Inserting Chapters Only At Each Episode’s Starting Point Guide

[2COOL]

Inserting Chapters Only at each Episodes’ Starting Point

Here’s the scenario. You combined your individual episode titlesets into one titleset, renumbered VOBs, and create new IFOs in IFOedit. Now you have one movie with chapters at every cell of each episode. You want to just have a chapter at the start of each episode so that when you skip forward from chapter 1 (episode 1), the next chapter that will play next will be episode 2 instead of chapter 2 of episode 1. Here’s a way to do it.

Tools I used:
IFOedit 0.95

With assumption that your movie is Title 1 and residing in Titleset 1 (VTS_01)

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1. Go to your VTS_01_0.IFO / VTS Overview / PGC_1 (program chain). You should see this like my example DVD below. I also noted the cells that each episode begins in. You should also write down which cells that your episodes start at on your notepad for reference.

PGC_1 (program chain): [Title(TTN): 1]

[Ch 01] [Pg 01] [Cell 01] [V/C Id: 1/ 2] Episode 1
[Ch 02] [Pg 02] [Cell 02] [V/C Id: 2/ 1]
[Ch 03] [Pg 03] [Cell 03] [V/C Id: 3/ 1]
[Ch 04] [Pg 04] [Cell 04] [V/C Id: 4/ 1]
[Ch 05] [Pg 05] [Cell 05] [V/C Id: 5/ 1] Episode 2
[Ch 06] [Pg 06] [Cell 06] [V/C Id: 6/ 1]
[Ch 07] [Pg 07] [Cell 07] [V/C Id: 7/ 1]
[Ch 08] [Pg 08] [Cell 08] [V/C Id: 8/ 1]
[Ch 09] [Pg 09] [Cell 09] [V/C Id: 9/ 1]
[Ch 10] [Pg 10] [Cell 10] [V/C Id: 10/ 1] Episode 3
[Ch 11] [Pg 11] [Cell 11] [V/C Id: 11/ 1]
[Ch 12] [Pg 12] [Cell 12] [V/C Id: 12/ 1]
[Ch 13] [Pg 13] [Cell 13] [V/C Id: 13/ 1]
[Ch 14] [Pg 14] [Cell 14] [V/C Id: 14/ 1]
[Ch 15] [Pg 15] [Cell 15] [V/C Id: 15/ 1]
_______________________________________________________________
2. Now go to your VTS_01_0.IFO / VTS_PGCITI / PGC_VTS_1 / PGC Program Map section. We must make Ch 5 your second chapter and Chapter 10 as your third. According to step 1, Ch 5 is in cell 5 and Ch 10 is in Cell 10. For the rest, just change them to a value of zeros. Edit as follows. Below is our example’s before and after changes.

Before:

Program_1: Entry cell number 1
Program_2: Entry cell number 2
Program_3: Entry cell number 3
Program_4: Entry cell number 4
Program_5: Entry cell number 5
Program_6: Entry cell number 6
Program_7: Entry cell number 7
Program_8: Entry cell number 8
Program_9: Entry cell number 9
Program_10: Entry cell number 10
Program_11: Entry cell number 11
Program_12: Entry cell number 12
Program_13: Entry cell number 13
Program_14: Entry cell number 14
Program_15: Entry cell number 15

After:

Program_1: Entry cell number 1
Program_2: Entry cell number 5
Program_3: Entry cell number 10
Program_4: Entry cell number 0
Program_5: Entry cell number 0
Program_6: Entry cell number 0
Program_7: Entry cell number 0
Program_8: Entry cell number 0
Program_9: Entry cell number 0
Program_10: Entry cell number 0
Program_11: Entry cell number 0
Program_12: Entry cell number 0
Program_13: Entry cell number 0
Program_14: Entry cell number 0
Program_15: Entry cell number 0

Now if you go to your VTS Overview, your chapters PGC_1 Program chain will now look like example below.

[Ch 01] [Pg 01] [Cell 01] [V/C Id: 1/ 2]
................[Cell 02] [V/C Id: 2/ 1]
................[Cell 03] [V/C Id: 3/ 1]
................[Cell 04] [V/C Id: 4/ 1]
[Ch 02] [Pg 02] [Cell 05] [V/C Id: 5/ 1]
................[Cell 06] [V/C Id: 6/ 1]
................[Cell 07] [V/C Id: 7/ 1]
................[Cell 08] [V/C Id: 8/ 1]
................[Cell 09] [V/C Id: 9/ 1]
[Ch 03] [Pg 03] [Cell 10] [V/C Id: 10/ 1]
................[Cell 11] [V/C Id: 11/ 1]
................[Cell 12] [V/C Id: 12/ 1]
................[Cell 13] [V/C Id: 13/ 1]
................[Cell 15] [V/C Id: 15/ 1]
_______________________________________________________________
3. Save VTS_01_0.IFO
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4. Go to VIDEO_TS.IFO / VMG_PTT_SRP. Go to your title that contains your movie. It should be Title 1 since you joined your episode VOBs. Edit Number of chapters (PTTs) to 3 since my example has 3 chapters. Double left click on line and enter new value.

