PgcEdit v0.4

[blutach]

@rolz

In the same spirit as removing the Ctrl for menus, can we also do it for "Trace". Now, it is Ctrl-T, where T alone would do fine, n'est pas?

I actually think that none of the "Ctrl's" in the file menu are necessary, except for perhaps R for reload and S for Save (don't wannna do them accidentally)

Regards

[r0lZ]

... and B for Create Backup.

OK. I will change them...

[blueboyec]

rOIZ,

Is PgcEdit able to remove angles (keep one angle) and correct all referances to angles (have the DVD seam as thought it was never a multy angle move)?

thanks

[r0lZ]

No. PgcEdit is not a VOB editor.
Use IfoEdit's strip angle function.

[blueboyec]

rOIZ,

Thanks for your quick responce.

[r0lZ]

PgcEdit 0.4.5 released.

Added 'Remove Cell' button in the PGC editor.
Added "Clone PGC" function (works in Title and Menu domains)
PgcEditPreview version 1.4, by Jeanl.
Menu buttons viewer: It is now possible to hide the buttons by clicking on the background image. (Windows only)
Dummy PGCs in the title domain are now labelled with "(dummy)" instead of "(0:00)".
"New Dummy PGC" in title domain now create the dummy 'attached' to the current Title (ie, it inherit the current Title and TTN numbers.)
The Layer Break checkbox is now disabled in the Cells List of the PGC Editor when the Seamless flag must be kept OFF. Therefore, the checkbox is checked and enabled only for real layer breaks.
Renamed some labels of the Type Flags in the Cells list of the PGC Editor.
The Remapping VOB/Cell ID function in the Cells List now clears the Seamless Playback flags of the remapped cell and the following one.
The TTN numbers are now retrieved from the VTS_PGCITI table, instead of VTS_PTT_SRPT. This is more reliable.
Bug in "New 'Play All' PGC" function with wrong Category Mask and Parental ID Mask in the VTS_PGCITI table fixed.
Bug in VTS_PTT_SRPTI table when saving a DVD with illegal dummy titles.
Bug when launching both Preview and Menu buttons viewer at the same time fixed by Jeanl.

PgcEditPreview 1.4 by jeanl (Windows only) Improved error reporting in bitmap saving mode.
Fixed a bug that prevented preview from loading some VOB files in bitmap saving mode.
The elapsed time was wrong in some cases (SCR discontinuity), I'm setting it to 0 if the audio pack has no PTS.
Fixed a bug that caused an image to be displayed in the improved bitmap-saving version of preview.
Rolled in most changes made by jsoto for vobblanker.

[blutach]

Thanks rolz for another masterpiece

Rgds

[blutach]

When using the Calls Cross References utility to see which PGCs are not in use, it can be useful to do this in 2 or 3 passes.

Once you have found a PGC that is not called (it will be highlighted in pink - make sure you have the highlight errors and GOTO targets option set), simply delete all the commands (pre, post and cell) for that PGC. Do this for all such PGCs. Call cross references again and see if any more unused PGCs appear and delete their commands, and so on.

This particularly applies if you are (re)authoring your DVD, where I have found this technique very useful to see if I have any broken navigation links.

One warning! BOV has not been implemented in PGCEdit yet, so be certain your disk does not contain any BOV. If it does, do not use this technique.

Regards to all

[jeanl]

good one blutach, I"ll keep that in mind for looking for a free register....
Jeanl

[stickboy]

Can pgcedit be run from network shares using UNC paths? If I do this, pgcedit.exe runs but no UI appears. (I do have write access to the network share.)

Is this related to the known issue with pgcedit requiring ASCII paths?

[r0lZ]

Originally posted by stickboy
Can pgcedit be run from network shares using UNC paths? If I do this, pgcedit.exe runs but no UI appears. (I do have write access to the network share.)Humm. I really don't know. And I have nothing to test this situation.

Is this related to the known issue with pgcedit requiring ASCII paths? Probably... The symptoms are the same.

This may be a problem with the freeWrap method of accessing internal, wrapped files, in the standalone version. Maybe you could try to install Tcl/Tk and the PgcEdit sources.

Sorry, I can't help much more.

[stickboy]

Originally posted by r0lZ
Humm. I really don't know. And I have nothing to test this situation.You should be able to test it by enabling file sharing and accessing your own PC through a UNC path.

[blueboyec]

Originally posted by r0lZ
PgcEdit 0.4.5 released.

[list]
The Remapping VOB/Cell ID function in the Cells List now clears the Seamless Playback flags of the remapped cell and the following one.


r0lZ,

This this mean that I can use pgcedit to correct pointer etc that ifoedit/dvddecryter did not correct after useing ifoedit/dvddecryter to keep one angle?

