Putting back a chapter menu from a shrink-reauthored DVD

[jeanl]

I've seen some people asking how you can put a chapter menu back into a DVD that was reauthored in DVD shrink (in authoring more, shrink does not keep menus). I gave it a shot with PgcEdit, and it worked! Here are the steps that I used:

1) Pgcedit lets you import a menu so you can go and grab the chapter menu from the original DVD (including the VOB), and add it to the movie's VTSM (VTSM1). It will probably come with a lot more than just the chapter menu (in the 2 cases that I tried, it came with the "main" movie menu and then some).

2) Make the first-play PGC go straight to that menu, for simplicity (instead of going straight to the movie), using:
[30 06 00 01 01 87 00 00] 1 (JumpSS) Jump to VTSM 1, Chapter menu (TTN 1)
Or you can jump to the movie's main menu which will usually give you an option to go to the chapter menu or play the movie. But then you'll have to also tweak that menu as described just below.

3) Then, depending on how the original chapter menu(s) was designed, you need to change the post commands to do the right thing. I've seen 3 cases:
- The chapter menu buttons jump to a given chapter in the movie's TTN, for example:
[30 05 00 04 00 01 00 00] 14 (JumpVTS_PTT) Jump to TTN 1, Chapter 4
That's the simpler case because the command will go straight to the right chapter (that's assuming the movie is indeed in TTN1 as it was in the original, which was the case for me). At this point, PgcEdit does not allow you to edit button commands (I think) so that's a good thing.

- The chapter menu buttons simply link to the tail PGC. In the postcommands, you have to determine which button was highlighted (sprm(8)) and jump to the right chapter with
[30 05 00 02 00 01 00 00] 7 (JumpVTS_PTT) Jump to TTN 1, Chapter 4
This will require a series of if then goto as:
********** post commands:
[00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00] 1 NOP
[61 00 00 00 00 88 00 00] 2 Set gprm(0) =(mov) sprm(8:highlighted button number)
[00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00] 3 NOP
[00 B1 00 00 00 01 00 06] 4 if ( gprm(0) != 1 ".." ) then { Goto line 6 }
[30 05 00 01 00 01 00 00] 5 (JumpVTS_PTT) Jump to TTN 1, Chapter 1
[00 B1 00 00 00 02 00 08] 6 if ( gprm(0) != 2 ".." ) then { Goto line 8 }
[30 05 00 02 00 01 00 00] 7 (JumpVTS_PTT) Jump to TTN 1, Chapter 2
...

- The chapter menu buttons set a gprm and link to the tail PGC. The case is similar to the one above and you simply have to test the gprm in question.

Usually, there are several chapter menus so you need to do that for all of them. Also there are usually buttons to go from one menu to the next. If you're lucky you won't even need to modify these because all they do is jump to a dummy PGC in the same VTS, maybe set a few things
then jump to the right PGC. In the 2 cases that I tried, these worked right off the bat.

4) Save the files and try in your soft player.


All in all, it's not terribly difficult but it's a bit time-consuming without a specific PgcEdit macro ;). In my humble opinion, if you want to preserve the chapter menu but remove all the extra material, it's better to remove before shrinking (for example with titlesetblanker, or vobblanker or pgcedit), then skrink in full-backup mode.

Still, the fact that you can do this kind of trick demonstrates how powerful PgcEdit has become :)
Congrats to r0lZ!

Jeanl

[r0lZ]

Well done, jeanl :)

[blutach]

I have just re-read this post and figured out how powerful it is for those who only want the main movie (less credits for example) but wish to retain the menu. Well done.

One small thing.
Originally posted by jeanl
********** post commands:
[00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00] 1 NOP
[61 00 00 00 00 88 00 00] 2 Set gprm(0) =(mov) sprm(8:highlighted button number)
[00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00] 3 NOP
[00 B1 00 00 00 01 00 06] 4 if ( gprm(0) != 1 ".." ) then { Goto line 6 }
[30 05 00 01 00 01 00 00] 5 (JumpVTS_PTT) Jump to TTN 1, Chapter 1
[00 B1 00 00 00 02 00 08] 6 if ( gprm(0) != 2 ".." ) then { Goto line 8 }
[30 05 00 02 00 01 00 00] 7 (JumpVTS_PTT) Jump to TTN 1, Chapter 2
...



