Maestro: how to denote audio/sub stream as director's comments?

[Chetwood]

The 2nd ep of my DVD has 3 audio and 3 subtitle streams:

eng
ger
director's comments

How can I denote the third strems as such? The Maestro User Guide says:


SPRM 17: Initial language code extension for audio
SPRM 17 is rarely used but has several values. It can be used to flag the audio stream as
audio for the visually impaired and director’s commentary.
Contents SPRM 17 Value
Not specified 0
Normal Captions 1
Audio for visually impaired 2
Director’s comments 1 3
Director’s comments 2 4


However, I still don't know how to set this flag. Do I have to use a command sequence and if so would this work on my DVD that has no menus at all but only 3 eps in as many title sets? TIA.

[oddyseus]

This ia an interesting question. Asked alot in board but never seen a satisfying answer.

Actually dont think this can be done in Maestro. SPRM registers r initialized during playback. U can read from them by can't write them. It a peek and not poke registers, for anyone that remembers BASIC.

I really would like to know if this can be done.

Currently I am utilizing ifoedit for this.

[Chetwood]

Originally posted by oddyseus
Currently I am utilizing ifoedit for this.

Any straightforward tips on how this could be done? Thanks!

[mpucoder]

Guys - SPRMs tell you user preferences and current conditions. http://mpucoder.kewlhair.com/DVD/sprm.html
For example SPRM17 tellsss you the "preferred audio language extension". If you write commands to select audio streams you can ultilize this information to make the default choice, or highlight the default in a menu, etc.

The audio attributes http://mpucoder.kewlhair.com/DVD/ifo.html#audatt describe each audio track's language and extension. This is what you want to set. The reason the page says see SPRM #17 is for a list of the values, and I'll change the page to make that clearer.

I don't have Maestro available right now, but if it can be done it will be in the same place that you enter the track's language.

As for how to do it in IfoEdit, open up the ifo for the titleset (vts), open VTSI_MAT, scroll down to "Number of audio streams in VTSTT_VOBS, then find the track you want to change. Double click on the track (where it says, eg, "Aud_1: audio attributes:"), a dialog box will open up with among other things, a dropdown list of extensions. Make your change, but you will need the value for later, so click on any other table, then back to VTSI_MAT and find the entry again. Make note of the sixth byte (third from the end). SAVE the file.

Now the tricky part, the part most people miss, you must do this again in the copy kept in VIDEO_TS.IFO, and here you have to find the correct copy. Open up the file, open VMG_VTS_ATRT, scroll down to the correct title set (vts), find the track again. Now when you double click only a hex editor will appear, so alter the sixth byte to match what you wrote down earlier.

[Chetwood]

Originally posted by mpucoder
The audio attributes http://mpucoder.kewlhair.com/DVD/ifo.html#audatt describe each audio track's language and extension. This is what you want to set. The reason the page says see SPRM #17 is for a list of the values, and I'll change the page to make that clearer.


Well, I was referring to the original Maestro manual (also the help file) and not to your pages. Anyway, thanks for your tips, that was exactly what I needed to make it work. I used your method on the subtitle stream as well, however, I could only select between

director's comments with medium sized characters
director's comments with large characters
director's comments for children

in Ifoedit.

So when I select the first and watch it with PowerDVD (no chance to burn it yet) I get this very large entry instead of the usual 'director's comments' that comes with original DVDs. It appears that there's not all DVD standard settings to be selected yet, maybe the next Ifoedit will cover this, gonna ask in the other forum.

[mpucoder]

I get the full list of options using IfoEdit0.95, including director's comments (normal, large, children's). What version are you using?

[Chetwood]

Originally posted by mpucoder
I get the full list of options using IfoEdit0.95, including director's comments (normal, large, children's). What version are you using?

The very same and I do get all these options I mentioned above. However, I thought there would be a simple, shorter option like 'director's comments' cause I cannot remember having seen any DVD with subtitles that read 'director's comments with medium sized characters'.

Gonna check it out today on my standalone to see what it displays.

[Chetwood]

Originally posted by Chetwood
Gonna check it out today on my standalone to see what it displays.

Well, not too suprisingly my standalone tells me 'english' only and does not mention that it's a director's comment so I guess the whole thing is purely academical ;)

Still, good to know how's it done in Ifoedit...