Using menu of a dvd with the movie itself encoded with xvid?

[SpOmA]

Hi guys, I'm not quite sure which forum should I ask the question on cause there are really too many, but I think this question will have something to do with editing ifo and vob files maybe..

so here it is.. I'm building a HTPC machine to run in my living room..
there gonna be about 250 gb on the machine, but I really want to make it something special, I mean not just view movies and stuff but make every movie like a dvd with Menu, Chapters and stuff like that..
so to the question itself..
let's say I have an original DVD of a certain movie. I also reencoded the dvd into XVID so instead of the 7 gb of the dvd9, it takes now only 700 mb.. that is quite space saver.. anyway, I still want to save the menus of the dvd and make them run with the xvid. I mean when you play "play movie" on the menu, it will play the xvid.. and when you select a chapter it will jump into the asked point in the xvid...
if it is possible I plan to add the subtitles option too and stuff like that..

I believe it's a bit complicated but possible, and I'd love to hear any suggestions.

and by the way, I'm gonna use MCE on the HTPC so it means all mpeg4 movies will run on media player, and dvds on ndvd.

thanks, and if it is not the right place, you may move the post.

thanks again :)

[Surf]

Nice idea! But no can do!

DVD file structures are unique, extensions ending with X.ifo, X.ts, X.bup and X.vob. Yes?

Your Xvid file is put into an X.avi(container).

[r0lZ]

Well, there is a software XviD player called Micro DVD Player (http://www.tiasoft.de/mdvdp/index.htm) to do just that.
The idea is to define a menu with a text file and some still pictures, that will be used to play your XviD/DivX movies. However, you will have to build a new menu from scratch. As far as I know, you cannot convert a DVD menu to a Micro DVD menu.

[EDIT] Hum, I was wrong. I've just read the intro on Micro DVD Player again, and it has a tool to convert the original menu to its internal format. It's probably exactly what you want, but take in mind that such a Micro DVD cannot be played on a standard DVD player, even if it has XviD playback capabilities.

[SpOmA]

Well, there is a software XviD player called Micro DVD Player (http://www.tiasoft.de/mdvdp/index.htm) to do just that.
The idea is to define a menu with a text file and some still pictures, that will be used to play your XviD/DivX movies. However, you will have to build a new menu from scratch. As far as I know, you cannot convert a DVD menu to a Micro DVD menu.

[EDIT] Hum, I was wrong. I've just read the intro on Micro DVD Player again, and it has a tool to convert the original menu to its internal format. It's probably exactly what you want, but take in mind that such a Micro DVD cannot be played on a standard DVD player, even if it has XviD playback capabilities.

Hi r0lZ, thanks for your answer, that sounds very good and probably what I want.
can you tell me more about that tool, or give a site where I can read about it?

and by the way, I dont think you understood my post..
I'm building an HTPC machine, it's not a DVD!
HTPC = HOME THEATER PERSONAL COMPUTER

it's a computer, so it means it can run everything..I will have to set it to run XVIDS by default then.. if it's possible because I'm running on windows media center which means Media Player is the default program to view almost everthing

[Surf]

See? I told ya it's a nice idea! Why don't you go and nag the xvid programmers and have them come up with xvid format? For example, to distinguish a chapter point, @@@ is inserted on frame #212211....:D

[SpOmA]

See? I told ya it's a nice idea! Why don't you go and nag the xvid programmers and have them come up with xvid format? For example, to distinguish a chapter point, @@@ is inserted on frame #212211....:D

heh yes that's what I want, but I believe there is a sulotion..
like r0lz said, microdvd can do that probably so I would try that!

[Drinken]

Doesn't DivX 6 support menus and so on too? Not meant as a recommendation...

[r0lZ]

and by the way, I dont think you understood my post..
I'm building an HTPC machine, it's not a DVD!
HTPC = HOME THEATER PERSONAL COMPUTER

I understood perfectly. I just wanted to let you know that your Micro DVD will not play everywhere. You are married with your HTPC and the Micro DVD Player for the rest of your life! ;)

BTW, the link to the Micro DVD Player homepage in in my previous post.

[Mtz]

If you'll make a DMF (divx media format) with DivXMediaBuilder (search on forum for it) you'll have a movie like a DVD (menu, audio, subtitles). The final .divx movie (only one file which include all things) can be played also in DivX Certified standalone players. From computer the movie can be played with DivX Player.
Here (http://www.sendspace.com/file/ve78js) you'll find a capture made when playing a DMF movie on a standalone player.
But to create a full DMF movie require a lot of work because there is no tool to directly enode the DVD menu into DMF menu.

enjoy,
Mtz

[Brother Darrell]

I seem to vaguely remember something about MKV being able to do something similar. But I may have inhaled to much room deodorizer & my 13 remaining brain cells are in synaptic overload.

[Surf]

Sheesh!
I think this forum already has the solution:

DVD menu in MP4.

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=66583

[Mtz]

At this moment some standalone players can play a movie with menu only if is in .divx format. Other like mkv, mp4 with menu cannot be played.
Also, in many standalones mp4 with 5.1 is not working and have problems when swithching subtitles from the movie. There are more players which can play .divx instead of .mp4.
Make your life simple and think for the future.

enjoy,
Mtz

[r0lZ]

What about XviD? I don't like the aggressive commercial politic of divx!

[Mtz]

XviD can be used also in DMF (DivX Media Format = one .divx file). In the example from the link from my previous second post was encoded in XviD at 2 GB size for a long movie. All standalone divx players can read xvid.
At this moment, the XviD team didn't created a XMF for XviD.

enjoy,
Mtz

[r0lZ]

Thanks for the info!