Guide: DVD-9 to DVD-5 "Full Copy" Instructions

[TRILIGHT]

NOTE!!! Please bear in mind that this was written assuming you already have some basic knowledge of the software tools listed. If you do not, I STRONGLY urge you to read the guides and do some searches for past posts here on the forum. To explain every little detail of how to use the software would be totally redundant and a waste of time for those who have spent the time to LEARN to do things before asking questions. I don’t mean for this to sound rude but you really should understand the basics. The guides and previous posts are here for a reason. Also, this guide only works for single PGC titles (most DVD's ARE). With this in mind, this guide should still work for most of the titles out there. Please check Jdobbs' post on the second page of this thread.

Software you will need…

DVD Maestro
CCE
DVD2AVI
SubRip
Chapter Xtractor
Pulldown.exe
ScriptConvert.exe
SmartRipper
AVISynth (or VFAPI)
IFOEdit
IFOUpdate

I personally use Nero for burning but others will work as well. A note concerning Nero, version 5.5.8.0 seems to be the magic number. Earlier versions do not handle DVD Video as well and the current 5.5.8.2 will return a “One or more files (mostly VOB-file(s))
do not belong to the corresponding IFOfile” when attempting to burn. This is currently being looked into by myself and others. For now, just stick with 5.5.8.0 and you’ll be fine.

For the purposes of this example, I am using the DVD “Double Jeopardy”. It works well for this example. You’ll find most DVD’s will work exactly the same way. This tutorial does NOT address complex titles such as seamless branching titles, etc. This is merely to serve as a set reliable method for getting most DVD-9 titles to DVD-5 or as a starting point for more complex titles.


Where do I begin??
------------------

First, you want to have a complete backup of everything on your original disk. Use the “Backup” option of SmartRipper to copy all of the files to your hard disk. With this example, we see that the largest set (VTS_02) is the one that contains the movie. It is approximately 6.44GB in total size. The VTS_03 set is apparently the trailer since it is only 157MB. The VTS_04 set at 885MB contains the “behind the scenes” extra. You can choose to dump these but we are keeping them for this example.


Chapters and Subtitles
----------------------

After you have all of your files on the hard disk, you will want to begin by getting the simple things out of the way first. These are chapters and subtitles. Use Chapter Xtractor to load up the VTS_02 set. Make sure the FPS rate is 29970 (It should default to this anyway). Click the “Format” tab. Under “Presets” at the bottom, select “DVDMaestro” You should get something like the following:

$Spruce_IFrame_List

00:00:00:00
00:06:31:06
00:13:25:02
00:20:49:26
00:27:35:01
00:32:29:02
00:40:22:11
00:46:12:00
00:52:36:10
00:58:42:26
01:06:15:21
01:15:18:21
01:21:12:16
01:29:03:16
01:36:16:02
01:40:26:06

Click the “Save Data” button at the bottom and save the file as a DVD Maestro *.CHP file.

Next, you’ll want the subtitles. There are many different ways to do this and many are just as valid as another. I’m going to share with you the way I do them as I have found it to be the most reliable with picking up special characters, etc.

Open SubRip and click on “File...Open VOB’s”. Make sure under the “Action” section, you have selected “Save SubPictures as BMP” and there is a checkmark on “+ TC & Res.”. Make sure the “Last Timecode” is all 0’s and there is no checkmark on “Enable this box if time...” Click the “Open IFO” button and select an IFO from your backed up files. It will then list all VOB’s in that directory in the right-hand window. Place a checkmark on all VOB’s from the movie. Begin with VTS_02_1.VOB in this example. When you’re ready, click the “Start” button. You will get a window asking where to save the files. There will be LOTS of them so don’t go saving them to your desktop or something! I always create a “subs” directory and dump them in there. Choose any filename you like.

The next window will pop up when the first subtitle is detected. You will want to select the “Cropping” tab. Place a checkmark on “Allow BMP cropping”. Select 720 x 480 for minimum picture width and height, respectively. Width must be a multiple of 8 and height must be a multiple of 2. Horizontal alignment should be Center and Vertical alignment should be Bottom. Click the “Colors” tab and make sure you have 0, 3, 2, 1 on the left and 0, 1, 2, 3 on the right (from top to bottom on each). Select “4bits” and “Free” for the Preset. Under the “Positioning” tab, make sure you have X and Y on “Keep Original Position”. Click “OK” when you’re ready to go!

