IFOUpdate?

[armyb77]

I understand the problem with Maestro if you have more then 1 PGC because the first PGC created by Maestro is the whole clip. My question is how hard would it be to make an option on IFOUpdate to ignore the first PGC, and treat PGC's 2,3,4..etc as 1,2,3..etc?
This would save a great deal of time because then all you need to do is creat the playlists of the PGCs, and you could almost encode the whole video at once rather then seperate it by PGC's. Anyways I'm not a programmer, but it seems like it should be pretty easy to do.

Anyone with input is welcome to reply
Thanks
Armyb77

[jdobbs]

Hmmm... That's not a bad idea. I'm not sure right now what the implications are, but I'll take a look at it, if it seems feasible I'll post an update to IFOUpdate.

Thanks,
jdobbs

[armyb77]

Thanks Jdobbs I think IFOUpdate is the best thing since IFOedit came out, and If you were able to make that change then, it would be the best way to make a copy of an original with Identical features. I was thinking that you would just add a button to click the feature on or off, depending on what the DVD orginal is like. Like I said earlier though I know nothing about programing, I just have ideas..Laughs! If you do make this extra feature I would be happy to create a new guide for this site, showing how to use this program from Ripping to finished product.


Thanks again
Armyb77

[Lame]

Ihope this isn't a dumb question. I'm using Ifoedit a lot and very happy with it. I'm green to Ifoudate. Where can I find some information on using it?

[armyb77]

Just do a search on on the forum for IFOupdate, and browse through them.

Armyb77

[oddyseus]

I think that I am expressing everybody's secret desire when I am asking this. When is the next release of Ifoupdate going to be online?

Just a clue?

[jdobbs]

I was planning to revamp the software, but haven't had a lot of spare time to do it. I haven't had any requests for additional features until now -- if you have suggestions (things you'd like it to do) let me know. If I'm going to make changes I might as well do it right...

jdobbs

[jdobbs]

@armyb77

Attached is a new version of IFOUpdate (v0.48). I've added a mode that is specifically meant to help those who use Maestro to create multi-PGC titles. It essentially discards the first PGC in the newly authored IFO and only copies those remaining.

To use it:

1. Use the standard methods in the IFOEDIT/CCE Guide (http://www.doom9.org/mpg/ifoedit-cce.htm) except you'd replace the Scenarist section with that of DVDMaestro (I'll let you Maestro experts talk about this).

2. Mark all your chapters and create a Playlist in Maestro for each PGC (remember to have the correct number of chapters in each playlist).

3. As the Maestro folks know, the package has an odd "feature" in which an additional PGC (#1) is added that covers the entire set of all the individual playlists.

4. Compile to a title set. If you look at it's IFO with IFOEDIT you will see that it has one too many PGCs. Good.

5. Set IFOUpdate to "MAESTRO" mode. When copying information from the newly authored IFO to the original, it will discard the "everything" PGC.

Consider this code Beta for a while and back up your IFO files. I've tested it, but not extensively. Those of you who use Maestro in this way, (and have manual methods before) -- please provide feedback so I can be sure it's complete.

jdobbs

[fourtyfour]

servus...

hy, where can I download the new version for testing?

[jdobbs]

It has to be approved by a moderator first, then it will show as an attachment.

[armyb77]

jdobbs
Sounds great i'll post results once it is approved by a moderator. Thank you for all your hard work!

Armyb77

[jdobbs]

armyb77,

Had any luck? I've also come up with another idea to help support this. I'm currently mulling over building a procedure that will extract all the chapter times (across the PGCs) so you could just import them into Maestro, and then all you would have to do to author would be to choose the ones that actually become start points for PGCs..

What do you think? Any interest?

jdobbs

[jdobbs]

Oh well. I did it anyway.

Attached is a new version of IFOUpdate (V0.50) with several updates. It adds a pre-processing option, so you can get necessary information from your Original IFO before starting the authoring process. It also now creates chapter files for import or use in authoring and for pasting into the CCE .ECL file. In addition it has a special chapter output mode to support multiple PGCs using Maestro -- all the chapters (across the PGCs) are preset for use with playlists, eliminating the need to "search" for them. It can be a real time saver for those who use Maestro and want to backup multiple PGC DVDs.

