dvd doens't work as it should after burning

[Snowface]

I've been trying to make a "1 on 1" copy of a few movies. One of them is The Simpsons. It has several pgc's and extra's. I reencoded everything with CCE and I'm using Scenarist to create the exact same VTS01.xx structure. Then I copied the vob files in the org folder, used IfoUpdate and everything works fine.....on my harddisk. But as soon as I burned it on dvd (dvd-rw for testing)the menu doens't work anymore. It jump right into pgc 1 and leaves out the rest. Whatever I tried, it just won't work.
But this is not the only problem. I also tried to backup Black Knight.
The only thing I ripped out was that anoying copyright/fbi warning with IfoEdit and pressed "get vts sectors" everything according to these guides. And again it won't work as soon as it's burned.

I mean, I'm not a beginner, I've burned something like 200 movies, but none of them with a menu. So what am I doing wrong here?

[TRILIGHT]

Originally posted by Snowface
I mean, I'm not a beginner, I've burned something like 200 movies, but none of them with a menu. So what am I doing wrong here?

No offense intended here but you are a beginner when it comes to reintegration. It is very easy to do "movie only" backups. It's hard to say exactly what you are missing given every project is slightly different but the the first thing I would tell you to check is your *_0.VOB file. If you did not retain the original _0 file, you will have menu problems (if you have a menu at all). The next thing you need to do is to check your "First Play" in the IFO. If you're unfamiliar with what that is, check the "Tips and Tricks" section on my site for more info.

[Snowface]

The _0.files have been stripped, since I wanted the menus only in english. I've been experimenting with menus in scenarist for several weeks, with several movies. And, just like I said, as long as I run it from the harddisk everything works, but I didn't burn them, because the menu or the extra's weren't worth it.
But if it works on harddisk, the menu structure is supposed to be ok, right...or am I wrong.

[TRILIGHT]

Originally posted by Snowface
The _0.files have been stripped, since I wanted the menus only in english.
I'm not sure I understand this statement. You've "stripped" your menus? Anyway, there should not be a need to touch the menus at all if reauthoring/reintegrating your video.

I've been experimenting with menus in scenarist for several weeks, with several movies.
As I mentioned, there should be no need to touch the menus or attempt to recreate them. Just copy them over and reintegrate.

And, just like I said, as long as I run it from the harddisk everything works, but I didn't burn them, because the menu or the extra's weren't worth it.
But if it works on harddisk, the menu structure is supposed to be ok, right...or am I wrong.
Not always. In fact, it's quite easy to have something work perfectly fine when played from the hard disk and not in a standalone. The reason is that the software players tend to be rather lenient when it comes to the DVD spec. They will play a lot of things that would never play, or play incorrectly in a standalone player. In fact, even going from one standalone to another could give you different results depending on how the company designed it. (ie. Pioneer standalones seem to not be able to play Nero burned discs when other players have no trouble with them at all).

Unfortunately, the best you can do is to test with the software players and hope for the best as long as they work there. Of course, as you mentioned, it's always a good idea to burn to RW first to test. As I stated before, I'm not quite sure what you mean when you say you stripped the _0.VOB files. These files contain the menu system and you should not have a need to alter them or recreate them. As per the guides, these files are just copied over and are used when you reintegrate your reauthored files.

[Snowface]

First of all, thanks for your quick replies.

And in stead of "stripped", I could have said ripped. There a guide on this site [http://www.doom9.org/mpg/ifoedit-basic.htm] which explaines how to get rid the menus in different languages. And since I only need the english one, I removed the other ones.
Or is this guide a bit in contradiction with the scenarist guide, because you can't touch the _0.files?

[TRILIGHT]

Originally posted by Snowface
First of all, thanks for your quick replies....
Or is this guide a bit in contradiction with the scenarist guide, because you can't touch the _0.files?
You're welcome. :) It's definitely in contradiction. In fact, there are a great number of people (including myself) that suggest you DON'T "strip" things out; especially when it comes to menus. The end result when doing this is terribly inconsistent which is proven by the anomaly you are noticing right now. I know my "UberGuide" may seem a bit daunting at first but it's because I've gone to great lengths to explain every little step. If you follow it faithfully, I assure you that you will get a full working backup of your disc.

[Snowface]

Well..alrighty then. I'm somewhat wiser and I'm gonna start reading your guide immediately. Thanks for all your help.

[Snowface]

Well I'm back with the same problem. I've re-read all the guides I could find. But the problem doesn't seem to be that I've stripped anything, the problem seems to be lying in the newly authored VTS_01_xx.vob. On the original disc, the .ifo points out that it has 4 pgc's and 4 vob-id's (2,3,4&5). When reauthored, it has the exact same layout, except the vob-id's starts at 1. Therefore (probably) it won't start in it's menu, but with the main movie. And this is probably also why the dvd-player hangs as soon as I've pressed the menu-button.
After reading a some posts and tips, I tried to alter the vob-id's with VobEdit, but it claims that these item are not editable.
Any thoughts, hints or tips anyone?

[oddyseus]

I must agree with trilight. U mustn't strip menus of their languages. Sometimes they r linked to a movie menu and stripping them can severely impair the playability of the final dvd.

In a personal example by stripping the french menu ina movie led in to the dissapearance of 3 chapters in it.

So don't strip anything on the menus.

[TRILIGHT]

Originally posted by Snowface
Well I'm back with the same problem. I've re-read all the guides I could find.
If you follow the UberGuide faithfully from beginning to end, you will have a working backup of this disc, I assure you.

But the problem doesn't seem to be that I've stripped anything, the problem seems to be lying in the newly authored VTS_01_xx.vob. On the original disc, the .ifo points out that it has 4 pgc's and 4 vob-id's (2,3,4&5). When reauthored, it has the exact same layout, except the vob-id's starts at 1. Therefore (probably) it won't start in it's menu, but with the main movie. And this is probably also why the dvd-player hangs as soon as I've pressed the menu-button.
The problem is almost definitely that you've stripped something. The VOBID numbers not being the same is not a problem. The structure is what you are concerned with recreating; not necessarily the same identical numbers as you've mentioned.

After reading a some posts and tips, I tried to alter the vob-id's with VobEdit, but it claims that these item are not editable. Any thoughts, hints or tips anyone?
You've read misleading posts and tips then. Any experienced "full backup" person will tell you to stay completely away from VobEdit and not to attempt "stripping" things at all. I don't mean to keep repeating myself but I'll say it again. If you follow the UberGuide faithfully from beginning to end, you will have a full working backup of this disc. All the information you need is there in the guide and the "tips and tricks" I wrote.

[Snowface]

The thing is, after the advise that I shouldn't strip the menu's, I copied back the originals. So it's exactly like my backup folder from Smartripper again.
The only thing I need to do is to re-encode the vts_01_xx.vob since it's around 6 gb and needs to become around 4 gb. This contains the 4 chains and starts at vobid 2. I know it sounds like a very basic problem, but somehow it never seems to work on a rw, eventhough the layout is exactly like the original, except it's vob-id