Won't you need to divide by 1024 instead of a NOP in line 3 above?

[76 00 00 00 04 00 00 00] 3 Set gprm(0) /=(div) 1024

This way GPReg(0) will actually be what you want.

Or am I missing something?

Regards

[2COOL]

@jeanl

Originally posted by jeanl
2) Make the first-play PGC go straight to that menu, for simplicity (instead of going straight to the movie), using:
[30 06 00 01 01 87 00 00] 1 (JumpSS) Jump to VTSM 1, Chapter menu (TTN 1)Only if the menu was set up as for Menu Type Chapter Menu. If it wasn't then the DVD player wouldn't know which one of the menus it is. Normally, it's set but you have to prepare for cases of some DVDs that don't have it set(poor authoring).

[jeanl]

@2COOL
you're right. I omitted lots of details, but this example is more theoretical than anything. It's a somewhat lengthy and non-automatic procedure, and if you want to retain menus in shrink, just don't use the re-authoring mode and blank whatever it is you don't want! In the end that's much much easier...
However, the procedure demonstrates pgcedit's power!

@Blutach
You're quite right, that's a big mistake. I guess the DVD I tried didn't fall in that category otherwise it wouldn't have worked. Button 1 is 1024, button 2 is 2048 etc...

Jeanl

[blutach]

@2COOL - This topic is asked for so much, I wonder whether it should be covered in a 2COOL guide?

@jeanl - Again, this topic is one of the most asked for. I think you should make it a "sticky" and also post it over at the "Official DVD Shrink Forum" (http://forum.digital-digest.com)

Regards

[blutach]

Originally posted by 2COOL
@jeanl

Only if the menu was set up as for Menu Type Chapter Menu. If it wasn't then the DVD player wouldn't know which one of the menus it is. Normally, it's set but you have to prepare for cases of some DVDs that don't have it set(poor authoring).
Of course (as you know), you can use pgcEdit/IfoEdit to label a menu as a Chapter Menu (or Audio Menu or Subbie etc).

[jeanl]

Originally posted by blutach
@2COOL - This topic is asked for so much, I wonder whether it should be covered in a 2COOL guide?

@jeanl - Again, this topic is one of the most asked for. I think you should make it a "sticky" and also post it over at the "Official DVD Shrink Forum" (http://forum.digital-digest.com)

Regards
I have a hard time believing that people would actually embark in such a procedure. Besides, the situation can be more complicated than what I describe with the movie residing in another VTS altogether, and then you need to ping-pong via the VMGM, not something really easy to describe in a guide. Plus, you have to understand what you're doing, which might be too much to ask ;).
It's soooooo much easier to use titlesetblanker, vobblanker or pgcedit to blank before shrinking, I can't seem to find an argument for doing it the hard way!
Jeanl

[blutach]

Originally posted by jeanl
I have a hard time believing that people would actually embark in such a procedure. Besides, the situation can be more complicated than what I describe with the movie residing in another VTS altogether, and then you need to ping-pong via the VMGM, not something really easy to describe in a guide. Plus, you have to understand what you're doing, which might be too much to ask ;).
It's soooooo much easier to use titlesetblanker, vobblanker or pgcedit to blank before shrinking, I can't seem to find an argument for doing it the hard way!
Jeanl Jean,

Agreed, the complications can be great. But I know, from my own history of tinkering with DVDs, and people I know who use Shrink, that there is a great demand out there for something that "puts menus back". Just visit the Shrink forum and see the myriad of questions along the lines of "Can I get menus while reauthoring?"

As well, there are lots of folk who wouldn't have a clue about the wonders PgcEdit, VobBlanker (and yes, TSB, too) can do and don't want to load them on their machines, much less learn how to use them. They are happy with Shrink and that's how they will stay.

Only when they want more, will they explore and take their "feet out from under the table" (their comfort zones). However, 99% won't do this. They want their menus back in Shrink.

I'll get off my soapbox now. I just think what you've done is an important step forward for those people.

Regards

[jeanl]

Blutach, thanks for the good (undeserved) words! I do think there's a lot of "evangelizing" (geee, i don't like this word very much!) to be done in favor of the three programs you mention (vobblanker, pgcedit and titlesetblanker). Some people do not seem to be aware of their existence, still doing stuff in IFOEdit that's soooo much easier with any of these three! But that's what forums are for!
Jeanl