[r0lZ]

No. PgcEdit now sets the SCR discontinuity flag, and removes the Seamless flag when needed by a function of PgcEdit (VOB/Cell ID remapping, and Remove Cell). It does not fix the wrong flags set by other programs.

But maybe I can add this in a future version. This will not be totally automatic, but will ask if it must correct the wrong flags when you enter the PGC Editor, for a specific PGC. (It will work like the Total Playback Time fix of the current version.)
Anyway, it will not fix ALL the flags and pointers... Sorry, but that is too much work!

[blueboyec]

Tring to learn.

Thank for your effort.

[lovelegend]

I don't know since when but now when I double-click a command line, there is no new dialogue window popped up for editing command, and the program freezes... I just tried downloading and running the older versions and found that there is no such problem for version 0.2.1... Does anyone know how could I fix this problem? :rolleyes:

P.S. I'm using win2k

[jeanl]

I downloaded the current version yesterday, running XP, all is OK on my side...
Jeanl

[r0lZ]

@lovelegend
This is the first time I hear of that problem.
Furthermore, the Command Editor has not been changed in the last version. So, maybe the problem is coming from your PC, a virus or something like that...

PS. Have you tried to launch the editor by single-clicking on the command, and then selecting the menu Edit -> Edit Cmd, or the Edit Cmd button?

[lovelegend]

I know it's my PC problem, I think it got the problem after a crash or something. It may be caused by a corrupted dll file or so, that's why I would like to ask if anyone knows about it...

However, I don't wanna reinstall the os again... :p
Before I worked around this problem by adding a NOP command in pgcedit, and then use IfoEdit to edit that command... but now it's better since I can use version 0.2.1 to edit the command directly, though it makes the problem being more weird -- how comes it works on 0.2.1 but not newer (I remember 0.3.8 worked fine for me, but now it doesn't work either)? :rolleyes:

And yeah, I tried using menu Edit -> Edit Cmd, or the Edit Cmd button, and both didn't work... ^^"

[r0lZ]

Well, one thing has changed between v0.2.1 and newer versions. It's the way config files are saved.
In v0.2.1, the config file was "C:\Documents And Settings\<your user name>\.pgcedit.cfg".
In 0.3 and more, the config files are stored in "C:\Documents And Settings\<your user name>\Application Data\PgcEdit\".

You may try to verify that the Application Data directory exists and is writable. (Note that it may be hidden. To see it, you may have to enable the "Show hidden files and folders" option in Windoze's Folder Options, View tab.)

If the PgcEdit folder is there and is writable, try to delete the .pgcedit.cfg file, and restart PgcEdit 0.4.5.

Let me know if it worked. Thanks.

[lovelegend]

@r0lZ
YEAH~~~ It worked!!! Thank you very much!:thanks:
I deleted the cfg file and my lovely command editor came back! :D
It's the problem of the cfg file, glad that I finally found it out... :D

[Grave]

would it be (or is it) possible to edit Entry VOBU Sectors/etc?
i can do it in ifoedit, but would be handy to have it in "edit pgc" window (maybe similar edit box as used for "still time")

[r0lZ]

No. I don't want to add this possibility because editing those infos will result in a non compliant DVD, which will be impossible to play on some players.

[jeanl]

Originally posted by r0lZ
No. I don't want to add this possibility because editing those infos will result in a non compliant DVD, which will be impossible to play on some players.
r0lZ, can you elaborate on that? What's your experience with messing with the entry sector field. Why do you think it might cause a problem? Does the entry sector have to correspond to a nav pack? I've messed with the entry sector on many occasions, and never had a probleme, but I only have 1 DVD player and it's not very fussy... I don't have a sony for example...
Jeanl

[r0lZ]

Originally posted by jeanl
r0lZ, can you elaborate on that? What's your experience with messing with the entry sector field. Why do you think it might cause a problem? Does the entry sector have to correspond to a nav pack? I've messed with the entry sector on many occasions, and never had a probleme, but I only have 1 DVD player and it's not very fussy... I don't have a sony for example...
Jeanl Yes, the entry sector must be the first sector of a VOB Cell. And the last one must match the end of the cell.
My Sony hangs if I change either the start or end sector, even if the LBA number points to a Nav Pack.
Curiously, sometimes the trick works. Maybe it may work when the entry sector match a closed GOP?

Anyway, I think it is too dangerous to do it in PgcEdit. The good method is to use VobBlanker's Cut Cell feature, or DVDShrink in reauthor mode.
If you really want to change the start/end sectors by hand, IfoEdit is the solution.

[blutach]

I have a DVD that has very long chapters and wish to split them into smaller ones.

Each chapter roughly corresponds to a cell.

Is there an easy way to do this in PgcEdit?

Regards and HNY to all

[r0lZ]

Unfortunately, no. There is no way to 'create' a new chapter, because each chapter point must match the beginning of a VOB cell.