Once the subtitles have been ripped, you will be presented with a new window containing the subtitle info. For the Output Format, select the “Sonic DVD Creator (*.txt)” tab and select “NTSC 30fps” I’ve yet to see the “drop frame” selection make any difference. Just leave it unchecked. Click the “Convert to this format” button. Next, click “File…Save As” and save the Sonic DVD Creator text file into the same directory you just ripped the subs to.

Next, you will want to convert this text file to a format that DVD Maestro can use. This is where ScriptConvert.exe comes in. Run this tool and select the TXT file you just created as the source. Select “SON Maestro” at the bottom and create a “SON DVD Maestro (*.son)” file as the target filename. Click the “Convert” button and it should tell you the number of rows finished.

Next, you will want to edit this SON file before importing into DVD Maestro. You will notice two lines in the file listed as such:

Contrast (0 0 9 15)
Color (0 0 0 2)

These numbers control the contrast and color settings of the BMP files as they are imported into Maestro. I use the settings above. You can use other colors and contrast settings if you like. My settings will provide you with white letters with a dark gray-black outline. I’ve found it works perfectly but some people prefer other colors. Now on with the show!

Damn! All that and we’re still not authoring??
-----------------------------------------------

Ok, now you need to use CCE to decrease the size of the main movie so you can fit it on the disc. I’m not going to give detailed use of CCE because there is info all over the place for it here on the site. You can frameserve using Avisynth or VFAPI. Did you remember to create your d2v project file using DVD2AVI? Did you remember to extract your AC3 audio file and use the appropriate DVD2AVI settings? I told you that you needed to understand the basics first! Thought you could skip it all, huh? hehe ;) Anyway, if you’re lost, don’t worry. Read up on using the tools mentioned in this section. There is TONS of info on them here.

When using CCE, I personally use the “Robshot” method. It can be found in the guides here and is listed as “Getting the best out of CCE”. For this example, I found the best setting was a minimum bitrate of 1000, an average of 3500, and a max of 9000. There were one or two small gray areas in the “car goes off the ferry into the water” sequence which never changed, even at the max bitrate. CCE probably just interprets this as a very difficult scene to encode. I’ve found that even if CCE is showing all green, having a bitrate as low as <3000 average generally does not produce great results. The choice is yours.

In this example, we want our video filesize to be around 3GB. The reason for this is that the total filesize of our menus, extras, and extracted AC3 audio is around 1.2GB or so. You want to make sure you stay below 4.38GB. Keeping my video filesize around 3GB as reported by CCE, resulted in my total project size being just over 4GB.


Almost there!
-------------

Next, you will need to perform a “pulldown” on the resulting video file. I found it easiest just to drop the “pulldown.exe” file into my “Windows” directory since there is already a system path to it. This way, you can access the command from any directory prompt. You will need to create two files. I will explain later why. First, use the following command line:

Pulldown project.mpv output.m2v –prog_frames p

then use this one…

Pulldown project.mpv output-drop.m2v –prog_frames p –drop_frame true

You will now have a “output.m2v” file and a “output-drop.m2v” file that can be imported into Maestro.


Finally! Authoring!
--------------------

This is really just an intermediate step. We’re not worried about creating a menu, etc. because we just want to reincorporate our project into the original file structure. Change the default “4:3” setting in Maestro to “16:9 PS/LB”. Import all of your media assets into Maestro. Place the “output.m2v” video file on the timeline and your audio file. Next, right-click in the chapter section of the timeline and import your *.CHP chapter list you made earlier.

Once the chapters have been imported, REMOVE the video from the timeline and replace it with the “output-drop.m2v” file. This will allow for proper subtitle import. You MUST NOT import the subtitles when the other video file is on the timeline! They will NEVER be in sync if you do, even if you replace the file with the “output-drop.m2v” file later. You MUST place the “output-drop.m2v” file on the timeline BEFORE importing the subtitles. Right-click on the subtitle line and import your *.SON subtitle file you created earlier.

The next part is optional but I always do it anyway. If you go to the properties of your DVD Maestro project, you will see the option to add “Jacket” pictures. I always do this to add a little extra to my project. Just make sure your file is 720x480 and remember that there is going to be some slight horizontal squeezing on the final TV output. You’ll find something that works.


