden Break, non one-sequential titles, full pre section without NOPs and many other)! A new russian cinema and TV policy:-). Without limits:-). But I want to have such DVD as I like. I hate any ads!!
...Do you have an example? Could you send me the original IFOs?...
Yes, I have. No problem. Catch here:
http://rapidshare.de/files/22341528/Wimbledon.zip.html (40 kb).
Unfortunately, I find only one DVD now with this "protection". All other I already break and rewrite. Sorry.

r0lZ

6th June 2006, 13:58

Very well. It's true and easy in one case only - if the Break command sets on the last line of pre commands. In this case a Break is 100% fake. But fake Break command not always placing at the last line (I has a many variations). How do you know what this command true or fake? Or PGCEdit has an artificial intelligence?:-)It's easy. As I said, the IF condition is left untouched. Therefore the GOTO is executed if the condition is true, and is skipped if it is false, exactly like the break command. No need for artificial intelligence to handle this very easy case! (However, there are some very difficult case where a full trace might be needed to correctly kill playback. Luckily, those cases are very rare.)

IMO this operation demand a manually work with analysis of all commands.True only in the rare cases I evoked above. Not for the Break command.

Heh:-). You are living in LA with strong laws and copyrights (include ads time and quantity).I live in Belgium, far away of LA! But that's not the point.

Yes, I have. No problem. Catch here:
http://rapidshare.de/files/22341528/Wimbledon.zip.html (40 kb).
Unfortunately, I find only one DVD now with this "protection". All other I already break and rewrite. Sorry.
Thanks. I'll try to do something to handle this kind of protection, when I'll have some free time.
If you can find some more examples, please send them, too.

President

6th June 2006, 14:28

True only in the rare cases I evoked above. Not for the Break command.
Yes. You're right. Very good idea! (However, as a many other your idea). Thank's. I don't think about replace to GOTO command. Sorry. Just Break is really not a problem. But always remove playback automatically is not recommended by me. To cast a look at pre section is needed in any case:-).

President

6th June 2006, 14:36

If you can find some more examples, please send them, too.
Sure.

frank

6th June 2006, 17:38

Originally posted by rOlZ:
There are many DVDs with the layer break inside a VOB (where only the cell ID changes.) The seamless flag is set, too. Can anyone give me an example? (PAL) I have so many DVDs but can't find such LB.

@rOlZ
In the Burn Double Layer DVD: Select LB window you should disable the red Seamless Layer Break option if the VOB ID changes (compliant to specs). As we discussed with mpucoder a change of VOB ID means that cells are non-seamless linked. I think to make such location seamless is one reason that beginners produce crashes on some standalones.

r0lZ

6th June 2006, 18:27

This is why the seamless LB option is highlighted in pink. Is it not right?

I don't want to prohibit completely its use, because the right way to use it is still in discussion. Seems it works pretty well, even on the non-seamlessly linked cells, on many players. However, a novice user should not leave the SLB option ticked when it is pink. IMO, this warning is sufficient.

bigotti5

6th June 2006, 19:10

As we discussed with mpucoder a change of VOB ID means that cells are non-seamless linked

mmmmh

non-seamless linked means the "seamless joint" flag is cleared

the mux itself of a VobID change can be seamless or non seamless

mpucoder

6th June 2006, 19:36

Right. Nowhere did I say that a change in VobID means a non-seamless joint. Vobs can be joined either seamlessly or not, it is a multiplexer option.

jm1647

6th June 2006, 22:01

When a long operation is in progress, the status bar displays a progress indicator.

I found out why I did not see the status bar when I blanked cells using the trace preview mode the other day.

I don't know if it makes a difference but I use 800x600mode all the time (I ain't got the best eyes in the world :) ) When in trace mode the status bar at the bottom left corner is covered by buttons for the trace mode. When I got down my blanking cells I left the program in trace mode and the status bar is covered up by the trace buttons when it is doing the time map calculationa and stuff.
I tried blanking cells today and when I was done I exited trace mode, and was able to see the status bar doing it's thing. I think i got it now...Thanks!!!

r0lZ

6th June 2006, 22:15

jm1647

7th June 2006, 01:17

Right. There is an option to remove the toolbar and statusbar in trace mode. I don't use it, and I forgot that. Anyway, in the next version, you will not be able to save twice at the same time.

I must have clicked the option to hide it in an earlier version to see what it did. When it's unclicked and you click it it does nothing until the next time you start PgcEdit. But when it is clicked and you unclick it it works right away. It is unclicked now. Thanks!

rpboy

7th June 2006, 06:02

I did it just now, and it works fine.
It works exactly like before. Could you try with another DVD?
Not working for me at all. I've tried 6 different DVDs and they all do the same thing. I even let it sit for a few minutes after clicking OK to see if it would do it after a delay and it doesn't.

The function can fail if the VOB files are desynchrinized (not matching the IFOs.) But an error message should be displayed in this case.
Hmm, no error message appears. And the same DVD works fine in v7.0.

Note: I don't understand why you create a new VOB cell with the Assign V/CID function. With this function, a cell is added in the VOB file, but no new cell is created in the PGC. If you want to replace the cell with VobBlanker, you can probably replace the original cell directly. To create a new cell in a PGC, you should use the Create New Cell button.
Anyway, both functions work equally well.
I have a VTS that has several titles in them. I only want to blank out one title. That's why I did it the way I was doing it.

I'm not using any other software, like VobBlanker. I'm just interested in blanking some warnings and ads on the disc, but can't "Blank out all VTST Titles" since there are titles I want to keep.

If there's another way to do it, I'm open to another way. I just find it odd that v7.0 works fine on these DVDs, yet v7.1.2 is not working at all in that same operation.

r0lZ

7th June 2006, 10:33

The other way of doing this is with the preview in trace mode. Though the method is essentially identical, there are some differences. In particular, the GUI is very different. So, try it, it might work in your case. (And, please, report the result.)

Could you download v7.1.2 again, reinstall it, and repeat the tests? Maybe there is something wrong in your copy.

Also, if someone has used the Remap Vob/Cell ID function with v7.1.2, I'm interested to hear if he has experienced the same problem.

[EDIT:] Forget this post, and see the next one!

r0lZ

7th June 2006, 10:54

Sorry, rpboy, I was wrong. I've found the problem!

The version I use here (not embedded in a standalone executable) doesn't exhibit the problem, so it was impossible for me to understand your problem. But the standalone exe has the problem. I have already fixed it, and I'll release an update soon.

Note that the blanking via the preview in trace mode should work fine.

Sorry again, and thanks for the bug report!

rpboy

8th June 2006, 09:08

Sorry, rpboy, I was wrong. I've found the problem!

Sorry again, and thanks for the bug report!
Great! Look forward to getting the newer version.

blutach

8th June 2006, 16:02

@President & r0lZ

I have often thought the time when a Pre/Post KillPlayback could fail would be if there were the full 128 commands. Now they can fill them up with junk and make this more difficult. Yet to be seen here.

But that is indeed one way to break the kill playback methodology. However, we would then simply return to the old methods - fixing the entry sector to be the last sector of the PGC.

I think not to worry for now.

Regards

xbill

10th June 2006, 20:03

I had to reinstall win.xp,had pgc with a wizzerd,and didn't have it backed up! any one have a link to this?it was a big help to me,as iam just learning how to do this.Thanks for any help on this.

dirio49

10th June 2006, 20:59

Look at kill across in blutach signature

l3ullseye

10th June 2006, 21:48

I think i found a small bug in PGCedit 7.1.2, when in PGCeditor when i try to blank a skiped menu i use Create a new blank VOB Cell, and when i press ok nothing happends, i had to use PGCedit 6.3.1 to do this.

I hope this helps...

l3ullseye

r0lZ

10th June 2006, 23:26

Yes, this bug has already been reported here (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=837241#post837241), by rpboy, and is fixed now. Thanks anyway.

I will release a new version soon...

erdoke

12th June 2006, 07:36

r0lZ,

One of my friends sent me this screenshot with a possible bug, introduced in 7.0. SCREENSHOT (http://erdoke.uw.hu/Pix/pgcedit_bug.png)
He told me that all virtual commands were deleted and he just started to add new commands. A couple of GPRM setting commands were added when he checked the GPRM count with "Find Unused GPRMs". Unfortunately PgcEdit reports the initial state of GPRMs instead of the new count. It is the same after restarting PgcEdit and rebooting the PC as well.

r0lZ

12th June 2006, 08:43

It is the same after restarting PgcEdit and rebooting the PC as well.That's totally impossible! The gprm are checked each time you call the function, and nothing is remembered. I have just tried the function again, and everything works as expected.

Maybe, for some reason, the GPRMs added by your friend are in a place where PgcEdit can't find them. Seems strange, but I can't imagine another reason for this problem.
Could you ask him what he did exactly, and where he has added the commands?
Also, I may need the IFOs. (pgcedit at tiscali dot be)

erdoke

12th June 2006, 22:04

Sure I will ask for the infos. I just translated what he sent me by mail. (He is a regular user of PgcEdit and not a beginner with virtual commands.)

President

13th June 2006, 08:05

@President & r0lZ
However, we would then simply return to the old methods - fixing the entry sector to be the last sector of the PGC.
Thank's, blutach. This will works (in a very hard case). The same effect may be get with VobBlanker. Just blank each cell of unneeded title.

It is rare, that DVD has an identical settings of all titles (aspect ratio AR or TV standard especially). Therefore, when any title started a HW (or SW) player switch output according to title settings. It demands a lot of time and a TV screen is flasing in addition. If DVD has a 4-5 ads titles (which starts one to one) then result may be very unlikely. That is the reason why I prefer a method which returns playback BEFORE ads title started.

r0lZ

15th June 2006, 11:13

E. When the VMGM_VOBU_ADMAP table is present but has 0 entries, the table is now completely removed when the DVD is loaded. Previously, only the empty VMGM_C_ADT, VTSM_C_ADT and VTSM_VOBU_ADMAP tables were removed.
F. Burn DL DVD: When the new advanced option "Modify IFOs only" is ticked and PgcEdit cannot find a suitable cell for the layer break, the GUI was not updated correctly, and it was impossible to close the Burn window.
F. The highlight target feature and the Find Jumps to Nowhere function were unable to mark a JumpTT to an inexistant title as invalid.
F. It was possible to save the DVD or quit PgcEdit when a save operation was already in progress. Now, only File -> Kill can be used during the save.
F. PGC Editor: Remap Vob/Cell ID when using the Create New Cell option was broken in v7.1.
F. The dynamic version of the PgcEdit_preview executable was distributed with v7.x. To work correctly under Linux, the static version is needed.

New plugin:
Time Maps plugin v1.0, a function to verify the VTS_TMAPTI tables of all Titles of the DVD, with an option to rebuild the missing or wrong tables automatically when the DVD is saved.

President

15th June 2006, 11:25

PgcEdit v7.2 released!
Thank's r0lZ! Great!

blutach

15th June 2006, 11:58

Mille mercis!

Regards

linx05

15th June 2006, 12:50

Thank you very much!!!

dirio49

15th June 2006, 22:40

Thanks r0lZ for the new version
:thanks: :thanks:

setarip_old

17th June 2006, 03:38

@r0lZ

A trivial point, since v.7.2 is now available, but:

I ran PgcEdit v.7.12 with the just released version of the "PSLPlugin" installed and it generated the following message:

"PSL2 Plugin:

This feature requires PgcEdit v.7.1 or more.

You are currently running PgcEdit v.7.1.2.

Please upgrade PgcEdit"

Isn't v.7.1.2 more current than v.7.1?

ux-3

17th June 2006, 08:23

throwing in my "thank you":

:thanks:

r0lZ

17th June 2006, 11:32

setarip_old, I don't know how the version test is made in the plugin.
There is a function in the main PgcEdit exe to check the current version. I will verify it. Maybe the fact that v7.1 is checked (only 2 digits) instead of 7.1.2 is the problem...

redguy

21st June 2006, 00:01

excellent!!

voo_doo99

21st June 2006, 19:01

I am getting this error everytime returning from using viewing tools Media Player Classic:

Error message:
No accelerated IMDCT trandform found

Can this be fixed? [sth in the tool setup maybe??]

Also, the Reopen DVD dialog popped up all the time too. Can it be optionally skipped?

Thanks very much.

r0lZ

21st June 2006, 19:17

Well, I have the same error on my system. This error is caused by MPC, not by PgcEdit. You cannot avoid it.
However, personally, I prefer to launch MPC in the background. Since it's not an editing tool, you can safely leave PgcEdit opened and running while MPC displays the DVD. This way, the return code of MPC is not checked, and the error will not be reported.

You can disable the Reopen DVD feature in the Tools Configuration dialog. Anyway, if you launch MPC in the background, this option will be disabled automatically.

My setups are:
Arguments: "%p\VIDEO_TS.IFO"
Working folder: %p
Run application in background is selected. The other options are not ticked.

voo_doo99

21st June 2006, 20:12

However, personally, I prefer to launch MPC in the background. Since it's not an editing tool, you can safely leave PgcEdit opened and running while MPC displays the DVD. This way, the return code of MPC is not checked, and the error will not be reported.
Good tips, thanks :) made my day, shoulda ask my question 100 clicks earlier.

You can disable the Reopen DVD feature in the Tools Configuration dialog.
I think I will need the Reopen DVD feature after I used IfoEdit to make some changes, right? But in that case, my answer would always be Yes; so how do I set it up to skip the dialog box and always reopen the DVD?

And last, is there a setup that can use PowerDVD for viewing?

Thanks r0lZ, you are great!

ux-3

21st June 2006, 20:15

Small suggestion:
In the layer break placement menu, make the dark blue bar somewhat smaller or transparent, so that it is possible to see the color underneath. If only one break is possible, one can see which color it has.

greetings
ux-3

r0lZ

22nd June 2006, 10:13

I think I will need the Reopen DVD feature after I used IfoEdit to make some changes, right? But in that case, my answer would always be Yes; so how do I set it up to skip the dialog box and always reopen the DVD?Right, it is best to launch IfoEdit (or any editing tool, like MenuShrink or VobEdit) in the foreground, and to force to reopen the DVD after. Unfortunately, there is no independent setup to avoid the open DVD dialog, but you can turn it off by enabling the Expert Mode. However, Expert Mode removes almost all informative and some confirmation dialogs, and therefore, it is recommended only for... experts!

And last, is there a setup that can use PowerDVD for viewing?I don't have PowerDVD, and I don't know its CLI syntax. As far as I know, it is not possible to launch WinDVD automatically with the right folder, but is is possible to launch Nero ShowTime (use "%d" with the quotes as the arguments field) or M$'s Media Player 10 ("%p\VIDEO_TS.IFO").

Anyway, those programs are not very useful to test your DVDs. The error messages are usually not very informative, and they are extremely slow to launch the playback. I prefer to use IfoEdit's preview, or media player classic. Also, I hate those infamous skins. I like MPC because it has a good interface!

goonix

22nd June 2006, 11:48

is there a setup that can use PowerDVD for viewing?It is the same as for MPC.

Arguments: "%p\VIDEO_TS.IFO"
Working folder: %p

But PowerDVD don't like spaces in path to the VIDEO_TS folder if called via PgcEdit.

c:\my_videos\VIDEO_TS -> PowerDVD start playback automatically.
c:\my videos\VIDEO_TS -> PowerDVD is opened but don't start playback.

goonix

President

22nd June 2006, 13:42

To r0lZ.

As I promised, a new ifo's with some features, which still playing ads after killing it by standard method.
http://rapidshare.de/files/23752168/Dreams.zip.html
Without menu vob it demands some explanations. Titles 2, 3, 4 and somewhere at end (I don't remember now, it's unimportant) are advertisements.
As usual a well-known Break at last line:-). It's a tradition already:-). When I replaced a Break lines with post commands at all ads titles a DVD starts from main menu directly (VTSM1, PGC7). It's a good. But a main menu containing a button named "Return". A last ads title, which played before menu started, is 4. Thus, when main menu started a SPRM4, 5, 6, 7 (and timer) still stored information about of 4th title begin, because this title was not played to it's end time. A "Return" button has a link to VTSM1 PGC 35. This PGC contains a resume (RSM) command, which ignored a Pre section and start playing last title directly from break point (begin of title 4). Thus, I may see my lovely ads from title 4, then main menu starts again:-).

In normal (original) playing this effect will not appear. Playback just jumps at very short time to end of title 4 (black screen) and returns to main menu. It almost insensibly. So is to stop ads playback forever I must edited a PGC 35 also.

I find an unused GPRM (first unused is GPRM(0)) and edited this PGC (blue - new command):
1. gprm(0) = sprm(4) (get current title#)
2. gprm(11) = 0
3. if gprm(14) = 1000 then LinkPGC 2
4. if gprm(0) = 1 then RSM (check current title#)
5. if gprm(0) = 5 then RSM
6. if gprm(0) = 6 then RSM
7. if gprm(0) = 7 then RSM
...
(last line) Jump to first play PGC
Thus, Resume command will executed only if playback was interrupt from main movie (title 1) or additional materials (titles 5, 6, 7...). Ads will never started. Now a DVD is playing as I like without bugs.

Ads must killed always and only by hand (and head):-). Ctrl+K is a toy:-).

A last our invention - include ads in start of main movie without a chapter division (yesterday I remuxed that DVD with append a chapters). Super! What's next? Vice versa? A main movie will sometimes appear between ads, logos and creeping lines? Shit! Broadcast TV is already so at many years. DVD goes the same way:-((.

Regards.
Bye to Monday.

r0lZ

22nd June 2006, 13:48

Arguments: "%p\VIDEO_TS.IFO"

But PowerDVD don't like spaces in path to the VIDEO_TS folder if called via PgcEdit.If you put the quotes around the arguments (like in your example), it should work.

r0lZ

22nd June 2006, 14:28

@President

I have analysed your IFOs.

1. The conditional break (the last original pre-command) is not a problem, as it is replaced by a goto. Since the goto will jump to the next line, it is useless, but doesn't hurt. Anyway, the break command cannot be an obstacle to Kill Playback.
Note that, in the original IFOs, this break is also useless. I have already seen this kind of authoring many times. This command is probably left by the authoring program, but it is not needed because there are no commands after it.

2. When you kill playback, you have now the option to blank out the PGC that you have just killed. If you do it, you will never see the ad, but, in the worst case, only a tiny black video of 1/2 second.
Note that since the ads are in their own titlesets, you can also use the Blank Out All PGCs in Domain function. The PGC will be killed, and the VOB file replaced completely by a small (10KB) file. No chance to see the ad any more!

3. The RSM problem is well known, but is not related to the Kill Playback function. If you use the Jump to PGC function to bypass the ads, the function will call (but not play) the last played title so that RSM has a valid resume point if it is called right after the DVD has been inserted. (On most players, RSM crash if a title has not been visited yet.) Unfortunately, the last visited title is an advertisement, but I can't guess that. Anyway, you can probably avoid seeing it if you don't select the Resume button when the DVD has just been loaded.
Your method to avoid the execution of the RSM command is well done (though, IMO, it is sufficient to test if title 4 has been played, and return to FP-PGC in this case only.)
Another method is to change the jump to title 4 inserted by PgcEdit in the FP-PGC to a jump to title 1, and copy/paste the commands added at the beginning of title 4 in title 1. This way, if RSM is executed when you have just inserted the DVD, you will resume to the main movie. It's my preferred method.

My conclusion is that the combination of Jump to PGC and Kill Playback (without the blanking option) works well, unless you resume directly when the DVD has just been inserted. This case is tricky, but has nothing to do with intentional protection of the ads by the authoring.
Anyway, if one function needs to be improved, it's Jump2PGC, not Kill Playback. Maybe I'll add an option to use the main title instead of the last played title as the default resume point...

The problem of the ads joined in the first cell of the movie is difficult to solve, and PgcEdit cannot do that. But you should be able to use one of these methods:
- Cut the cell with VobBlanker, and remove the first part. It's really easy.
- Reauthor the main title with DVD Shrink and replace it back in its original VTS with PgcEdit. (This method is usable only if there is only one title in the titleset, like in your example.)

Anyway, thanks for the info!

goonix

23rd June 2006, 00:39

If you put the quotes around the arguments (like in your example), it should work. Yes it works now. Thanks a lot.

My current task with PgcEdit is to create a "best of" selection from a music DVD with 29 cells and 17 chapters in the main movie. For this reason I create a new dummy pgc in the titel domain. Then I create several new cells using "Pick an existing VOB/Cell ID".

The sector numbers of the new cells are correct, but all new cells get VOB/Cell ID 1/1. Is this intended?

After finishing my selection, the chapter numbers of the main movie are the same as before and the chapters of my new pgc are numbered from 1 to x (as expected...).

But after saving and re-opening of the DVD, the chapter numbers of the untouched main movie and the new pgc are somewhat mixed. So the main movie has chapter 1,3,5,7 and the new pgc has chapter 2,4,6.

How can I avoid this?

goonix

blutach

23rd June 2006, 05:55

bigotti5

23rd June 2006, 06:13

@goonix
If you create a dummy PGC you get 2 PGCs in one title, PTT numbering (Part of title) depends on title and not PGC.
Why the chapters are mixed - maybe Pgcedit counts PTT by sector address ignoring the PGCs.
Vob/CellID numbering seems to be a bug.
If you create a dummy PGC the VMG_PTT_SRPT table should be modified, title looses its one_sequential status

To avoid this use the "clone PGC" option, a new TTN is created and then modify Vob/CellID to your need

bigotti5

23rd June 2006, 07:30

@blutach

open vobedit, if it opens in fullscreen reduce its size and close it with the "quit" button

in Pgcedit use "%v" as argument, mark VTS domain in left pane und try again...

it is the same as in ifoedit
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=803820#post803820

ux-3

23rd June 2006, 11:03

another small issue: When burning, is the 1GB compatibility taken care of?

greetings
ux-3

r0lZ

23rd June 2006, 11:19

The sector numbers of the new cells are correct, but all new cells get VOB/Cell ID 1/1. Is this intended?No! It's an enormous bug I've just fixed yesterday.