OLD > Title_1: Number of chapters (PTTs)...15
NEW > Title_1: Number of chapters (PTTs)...3
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5. Save VIDEO_TS.IFO
_______________________________________________________________
6. Get VTS Sectors
_______________________________________________________________
7. DVDPlay to preview and test.

[Chetwood]

I've done these steps as described in your guide on my 3 ep Buffy DVD to reduce 45 chapters to 3:


Changing cell numbers in VTS_01_0.IFO / VTS_PGCITI / PGC_VTS_1 / PGC Program Map
VIDEO_TS.IFO / VMG_PTT_SRP Number of chapters (PTTs)…… 3
Get vts_sectors


Now when I play this DVD in PowerDVD I can jump to each ep as planned. However, when I open this DVD in DVD2ONE to downsize it to make it fit on a DVD-R DVD2ONE reports 47 chapters instead of 3! Only after DVD2ONE has resized it to 4.7 GB and I open this downsized DVD again it shows 3 chapters as it should.

So, is it possible there are some other settings one should manipulate in the ifo file? Obviously DVD2ONE seems to think there are more chapters than there are. I wanna verify this cause as explained in this thread (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=49551) the use of Instant Copy for downsizing such a manipulated DVD messes up the chapters completely.

So either Instant Copy has a bug that messes up ifos or I'm missing out on some settings Ifoedit needs to manipulate. Any suggestions?

[2COOL]

Originally posted by Chetwood
However, when I open this DVD in DVD2ONE to downsize it to make it fit on a DVD-R DVD2ONE reports 47 chapters instead of 3! Only after DVD2ONE has resized it to 4.7 GB and I open this downsized DVD again it shows 3 chapters as it should.

If you did the chapter edit and then used DVD2One, it will of course detect 47 chapters because we didn't edit anything in your VTS_01_0.IFO / PTT_SRPTI. The PTT_SRPTI contains pointers to the tables for each title, and is indexed by VTS_TTN (title number within VTS). Maybe this is why DVD2One is detecting 47 chapters.

So either Instant Copy has a bug that messes up ifos or I'm missing out on some settings Ifoedit needs to manipulate. Any suggestions?

Hmmm...I suggest that if you are going to use any DVD shrinking programs in your backup procedure, use the chapter edit guide afterwards.

[mikewillnot]

With Wallace & Gromit, 3-episodes: I gave up trying to get the menus to work (THANKS for the assist, 2COOL; learning, learning). Instead I went to a movie-only rip, and used the method in this thread. Works GREAT on my PC. On the standalone, though, it hangs on the transition from Ch2 to Ch3. Also, it hangs when the NEXT button is pressed while anywhere in Ch2. I retraced my steps, and all seems OK, and according to this guide, and I can't see why this might be happening. Note: with all chapters, the last cell is a blank, about .15 seconds long. I don't know if this is a factor, but it doesn't cause a problem at the 1-2 transition. The 2-3 transition is the only one that hangs. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[2COOL]

Originally posted by mikewillnot
With Wallace & Gromit, 3-episodes: I gave up trying to get the menus to work (THANKS for the assist, 2COOL; learning, learning). Instead I went to a movie-only rip, and used the method in this thread.
How did you do your movie-only procedure? Did you combine your vobs prior or was all your episodes already in one PGC title?
On the standalone, though, it hangs on the transition from Ch2 to Ch3. Also, it hangs when the NEXT button is pressed while anywhere in Ch2. I retraced my steps, and all seems OK, and according to this guide, and I can't see why this might be happening.me too.:confused: Do you have cell commands present by any chance in your movie PGC?

[mikewillnot]

Originally posted by 2COOL
How did you do your movie-only procedure? Did you combine your vobs prior or was all your episodes already in one PGC title?
I don't have good notes, and it was a while ago. If memory serves, I took the original files (DVDdecrypter) and did a movie-only strip with IFOedit, creating new IFOs. I don't have the originals on my system anymore, but the original structure had several different PGC's (one per episode, + others); the output was all-in-one, with a chapter per cell.

me too.:confused: Do you have cell commands present by any chance in your movie PGC?Not that I know of, if I'm looking in the right place. In VTS_01_0.IFO, VTS_PGCITI, VTS_PGC_1 (of 1), there is no PGC command table, and no cell commands.

I'm thinking I might try adjusting the entry cell for Ch3, forward or backward by one (Ch2 ends with a very short blank cell.) That will take time, though (more test burns, and more tests on the standalone).

[wizrdman]

Hi I have training dvds that have 7-8 vob or indv movies and cant get them to copy. can I combine them into one large vob(using what program) and How do I make an info file that will let me burn it? Also chapter marks at each ep. like you decribed would be nic Any help really Appreciated Thank wizrdman20@yahoo.com

[2COOL]

Originally posted by wizrdman
Hi I have training dvds that have 7-8 vob or indv movies and cant get them to copy. can I combine them into one large vob(using what program) and How do I make an info file that will let me burn it? Also chapter marks at each ep. like you decribed would be nic Any help really Appreciated Thank wizrdman20@yahoo.com
These training DVDs that you have should be commercially authored. I'm assuming they were professional done. Let's work on why you can't copy these DVDs instead of trying to combine the VOBs yet. What method were you using to "copy" your DVDS. Are they all under 4.36GB?