I also made a quick change to v0.49 posted earlier today, so that the multiple PGC Maestro option under "Save Chapter Files" also writes corresponding CCE frame files (FILM and STANDARD).

The file should show up when a moderator approves it.

jdobbs

[JOJOLINO]

Hey jdobbs,
great work, but the chapter files, ifoupdate write for me, are all empty.
Not really empty but they look like this:

$Spruce_IFrame_List

00:00:00:00

with ChapterXtractor i get this file for the same ifo:

$Spruce_IFrame_List

00:00:00:00
00:04:31:01
00:07:30:06
00:08:28:08
00:10:16:01
00:13:29:12
00:15:16:02
00:17:55:09
00:19:04:15
00:21:52:20
00:23:47:24
00:26:54:19
00:28:07:07
00:30:01:01
00:31:47:13
00:34:58:08
00:37:06:07
00:39:52:18
00:41:24:02
00:43:44:13
00:47:48:20
00:50:41:23
00:53:30:06
00:54:47:23
00:57:54:23
01:02:14:12
01:04:13:13
01:07:27:07
01:10:38:13
01:12:33:23
01:18:58:12
01:24:44:03
01:28:47:20
01:34:21:06
01:39:05:02
01:43:20:13

whats wrong???

[jdobbs]

That's strange. Are you sure you are looking at the same PGC? Please send me the IFO file, I'd like to get this fixed. I'll look at it in the meantime and make sure I didn't do something stupid just before posting.

Are you also seeing this when the Chapter Information is displayed in the Window, and is "Automatically Analyze Original IFO" checked? I just want to make sure I don't have a bug in the analyzer rather than the writing procedure.

Please check your PM.

Thanks,
jdobbs

[jdobbs]

Ok. I found it. It was a stupid bug. I was redimensioning the array that was storing the data between PGCs. DUH! In your IFO the second PGC only had one chapter, so the first PGC's info got truncated.

I will fix it right away and repost.

jdobbs

[jdobbs]

Okay, here is v0.51 which fixes this goofy error. Sorry I didn't test it more thoroughly.

Again, it will show when approved by a moderator.

jdobbs

[rasta21]

@jdobbs

...first...great job...thanx for that kewl tool :)

...question: can you add a checkbox to the chapter dialog for an offset of 01:00:00:00 and an editbox to manually set the offset for maestro chapter files ?

[jdobbs]

rasta21,

Sure. But just so I'm not missing anything. How would you use this? Is there some common application that uses a 1 hour offset?

Also for everyone,

I've had a couple interesting experiences while working with this. On two occasions I imported the chapter points and compiled into a VIDEO_TS directory, only to find that two of the cell table pointers in the newly authored file were pointing to the same sector, so when I was browsing chapters I had two in a row that pointed to the same place. I went back to the chapter list, and there were no duplicates. Since my software make no modifications to the newly authored IFO file, this had to have been built that way by DVDMaestro. Even more interesting was the fact that the first PGC (the one that is supposed to be a combination of all the others) didn't have the duplicate in it.

Has any else experienced this while working with DVDMaestro and Playlists?

jdobbs

[rasta21]

...i use 1 hour offset for a lot of movies...authoring with maestro

...what about a editbox to set the offset manually...maybe its useful

[jdobbs]

Rasta21,

Should be easy enough, but I'm kind of backed up with real work right now. I'll put it in this weekend. I assume this offset is positive. So if I enter an offset of 01:00:00:00 and the chapter point in the file was 00:00:01:00 the resulting value in the chapter file would be 01:00:01:00.

[oddyseus]

why dont u reset the offset time in CCE before encoding? Just go to the video tab and reset the pointer to 0:00:00.00

I am pretty sure u r offsetting the subs too.

[fourtyfour]

servus...