I have still to verify the chapter numbers problem. Maybe it's another bug, or it is caused by the wrong Cell ID bug, now fixed...

:thanks:

r0lZ

23rd June 2006, 11:24

@r0lZ (or anyone)

Wish I could get VobEdit to open the VOB from PgcEdit (http://www.videohelp.com/~r0lZ/pgcedit/index.html)'s tools. I've tried everything in the tools menu and all I get is Vobedit opening but no VOB loaded. Anyone had any luck with this?

Regards
My setups:
Arguments: "%p\%m" (with the quotes!)
Working folder: %p
It is launched with the current MENU VOB.

To open any VOB in the DVD folder, I have another setup:
Arguments: "%V" (with the quotes!)
Working folder: %p

goonix

23rd June 2006, 11:33

Thanks for the explanation, bigotti5.

This seems to be a better way to reach my intention.

It would be nice, if you also can explain the disadvantages if the title looses its one_sequential status.

goonix

blutach

23rd June 2006, 11:56

@bigotti5

Many thanks for that.

Strange though - I can position in VMG and open VIDEO_TS.VOB and in the titles domain to open VTS_0X_1.VOB but in the menu domain it won't open VTS_0X_0.VOB. It opens _1.VOB instead.

I suppose this is a VobEdit issue and not a PgcEdit one.

I am using %v in aruments and %p in working folder.

Regards

r0lZ

23rd June 2006, 12:05

bigotti5

23rd June 2006, 12:31

It would be nice, if you also can explain the disadvantages if the title looses its one_sequential status.

One_sequential_title means only one PGC per title (even no dummy PGC).
By the spec only one_sequential_titles can have time-maps for timecode display and to navigate with slider in software players. Also SPRM7 (PTT number) is only valid for one_sequential_titles.

r0lZ

23rd June 2006, 13:29

Also SPRM7 (PTT number) is only valid for one_sequential_titles.Why? In non-sequential titles, the PTT numbers are availables and uniques, so it can be stored in sprm 7. (I know; the fact that something can be done doesn't mean that is is compliant.)
Anyway, the role of sprm 7 is not well established. On many players, it is used to store the PG number!

bigotti5

23rd June 2006, 14:13

Why? In non-sequential titles, the PTT numbers are availables and uniques, so it can be stored in sprm 7.

There can be 999 PTTs per title but only 99 PTT per one_sequential_title, valid values for SPRM7 are 1-99 only

blutach

23rd June 2006, 14:27

%v references always the first Title VOB of the current VTS, not the first VOB of the current domain. If the VMG is selected, VIDEO_TS.VOB is used, though.
To launch VobEdit with the menu VOB, use %m.Is there an argument that picks the correct domain? Seems like I would need 2 tools - one for title and one for menu domains.

Regards

r0lZ

23rd June 2006, 15:33

That's what I did. See post #242 in this thread (http://forum.doom9.org/showpost.php?p=844125&postcount=242).
Anyway, if you want to examine a title VOB, since VobEdit can open only one precise file and PgcEdit cannot guess which VOB file number to use, you should use "%V" (upper case) to select the file you want with the Open File dialog.

blutach

23rd June 2006, 16:32

Aaah OK - I will experiment. Thanks. BTW: Have you had a chance to review the updated DL guide yet?

Regards

r0lZ

23rd June 2006, 17:55

Yes, but my mail was blocked again! I've sent it again, to your alt address.

blutach

24th June 2006, 01:58

Ach - got them both eventually. I must call the ISP!

Guide now loaded.

Regards

r0lZ

26th June 2006, 10:43

PgcEdit v 7.3 released
F. During the trace, when a menu was displayed, hitting the Prev, Next or GoUp button on the virtual remote had no effect.
F. PGC Editor -> Create New Cell -> Create New Blank VOB Cell did not create a new cell if a tiny blcak cell previously created by PgcEdit was already present at the end of the VOB file. Instead, the tiny cell was reused.
F. When using Create New Cell -> Use existing VOB/Cell ID, the cell ID number was always 1.
F. When using Create New Cell on a non-sequential Title PGC (with several PGCs in the same TTN) and the option to create a new chapter, the new chapter number was wrong.
F. When using New Dummy PGC on a Title PGC, the modified Title was not marked as non-sequential in the VMG_TT_SRPT table.
F. When using Delete Last PGC in the Title domain to delete the penultimate PGC of a non-sequential Title (played sequentially), the Title was not marked as sequential in VMG_TT_SRPT. Its time map is now also recomputed when the DVD is saved.

jm1647

26th June 2006, 10:49

r0lZ - once again :thanks: for the update!!!!! :D

President

26th June 2006, 10:50

PgcEdit v 7.3 released
WOW! Great! Thank's! Already downloading.

blutach

26th June 2006, 11:21

Thanks r0lZ.

Regards

bigotti5

26th June 2006, 15:00

@r0lZ

If you have a multi-PGC title, two PGCs, chapters in both PGCs and you remove one PGC the number of chapters is modified in VTS_PTT_SRPT but not in VMG_PTT_SRPT (0x0a)

Thanks for the new version

r0lZ

26th June 2006, 15:45

OK, will verify that. Thanks.

setarip_old

26th June 2006, 16:19

@r0lZ

A VERY small suggestion, if I may - Please include the version number in the filename...

Oldeman

26th June 2006, 16:55

A VERY small suggestion, if I may - Please include the version number in the filename...

excellant idea...

selyb

26th June 2006, 17:23

Feature Request:
1. Right Click menu for text boxes on the command editor
http://www.selyb.com/menuexample.png

2. option to have virtual remote controls on preview window

3. some while back, i had requested the ability to use Enter key on the command editor to do the same as hitting the OK button
it was implemented but it isnt implemented now :(
was it taken out purposely?

Video Dude

26th June 2006, 22:29

The version number is in the file name if you download from r0lz's version section on his site:
http://www.videohelp.com/~r0lZ/pgcedit/versions/

blutach

26th June 2006, 22:45

I'd be against version numbers in file names, too. I would think that most people just "install over" the old version and this is very convenient. And yes, you can always get access to the old versions on the server.

Regards

r0lZ

26th June 2006, 23:01

Feature Request:
1. Right Click menu for text boxes on the command editor
http://www.selyb.com/menuexample.pngThere is already a "B" button to enter a button number, and you can enter a language code by prefixing it with an apostrophe, like: 'en
BTW, in almost all numeric fields, it is also possible to enter an hex number (0xFF), and even an octal number (077).

2. option to have virtual remote controls on preview windowDue to the way the preview is implemented and interacts with the main Tcl/Tk program, it's currently impossible. Sorry.

3. some while back, i had requested the ability to use Enter key on the command editor to do the same as hitting the OK button
it was implemented but it isnt implemented now :(
was it taken out purposely?I can't use the return key to accept the command editor because Return is already used to validate the hex field. But you can type CTRL-Enter instead. It's the same as clicking OK.

r0lZ

26th June 2006, 23:05

Indeed, it is possible to download an archive (including the current release) with the version number in the filename from the "all versions (http://www.videohelp.com/~r0lZ/pgcedit/versions/)" folder.

setarip_old

26th June 2006, 23:29

Indeed, it is possible to download an archive (including the current release) with the version number in the filename from the "all versions" folder.Let's just say that this option is not as apparent as all of the other listings (that don't reflect the version number in their names) that appear before it on your "Downloads" page - but thanks to both you and "Video Dude" for pointing that out ;>}

dirio49

27th June 2006, 01:17

President

27th June 2006, 06:30

To r0lZ.

May I ask you? I understand, that is a very big work, but it is a very good and necessary possibility (now I forced to use a DVDRemake for this. Stupid program). May be in future... Did you make a more powerful editor for add (before/after current) and delete any dummy PGC's, not for last only? Thanks.

r0lZ

27th June 2006, 10:55

Well, inserting, deleting or moving a PGC at any place is easy to do.
The difficult part is to fix the navigation commands. That's not as easy as it sounds. For example, when a PGC is deleted, what should I do with the commands pointing to it?
Also, the advantage is not obvious. It is already possible to create a PGC. It doesn't need to be at a specific position to be used.

Anyway, it's something I would like to do. It's on my ToDo list for a while... but there is always something more important to do first.

blutach

27th June 2006, 11:45

I find the unused dummies in the middle of a domain to be just a little irritant. But they do no harm and take up little space. Why bother?

Advanced error checking is my major wish list item, as you know r0lZ :)

Regards

President

27th June 2006, 12:37

Well, inserting, deleting or moving a PGC at any place is easy to do.
Thanks. May I hope?:-)
The difficult part is to fix the navigation commands. That's not as easy as it sounds. For example, when a PGC is deleted, what should I do with the commands pointing to it?
If a last PGC is deleting, then what are you doing with links to it now? Nothing. Nothing to fix. Most of all operations in PGCEdit may be make a broken DVD. PGCEdit is program not for lamers. Users must have a some experience and to understand what are they doing:-).
BTW, a DVD Remake fix it automatically. And that feature is impossible to off in DVD Remake. After this, a jump, call and other links (frequently) pointing to a PGC with zero number!!!
Please leave this fix to user. May be include that as menu item in expert mode? Default is off (nothing differences with current mode). Who need it - switch on, like automatically fix goto links within one PGC now.

PS. I agree with blutach. I don't like a DVD with trash PGC. Do you remember a last ifo's, which I sent to you? Near 140 PGC in one VTS!!! I will never believe, that all of it used in DVD.

Edited:
Once more idea: may be make that feature as a plugin?

r0lZ

27th June 2006, 15:57

If a last PGC is deleting, then what are you doing with links to it now? Nothing. Nothing to fix.That's right, but in this case, it's easy to locate the commands jumping to nowhere and to fix them manually. But if a PGC is deleted in the middle, the next PGCs will be shifted down, and the jumps will still be valid. It will be mode difficult to fix them. And you will have to fix the jumps to the following PGCs, too. IMO, PgcEdit should do the fixes itself, like with the Remap Titleset function, but as I said, it's not easy.

But maybe I'll do a basic function to delete or move a PGC without fixing the navigation. As a plugin, yes, it's a good idea. But don't expect it soon. It's the summer, and I am currently in lazy mode! :cool:

AlienX69

27th June 2006, 16:54

It's the summer, and I am currently in lazy mode! :cool:

Good for you ;) , I'm in that mode too, grab some brewskies and go lay out at the pool every day now that summer is here ...... :D

President

29th June 2006, 05:48

But maybe I'll do a basic function to delete or move a PGC without fixing the navigation. As a plugin, yes, it's a good idea. But don't expect it soon. It's the summer, and I am currently in lazy mode! :cool:
:-). Don't hurry. Be resting. Many, many, many thahk's!! As always. You made a big work already. PGC Edit is too too good program now:-). For free soft.

I will be wait you at September, 1:-))).

bigotti5

29th June 2006, 07:32

In according to this (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=844153#post844153) post I made a DVD to check SPRM7 in case of multi-pgc titles.

It seems that there are players with troubles if there is a JumpVTS_PTT command greater than 255 so it is checked too.

jump to PTT>255 should show colorbars for a few seconds and then a table jump to PTT>255 successful

read sprm7 from player should show colorbars for a few seconds and then a table with the result

SPRM7=0
or
SPRM7=1
or
SPRM7=258
or
SPRM7=other

some results

WinDVD, PowerDVD, Nero Showtime -> 258
Marks Tray Player, Sonic Preplay, Ravisent Cinemaster, Scenarist Simulation -> 1
Cyberhome 505, Pioneer DV-444, Pioneer DV-668 -> 1
Muvid DVD-205, Easy ET 602, S.E.G. Hollywood 2 -> 258
NAD T524, Panasonic DMR E 100 H, Cyberhome CH-DVD-402 -> other

Download Test-DVD (http://members.aon.at/video.digital/SPRM7.rar)

r0lZ

29th June 2006, 10:42

See also this thread (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=92035&highlight=sprm%287%29+test+dvd), with the results of the SPRM 7 test I did in the past.

You can download my SPRM 7 test DVD on the PgcEdit homepage: TEST_SPRM_7_PAL.zip (http://www.videohelp.com/~r0lZ/pgcedit/third_party/r0lz/TEST_SPRM_7_PAL.zip), TEST_SPRM_7_NTSC.zip (http://www.videohelp.com/~r0lZ/pgcedit/third_party/r0lz/TEST_SPRM_7_NTSC.zip).

sendithere

30th June 2006, 15:06

Hi r0lZ,

I was trying to send you email, but got no reply. First of all - thanks a lot for such a great tool, I'm still new to it, but the more I use it - more I like it :cool: I think I found a bug - I was going after http://forum.digital-digest.com/showpost.php?p=296707&postcount=1 and I can do #1-4, but #5 is all gray. I downloaded older version 6.3.1 and it works just fine. It looks like this was broken in release 7 - I tried another build (7.1.2 I think) - no luck also...

If needed - I can email you IFO files, but it's not working for at least 3 DVDs, so I guess it has nothing to do with files...
Thanks a lot and hope this helps...

bigotti5

30th June 2006, 19:41

I think I found a bug - I was going after http://forum.digital-digest.com/show...07&postcount=1 and I can do #1-4, but #5 is all gray

No bug - r0lZ changed this because these attributes are valid for the whole domain

If you wanna change it click "Domain - Domain stream attributes" from main menu bar

@r0lZ

To the validity of SPRM_7 I found this in US Patent 6370322

http://members.aon.at/video.digital/SPRM7.png

blutach

1st July 2006, 02:30

@senditthere - I am afraid you can blame me for asking for this enhancement from r0lZ. I was finding it strange to change 1 PGC when the attributes were for the whole domain. But now, it is very easy to remove from all PGCs as bigotti mentioned.

If you have removed a stream from 1 PGC but left it in others in the same domain, then this enhancement prevents you from taking it out of the PGC (where it does no harm to sit as a placeholder - except that you need to click the remote a bit more to cycle through the streams).

Regards

r0lZ

1st July 2006, 09:45

I was trying to send you email, but got no reply.
I have replied to your mail!
Anyway, here is what I wrote:
Hi!

It's not a bug, but only a limitation.

I have changed several things in the Domain Streams Attributes function since v7. Notably, there are now new checkboxes in the GUI to delete a whole stream (and to fix the references in the PGC tables.) This addition is incompatible with the GUI called from the PGC Editor.
Anyway, the Domain Streams Attributes tables are global to the whole domain (hence the name) , and are not directly related to a specific PGC. Having a button in the PGC Editor is therefore a nonsense. It is there only for the user convenience, because it is sometimes necessary to verify the language codes before modifying the streams assignments of the PGC. Since v7, the GUI is read only, to avoid many conflicts and discrepancies.

To access the original, editable GUI, you have to close the PGC Editor (and accept or cancel your changes), be sure to select a PGC of the right domain, and then call Domain -> Domain Stream Attributes (or call the right-click popup menu of the PGC.)

sendithere

4th July 2006, 00:19

Thanks everyone - I was away and could not thank you a bit early :) It does not matter to me where is it - as long as I know where to find it :) Thanks a lot for such a great program and once more for the help!

President

10th July 2006, 09:27

2 r0lZ.

A timemap plugin is do nothing (or I don't understand it). I have a DVD (it is a second with the same bug), which has a wrong timemap. Really playtime of DVD (main movie) is 1:57:16. Timemap has a 1:57:09 value. I run a plugin, agree with reconstruct and save DVD. PGC Edit recalculating a timemap, saving DVD, but a playtime still the same 1:57:09. IFO's here:
http://rapidshare.de/files/25431206/Lara2.zip.html

Please, help.

Edited:
Maybe it helps you. Both DVD are DL (DVD-9). In this DVD a LB was at 22 cell.

r0lZ

10th July 2006, 10:04

The timemap plugin rebuilds the time map tables (VTS_TMAPTI), not the cells and PGC playing time.
But you're right. Since, during the process, the playback times of each cell and of the whole PGC are known, the function should also fix the wrong playback times in the IFOs. Maybe I'll add that in the next version.

Sir Didymus

10th July 2006, 10:28

...Since, during the process, the playback times of each cell and of the whole PGC are known, the function should also fix the wrong playback times in the IFOs. Maybe I'll add that in the next version.

Hi r0lZ!

This would be very useful (and appreciated)!

I noticed as a systematic behaviour of arcoss protected titles that the playback time of many cells in the PGC are slightly screwed up. I have many examples of this...

Correcting the cells (and the PGC) playback time, based on the actual content of the cells would be very helpful, in order to allow Ifoedit, PgcDemux, and other application to properly recover the chapter times of the PGC.

It would be also useful (maybe...) to manually turn on and off the building of the TMAP table: at the moment if one need to add 5 void cells at the end of a PGC, the table is re built every time...

Maybe a solution (I second this) was the one suggested by Blutach, of allowing the addition of more than a single cell per time in the PGC...

All the best,
SD

President

10th July 2006, 10:39

The timemap plugin rebuilds the time map tables (VTS_TMAPTI), not the cells and PGC playing time.

Hmm, then such question: what are timemap functions? If a cells and PGC time are wrong, then next/previous chapter entry points are wrong too. I forced to correct manually that points at previous DVD (a chapter buttons has links to wrong episodes in movie) by full remux and change a chapter frames in celltime list.
...the function should also fix the wrong playback times in the IFOs. Maybe I'll add that in the next version.
Thank's again! As always:-). You are the best "technical support" was I knew:-). All questions at 5 minutes. Thank's.

bigotti5

10th July 2006, 11:40

Really playtime of DVD (main movie) is 1:57:16. Timemap has a 1:57:09 value.

I am not really familiar with NTSC (living in a PAL country) but IMO this is caused by drop/non-drop timecode.
DVD uses non-drop for all timecodes and elapsed times.
1.57 playback time results in ~7 seconds drop/non-drop timecode difference...

President

10th July 2006, 11:54

I am not really familiar with NTSC (living in a PAL country) but IMO this is caused by drop/non-drop timecode.
DVD uses non-drop for all timecodes and elapsed times.
1.57 playback time results in ~7 seconds drop/non-drop timecode difference...
What is a drop or non-drop timecode?

bigotti5

10th July 2006, 12:21

http://teched.vt.edu/gcc/Html/VirtualTextbook/PDFs/AdobeTutorialsPDFs/Premiere/PremiereTimecode.pdf

President

10th July 2006, 12:27

http://teched.vt.edu/gcc/Html/VirtualTextbook/PDFs/AdobeTutorialsPDFs/Premiere/PremiereTimecode.pdf
Many thank's!

President

10th July 2006, 12:55

2 bigotti5

I don't think, what it's a reason of that difference. In previous (PAL) DVD a difference was:
1. First layer of DVD-9 is Ok (up to 0:59:00).
2. Second layer has wrong cells&PGC time at constant value approx 4 minutes. Timemap rebuilt was no effect.

Maybe wrong authoring. Maybe incorrect LB. I don't know. I remuxed it and corrected a start frame number of each cell in layer two. It's solved a problem.

Sir Didymus

10th July 2006, 15:58

Here is an example of the screwed cell elapsed times:

Celltimes from the original ifo file, directly picked from the disc:

0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
3
4
5
32
34
60
61
62
63
76
8748
15156
20642
24865
33132
38565
48417
58335
68265
73425
84357
91297
94845
101423
102931
110665
116060
124613
129082
138051
146135
155247
165034
175250
179332
179355
179367
179379
179405

after the removal of the "crap" cells - the first 21 and the last three - the resulting cell elapsed time is (the same as before, but with 76 subtracted from the cell positions):

8672
15080
20566
24789
33056
38489
48341
58259
68189
73349
84281
91221
94769
101347
102855
110589
115984
124537
129006
137975
146059
155171
164958
175174
179256

By demuxing the single cells and counting their effective elapsed time, here is what comes out. In color the cells with the newly corrected chapter position, which is inconsistent respect to the original (wrong) ifo:

8671
15080
20566
24791
33059
38493
48347
58266
68198
73359
84292
91234
94783
101361
102869
110604
115999
124553
129025
137995
146081
155194
164983
175201
179283

Same results may be obtained with most of the arcoss titles all around...

Without the manual correction of the Celltimes.txt, the usage of this file in reauthoring applications leads to inaccurate chapter positions...

bigotti5

10th July 2006, 18:50

@President

My post was refering to Lara2. It is NTSC.

To your PAL DVD

Timemap rebuilt was no effect

Rebuild the timemap table does not alter the cell times in PGC.
This table is only used for time search, sliderplay in software players..
In your case you have IMO to rebuild the PGC (VTS_PGCITI) such as Ifoedit's "Create Ifos" function. Probably they are wrong in the VOB too, so rebuild the PGC will not work.

President

11th July 2006, 07:17

@President
My post was refering to Lara2. It is NTSC.
Yes, I understood. But this feature (29.97 fps) must give accumulating error effect. Or not?
This table is only used for time search, sliderplay in software players..
Thank's for the information. I supposed just so.

