Authoring HD DVD advanced content

[rage2wrath]

This might seem a little silly, but I need some help creating an HD DVD.

I recently came to be the proud owner of an HD DVD burner with some blank discs. Well I got the crazy idea now to try and convert some Blu Ray's into HD DVD. I am very new to this whole HD DVD creation thing but I am learning the ropes pretty fast.

My issue is that I need some help creating advanced content, mostly menus but if I can do PiP that would be great. Right now I am working the Dark Knight, and I think it would be the easiest if I just copied the menus off the Batman Begins disc, making changes where necessary. It took me awhile but I was able get a copy of Sonic Scenarist Advanced Content Author, which I was under the impression I could use to generate the Advanced content, but it appears to only handled previously created streams. Any advice or tools or even tutorials you could point me towards would be great.

[Guest]

My advice: forget HD-DVD.

[laserfan]

I read somewhere (on AVS forum I think) that HD DVD players do not even play writeable HD-DVD discs!?!? As if they were created solely as a data backup medium.

[rage2wrath]

My advice: forget HD-DVD.

Haha. I don't even have an HD DVD player other than the drive I have for my computer that I got for free. Thanks for the advice but I am really just doing this for fun. I mostly want to see If I can do it. Besides, I got to do something with that burner and those discs.

[Guest]

I got to do something with that burner and those discs. Why is that?

If I give you an old 8-track player, you will feel compelled to use it instead of a modern stereo system?

You can waste your time on silliness, but don't be surprised if busy people here decline to join you in that.

BTW, I speak as the owner of an excellent Toshiba HD-DVD standalone, but I am realistic enough to just write it off as one of those early-adoption decisions that went wrong.

[rik1138]

It took me awhile but I was able get a copy of Sonic Scenarist Advanced Content Author, which I was under the impression I could use to generate the Advanced content, but it appears to only handled previously created streams.

Scenarist HD DVD (Advanced Content) is just a muxing engine. It allows you to put the video and audio together with subtitles, etc, and your code.

To make menus work, you have to program the entire XML/Javascript code yourself, by hand. HD DVD wasn't around long enough for a GUI-based authoring package to exist (for public market, at least). We simply used Notepad++ back when we were doing HD DVD, and coding everything by hand (I wasn't the programmer, so I can't really help you in that regards, but I remember it taking weeks of coding and debugging for our programming guy that really knew this stuff... Just learning it for fun with no specs to work from could take quite some time...)

I have a Toshiba HD DVD hard drive based emulator that is pretty cool (to me, at least). Looks just like the first Toshiba HD DVD players, but has a hard drive in it instead of an optical drive for testing/debugging HD DVDs. It's a cool thing to have, but I'll never try to make it work again... No point, really. Maybe your drive should have the same fate. :cool: Neat collectible...

Rik

[rage2wrath]

Why is that?

If I give you an old 8-track player, you will feel compelled to use it instead of a modern stereo system?

You can waste your time on silliness, but don't be surprised if busy people here decline to join you in that.

BTW, I speak as the owner of an excellent Toshiba HD-DVD standalone, but I am realistic enough to just write it off as one of those early-adoption decisions that went wrong.

Damn dude, what did I say to give you such an attitude? If you dont want to help me, fine (even though you seem to have plenty of time to waste telling me you are NOT going to help me), I don't care but stop leaving these annoying messages.

[Ghitulescu]

I would suggest you the use the discs as a data storage for your clips, you'll watch them anyway on a PC, I understood.

This way you don't have to worry about compatibility, you'll find lots of Toshibas (XBOX USB drives) on ebay anyway should your burner die.

[laserfan]

FWIW I have Ulead MovieFactory 6 Plus with HD pack, and with it you can make HD-DVDs believe-it-or-not. I've made a couple from TV shows just for fun (to DVD+R however). It will make menus and chapter marks, not sure about subtitles.

You ought to be able to find this software somewhere for cheap.

p.s. You will want to read this too The Official Guide to HD DVD Authoring (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=705146). Go crazy! ;)

[Guest]

Damn dude...[rant removed] You asked for "any advice". I gave you some.

[rage2wrath]

You asked for "any advice". I gave you some.

Your first post was "advice", your second post was you whining for no reason.

[Robert N.]

I speak as the owner of an excellent Toshiba HD-DVD standalone, but I am realistic enough to just write it off as one of those early-adoption decisions that went wrong.



Yeah ,me too,but when playing back regular DVD's ,the upconversion is fantastic....

[laserfan]

Your first post was "advice", your second post was you whining for no reason.
Well, I guess you're a "curse the darkness" kinda guy but I will try to help again by pointing-out that MF6+ is being "closed-out" (probably) for $40 bucks, though you do have to buy the HD pack which is another 20...

[rage2wrath]

Well, I guess you're a "curse the darkness" kinda guy but I will try to help again by pointing-out that MF6+ is being "closed-out" (probably) for $40 bucks, though you do have to buy the HD pack which is another 20...

Does MF6 author 15/30gb HD DVDs, or only 3xDVD?

[laserfan]

All of the above! i.e. HD DVD 15G, 30G, and HD DVD on 8.5G and 4.7G (from the program's drop-down selection). Also "HD DVD Standard" and "HD DVD Advanced" whatever that is.

[rik1138]

Standard HD DVD is _exactly_ like regular DVD in functionality. In fact, Scenarist HD DVD Standard is the regular DVD version of Scenarist with the capability of handling 1920x1080 content (it was actually called Scenarist 4.0 and would have eventually handled DVD and HD DVD in one application). Same menu structure with 8-bits, no pop-up, Video Manager, VTS style Title sets, etc... I don't think any commercial HD DVDs were ever released programmed like this (although I authored one that was never released for whatever reason... :rolleyes: )

HD DVD Advanced is what everyone remembers as HD DVD (pop-up menus, XML/Javascript programming, etc).

The nice thing about Standard is that if you can author a DVD, you can author an HD DVD Standard, there is pretty much no learning curve. Of course, the 'bad thing' is none of the cool functionality that the studios were touting to push the new formats, which is probably why it was never used.

Rik

[mikeathome]

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=148907&highlight=homebrew

so far I did ~25 HD DVDs (on DVD9 DL) from BD using this procedure. AND yes it does support 15 and 30 gig media, just do an iso and burn with ImgBurn (or Nero).

mike