I´ve tried the Maestro multiple PGC methode with starship troopers.

original:
pgc1: main movie
pgc2: 2 seconds black.

Newly authored and ifoupdate ifo.
pgc1: main movie
PGC2: 0 seconds but there is an pgc2!


I´ve had only made a playlist in maestro where the first movie is with all chapters.
I didn´t do anything with the secondPGC, but the movie plays perfect.
Of course, in the original are only two sec. of nothing.

So my question:
was this the right method to use this function?

Could you make a short statement, how to use this function with the new method?
Like you do in Maestro with the playlists?
This would be great for better understanding.

[auenf]

when creating multiple PGC's in Maestro, the first PGC is always going to be the whole VTS (which can be removed with IFOEdit now ?), PGC2 will be the first playlist, and would be 0 secs if you didnt assign a chapter to it?

Enf...

[fourtyfour]

servus...

thx auenf.

now it makes more sense than before.

I hab a playlist with all chapters on PGC2
So wenn I start Smartripper to look about the PGC there a 2 PGC with the full movie lenght.

So you are right.

but when I IfoUpdate this movie I become one PGC1 with the full movie and a PGC2 with 00:00:00

So how can I merge this 2 second file in Maestro to add as PGC2 like the original movie do?

[auenf]

append the 2second file to the main movie, create sync audio track, create a chapter for it (at where the file starts).

then the first playlist will be all the chapters besides the last one, the second playlist will be the last playlist only.

enjoy

Enf...

[jdobbs]

Here's a little background as to what IFOUpdate does for this.

When you create playlists, you have to first define chapters. You can then create a playlist that could contain any chapters. When you compile, the playlists each become a separate PGC. Unfortunately, DVDMaestro also leaves the original structure (when the chapters were originally added) as its first PGC. IFOUpdate's DVDMaestro mode just ignores it and moves the others. Here is an simple example:

1. Original:
PGC1 Has 4 chapters all 1 minute long
00:00:00:00, 00:01:00:00, 00:02:00:00, 00:03:00:00
PGC2 has 2 chapters
00:00:00:00, 00:01:00:00

2. Saving the Chapters in MultiPGC DVDMaestro mode would produce:
00:00:00:00, 00:01:00:00, 00:02:00:00, 00:03:00:00 , 00:04:00:00, 00:05:00:00

3. You would then reenode the entire VTS (all PGCs at once).

4. In DVDMaestro you open the resulting M2V and import the chapters:
00:00:00:00, 00:01:00:00, 00:02:00:00, 00:03:00:00, 00:04:00:00, 00:05:00:00

5. Create a playlist for the first PGC which includes these chaps:
00:00:00:00, 00:01:00:00, 00:02:00:00, 00:03:00:00

6. Create a second playlist the contains these chaps:
00:04:00:00, 00:05:00:00

7. Now, you will see that when you compile this you end up with three PGCs:
PGC1 - 00:00:00:00, 00:01:00:00, 00:02:00:00, 00:03:00:00, 00:04:00:00, 00:05:00:00
PGC2 - 00:00:00:00, 00:01:00:00, 00:02:00:00, 00:03:00:00
PGC3 - 00:00:00:00, 00:01:00:00

8. You copy the newly created (smaller) VOBs as always into the original directory.

9. Now if you use IFOUpdate with the DVDMaestro option, only the second two PGCs would be transferred leaving:
PGC1 Has 4 chapters at
00:00:00:00, 00:01:00:00, 00:02:00:00, 00:03:00:00
PGC2 has 2 chapters
00:00:00:00, 00:01:00:00

Which is a duplicate of the original IFO but with your new VOB set! Just like you want.

[fourtyfour]

servus...

this example could be a help in the readme file, maybe.

I tried Starship Troopers and it works very well.

after my vacation this weekend in italy I will test a view multiple PGC-movies and audio-dvd for testing IFOUpdate.