In your case you have IMO to rebuild the PGC (VTS_PGCITI) such as Ifoedit's "Create Ifos" function. Probably they are wrong in the VOB too, so rebuild the PGC will not work.
It looks as VOB's error. A very interesting error. If I jumps by chapters (or menu buttons) then chapter menu pictures and movie scenes are the same on whole DVD (e.g. chapter 13 starts from correct scene and has start time 1 hour 03 minutes). But if I see the movie from previous chapter 12 (a last chapter on layer 0), then the same start scene of the chapter 13 has a 0 hour 59 minutes start time and chapter counter increased correctly to 13. But chapter 12 has correct start time and scene in any case. After full remux this time hole was corrected, but a chapter start points was shifted on this 4 minutes and links goes to wrong scenes. I find this scenes (and it's start I-frames) manually and corrected a start frames of each scenes in the celltime list with new remux (rechaptered movie in fact). Unfortunately, I find this error after I return an original DVD. Now I have a fully corrected DVD and can't give you original for analysis:-(.

bigotti5

11th July 2006, 09:02

If a cells and PGC time are wrong, then next/previous chapter entry points are wrong too.

IMO chapters are calculated from PTT_SRPTI -> you see "Program number" -> go to VTS_PCITI - VTS_PGCx - PGC Program map - you see "Entry cell number". This is the related cell to the PTT. This cell is accessed by the lba value from VTS_C_ADT. So wrong time does not affect chapter entry points.

But this feature (29.97 fps) must give accumulating error effect. Or not?

What do you mean?

President

11th July 2006, 13:24

IMO chapters are calculated from PTT_SRPTI -> you see "Program number" -> go to VTS_PCITI - VTS_PGCx - PGC Program map - you see "Entry cell number". This is the related cell to the PTT. This cell is accessed by the lba value from VTS_C_ADT.
As I know a chapter (cell) will start play from value (sector#) contained in VTS_PGCITI -> VTS_PGC_# -> Cell_#: entry point sector.
So wrong time does not affect chapter entry points.
Yes, you're right. I was wrong. Cell/movie time (and VID/CID) is not a primary parameter. I just want to say that all factors (VID/CID, Sector#, TimeMap, Cell/Movie playtime) must be adjusted (recalculated) to it correct values (it might be as well). r0lZ understood and agreed with me without offtop discussions:-). But thank you too for your circumstantiality. You always dig to bottom. It's a good. I knew many important things from you. Thank's.

>> But this feature (29.97 fps) must give accumulating error effect. Or not?
>What do you mean?
I mean a drop/non-drop timecode differences. At 1 hour a difference is ~3.6 sec. At 2 hour is ~7.2 sec and so on.

r0lZ

11th July 2006, 15:31

This discussion is very interesting! :)
I have already added the code to fix the wrong time codes in the PGC.

The internal calculations of the "Rebuild time map" function are made with the VOBU start and end presentation time (90 KHz clock). It's easy to convert the timings to frames in PAL, but not so easy with the crappy NTSC drop-frame time code format!
Currently, I divide the clock by 90000 to compute the number of seconds in PAL, and by 90090 in NTSC. Since the drop-frame time code format is somewhat weired, I'm not sure it's the right way to do, however, the result is identical with the only NTSC DVD I have (not ARccOS protected.)
If someone knows how to do the conversion exactly, I'll appreciate some help.

Anyway, I have released PgcEdit_winexe_7.4beta1.zip (http://home.tiscali.be/debie.roland/pgcedit/beta/PgcEdit_winexe_7.4beta1.zip). Could you test it, especially with NTSC material? Also, I wonder if it works fine with ARccOS protected DVDs.

Thanks for your help!

President

12th July 2006, 07:43

I have already added the code to fix the wrong time codes in the PGC.
Anyway, I have released PgcEdit_winexe_7.4beta1.zip. Could you test it, especially with NTSC material?
Hi.
Thank's for new release.
I checked a new PGCEdit release with 2 NTSC DVD which I have now (Tomb Raider and Tomb Raider 2). Unfortunately, change nothing:-(. Wrong timemap still stay in IFO's. Warning:

Time Map tables
DVD-TEXT General Name: ""
Provider ID: "MPUCODER"
Number of VTS: 1
-------------------- VTS 1 --------------------
1 VTS_TMAP tables defined in VTS_TMAPTI for 1 PGCs.

VTST 1 , 1 TTN 1 (1:57:09) Title 1 (sequential title)
1759 x 4 seconds = 1:57:16 ; ********** WARNING! **********
------------------- Summary -------------------
VTST 1 , 1 TTN 1 (1:57:09) Title 1: Wrong TMAP duration

In addition, I checked with Total Commander and OS Filecompare utility (fc.exe) a new and original IFOs (before/after timemap plugin using). All files are absolutely identical:-((. What your utility doing? Maybe you forgot to write an overpatching to IFO?

BTW, r0lZ, you placed on your homepage (videohelp) a plugin list with Timemap plugin v1.0. Now I have (downloaded early) a v1.1 (Plugins - Time map - About). What is it?
Aaaa, I see. It just a string into plugin "set version 1.1". I changed it to 1.0. Please, no penalty to me for this copyright violation:-)).

blutach

12th July 2006, 10:16

@r0lZ - thanks heaps for fixing my 2 little problems in this beta.

Regards

President

12th July 2006, 10:19

Currently, I divide the clock by 90000 to compute the number of seconds in PAL, and by 90090 in NTSC. Since the drop-frame time code format is somewhat weired, I'm not sure it's the right way to do, however, the result is identical with the only NTSC DVD I have (not ARccOS protected.)
Good idea. I verified your calculation on Tomb Raider (manually). It works.

OOPS!
I think I found an error. It seems an identification error of stream type (PAL/NTSC) or just incorrect uses a divisor (90000 or 90090). In Tomb Raider a last entry of timemap is 1759, start sector is 2236550 (see my IFOs at Lara2.zip). This sector contains a "VOBU start presentation time" is 633230329. Thus:

633230329 / 90000 = 7036 or 1:57:16 (that be indicating as "wrong" timemap).
633230329 / 90090 = 7029 or 1:57:09 (as wrote at movie playtime).

Please look this condition in your program (90000 or 90090 divisor) and check it.

Sir Didymus

12th July 2006, 10:34

...
Anyway, I have released PgcEdit_winexe_7.4beta1.zip (http://home.tiscali.be/debie.roland/pgcedit/beta/PgcEdit_winexe_7.4beta1.zip). Could you test it, especially with NTSC material? Also, I wonder if it works fine with ARccOS protected DVDs.

Thanks for your help!

Hi r0lZ!

Thanks for your excellent work on the VTS and PGC playback time!
Afraid I can only report about PAL material...

I tested your quoted release on two ARccOS titles (I say again: PAL material). After ripping the titles with the PSL2 plugin (ver. 2.19), in the cleaned up output these titles evidenced incorrect playback times on many cells.

I am happy to report that, into these conditions, your beta is completely (and properly) working: it allows to automatically correct both the individual cells playback times and the whole PGC playback time.

:thanks:

SD

r0lZ

12th July 2006, 11:20

I checked a new PGCEdit release with 2 NTSC DVD which I have now (Tomb Raider and Tomb Raider 2). Unfortunately, change nothing:-(. Wrong timemap still stay in IFO's. Warning:

Time Map tables
DVD-TEXT General Name: ""
Provider ID: "MPUCODER"
Number of VTS: 1
-------------------- VTS 1 --------------------
1 VTS_TMAP tables defined in VTS_TMAPTI for 1 PGCs.

VTST 1 , 1 TTN 1 (1:57:09) Title 1 (sequential title)
1759 x 4 seconds = 1:57:16 ; ********** WARNING! **********
------------------- Summary -------------------
VTST 1 , 1 TTN 1 (1:57:09) Title 1: Wrong TMAP duration

In addition, I checked with Total Commander and OS Filecompare utility (fc.exe) a new and original IFOs (before/after timemap plugin using). All files are absolutely identical:-((. What your utility doing? Maybe you forgot to write an overpatching to IFO?
Well, if the files are not changed, it's probably because nothing needs to be changed.
As I explained above, it is possible that the conversion of the 90KHz clock timings to time codes is wrong in NTSC. But in this case, at least some time codes should have changed.
Note that a log is displayed when at least one time code is modified. If all timings are OK in the original IFOs, the log is not displayed.

BTW, r0lZ, you placed on your homepage (videohelp) a plugin list with Timemap plugin v1.0. Now I have (downloaded early) a v1.1 (Plugins - Time map - About). What is it?
Aaaa, I see. It just a string into plugin "set version 1.1". I changed it to 1.0. Please, no penalty to me for this copyright violation:-)).
You're right. I don't remember a v1.1. It's probably something I forgot to change when I've copied/pasted the header of the file. Anyway, the next version will be 1.2, so that no confusion will be possible. Consider the current version as v1.0 or 1.1, it doesn't matter.

r0lZ

12th July 2006, 11:47

OOPS!
I think I found an error. It seems an identification error of stream type (PAL/NTSC) or just incorrect uses a divisor (90000 or 90090). In Tomb Raider a last entry of timemap is 1759, start sector is 2236550 (see my IFOs at Lara2.zip). This sector contains a "VOBU start presentation time" is 633230329. Thus:

633230329 / 90000 = 7036 or 1:57:16 (that be indicating as "wrong" timemap).
633230329 / 90090 = 7029 or 1:57:09 (as wrote at movie playtime).

Please look this condition in your program (90000 or 90090 divisor) and check it.
I'm not sure we are talking of the same thing.

The time map tables are always computed by dividing the clock values by 90000, because the clock is always a 90 KHz clock, even in NTSC. Therefore, 633230329 / 90000 = 7036 seconds (approx.)
The conversion problem occur only when the clock has to be converted to a SMPTE drop-frame time code in NTSC. Those time codes are used in the PGCs and in the Cell Elapsed Time in the nav packs, but not in the time map tables.

Also, note that this time map table is not accurate. An entry in the table must be the address (LBA) of a nav pack, but there in no guarantee that there is a nav pack exactly at the right position.
Also, if a tiny black cell is added at the end of the PGC, that cell is usually not included in the time map, because it doesn't make sense to jump in that cell. But the total time of the PGC must include it.

You must also understand that the total playing time of the PGC is the total of the playing time of all cells, but is not the end time of the last VOBU of the last cell. For example, if the VOB ID changes somewhere in the PGC, the clock is reset (but not exactly to 0.)
And the start time of the first VOBU of the first cell is never 0. This delay must be removed from the total.
Also, if a cell is removed at the beginning of the PGC, the total time of the PGC will change, of course, but the timings in the VOBUs are not modified.

Anyway, I see in the log:Provider ID: "MPUCODER"Therefore, this DVD has been muxed with Muxman. IMO, you should trust it! If PgcEdit gives the same tables than Muxman, it's an excellent guarantee that my calculations are right!

r0lZ

12th July 2006, 11:56

@ Sir Didymus and Blutach:
Thanks for the feedback, guys!

I still need some confirmation that it works well in NTSC. Someone can test that?

President

12th July 2006, 12:21

2 r0lZ.

Thank's for the answers.

President

13th July 2006, 12:24

2 r0lZ.
In the NTSC DVD your and Mpucoder timemaps are identical, exclude this (the same timemap after PGCEdit recalculating).
Mpucoder:

[00000000] Number of VTS_TMAPs 1 [0001]
[00000004] End byte of VTS_TMAPs table 7051 [00001b8b]
[00000008] Time map 1: start byte 12 [0000000c]
[0000000c] Time unit (in seconds) 4 [04]
[0000000e] number of entries in time map 1759 [06df]
[00000010] Entry 1: at sector 349 [0000015d]
[00000014] Entry 2: at sector 1495 [000005d7]
...
[000000c0] Entry 45: at sector 56345 [0000dc19]
[000000c4] Entry 46: at sector 57327 [0000dfef]
[000000c8] Entry 47: at sector 58602 [0000e4ea]
...
[00000198] Entry 99: at sector 125788 [0001eb5c]
[0000019c] Entry 100: at sector 127223 [0001f0f7]
[000001a0] Entry 101: at sector 128685 [0001f6ad]
...

You:

[00000000] Number of VTS_TMAPs 1 [0001]
[00000004] End byte of VTS_TMAPs table 7051 [00001b8b]
[00000008] Time map 1: start byte 12 [0000000c]
[0000000c] Time unit (in seconds) 4 [04]
[0000000e] number of entries in time map 1759 [06df]
[00000010] Entry 1: at sector 349 [0000015d]
[00000014] Entry 2: at sector 1495 [000005d7]
...
[000000c0] Entry 45: at sector 56345 [0000dc19]
[000000c4] Discontinuity Entry 46: at sector 57327 [8000dfef]
[000000c8] Entry 47: at sector 58602 [0000e4ea]
...
[00000198] Entry 99: at sector 125788 [0001eb5c]
[0000019c] Discontinuity Entry 100: at sector 127223 [8001f0f7]
[000001a0] Entry 101: at sector 128685 [0001f6ad]
...

Maybe it's important for you.

r0lZ

13th July 2006, 13:50

Well, seems nobody knows exactly where the discontinuity bit must be set. Apparently, mpucoder doesn't set them at all.

I have analysed several commercial DVDs, and all of them share the same method: the discontinuity bit is set on the last entry of each cell. Therefore, I have adopted that method. Anyway, I'm almost sure this bit is never used by the players.

The sector numbers are exactly the same because we use exactly the same method to compute them... and it's the right method! Thanks again to mpucoder for his help!

bigotti5

13th July 2006, 14:59

Set the discontinuity bit is not implemented in the current release of muxman, r0lZ method is correct.
One difference to the commercial solutions (Scenarist, Maestro) I have seen is the number of entries.
Pgcedit, muxman have one or two entries more (the last one or two).

r0lZ

13th July 2006, 16:58

BTW, bigotti5, do you know why there are more entries in some cases? Is it only when there is an additional tiny chapter at the end of the PGC? I have noted that this last cell is usually not included in the time map tables.

bigotti5

14th July 2006, 15:34

..do you know why there are more entries in some cases?

IMO it has to do with the VOBU_SRI entries in the navpacks.
Here an example where Pgcedit creates one entry more than the original.
Time unit is 3
Below the VOBU_SRI entries from the additional navpack in pgcedit

......
[0509] Next 7 sec. VOBU with video 1073741823 1073741823 [3fffffff]
[050d] Next 6.5 sec. VOBU with video 1073741823 1073741823 [3fffffff]
[0511] Next 6 sec. VOBU with video 1073741823 1073741823 [3fffffff]
[0515] Next 5.5 sec. VOBU with video 1073741823 1073741823 [3fffffff]
[0519] Next 5 sec. VOBU with video 1073741823 1073741823 [3fffffff]
[051d] Next 4.5 sec. VOBU with video 1073741823 1073741823 [3fffffff]
[0521] Next 4 sec. VOBU with video 1073741823 1073741823 [3fffffff]
[0525] Next 3.5 sec. VOBU with video 1073741823 1073741823 [3fffffff]
[0529] Next 3 sec. VOBU with video 1073741823 1073741823 [3fffffff]
[052d] Next 2.5 sec. VOBU with video 457 -2147483191 [800001c9]
[0531] Next 2 sec. VOBU with video 457 -2147483191 [800001c9]
[0535] Next 1.5 sec. VOBU with video 334 -2147483314 [8000014e]
[0539] Next 1 sec. VOBU with video 222 -2147483426 [800000de]
[053d] Next 0.5 sec. VOBU with video 111 -2147483537 [8000006f]
[0541] Next VOBU with possible video 111 -2147483537 [8000006f]
[0545] Previous VOBU with possible video 112 -2147483536 [80000070]
......

You see the "Next 3 sec VOBU .." has the value "3fffffff"
If the "Next x sec" (x = time unit) holds "3fffffff" then there is no entry in the time table.
Not sure if I am correct...

r0lZ

14th July 2006, 17:43

Thanks. I don't understand the reason well, but that's an information.
Now, the question is: do I need to remove the additional entries, or is it OK to leave them?

wmansir

14th July 2006, 22:36

Right. There is an option to remove the toolbar and statusbar in trace mode. I don't use it, and I forgot that. Anyway, in the next version, you will not be able to save twice at the same time.

Grrr...this option has been annoying me for 6 months! Since I have PCGEdit setup to start in Trace Mode I didn't even realize the disappearing toolbar was related to activating Trace Mode. Thanks to this post I final found it under the Trace setup options. Thanks, r0lZ.

FredThompson

19th July 2006, 04:11

@r0lZ,

Would you please add the Version Info resource. It's all blank right now:

1 VERSIONINFO
FILEVERSION 8,4,2,11
PRODUCTVERSION 8,4,2,11
FILEOS 0x4
FILETYPE 0x2
{
BLOCK "StringFileInfo"
{
BLOCK "040904b0"
{
VALUE "FileDescription", ""
VALUE "OriginalFilename", ""
VALUE "CompanyName", ""
VALUE "FileVersion", ""
VALUE "LegalCopyright", ""
VALUE "ProductName", ""
VALUE "ProductVersion", ""
}
}

r0lZ

19th July 2006, 09:35

Well, I don't know how to do it. Remember that PgcEdit is written in Tcl/Tk, a scripting, interpreted language. There is normally no "exe" file.
The standalone exe is an auto executing zip archive, created by freeWrap, a Tcl wrapper. It is not compiled. There is nothing in the freeWrap command line to specify the version information.

FredThompson

19th July 2006, 20:39

Use Resource Hacker on the exe file and you can set the various data. http://www.users.on.net/johnson/resourcehacker/

blutach

20th July 2006, 08:05

Very good FredThompson. I have been wondering why this info hasn't been there, too.

Regards

FredThompson

20th July 2006, 08:32

It lets OpenExpert work properly: http://www.baxbex.com/openexpert.html

This is a great util. I've got Wordpad, Notepad, IE and Firefox set for all file types and PgcEdit, VobBlanker, IfoEdit and MPC set for .ifo files.

r0lZ

20th July 2006, 09:29

Thanks for the links!

I haven't tried Resource Hacker yet, but since the zip files are created automatically by a batch file when a new PgcEdit release is created, I would like to set the version information automatically with a CLI tool. Do you know something similar as Resource Hacker, but usable from CLI?

Also, I wonder what's the benefit of OpenExpert over the standard "Open with" menu of WinXP. It is possible to configure several app for the same file type under XP without an external program like OpenExpert.

FredThompson

20th July 2006, 10:01

I don't know if there is a CLI resource tool, sorry.

OpenExpert lets you set the order of the associations, which is nice. I suspect it's also stickier.

I don't think it will let you custom assign icons by extension. That would be nice since Windoze uses the default association. (Try setting icon by graphic or video file type and you'll see what I mean...)

dirio49

26th July 2006, 00:22

Thanks for the links!

I haven't tried Resource Hacker yet, but since the zip files are created automatically by a batch file when a new PgcEdit release is created, I would like to set the version information automatically with a CLI tool. Do you know something similar as Resource Hacker, but usable from CLI?

Yes, it does

Check out the help file

http://www.angusj.com/resourcehacker/reshack_hlp.zip

FredThompson

26th July 2006, 02:36

OpenExpert let's you set true global associations and overrides, so to speak. The registry hack which added "Open with Notepad" to all file types in Win2K behaves differently with WinXP.

r0lZ

26th July 2006, 07:29

Yes, it does

Check out the help file

http://www.angusj.com/resourcehacker/reshack_hlp.zip
Yes, I've found that Resource Hacker can be used from CLI, but apparently, it is not possible to specify the version number directly. The only thing you can do via CLI is to add/replace an already compiled resource. Therefore, I need now something to be able to compile the version information... or another program, able to modify the version number directly from CLI.

Anyway, this work seems a bit too complicated for the benefit. Why do you need this info? IMO, it's totally useless.

ron spencer

30th July 2006, 16:28

yah just focus on program....this version thing is useless

FredThompson

30th July 2006, 23:03

Resource Hacker - File | Save As - set the destination file type as "resource file"

The FileVersion field isn't that important. The descriptions are the fields I was looking for. OpenExpert keys on those. Perhaps other file association programs/checkers/junk removers key into this as well.

This is what I have. You might want to add your copyright statement so it's embedded.

1 VERSIONINFO
FILEVERSION 8,4,2,11
PRODUCTVERSION 8,4,2,11
FILEOS 0x4
FILETYPE 0x2
{
BLOCK "StringFileInfo"
{
BLOCK "040904B0"
{
VALUE "FileDescription", "PgcEdit"
VALUE "OriginalFilename", "PgcEdit"
VALUE "CompanyName", ""
VALUE "FileVersion", "7.3"
VALUE "LegalCopyright", ""
VALUE "ProductName", "PgcEdit"
VALUE "ProductVersion", "7.3"
}
}

Surgeon

4th August 2006, 01:05

Hi r0lZ,

First, let me send out a big THANK YOU for the effort you've put into developing PgcEdit over the years! It's become one of my most often used utils and the latest version, 7.3, is simply wonderful!

As an owner of several Sony 400-Disc DVD changers, one of the areas that PgcEdit addresses is of great interest to me -- it's ability to edit the VIDEO_TS.IFO's TextData for the Volume Name allows the changers to id the discs automatically, which saves a lot of time by not having to manually input the information into the players for each disc.

Concerning this feature, I offer the following questions/observations...

