I Solved a Navigation Problem, But I Would Like Clarification on How

[farmer dan]

This is the old INTRO-MOVIE-OUTRO project. :eek: Please don't run. :D

The project is organized into two titlesets--VTS_01 and VTS_02. VTS_01 consists ofINTRO (PGC-1=Title 1)
MOVIE (PGC-2=Title 2) and VTS_02 consists of the OUTRO (Title 3).

After I had gotten everything together and it played completely through in IFO Edit and PowerDVD, I burned it. When I played it in the set top, VTS_01 played, but then the player stopped. Another player did the same thing.

I then revised the navigation three times. Each variation produced the same symptoms1. Played flawlessly in IFO Edit
2. Played flawlessly in PowerDVD--both from the hard drive and the burned disc
3. VTS_01 played in set top, but play stopped after the end of the movie
Tonight I changed the navigation again and it worked in the set top. I don't know why it should work with the current navigation and not with the others since the whole DVD played on the PC with no errors or stoppages whether I used the hard drive or the disc as the source of the files. If I can get an explanation of this phenomenon I would be grateful.

Here is the current navigation. I have excerpted the command tables from the appropriate tables. Additionally, I have added in red those commands that I tried before. I haven't cleaned everything up yet so there are vestiges of what I was doing. The "extra" commands are bypassed now. Also, DVD Lab uses GPreg<11> for its menu navigation. This register is irrelevant to my navigation problem.
First Play PGC Commands
1.Pre Command Set GPreg<0> mov (set-val)<1>
2.Pre Command If GPreg<1> == (cmp-val)<1><' then Goto line# 7
3.Pre Command Set GPreg<2> mov (set-val)<0>
4.Pre Command Set GPreg<3> mov (set-val)<0>
5.Pre Command Set GPreg<4> mov (set-val)<0>
6.Pre Command (JumpSS VMGM) Jump to VMG PGC: 1
7.Pre Command (JumpSS VMGM) Jump to VMG PGC: 2

LU_2 (English) PGC-Menu_1
1.Pre Command Set GPreg<11> mov (set-val)<1>
2.Pre Command (JumpSS VTSM) Jump to TitleSet(vts): 1, Title(ttn): 1, root-menu
LU_1 (English PGC-Menu_2 Commands
1.Pre Command Set GPreg<11> mov (set-val)<1>
2.Pre Command (JumpTT) Jump to Title: 3

VTS_1 Root Menu Commands
1.Pre Command If GPreg<1> == (cmp-val)<1><' then Goto line# 30
2.Pre Command If GPreg<11> == (cmp-val)<1><' then Goto line# 16
3.Pre Command If GPreg<11> == (cmp-val)<2><' then Goto line# 17
4.Pre Command If GPreg<11> == (cmp-val)<3><' then Goto line# 18
5.Pre Command If GPreg<11> == (cmp-val)<4><' then Goto line# 19
6.Pre Command If GPreg<11> == (cmp-val)<5><' then Goto line# 20
7.Pre Command If GPreg<11> == (cmp-val)<6><' then Goto line# 21
8.Pre Command If GPreg<11> == (cmp-val)<7><' then Goto line# 22
9.Pre Command If GPreg<11> == (cmp-val)<8><' then Goto line# 23
10.Pre Command If GPreg<11> == (cmp-val)<9><' then Goto line# 24
11.Pre Command If GPreg<11> == (cmp-val)<10><' then Goto line# 25
12.Pre Command If GPreg<11> == (cmp-val)<11><' then Goto line# 26
13.Pre Command If GPreg<11> == (cmp-val)<12><' then Goto line# 27
14.Pre Command If GPreg<11> == (cmp-val)<13><' then Goto line# 28
15.Pre Command If GPreg<11> == (cmp-val)<14><' then Goto line# 29
16.Pre Command (LinkPGCN) Link PGC 2
17.Pre Command (LinkPGCN) Link PGC 3
18.Pre Command (LinkPGCN) Link PGC 4
19.Pre Command (LinkPGCN) Link PGC 5
20.Pre Command (LinkPGCN) Link PGC 6
21.Pre Command (LinkPGCN) Link PGC 7
22.Pre Command (LinkPGCN) Link PGC 8
23.Pre Command (LinkPGCN) Link PGC 9
24.Pre Command (LinkPGCN) Link PGC 10
25.Pre Command (LinkPGCN) Link PGC 11
26.Pre Command (LinkPGCN) Link PGC 12
27.Pre Command (LinkPGCN) Link PGC 13
28.Pre Command (LinkPGCN) Link PGC 14
29.Pre Command (LinkPGCN) Link PGC 15
30.Pre Command (JumpSS FP) Jump to First-Play domain PGC
1.Post Command (JumpVTS_TT) Jump to Title: 1


