Where are the number of vts_xx_x.vob files declared?

[acoustic]

In a vts set, where is it declared how
many vts_xx_1....N.vob files are supposed to be present?

I assume it is somewhere in the vts_xx_0.ifo file, but I've looked with ifoedit and can't find it.

In particular, I have a vts set that has files vts_03_1.vob,
vts_03_2.vob, and vts_03_3.vob and I can't find anyplace in
vts_03_0.ifo where it says there should be 3 vob files (in addition
to vts_03_0.vob) in the vts set.


Thanks for any help.

Acoustic

[maa]

vts VOBs are considered to be ONE file.
The vts_0x_0.ifo contains the sector, cell and chapter information.
Film Vobs start with 1.VOB and the 0.VOB is the menu.
The Video_ts.ifo has the information about how many VTS are on the DVD and also the chapter and cell information for each.
Both IFOs contain the controll commands.

[acoustic]

But where is it in the vts_xx_0.ifo file that it is declared how many
movie vob files (vts_xx_1.vob, vts_xx_2.vob, etc) are in that vts????

And, how do I change it to indicate there should be no movie vts vob
files in the set (I just want to have a vts_xx_0.vob menu vob)??

From experiments I've done, it seems virtually certain that the info
about how many movie vob files are in a vts is contained in the
vts_xx_0.ifo file for that set.

I don't want to get into the details of why I need this because it
would be lengthy and possibly confusing, but until I can find out
how to change a vts_xx_0.ifo file to indicate that there are NO
movie vobs in the vts, I can't successfully burn a dvdr that I need
to burn.

[2COOL]

@acoustic

Given your situation through your PM, this is what I would do with your VTS_03.

1. Use this guide (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=50245) to bypass all your Titles in your VTS_03.
_________________________________________
2. Save your IFO and BUP
_________________________________________
3. Test play in IFOedit.
_________________________________________
4. If bypassing works, delete your VTS_03_1 to 3.VOBs.
_________________________________________
5. Get VTS Sectors
_________________________________________
6. Optional: You could use MenuEdit to clean up your menus so that whatever buttons that play whatever was in your VTS_03, would be disabled.
_________________________________________
7. Nero’s going to complain about reallocation errors but I’ve been using Imgtool (non-classic) along with Nero’s API a lot and it works. If Imgtool gives you a warning for “reallocation”, just uncheck your “Reallocate VIDEO_TS Structure” checkbox and press start burn. Don’t worry about the message warning about making coasters…this should work.

Another way, you could go about this is using DVDShrink (freeware). You mentioned that you just need to get rid of your VTS_03 so that it can fit on your DVDR. You should experienced very little quality loss. Just set your Title(s) in your VTS_03 to “Still Pictures” and uncheck any audio and subtitles. When done, you can use Steps 1 to 3 above.

[Chowskie]

If u use InstantCopy, uncheck the Title that contains VTS_03*. Your output will only has VTS_03_0.IFO, VTS_03_0.BUP, and VTS_03_0.VOB.

[2COOL]

Originally posted by Chowskie
If u use InstantCopy, uncheck the Title that contains VTS_03*. Your output will only has VTS_03_0.IFO, VTS_03_0.BUP, and VTS_03_0.VOB.
@Chowskie

With no VTS_03_1.VOB, do you know what happens when the untouched PGC Command Table executes the commands to play a Title clip that's not there anymore?

[acoustic]

2cool: thanks very much for info.

I do already use your method of "bypassing
the title" to get rid of playing junk I don't want and that method
is brilliant and one of the best "tricks" I've learned since I started
doing dvd's.

Unfortunately, it does not help with my current problem where
vts_03_0.ifo says there are supposed to be on the disc the files
vts_03_1.vob, vts_03_2.vob, and vts_03_3.vob but they can't be on the
disc because there is not enough room for them on the disc.

If ever I could solve that problem, then I would use the "bypass
title" method to avoid playing the titles that were no longer there.
But to even get to that point, I have to first find away around the
problem I'm having where I can't even burn a good disc.