Till the end of next week, I will end this tests and report everything doesnt work with IFOupdate. Hopefully everything work.
(if you want, I´ll post after testing each movie)

best regards fourtyfour

[jdobbs]

Just a note for those using this method. Some DVDs have chapter settings that are exactly or very near the end of the video. Sometimes (often actually), the last chapter will not be imported when your read the .CHP file (because DVDMaestro sees it as an illegal location) -- you may have to add that final chapter by hand at a legal location somewhere near the end of the movie.

You can tell if it happens by looking at the last chapter's time and seeing if it matches the last entry in the .CHP file.

[JOJOLINO]

Hey jdobbs,
my latest problem.
Your Multi PGC ChapterList contains 6 more Chapterpoints as the PGC1 included.
OK that's these from the other PGCs (7 in my example)
But after I've reencoded my movie it ends at the first from these 6 Chapterpoints.
In the videostream there are all PGCs, the movie, the WB logo, 2 Trailer, 2 short black "empty" PGCs.
The PGCs in the stream are in the following sequence
PGC2 The WB LOGO
PGC1 The main movie
PGC5 The first Trailer
PGC6 The second Trailer
I don't know where the other short black PGCs are?
I've tried to find out what is the correct sequence with these ones, but I don't know!? :confused:
There is no chapterpoint at the beginning of the first PGC (2. in sequence) and the other PGCs.
OK I can set it manually, but this is not the goal.
Do I make somthing wrong or is this a new constellation?

[jdobbs]

Open up the original IFO with IFOUpdate and look at the Chapter list. There is ALWAYS at least one chapter in every PGC (at 00:00:00:00). You should be able to look at the list and see what goes where.

I'm a little confused as to how the original file is actually structured. Why do you show PGC2 before PGC1 in you post? The short blank PGCs are very common -- I don't know why they exist all the time, but you you usually need to reproduce them if they are in the original. Sometimes they only act as an "Exit" point. But why you need 3 of them I don't know. Sometimes I think they add them just to make just to give me headaches.

Another point for all to consider. Sometimes you will HAVE to break out the PGCs and encode them individually rather than use the multiple PGC method. For example you may have a set of PGCs in which all are encoded at 29.97fps NTSC except one (which is actually 23.976fps with RFF flags set). In that case you'd have to either break them out and feed them individually into CCE (or encode the FILM content at NTSC).

When you do decide to use the Multiple PGC Maestro method (it works for almost every movie) you have look closely at the original structure (count the chapters in each PGC) and create the playlists exactly (same chapter count) as they were originally.

Maybe you could print out the original structure into .CHP files and post those. It would make it easier to see what you mean.

[jdobbs]

@JOJOLINO

I received you EM with the IFO attached, thanks.

Here is the original structure:

PGC1 has 35 chapters.
PGC2 has 1 chapter.
PGC3 has 1 chapter.
PGC4 has 1 chapter.
PGC5 has 1 chapter.
PGC6 has 1 chapter.
PGC7 has 1 chapter.

When you write the Multiple PGC .CHP file you have 41 chapters.

The order in which they play doesn't have to correspond to where they are in the VTS. Each PGC is treated as if it is independent of the others and is run independently. So ignore the playing order -- only pay attention to replicating the original structure.

So in this case...

You import the entire .M2V into Maestro and then import the chapter list (multiple PGC). You create 7 playlists. In playlist 1 you include the first 35 chapters, playlist 2 gets the next 1, playlist 3 the next, and so on.

Thanks,
jdobbs

[jdobbs]

Everyone please also note: The chapter readouts currently ignore the existence of multiple angles -- so I wouldn't recommend using this on a multiple angle DVD.

I'll look at it a little and see how much effort would be involved to support this. But, frankly, it looks like it will be a lot of work. Work and I just don't get along very well.

[jdobbs]

All,

Here is a new version of IFOUpdate (v0.52). I've added the "Offset" option requested by Rasta21. This will add the time/frame offset specified in the text box to all chapter information written. Make sure you put it in right, as it will reset to "00:00:00:00" if the value is illegal (for instance, make sure the "ff" value in the last position is less than the DVD specified frame rate).

I also corrected chapter readout for multiple angle DVDs. It will now correctly show chapter times for them. It was a lot simpler than I thought.

