Guide to Inserting a Blank Cell at End of Title

[2COOL]

Inserting a Blank Cell at end of Title
Courtesy of 2C:cool::cool:L

Many thanks to Jeff (geffroman) on his successful beta-testing with my guide! :D

[Feb 5 2004 update] Guide has been rewritten and shortened.

Free Tools I used
IFOedit 0.95/0.96
BlankVob

This is pretty the much the concept as my other guide, 2COOL’s guide to adding a “Insert Disc 2” clip (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&postid=432610#post432610), but wanted to document it as a separate guide. There are some Titles that don’t have a short blank dummy clip at the end. This is useful as then you can chapter skip at the last chapter instead of fast forwarding. This guide will help you do just that. Of course, you still have to have your IFO PUOPs (Prohibited User’s Operations) unchecked so that your chapter skipping feature is not disabled.;) With that said, read on.
____________________________________________
1. Open up your movie’s IFO in IfoEdit and look in you VTS Overview. My movie is in PGC_1 and according to my last chapter, it’s not a blank cell. Usually it’s a cell that has a time of 00:00:01.00 or less. Since this example doesn’t have one, we need to insert one in.

PGC_1 (program chain): [Title(TTN): 1] [00:29:15.01 / 30 fps] (Programs: 4) (Cells: 4) (uses VOB-IDs: 3)
[Ch 01] [Pg 01] [Cell 01] [V/C Id: 3/ 1] : time: 00:07:31.20 / 30 fps [Pos: 00:07:31.20] [Frames: 13550]
[Ch 02] [Pg 02] [Cell 02] [V/C Id: 3/ 2] : time: 00:10:42.12 / 30 fps [Pos: 00:18:14.02] [Frames: 32822]
[Ch 03] [Pg 03] [Cell 03] [V/C Id: 3/ 3] : time: 00:01:40.21 / 30 fps [Pos: 00:19:54.23] [Frames: 35843]
[Ch 04] [Pg 04] [Cell 04] [V/C Id: 3/ 4] : time: 00:09:20.08 / 30 fps [Pos: 00:29:15.01] [Frames: 52651]

PGC_2 (program chain): [Title(TTN): 2] [00:01:49.01 / 30 fps] (Programs: 1) (Cells: 1) (uses VOB-IDs: 2)
[Ch 01] [Pg 01] [Cell 01] [V/C Id: 2/ 1] : time: 00:01:49.01 / 30 fps [Pos: 00:01:49.01] [Frames: 3271]

PGC_3 (program chain): [Title(TTN): 3] [00:00:06.00 / 30 fps] (Programs: 1) (Cells: 1) (uses VOB-IDs: 1)
[Ch 01] [Pg 01] [Cell 01] [V/C Id: 1/ 1] : time: 00:00:06.00 / 30 fps [Pos: 00:00:06.00] [Frames: 180]

PGC_4 (program chain): [Title(TTN): 4] [00:00:06.00 / 30 fps] (Programs: 1) (Cells: 1) (uses VOB-IDs: 1)
[Ch 01] [Pg 01] [Cell 01] [V/C Id: 1/ 1] : time: 00:00:06.00 / 30 fps [Pos: 00:00:06.00] [Frames: 180]


In this step, write down the VTS_PGC_# that you want to insert a blank cell into it.

PGC_#: ______
____________________________________________
2. We’ll be doing some IFO editing in following steps so I highly recommended that you backup/save your IFOs and BUPs to another folder in case you mess up in editing. If you do then you can just copy the original IFOs and BUPs back over your badly edited ones and then click on “Get VTS Sectors” button for sector corrections.
____________________________________________
3. Go to /VTS_C_ADT. Increment the “Number of VOBs in VTS_VOBS” by one. To do so, double left click and enter higher value.

Write this new number down.

(NEW) Number of VOBs in VTS_VOBS: _____

Here’s the before and after edit.
OLD > Number of VOBs in VTS_VOBS 4
NEW > Number of VOBs in VTS_VOBS 5

Also, we need to find out the next VOB ID so scroll down to the last VOB ID in this table. We don’t need to edit it but if we increment this value by one, that’s our new VOB ID for our blank cell we will be inserting. Write this down.

New Cell VOB ID : ______
____________________________________________
4. Now go to your PGC_# in / VTS_PGCITI / VTS_PGC_#. Increment the current “Number of Programs” and the “Number of Cells” by one. To do so, double left click on line and enter new value. For example...
OLD > Number of Programs 4
OLD > Number of Cells 4

NEW > Number of Programs 5
NEW > Number of Cells 5
____________________________________________
5. You’ll be doing a lot of window refreshing throughout this guide as IfoEdit doesn’t automatically refresh for you to see your edits so here’s a personal trick I do. Double click on “Show Reserved Values” checkbox located bottom left.
____________________________________________
6. Scroll down to “Program Map:” section. Due to Step 4, there is now a new Program which is Program_5. Change Program_5’s value to follow after Program_4 so in example below...
OLD > Program_4: Entry cell number 4
OLD > Program_5: Entry cell number 4

NEW > Program_5: Entry cell number 5
____________________________________________
7. Scroll down to “Cell Position in VOB” section at the bottom. We also have a new cell (Cell_5) added due to Step 3.
Cell_1: has VOB ID 3
Cell_1: has Cell ID 1
Cell_2: has VOB ID 3
Cell_2: has Cell ID 2
Cell_3: has VOB ID 3
Cell_3: has Cell ID 3
Cell_4: has VOB ID 3
Cell_4: has Cell ID 4
Cell_5: has VOB ID #
Cell_5: has Cell ID #
Remember in Step 3, we wrote down our New Cell VOB ID value? Well, that’s the value we will be for Cell_5 here. Also Cell_5 Cell ID will always be “1”. So, double click and change each ID accordingly.
NEW > Cell_5: has VOB ID 5
NEW > Cell_5: has Cell ID 1
____________________________________________
8. We need to add configure our new cell as a new chapter so go to / PTT_SRPTI. Since we are working on PGC_1, we need to do some our edits in TTU_1. So if you were working on PGC_2, then TTU_2 is where you need to be. Anyway, this is what I have in TTU_1.
TTU_1 PTTs:
PTT_1: Program Chain number (PGCN) 1
PTT_1: Program number (PGN) 1
PTT_2: Program Chain number (PGCN) 1
PTT_2: Program number (PGN) 2
PTT_3: Program Chain number (PGCN) 1
PTT_3: Program number (PGN) 3
PTT_4: Program Chain number (PGCN) 1
PTT_4: Program number (PGN) 4

According to our New Number of Programs in Step 4, I have 5 programs. In this table…
Number of chapters = Number of Programs

So since I have 5 programs in this examples, I should have 5 chapters or PTTs (Part of Titleset Title). Got it? Good!

Now, if you have extra PTTs present, just right click on last PTT and select “Delete Chapter”. Keep repeating from the last PTT until your desired Number of chapters is achieved. So in this guide’s example, I would stop at 5 PTTs remaining.

If we initially had a lower amount of PTTs like 4, then we need to add a new PTT so that would it make it 5 PTTs, which is what we want. It’s easy, just right click on last PTT and select “Add chapter”.

At this point, we should have our desired number of PTTs (chapters) achieved so now we need to edit our last chapter’s values. See the pattern of our PTT_#’s values in example below? 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, and 1-4. Well if you haven’t figured it out, PTT_5 will be 1-5 so double click on values and change them accordingly.

TTU_1 PTTs:
PTT_1: Program Chain number (PGCN) 1
PTT_1: Program number (PGN) 1
PTT_2: Program Chain number (PGCN) 1
PTT_2: Program number (PGN) 2
PTT_3: Program Chain number (PGCN) 1
PTT_3: Program number (PGN) 3
PTT_4: Program Chain number (PGCN) 1
PTT_4: Program number (PGN) 4
PTT_5: Program Chain number (PGCN) 0
PTT_5: Program number (PGN) 1
This is our desired end results on what we should have.
TTU_1 PTTs:
PTT_1: Program Chain number (PGCN) 1
PTT_1: Program number (PGN) 1
PTT_2: Program Chain number (PGCN) 1
PTT_2: Program number (PGN) 2
PTT_3: Program Chain number (PGCN) 1
PTT_3: Program number (PGN) 3
PTT_4: Program Chain number (PGCN) 1
PTT_4: Program number (PGN) 4
PTT_5: Program Chain number (PGCN) 1
PTT_5: Program number (PGN) 5
____________________________________________
9. Save your IFO and BUP.
____________________________________________
10. We need add a new VOB to our TitleSet. We are going to use a free tool called BlankVOB, courtesy of Doom9 user jsoto. It's pretty easy to figure out. Here it the download link and settings you will follow.

BlankVob.exe (http://www.iespana.es/jsoto/tools/blank_exe.zip)

Output File:

Our Titleset has only VTS_01_1.VOB and VTS_01_2.VOB. Our new added VOB will be the next one in line so it will be VTS_01_3.VOB. So for the Output file in BlankVOB, browse to your movie folder and edit the filename as VTS_01_3.VOB.

Ex. C:\My Movie\VTS_01_3.VOB

Vob_Ids:

From step 7, we got our new VobId and we will be using this info. We got a 5 for this guide's example so click only on "From" drop down list and select 5

Cell_Ids:

Our new cell ID will always be one so we don't need to touch this section as 1 is set as default.

TV-SYSTEM:

Self explanatory

Mode:

Select "Simple"

With settings set, click on "GENERATE" button and when you browse to your movie's folder and titleset, you'll now see your newly added VOB. ;)
____________________________________________
11. We need to correct the titleset's IFO, But first, let’s create a subfolder named “temp”.
____________________________________________
12. Select your titleset IFO in IfoEdit and click on VOB Extras button and browse to that temp folder as our destination folder.
__________________________________________________________
13. Click OK.
__________________________________________________________
14. In Stream List window, click on “Check All” button. We need to keep everything! Click on “Strip it” button and process will start. If you want to process to speed up, drag the process window below your task bar. This is an IfoEdit trick.
__________________________________________________________
15. When done, close IfoEdit.
__________________________________________________________
16. Drag/cut the new files over and replace the original ones in your source folder.
__________________________________________________________
17. Now, open VIDEO_TS.IFO and go to VMG Overview / Number of Title Play Maps. This is what I have in my example VIDEO_TS.IFO.
Number of Title Play Maps: 4 (VMG_PTT_SRPT)
Title 1: VTS_01_*, TTN_1 (Angles: 1) (Chapters: 4) (Start Sector 8234)
Title 2: VTS_01_*, TTN_2 (Angles: 1) (Chapters: 1) (Start Sector 8234)
Title 3: VTS_01_*, TTN_3 (Angles: 1) (Chapters: 1) (Start Sector 8234)
Title 4: VTS_01_*, TTN_4 (Angles: 1) (Chapters: 1) (Start Sector 8234)

My movie’s PGC_1 that we were editing was in my video titleset 1 (VTS_1) so according to above, that’s my Title 1. TTN_1 means Titleset Title Number which is also my PGC_1 in VTS_01. We just need to know the Title # before going to next step. Go to your Title in question.
____________________________________________
18. With Title # in mind, go to / VMG_PTT_SRPT / Title_1: Number of chapters (PTTs). This value should match the same as your new Number of Programs in Step 4. Number of Programs equal Number of chapters.

OLD > Title_1: Number of chapters (PTTs) 4
NEW > Title_1: Number of chapters (PTTs) 5
____________________________________________
19. Save your IFO and BUP.
____________________________________________
20. Click Get VTS Sectors button
__________________________________________________________
21. Play to test.

[Dave82]

Great work (as usual) and really useful! :D
Just a couple of things:
- IMHO, to change the VOB ID, using MenuEdit free version would be much easier than exploring navigation packs
- Why do you need to do join CellVOB files? What does it do? What's the difference between this command and Join Clips? (I've never really known :o )
I mean, in your example at the end you obtain 3 VOBs, not 2, don't you? Otherwise you wouldn'have increased the number of VOB files in your IFO, I think. Am I on the right way? So I suppose Join CellVOB files doesn't join the vobs, does it?
But please, could you give me one of your clear explanations?
Thanks!

P.S. of course these things concern the other twin-guide (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=69346) you posted too, the one about "Insert Disc 2" clip.

[2COOL]

@Dave82

I'm at work right now and so I'm going through images in my mind. I'll try to answer your questions.