Why do you limit the DVD-Text string to 30-characters max? In my research, I have never found any such string length imposed in the actual DVD specs, and actually have several discs with much longer titles (eg: I have one with the TitleText data of "Don't Be A Menance To South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood"). The text simply "scrolls" on the LCD display if it's lengthy, and the player's "explorer" menus simply truncate the longer titles to fit their format automatically. And since I control my changers via a RS-232 interface connected to my HTPC, allowing for the full-length title is a big plus. I feel that this needs to be expanded to allow 128 characters at least...

Also, very occasionally, I run across a disc which has multiple entries for the DVD-Text Volume field. Mainly these are "episodic" discs which list the name of the disc as the 1st Volume text, followed by title entries of the individual epidsodes. (Sony's recient release of "Odyssey 5" is a perfect example). PgcEdit *should* pick/edit the 1st occurance of the VolumeText fields as the disc's title, but instead it processes the last occurance (which is the disc's last episode title).

The following is an excerpt from IfoEdit's VMG_TXTDT_MG table showing what I am refering to:

[000000ea] Language_1: reserved? 0 [0000]
[000000ec] Volume: 1 0 0 0 [01 00 00 00 ]
[000000f0] Name: Odyssey 5 - S1D1 48 0 1 20 [30 00 01 14 ]
[000000f4] : Odyssey 5 - S1D1 240 0 1 20 [f0 00 01 14 ]
[000000f8] Name: Play All 48 0 1 37 [30 00 01 25 ]
[000000fc] : Play All 240 0 1 37 [f0 00 01 25 ]
[00000100] Name: Pilot 48 0 1 46 [30 00 01 2e ]
[00000104] : Pilot 240 0 1 46 [f0 00 01 2e ]
[00000108] Name: Shatterer 48 0 1 52 [30 00 01 34 ]
[0000010c] : Shatterer 240 0 1 52 [f0 00 01 34 ]
[00000110] Name: Astronaut Dreams 48 0 1 62 [30 00 01 3e ]
[00000114] : Astronaut Dreams 240 0 1 62 [f0 00 01 3e ]
[00000118] Title: 2 0 0 0 [02 00 00 00 ]
[0000011c] Name: Title1 48 0 1 79 [30 00 01 4f ]
[00000120] : Title1 240 0 1 79 [f0 00 01 4f ]
[00000124] Title: 2 0 0 0 [02 00 00 00 ]
[00000128] Name: Title2 48 0 1 86 [30 00 01 56 ]

In addition to the above TitleText issues, I have a question which has been bugging me for quite some time concerning disc playback in general which I hope you, or some other knowledgeable soul, might be able to help me with...

What happens differently between between inserting a disc (and having it begin playing by reseting it's registers and starting with the FirstPlay PGC) and doing a Non-Resume Play (after hitting Stop, Stop while playing)? I know the Non-Resume Playback doesn't re-execute the FirstPlay PGC, but does it clear/reset/set any registers and which PGC does it start with? Is there any simple way to determine via the PGC command-set & registers if playback was initiated from a "Non-Resume" state versus inserting the disc? Unfortunately PgcEdit, which has taught me a lot, doesn't emulate the Stop/Stop/Non-Resume playback scenario, so I'm lost on this point... Any insights would be *greatly* appreciated...

Again, thanks so much r0lZ for such a terrific utility!
-Surgeon-

:thanks:

blutach

4th August 2006, 01:19

Surgeon

4th August 2006, 01:45

The label limit is, AFAIK, 32 characters (all upper case, no spaces) for ISO9660, but for UDF 1.02 (which is all the player really needs, despite the twin filesystems), it can be 126 characters, upper and lower case, including spaces.

Regards

Blutach,

I think we're referring to 2 different things... The filesystem's (9660/UDF) title fields are different than the various TextData fields contained within the VIDEO_TS.IFO file structure itself, which AFAIK contains *no* limits. It's these VIDEO_TS.IFO file data structures, that are utilized by the various dvd players/changers, that I'm referring to...

-Surgeon-

blutach

4th August 2006, 04:24

But I think the disk label in PgcEdit (http://www.videohelp.com/~r0lZ/pgcedit/index.html)'s ISO create/burn routine is gotten from this field and that's why it is limited.

Regards

Surgeon

4th August 2006, 06:52

You are 100% correct, in that the default disc volume label is pulled from the dvd's TitleText during the .iso creation (as also is the default output .iso name itself). But that field itself is editable separately on the .iso creation screen. And if it simply truncated the full dvd's TitleText down to 30 characters (maybe during the step where it converts it into all uppercase) then that wouldn't be any big deal, as long as it still maintained the full name you entered within the .IFO's VolumeName field...

-Surgeon-

r0lZ

4th August 2006, 08:34

Hi r0lZ,

First, let me send out a big THANK YOU for the effort you've put into developing PgcEdit over the years! It's become one of my most often used utils and the latest version, 7.3, is simply wonderful!
Thanks!

Why do you limit the DVD-Text string to 30-characters max? In my research, I have never found any such string length imposed in the actual DVD specs, and actually have several discs with much longer titles (eg: I have one with the TitleText data of "Don't Be A Menance To South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood"). The text simply "scrolls" on the LCD display if it's lengthy, and the player's "explorer" menus simply truncate the longer titles to fit their format automatically. And since I control my changers via a RS-232 interface connected to my HTPC, allowing for the full-length title is a big plus. I feel that this needs to be expanded to allow 128 characters at least...
I haven't a good reason to limit the text to 30 characters! My old Sony DVD-S725D scrolls the text on the LCD display, like your player, but it can also display it on screen, and that display is limited to 30 characters. But it's probably due only to the size of the font.
Note that I have already received several requests to shorten the string even much more! The ability to display a long text depends of the player, as it is (probably) not specified by the standard.
I will add a user configurable option with the number of characters in the config file. I'm not sure I will add the GUI to change the value interactively, but you should be able to edit the .cfg file manually. Is it OK for you?

Also, very occasionally, I run across a disc which has multiple entries for the DVD-Text Volume field. Mainly these are "episodic" discs which list the name of the disc as the 1st Volume text, followed by title entries of the individual epidsodes. (Sony's recient release of "Odyssey 5" is a perfect example). PgcEdit *should* pick/edit the 1st occurance of the VolumeText fields as the disc's title, but instead it processes the last occurance (which is the disc's last episode title).
When there is no VMG_TXTDT_MG table in the original DVD, PgcEdit creates the Volume General Name and the Volume Movie Name only. That's easy.
However, it is not so easy to know which field must be changed when there is already a VMG_TXTDT_MG table in the original DVD.
My player displays the Volume General Name, but I have modified the code at the request of several users, to change also the Volume Movie Name, the Title 1 General Name and the Title 1 Movie Name, because those names are used by some players.
I've just looked at the code, and it is true that I read all fields sequentially. This is why the last entry has precedence. I will fix this bug. Thanks!

Note: When the VMG_TXTDT_MG table exists already, the user can only overwrite the existing label. The table is not rebuilt from scratch. Therefore, it is not possible to lengthen the string in this case, and the maximum length value in the setups will be ignored.

What happens differently between between inserting a disc (and having it begin playing by reseting it's registers and starting with the FirstPlay PGC) and doing a Non-Resume Play (after hitting Stop, Stop while playing)? I know the Non-Resume Playback doesn't re-execute the FirstPlay PGC, but does it clear/reset/set any registers and which PGC does it start with? Is there any simple way to determine via the PGC command-set & registers if playback was initiated from a "Non-Resume" state versus inserting the disc? Unfortunately PgcEdit, which has taught me a lot, doesn't emulate the Stop/Stop/Non-Resume playback scenario, so I'm lost on this point... Any insights would be *greatly* appreciated...
Well, I really don't know what a "Non-Resume Play" is supposed to do. IMO, since it forgets the current playback position and restarts the playback at the beginning, it should emulate exactly the insertion of the DVD. Why do you think it doesn't re-execute the FirstPlay PGC? IMO, it is probable that all players have a different way to handle this situation. Anyway, it should be possible to verify if the FP-PGC is reexecuted by creating a simple test DVD. Unfortunately, I can't do the test myself. My Sony cannot read burned DVDs any more. :(

blutach

4th August 2006, 09:14

@Surgeon - I have a feeling that Titlewriter may be able to do what you want. I have not used it very much, but it's genesis was, IIRC, in entering and editing DVD text data fields.

Regards

r0lZ

4th August 2006, 11:02

Right, blu. With TitleWriter, you can also modify each label independently. I haven't implemented that in PgcEdit, because too few players are able to use this info. Only the global name is really useful IMO.

I have already modified the code to allow upto 126 characters (+ the final TAB and null byte = 128) in the string. The default is still 30, but this value is now configurable. I have changed my mind, and have added also the GUI to change it interactively. (See the Options -> Functions menu.)
I have also fixed the "last entry bug". (But I cannot test without an example.)

Surgeon, if you want to test the latest PgcEdit beta, send me a PM or a mail.

Surgeon

5th August 2006, 08:13

Yes, Fallen Angel's TitleWriter works perfectly for adding/editing the DvdText & I've used it for years. It's an excellent util, but Fallen Angel has added so many features centering on it's Dvd Menu creation & Automation sides (both features that I have yet to use) that these days it's interface almost seems, at least to me, like using Microsoft Word instead of Notepad when all you want is to create a simple text file...

Don't get me wrong -- I still use it often via it's CLI, as my current procedure is:
1) Rip a dvd into a folder that I name with what I want the Dvd's TitleText to be.
2) Clean-up the rip using r0lZ's PgcEdit (blanking leading FBI, comming-attractions and other garbage).
3) Run FixVTS on the entire dvd to help insure proper pointers & alignments.
4) Exit PgcEdit.
5) Use a little automation script I wrote (in AutoIt) to run TitleWriter via it's CLI to set the DvdTitle to it's folder name.
6) The automation script then burns the disc using VSO's Copy2Dvd CLI interface, passing the DvdTitle as the disc label.

That process works perfectly for me... It's just that I *really like* r0lZ's PgcEdit and if could add/edit the DvdTitle stuff for me as well, then I would be able to stay inside the PgcEdit environment and use it's ability to CLI the mkisofs/imgburn -- kinda like one-stop shopping!

Maybe as an alternative approach to processing all the DvdTitle stuff and moving the affected pointers within PgcEdit, r0lZ may want to consider allowing the DvdTitle & Author stuff to simply be editable text fields while inside PgcEdit, and then use TitleWriter's CLI to add/change the titles during the 'save' process if they change? -- Just a thought...

-----------

And concerning the FirstPlay PGC not being run during a "Non-Resume-Play" sequence, it's my understanding that the FirstPlay PGC was designed to check the disc's region-code, parental-settings, NTSC/PAL formats, etc. when a disc is first inserted (we all know that a lot of various checks are also made elseware these days). The original ideal behind this is that information only needed to be checked once, hence "FirstPlay".

When a player does a "Non-Resume-Play" (following a Stop/Stop sequence) it appears to me that it starts directly with Title-1's PGC. The reason I say this is because when I use VSO's ConvertXToDvd to create an episodic dvd with a simple title-selection menu, that menu is hard linked to through the FirstPlay PGC, in which case it works normally when a disc is first inserted into the player. However, the "Non-Resume-Play" sequence starts playing the 1st title (even if it was Stop/Stop'ed on a different title), with NO menu displayed. (Pressing the "Menu" buttons work fine of course.) I've tested this on several different players with the same results, so it solidifies my belief that the FirstPlay PGC is just a one-shot upon disc insertion only. Hence, my question asking if anyone knew for sure where a Non-Resume-Play wants to start, and if it sets/clears any detectable registers in the process?

-Surgeon-

PS: r0lZ, I've sent you a PM also as I'd love to test what you've come up with on the DvdTitle issues...

blutach

5th August 2006, 08:35

Many modern players can store current the playing position on a Stop-Stop for several DVDs (as the software players do). I know a player I just bought can do this for 6 DVDs.

I don't think FP-PGC is just a one shot as it can - and often is - called from within the DVD itself.

Regards

bigotti5

5th August 2006, 09:01

...it's my understanding that the FirstPlay PGC was designed to check the disc's region-code, parental-settings, NTSC/PAL formats, etc. when a disc is first inserted (we all know that a lot of various checks are also made elseware these days). The original ideal behind this is that information only needed to be checked once, hence "FirstPlay".

No - FP is not mandatory by the DVD spec

Surgeon

5th August 2006, 09:14

Many modern players can store current the playing position on a Stop-Stop for several DVDs (as the software players do). I know a player I just bought can do this for 6 DVDs.

Really? Are you sure your talking about a Stop-Stop, (and not a single Stop, which is resumable) because every player I've ever seen, software or no, usually follows a single Stop with a message like "Playback will resume from the current position; to restart playback from the beginning press Stop again", so what would be the point in saving any pointers if it's going to playback from the beginning anyway?

I don't think FP-PGC is just a one shot as it can - and often is - called from within the DVD itself..

I realize that the FirstPlay PGC can be called from another program chain; what I'm saying is that it's a one-shot from the player's internal functionality -- kinda like a computer's autoexec.bat, which I would also have to consider to be a one-shot, even though it could be executed directly more than once if desired...

-Surgeon-

Surgeon

5th August 2006, 09:32

No - FP is not mandatory by the DVD spec

I never said it was mandatory (even though I think it's a required field inside the VIDEO_TS.IFO file, even if it contains no code). All I said was, like autoexec.bat, it's the first thing a player's internal code looks for to execute when a disc is inserted, but it isn't automatically executed again by the player's internal code during a "Non-Resume-Play" operation. (The major question still being: does anyone have any knowledge on exactly what does happen during a "Non-Resume-Play" operation?)

-Surgeon-

bigotti5

5th August 2006, 11:15

..does anyone have any knowledge on exactly what does happen during a "Non-Resume-Play" operation

It depends on the player - I dont believe its specified

Surgeon

5th August 2006, 11:45

It depends on the player - I dont believe its specified

That's really more than just a little hard to believe...

I mean, a lot of big-$$$ engineers from Philips, Sony, Pioneer, etc. sat around a table for a long period of time hashing out the "official dvd specifications" so they could have a standard; everyone decided that Stop-Stop-Play would perform a "Non-Resume-Playback" function; yet went home early and just left it in "up-in-the-air" as to exactly how that would happen...

If that were truely the case that's not exactly what I would call a standard, would you??? :confused: :confused: :confused:

-Surgeon-

bigotti5

5th August 2006, 11:56

That's really more than just a little hard to believe...

Read John Taylors book DVDDemystfied about the "standards"

Some Pioneer remote controls require two keypresses to get to the title menu—the “Title” key
and then the “Menu” key—unless the disc is stopped, in which case only the “Title” key is needed.
The “Menu” key works with a single press, except that when the disc is stopped it goes to a
player-generated menu that is neither the title menu nor the root menu.
Unfortunately, in typical style of the DVD specification, the “clarification” is almost impenetrable.
...

blutach

5th August 2006, 12:25

Almost everyone agrees that, in many instances, the specs are there in name only surgeon. They sat around that table and made these specs and many times they can be breached/ignored. 2COOL's very interesting work with dummy PGCs in the title domain is but one example.

Don't place too much trust in the fact that these highly paid folks made the specs. In practical terms, they are fuzzy, from my observations.

Regards

r0lZ

5th August 2006, 13:29

My Sony has also a Non-Resume-Play function when you press stop twice. But it restarts the DVD from the beginning, and it plays the first logos and than goes to the main menu, exactly like when the DVD is inserted. I'm not sure the FP-PGC is executed, though. But IMO, clearing all registers and jumping to the FP-PGC is the safer way to restart the DVD. Jumping to the main movie (or title 1?) even if it was not playing when the user pressed stop twice is probably very hazardous, as the GPRMs will not be properly initialized for the subsequent navigation.

My cheap KISS player has no Non-Resume-Play function at all.
If Non-Resume-Play is in the standard, then the standard is somewhat flexible!

BTW, I can confirm that the First-Play-PGC is not mandatory. If "FP-PGC start byte" is 0 in VMGM_MAT, the FP-PGC is not defined, and the navigation begins at Title 1.
If it is defined, however, it must have at least a jump in the pre or post commands.
Note: PgcEdit creates the FP-PGC anyway if it is not present when the DVD is opened, and adds a JumpTT to Title 1.

bigotti5

5th August 2006, 16:39

Note: PgcEdit creates the FP-PGC anyway if it is not present when the DVD is opened, and adds a JumpSS to Title 1.

JumpTT ;)

Surgeon

5th August 2006, 17:38

Strange... But, hey... I defer to you guys & gals as the experts!

After all, that's why I decided to stop lurking and post my query here to start with... I was just kinda assuming that there was a standard procedure for the Non-Resume-Play function, and that it was just occasionally bastardized by a few players here and there...

I guess I should have realized that in our screwed-up world that standard is just an imaginary term... :o

C'est la vie...

-Surgeon-

r0lZ

5th August 2006, 19:01

Maybe the bastardization is the standard! :D
There are several other points in the standard that are also very differently implemented in various players. The content of SPRM 7 is a good example. More than 50% of the players use SPRM 7 to store the PG number instead of the PTT number!

Anyway, you might be right. If I can find a RW that is still supported by my Sony, I'll do a test DVD to verify what happens exactly when this Non-Resume-Play function is called...

ron spencer

5th August 2006, 20:02

with V7.3 work properly with V2.0.0.0 if ImgBurn?

Surgeon

5th August 2006, 20:39

r0lZ,

I don't know how concerned you are with your Sony player not playing back the discs you burn, but it sounds to me that a little "tweaking" of the various focus & tracking settings might resolve the problem...

Most late-model Sony players have a "Service Menu" and all their settings are controlled via various software registers. Only thing is, making the adjustments are more than a bit tricky and require a *lot* of small trial & error changes, as there's not any one particular setting that simply improves it's ability to read discs. This is also further compounded by the fact that there are multiple settings for different disc types, like CD, DVD Single-Layer, DVD Dual-Layer(Layer0), DVD Dual-Layer(Layer1), etc. The service menu also has an "Automatic-Calibration" feature for each of the types, but it really needs to be used with a set of Certified Calibration Discs, which I don't have and are big-$$$'s. Some people have reported success performing the "Automatic Calibration" with "standard" commercial discs, but I would recommend using new, high quality discs if you go this route...

If you're interested in playing around with the settings, let me know your unit's model# & I'll see if I can locate the remote-control sequence to get you into the service menu. (Commonly, starting with the unit OFF, it's "Top Menu", "Clear", "PowerON".) By "playing" with the various settings, like TRK Offset, Focus Gain, Focus Offset, etc. you can definitely improve any given disc's readability.

But you must also be aware that "tweaking" the settings for a particular disc (like, say, a Ritek DVD+R written with a NEC writer) *could* also negatively impact how it reads other, ie: commercial, discs. (The overall goal is to find a happy medium that reads *all* discs.)

If it sounds like something you want to explore, let me know & I'll be happy to assist you in any way I can...

-Surgeon-

Surgeon

5th August 2006, 21:14

OK... Since I've now been enlightened as to "there is no spoon", and also knowing that you guys & gals have slung a lot more PGC code than I have, let me try to garner your insights into the underlying programming quandary that prompted my original query about the "Non-Resume-Play" functionality to start with...

Given the following simple structure:

VMG, First-Play PGC
** pre commands:
1 (SetGPRMMD) Set gprm(0) in register mode =(mov) 0
2 (SetGPRMMD) Set gprm(1) in register mode =(mov) 1
3 (SetGPRMMD) Set gprm(2) in register mode =(mov) 0
4 (JumpSS) Jump to VMGM PGC 1

VMGM_1 [dummy] TitleM
** pre commands:
1 if ( gprm(0) != 1 ) then { Goto line 3 }
2 (SetHL_BTN) Set Highlighted Button =(mov) 2048 (button 2) ; LinkPGCN PGC 2
3 (SetHL_BTN) Set Highlighted Button =(mov) 1024 (button 1) ; LinkPGCN PGC 2

VMGM_2 [0:10] 2b
[Menu_Button1] ==> [JumpSS] Jump to VGM PGC 3
[Menu_Button2] ==> [JumpSS] Jump to VGM PGC 4

VMGM_3 [dummy]
** pre commands:
1 Set gprm(0) =(mov) 1
2 (JumpTT) Jump to Title 1

VMGM_4 [dummy]
** pre commands:
1 Set gprm(0) =(mov) 2
2 (JumpTT) Jump to Title 2

VMGM_5 [dummy]
** pre commands:
1 if ( gprm(1) >= 1 ) then { LinkPGCN PGC 6 }
2 LinkPGCN PGC 1

VMGM_6 [dummy]
** pre commands:
1 if ( gprm(0) == 1 ) then { LinkPGCN PGC 4 }
2 if ( gprm(2) >= 1 ) then { LinkPGCN PGC 3 }
3 (SetHL_BTN) Set Highlighted Button =(mov) 1024 (button 1) ; LinkPGCN PGC 2

VTSM_1_1 [dummy] RootM
** pre commands:
1 (JumpSS) Jump to VMGM PGC 1

VTST_1_1 TTN1 Title1
** pre commands:
1 Set gprm(3) =(mov) 1
2 Set gprm(0) =(mov) sprm(4:Title number in volume)
** post commands:
1 Set gprm(3) =(mov) 0
2 (CallSS) Call the VMGM PGC 6, resume cell 1

VTSM_2_1 [dummy] RootM
** pre commands:
1 (JumpSS) Jump to VMGM PGC 1

VTST_2_1 TTN1 Title2
** pre commands:
1 Set gprm(3) =(mov) 1
2 Set gprm(0) =(mov) sprm(4:Title number in volume)
** post commands:
1 Set gprm(3) =(mov) 0
2 (CallSS) Call the VMGM PGC 6, resume cell 1

That's about one of the simplest dvd layouts with a menu & auto-chaining to the next episode that I've seen. (The entire disc can easily be fully created by using the demo version of ConvertXToDvd (http://www.vso-software.fr/products/convert_x_to_dvd/) and dragging a couple of small video files (avi, divx, etc.) into the program, and setting the Auto-Start Playback & Loop-Playback features to OFF.)