I need to keep vts_03_0.ifo/bup/vob, by the way, because even though the main movie is in vts_01, the menu selection to pick the "audio commentary" for the main movie is in vts_03. I would like this
menu selection to work (it freezes up the dvd, even in powerdvd, if
I have no vts_03 present) even though I could just not use it and
instead use the button on the remote control of my dvd player.

And, I've had these types of problems before with other dvds where
it would have been very nice to find a way to keep a vts_xx_0.ifo/bup/vob but dump the related vts_xx_1...N.vob files and
so it would be a very useful "trick" to know how to do this.

Here are my related questions about Nero and Imgtool use:

You said you use the Nero api along with imgtool and that lets you
burn discs ok. Do you know for sure if those discs play in most
standalone consumer dvd players as opposed to playing on a pc with, say, powerdvd?

I can make Nero stop giving me error messages such as "missing file
vts_03_1.vob", etc, just by telling Nero to burn a "data dvd" instead
of a "video dvd (or whatever)". Nero then burns the disc and when I
compare all files on the burned disc to the originals on the hard
drive, they all match up exactly. Yet, anytime I've aborted Nero
error messages that way, those discs will not play in standalone
consumer players.

So, are you saying that using Imgtool with the Nero api does something
differently then using Nero in "data disc" mode so dvd discs will
play ok in standalone players? If it does, what do you think it is
fixing up that Nero misses?

I could try another way to use the vts_03_0.ifo/bup/vob files along
with the related vts_03_1...vob files that might work:

I could use ifoedit to "split" vts_03 and try to split it so the
first section of the split (usually referred to as the "disc 1" split)
would just be very small so it would fit onto my dvd along with the
big movie in vts_01.

But, my vts_03 has 3 pgc's in it.

So,here is one more related question about Ifoedit.

How is ifoedit supposed to perform the split when there are multiple
pgc's in a vts?

For example, if I pick the split point halfway into pgc 1, does that
mean the first disc will get just the first half of pgc 1 and the 2nd
disc will get the last half of pgc 1 plus all of pgc 2 and pgc 3?

Another example: if I pick the split point halfway into pgc 3, does
that mean that disc 1 gets all of pgc 1 and pgc 2 and the first half
of pgc 3 and disc 2 just gets the last half of pgc 3?

I've had a lot of trouble trying to get ifoedit to split multiple
pgc vts sets in any kind of predictable way.

Thank you very, very much once again,
Acoustic

[2COOL]

Originally posted by acoustic
Here are my related questions about Nero and Imgtool use:

You said you use the Nero api along with imgtool and that lets you
burn discs ok. Do you know for sure if those discs play in most
standalone consumer dvd players as opposed to playing on a pc with, say, powerdvd?

I can make Nero stop giving me error messages such as "missing file
vts_03_1.vob", etc, just by telling Nero to burn a "data dvd" instead
of a "video dvd (or whatever)". Nero then burns the disc and when I
compare all files on the burned disc to the originals on the hard
drive, they all match up exactly. Yet, anytime I've aborted Nero
error messages that way, those discs will not play in standalone
consumer players.

So, are you saying that using Imgtool with the Nero api does something
differently then using Nero in "data disc" mode so dvd discs will
play ok in standalone players? If it does, what do you think it is
fixing up that Nero misses?CouJo, author of ImgTool, frequently reads the Burning Forum and this question would be targeted for him. He might have an answer to it already. As for the coaster warning, I took a leap of faith and got alot of working backups that works on more than 5 brand name players.

As for shrinking, not deleting, use DVDShrink. If what you say is true then keep everything at No Compression except your Titles in your VTS_03. Those you set to Automatic or Still Pictures.

[Chowskie]

Originally posted by 2COOL
@Chowskie

With no VTS_03_1.VOB, do you know what happens when the untouched PGC Command Table executes the commands to play a Title clip that's not there anymore?

Yup, if u run the result u got from IC in IC again, u will get "The System can't find the file specified (80070002)".
:D

[Chowskie]

acoustic,

I know u wanted to get rid of vts_0x_1-n.vob while keeping vts_0x_0.vob, vts_0x_0.ifo, and vts_0x_0.bup. Instead, why don't u just use IFOEdit to strip down vts_0x_1-n.vob :confused: Although they still there after stripping, their size will be so small (a few KB) that leaving them alone won't hurt at all.

