Buggy chapter transitions with PgcEdit Play All scheme

[ajrecs]

Would be interested in any thoughts on this one. I authored a DVD with Studio 12, three page menu, 17 chapters, with a RTM after each chapter. Used the scheme with PgcEdit to add a Play All command to the first menu. Works fine on the computer, works fine on many inexpensive DVD players; but some DVD players, particularly the more expensive ones, start stuttering at the chapter change. Playing each chapter individually is fine, each plays cleanly. Stopping the DVD after chapter break and restartings ([STOP] then [PLAY]) also works fine, until the next chapter break, when it starts to stutter again. Have tried running it through FixVTS; no change. Although I looked at the Play All routine with IFOEdit, not sure if I can begin to implement that one -- looks confusing as all get out. That this runs just fine on about 60% of the STB out there is great, but I hate to have it stutter on the more expensive machines. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[blutach]

Welcome to Doom9.

First, chck your cell flags - are they marked as seamless or non? I guess there are cell commands (Call the Root Menu, Resume Cell X), so if this is so, ensure the cells are marked as non-seamless.

Second, what media are you using? Stuttering is usually media related.

Regards

[ajrecs]

Welcome to Doom9.

First, chck your cell flags - are they marked as seamless or non? I guess there are cell commands (Call the Root Menu, Resume Cell X), so if this is so, ensure the cells are marked as non-seamless.

Second, what media are you using? Stuttering is usually media related.

Regards

I use only TY Premium, so that should not be a problem. BUT, the scheme for the Play All function says to mark the flags as seamless. To be specific, it says to deselect the STC(DCR) discontinuity setting and select Seamless playback. I'll clear the seamless flag and see what happens. Thanks for the tip!

[ajrecs]

YES, YES, YES..... Worked perfectly! So, I guess the only question remaining is why the guide on the PgcEdit site to create the Play All function said to flip the flags the other way. I can wait for the answer, because now my project seems to work on every player in the house. I'm a happy camper! Thanks....

[blutach]

If there are cell commands, a cell can not be seamless. :)

Regards

[r0lZ]

There is a "Play All PGC" function in PgcEdit itself, and normally you don't need the guide. When PgcEdit creates the Play All PGC, it tries to guess the flags automatically, based on the information in the IFOs. Usually, the Seamless Joint flag can be set when two cells are close to each other in the VOB file (when the Last VOBU End of the first cell is equal to the Entry VOBU Sector of the next cell minus 1). Similarly, the STC Discontinuity flag must be set if the VOB ID changes or when there is a gap in the Cell IDs. (Things are much more complicated in multi-story or multi-angle PGCs, but I assume that there are no interleaved cells in the domain.)

But this is theoretical only. Imagine, for example, that you have removed a cell with PgcEdit and FixVTS or cut a part of a cell with VobBlanker. The STCs (System Time Codes) are not contiguous any more, and you will have to set the STC Discontinuity flag. The muxing of the cells is also important, and PgcEdit doesn't analyze it.

As a general rule, you can assume that the Seamless flag can be set if the original DVD has been authored to allow seamless branching between the cells (for example between the chapters of the main movie.) It is usually better to leave it clear when a new joint is created (for example between joined episodes of a DVD without a Play All function in the original DVD.) Anyway, when there is no good reason to force the seamless playback (when the pause is not a problem), it is safer to clear the Seamless flag.

Sorry if the guides are not precise enough. I haven't written them myself! :(

BTW, what is the brand and model of your "expensive standalone player" that doesn't like the seamless joints? All the players I have can play the DVDs with wrong flags without problem, including my very expensive Sony DVP-S725-D, and I would like to buy a really picky player!

[ajrecs]

Thanks for the information. May I ask, where, pray tell, is the "Play All" function in PgcEdit? I have looked, where I could look at least, and did not see it. That is why I used the technique in the guide.

The players that choked on the first version of the DVD were a Sony SLV D350P DVD/VCR combo, and a Panasonic DMR ES46V DVD/VCR Recorder. Another Sony DVD/VCR recorder, RDR VX511, had no problem playing the DVD.

Thank you, thank you, for a wonderful tool that lets a hamhanded novice like me accomplish what my base software cannot (though it should!)

[blutach]

Get the Play All plugin from the PgcEdit site :)

Here's the direct download link anyway - http://download.videohelp.com/r0lZ/pgcedit/plugins/playall_plugin_v13.zip

Use it from the Plugins menu.

Regards

[r0lZ]

The Play All plugin is needed only if you want to recreate a totally new title by analyzing the cells in the VOB file.

If all cells that are needed are already referenced in the IFOs, PgcEdit does not have to analyze the VOBs, as it can reuse the information of the other PGCs to build the Play All Title. (BTW, this method is better than the method used by the plugin, as PgcEdit can look at the cell type flags in the existing PGCs to set them correctly in the new Play All PGC.) In this case, the plugin is not needed.

The quick "IFO only" method can be called from the menu "Title -> New 'Play All' Title", or from the contextual menu of any PGC pertaining to the VTST domain you want to process.

BTW, both automatic methods create a Play All PGC for a specific VTST domain only. If the episodes are in different VTSs, you will have to manually modify the navigation commands and create some VMGM dummy PGCs to link the episodes together.

[ajrecs]

Thanks ... I clearly have some studying to do!