VTS_01_PGC_2 (Title 2) Commands
1.Pre Command Set GPreg<11> mov (set-val)<4>
1.Post Command Set GPreg<1> mov (set-val)<1>
2.Post Command (CallSS VMGM) Call VMG PGC: 2 [Resume Cell: 1]
2.Post Command (CallSS VTSM) Call TitleSet root-menu [Resume Cell: 1]
2.Post Command (CallSS FP) [Resume Cell: 1]

The root question is, "Why did the two commands in red cause the player to stop while not stopping the play on the PC?" Of course, until something changes, I will use this navigation scheme in my multiple-title projects from now on. But if anyone can determine why this happened I sure would like to know.

Thanks.

[maa]

Hi there, still head banging ?

I disguarded jumps to first play after having similar troubles.
The only way I found to work 100% was jumping from VMG to First Play.
I know from what Oscar has said that hardly any player follows the specs exactly so its a bit trial and error here.

However - analyzing your command set is difficult because you havn't posted the the VMG Title Menu commands (PGC_1) I assume there is one command there - Jump to Title 1 ?
Also Title 3 is VTS_2 at the top of your post and below you call it PGC_2 Title3 ??

I see you bypass the GPreg<11> detection in the Root menu with your GPreg<1> switch after the film - neat - got line 30 - well thats what I mean with First Play jumps - don't always work !
If you had the First Play commands in VMG Title Menu that problem would be solved for sure.

IfoEdit and PowerDVD are much too forgiving and don't give reliable results unfortunately. We could do with a software player that is really tough of this!

[farmer dan]

...still head banging ?Yeah, but the big rocks are now little ones and my forehead has callouses so the task isn't quite so intimidating. It still feels good when I stop.

Thanks for pointint out the omissions and the typo-s. I fixed them.

maa wrote:
The only way I found to work 100% was jumping from VMG to First Play.Do you mean "First Play to VMG Menus back to First Play?" Or do you mean "First Play to VMG to VTSM to PGC and back to VMG?" I tried the latter and it didn't work. That's what you found when you commented on bypassing the GPreg<11> reset in the titleset 1 root menu. I'm going to change those commands to NOP since they're bypassed right now and I don't want to edit the GOTO commands again.

maa also wrote:
If you had the First Play commands in VMG Title Menu that problem would be solved for sure."VMG Title Menu" is an elusive term to me. There's no animal in the VMG Overview that's called a Title Menu. Is that VMG_FirstPlay_PGC_1 or VMG_LU_1_PGC (Menu_1)?

The bottom line is that it works. I don't think it's elegant, but it works and that's what counts.

[mpucoder]

Originally posted by farmer dan
"VMG Title Menu" is an elusive term to me. There's no animal in the VMG Overview that's called a Title Menu

Sure there is. It is usually the first menu in video_ts.ifo, listed after First play, and usually in a language unit. It will say "Menu 1: [Title-Menu]"

[maa]

Do you mean "First Play to VMG Menus back to First Play?" Or do you mean "First Play to VMG to VTSM to PGC and back to VMG?" Well I actually meant what I said - expanded - Jump to VMG then Jump to First Play
"VMG Title Menu" is an elusive term to me
It is a catagory mask thats usually set to 130 for VMGM_PGCI_UT / LU_x PGC_1. The value that Ifoedit then shows is 82 for some reason unknown to me. After a refesh you'll see "Title Menu" there. Thats why there are commands to jump to the VMG Title Menu in IfoEdits drop down.
(JumpSS VMGM) Jump to VideoManger Menu / Title Menu

[farmer dan]

MPUCODER and maa---AAaaaHhhhhhh

Now let me see if you two have taught me something. There are two reasons I never noticed this before: 1)when I first started I didn't look this close because I didn't even know what a Title Menu was :D . 2)when I started looking this close, I used VIDEO_TS.IFO's generated in DVD Fab. Take a look. These are both from the VIDEO_TS\VMGM_PGCI_UT of the same movie. The first was created by IFO Edit when I split the disc. The second by DVD Fab when I was working on my INTRO-MOVIE-OUTRO project. From IFO Edit