I changed the CCE "chapter" output to force an I-Frame at every cell rather than every chapter. That will help support those who are trying to recreate an exact cell structure to match the original (especially muliple angle) DVD. It shouldn't hurt other methods, since all chapters begin on a cell boundary anyway.

jdobbs

[JOJOLINO]

jdobbs you are faster than the wind with your changes.


But there is even one thing I can't understand....
Your chapterlist for Multi PGC DVDs I understand.
You put the chapters for the "overlay" (Trailers, LOGOS ..) at the end of the regular list.
OK, but this works only if the PGCs are in the right sequence
PGC1
PGC2
PGC3
In my example the sequence is
PGC2
PGC1
PGC3....
I can understand that the position in the vts is not the common value, but see your chapterlist. If I import this in maestro and the reencoded m2v has the structure shown above, the chapters are all at the wrong place.
The solution is to reencode in the right way (1,2,3,4...) but I thought I can encode the hole ripped vts in the order they are on HDD.
Is this DVD (Ocean's Eleven) a exception?
I now encode new in the right structure and will see what happend.
Sorry about my bad english, I hope you can understand what I mean ;)

[jdobbs]

I don't put the chapters for overlay's etc. at the end of the list. Frankly, IFOUpdate doesn't know one PGC from another. It puts all the chapters in the same order in which they are kept on the disc. If you have a trailer first -- it should be first in the list. If its the movie, it is first.

Don't confuse the play sequence with the storage sequence. The DVD may play in the sequence you show -- but it is NOT stored that way. It is stored as PGC1, PGC2, PGC3, and PGC4 -- always.

So... when you rebuild in Maestro -- put everything in the same storage sequence as the original (PGC1, PGC2, PGC3, PGC4). The IFO instructs the player what order in which to play them (PGC2, PGC1,...).

I looked at your IFO. It is stored with the movie first, not the WB logo. So the movie should be the first PGC.

[I've deleted my comments about your IFO being multiple angles -- I was looking at the wrong IFO -- sorry]

jdobbs

[jdobbs]

@JOJOLINO

Oh... I stand corrected. I went back through the IFO and I think I see now what you are trying to say, and where the problem is. Even though the PGCs are in the correct order in the IFO and stored sequentially, the cell's actual sectors (pointing to the .VOB files) are not in that same order.

You couldn't fix this by moving PGCs around. The chapter information is correct for each PGC, but it would not match the way in which you read the information (first sector to last sector of the VTS) in DVD2AVI

You are right. This is unusual. In this case I would recommend you use SmartRipper to break the PGCs out individually and then reauthor them back together in the correct order.

Meanwhile I'm going to look and see if there is a way in which my software might be able to correct for this. I may have to shift the chapter values around based upon the actual sector address instead of how they fall in the IFO. I'd sure like to see how many other DVDs fall into this category so I could determine if its worth the effort.

jdobbs

[JOJOLINO]

jdobbs
I'm happy that I not have drink to much beer last night!!! :p
I'm reencode the movie this time and will see if it work right.
It is a method but a really complicated.
The ripping-prozess takes a lot of time

THX for your interests and your work! :)

[jdobbs]

Oh boy... what I've gotten myself into. I started looking at these Warner Bros titles after JOJOLINO's report, and they really have no consistency. I'm looking at "Any Given Sunday" and there are 5 PGCs, easy right?

Wrong. The first PGC starts at sector 4118. The second and fourth PGCs start at sector 0 (they're identical). Then the third PGC starts at 2,968,919, while the last begins at 2,981,863. So they are physically stored as:

PGC2 and PGC4 in sectors 0 - 4117
PGC1 in sectors 4118 - 2,981,862
PGC3 in sectors 2,968,919 - 2,981,862
PGC5 in sectors 2,981,863 - end

In other words there is no defined order, some PGCs may be identical, and some sectors can be a part of more than one PGC.

Ugh...