----------

Now to the problem I'm seeking help on:

Given that the Non-Resume-Play (Stop/Stop/Play) on Sony's DVD players skips the FirstPlay PGC and goes directly to playing Title-1, what changes could I make in the PGC's code to accomplish:

1) Displaying the Menu when a disc is 1st inserted (it already does this now via the FirstPlay PGC)
2) Displaying the Menu from a Non-Resume-Play (Stop/Stop/Play)
3) *NOT* displaying the Menu if I jump directly to Title-1 via Sony's "Direct_Play_Disc/Title/Chapter" feature via my HTPC's serial control cmd.
Most commercial discs accomplish this criteria perfectly, but they are soooo inundated with tons of commands, most of which I'm sure are not needed in such a simple layout as the one above.

Can anyone point me in the right direction as to what changes would need to be made to accomplish the above goals? (Even if there isn't a spoon, I *still* want to bend it!)

Thanks so much!
-Surgeon-

r0lZ

5th August 2006, 21:19

Thanks for the suggestion.

I have a DVP-S725D. It is very old, but has many features not found anymore on the current players. I like it also because it is very standard compliant, even if it has some bugs and limitation. Unfortunately, it has never read perfectly the burned DVDs, especially the RWs.

I know how to access the service menu, but I'm a bit threatened by the options. I've noticed the automatic calibration menu, but I have not tried it yet.
Which DVD should I use first to try this function? A good commercial single layer?

Surgeon

5th August 2006, 21:47

I would recommend purchasing a new release, as soon as it first comes out, from a quality disc manufacturer, like Sony. A new release should theoretically be pressed with new dies, hence somewhat a more accurate disc.

Problem is, you might have to look hard to find a single-layer release, which sounds like what you need to calibrate...

Maybe a short, featureless, animated release???

-Surgeon-

r0lZ

5th August 2006, 22:03

Given that the Non-Resume-Play (Stop/Stop/Play) on Sony's DVD players skips the FirstPlay PGC and goes directly to playing Title-1, what changes could I make in the PGC's code to accomplish:

1) Displaying the Menu when a disc is 1st inserted (it already does this now via the FirstPlay PGC)
2) Displaying the Menu from a Non-Resume-Play (Stop/Stop/Play)
3) *NOT* displaying the Menu if I jump directly to Title-1 via Sony's "Direct_Play_Disc/Title/Chapter" feature via my HTPC's serial control cmd.

Hum, difficult to imagine what to do without knowing exactly which PGC the player plays first after a non-resume-stop, and if the GPRMs are reset to 0.

The basic method to deal with this kind of situation is to insert a GPRM test at the beginning of the title 1 PGC, to jump to the menu or play the title. The easiest way is to do something like that (assuming GPRM 15 is never initialized in the DVD):

********** Title 1 pre commands:
1 if ( gprm(15) > 0 ) then { Goto line 4 }
2 Set gprm(15) =(mov) 1
3 (CallSS) Call the VTSM Root menu of the current VTS, resume cell 1
4 NOP // continues with normal playback of Title 1

Then, jump directly to title 1 from FP-PGC.
It's simple, but that doesn't work for your point 3, since all GPRMs are forced to 0 when a title is called directly with the remote. Not sure it works for point 2 neither, since I don't know if a non-rsm-stop forces the GPRMs to 0.

But you can invert the test by initializing the free GPRM to any non-zero value in FP-PGC, and jump to title 1. Works fine for point 3. Again, I don't know for the non-rsm-stop situation.

Surgeon

5th August 2006, 23:39

Yeah, that's the problem with not knowing exactly what Sony's N-R-P actually does with the registers... (I've also tested on both an Apex and a Cyberhome model I own and they do the same skipping of the FirstPlay PGC when you do a N-R-P.)

Does anyone have, or know of, a "testing" disc that could be played on a machine and show what the registers are while playing? I know I've got a disc, written by someone, that shows the player's region-code settings when played, but haven't found one that will show all the registers...

-Surgeon-

blutach

6th August 2006, 00:52

@ron spencer

Yes, of course. v7.3 produces compliant ISOs which ImgBurn (www.imgburn.com) can burn. But you may like to work with ImgBurn (www.imgburn.com) alone now that its build function is fully operational.

Regards

r0lZ

6th August 2006, 09:54

Does anyone have, or know of, a "testing" disc that could be played on a machine and show what the registers are while playing?I did one some time ago. You have to merge your own DVD structure to create the right conditions for the test, and call a PGC that will show on screen the content of a specific register in hexadecimal.
If you are interested, here it is: Test_GPRM.zip (http://www.videohelp.com/~r0lZ/pgcedit/third_party/r0lz/Test_GPRM.zip)
In the archive, the FP-PGC is programmed to call the function to display the contents of SPRM 0. It is copied in GPRM 15, and PGC 3 of the VMGM is called to display the content of GPRM 15.
Note that the four hexadecimal digits of the value are displayed sequentially. (I was too lazy to create manually 65536 video frames with a different number in each! ;) )

But to check if the GPRMs are reset to 0 after a specific action, we don't need to know exactly the value of the register. It is enough to branch to PGC-A if the reg is zero, or PGC-B otherwise, and display something different in each cases. The problem with the non-rsm-play, is that we don't know neither where the navigation will be restarted, and therefore we don't know in which PGC the test must be inserted.

r0lZ

7th August 2006, 08:30

Well, I was totally wrong. I've made a test-DVD to test the "non-resume-play" function on my Sony, and the result is not what I thought. You were right, Surgeon.

When a title is called directly with the remote, all GPRMs are cleared, and a direct jump to the pre-command of the title is executed.

When an Exit command is encountered, the playback stops. If the user press Play at this time, the same thing happens, except that it is always Title 1 that is called. (I have verified: it's really Title 1, not the first TTN of the first VTS.) The pre-commands of title 1 are executed too.

Pressing twice the stop button (the "non-resume-stop") acts exactly like if an Exit command was encountered. Pressing play resumes also to the pre-commands of Title 1, with the GPRMs clear.

I'm still not sure the SPRMs are cleared also, but I suppose so.

In summary, the FP-PGC is automatically called ONLY when the DVD is physically inserted in the drive (and the FP-PGC exists.) In all other situations, when the DVD is restarted, the GPRMs are forced to 0 and the navigation begins at the pre-commands of Title 1.

This means that it is not possible to distinguish between a title call with the remote or a play after a non-resume-stop or after an Exit command.
Also, in my example in post #351 (http://forum.doom9.org/showpost.php?p=859903&postcount=351), the menu is called after a non-resume-play. To play the title instead, it is necessary to invert the test in line 1 and to initialize the GPRM to a non-zero value in FP-PGC.

Surgeon

7th August 2006, 09:25

Could you possibly repeat that part about me being right one more time??? I'd like my wife to see it... She's got her entire circle of friends & family convinced I never am... :D :D :D

Like I stated previously, I see the same behavior on both my Apex and CyberHome players also... That's why I felt it must have been a documented behavior somewhere in the dvd specs...

If nothing else, it may be a special functionality you might want to implement in a future release of PgcEdit's trace mode...

----------

BTW: I've done a little testing and it looks like those changes you made to the DvdTitle stuff work great! THANKS!

-Surgeon-

r0lZ

7th August 2006, 10:11

:cool: You were perfectly right, indeed! :goodpost: :D

If nothing else, it may be a special functionality you might want to implement in a future release of PgcEdit's trace mode...I'll do.
In the meantime, you can simulate the non-resume-play simply: click on the eject/insert button to reset the GPRMs and SPRMs, but before launching the trace, click on the Title 1 PGC. This way, you will begin the navigation at the right place, with the GPRMs cleared, and the SPRMs initialized to the default values.

I have just checked with my Sony if the SPRMs are reset or preserved in this situation, and I can confirm that they are forced back to the default values. (That means, among other things, that the audio and subpic selections are lost when the Title 1 is called by a non-rsm-play.)

voo_doo99

8th August 2006, 21:03

Hi r0lZ,
Will PgcEdit adds features to support new ImgBurn 2.0 BUILD mode, including passing DVD-TEXT field as volume label? :D Thanks.

r0lZ

9th August 2006, 05:42

Well, I'm not sure.

I like the burn mode of ImgBurn, but I think PgcEdit is not needed to launch it. The burn function of PgcEdit was necessary because there was no good app to burn a DVD-Video at this time, and it was necessary to prepare the IFOs before calling mkisofs, but now ImgBurn has integrated the whole process.
I don't want to continue to develop this part of the program, now almost useless. Also, it is not easy to integrate the new build mode in the burn function, because everything is designed to work with mkisofs. Calling ImgBurn is not the difficult part.

However, I may add a new CLI option in the Tools configuration dialog to pass the DVD-Text general name field to the called program. This way, you should be able to call ImgBurn in build mode, with the right parameters. Is it OK for you?

voo_doo99

10th August 2006, 02:26

Well, I'm not sure.
However, I may add a new CLI option in the Tools configuration dialog to pass the DVD-Text general name field to the called program. This way, you should be able to call ImgBurn in build mode, with the right parameters. Is it OK for you?
Yes, it is what I am asking. :thanks:

r0lZ

10th August 2006, 07:48

It's already done.

Works well, but unfortunately, there is a little problem in ImgBurn v2.0.0.0.
If the original DVD-Text General Name is passed via CLI, it is used as it is for the UDF file system, and that's OK.
But the same string is simply converted to upper case and truncated to 32 characters for the ISO file system. This means that an illegal character (such as a space or a punctuation sign) is not removed or converted to an underscore, and the resulting string is still illegal.
I have therefore added 2 options to pass the DVD-Text General Name as a CLI argument: %t is the original, unmodified string, possibly with lower case characters, and %l (letter L) is the string used to generate the ISO filename and the default volume label in PgcEdit, converted to upper case and stripped of the illegal characters by PgcEdit.
Since ImgBurn has only one CLI argument to specify the labels for all file systems, you have to use %l to be sure the label is legal for both file systems.
I've contacted LUK! The next version of ImgBurn will have a better conversion routine, and you should be able to pass the original label with %t.

Also, if the DVD-Text General Name is not specified, %t and %l are currently derived from the DVD folder name. For example, if your DVD files are in C:\rip\My DVD\VIDEO_TS, %t will be "My DVD" and %l will be "MY_DVD".

I have also tried the /IBG option with /IBG "C:\%l.ibg", and the graph data file is correctly saved automatically under a name that is easy to identify. Nice!

dirio49

10th August 2006, 15:07

Great, thanks:)

blutach

10th August 2006, 15:42

Unnecessary to do anything in parsing the DVDTX name to ImgBurn (www.imgburn.com). The update to version 2.0.0.0, to be released very shortly, will automatically do this by default.

I tested this extensively today and it worked, irrespective of the complexity of the VMG_TXTDT_MG table.

Save yourself the effort r0lZ.

Regards

Jeffster

10th August 2006, 16:27

@blutach
Will the updated version auto generate the iso filename as well as filling in the volume label?

blutach

10th August 2006, 16:39

LOL, no but you can pick any one out the MRU list. For example, I build test ISOs and just call them xxx.iso

Next one I build, I just select xxx.iso. I have the delete ISO/MDS after successful burn option set, so it is easy to name. Or if I haven't deleted it yet, it will overwrite without hassle.

If you wish to retain the ISO (perhaps you have lots of hard drive capacity), then by all means name it something meaningful. Or use an IBB project file.

And the volume label auto fillin works very well with proper capitalisation and spacing. If, on the other hand, you want to fill in the label yourself, it's best to start in the UDF field and you will be able to push a little icon to fill in the ISO/Joliet ones.

Regards

r0lZ

10th August 2006, 16:44

Unnecessary to do anything in parsing the DVDTX name to ImgBurn (www.imgburn.com). The update to version 2.0.0.0, to be released very shortly, will automatically do this by default.Yes? Good news.
I've read somewhere that the new version will be able to retrieve the DVD name from the folder name, but not from the DVD-Text data. Seems LUK! has changed his mind. Good!

Anyway, I've already added the code to provide the %t and %l substitution in the arguments field of the PgcEdit tools. It might be useful, for example to pass the ISO filename, and anyway, it was very easy to do.

blutach

10th August 2006, 16:47

Good to see!

Is there a new beta due out soon? With that and the SPRM 20 fix?

Regards

r0lZ

10th August 2006, 17:05

I don't think a beta is needed. I've only fixed some easy things, and I'm sure I haven't introduced new bugs. Also, I am currently on holidays, and I don't want to have to work much!
However, if you really need a new version, send me a PM or a mail...

Sir Didymus

19th August 2006, 16:15

While using PgcEdit for exporting the PGC color palette, in ascii format, of a movie authored with MuxMan, I noticed some rounding errors in the color values (for example Color 1 below should be 255, 0, 0):

Color 0=0, 0, 255
Color 1=254, 0, 0
Color 2=0, 0, 0
Color 3=255, 255, 255
Color 4=0, 254, 0
Color 5=255, 0, 254
Color 6=255, 255, 0
Color 7=1, 124, 124
Color 8=125, 125, 125
Color 9=225, 225, 225
Color 10=123, 0, 1
Color 11=0, 124, 0
Color 12=1, 0, 123
Color 13=222, 1, 253
Color 14=221, 125, 1
Color 15=125, 0, 124

Of course it's a kind of problems not urgent at all, and I am not totally sure the issue is inside PgcEdit or MuxMan... Anyway the palette above is not the same as it should be (the Scenarist default...)...

All the best,
SD

r0lZ

19th August 2006, 18:50

There are several formulas to convert the CLUT to RGB. None are perfect, but I'm not sure I've used the best one. Do you have a suggestion?

Sir Didymus

20th August 2006, 10:30

No, afraid, I have not...

But your question enlightned the source of my troubles: I simply forget the colour format of entries in the CLUT is (YCrCb). For some reason I - wrongly - reminded the format should have been RGB...

It's evident the rounding error is introduced by the color space conversion. I say again, I don't know if a discrete formula exist to map 24 bit (RGB) --> to (YCrCb) back to --> (RGB) without introducing rounding errors for all of the possible RGB entries...

:(

SD

r0lZ

20th August 2006, 12:23

That's what I thought. Anyway, a small rounding error has no visible consequence on the subpics.

Surgeon

20th August 2006, 23:34

Wadda' ya mean small... In the conversion shown above you've got a color shift of a full 1/16,777,216 for the affected pixels!

I would think even a blind man would notice that... :D :D :D

(Just kidding, of course...)

-Surgeon-

Sir Didymus

21st August 2006, 16:01

No person would see the difference, but a computer program definitely (and easily) would. If you write an sst subpicture definition file with statements like this:

BG (0 0 0 = = =)
PA (255 255 255 = = =)
E1 (255 0 0 = = =)
E2 (128 128 128 = = =)

You assume, in the bitmap files containing the pictures, a precise match of a pure red color to the E1 index. If you miss the match by 1/16,777,216 you lose the whole colour content from your DVD subtitles.

It's just an example, showing that sometimes a single bit out of 24 is important... :)

Anyway, I admit the issue I raised is not an issue at all, since it was originated by a mistake from my side (I did not remind the storage format of the CLUT palette in the PGC) so - again - afraid for the above message I posted.

Cheers
SD

Surgeon

21st August 2006, 19:47

Yeah, I know what you mean... I know it would be a big effort for such a tiny conversion discrepancy, but what may work is for r0lZ to post-apply a "fudge-factor" table to the calculated results. That is, to always "fudge" the more commonly used values like 255 instead of 254, 128 instead of 129, 0 instead of 1, etc... Kinda a pita to have to code it that way though...

-Surgeon-

frank

25th August 2006, 17:04

There is a little bug in the function Call Cross references.
In every case the pre/Post commands will be deleted if there is no access (red color) from commands.
But the menu button of the remote control will jump to this point.
TitleM commands should never be changed.

r0lZ

25th August 2006, 17:35

Hum, I can't reproduce that. I have just tested with a TitleM w/o direct calls, and the pre/post commands are not deleted.
Could you give me more info? What DVD is it? Which version of PgcEdit did you use?

bigotti5

25th August 2006, 19:54

Pgcedit show this if no command link to a root or title menu

Callable with remote control TitleMenu button.

Callable with remote control RootMenu button.

frank

29th August 2006, 15:51

Sorry for my late answer.

The DVD is Antarctica.
But now I have taken a look closer. The TitleM was not referenced but there were PUOs.

In Call Cross references was the message:
NOT callable with remote control TitleMenu button due to PUOs!

All right, rOlZ. :D
A very improbable case.
But a little info in the label text column would be very useful.

r0lZ

29th August 2006, 18:17

It's not so improbable. It's something I've seen often, though I don't understand why the Title Menu is defined if it can never be called with the remote, since it is possible to call the same PGC with a JumpSS/CallSS by PGC number. Doing this trick in a VTSM domain is more comprehensible.

BTW, I forgot completely that I've taken the PUOs into account for this function! PgcEdit is better than I thought! :p

Video Dude

29th August 2006, 20:06

Thanks for the seamless option for burning DL discs. All the DVDs I have done have played with no pause at the layerbreak, even though they had a high mux rate. Works on all my DVD players.

:thanks:

r0lZ

30th August 2006, 08:36

Good to know. Thanks for the info.

pygmalion

4th September 2006, 10:38

Hello!

EditPGC enables changing the action of NEXT and PREV buttons on remote controller while in menus. Does it also eanble changing the action of PLAY button and how?

Thanks for the answer,

Marko

bigotti5

4th September 2006, 11:59

These buttons are hardwired by the manufacturer.
You cant change the action of PREV and NEXT button - you can define a PrevPGC/NextPGC and taking advantage of the action
The PLAY button on most players does the same thing as the
ENTER key when in a menu, but maybe there are players setting a title play command if you press PLAY.

Edit: You should respect forum rule #8 - no crossposting

r0lZ

4th September 2006, 12:07

I have replied almost the same thing in this thread (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=871214#post871214).
BTW, pygmalion, please observe rule 8 (http://forum.doom9.org/forum-rules.htm).

pygmalion

4th September 2006, 12:41

r0lZ: I apologise. I thought this is not quite the same question.

But then, I have another question. Can you control with PGCEdit, which button is activated by default? Usually, this is button 1, but I rather see to be let's say button 7.

Marko

bigotti5

4th September 2006, 13:07

Can you control with PGCEdit, which button is activated by default?

Do you mean "which button is selected by default"?

pygmalion

4th September 2006, 13:16

At the start of menu, one button is already enlighted. So if you only press OK, you will start whatever this button stands for.

blutach

4th September 2006, 13:51

Yes, you can control it. You will need to program the precommand to higlight button #. And ensure no button in the menu is force highlighted.

Regards

r0lZ

4th September 2006, 15:30

Well, both methods are possible.

You can program the highlighted buttons with a SetHL_BTN command. In this case, the force select button parameter must be 0. With this method, it is possible to highlight a different button each time the PGC is entered, for example to automatically select the next episode, but this method requires some knowledge.

You can also use the force select button parameter in the menu itself. It has precedence over the VM commands. It's very simple to do, but the same button will be highlighted by default each time the menu is entered, as this parameter cannot be programmed dynamically.

pygmalion

5th September 2006, 09:06

Thanks guys for the reply. I will try that and I hope I will not have to bother you again.

Marko

architect

11th September 2006, 00:09

How about getting it to work under wine in linux? we can't makw pls2 files under linux without it.

blutach

11th September 2006, 00:23

PgcEdit (http://www.videohelp.com/~r0lZ/pgcedit/index.html) DOES work under Linux

http://www.videohelp.com/~r0lZ/pgcedit/index.html#download

As for the PSL2 plugin, r0lZ did not author that. Somoeone calling himself The Mad Monk did.