[acoustic]

I did try to cut down the size of the vobs with ifoedit. There were
about 200 vobids and I found a small one, vobid 1 and I stripped
all vobids except vobid 1.

In ifoedit, I did "vob extras" and checked options "strip vobids",
"correct original ifo files" and "correct vobunit pointers...".

Ifoedit did produce a small vts_03_1.vob and vts_03_0.ifo/bup to
go with it.

I used those and I thought everything was going to be ok, but unfortunately it was not.

When I tried to burn disc with Nero, Nero said "error, vob files
do not go with ifo file".

I was very surprised by this. That was the first time I ever stripped
files with ifoedit and there was a problem.

2cool has a guide to creating blanked out vobs. I wonder if I could
do that and if that would solve my problem?????

acoustic

[Dave82]

@acoustic

I carefully examined your stuff, and I think Nero asks for the 3 VOBs because you put in your folder your original IFOs (and they point to sectors that aren't present if you delete the VOBs).
Someone might say: what about 2COOL's guide on bypassing titles?
I think the answer is: it cannot exist a VTS_0x._0.VOB without at least VTS_0x_1.VOB (it can be also a dummy VOB), and so Nero search for the sector declared in your IFOs if it finds a 0.VOB. Infact there can be titlesets without the 0.VOB, but I've never seen one of them only with the 0.VOB (please correct me if I'm wrong ;) )
So my suggestion is: follow 2COOL's guide you mentioned and then this guide (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=60542) (by 2COOL, of course!).
I think it should work, let me know.

[acoustic]

It was suggested in a post above that I just shrink down the 1-N.vob
files in size with ifoedit. I had already thought of that and tried
it and it did not work because I got Nero errors.

However, I left out some details so as not to make the problem too
complicated. What I did not mention was that this whole problem
started when dvdx copy screwed up a split (it screws up splits a
lot). That made the disc playback freeze when I tried the menu
selection for the "audio commentary". I then fixed that by replacing
the vts_03_0.ifo/bup files from dvdx copy with those from the
original disc and adding back in the missing file from the original
disc vts_03_0.vob. That stopped the freezups, but then I got the
Nero error "missing file vts_03_1.vob".

What I neglected to mention was that I was working with the files
that dvdx copy created for disc 1.

I went back and used all the files from the original dvd. This time,
when I again stripped the size of the vts_03_1->N.vob files with
ifoedit, everything worked and I no longer got any Nero errors and
I've burned a Nero image file.

The way I stripped down the size of the vob files using ifoedit was
to "strip vobids". I picked one vobid that had a very short running
time and that was the only vobid I kept-all the rest got dumped.

By the way, I tried stripping all the vobids, but that did not work-
ifoedit gave error message about having an invalid vob file. So, it
was necessary to keep at least 1 vobid.

That method worked even though there were 21 pgcs in the vts_03_0.ifo
file.

It was much easier than the guides here that tell how to "blank out
vobs". The vobid I kept only had a running time of 15 video frames
which is close enough to be blank for me. I think in most cases this
method will work. Only if there were no vobids that were small would
it fail.

Acoustic

[Chowskie]

Cool! :D

[2COOL]

@acoustic

Originally posted by acoustic
The way I stripped down the size of the vob files using ifoedit was
to "strip vobids". I picked one vobid that had a very short running
time and that was the only vobid I kept-all the rest got dumped. You were lucky that your blank cell had its own unique VOB-ID then stripping out the others would be no problem. I've seen cases where a single VOB-ID is used throughout the PGCs, multiple or not. Yes, your way would also work if the conditions are right. There are many ways to do things. Keep in mind that in my single PGC guide, it is really quick to do when you already have a blank VOB with a V/C ID: 1/1 available. Just delete the original VOBs, replace, rename, and strip streams. If you stripped your streams in your original VOBs, depending on how big they are, it may take some time. We've all went through the VOB Extras procedure so you know what I mean. ;)