The only way to create new chapter points is to reauthor completely the DVD.

[jeanl]

Originally posted by r0lZ
Unfortunately, no. There is no way to 'create' a new chapter, because each chapter point must match the beginning of a VOB cell.

The only way to create new chapter points is to reauthor completely the DVD.
r0lZ, as far as you know, is it possible to have two PGC cells mapped to the same VOB/CELL ID (I know that's possible) with different entry points?
That could be one way to add a chapter:
- modify the end point for the first (original) cell
- Add one with an entry point right where the previous one left out.

But I know there are problems modifying the entry/exit point of cells (some players don't like that as you mentioned above). Otherwise, that would be a simple/fast way to add chapter points, no?
Jeanl

[blutach]

Oh jeanl - you are a creative type.

I will try that today.

[jeanl]

I'm sure if I tried it on my player it would work, but I'm afraid that that wouldn't be the case on all players, as r0lZ pointed out in one of his previous posts. The one thing that's still unclear is what makes a legitimate entry point for a cell... Apparently, according to r0lZ, a NavPack isn't enough... I can't do any tests, because my player will swallow anything!
Jeanl

[jsoto]

Mmm, interesting idea, but not easy...
AFAIK, all cells must start with a Nav pack with "Cell elapsed time" (offset 0x45 and 0x423) reset to zero. If you split a cell without reseting this counter, a player can hang.

All the rest of counters (SCR, PTS, etc) are ok, that's the good point.

But you still have to adjust navigational pointers (ffw and rew), because they cannot point out of the cell.

Both things (elapsed time reset and DSI nav pointers adjustment) are done by VobBlanker when cutting cells, (although I'm a little unsure about subpictures, because these pointers are not recalculated from scratch). In any case, an IFOEdit's mock strip will adjust the nav pointers, so a combination of VobBlanker and IFOEdit will do the job inside the VOB.

jsoto

[jeanl]

Originally posted by jsoto
Mmm, interesting idea, but not easy...
AFAIK, all cells must start with a Nav pack with "Cell elapsed time" (offset 0x45 and 0x423) reset to zero. If you split a cell without reseting this counter, a player can hang.


really? That's surprising to me. How does a DVD player use this counter, do you know?


All the rest of counters (SCR, PTS, etc) are ok, that's the good point.
But you still have to adjust navigational pointers (ffw and rew), because they cannot point out of the cell.

Both things (elapsed time reset and DSI nav pointers adjustment) are done by VobBlanker when cutting cells, (although I'm a little unsure about subpictures, because these pointers are not recalculated from scratch). In any case, an IFOEdit's mock strip will adjust the nav pointers, so a combination of VobBlanker and IFOEdit will do the job inside the VOB.

jsoto
Ah, that's interesting, I wonder if we could come up with a quick and simple guide to do that (add a chapter point, without reauthoring), I would imagine that that would be quite useful...

Jeanl

[jsoto]

That's surprising to me. How does a DVD player use this counter, do you know? Sorry, I have no idea.

jsoto

[Pudah]

I've been playing around with PgcEdit this weekend and I must say, this is one very cool program!

Does this

http://home.earthlink.net/~etunstal/images/PgcEdit%20Menu%20Editor.png

mean that you are working on a menu editor? Today I was playing around with adding back menus to a DVD backup that I split in half with Shrink to maintain picture quality. It was very easy to import the menu from the original DVD using PgcEdit. If I could change the menu button action for the menu buttons that go to chapters on the other disc to NOP it would be very handy.

As soon as I can figure out what's wrong with my paypal account, i'll be making a donation. Keep up the excellent work!

[jeanl]

Originally posted by Pudah
I've been playing around with PgcEdit this weekend and I must say, this is one very cool program!

Does this

http://home.earthlink.net/~etunstal/images/PgcEdit%20Menu%20Editor.png

mean that you are working on a menu editor?
I think menu command editing is next on r0lZ's list... I'm not sure when he'll get to it though, I think he's currently working on "BOV" (buttons over video).
But I agree that PgcEdit is one coooool program.
Jeanl

[r0lZ]

Originally posted by jeanl
r0lZ, as far as you know, is it possible to have two PGC cells mapped to the same VOB/CELL ID (I know that's possible) with different entry points?
That could be one way to add a chapter:
- modify the end point for the first (original) cell
- Add one with an entry point right where the previous one left out.

But I know there are problems modifying the entry/exit point of cells (some players don't like that as you mentioned above). Otherwise, that would be a simple/fast way to add chapter points, no?
Jeanl I am really not a VOB expert, but I know that reusing the same cell many times is not a problem. But modifying the start or end sector of the cell is not as simple. Maybe the way suggested by Jsoto may work. Seems to be a job for AddChapter or VidChanger... ;)

BTW, Jsoto, VobBlanker creates a new blank cell every time a cell is blanked. Why don't you use the same cell in each case? This could save a little bit of space. Is it because you want to keep the cells in consecutive order in the VOB?