How the hell do I get it all back together??
--------------------------------------------

Now is the time for the real magic! The ability to incorporate your new files back into the original DVD structure so it will be just like the original with menus and all! The first thing we want to do, in this example, is rename our authored VOB files to VTS_02 instead of VTS_01. They are going to replace the VTS_02 files in the original. DO NOT copy over the authored IFO file! DO NOT copy over the VTS_01_0.VOB file! Remove all of the original VOB files (You MUST leave the IFO file and the VTS_02_0.VOB files!) and copy over the new ones in their place.

NOTE! If you do not understand the previous paragraph as it applies to this example, read it over and over and over again! If you do not do this right, it will not turn out properly! For those that get it, please move on. For those that don’t, I urge you to review more material here on the forum and re-read this tutorial!

After you have copied over the files, you will want to use the IFOUpdate utility. Next to IFOEdit, this tool is the best thing since sliced bread! Thanks Jdobbs! Using it is very straightforward. Enter the full path (including filename) to the original movie IFO, the newly authored IFO (that was created my Maestro), and a location and filename for the backup. Click the “update” button and you’re done! This corrects all pointers in the IFO such that your chapters now line up correctly with your scene selection menu!

We’re not QUITE done just yet though. As IFOUpdate will remind you, you need to run “Get VTS Sectors” in IFOEdit. Make certain you do not forget this very important step! After you’ve done this, you will want to do one final thing! Open the original movie IFO and the authored IFO that Maestro created in IFOEdit. Go to “VTS_PGCITI...VTS_PGC_1”. Here, you will find a few things you need to edit. First, you will want to make sure that the “Audio Stream Status” and “Sub-picture Stream Status” is the same as the ones listed in the one Maestro created. Change these numbers so they match. Scroll down further and you will find the following lines:

Color 0 Y Cr CB 16 128 128
&
Color 2 Y Cr CB 235 128 128

Make sure that “Color 0” and “Color 2” match those listed in the IFO that Maestro created. If not, your subtitle colors will not be as you saw them in Maestro! Finally, save the IFO after you have finished editing it.

You can now burn these files to DVD and you will have a DVD-5 that now looks and behaves exactly as the original DVD-9 did!
--------------------------------------------------------

I would like to personally thank Jdobbs for all his work on IFOUpdate and his assistance in the past. I would also like to thank Derrow for his hard work on IFOEdit and everyone else who created utilities that I listed in this guide. Last, but not least, I would like to thank Doom9 for providing us with a wonderful forum where we can share our ideas! Thanks everyone!

[jdobbs]

TRILIGHT,

Great guide! I'm convinced this is the best way to copy DVDs, once you've done a few of these it becomes second nature. It's great to be able to keep all the high-tech menus, special features etc. when backing up a DVD -- and with a little work I think we'll be able to automate even more of it.

Thanks for your hard work!
jdobbs

[TRILIGHT]

Thanks again Jdobbs! I just noticed the new version of IFOUpdate you made! For anyone paying attention, the latest version allows for copying over the color table information so you don't have to do it manually as I mentioned before.

[NoFace319]

HAVE A GREAT KISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS FROM SPAIN!!!!!!!!!!!


Thanks man... I'll have 2 find Maestro hehehehe..... :P

cheeeeeeeeeeeers!!!

[TRILIGHT]

Hope you're female. hehe ;) Anyway, you're welcome! Happy burning! :D

[hortar]

TRILIGHT,

A little question about your method.
Can you need to change any settings to Pal movies ?
You talk about NTSC 30 fps in subtitles rip do I need to changed if the movie is in PAL format where or in any other part off your guide.
Assuming that I need to change in CCE part.

Thanks

[TRILIGHT]

I apologize for not being more specific. The only titles I do are all NTSC so that is why I put that. I'm afraid I don't know the specifics about working with PAL titles. I would imagine it would still work but you would need to specify your PAL framerate when you ran "pulldown". Also, I'm not sure what you would need to do concerning subtitle alignment. Perhaps someone with experience on PAL titles could address your question. Sorry. :(

[NoFace319]

Haaaaappy buuuurning ... 2 uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu


I have 2 do it... hehehehe.... yes! Female :) Female DVD burners exist!!!

[Tatjahna]

Join the Club NoFace319 :D Me too !

We will show them at those "male"... pfffftt! :sly:

(Joke)


Cya all!

[slk001]

TRILIGHT,
When you said to use PULLDOWN, I was assuming that you were converting PAL to NTSC. But then, at the last, you said that all your conversions were NTSC based. Why are you applying a pulldown to your movies? After all, the movies are already at 29.97 fps if they are NTSC (or the pulldown was applied at the transfer from film to video). Does your pulldown do something different?