[wizrdman]

I bought DVD95Copy and used smartripper in file mode to rip all the files 7 gigs, and then used DVD95 to compress them down to 4.3g and burned in nero in UDH/ISo mode Worked great. Thanks

[mikewillnot]

Back to Wallace & Gromit. Progress. On a hunch, I created a 4th Chapter, at an arbitrary cell midway through the third, and re-burned. I've had similar problems with Visual Basic routines, where a problem occured at a last point in a series of iterations, and inserting more points moved the problem. That's what happened here. When I play the test burn in my standalone, it hangs on the 3/4 break, not on the 2/3 break like before. I.e., it hangs on the last break. I could work around this problem by putting the fourth chapter point at the last cell. That seems like a band-aid, though; I wonder what the real problem, and the correct fix, would be.

[2COOL]

@mikewillnot

If you still have your DVD for testing, try these steps out in this guide (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=48421), starting at step 11.

[mikewillnot]

Yep, my last cell is actually less than a quarter of a second. Right-clicking on it, though, as in the instruction
14. Select your last cell by right-clicking and select delete cell.
didn't do anything; right-click menu not available. I clicked on Delete Playback, though, and the time changed to zero. Is that the same thing, do you think? If not, could you say again how to "delete" the cell?

[2COOL]

Taken from this guide (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=48421)...

_______________________________________________

13. Go to VTS_01_0.IFO / VTS_PGCITI / VTS_PGC_1 / PGC Program Map section.
_______________________________________________
14. Select your last cell by right-clicking and select "delete program" option.
_______________________________________________

I used 0.95 and right-clicking does produce a pop-up menu with 3 options. I had an error in my guide as it stated "delete cell" when it should be "delete program". Guide corrected.

didn't do anything; right-click menu not available. I clicked on Delete Playback, though, and the time changed to zero. Is that the same thing, do you think?
No, you were not at the same place as mentioned in step 13.

[mikewillnot]

This is still a bit confusing. Let me do this more carefully. With this flick, Wallace & Gromit, I have a three-episode movie-only version, with newly created IFOs, that was my starting point using this guide. In VTS_01_0.IFO / VTS_PGCITI / VTS_PGC_1 / PGC Program Map section, it showed a total of 35 programs, and 48 cells. Following this guide, that section ends up reading

Program_1: Entry Cell Number 1
Program_2: Entry Cell Number 15
Program_3: Entry Cell Number 32
--- AND
Program_[4-35]: Entry Cell Number 0

Cell 48 doesn't show up in the PGC Program Map section. Below that section, there is a "Cell Playback:" section, with detailed information for each of the 48 cells. None of your "delete" options are available there. Below that, there is a "Cell Position in VOB" table. None are available there, either.

Back to the PGC Program Map section, I know from the VTS Overview that the last cell, 48, is the problem one, .15 seconds. The last program on the list, though, is 35, with entry cell ID 0. I don't remember if the original Program 35 originally included more than one cell or not. If I right-click on Program 35, I get the "Delete Program" option you described. My question, I guess, is how do I get at that particular cell?

One possibility is like in step 2, above, change Program 4 (or possibly Program 35) so that it has entry cell 48, and then try the "Delete Program" on that. Do you think that would do the trick?

In the process, I somehow screwed up my IFOs completely, and I'm re-creating them right now. I'll test the idea out when it's done.

---UPDATE---
Actually, recreating IFOs and going through this guide again opened up a new possibility: doing the other guide FIRST (that is, steps 11+), BEFORE these steps -- while the Program Map is in its original form. Doing this, I first deleted Program/Cell 48, then re-did the chapter structure as in this guide. I'll test it tonight & see what happens. ODD NOTE: I ended up with 47 items in VTS_01_0.IFO / VTS_PGCITI / VTS_PGC_1 / PGC Program Map section, but still showing 48 in the VTS Overview. I'm thinking I'll delete playback on 48 in the Overview, just to be safe.

---2ND UPDATE ---
Nevermind. This (deleting program) didn't fix the hang problem. I don't know what's causing it. I'm just going to insert a fake chapter at the end, and live with it.

[r0lZ]

I come back to the problem above with Wallace & Gromit.
I have the same problem: my Sony standalone player hangs on entry of chapters when (and only when) chapters are coming from different VOB files, joined together with the VOBEdit's Join Clips function, and reauthored with IfoEdit.
I have the problem with original VOB files coming directly from original DVDs, with VOBs created with DVD Lab, and with VOBs edited with Womble MPEG VCR.
The only software I have used in all cases is VOBEdit (and IFOEdit to recreate the IFOs). So, I must assumes that this is a VOBEdit bug in the Join Clips function.

Questions:
Someone has a solution or workaround for this bug?
Is it an alternative method to join VOB files together?