[blutach]

@pudah - use Menuedit for the time being to edit the menu buttons.

Also have a look at this

http://www.videohelp.com/guides.php?link=711

Regards

[r0lZ]

@Pudah

Yes, a menu editor is planned. But I have not many time for working on PgcEdit for now. And the BOV support must be added before. So, don't expect the menu editor before one month or two...

[jsoto]

BTW, Jsoto, VobBlanker creates a new blank cell every time a cell is blanked. Why don't you use the same cell in each case? This could save a little bit of space. Is it because you want to keep the cells in consecutive order in the VOB? In general, VobBlanker does not change any VID/CID, it only replaces a cell with a blanked one. Only in the case of blanking a cell (a single Cell, not a PGC) which is used in other PGC, VobBlanker creates a new one, but, because I believe this is not an usual thing, I didn't include the option to create an uniq blank cell.
About space saving..., well, one blank cell is only 10 KB, which is practically zero in a VOB file (1048574 KB).

jsoto

[r0lZ]

I agree that some blank cells are not heavy... except when you have to replace a verry high number of cells (in case of a slide show, for example.)
But that's OK. If somebody wants to replace all the cells by the same blank cell, he can do it with PgcEdit, and then use VobBlanker to strip the old, unused cells.

[jsoto]

except when you have to replace a verry high number of cells (in case of a slide show, for example.) You're right. I forgot this case.
jsoto

[DMagic1]

Could you add the feature to save the IFOs in another location and still account for the VOBs? Right now it states that the VOBs are not accounted for when you save to a different location.

[r0lZ]

Humm. Difficult to do.
Anyway, the IFOs saved to a new location are not usable without the VOBs. So, you must consider them as a backup.
If you need to burn them, you will need to add the VOBs anyway, and recalculating the correct VTS sectors is just a matter of loading the IFOs in PgcEdit, and saving them back. You can use the Get VTS Sectors function of IfoEdit, too.

[DMagic1]

Yes I know they need the vobs anyway. Yes for backups.

[DMagic1]

Originally posted by r0lZ
Humm. Difficult to do.
Anyway, the IFOs saved to a new location are not usable without the VOBs. So, you must consider them as a backup.
If you need to burn them, you will need to add the VOBs anyway, and recalculating the correct VTS sectors is just a matter of loading the IFOs in PgcEdit, and saving them back. You can use the Get VTS Sectors function of IfoEdit, too.

If it could do that it would be great. I don't know if you tell it to overwrite in the current directory when you save or not. I don't know if its as simple as that. I would greatly appreciate it if it could save in a different folder the ifos and bups.:)

[jeanl]

Guys,
I'm having a problem with cell commands. I'm adding one to the first cell of the main movie, linking to the the tail, using PgcEdit. The trace function shows the right behavior, playback stops at the end of the first cell, but in PowerDVD, nothing happens!
I'm baffled...
Is there something I'm missing here? Adding a cell command is pretty simple, right? Add it to the cell-command area, then enter the cell command number in the PGC editor for the appropriate cell, right?

What is it I'm missing?!
Jeanl

[jsoto]

Yep, same here, even using PowerDVD6. But WinDVD5 shows the right (the expected one) behavior.

Seems a bug of PowerDVD

jsoto

[jeanl]

Originally posted by jsoto
Yep, same here, even using PowerDVD6. But WinDVD5 shows the right (the expected one) behavior.

Seems a bug of PowerDVD

jsoto
that's hard to believe! Lots of PGCs do count on cell commands! I would imagine that lots of DVDs would play wrong with such a big bug...
EDIT: well, in fact, most of the cell commands I've seen are in menus domain, and it might be that the PowerDVD "bug" is only in the title domain?
Jeanl

[jeanl]

well I checked the powerDVD "bug" by adding a cell command in the menu domain, and that worked as expected...
Now, I'm puzzled... I'm using version 4.0, and jsoto with version 6 seems to have the same problem. I can't believe such a big bug could actually exist. Is there something I'm not understanding with cell commands in the title domain?
Are there restrictions I'm not aware of?

Jeanl

[blutach]

You're doing everything same as me jean.

However, and a bit OT, so I apologise, I have always wondered why a title has a cell command to LinkTailPGC in say, its last cell or next to last cell (if there's a 1 sec last cell).

Makes no sense (at least to this uneducated bum)! Why don't they let the cell complete its playback and link to the post commands anyway?

PS. I have no prblems with PowerDVD 5 with this. But my high end player doesn't seem to like em (occasionally). Sh&ts the living daylights outa me.