[00000000] Number of VMGM_PGCI_LUs (Language Units) 1 [0001]
[00000002] Unknown 0 [0000]
[00000004] End byte of VMGM_PGCI_LUs table 1887 [0000075f]

[00000008] LU_1: Video Manager Menu Language Code (ISO9660) en
language_1: English
[0000000b] LU_1: Video Manager Menu Existence mask 128 [80]
existant menus:
Root Menu: yes
Sub-picture Menu: no
Audio Menu: no
Angle Menu: no
Chapter (PTT) Menu: no
[0000000c] LU_1: Video Manager Menu Language start byte 16 [00000010]
[00000010] Number of Menu's for this LU (VMGM_PGCI_SRP) 5 [0005]
[00000012] Unknown 0 [0000]
[00000014] End byte of VMGM_LU_EA table 1871 [0000074f]

[00000018] Menu_1: VMGM_PGC Category Menu mask 82 [82]
details:
entry PGC: yes
Menu Type: Title-Menu
[00000019] Menu_1: VMGM_PGC Category 00 [00]
[0000001a] Menu_1: VMGM_PGC Category Parental ID mask 7f00 [7f00]
[0000001c] Menu_1: VMGM_PGCI start byte 48 [00000030]



From DVD Fab

[00000000] Number of VMGM_PGCI_LUs (Language Units) 1 [0001]
[00000002] Unknown 0 [0000]
[00000004] End byte of VMGM_PGCI_LUs table 559 [0000022f]

[00000008] LU_1: Video Manager Menu Language Code (ISO9660) en
language_1: English
[0000000b] LU_1: Video Manager Menu Existence mask 0 [00]
existant menus:
Root Menu: no
Sub-picture Menu: no
Audio Menu: no
Angle Menu: no
Chapter (PTT) Menu: no
[0000000c] LU_1: Video Manager Menu Language start byte 16 [00000010]
[00000010] Number of Menu's for this LU (VMGM_PGCI_SRP) 2
[00000012] Unknown 0 [0000]
[00000014] End byte of VMGM_LU_EA table 543 [0000021f]

[00000018] Menu_1: VMGM_PGC Category Menu mask 00 [00]
details:
entry PGC: no
Menu Type: entry only
[00000019] Menu_1: VMGM_PGC Category 00 [00]
[0000001a] Menu_1: VMGM_PGC Category Parental ID mask 0000 [0000]
[0000001c] Menu_1: VMGM_PGCI start byte 24 DVD Fab doesn't create a Title Menu--red highlighted. Did I miss this in your guide? :D

As I was looking at these IFO's tonight after I had read your posts, I discovered that the blue highlighted lines are editable--also the "Menu_1 VMGM_PGC Category Menu mask line." Does this mean that I can create any number of menus in the VMG that I want to AND designate Menu_1 as the Title Menu?

Now, if this is true, how does this ability expand my options? I know that Title Menus carry FBI warnings, but what else can you do with them?

Woofff. This is exciting. :eek: It just so happened that I have two VTS in this project and I thought that DVD Fab created an LU menu for each of those VTS. I didn't use IFO Edit to create the VMG because it would create only ONE LU Menu. Large conceptual error

Did the subject of this thread just change? If so, what do you two think of my starting a new thread with an appropriate subject line and a link to this thread?

[mpucoder]

@maa - for some reason IfoEdit shows VMGM_PGC category in hexadecimal for both "value (dec)" and "value (hex)" columns. VTSM_PGC and VTS_PGC are shown correctly. 0x82 = 130

@dan - you can create any number of menus you want in VMG, but only one "title menu", the others will be either sub-menus or dummy PGCs. This can be tricky in IfoEdit, though, as it does not automatically allocate space.
To turn DVDFab's menu into the title menu set the category to 0x82, and ALSO set the Language Unit's "Menu Existance mask" to 0x80 (to indicate the presence of a title menu). IfoEdit will then, incorrectly, say there is a Root Menu.

@Derrow - a few more cosmetic bugs to fix:(

[maa]

Thanks mpucoder - its difficult understanding this stuff when the program one uses needs decrypting too :D

[farmer dan]

Thanks to the both of you. Big mystery is now gone. I need now to explore what deviltry I can cause with title menus. I don't know what this option means to me yet. But I will learn. :sly: