Strange behaviour when adding new Pre / Post commands in Menu / Play items.

[droopy928gt]

Dear All,

I've checked / searched this forum for an answer to my problem but couldn't find any. Please bear with me if the question is stupid or obvious as I've only recently started to dig into IFO editting and IFOEdit itself.

Problem is following.

On a complex DVD I authored using DVDLab I want to change part of the behaviour when using it. I do this by adding additional Pre and Post commands to the menus and playback items.

In theory this all works great apart from the fact that IFOEdit behaves strangely when wanting to add additional commands to menus higher then PGC menu 8.

Nothing seems to happen when I try to add Pre or Post commands. When I then look at PGC menu 2 it added the commands over there. A workaround I thought would be to change the Pre or Post command number and then adding the command. The command is then added in the PGC menu 2 and in the one where I want it, BUT the command value that was there is then moved to the new command added. Meaning if there was already a Post command and I add a Pre command, the value for the Post command goes to NOP and the one which was there is moved to the Pre command added.

Do any of you recognise this behaviour, and is there a solution to it???

Thanks for any input,

Best regards, Leon

[voo_doo99]

Originally posted by droopy928gt

...
On a complex DVD I authored using DVDLab I want to change part of the behaviour when using it. I do this by adding additional Pre and Post commands to the menus and playback items.
...


Noone has responded so I thought I would share my experience. The best way to add Pre/Post command in IFOedit is thru the right-click on a command. IFOedit doesn't always let you, but if it does it would adjust all the address pointers for you. See, all the commands in PGC Command table have addresses [first column] which are tightly related to the other tables like Program Map, Cell Playback, Cell Position, and others ... When you add a command, the addresses need to be updated or things will be running crazy. If possible, try to change existing commands so as not to disrupt the address chain.


...
In theory this all works great apart from the fact that IFOEdit behaves strangely when wanting to add additional commands to menus higher then PGC menu 8.

Nothing seems to happen when I try to add Pre or Post commands. When I then look at PGC menu 2 it added the commands over there. A workaround I thought would be to change the Pre or Post command number and then adding the command. The command is then added in the PGC menu 2 and in the one where I want it, BUT the command value that was there is then moved to the new command added. Meaning if there was already a Post command and I add a Pre command, the value for the Post command goes to NOP and the one which was there is moved to the Pre command added.

Do any of you recognise this behaviour, and is there a solution to it???
...


This is the manual override option when IFOedit does not add command for you. It also is the most troublesome, because no auto table resizing, address chain updating,.. will be done for you. Apart from the unwanted relocation you mentioned above, there are other problems like the last command could not be changed [table size not updated], or unexpected changed made in another PGC [address chain not updated],...

There is a solution, but it is not simple one-click. After you manually increase the number of commands, you will need to do a MOCK STRIPPING [please search 2COOL guide for this]. That would made the correct adjustment to your Video Title Set. Of course, you still need to manually move the commands to the right position. Like I said, it can be really tedious, try it if you want to mess around with IFOedit for fun. :D

HTH.

[droopy928gt]

Hi Voo_doo99,

Thanks for the reply. I was already starting to think that it was either a really stupid question, to difficult a question or nobody is using IFOEdit anymore.

From your answer I'd guess IFOEdit is not as finished an editor as I thought it to be. That's real shame as it looks very powerfull. So far I also haven't found an alternative for it.

I'll look into your suggestion with the 2COOL guide and see how far I get. If it becomes to complicated / to much trouble for the effort I will then probably just abandon the idea of changing me DVD behaviour.

Thanks again for your kind reply and suggestions.

All the best, Leon

[Dimad]

From your answer I'd guess IFOEdit is not as finished an editor as I thought it to be.
It is and editor, but sort of "inplace" editor. You can change values in ifo file tables, and in some cases you can add things. But since it does not remake ifos (does not mmove tables) adding things can overwrite other tables.

[droopy928gt]

Hi Dimad,

Thanks for the answer. I now have a much better understanding of the clear limitations of IFOEdit. Still a pity though as I had already worked out a nice solution to exactly get my DVD to respond as I wanted it to.

Also thanks for the information on your site as this allowed me to finally find information on commands used in IFO files. Previous I only found the IFOEdit forum but it wouldn't allow me access to information. Kept telling me I first had to pay a contribution. Since I've had some very bad internet credit card experiences loosing me a lot of money I've sworn myself in the past to never use that again, which offcourse severely limits me.

But for your DvdReMake program though? Does that allow me to add / change pre and post commands in PGC and PGC-menu items? From the info on your site it is not completely clear to me. I suppose I just have to try it I think?

Thanks again for previous answer and hint.

All the best, Leon

[droopy928gt]

Never mind, just tried the demo and saw that it is possible using DVDRemake. Just have to try it a bit more to see. Then need to find a way to purchase it, preferred without using my credit card. Bank transfer or something, I'll see.

Regards, Leon