[TRILIGHT]

After encoding, it is 23.976fps. Performing pulldown brings it back to 29.970fps and allows importing into the authoring software.

[slk001]

Okay, but how did it get to 23.97fps? CCE (as far as I can tell) doesn't change the frame rate of the encodes. So, if your original DVD is 29.97fps, then your encodes should also be 29.97fps, correct? I like your proceedure, but I can't for the life of me figure out what is causing you to have to do the pulldown.

Or could this be that the DVD is film (at 24fps) and the header flag is set to cause an automatic pulldown by the DVD player? Is there any way to reset the flag in the headers created by CCE so that the new encode is also film and would be pulled down by the player?

[jdobbs]

Using pulldown implies that you encoded at 23.976fps (FILM). It sets flags in the stream that tells the decoder to do a 2:3 pulldown when playing back (to bring it back up to 29.97). If you encoded at 29.97fps you don't need to use pulldown at all.

But... I would recommend you use the "FORCE FILM" option for most DVD movies (those that originated as film). It allows for better compression and quality at a given bitrate. When you do this (FORCE FILM) you then have to use PULLDOWN to get any authoring package to accept it.

[TRILIGHT]

Thanks Jdobbs. I was trying to think of the best way to explain this in common terms but you hit the nail on the head. :)

[garymon]

TriLight, awesome guide. I just have one problem. When you state to open the original IFO and the authored one like you state here.

We’re not QUITE done just yet though. As IFOUpdate will remind you, you need to run “Get VTS Sectors” in IFOEdit. Make certain you do not forget this very important step! After you’ve done this, you will want to do one final thing! Open the original movie IFO and the authored IFO that Maestro created in IFOEdit. Go to “VTS_PGCITI...VTS_PGC_1”. Here, you will find a few things you need to edit. First, you will want to make sure that the “Audio Stream Status” and “Sub-picture Stream Status” is the same as the ones listed in the one Maestro created. Change these numbers so they match. Scroll down further and you will find the following lines:

Do you mean the IFO after i update VTS SECTORS and save it? Also which IFO files do i need to make changes to? VIDEO_TS.IFO or just the IFO with the movie (VTS_01_0.IFO). After i completed all of this it played great. I even ran the movie through all of the menus and it worked great. The only problem came after i burned it. It will just loop over and over at the columbia tristar intro :(

By the way this is black hawk down, could you please clear this process up for me?

[candyman_eu]

Hello Trilight,

first of all thanks for the great guide. There are two questions left which caused me some headache today during my testing. The first is the easy one ... where do I find this 'scriptconvert.exe' you mention to convert my subrip file to a Maestro readable file ? I tried several converters but none seems to be the good one.
Second question goes to the usage of pulldown and so on. So far I used DVD2AVI but didn't do any force film option on the D2V. If I'm not mistaken I'm still on 29.97fps then which I encode in CCE. Do I need to use Pulldown.exe on my M2V or not if I'm already on 29.97fps ? I saw that my CCE (v2.64) also has an option 'drop frame' which I only used on the latest 1-2 movies but not before. I ask because when I applied pulldown, the movie lenght was wrong. I'm trying to do 'Black Hawk Down' which is 2:20:00min but after pulldown, DVD Maestro and Sonic Fusion show the lenght of the movie as 3:01:00 on the timeline. Any thoughts ?

Ah yes ... I just want to 'merge' Video/Audio/Subtitles back together. No menu ... just to play the movie immediately when inserting into the DVD player (subtitles by default should be off).

[TRILIGHT]

@garymon

I put the whole thing in sequential order...

"After you’ve done this, you will want to do one final thing! Open the original movie IFO and the authored IFO that Maestro created in IFOEdit. Go to “VTS_PGCITI...VTS_PGC_1”.

...as for which IFO, it is the one of the movie that you were working with.

@candyman_eu

As for "scriptconvert.exe", do some searches here and you'll find it. It's out there. As for your other question, if you are already at 29.97, there is no need to perform pulldown on the clip. This step is for when "force film" is used to get it to a frame rate that can be imported. Sorry for not making that more clear. Something to keep in mind though is that many have found that "force film" produces a better project file for re-encoding. You may lose some quality without doing it this way on titles that are about 95% FILM (as reported by DVD2AVI) or higher. If you're just wanting to do the movie, then I suggest you just re-author. There's no need to follow most of what is in this guide.

@both... I did "Black Hawk Down" using this method last week and had no issues. Just in case you're wondering if it's a complicated title or something. I'm sure you'll get it done fine. :)

[Colby]

Trilight,

I'm having troule with this part of your instructions:

"Once the chapters have been imported, REMOVE the video from the timeline and replace it with the “output-drop.m2v” file."

I can't seem to figure out how to "REMOVE the video from the timeline"
in DVD Maestro.


Colby

[TRILIGHT]

Click on the video that is currently on the timeline and just press the "delete" key. Drop the new video clip in it's place.

[Colby]

Thanks,

I was fishing around for a 'delete' command using only the right/left clickers and the menu without any luck until now.

Colby

[bex]

for those who asked all the talk of pulldown.exe and replacing video files in maestro does not apply to PAL films . These are set at 25 FPS wether they are film or not. Much easier
I will give your method I try it sound good:)

[TRILIGHT]

I just wanted to stress again the importance of copying your "authored" audio and subtitle stream information over before completing your project. I forgot to do it on this last title I did and, as expected, though my subtitles are there, they are not displayed when turned on with the standalone DVD player. Pay attention to detail! :)

[garymon]

Ok, this is really pissing me off. I have wasted 2 dvd's because of this. After i complete the process of your guide, My DVD comes out great menus, movie everything works perfect. I test it with WinDVD(DVD from folder)and also with IFOedit's dvd player. All of the menus work fine in both of these. After i burn it, some things work and some don't. One menu works, one dosen't. One selection takes me to the wrong place, the other one does. Stuff like that, i can't figure out why this is after i have already tested it. Is there a special program that will let me get the real results when i test it?

Thanks,

[TRILIGHT]

I'm not sure why you're having troubles. Are you sure you ran the "Get VTS sectors"? If not, it will really throw your pointers off bad. It's strange that it would play on the computer and not on the standalone. I personally use PowerDVD XP for all of my testing. I've found it is pretty reliable in showing you exactly what you're going to get.

I've gotten pretty comfortable with the process so I usually just test it that way and then burn to DVD-R. You might want to do what I used to do before I became more proficient with the intracacies of authoring. I used to always burn the project to DVD-RW and see how it came out before the final burn to DVD-R. I recommend either Verbatim or TDK DVD-RW's. I have one of each and I've recorded to them TONS (I've lost count!) and they come out great everytime. The Verbatim is even scratched to hell now and it still burns and plays perfectly! Just get you one DVD-RW for testing. It's only about $10-15 and could save you from wasting your discs if you're unsure.

[jdobbs]

garymon,

Here is something to consider when using this guide: Sometimes it will not work (properly) with multiple PGC movies. Multiple PGCs must be broken out independently and put into separate PCGs when you create the new VOBs. In order to do that you will need to recreate the PGC structure using Scenarist, Maestro, or ReelDVD (maybe others -- I know these). Of course, as TRILIGHT points out - it could also be a failure to run "Get VTS Sectors" -- PC players sometimes don't see errors associated with bad sector information.

The way to find out if there are multiple PGCs is to open the IFO with IFOEdit, and doubleclick on VTS_PGCITI. If there are more than one PGC expanded -- you need to refer to this thread (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17400). It is very long, but has a lot of details that TRILIGHT has (purposely) left out in trying to simplify the process. Please note that many movies don't have multiple PGCs and can be done with this process -- but watch out for the ones that don't (e.g. Warner Brothers). You will sometimes find yourself clicking on a single special feature and seeing many, or going directly from a first play PGC of a logo right into the movie (without the menu).

jdobbs

[TRILIGHT]

You're right, Jdobbs. I've edited the original post to include that info in the disclaimer "note" at the beginning. I should have included it in the first place to avoid confusion. I haven't had time to do so but I will amend the guide with multiple PGC info when I've put it together.

[hortar]

Great work TRILIGHT.

Since I'm from Portugal 95 % off my films are in PAL, but after a few changes I compile a "PAL Guide" using your guide and Doom's Guides, it works fine for me but I don’t try any Warner film, I will do it later. My guide use a lot off your and Doom works so I will not attach the file without your permission.
I have some simple questions that maybe you can help me:
If I want keep all the extras shrink so the film can use more space do you recommend using remepg or CCE, with rempeg I can use VobEdit to remux, but I don't now if I can do it with CCE.
Are you trying some multiple PGC films? If so do you will update your Guide?

Thanks.

[TRILIGHT]

I definitely recommend CCE over ReMPEG!! It is worlds ahead of it in terms of both speed and quality. As for multiple PGC's, that is what the WB titles are. (Not sure if other production places do their's the same also) Anyway, I started working on it last night but it was late and I got tired. I've been pretty busy today but plan on working on it again tonight. I will certainly post the information when I've had time to compile it.

[hortar]

TRILIGHT you are the man.

A few more PAL titles finish with sucess.
One simple question for someone, who I use the delay value given by DVD2AVI when demuxing AC3 track, I have 103ms for R2 Matrix but don't know if this value it's necessary for something.

Thanks,

[TRILIGHT]

Well, I wouldn't say I'm "The Man" just yet, Hortar. I'm still working on it but getting this done in Maestro is not looking good so far. I've not exhausted all options yet but even when I make advances in one area, Maestro starts bitching or doesn't give me what I want. I'll work on it until I've exhausted all my ideas but I wouldn't bet on it working just yet.

[hortar]

TRILIGHT,

Maybe you can help me, I have 3 issues in your guide not mention in this post, and since I'm compiling a PAL guide I need your help if possible:

- How do I use the delay value (When present) that DVD2AVI give me after demux audio tracks?

- In CCE after One pass VBR (Using Doom guide) I have in general a mpv file that fit on DVD-R with audio, extras and menus, so I don't need to make the Multipass (I think that this is correct) but I lost a few MB (almost 1 Gb) because the encode is to high, can I tuning the file size in the first pass using for instance Multipass VBR and not One Pass VBR (Can I do it without lose quality?) or there are another way to tuning file size ( I Think that only Quantization factor and Bitrate trigger file size correct ?, want are your settings for this ?)

- My last and worst issue, in general I get English Audio and Portuguese subtitles (Never the first language stream), In Maestro do I need to put subtitle in the corresponding language stream according with the ifo and not put any language stream in the first one, for example in Star Wars Episode 1 R2, ifoedit says that the Portuguese subtitle in language stream number 9, but when I rip with subrip it's in the 17º language stream (1 month to figure out, thanks Pedro), so in Maestro should I put the subtitles in stream nº 9 or 17º, I try using the two, and not put any in the first stream and the movie don't work on ifoedit DVDPlay (stops on start) but works fine on PowerDVD but without subtitles, do I need to change the language stream in Maestro choosing Portuguese abbreviator (PT) for 9º and 17º stream ?

Thanks

[TRILIGHT]

1) As for the delay, you don't need to worry about this. Maestro will use the timecode in the AC3 file to align it with the video.

2) You should follow the advice listed in the Doom9 guide "Getting the best out of CCE" for this. It is the best way to get the most quality and to accurately set your filesize. You can find the guide HERE. (http://www.doom9.org/mpg/cce-advanced.htm)

3) I've never worked with other language files so I'm probably not the best person to ask. If I had to do what you're doing I, personally, would simply set the first audio track as Portuguese and leave it at that. Sure, it will not be correct as far as the menu goes but if you only want Portuguese anyway then why bother having to set it in a menu anyway? Make sure you follow my advice about copying your stream information from the authored IFO. As long as you copy this stream info over, you should be fine. I usually set all other stream info that I've left out to "0" so that the player does not assume there are other streams available when they're not there.

Good luck!

[hortar]

Thanks.

About your advice about copying my stream information from the authored IFO, is this necessary? I use ifoupdate and when I go check the stream information in Ifoedit after using idoupdate all the settings match?
I will try some more settings in maestro and see if I can put the stream in the correct slot so I can choose the corresponding subtitles in Menu, since my player don't force subtitles display, there are any way to do it using Maestro?
If Maestro force the subtitles display I can use this as a workaround for my problem and I don't need to use the subtitles menu, for now it's a little annoying choosing English in the menu to see Portuguese subtitles!!

[Crzylgs15]

I am having some problems with the "How the hell do I get it all back together??" section of the guide. I have read through it many times and still am having problems getting the menu to work.

Could someone explain to me again which files go where?

Ripped Directory: VIDEO_TS
Authored Directory: AUTHORED
Combination Directory

Please tell me exactly which files go where and which ones to remove completely.

Do I have to burn to DVDR from the Ripped Directory (VIDEO_TS) or does it matter?

How does this change when the original was VTS_01?

Thanks.

[jdobbs]

Crzylgs15,

Here's the sequence:

Three directories: ORIGINAL, NEWLY_AUTHORED (the authoring package will probably name this VIDEO_TS), and TEMP

1. You rip the files into ORIGINAL
2. You use the files from ORIGINAL to create an M2V and AC3 in TEMP
3. You use the M2V and AC3 to create a VOB set in NEWLY_AUTHORED
4. Move the original set of VOBs from ORIGINAL to TEMP (to be safe)
5. Move the .VOB files (except _0.VOB from NEWLY_AUTHORED to ORIGINAL (you many have to rename them first)
6. Run IFOUpdate. You will update the IFO in ORIGINAL from NEWLY_AUTHORED.
7. Run "Get VTS Sectors" in the ORIGINAL directory
8. Do a test run with PowerDVD.

You will have to rename the ORIGINAL directory to VIDEO_TS before burning.

[KeithXP]

Hello again jdobbs,

As you know I've been using your method using SpruceUp without failure on non-WB tiles. In the steps above #4:

4. Move the original set of VOBs from ORIGINAL to TEMP (to be safe)

Should I move all except the _0.vob to temp? I still need it right on #5 when I move the newly authored .vobs over?

Also, with this method, is the only thing I gain is the ability to have subtitles and import chapters quickly without manually entering them? Or can I get multiple audio tracks as well? I wouldn't mind having the commentaries every now and then. With SpruceUp, I can only have one ac3 track and that's it,no subtitles, but it works. Why do folks like the subtitles? I'm curious. Am I missing out on something?

One other thing I would like to add for garymon... Make an image file and check it with Daemon tools. Burning directly with Prassi DVD and RecordMax resulted in bad burns for some reason, but after making the image file and then burning all was wonderful.

Thanks a million jdobbs and Trilight.

KeithXP, newbie

[TRILIGHT]

You are correct, you do not move the *0.VOB file or its corresponding IFO out. You will need them both. It's the main files you are replacing.

As for multiple audio tracks, sure, you can do that. As long as you have space for what you're doing, you're fine. The thing to remember is that part I mentioned about the stream info. Copy the stream numbers from the authored IFO over. Change all the other unused stream numbers in the original IFO to "0".

As for subtitles, you certainly don't have to do them. It's your choice. Personally, there are times that I don't quite catch what someone is saying and it's nice to have the subtitles there to assist. Or hey, what if you have a deaf friend someday? I'm sure they would like to enjoy the movie with you and would appreciate that you took the time to do the subtitles. Or what if you meet some beautiful Spanish woman who doesn't understand English? Would be nice to have Spanish subtitles, right? ;) Hell, some of us just like a challenge! :) There's a ton of different reasons to have them around really. None of them, of course, mean you have to do them though.

And finally... You're welcome, KeithXP! :)

[KeithXP]

Thanks Trilight,

You make valid points for subtitles. I think I will try to keep them from now on. Multiple soundtracks:

As for multiple audio tracks, sure, you can do that. As long as you have space for what you're doing, you're fine. The thing to remember is that part I mentioned about the stream info. Copy the stream numbers from the authored IFO over. Change all the other unused stream numbers in the original IFO to "0".

Is this simple as dragging multiple tracks onto the video in DVDMaestro (never used it) before changing out for the '-drop.m2v' and doing subtitles OR is there some other step?

Thanks again,
KeithXP

[jdobbs]

KeithXP,

You will see in Maestro that there are areas in the timeline for each possible audio track. You just drag and drop them onto the track. In ReelDVD you just drag and drop them onto the filmstrip icon.

jdobbs

[KeithXP]

Thanks jdobbs,

I am in the process of backing up Training Day. (I finally backed up Swordfish with no extras, but with scenes and menus, with no transcoding. I'm determined to make a complete WB-movie backup minus some language tracks.)

I have a question that I hope has not already been asked and answered. How do I initially get multiple audio tracks? Do I use something other than DVD2AVI? Or do I run it several times choosing different tracks each time? I know I can use smart ripper and demux to files and get different tracks, but is his acceptable if I am going to transcode with CCE using AVISynth (If that makes sense!)?

Thanks yet again,
KeithXP

[jdobbs]

KeithXP

In DVD2AVI, under "Audio", and then "Dolby Digital" select "Demux all Tracks" -- then you don't have to run it multiple times.

jdobbs

[KeithXP]

Thanks for the immediate response jdobbs. I'm goofy now, but I promise ya, I'm gonna be good by the time I'm done.

Thanks again.

[jdobbs]

No prob... It gets to be habit after a while. What authoring program are you using when you do the multiple PGC movies (e.g. WB)? I've found ReelDVD to be the easiest.

[KeithXP]

jdobbs -

Sorry for my delayed response. I've been using SpruceUp only. When there's a difficult movie, I've been stripping everything except the movie, chapter, menus and ac3. Extras gone. This will be my first outing with DVDMaestro. All of the other non-Warner Brother movies have been simpler. I just strip out the main movie and ac3, CCE it, and put it back. Everything stays in tact, except I only have one audio track and no subtitles. I figure now, if I can do the same thing, but add subtitles and a couple of sound tracks, then I'm in like Flynn.

KeithXP

[caprioles9000]

Originally posted by garymon
Ok, this is really pissing me off. I have wasted 2 dvd's because of this. After i complete the process of your guide, My DVD comes out great menus, movie everything works perfect. I test it with WinDVD(DVD from folder)and also with IFOedit's dvd player. All of the menus work fine in both of these. After i burn it, some things work and some don't. One menu works, one dosen't. One selection takes me to the wrong place, the other one does. Stuff like that, i can't figure out why this is after i have already tested it. Is there a special program that will let me get the real results when i test it?

Thanks,
]


Yep same problem here ..after i burn it and play it back on my comp and standalone ...it does not continue to the movie.....note i have a pal dvd......hmm...just don't know what it could be considering that all works well on the computer before buring the sucker..does anyone have any other ideas??????? MIND YOU THIS IS NOT A MUTLI PGC COMPILE...I COMPIELD AMELIE REGION 2 AND ITS ONLY ONE PGC

[jdobbs]

caprioles9000,

Don't know if I can be much help. I never strip anything, and don't really know what actions are taken by IFOEdit in the strip. I just use the CCE Method to create a new VTS for the movie and keep all the extras. The only time I've had failure of this type with this method (where it works on PC but not on standalone) is when I failed to do "Get VTS Sectors" or "Correct VTS Sectors".

jdobbs

[TRILIGHT]

I am making this thread a temporary sticky until I have a chance to format it all into an HTML guide for the main guides. Hopefully it will assist people as is until it is in a more suitable format.

[KeithXP]

jdobbs -

Do you keep all of the audio tracks as well? Does this limit the size of the output size of the CCE transcoded movie? Is the quality still good?

KeithXP

[TRILIGHT]

As long as you keep your Q level less than 9, you will be fine on the quality. Just make sure you don't have a lot of gray "bitches" out there. It's ok to have some but usually they are only on extremely difficult to encode areas and they don't last long enough to worry about anyway.

As for your audio, you need to keep two things in mind. First, each audio track that you keep will take up space on the disc. Make sure you check the file sizes of ALL other files (including all audio tracks you're keeping) BEFORE you try to set the filesize in CCE. You want to make sure you have enough space on the disc. The second thing is, MAKE SURE YOU DON'T EXCEED THE MAX BITRATE!! What does this mean? Well, you need to add up the bitrates of ALL your audio and video files and make sure they do not exceed the maximum DVD bitrate of 9.8Mbps. If they go above, you will either not be able to properly compile your VOB's or your final project may freeze up at that point when you try to play it on a standalone player.

[caprioles9000]

Originally posted by jdobbs
caprioles9000,

Don't know if I can be much help. I never strip anything, and don't really know what actions are taken by IFOEdit in the strip. I just use the CCE Method to create a new VTS for the movie and keep all the extras. The only time I've had failure of this type with this method (where it works on PC but not on standalone) is when I failed to do "Get VTS Sectors" or "Correct VTS Sectors".

jdobbs

hey jdobbs...thnx for tha answer...dont you strip any audio languages or subs you don't need!!!...I am sure that i did do Get VTS Sectors.....hmm.....but i did strip out some stuff from the original menus.... maybe thats the problem .....so..i'll try that next ..just keep all the original menu and extras without stripping ..re-encode the movie just like you and re-work it into the menu ..will see ..if that helps.....i want to use dvd-rw's but ...somehow ...i have many problems with them ..after burning cant seem to reuse them again:(.....oh well...will try your method...thnx ...this elped:)...if this way of keeping the menu's works ...them i'll let you guys know:)))