Regards

r0lZ

17th September 2006, 10:59

PgcEdit v7.4 released: A. New function Info -> Find Never-Called PGCs, to mark the PGCs and VTSs that are never called explicitely (without having to clear the VM commands and Prev/Next/GoUp PGCNs).
A. New function Trace menu -> State -> Restart Playback from Exit Domain, to begin the playback at Title 1 instead of at the First-Play PGC.
A. New Option -> Functions -> DVD-TEXT General Name to set the max length of the Volume General Name string, since the number of characters that can be displayed on screen is player dependent.
A. Added "%t" and "%l" substitutions in the command line string of the Tools Setup dialog to be able to pass the DVD-Text General Name (%t) and the default DVD label of the burn function (%l) as arguments. Calling ImgBurn with the volume label already in place is now possible with the arguments: /MODE ISOBUILD /BUILDMODE DEVICE /FILESYSTEM "ISO9660 + UDF" /SRC "%d" /VOLUMELABEL "%l" /NOIMAGEDETAILS /ERASE /VERIFY /IBG "C:\%l.ibg"
E. When a PGC or a cell is never called directly by a VM command or by a Prev Next or GoUpPGCN link, it was previously considered as unreferenced, even if it was referenced in some IFO tables. Now, in this situation, the word "unreferenced" has been replaced by "never-called" to avoid the confusion with truely unreferenced cells (which are never referenced in the IFOs.)
E. Rebuild Time Map functions: the cell times and the PGC playback time are now updated also in the VTS_PGCITI table. Therefore, after using this function, the times shown in the PGC Editor should be accurate.
E. Create New Cell and Reassign VOB/Cell ID: New option to rebuild the time map tables. It is now possible to skip the Time Map creation. Useful to speed up things when using those function several times.
E. The error message "Can't create backup" is not displayed any more when the DVD is loaded from the DVD drive, and is therefore read-only.
E. Improved Read DVD functions, to cope with some severe authoring errors.
E. Added a note in the Check DVD-R Size dialog to warn the user that this function ignores the DVD-ROM files in the computation of the DVD size.
F. Trace mode: SPRM 20 (Player region code) was wrongly initialized with the region code value of VMGM_MAT instead of a bitwise XOR of this value.
F. Trace mode: In case of arithmetic overflow in Set operations, the result was rounded to 0 or 0xFFFF. Now, the right value, not rounded, is used.
F. PGC Editor -> remap VOB/Cell ID did not work on a menu PGC if the VOB file was not successfully scanned for menu buttons when the DVD was opened, for example because the menu VOB file was not present or was CSS encrypted. Similarly, Remove Cell did not update the PGC playback time.
F. When a menu PGC was killed and the video removed, the audio and subpic attributes were not cleared in the PGC.
F. Kill playback: a warning was sometimes issued when it was not needed.
F. Little bug fixed when PgcEdit was called with an invalid path as CLI arg.

DVDShrink plugin updated to v2.1: F. Bug in DVDShrink Remote Buttons's Always allow the 'Title Menu' button to skip to the next title? function fixed. The Title button was ineffective in some cases.

New VOBU plugin: With this plugin, you can change the entry VOBU sector and the last VOBU sectors of any PGC.
Handy to skip intros, logos or credits embedded in the main movie.
Please note that this method is not standard compliant, and may fail with some players!

Enjoy!

Rippraff

17th September 2006, 12:17

Thanks a lot for the new version, r0lZ! :) :thanks:

Cu Rippraff

[Tobi]

17th September 2006, 19:12

The new version looks robust and speaks once again for the abilities of the author.

:thanks:

r0lZ

17th September 2006, 20:02

Thanks Tobi, Rippraff and everybody! :)

dirio49

17th September 2006, 20:50

Thanks for the new Version. :)

David Star

17th September 2006, 21:32

¡¡Congratulations, Roiz!!. Thank you very much for giving us your powerful program as a present. ¿Some day Pgcedit will work hd-dvd?

r0lZ

17th September 2006, 22:31

¿Some day Pgcedit will work hd-dvd?I don't think so. I don't like too much those new formats. IMO, it's mainly commercial business.
Anyway, currently there is still too few technical info to be able to do something. Maybe later...

blutach

18th September 2006, 00:50

Just fantastic as usual. Thanks for the prompt attention to all our requests and bug reports. So much more than the Swiss Army Knife of DVD Editing.

Regards

David Star

18th September 2006, 03:25

"Maybe later", is a promising hope. With Scenarist HD in $50,000.00 and Bluy Ray Print in $60,000.00, seem than HD-DVD is exclusive for wealthy people. But for a long time exist programs to edit video in HD DVD, and Ulead recently came out DVD Movie Factory Plus 5 to accomplish authoring in HD DVD, in $80.00 Hardware will come soon to most people to accessible pricing. They suggest these indicators to us that people soon will change also DVD to HD-DVD. According to I have understood, majority of technical specifications for DVD will survive in the HD-DVD. Then, you Roiz, that you are a brilliant programmer, will see there will be no superlative differences among DVD and HD-DVD. Time will tell. I hope so soon than complete specifications for HD-DVD, be known by us. In addition, with the new plugin Vobu, Pgcedit becomes more powerful. I design authoring DVD with navigation advanced thanks to you, Roiz, with pgcedit, my favorite program for reauthoring (world champion).

President

18th September 2006, 06:26

PgcEdit v7.4 released
Many thank's, Roland, for a new version and new functions&improvements!

r0lZ

18th September 2006, 08:54

@David
Yes, HD-DVD will have to be similar to the current DVD-Video format, for compatibility reasons. That's why PgcEdit as it is now should be compatible with this new format.
Unfortunately, to be able to enjoy the new high definition, you need expensive TV sets and players. Furthermore, and that's important for the reauthoring scene, the CSS encryption (or is it called differently?) is greatly improved, and will probably never be cracked. It will therefore be impossible to use PgcEdit on a protected HD-DVD, and I'm not sure I will develop my program only to be used on personal DVDs.

@President: Thanks!

laserfan

18th September 2006, 16:36

PgcEdit v7.4 released: A. New function Trace menu -> State -> Restart Playback from Exit Domain, to begin the playback at Title 1 instead of at the First-Play PGC...I don't see this option & wonder if my installation might be wrong? One just copies the new .exe into the PgcEdit directory, yes? I looked hard at the release notes because the behavior of 7.4 seems to have changed for me. I use PgcEdit mostly to "Jump to PGC upon DVD insert" and with 7.4 it appears to work differently:

1. Trace thru the intro cells, make menu selections, get to main title and Break.

2. Toggle PGC pre/post breakpoint (turns red)

3. Insert DVD (Restart Trace) and Run again.

4. Step thru those intro cells, but THIS TIME I DIDN'T SEE THE MENU--WENT STRAIGHT TO THE PGC!

5. Selected "Jump to PGC" and get "The pre-commands jumped-outside the target..." message and looped-thru the menu selection process again one time.

6. Reached the breakpoint again and this time "Jump to PGC" worked.

So the process worked, but it is different from what I'm used-to in that in Step 4 I didn't have to make my menu selections again; PgcEdit seemed to anticipate what I was going to do.

Was a change made to this behavior, could this be an anomaly of the DVD, or have I just lost my mind and it's always worked this way. :rolleyes:

Y'know how you do something over & over again, and then it's different and it freaks you out a little! :eek: :scared: :D

jeanl

18th September 2006, 17:34

Thanks r0lZ! Awesome! I especially love the VOBU plugin! That rocks!
jeanl

r0lZ

18th September 2006, 19:43

Thanks Jeanl! :)

Laserfan, the new function is the last item of the State menu of the trace. You can launch it also by right-clicking on the normal Reset Trace button. If it doesn't work, try to download and install PgcEdit again.
Yes, it is sufficient to overwrite PgcEdit.exe to install it.

I don't know why you got another navigation when you started the trace again. Are you sure you have reset the trace by clicking on the Reset button (with the insert/eject icon)? Also, be sure to wait 1 or 2 seconds before clicking the Run button, or the trace might still be in its initialization phase.
Maybe you are facing a funny authoring with some sort of random navigation?
Anyway, the trace should still work like before. I have only added the new way to reset it, and it should not influence the behaviour of the navigation.
Could you retry? Also with another DVD. And please let me know if it worked. Thanks!

Note: Though not frequent, the "The pre-commands jumped-outside the target..." message is normal. It happens when the PGC is entered first to establish a valid return point for the RSM command, but is exited before the video has been played. Don't worry!

blutach

18th September 2006, 22:58

laserfan

18th September 2006, 23:00

Laserfan, the new function is the last item of the State menu of the trace...If it doesn't work, try to download and install PgcEdit again.There it is. I did install properly but didn't know where to look! :o

I don't know why you got another navigation when you started the trace again...Maybe you are facing a funny authoring with some sort of random navigation? Anyway, the trace should still work like before.Actually what threw me was that the navigation stopped at the main title (by the breakpoint I'd set) and I just haven't seen that before. For some reason on this disc the navigation moves thru the main title on its way to the main menu etc. i.e. it "stopped early" at the breakpoint.

It does the same thing every time so I tried another disc and sure enough, PgcEdit works as it's supposed to and as I expected. So I just picked exactly the *wrong* disc (Munich) to make my first v7.4 run on! My sincere apologies!!!! :scared:

Thanks for a great tool! :)

jeanl

19th September 2006, 00:00

Yeah, I tested the VOBU plugin last night to get rid of an FBI and I suspect it could also be used to delete playback of closing credits.

Will we be able to reclaim space with VobBlanker (http://jsoto.posunplugged.com/vobblanker.htm) and/or FixVTS?

Regards
No, not with FixVTS, and vobblanker will complain that the pointers don't match any more. FixVTS isn't smart enough to detect that part of a cell is unreferenced and get rid of it. However, whatever is unreferenced will be in the unreferenced material in DVD Shrink, where you can squash it to death! That's the hurried-man's way to remove end credits!
Jeanl

blutach

19th September 2006, 02:48

Aaah - thanks Jean. I didn't think so and suspected VobBlanker (http://jsoto.posunplugged.com/vobblanker.htm) would give that cell table mismatch error and use the VTS_C_ADT table entry.

Probably DVD Remake Pro (http://www.dimadsoft.com/dvdremakepro/index.php) can eliminate this for good.

Or a cell split in VobBlanker (http://jsoto.posunplugged.com/vobblanker.htm) followed by a blanking?

Regards

r0lZ

19th September 2006, 07:45

On this subject, I've received a mail explaining that this trick did not work on some players.
Maybe I have to modify also the VTS_C_ADT table. But currently I use VTS_C_ADT to pick the original start and end VOBU of the cell. It's necessary to be able to undo a previous change, or to enlarge a cell that has been reduced with the vobu plugin.

Therefore, if I modify also VTS_C_ADT, I will have to parse the VOB files to find the real start and end of the cell by looking at the V/CIDs. It's not really difficult, but it's time consuming.

I can also add a checkbox "Modify also the VTS_C_ADT table" with a warning explaining that it's not undoable, but I don't like this idea too much.

Anyway, I wonder if it is important to modify VTS_C_ADT also. What do you think?

blutach

19th September 2006, 08:40

You can get the VTS_C_ADT back from the PgcEdit_backup folder yes? I know that takes you back to the start, so maybe do an incremental backup first?

Regards

r0lZ

19th September 2006, 08:54

Hum, I don't like this method. The backup is optional, and anyway, if you want to modify a DVD after having burned it, the backup is lost. And that's not really easy, too, since I have to load and process an IFO file just for one value.
If I have to parse a file, I prefer to look in the VOB files.
Thanks anyway for the idea.

jeanl

19th September 2006, 17:05

Anyway, I wonder if it is important to modify VTS_C_ADT also. What do you think?
I really don't know, but I wouldn't change anything until being 100% sure that changing VTS_C_ADT would make it work. You should get in touch with the person who says it does not work, make sure they haven't screwed up something else, and then ask them to correct VTS_C_ADT manually and see if that makes it work...
But I really don't see why the player would even go look at that table, but who knows!
Jeanl

Sir Didymus

20th September 2006, 11:25

...
No, not with FixVTS, and vobblanker will complain that the pointers don't match any more. FixVTS isn't smart enough to detect that part of a cell is unreferenced and get rid of it...

But that's not a fault of FixVTS or VobBlanker...
The point is that both the table VTS_C_ADT and its counterpart in the titleset or menu PGC should not contain different information (possibly, and hopefully) if this information have the same meaning - i.e. defining the start sector and the end sector of a given cell.

...
Anyway, I wonder if it is important to modify VTS_C_ADT also. What do you think?

IMO yes... or better, it should be nice... :)

Well - if I can say this - it's like you are including an harpoon inside your Swiss knife... :)

I mean, with the usage of this plugin the overall possibility to change start and end sectors of the cells respect to the "real" values, as present in the VOBs, is very tricky (and possibly leading to troubles...): as minimum it may imply to cut some GOP or audio... For example, making these changes may lead to MPEG2 stream orphan of the sequence start and end codes, to trow away GOP headers, and so on, screwing up quite seriously the DVD...

I did not test it, but I think I have no difficulties to agree with players eventually complaining about the playback of MPEG2 streams orphan of some sequence codes...

What do you think about ?

jeanl

20th September 2006, 16:58

My understanding is that a GOP is almost self contained: the only thing it might need to be decoded properly would be a P-frames from the previous GOP. I don't think it's possible to cut off a stream start code from the rest of the mpeg data: all the start/end codes will be contained in the same GOP (that's for sure). I'm not too sure why some players complain, but it could be because the GOP is open (relies on a frame from the previous GOP to decode) perhaps?
jeanl

Sir Didymus

20th September 2006, 18:27

I see...
after playing a little with the plugin, that it keeps the cutting points at the VOBu boundaries, so GOP headers and structure should be safe.

Also the whole plugin operation is affecting just the first and the last cells of a pgc, so its "impact" is relatively limited...

Finally the message box telling to apply the modification at user's own risk is very appropriate...

Anyway the problem related to making orphan the MPEG2 stream of the sequence start and end codes is still present, since a single seq_start and a single seq_end should (and are) normally present in an overall MPEG2 stream...

In any case, all of the doubts related to the open GOPs are still here...

Let's wait for other comments on the matter...

Cheers,
SD

Edit: some spelling...

r0lZ

20th September 2006, 18:45

Honestly, I have nothing to say for my defense! ;)
I wrote this plugin at the request of several users, but I know it's a big risk of problems. It's why I have refused until now to let the user modify the cells start and end addresses directly from the cell table editor, and that I have finally implemented this function as a plugin only, with some severe limitations, such as the cut at a nav pack only, and the ability to cut only the beginning or the end of the PGC.
But I want to improve the plugin so that it is as safe as possible. Since I'm not a VOB expert, I rely on this discussion to find the best solution.
BTW, the user that has reported the problems is Tobi, and I'm sure he read this forum.

Sir Didymus

20th September 2006, 19:28

Honestly, I have nothing to say for my defense! ;)

Oh, oh...

Well, in any case, please do not take any single one of my comments - even if given in very friendly terms - as a criticism !!!

I am quite convinced PgcEdit is approaching the perfection, and everyone here should be grateful to you for making it available to the community...

:)

r0lZ

20th September 2006, 20:31

Honestly, I have nothing to say for my defense! ;)It was a joke, Sir! I just wanted to say that that plugin is a gadget, and I don't want to assume any responsibility. "Use it at your own risk!" is really the only thing I have to say. The criticism about the vobu plugin comes from myself.

jinjin_jp

21st September 2006, 10:30

I didn't think so and suspected VobBlanker (http://jsoto.posunplugged.com/vobblanker.htm) would give that cell table mismatch error and use the VTS_C_ADT table entry.

Probably DVD Remake Pro (http://www.dimadsoft.com/dvdremakepro/index.php) can eliminate this for good.
I tried DvdReMakePro. The result was same as VobBlanker. It corrects VTS_PGCITI according to VTS_C_ADT.

Regards.

blutach

21st September 2006, 12:14

@jinjin_jp - your research, as always, is terrific!

Regards

laserfan

21st September 2006, 15:55

See title--now that I'm using my old Sony DVP-S7000 again, having learned how to burn DVD+R discs that it will play, I have one little problem that has always existed and if I can I'd like to fix it: any homemade disc that I make will not display the running time of a movie thru a new chapter/cell location. So I can't tell how far I am into a movie--only the time since this chapter was entered. It resets to zero whether just playing-thru the cell change normally, or searching to the next/previous chapter.

The ripping & backup process do not to my knowledge change anything about the commands on a disc--at least, if the cells were 8s before (seamless playback joint) they are 8s after, so I don't know what my Sony doesn't like about these discs.

Can any of the smart people here suggest another reason for this? The burning software that I use is RecordNow 7.3--as I type this it occurs to me to try ImgBurn and see if it makes any difference. Other ideas?

Hope no one is offended that I would ask within this thread--but my Searching suggests that all of the discussion of elapsed time & time maps has been taking place here!

Sir Didymus

21st September 2006, 16:20

Mhhh, well, the cell flags, that you may easily check with PgcEdit [he, he, this way we stay more or less in topic... :) ] should have their values unchanged respect to the original.

Apart this, on what I know, just SCR (that should not reset to 0) and PTS (that should be continuous across seamless played cells) may affect the display time...

Also sri_fwd and sri_bwd tables, in the nav packs near to the cell borders should have no glitches... But I am not really sure this last one can be a factor...

Out of curiosity, what authoring tool are you using (if any...) in the process ?

Cheers,
SD

laserfan

21st September 2006, 16:53

Thanks SD, it turns out we have a rather serious PEBCAK error here. After burning w/ImgBurn and checking again in-depth, this player apparently DEFAULTS to "Time by Chapter" mode! :( I only needed to change to "Time by Title" and it's good... :scared:

I only found it after I double-checked with the original DVD, and then got one of my old discs from 1997, and the player still reset by chapter. Suprised it defaults to this--the player has been removed from power many times (and for long periods) recently.

Sorry for the distraction; I think that's my second bonehead post in this thread this week alone! Giving myself a "strike" and slinking away now...

I did learn ImgBurn beats the heck out of my RecordNow 7.3! :o

r0lZ

21st September 2006, 17:35

Thanks SD, it turns out we have a rather serious PEBCAK error here. After burning w/ImgBurn and checking again in-depth, this player apparently DEFAULTS to "Time by Chapter" mode! :( I only needed to change to "Time by Title" and it's good... :scared:So does my Sony DVD-S725D too. Seems it's a signature of the Sony players.
BTW, my player can also display the remaining time of the current chapter or of the whole movie. Great feature, not available on many players! However, the recent Sony models are very poor. You can display only the elapsed time of the whole PGC. Dot. Pity! And not to mention the other missing features... :(

blutach

21st September 2006, 21:32

Seems it's a signature of the Sony players.Not my 2. Must be fakes :)

But they display time by title, chapter and as r0lZ says, remaining times which is quite cool too (although I must confess to watching the movie rather than the counter) :)

Regards

laserfan

21st September 2006, 22:09

...I must confess to watching the movie rather than the counter...You probably have a much younger bladder than I do! I sometimes sneak a peek to see if I should stop the movie or if it will be over soon! ;)

Thank you guys for giving me a pass on this blunder! :o

HKT3020_1

29th October 2006, 03:42

I'm pretty sure this question gets asked time and time again but I just want to clarify. What is the correct way to remove the layer break with PgcEdit. Reason I ask is because my brother got his hands on MI:3 today and well on the layer break there is a half a second pause. On the DVD5 version I'm about to create with DVD-RB, I want seamless playback. Thanks for any help. :)

blutach

29th October 2006, 04:46

See the guide on the PgcEdit (http://www.videohelp.com/~r0lZ/pgcedit/index.html) site. You need to tick seamless layer break.

http://www.digital-digest.com/~blutach/dl_burn_guide2/dl_burning_with_pgcedit_v2.htm

Regards

r0lZ

29th October 2006, 09:41

Anyway, the ripping programs removes the layer break automatically in most cases, unless you have disabled this option.

See also this post (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=844110#post844110) for a complete explanation.

kumi

29th October 2006, 10:53

Just a minor question about time maps:

Let's say I run 'rebuild time map of current PGC' on my main movie PGC, and I get a PGC Playback Time of 01:34:19.01 (at 30fps).

If I then 'Edit PGC', I get a warning:

WARNING: The PGC Playback Time (01:34:19.01 (at 30fps)) doesn't match the total of the cells times (01:34:18.26 (at 30fps)).

Fix it?

If I click Yes, the next time I rebuild the time map I get:

Some times have been fixed in VTS_TMAPTI of VTS 1:

VTS 1, PGC 2 playback time: 01:34:18.26 -> 01:34:19.01

So which one is right? 'Edit PGC' or 'Rebuild time map' ?

By the way thank you so much for continuing to improve PgcEdit, it's become an indispensable tool. And fun to use :)

r0lZ

29th October 2006, 11:10

Rebuild Time Map is probably right, as it looks in the VOBs for the correct values.
Edit PGC does only a simple check: the sumn of the cells is supposed to be exactly identical to the total time. If it's not the case after Rebuild Time Map, it's a good indication that there is something wrong in the cells table. It's often (always?) the case with ARccOS/RipGuard protected DVDs.
Anyway, the best method to re-synchronize all timings is to process the title with FixVTS. It will fix the cell times and the total time of the PGC.

kumi

29th October 2006, 20:55

Great tip, thanks.

frank

31st October 2006, 10:55

Hello r0lZ,

ImgBurn now can burn DVD folders directly.
Can you implement that for single DVD+R/DVD-R?
Burning without ISO is much simpler and faster.

For Double Layer disks I would stay on ISO creation because of the world best control over the LB. :)

r0lZ

31st October 2006, 11:41

Well, I don't see the advantage of adding that in PgcEdit.

As you know, the current PgcEdit method use a rather complex method to determine the layer break position, and to offset the files to align it properly on an ECC block. But, as far as I know, ImgBurn v2 does exactly the same thing. If you like the PgcEdit method, you should like the ImgBurn method as well.
Currently, ImgBurn has no preview, but I've heard that it will use the PgcEdit preview in the next release! So, there is no reason to duplicate LUK's excellent work in PgcEdit.
Anyway, ImgBurn (in Build mode) recomputes the VTS sectors anyway, so it is useless to modify them with PgcEdit before the burn.

But I like to launch ImgBurn in build mode, ready with the right parameters, from PgcEdit. It's easy: you have just to create a new entry in the Tools menu. Here are the parameters I use:

Label: Build with ImgBurn
Application: C:\Program Files\ImgBurn\ImgBurn.exe
Arguments: /MODE ISOBUILD /BUILDMODE DEVICE /FILESYSTEM "ISO9660 + UDF" /SRC "%d" /VOLUMELABEL "%l" /IBG "D:\%l.ibg"
Working folder: %d (2nd. option in the dialog)
The Save DVD before and Run in background options are ticked.

Note that the IBG file for DVDInfoPro is automatically created in the root folder of D:\
The same disc label than in PgcEdit is used by default.
Of course, you can change the arguments line to suit your needs.

blutach

31st October 2006, 13:04

You can also turn on automatic creation of IBG files in ImgBurn (www.imgburn.com)'s settings (under Graph Data).

If you prefer to build to ISO, change the /BUILDMODE argument to IMAGEFILE

Also, ImgBurn (www.imgburn.com) will automatically pick up the label in the TXT-DATA field, if one is present. If not, it will pick up the parent folder of VIDEO_TS's name. So, there is no need to specify this field.

Regards

frank

1st November 2006, 17:17

Good idee! I will test it.

I have burnt a Double Layer dvd in build mode with all the new features (32k space, seamless LB) and ImgBurn worked perfectly. :)
The LB address had a difference of 2 bytes but the cause is probably another UDF header.

If we could set the used features via cmd line then PgcEdit would have no problem to control the burning.

J-Wo

2nd November 2006, 04:41

I'm encountering an error with PgcEdit 7.4 when in trace mode. I have the program set up to automatically display the preview window and start playing the current cell when in trace mode. The problem is that most times, instead of the preview window I get an error message (see attachment). I then get a blank PgcEditPreview window, which I can either close or leave open. Doesn't matter which because when I trace the next cell, the error message reoccurs. Only closing PgcEdit and re-openning solves the problem, but then the message always comes back. I've noticed this for the last several versions. Do I have something wrong in my program setup?

r0lZ

2nd November 2006, 11:02

Without the complete error message, I can't understand what's happening. Please post the full message as text here. (You might have to click on the "Details" button of the error dialog box to see it.) Anyway, if you really want to post screen shots, use ImageShack (http://imageshack.us/), as the images posted directly in the forum are usually not approved immediately.
In the meantime, tick "Preview -> Disable DirectDraw overlays" and try again.

J-Wo

2nd November 2006, 20:04

Sorry that the screen grab isn't showing up. Here's the message window:

PgcEdit 7.4 Error
Error 1 opening file for write
couldn't open "C:\DOCUME~1\JASONW~1\LOCALS~1\Temp\preview.args.ini"

The error message has no Details button, only OK. The bug seems to come up more frequently if I select Disable DirectDraw Overlays. All I know is that path is the same as my %temp% directory.

r0lZ

2nd November 2006, 20:12

Could you verify that you can write a file to your %temp% directory? (That should be possible, but I don't see any other explanation of your problem.)

J-Wo

2nd November 2006, 20:19

Yes I can write to my %temp% directory, it's constantly being filled with new files. Does pgcedit need to be installed on a certain drive? Are there codecs that might interfere with the preview window? Is there a special setup I need to run for pgcedit to work properly?

r0lZ

2nd November 2006, 20:35

Well, there are some Tcl/Tk problems when a path contains foreign or accented characters. And I wonder why the path appear as the old DOS 8.3 filenames in PgcEdit. I've never seen that before. Maybe there is something to check there, but anyway, if the problem is there, the preview should fail each time. I'm puzzled.

For now, try to create a C:\TEMP directory, verify that you can write in it, modify the %temp% environment variable to point to that folder, reboot and retry PgcEdit.

J-Wo

3rd November 2006, 12:53

Good news! Changing the temp directory to C:\TEMP seems to have solved the problem. The long pathname is what Windows XP sets by default, but I'm not sure why the path appears as old DOS 8.3 in PgcEdit. Thanks for the tip r0lZ!

r0lZ

3rd November 2006, 15:42

Great. I doesn't understand neither, but if it works, it's fine. Thanks for the confirmation.

arnie.d

8th November 2006, 16:31

I created a dual layer dvd with dvd-lab. It's just below 8GB. When I want to burn it with Nero there's more than 200 mb of free space left. But when I want to make an ISO with PgcEdit it says it's 144% full (for a dvd9) so I can't create an ISO. But I'm sure the files aren't to big. Is there a way I can solve this problem?

r0lZ

8th November 2006, 16:58

PgcEdit burns everything that is in the DVD folder, including the DVD-ROM files.
Verify that there is nothing in the parent folder of VIDEO_TS.

arnie.d

8th November 2006, 20:10

OK that worked! Thanks for the help.

kumi

1st December 2006, 11:27

r0lZ, is there anywhere in PgcEdit where VOB PUOs can be viewed/set, a la Pgc Editor PUO window? The only related function I can find is the plugin's Clear All VOB PUOs.

zacoz

1st December 2006, 13:07

PGCEdit 8.0beta1 (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=908738#post908738)
E. Save DVD: When there are modified buttons or BOVs, the confirmation dialog is no longer displayed. The buttons or BOVs are saved anyway.
Am I misunderstanding, or should this not be appearing when I'm doing a "Kill PGC Playback" for the first time on a particular VOB?

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/9653/pgceditbackupvobhd3.jpg

r0lZ

1st December 2006, 13:30

Kumi, no, currently, you cannot edit the VOB PUOs, only clear them. What do you want to do? Change the PUOs for specific cells? Or filter them?

Zacoz, that dialog ask if you want to backup the VOB before applying the changes. It is not displayed if that VOB file exists already in the backup folder.
I have only removed the dialog appearing after the Save IFOs operation and before any VOB backup confirmation. That dialog ask if you want to save the menu buttons as well. Now, the buttons are always saved.

zacoz

1st December 2006, 15:18

r0lZ

1st December 2006, 15:24

OK, I'll have a look. Thanks.

bigotti5

1st December 2006, 19:00

Small note to number of streams.

If a Menu VOB is present the number of subpictures streams has to be 1 (Byte 155 in VMGM_MAT resp VTSM_MAT).
No need for the stream in the VOB itself, but in the IFO.

r0lZ

1st December 2006, 22:25

OK, I'll do that. But should I also verify if the stream is declared in the non-dummy PGCs?
And what about the audio stream? Same rule?

kumi

1st December 2006, 22:35

currently, you cannot edit the VOB PUOs, only clear them. What do you want to do? Change the PUOs for specific cells? Or filter them?

I was thinking of asking you to add filtering for VOB PUOs. But I just remembered that VOBU and IFO PUOs are OR'd together. So for all practical purposes, clearing VOB PUOs and filtering the IFO ones works perfectly well. Consider it a very low-priority request then :p

r0lZ

1st December 2006, 22:53

I would like to add an option to move the VOB PUOs to the IFOs before clearing them. This way, you will be sure that none are lost. But as it is possible to change the PUOs at each cell (and even perhaps inside a cell although I'm not sure) I cannot do that easily in all cases. Anyway, it's in my low-priority todo list.

There is also a problem with the GoUp PUO, as it is illegal in the IFOs. (I'm still wondering why! Probably yet another crazy limitation in the DVD specs.)

Maybe one day I'll add also a full featured PUO editor for each VOB cell of a domain...

bigotti5

2nd December 2006, 04:44

And what about the audio stream? Same rule?

No

But as it is possible to change the PUOs at each cell (and even perhaps inside a cell although I'm not sure)

Yes - PUOs are placed at VOBU level

Video Dude

5th December 2006, 20:57

Is there anyway to have a corresponding chapter entry automatically removed from the Chapter (PTT) Table when you remove a cell? I usually like to clean up the dvd by removing the cells after blanking with VobBlanker.

For example:

I have a dvd with:
VTST 6, 1
VTST 6, 2
.
.
.
VTST 6, 60.

Each one has 20 cells and 20 chapters.

It's easy to delete the range of cells 60 times. But it is time consuming (and painful) to press the chapter delete button 1,140 times (19 x 60).

For so many cells, I usually don't bother to remove them. But I was wondering if there is anyway to automatically edit the chapter table.

r0lZ

5th December 2006, 23:28

No, sorry. The chapter table is a totally different table than the cell table, and therefore it is not easy to guess what to do without user intervention.

r0lZ

5th December 2006, 23:53

r0lZ, encountered a problem in v8.0 beta1. Working on Ultraviolet R4 ripped using vanilla DVD-Decrypter.

Opened it in PgcEdit, (with option to Automatically launch "Fix number of streams in VMGM/VTSI_MAT" checked).
No message about having to fix streams is displayed.
If I right click on any of a number of the VTSM's and select "Domain Stream Attributes" a message box "Verify number of streams (in current domain)" is displayed and I am prompted to "fix the subpic streams in VTSI_MAT to 0?"
I get similar if I run "DVD --> Fix number of streams in VMGM/VTSI_MAT" (but obviously for all the whole DVD not just the one VTS).
Now the real interesting bit is that if I answer "Yes" to the prompt, then all of the PGC's in the VTST containing that menu are changed from "PAL (720x576) MPEG-2 (VBR)" to "NTSC (720x480) MPEG-1 (VBR)" in Domain Stream Attributes.
This change is more than a simple display issue as saving the DVD then opening it in VobBlanker, confirms the NTSC attributes - and consequently causes VB to crash if you try to select/preview them.
I rolled back to 7.4 and found that points 1 to 4 occurs in it also, but the change of stream attributes in point 5 does not occur.

Let me know if you need anything more from me in the way of log/data dumps from PgcEdit etc.
I forgot to explain that points 1-4 are normal. When I have added the function to check the domain streams attributes, someone asked to add an option to launch it automatically at startup. But since the DVD must be saved and reloaded after some operations, it was a pain. Therefore, the check is made only the first time you load the DVD. If you reload it (using the Reopen DVD function or any function that needs to reload it), the check is not made again. If you want to force it, call it explicitly, or use the Open DVD menu, and accept the default folder.

The bug you reported in points 5-7 is fixed in v8.0 beta 2. (I was using the same method to clear the unused streams for the title and the menu domains, but as they are only one subpic and one audio streams in the menu domain, the following bytes were overwritten! :scared:) Thanks for your important bug report!

blutach

6th December 2006, 00:31

No, sorry. The chapter table is a totally different table than the cell table, and therefore it is not easy to guess what to do without user intervention.Many times, you are simply removing one cell - eg the last one. Might not PgcEdit "guess" that you want to delete the last chapter (if the cell is also a chapter) and offer to amend the chapter table too by deleting the last chapter? I know this doesn't cover all situations, but it is a common one.

Regards

Video Dude

6th December 2006, 03:07

No, sorry. The chapter table is a totally different table than the cell table, and therefore it is not easy to guess what to do without user intervention.
No problem r0lZ. I just downloaded version 8 beta and deleted all the blanked PGC. It's an even better solution.

:thanks:

r0lZ

6th December 2006, 08:49

:)

Blu, the problem is with non-sequential PGCs, where the following chapters can be in another PGC. But I agree that I could test this situation. Will have a look...

President

6th December 2006, 09:22

The bug you reported in points 5-7 is fixed in v8.0 beta 2. (I was using the same method to clear the unused streams for the title and the menu domains, but as they are only one subpic and one audio streams in the menu domain, the following bytes were overwritten! :scared:) Thanks for your important bug report!
Thank's, r0lZ! Zacos forwarded me:). In addition. When I creating any new domain in PGCEdit (VTSM, FP_PGC, VMGM), it creates always as NTSC. I have a PAL DVD without FP_PGC. PGCEdit proposed me to create it. And created with 30 fps. Some standalone players may freeze on this standard mismatch. I have a report from one man, that his Sony freezes on multistandard DVDs. "Disk non-playable". Why? Is it normal? What spec talking about multistandard disks?

President

6th December 2006, 09:51

I want a beta2http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/3282/crymo0.gif

r0lZ

6th December 2006, 09:56

It is indeed illegal to mix PAL and NTSC in the same DVD, although some players support that. My old Sony has no problem playing such DVDs.

BTW, what to do with the domain streams attributes of a non-existing menu is still unclear. The Philips Verifier complains if the menu is not present and the stream attributes are not completely filled with zeroes, but it complains also with a PAL DVD when the non-existing menu is declared as NTSC. Since it is necessary to set a non-zero value in domain streams attributes to declare it as PAL, the verifier complains always when a menu is not present in a PAL DVD!

IIRC, when PgcEdit creates a new domain, it uses the standard found in the title domain of the first VTS, or the VMGM. But maybe there is a bug here.
BTW, do you have that problem with all DVDs, or only with the DVDs without a FP-PGC?
Can you send me the IFOs of a DVD without FP-PGC?

r0lZ

6th December 2006, 09:57

I want a beta2http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/3282/crymo0.gif

See here (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=119030)!

President

6th December 2006, 10:21

See here (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=119030)!
Thank's again http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/1836/drinksan5.gif

President

6th December 2006, 12:06

It is indeed illegal to mix PAL and NTSC in the same DVD, although some players support that. My old Sony has no problem playing such DVDs.
Thank's for your clarification and confirmation. I was think same but was not sure of it.
...streams attributes to declare it as PAL, the verifier complains always when a menu is not present in a PAL DVD!
Conclusion: a PAL DVD must have all menu domains in all VTSs. BTW, what is a Philips Verifier? Is it a program or hardware?
IIRC, when PgcEdit creates a new domain, it uses the standard found in the title domain of the first VTS, or the VMGM. But maybe there is a bug here.
BTW, do you have that problem with all DVDs, or only with the DVDs without a FP-PGC?
Yes, I noted it "works" on some my DVDs without a menu domains. But, I must check it again. Maybe it's my bad. Now, I know how a PGCEdit works, and maybe it was a multistandard DVDs or something else. I must check it first by myself. If I find a bug suspicion, I'll send an IFO to you.
Can you send me the IFOs of a DVD without FP-PGC?
Sorry, no. I have no that DVD now. But I'll try to find it again. It was only one of all of DVDs which I worked earlier.

r0lZ

6th December 2006, 13:00

The Philips verifier (http://www.licensing.philips.com/services/lover/documents1048.html) is obviously wrong, but nobody knows exactly when! Anyway, it is legal to have VTSs without menus.

There was indeed some problems with the frame rate of the dummy PGC after using New Menu or the automatic creation of the FP-PGC. It's fixed now. However, what you said is strange, as the PAL frame rate was forced on NTSC DVDs, but seems your problem was the opposite. :confused:

I don't need the IFOs. It was easy to simulate a DVD without FP-PGC with IfoEdit.

PgcEdit v8.0 beta 3 (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=119030) is almost ready. Please use it if you want to test that problem again.

zacoz

6th December 2006, 13:12

BTW, what is a Philips Verifier? Is it a program or hardware?
I believe r0lZ is referring to http://www.licensing.philips.com/services/lover/documents1048.html - seems to be running at US$500 atm.

bigotti5

6th December 2006, 13:18

@President

And created with 30 fps

No domain with 30 fps is created. If you create a FP only a PGC in VMGM is created (FP is always a dummy PGC). If there is no video-, audio content in VMGM (no VIDEO_TS.VOB exists) then Byte 0x100 (Video attributes of VMGM_VOBS) in VMGM_MAT has to be 0 by the spec (even on PAL, Philips Verifier is incorrect in complaining about this).

r0lZ

6th December 2006, 13:21

Huh, just a bit too late! I've just released beta 3 with a fix for this problem.
So, I should replace the null timing in 25 or 30 FPS in all dummies by a null timing without fps specification? Right? Seems strange, as I have never seen that in a commercial DVD.

President

6th December 2006, 13:46

Thank's, guys!

Roland, you are working so fast, that I don't have a time to downloading a new versions:D.

bigotti5

6th December 2006, 13:51

So, I should replace the null timing in 25 or 30 FPS in all dummies by a null timing without fps specification?

A VIDEO_TS.IFO is always present and if there is no VIDEO_TS.VOB (VTS_0x_0.VOB) then Byte 0x100 in VMGM_MAT (VTSI_MAT) has to be 0.
What do you mean with "null timing ....."?

You wont find it in commercial DVDs.
There is always video-, audio content in all menu domains (even if they are unreferenced as in Maestro DVDs) to ensure segregation of IFO and BUP

Edit:
Just tested beta3
Now its incorrect, created a DVD from scratch (PAL) without content in VMGM and byte 0x100 shows 20480
This entry is only valid if a VOB with this attributes is present

r0lZ

6th December 2006, 14:24

Sorry, I mean null PGC duration. A dummy PGC has a duration of 0:00:00.00, but at a specific PAL or NTSC frame rate. Right?

My cheap XiRON recorder creates a VMGM menu without any VOB but with PAL (or NTSC, I suppose) video attributes. But I have to admit that it is really not a good example, as it's probably the worst authoring ever!

I have never understood why there are menu VOBs in the commercial DVDs, as they don't need that to segregate the IFOs and BUPs, except in the VMGM. The title VOBs are sufficient. Anyway, they are some DVDs without VTS_XX_0.VOB, but I think I have only seen that in ARccOS or RipGuard protected VTS.

I have to verify with PgcEfit v7 if everything is normal when the user creates the first cell in a menu domain, as I'm not sure it updates correctly the video attributes. If it's the case, I'll revert to that. It's annoying, though, as the frame rate of the new PGCs created by PgcEdit are probably determined by the video streams attributes of the current domain. It might create dummies with the wrong frame rate in a PAL DVD.

Anyway, thanks for the precision!

bigotti5

6th December 2006, 17:30

Sorry, I mean null PGC duration. A dummy PGC has a duration of 0:00:00.00, but at a specific PAL or NTSC frame rate. Right?

Aaah - now I know what you are talking about (my lousy english)
Byte 0x04 in PGC description

For the first play (cant have content) in PAL is always 64 (0x40) and for NTSC 192 (0xC0)

To the video attrinbutes
0 in byte 0x100 does not indicate MPEG1, NTSC, 4:3, PS, Letterboxed etc, it indicates "no VOB present"

Just look at the represented values
You will never get 0 with a VOB present, because 4:3 and PS/Letterbox not possible together, 720x480 and MPEG 1 not possible together and so on

r0lZ

6th December 2006, 18:07

Yes, I understand that.

My problem is that I have to know for sure the video standard of any DVD (including a DVD created with PgcEdit's New DVD and a not-so-legal multistandard DVD) and that's not always easy.

But I suppose that I can retrieve it from the frame rate of the FP-PGC, or if it doesn't exists, from the domain attributes of VTST 1.

And I have to modify the domain stream attributes when it is still zero and a cell is created.

I must also zero the DSA when a VOB file is totally removed.

Many things to change... :(

bigotti5

6th December 2006, 20:45

BTW setting a cell still time (or VOBU still) requires to set the joint to non-seamless

r0lZ

6th December 2006, 21:21

The joint of the next cell, I suppose.

But what do you mean with this remark. That's not related at all to the video standard. Or am I wrong?

bigotti5

6th December 2006, 22:40

No not related to the video standard
If you insert a cell command Pgcedit gives you a hint to change the seamy flag but in case of set still time no hint is given.

r0lZ

7th December 2006, 08:16

Ah, OK. I'll add that!

jinjin_jp

15th December 2006, 16:46

Ambermoon

16th December 2006, 02:59

Hi!

Since recently I get the above application error. I open a DVD, go to "Burn DVD/Create ISO", PGCEdit creates a backup and then comes up with this error message. In the log file is written:

user "log" doesn't exist
user "log" doesn't exist
while executing
"file type $filename"
(procedure "dvd_rom_size" line 14)
invoked from within
"dvd_rom_size $in"
(procedure "::burn::burn" line 84)
invoked from within
"::burn::burn"
(menu invoke)

The only things I have done were the installation of an AMD X2 and of MS patches. This error appears with v7.4 as well as with v8 beta 7. When using "Burn DVD/Create ISO" a second time the error message doesn't appear but nothing else happens, either.
As PGCEdit worked for quite some time before I'd like to know what could cause this error and how to get rid of it. Looking through this thread I didn't find any clue (or just overlooked it).
Btw., I have admin rights, if this information is needed.

Kind regards,
Ambermoon

r0lZ

16th December 2006, 12:40

Hi, Ambermoon, and welcome to the forum!

Sorry, I don't understand the cause of the problem.
The error occurs when the code "file type $filename" is executed. That code checks if a specific entry in a directory is a file or a directory. I need to know that to compute the number of blocks that entry will use in the compilation. $filename contains the name and path of one of your DVD files.
The error message 'user "log" doesn't exist' is strange, as there is no need to test the owner of the file to know if it's a file or a directory. That problem could therefore be a bug in Tcl/Tk, or, more certainly, in Windows. Anyway, that's a system error message, as no such error message is coded in PgcEdit.

Do you have some DVD-ROM files in the compilation? (They are the files in the folder containing the VIDEO_TS folder.)

How did you create the original DVD-Video files? (The IFO/BUP/VOB files.) With DVD Decrypter? Were you logged as the same user when you have ripped the DVD?

Are you using Windows XP, and NTFS partitions?

You can perhaps try to copy (not move!) the whole folder to another location (preferably to another disc or partition) and try again.

BTW, as ImgBurn v2 can burn the DVD exactly with the same options than PgcEdit, you should use it. The burn function of PgcEdit is now somewhat obsolete.

r0lZ

16th December 2006, 13:04

I comapared various IFO when 0KB VOB.
The result was cofused me. Which is correst ?

*difference is only the value of "Start of VTSM_VOBS"(VTSI_MAT). I examined by IfoEdit and stirs(compare data).
And I understand its value means the size of IFO file (7 sectors in this case).That's almost right. More precisely, that value is the offset, relative to the start of the IFO, to the start of the menu VOB file. It should be equal to the size of the IFO if the VOB file is contiguous to the IFO in the ISO/final DVD. That value must be 0 if no menu VOB file is present.

The result was,
(1)original :0
(2) (1) =>IfoEdit(GetVTS) :7
(3) (1) =>manually remove 0KB VOB =>IfoEdit(GetVTS) :0
(4) (1) =>PgcEdit(open (no in "Delete the empty files,---) and save) :7
(5) (4) =>IfoEdit(GetVTS) :7
(6)PgcEdit(open (yes in "Delete the empty files,---) and save) :0
(7) (6) =>IfoEdit(GetVTS) :0
(8) (1) =>manually remove 0KB VOB =>PgcEdit(open and save) :0
(9) (8) =>IfoEdit(GetVTS) :0
(10) (1) =>DVDFab(CorrectVTSsectors) :0
(11) (1) =>manually remove 0KB VOB =>DVDFab(CorrectVTSsectors) :0Seems everything is normal here. If you remove the VOB file, the value must be 0. If it is present, the value cannot be 0. I am still not sure of that value when the VOB file is present but is empty (0 bytes.) IMO, it should be non-zero.

When deleted 0KB VOB,
the value of "Start of VTSM_VOBS"(VTSI_MAT) is,
0 : original, PgcEdit, IfoEdit, DVDFab (all)

But when remaining 0KB VOB,
the value of "Start of VTSM_VOBS"(VTSI_MAT) is,
0 : original, DVDFab
7 : PgcEdit, IfoEdit

What the value should be ? "7" is correct ?That value MUST be non-zero when a VOB file exists. Therefore, I guess that IfoEdit and PgcEdit are right. But, as I said above, I still don't know if the case of an empty VOB file must be handled differently. IMO, it is better to remove the empty VOB anyway, as it causes many problems, it is totally useless, and it is rejected by some programs (such as Ner0.)

NOTE:
If you delete the VOB file manually, PgcEdit doesn't modify the table automatically. I can't verify everything! Anyway, as you can safely use PgcEdit to work on IFO files only (without the VOBs), I cannot assume that I have to remove the references to a VOB file if it is not present. Therefore, PgcEdit forces Start of VTSM_VOBS to 0 only when it removes the VOB file.
The VTSM_C_ADT and VTSM_VOBU_ADMAP tables (or the VMGM equivalents) are also removed when the VOB file is deleted (and, of course, their start offset in VTSI_MAT/VMGM_MAT are also changed to 0.)

[EDIT:] Could you send me the original IFOs? I would like to have a concrete example on my computer, and although I am sure I have several examples here, I don't remember on which DVD I've seen that. (BTW, seems the empty VOBs were frequent in commercial DVDs in the past, but very less frequent today.)

jinjin_jp

16th December 2006, 15:24

@r0lZ
I send the files. (Sorry I mistook male-title, because reuse old mail and forgot to correct.)

Regards.

Ambermoon

16th December 2006, 16:33

Do you have some DVD-ROM files in the compilation? (They are the files in the folder containing the VIDEO_TS folder.)

How did you create the original DVD-Video files? (The IFO/BUP/VOB files.) With DVD Decrypter? Were you logged as the same user when you have ripped the DVD?

Are you using Windows XP, and NTFS partitions?

You can perhaps try to copy (not move!) the whole folder to another location (preferably to another disc or partition) and try again.

BTW, as ImgBurn v2 can burn the DVD exactly with the same options than PgcEdit, you should use it. The burn function of PgcEdit is now somewhat obsolete.

It's not a ripped DVD but a DVD without any DVD-ROM files created with DVDLab Pro 2.21 and needs a DVD DL because of its size. And as the source is not analogue but a TS file (and therefore already compressed) I don't want to shrink to avoid further quality loss. PGCEdit do I use here to set the layer break as people suggest to use the combination PGCEdit/Imgburn instead of Nero as Nero has its flaws here (as I had to experience, too). And it worked well until that error occured out of nowhere. I am always logged as the same user.

I use Windows XP SP2 with the latest patches, the partiton where the files are stored on is NTFS.

I just copied them to another partition and then ran PGCEdit - without any success, the same error message appeared.

I don't know Imgburn that good but doesn't it need an image file first before it can burn? If so I'm stuck here as I need PGCEdit with correct layer break to create this image file but can't do so because of this errror.

So, if you have any idea to solve the problem I'd be very thankful.

zacoz

16th December 2006, 17:26

ImgBurn now has a build function so you don't have to build the ISO first with another program. It will also correctly place the layer break for you. Get the latest version if you don't have it already, and check out the guides here (http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?showforum=4)

r0lZ

16th December 2006, 18:25

FlyDrag

16th December 2006, 19:25

r0lZ Thank you for such usefull tool. But, after some work with it I found some thing that isn't a bug, but seems to be strange for me.

When you create backup and then save files, the procedure seems to be the following:

1. Open original file
2. Create new backup file
3. Copy all data from original file to backup file
4. Modify original file.

This isn't good because you change the original inode, so ALL files hard-linked to this inode are modified. I'm pretty sure that the best way to create backup is:

1. Move original file to backup directory
2. Create new file in the VIDEO_TS directory
3. Modify the new file.

With this you'll keep the original inode and other hard-linked copies of the same file would be not affected, but you can still work with new files.

r0lZ

16th December 2006, 19:42

Well, I haven't thought at this problem, as I work usually under Windows, were hard links are not frequent (it's an euphemism!)

But I wonder why you need to create hard links to your files, and furthermore, why the method you propose should be better. If you modify your DVD, it's for a good reason, so, keeping the unmodified ifos via your links doesn't make sense. I'm sure that the inode of, say, a test file is not modified when you edit it. Right?
Also, although your method can probably be used for the backups, it is not suitable when the files are moved in the original VIDEO_TS folder, for example when you remap the titlesets, without creating a backup first.

Anyway, I can probably change that, but I need to know why you need those links. Sounds so strange!

jinjin_jp

17th December 2006, 16:33

I was more confused.
I processed the DVD which has 0KB Menu-VOB by DVDShrink.
(1)Full-Disc Mode =>0KB VOB was removed, and the value of "Start of VTSM_VOBS"(VTSI_MAT) changes to the value which is not 0.

But
(2)Re-Author Mode which doesn't have 0KB Menu-VOB =>the value of "Start of VTSM_VOBS"(VTSI_MAT) is 0.

Both (1) and (2) don't have 0KB Menu-VOB, but each value of "Start of VTSM_VOBS"(VTSI_MAT) is different.

Regards.

r0lZ

17th December 2006, 16:39

jinjin_jp

17th December 2006, 23:47

@r0lZ
Thanks for the reply.
It is reasonable if bug.

Regards.

jinjin_jp

18th December 2006, 23:14

You have probably found an unknown bug in Shrink!
It seems to be known bug in here
http://forum.digital-digest.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=39386

Regatds.

r0lZ

19th December 2006, 09:01

Yep, you're right once again, jinjin_jp! I haven't noticed the problem, as I clean the DVDs with PgcEdit before using Shrink. Anyway, thanks for your finding.

jinjin_jp

22nd December 2006, 14:38

It should rather be posted burning forum?
But it is concerned above post.

I tryed NeroExpress-Burning in every condition of 0KB VOB and IFO (sector information), and noticed that error message is different each other. ("It failed in the relocation of the DVD-Video file" is commom message.)

(1)0kB VOB exist, "Start of VTSM_VOBS" is size of IFO file ;
=>"The size of the file is not integral multiples of size (2KB) of a logical block. "

(2)0kB VOB exist, "Start of VTSM_VOBS" is 0 ;
=>"File "VTS_01_0.VOB" is not referred, and not prepared."

(3)no 0kB VOB, "Start of VTSM_VOBS" is size of IFO file ;
=>"Necessary file "VTS_01_0.VOB" is not prepared."

(4)no 0kB VOB, "Start of VTSM_VOBS" is 0 ;
=>No Problem.

Regards.

r0lZ

22nd December 2006, 15:02

It's again a good indication that those empty VOB files should really be avoided, as they are causing many problems. However, obviously, Nero is wrong once again (as 0Kb is a multiple of 2KB.)

blutach

22nd December 2006, 15:11

IIRC, mpucoder said that if there were no menu files, Start of VTSM_VBS must be 0, as should the offsets for start of VTSM_C_ADT and VTSM_VOBU_ADMAP

Regards

r0lZ

22nd December 2006, 15:41

Right, but we are still not sure if those pointers must be 0 when an empty VOB file exists. Obviously, Ner0 is never able to deal with them.

blutach

22nd December 2006, 15:45

And why doesn't that surprise me? :D

Bon nuit de Downunder!

Regards

Ambermoon

23rd December 2006, 10:46

Yes, Ambermoon, go on and try ImgBurn v2 in build mode. It is easier to use than PgcEdit, and has exactly the same features (32K gaps, intelligent and correct layer break placement, optional inclusion of DVD-ROM files, etc...) And, as zacoz said, you don't need to create an ISO first!

However, ImgBurn v2.0 still doesn't have a preview when selecting the layer break cell, but the next version will have it. In the meantime, if you need it, you can use the PgcEdit preview in the PGC Editor to locate your preferred layer break cell.

Well, I'll check that.
Referring to the error I get. It comes up, as it seems, when there are more files next to the VIDEO_TS directory, they do not have to be in the VIDEO_TS directory itself (did you mean this: the same parent directory for DVD-ROM files and the VIDEO_TS directory? Then I misinterpreted your answer). As soon as the parent directory of the VIDEO_TS directory contains no other files it works (at least with a second directory for testing purpose).

But that still doesn't explain the "user 'log' doesn't exist" message.

r0lZ

23rd December 2006, 12:13

Yes, when I said "They are the files in the folder containing the VIDEO_TS folder", I was referring to the parent of VIDEO_TS. Everything enclosed in that folder is burned (except the backup files and folders.)

masscamp24

23rd December 2006, 22:28

How can I remove layerbreak with v8 beta x. I use to do same through PGC Editor in v7.4 now with v8 there is only seamless branch.

blutach

24th December 2006, 02:00

The Seamless joint cell is the opposite of the old Layer Break designation. Simply tick the seamless cell and you've removed it.

Regards

masscamp24

24th December 2006, 06:14

@blutach

Hey Blu thanks it worked - Great programme- Merry Christmas blutach.

BigCondor

25th December 2006, 06:05

A sudden thought came out of my mind.

We can save menus as bmps and we know where the buttons are. But we can't see the pattern of the buttons or the subpicutres. So is there any way to save the subpictures?

r0lZ, can you add this feature to future releases?

Thanks!

blutach

25th December 2006, 06:31

That requires a demux of the VOBs. Do it in PGCDemux.

Regards

r0lZ

25th December 2006, 06:39

I can't do that easily. Maybe it's something to add in DVDSubEdit (as the subpic bitmaps are decoded anyway.)

BigCondor

25th December 2006, 07:46

Hey guys, I think you both have mistaken my demand. I'm not asking for the subtitles of the movies as it belongs to another issue. What I'm asking is the subpicture(as it is called in DVD Maestro) of the menus, i.e. the shapes and colours of the buttons. Atm I don't see any program that can handle this. Usually I grab it from the screen dump from PowerDVD one by one and merge them together.

r0lZ

25th December 2006, 13:48

The buttons highlights are stored in the subpic streams, just like real subtitles. However, there are additional infos stored in the nav packs to show only one highlight at a time, and to assign some parameters (such as the button command) to them. You can edit those parameters with PgcEdit, but you cannot edit the subpics.

BTW, I've verified, and DVDSubEdit has just the function you need. See File -> Save current subpic as .PPM.
Also, note that the button highlights are usually transparent in DVDSubEdit, and you have to change the transparency value to see them in the GUI (but you don't need to do that to save them to PPM.)

BigCondor

25th December 2006, 14:10

Thanks a lot for that information. I'll check it up to see what I can do with it.

Just tried it out and it worked. So editing menus will be much easier with that, merry Christmas!

zacoz

25th December 2006, 21:02

Just came across something interesting when trying to bypass Warning and Distributor cells in Cypher (R4) - a command configuration which by design sends the disc into a never ending loop if you try to kill it with "Kill PGC Playback". Each cell (VTSM1 PGC 7 & 8) has a single button on it which in normal playback is never activated. The cell plays and then the control appears to pass to the post commands and the disc continues on normally. If however you utilise "Kill PGC Playback" you are prompted to select a button - you have no choice but to choose the button which passes control to a different PGC than that in the post commands. This "button" PGC is where the disc goes into a loop.

I've gotten around this by removing the SET button highlight and button command that are subsequently inserted into the pre commands by the "Kill PGC Playback" function, thus ensuring control flows onto the previous post commands which are now at the end of the pre commands.

I've emailed what I hope is the relevant info onto r0lZ to confirm what I've found (I could of course be suffering from too much Christmas cheer). If there's an effective automated way to identify or get around this I'm sure r0lZ will come up with it (the loop issue, not the Christmas cheer).

blutach

25th December 2006, 21:26

No, you are not suffering zacoz. I have seen many DVDs like this, too. It's a design to ensure you watch the warning till the end. I think changing the button to NOP and then Kill playback should work. Of course, Jump to PGC Upon DVD Insert is the most elegant way to skip this mess.

Regards

r0lZ

25th December 2006, 23:13

Well, it should be possible to select the SKIP button of the menu viewer in such cases, but I'm not sure I have implemented it (like in the trace mode.) The SKIP button is only available if there is no infinite cell time at the end of the PGC, because that means that the PGC can be played until it ends without user intervention.

Thanks for the report! I'll have a look...

r0lZ

26th December 2006, 00:58

OK, I have added a "No Button" button :p in the menu viewer when called from the Kill Playback function. This button is similar to the Skip button in trace mode.

That button is disabled if the menu has an infinite still time, but is not disabled for a looping menu (as it's too difficult to check all commands to determine if the menu loops or not.)

Clicking that button instead of the Kill Playback button kills the playback, but does not simulate a menu button. This way, it is possible to kill playback of a menu, and continue the navigation normally with the post commands.

I don't like this solution too much, because it is possible to create an infinite loop if that option is used on a looping menu, but it's the only solution I've found so far.

zacoz

26th December 2006, 07:21

I think changing the button to NOP and then Kill playback should work.I hadn't thought of that.
Of course, Jump to PGC Upon DVD Insert is the most elegant way to skip this mess.Would you believe I still haven't tried that function.
OK, I have added a "No Button" button :p ...<snip>... This way, it is possible to kill playback of a menu, and continue the navigation normally with the post commands.Wow, that was quick. Thanks.
I don't like this solution too much, because it is possible to create an infinite loop if that option is used on a looping menu, but it's the only solution I've found so far.I guess that possibility raises question whether it's better to leave it as is or include 'no button' - what's going to be best for new users - there are a lot of looping menu's out there.

I suppose either way, it reinforces the need to test your finished editing before burning in case of unexpected impacts.

r0lZ

26th December 2006, 08:40

Sure.

Anyway, a newbie will probably use the "Kill Playback" button, and not try the obscure "No Button". Also, I have modified the description of what the function does (displayed in the OK/Cancel dialog) to include a short warning.

laserfan

29th December 2006, 17:41

I routinely use PgcEdit when making backups of my discs, to jump straight to the movie upon insert. Works great, thanks r0lZ!

Is there a way to jump straight to a specific CELL upon insert, e.g. Cell number 2 vs. Cell 1? I have a few music concert discs for which Cell 1 is intro/blather that I'd rather skip.

I know I can blank Cell 1 but I really don't want to do that i.e. I'd like to jump to Cell 2 on insert, but be able to play from the beginning (incl. Cell 1) when selecting the program from the title menu.

Oh, I should add that most times Chapter 2 is the start of the concert--if a "jump to cell" is not possible maybe a "jump to chapter"?

r0lZ

29th December 2006, 19:37

Not easy!

The Jump2PGC function initializes a GPRM in the FP-PGC, and checks it later to know that it's the first time a PGCs is executed. When everything has been bypassed, the function restores the GPRM at its default value (normally 0.)

You might try to remove the instruction that resets the GPRM, and use a compare at the end of the pre-commands of the target PGC. If the GPRM still contains the value set in the FP-PGC, you must then reset it to 0 and jump to cell 2.

Of course, everything is easier if there is still a free GPRM. The only thing you have to do is to check if it is 0, and set it to any other value, then jump to cell 2.

Caution! I haven't verified what I've explained above. I had an hard disc crash :scared:, and I haven't restored everything yet. I have currently no IFOs on my hard disc to test! :mad:

bigotti5

29th December 2006, 21:03

If there are not all menus used in VTS (e.g. Angle menu) create a dummy Angle menu and jump from FP to the dummy Angle menu and use JumpVTS_PTT in its precommands to enter chapter 2

laserfan

29th December 2006, 22:45

I'm glad to know mine wasn't a dumb question, but the replies will take some study for me to figure out. I will try! :scared:

Sorry to hear of your crash r0lZ!!! :(

blutach

30th December 2006, 00:08

@laserfan

If you wanna miss the first intro cell using just Jump To PGC, try this:

1. Navigate to the desired PGC (I guess the main menu).
2. Press the setup/audio button (it really doesn't matter) and while you're there, might as well do your audio setup.
3. Return to the main menu and THEN call the J2PGC function.

Normally, when you enter a main menu for the second time, the DVD is programmed to bypass the junky intros.

Or ....

As you say, you could blank the first cell of the menu/chapter of the movie (if you're jumping to the movie first), but you regard this as sub-optimal.

Or ....

You could find the command that actually does the bypassing of the intro cell and program the DVD to mimic it first time round.

Or ....

You could use MenuShrink (http://jean.laroche.free.fr/MenuShrink/) but keep all menus (except tick the option to bypass intros and outros).

Or ....

If jumping to the movie first, you could blank the first chapter as above, or insert in place of all Break commands and the last pre-command in the title a "Link PTT Chapter 2" and use the scene selection menu to select Chapter 1 when you actually wanted to see that one.

Hope this helps.

@r0lZ - bad news! Sorry to hear that. Hope you get it fixed soon. Bonne annee.

Regards

laserfan

30th December 2006, 16:59

...You could find the command that actually does the bypassing of the intro cell and program the DVD to mimic it first time round.

Or ....

If jumping to the movie first, you could ... insert in place of all Break commands and the last pre-command in the title a "Link PTT Chapter 2" and use the scene selection menu to select Chapter 1 when you actually wanted to see that one.
Thanks for the ideas blutach; these two might be acceptable except I dunno how to do the first. I will see about trying the 2nd, which sounds best to me if I can get it to work.

To clarify, the "intro" I want to bypass is not a separate PGC, it is the first cell of the main program, kind of a retrospective/setup for the live concert footage which commences thereafter in Cell 2 (also Chapter 2).

Anyway I'll try the Link PTT idea! If it doesn't work, I'll just blank the cell and look at the original DVD if I want to see the intro.

laserfan

30th December 2006, 19:49

It *appears* this is easier than we thought: all I've done was go thru the "first play" process, but instead of FPing after selecting the "Play All" button, I simply selected instead the appropriate button in the Chapter menu for Ch2, and the disc starts with Ch2 (slaps self upside the head). Further, I can select the Title menu and "play all" and it starts from the Intro. Maybe I've overlooked something here but it tests good and I'm gonna burn it.

This only works of course because the concert starts with Chapter 2 (as opposed to, say, Cell 2 of Ch1) but maybe my other concerts are done the same way. Going to look now...

Thanks for the inspiration guys...

jinjin_jp

13th January 2007, 03:22

It is reported in Forum in Japan, and I tested it.
(below command is what I made from infprmation, not just same as problematic DVD.)

(a)before processing
********** pre commands:
1 Set gprm(0) =(mov) 0
2 Set gprm(6) =(mov) 0
3 LinkPTT Chapter 2
********** post commands:
1 if ( gprm(6) != gprm(0) ) then { (JumpVTS_TT) Jump to TTN 1 in this VTS }
2 (CallSS) Call the First Play PGC, resume cell 1
********** cell commands:
1 Set gprm(6) =(mov) 1

It is consist of 2 cells. Cell_1 is command No.1.
Normally it directly jump to Cell_2(Cahpter 2), next to FirstPlay.
If it is replayed from cell_1, it returns to cell_1 by changed gprm(6) in cell command.

(b)after processing (Blank out all PGCs in domain, "Kill playback when it's safe")
********** pre commands:
1 Set gprm(0) =(mov) 0
2 Set gprm(6) =(mov) 0
3 Goto line 4
4 NOP
5 Set gprm(6) =(mov) 1
6 NOP
7 if ( gprm(6) != gprm(0) ) then { (JumpVTS_TT) Jump to TTN 1 in this VTS }
8 (CallSS) Call the First Play PGC, resume cell 1
********** post commands:
1 if ( gprm(6) != gprm(0) ) then { (JumpVTS_TT) Jump to TTN 1 in this VTS }
2 (CallSS) Call the First Play PGC, resume cell 1
********** cell commands:
1 Set gprm(6) =(mov) 1

I noticed the difference from what I thought.
I have ever thought post-command is pasted after pre-command.
But It seems to be that pre-command of LinkPTT is removed.
I think it is reasonable because "Kill playback" is processed.

I have ever thought that "Kill playback" (safe) is not done when it has cell-command.
But It seems to be when cell-command is jump comman, but not when set-command,
and cell-command is pasted after precommand, too.

So, the problem is to be replayed endless cyclic.

By the way, VobBlanker doesn't done "Kill playback" when setting (safely).

Regards.