[JOJOLINO]

This works not :mad:

My next version:
I ripp the hole vts in the order it exist. (PGC2, PGC1, PGC3, PGC4,...)
Then I edit the chaperlist manually.
The length of the WB LOGO is 00:00:13:55, this is my second chapter (00:00:00:00 ist the first)
Then I add this 13:55 to all other chapters.
Oh I must do this also for the CCE framelist.
It is shit work, but I will test if this works well!
I will back at ..... I don't know????

Ähm jdobbs another question:

The movie contains 6 Audiostreams.
They are not for all the PGCs
The native movie contains 2 streams.
The other audiostreams are shorter then the movie (one of them only 4 Min.)
Must I place it at the beginning of the correct chapterpoint in the maestro timeline?
I think so, but I'm not really sure if this is correct???

[jdobbs]

Ok, JOJOLINO,

You made me feel bad :( for causing you all this pain. So I've attached a new version that (hopefully) fixes this. It does an analysis of the IFO and readjusts all the frame and chapter information based upon the actual position in the VOB when you are doing the Multiple PGC DVDMaestro method.

Pay particular attention to the new file that is created ("MULTIPGC-DVDMAESTRO-README.TXT") -- it instructs you as to which chapters are associated with which PLAYLIST so it will be correctly reassembled when you use the DVDMaestro mode to update the original IFO.

Whew... this DVDMaestro Multi-PGC support started out to appear so simple -- somebody kick me the next time I start adding functions without giving it some serious thought. My weekend just disappeared.

jdobbs

[JOJOLINO]

jdobbs, many thanks to you.
I'm sorry that your weekend is disappeared.
Next time I'll make my test from Mo - Fr ;)
Your list seem like my manually created, what saves a lot of time.
(For my example the WB is not 13:55 I post, it is 12:20, you write in the lists)
My new reencoded video is to small, there are more than 3 sec. that I miss :confused:
I'll now see what is the correct method to encode this video.

My three ideas:

[erased]

jdobbs, you are right, it is a long long weekend.... ;)
I think there are more DVDs on the market with other special configurations, you can't test all. If there is a user with a special DVD he can descripe his problem and I think you can help :)

A happy rest of your weekend, I hope you see movies and not only your programcode.

Shit, there are somthing other wrong :angry:
In the vobinfo the length of all PGCs are 01:56:51:11
The DVD2AVI Project, imported in cce, has a length of 01:56:48:18
My encoded video is 01:50:48:22 in maestro :confused:
Eventually is this about my GOP strukture /PIIII /PIIII ....???
I will test it.
Or about the two "empty" 2 second PGCs???
It's nothing with ifoupdate, so I will open a new post if I found nothing.

[edit]
It's about the two "empty" PGCs, there are 2 sec. long (each!) but DVD2AVI cannot wrote a correct project.
And now???
I'll post the question in another forum!

[Yohudi]

I have seen a lot of this multi PGC stuff lately... and as member of another forum have been told of this also being combined with multi-angles etc...

My own personal experience is that out of the last 6 titles I've looked at it's been there and progressively worse.. in terms of more complex implementations..

I had sucess using IFOUpdate 0.51 on a simpler 2 PGC version but on more serious use (4 PGC's) of the technique it failed.. having read the thread I will attempt the title with the latest update and report back... the title in question was "Hearts in atlantis".. Warner R2 release..

[JOJOLINO]

I can't test ifoupdate with the multipgc option this time.
My movie (Ocean's eleven) is a 7 PGC movie with 2 short (2 sec.) PGCs.
This two PGCs I cannot encode :angry:
The DVD2AVI Project is corrupt. :confused:
If I load this PGC vob in DVD2AVI the slider is not at the beginning.
Tested with different versions.
Now I will create two own 2 sec clip (or one 4 sec) and will merge this into the other vob's.
The problem is, that the length of my complete reencoded videostream is not the same as the orginal stream.
So the chapterpoints cannot be correct.

My privat problem, the next days I'm not at home, so I can't test it.
If I be back, I gonna test this again.

[hoops10]

For the short pgcs, dont encode them, just demux them into their own files and you will get a .m2v and a .ac3 from dvd decryptor.

