Chapter points on pulldown m2vs

[Scoobydeux]

OK, I have searched and not found an answer... Following the standard IFOEdit/CCE method w/ subtitles, using the following pulldowns:

pulldown bob34.mpv bob34.m2v -prog_frames p
pulldown bob34.mpv bob34-drop.m2v -drop_frame true -prog_frames p

You get two files, when you import in maestro, the first has the CORRECT length, (matches the audio track) the other file is a few seconds LONGER on the timeline. When you import your chapter file to the first file, then replace it with the drop_frame file, the chapter points automatically shift.

HOW can this NOT mess up and desynch with your audio? What is the deal with the two different times, and does Maestro actually just show an incorrect length on the drop_frames file due to the way the flags are set? I used to think I knew what was happening, but at 5 a.m., I have boggled myself....

Anyones assistance would be overwhelmingly appreciated.....

Scoobydeux

[wfn1]

this is not a direct answer to your query but i would highly recommend dropping dvdmaestro in favor of scenarist. with scenarist you do not have to worry about the drop frame flag when doing pulldown. you just set the video to pull down in the video menu when authoring. another thing is you can get prescise chapter points by serving with dvd2avi frm version and import chapter points from the .d2f file into your script with scenchap.

and did i mention that the build time is at least twice as fast? used to take me up to 20-25 minutes with dvdmaestro and that's when using a separate drive for the resulting video_ts dir. now my build time is 7-10 minutes on the same exact machine.

[Scoobydeux]

Yeah, maybe it's time to make the switch, Maestro is just so EASY to use, and does so much once you get the hang of it, and I just barely know enough to be dangerous now.... Probably time to dig into scenarist now....

Thanks for your inputs!

[jeffnoone]

Anyone able to answer Scoobydeux initial question, as I notice the same?

What does "drop frames" do?

Why does it provide files of different reported lengths in DVDMaestro?

For those of us who will continue to use Maestro, after CCE, should I leave drop frame out entirely in the pulldown stage, or should I set it to true or false?



Despite DVDMaestro reporting different lengths, you can use either video file and both will be in sync - yet one is reported as 4-6 sec longer than the other

FOr example, I got
AC3 file: 02:03:30:10
M2V no drop frame setting: 02:03:30:14
M2V drop frame true: 02:03:37;22

Also note the semi-colon
Help appreciated

[Scoobydeux]

From what I know, the drop frame inserts frames appropriately to bring the frame rate up from NTSC of 29.976 to 30, hence the apparent length difference, but I still don't understand how maestro cannot recognize the difference when it displays the length! You are right, when you play it, there is no actual time length difference, just in the displayed length...

Still pondering...

Scoobydeux