Originally posted by Dave82
- IMHO, to change the VOB ID, using MenuEdit free version would be much easier than exploring navigation packs
I know MenuEdit can change IDs. Just can't confirm if that's also a unregistered feature too though. Call me old school, but I've always done it the VobEdit way. Besides, you get to learn something about what's inside a VOB. ;)
- Why do you need to do join CellVOB files? What does it do?Basically, it joins separate VOBs and the VOBs will be splitted in 1 GB files.
What's the difference between this command and Join Clips? (I've never really known :o )When using Join CellVOBs, you keep your original VOB IDs and Cells Ids and when your using Join Clips, you have to input a start VOB Id and your original IDs get re-ordered according to start ID. That's why we wanted to keep our original IDs at the end and just add a new one. VobEdit does not edit the IFO when doing changes. You can read up on it here (http://users.pandora.be/rudy.stremersch/joinclip.html).

I mean, in your example at the end you obtain 3 VOBs, not 2, don't you? Otherwise you wouldn'have increased the number of VOB files in your IFO, I think. Am I on the right way? don't be confused by Number of VOBs as the actual number of VOB files. The Number of VOBs is referred to the number of VOB IDs. I guess Derrow should clarified that better.

So I suppose Join CellVOB files doesn't join the vobs, does it?It does and again, all original IDs are retained.

[Dave82]

Thanks very much!
I know MenuEdit can change IDs. Just can't confirm if that's also a unregistered feature too though.
Yes, it is :)
One last question: if the PGC to which you want to add a blank cell is the only one or the last one in your titleset, you don't need to join the vobs, do you? (I know, it's not such an hard work to do, but my great desire for knowledge pushes me to ask and ask and ask again...:p)
Thanks!

[2COOL]

Originally posted by Dave82
One last question: if the PGC to which you want to add a blank cell is the only one or the last one in your titleset, you don't need to join the vobs, do you? (I know, it's not such an hard work to do, but my great desire for knowledge pushes me to ask and ask and ask again...:p)
Thanks! You know, I think it may still work but I wanted the VOBs to conform to DVD Specs as much as I can. That's like saying that I can demux my whole titleset in separate chapter VOBs and renaming them accordingly. I'd rather join them as much I can get in separate 1 GB files. ;)

[jsoto]

One last question: if the PGC to which you want to add a blank cell is the only one or the last one in your titleset
Yes, at least it works fine to me. I usually skip the manual work of joining when adding vobids at the end and/or begining of the VTS.

jsoto

[2COOL]

.

[jsoto]

I really hate intro titles you cannot escape with next chapter, and IMHO this is a very useful guide.

So.........

I wrote a little (well, it has not been so easy...) app, following this guide and including some improvements:
- No need to strip. Ultra Fast application!!
- New Blank Cells (one per chapter) can be append to the last Vob file or included in a new vob file.
- Auto_select titles with last chapter shorter than 1 sec.

As usual, the tool is open source and any bug report is welcome.
AddChapter_exe.zip (http://www.iespana.es/jsoto/tools/AddChapter_exe.zip)

AddChapter_src.zip (http://www.iespana.es/jsoto/tools/AddChapter_src.zip)

jsoto

[2COOL]

@jsoto

Thanks for the tool! :D

When I process the first TitleSet, it works fine and the "Do It!" button is disabled. But when I browse to another IFO, the button is still disabled. :( The only workaround is to close the tool and open another IFO.

[jsoto]

Well, not really a bug, it was how I've coded it. I mean, it is dangerous to do not disable the Doit button (a doble click could cause two chapters insertion and you will lose your IFO backups)

But, as you say, it can be enabled again with a new browse. Done in AddChapter 1.0.0.2, same links.

BTW, please check carefully the cases when the IFO must grow (you know, adding a cell can cause a table grows over n*2048 bytes).

Also, check if sectors are corrected. For your info, Addchapter does not calculate the sectors, only adds to the original value the number of 2048 sectors added (5 per blank cell + IFO growing if it is).

jsoto

[violao]

jsoto,

Could this tool be modified to provide for adding blank cells to empty menu PGCs? This would eventually solve problems associated with burning "empty" menus (VTS_XX_0.VOB with 0 KB size).

[jsoto]

@violao
Probably it can be modified (or other tool can be written based in this one), but I need to know what has to be exactly done in IFO's. Do you know the answer?, seems 2COOL doesn't (I also don't).

Originally posted by 2COOL
I'm not trying to avoid you on this as I honestly don't have an answer. I know what you are saying but I still haven't figured out how to fix the problem. A perfect DVD example is Scooby-Doo meets Batman Region 1. During my earlier days of backups, this was a problem DVD for me and still is. It had a VTS_02_0.VOB and VTS_03_0.VOB and both were at 0 KB. Nero hates files under 2 KB. Even viewing them in VobEdit resulted in no data. I mean, there was no detection of VOB data so I had nothing in my left pane. I tried a few tricks recently but no go. Sorry, for the moment, I'm still stumped on this situation.
jsoto

[geffroman]

Originally posted by 2COOL
Inserting a Blank Cell at end of Title
Courtesy of 2C:cool::cool:L

Many thanks to Jeff (geffroman) on his successful beta-testing with my guide! :D

[Feb 5 2004 update] Guide has been rewritten and shortened.

Free Tools I used
IFOedit 0.95/0.96
BlankVob

This is pretty the much the concept as my other guide, 2COOL’s guide to adding a “Insert Disc 2” clip (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&postid=432610#post432610), but wanted to document it as a separate guide.

Awesome guide ! Hadn't read it after you updated it until today...

[2COOL]

@geffroman

What took you so long? :p :p

[geffroman]

Originally posted by 2COOL
@geffroman

What took you so long? :p :p
Been working my brains out... I finally got started on my web site... Have tons to finish but I got the new Free Video Clips section going... I just posted Schindler's List and LOTR Return of the King...

I will be adding many generic clips like before and I also have a few folks submitting some really cool clips which I will be posting to the site as well... We are even taking requests for custom clips...

I did as you suggested and have created PAL and NTSC versions of each... In fact each download has 8 versions in one ZIP file:

1) - Insert Disc 2 to Continue... NTSC & PAL
2) - Insert Disc 3 to Continue... NTSC & PAL
3) - Insert Next Disc to Continue... NTSC & PAL
4) - This Item Has Been Removed NTSC & PAL

We also have a link on the clips page to your awesome CLIPS GUIDE..!

Lot's more to do... but that's a start...

To get there just click on FREE DVD STUFF & then VIDEO CLIPS (http://posunplugged.com)

[2COOL]

@geffroman

You're just 2C:cool::cool:L2!

[jsoto]

Hi,

I've found a non working case in AddChapter, but it's due to my poor knowledge in TTUs.

I need some clarifications about Titles (that means, PGCs) and TTU (Title Unit Search pointers) in PTT_SRPT Table. Can be the number of PGCs higher than TTUs one? And less?. What is the relation between them?

Thanks in advance.
jsoto

[Dave82]

Titles and PGCs are not the same thing. A title can contain more than 1 PGC (multi-PGC title). The first PGC in a title is an entry PGC, the other ones are non-entry PGCs. TTUs corresponds to the number of titles (so there can be more PGCs than TTUs).
Have a look at this guide (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=58282) where I explained how to create multi-PGC titleset with IFOEdit (especially step 12, where you should find some information about TTUs).
Have a look also at the thread to which I put a link at the beginning of the guide, in which mpucoder explained me the differences between entry and non-entry PGCs.

[jsoto]

Titles and PGCs are not the same thing This was my error. Now, after reading those threads, it's crystal clear. Many thanks Dave82.
Well, I'll change AddChapter to manage this in the right way.
jsoto

[geffroman]

Originally posted by jsoto
I really hate intro titles you cannot escape with next chapter, and IMHO this is a very useful guide.

So.........

I wrote a little (well, it has not been so easy...) app, following this guide and including some improvements:
- No need to strip. Ultra Fast application!!
- New Blank Cells (one per chapter) can be append to the last Vob file or included in a new vob file.
- Auto_select titles with last chapter shorter than 1 sec.

As usual, the tool is open source and any bug report is welcome.
AddChapter_exe.zip (http://www.iespana.es/jsoto/tools/AddChapter_exe.zip)

AddChapter_src.zip (http://www.iespana.es/jsoto/tools/AddChapter_src.zip)

jsoto Wonderful tool...

What would it take to go a step further and allow the user to select a still clip for insertion as last chapter instead of the default blank?

[jsoto]

V1.0.0.3 (28-03-2004) is out
- Bugfix: Chapter table (VTS_IFO) and number (VMG_IFO) were not correctly updated in the case of non-entry PGCs
- BugFix: AddChapter crash if VTSM_PGCI_UT was empty
- Improvement: The same blank cell can be used in all PGCs

Same links:
AddChapter_exe.zip (http://www.iespana.es/jsoto/tools/AddChapter_exe.zip)
AddChapter_src.zip (http://www.iespana.es/jsoto/tools/AddChapter_src.zip)

@geffroman ...a still clip for insertion as last chapter instead of the default blank?OK, I was really thinking on it, but first I wanted to fix the PGC/Titles bug.

jsoto

[geffroman]

Originally posted by jsoto
V1.0.0.3 (28-03-2004) is out
- Bugfix: Chapter table (VTS_IFO) and number (VMG_IFO) were not correctly updated in the case of non-entry PGCs
- BugFix: AddChapter crash if VTSM_PGCI_UT was empty
- Improvement: The same blank cell can be used in all PGCs

Same links:
AddChapter_exe.zip (http://www.iespana.es/jsoto/tools/AddChapter_exe.zip)
AddChapter_src.zip (http://www.iespana.es/jsoto/tools/AddChapter_src.zip)

@geffromanOK, I was really thinking on it, but first I wanted to fix the PGC/Titles bug.

jsoto

FRIGGIN AWESOME - I have used with great success 2COOLs guide for adding blank cells and custom clips... It works 100% as do all his guides. However, the process requires a fair amount of time for VOBEdit processing and IFOEdit mock stripping. If you make a mistake along the way it is torture.

Your proggie could make sooo very many people happy if it included a choice of source clip for insertion... If possible it should allow user to set STILL time for added clip as well...

Sorry for asking for the world... I just know this would be hugely popular & help a lot of people who just can't do it now because of the compexity using other programs.

[2COOL]

Originally posted by jsoto
@geffroman

OK, I was really thinking on it, but first I wanted to fix the PGC/Titles bug.

@jsoto

You've been really helpful with the creation of AddChapter and that if you succeed in implementing this feature, it would be very EXCOOLENT! I always wished that one day, my manual guides would inspire programmers to come up with a user-friendly tool to replace them. I wouldn't mind seeing my guides as a thing of the past. ;) Sometimes, I feel like I'm writing psuedo codes.

[geffroman]

Originally posted by 2COOL
@jsoto

You've been really helpful with the creation of AddChapter and that if you succeed in implementing this feature, it would be very EXCOOLENT! I always wished that one day, my manual guides would inspire programmers to come up with a user-friendly tool to replace them. I wouldn't mind seeing my guides as a thing of the past. ;) Sometimes, I feel like I'm writing psuedo codes. You would just have to write a new guide for ADDChapter... :cool:

[jsoto]

@2COOL
...my manual guides would inspire programmers to come up with a user-friendly tool to replace them Did you open the about box of AddChapter? :)
jsoto

[2COOL]

@jsoto

:thanks:

[2COOL]

@geffroman

Originally posted by geffroman
I seem to be having an issue where the added chapter shows up when viewing data in IfoEdit in the pull down chapter list. However, the NEXT button won't advance to that new chapter unless I run a mock strip first.I recently had used AddChapter with a DVD Shrink re-authored backup successfully. I'm at work ATM and cannot fully confirm but I believe I chapter skipped to my next titles with my burnt backup.

Also, I ran AddChapter 36 hours ago and got chapter lengths at 00'00'00'12 and today ran again and got 00'00'00'15. Did the proggie change in the past day or so... Hmm...I also got 00:00:00.12. I used his current version, which should be 1.0.0.3. I didn't do a mock strip because I trusted jsoto had already corrected the IFOs automatically. I'll try to see if I get 00:00:00.15 when I get home with a mock strip. I was going to mention this earlier but with a working backup, it would've been minor to bring it up.

Last thing... Shouldn't AddChapters also write the BUP files to make sure things stay clean...?Are you saying the IFO and BUP are different? Is this confirmed?

[geffroman]

My Bad entirely. I will retest and post if needed. I misunderstood the operation of the program. The second browse window in AddChapter says BackUp. I took this to mean the location of the files to be created by the program. In my defense All programs I use to make alterations, IfoEdit, DVDRemake, InstantCopy, DVDShrink, etc SAVE the NEW data to a new location not the old data.

That said, I saw two IFO files in the new folder and placed them into my DVD compilation. I had already backed up my own data. So I mistakenly undid what was done... However, DVDReMake saw new VOB data with inappropriate IFOs and had to process it's brains out to include it. But when DVDReMake was done I still needed to do a mock strip to get things to work but I had messed up files as sources now so none of this matters.

All is well and after I have retested and confirmed this I will delete my posts so as to not mess with heads that think there is a problem when there is NOT !

Personally I think a back-up folder should include all altered files, IFO, VOB, BUP... or the option to NOT have to put in a back up folder would be nice as any sane person has already done this...

UPDATE: OK... Tested it... all is perfect... My bad entirely... Added chapters back to 00'00'00'12... IfoEdit & DVDReMake respond to files normally... Guess I need a 2COOL guide to learn AddChapter properly.

Thanks guys...

[Dimmer]

Hi guys,

Recently I came across a title without that short chapter at the end, so the Next button doesn't work during the last chapter (credits). Unexpectedly, I found the simplest solution to the problem: set the movie's PGC number as its NextPGC parameter in IfoEdit.

This parameter indicates a PGC within current title where the player would jump if the Next button were pressed during the last chapter. While it looks like this would loop the movie, in fact the player goes through the Post commands of the current PGC first. These Post commands always contain a jump to a menu, so the player acts as if the movie ended normally.

In case of a movie-only backup when there are no Post commands in the movie PGC, you just have to add Exit as a Post command to stop the playback.

Please correct me if I'm missing something here, for example if the standards do not require players to go through the Post Commands while jumping to NextPGC. Otherwise, it seems that the original issue could be solved in seconds without adding an extra chapter to the movie.

[geffroman]

I think ADDChapter is still a faster solution... especially if there is more than one title... I just did The Last Samurai: Bonus Disc... There are 14 PGCs with no blank chapters at the end... so at any time if I click NEXT I will jump to the next title not even knowing what it is... This is very common with Bonus Features...

I could use IFOEDIT, but thats 14 adjustments... with ADDChapter I just open the VTS IFO... select AUTO... It finds all PGCs without mini blank chapter and BOOM... I took it up another notch... :D

In less than a second I made all 14 PGCs/Titles now forward back to main menu...

[jsoto]

@Dimmer

Very interesting!. You always learn something new in this forum.

jsoto

[Cela]

geffroman wrote
... with ADDChapter I just open the VTS IFO... select AUTO...
@jsoto
Please make it work like this! The current version interrupts the workflow with insisting the input of a Backup folder location. Please remember the Backup folder location, the input folder location and other settings from the last time.

Thank you for this very useful and comfortable program.

Cela

[r0lZ]

@Dimmer: verry nice trick you discovered.

And it works too for the Prev button, with the PrevPGC parameter, to be able to go back to the beginning of the title when in chapter 1. In this case, the post commands are obviously not executed.

I will use thoses tricks in the "DVDShrink Title Button" macro in the next version of PgcEdit :) ... unless someone discover it is illegal :(

[Dimmer]

Originally posted by r0lZ
@Dimmer: verry nice trick you discovered.

And it works too for the Prev button, with the PrevPGC parameter, to be able to go back to the beginning of the title when in chapter 1. In this case, the post commands are obviously not executed. Thank you r0lZ. I noticed that many standalones jump to the beginning when you press Prev during the first chapter, as well as Scenarist in simulation mode. PowerDVD doesn't do this, so I'm not sure about the standard behavior in this case. Keep in mind though that DVD apparently goes through the Pre commands when you jump to PrevPGC.

[r0lZ]

Yes, the pre-commands are executed by PrevPGC jump.

And there is also the GoUpPGC jump, that work regardless of the current chapter. See my question here (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=79327).

[IanD]

Originally posted by jsoto
I wrote a little (well, it has not been so easy...) app, following this guide and including some improvements.

jsoto
I would really like to be able to use this tool, but every video_ts.ifo file I open (resulting from an Ifoedit or DVDFab create ifo step), results in an error message "invalid input file" in addchapter.

Have I misunderstood which ifo file I need to input?

Ian

[geffroman]

There are no chapters in the VIDEO_TS.IFO file... Why would you try to add chapters there...?

[IanD]

Originally posted by geffroman
There are no chapters in the VIDEO_TS.IFO file... Why would you try to add chapters there...?
Well, it wasn't clear from the usage of the tool whether it reads information from the root structure like DVDshrink or Ifoedit and there is no readme that explains usage.

Anyway, I get the same error message on all the ifo files.

Ian

[jsoto]

there is no readme that explains usage. Sorry, but it is so easy to use that I tried to save some time...

Anyway, I get the same error message on all the ifo files.
Are you using uppercase filenames? Filenames must be uppercase, but ripping in Win98 sometimes you get lowercase filenames..

jsoto

[IanD]

Originally posted by jsoto
Sorry, but it is so easy to use that I tried to save some time...


Are you using uppercase filenames? Filenames must be uppercase, but ripping in Win98 sometimes you get lowercase filenames..

jsoto
I thought it was easy to use until I tried it and ran into problems ;-)

Doesn't make any difference whether filenames are uppercase or not: still get an 'invalid file' error message.

Is this program compatible with Win98, or only Win2k/XP?

Ian

[jsoto]

This is the part of the code for this message

//Check name
csAux=m_csEditinput.Right(12);
csAux1=csAux.Left(4);
csAux=m_csEditinput.Right(6);
if ( csAux!="_0.IFO" || csAux1 != "VTS_" )
{
MessageBox( "Invalid input file!", "Error", MB_OK | MB_ICONEXCLAMATION );
m_csEditinput="";
m_csEditvideo="";
return;
}


As you can see, the code verifies the filename which should start with "VTS_" and end with "_0.IFO". No more, but I forgot to call "MakeUpper" so a filename with lowercase letters will not work

I'm not using Win98, but IIRC I've tested the app in this OS...

jsoto

[IanD]

Originally posted by jsoto
I'm not using Win98, but IIRC I've tested the app in this OS...

jsoto
If the 'invalid file' error message is only issued when the filename does not contain VTS_ or _0.IFO, then I don't know what is happening, since the error exists when those conditions are true.

If your program requires IE, then that may be a cause, since I refuse to install Internet Explorer on my system. I'm appalled at the number of programmers that rely on IE libraries, even though IE is not part of the OS.

Oh well, I guess I will just have to use 2COOL's longhand method of adding chapters.

Ian

[jsoto]

Just to confirm:
IFO filename must be 12 characters long (8 plus dot + 3): VTS_xx_0.IFO

I've put a new version (1.1.0.5) with "makeupper" in ifo filename.
Also, a new option to do not do IFOs backup: seems there are some users too lazy to fill the backup folder :sly:

In any case, I'll try to find a Win98 OS to test, but I'm going to be off-line during practically one month (holidays, he,he).

jsoto

[IanD]

Originally posted by jsoto
Just to confirm:
IFO filename must be 12 characters long (8 plus dot + 3): VTS_xx_0.IFO

I've put a new version (1.1.0.5) with "makeupper" in ifo filename.
Also, a new option to do not do IFOs backup: seems there are some users too lazy to fill the backup folder :sly:

In any case, I'll try to find a Win98 OS to test, but I'm going to be off-line during practically one month (holidays, he,he).

jsoto
Don't worry about finding Win98 to test: whatever changes you made to 1.1.0.5 seem to have fixed the problem I was having with it.

It's curious because forcing ifo filename to be uppercase did not help with the previous version. Then again, Win98 insists on displaying uppercase as lowercase with only the first character uppercase, so who knows what the internals are parsing.

Thanks jsoto.

Ian

[jsoto]

Good.
Win98 insists on displaying uppercase as lowercase with only the first character uppercase, I was convinced this was the problem.
jsoto

[r0lZ]

Upper case filenames: I remember this strange behavior of windoze 95/98.
It is possible to force Win to use the normal characters. Don't remember exactly how, so I searched in Google. Here is the trick:
Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Folders & Icons.
Click the View tab.
Under Files And Folders, click the Allow All Uppercase Names check box to select it, and then click OK.
Hope this could help.