[Arky]

Since re-authoring isn't really my thing, this issue doesn't affect me, but reading through the issues, it seems to me that the big studios are training their authorers to deliberately do nasty things using Scenarist's powerful authoring abilities, purely in order to make things difficult for anyone attempting to re-author their titles to DVD-5. I suppose you can't really blame them for doing this, but I still think it's a bit petty, since they already make a damned fortune from legit sales, and since they are impeding "Fair Use" backups.

In the long term, it doesn't really make any difference WHAT they try to do to prevent copying - there is always someone just as clever at disabling, or working-around a protection as the person who devised it in the first place. I suspect that in the very near future, we will see attempts made by the commercial media giants to thrust a new standard upon the (largely)-unsuspecting public - one that requires a live online connection in order for the product to playback - in other words, one where an online check is made periodically DURING playback, in an effort to prevent non-original copies from being played.

This will also fail miserably, of course, since history has taught us this immutable and inescapable fact!

As audio protections proliferate, they cannot escape the fact that, in the worst case scenario, one can always simply take the analogue feed and re-digitise it. Not ideal, but workable. Ditto, with video. This will become less viable once the analogue link is broken in both the audio and the video playback domains, but not for quite some time, I think, since, for audio at least, the human ear requires an analogue waveform to be produced in order for audition to take place!! :)

In the meantime, I am grateful that people like jdobbs & so many other talented individuals continue to strive for workable solutions for the too-often-ripped-off public at large.


Arky ;o)

[JOJOLINO]

@hoops10
THX I will try this, but I think the vobs are broken.
Why do DVD2AVI can't read?
More at Friday.

@Arky
You are right, but also the Online-Protection is hackable.
It's the question if there are so many freaks like us on earth that the industrie must introduce so difficult protection?

There are not so many really good movies that everyone must have a copy.
And a really collector (right word?) must have the orginal!
A normal person don't buy the movie, so the industry has no losses.

A bigger problem are the movies you can find at edonkey and other P2P networks.
People who look this movies don't go to cinema, they known the movie from a (usually bad) copy.
This are the real problem I think.
And about this in a cinema recorded movies, there are no protection available.

[Yohudi]

I believe the issue over counter measures to be quite simply that they don't want a copies for sale, which to all intents are functionally identical...

joe-public will not side-step a cheaper and "identical" version, unless it's something for the collection, if the cheap version is as enjoyable and functions just like the real thing...

I believe this is the main reason for attempts to scotch IFOEdit/IFOUpdate methods.

[kimpen]

HI everyone... I'm new to the forum and I have to say that everything I've read until now is very very useful!

GREAT THREAD....

Well, perhaps a stupid question for someone but... I'm trying to re-create a multiPGCs with Maestro and, if it is clear for me how to obtain the various PGCs with the playlists, I can't understand how to add the single audio tracks corresponding to the variuos video assets in the main Maestro movie!

If I use the "Create Sync Audio Track" option I need to have all the single audio assets with the same format, but this is not the case: infact fot example a WB logo is an AC3 file with 2CH, the audio of the main movie is an AC3 with 6CH, and so on...

So, where am I wrong ???

Another thing: if I have more than one audio track in the main movie I want to maintain in the new vob, let's say english and french, have I to re-create exactly the same structure in the audio track for all the video assets that compose my main movie: I mean, each audio track must contain the WB logo audio, the MOVIE audio, and so on?

Thanks for the reply and my compliments to jdobbs for the IfoUpdate tool! I hope to see asap an IfoUpdate/Maestro guide!!!

Bye,
KIM ;)

[jdobbs]

This appears to happen a lot. But, if you look closely I think you'll find that the 5.1 DD AC3 is in a different track than the 2.0 AC3 of the extra. Just import the 2.0 AC3 into the same position (e.g. track #2) as the original movie. The Original IFO file, when it is directing the sequence of events, will make sure the correct track is played when a PGC is run.

A single track (for example track 1) is supposed to stay consistent across an entire VTS.