Chapters and Extras

[NooNoo]

Ok, I think I have got the hang of dvd2svcd.. but I have a couple of questions.

I have ripped 8 dvd's choosing different settings for various things. One thing I can't seem to get my head round is the image creation bit.

The images create fine except that chapters are somewhat hit and miss. If I use vcdxbuild - the chapters just don't work. If I use vcdimager the chapters only work on the computer - not on the Yukai dvd player. If I don't make images and use vcdeasy to put chapters in every n minutes they work fine on both the computer and the dvd player - but of course they are not the chapters that were on the original dvd.

So my question is, where is the chapter information that dvd2svcd ripped from the dvd stored and how should it be used to create the images?

Edit - I have read the faqs - it merely glides over the subject and says the chapter info is in the cue file - well good... but I need to know how it got there :D

Edit - I have found dvd2svcd chapters.ini Is the information here the original chapters from the DVD?

My other query is about the "extras" for instance, the second dvd with outtakes and other stuff.. is this transferable to svcd? Is it worth the time and effort?

Thanks for any pointers.

[bowserjr]

I am sorry I don't have the answers to your questions,but I would like to ask you a question rather than the whole forum becuase it sounds like you already have the answer.

I am trying to back up my Treasures of Disney DVD: Mickey Mouse in Living Color. I am using DVD2SVCD. My problem is that each cartoon is considered in indidual movie track rather than a chapter. I don't want to rip and convert each individual track and burn them on to a cd. I would rather have all the cartoons together on one or two svcd's. I have already try ripping the vob and renaming than and then combining them but that doesn't work. I heard you have to use VCD easy to accomplish the task I am trying to do. Can you give me a hand with this?

[idbirch2]

@ NooNoo

The 'chapters.ini' file only contains chapters in frames (I think. Whatever it is it isn't in hh:mm:ss) for use in CCE so you wouldn't be able to use this in VCDEasy, however, the latest build of DVD2SVCD always creates a DVD Maestro chapters file for those of us that convert to DVD-R. If you open this with notepad you'll find all the chapter times to the nearest 100th of a second.

Now I don't use VCD Easy but I assume it has the option to manually input times as chapter points - if it doesn't its crap.

I've never had a problem with the chapters in VCDXBuild/CDRWin so I assume its your player not liking discs created from bins/cues. Have you tried the old trick of mounting the .bin and .cue using Daemon Tools then using CloneCD to copy it?

Oh and extras discs usually aren't worth converting to SVCD, even the ones that are only 1 VTS set will almost definitely be multi-PGC with a high dependancy on menus - I wouldn't bother. Do yourself a favour and get a DVD Burner - they go for less than £200 now. Extras discs are almost always DVD5s meaning they can be directly copied with no effort.

@Bowserjr

You could set up a batch job to do what you want there - I can't be bothered to go into all that though as its all over the forum like a rash - do a search. You'd end up with a SCVD compliant mpeg for each episode so just use Nero and a simple menu or whatever you usually use to author it.

[GreenDrazi]

Get the program ChapterXtractor from the downloads section of Doom9 and open up the .IFO file that was ripped to your hard drive.
Go to the format tab in ChapterXtractor and set the Presets to SVCD format (or "Format" Chapter %c = %hh:%mm:%ss:%cc, if it's not there already).
Select the correct "Title" and make sure your FPS match your final output mpeg FPS.
Right click on the chapters and then select "copy".
In VCDEasy, you can now "paste" the correct chapter points under the Chapters section that the original DVD used.

If you want to compare the original DVD chapters with the ones created by DVD2SVCD from the chapters.ini file, you need to set up the "Format" in ChapterXtractor as (Chapter00%C=%f) and then open the .IFO file.

Be careful to use the same (or none for both, which is what I do) "Offsets."

[NooNoo]

Originally posted by GreenDrazi
Get the program ChapterXtractor from the downloads section of Doom9 and open up the .IFO file that was ripped to your hard drive.
Go to the format tab in ChapterXtractor and set the Presets to SVCD format (or "Format" Chapter %c = %hh:%mm:%ss:%cc, if it's not there already).
Select the correct "Title" and make sure your FPS match your final output mpeg FPS.
Right click on the chapters and then select "copy".
In VCDEasy, you can now "paste" the correct chapter points under the Chapters section that the original DVD used.

If you want to compare the original DVD chapters with the ones created by DVD2SVCD from the chapters.ini file, you need to set up the "Format" in ChapterXtractor as (Chapter00%C=%f) and then open the .IFO file.

Be careful to use the same (or none for both, which is what I do) "Offsets."

Greendrazi, thank you for your reply and easy to follow instructions. Will post again when I have downloaded and played - first I have a tbird to do battle with.


IDBirch2: The point of using svcd is that a cdr cost about 20pence - or 30 cents - and if the children destroy them I will not be forking out for a new dvd movie. While I appreciate that dvd burners are around £200 and the media are "only" £5 each I think my budget priorities lean toward buying school clothes and food.

The none of the chapters ever appear on the cds I have since discovered, except when you use vcdeasy. That goes for playing back on computer or on the standalone player.

DVD2SVCD produces remarkable results and I am extremely pleased with it, it is just the chapters that seem to not want to play ball. The work around will be GreenDrazi's excellent suggest I suspect.