PgcEdit 0.5

[r0lZ]

PgcEdit v7.0 has been released. See this thread (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=110310).


PgcEdit 0.5.0

BOV (Buttons Over Video in Title domains) support:
Replaced the executable button_dump.exe bt a Tcl/Tk function, able to parse the menu buttons in menu domains. The menu buttons informations are therefore available also for Macintosh pre-OSX platforms.
Added "File->Find BOVs" and "Options->Automatically Launch BOV finder when a DVD is opened?" to find the BOVs at startup.
"Utilities -> Show Menu Buttons or BOVs" works now also for Title PGCs.
Added "Show BOVs" popup menu in the PGC selector on title PGCs.
Removed the "Options/Show libdvdread warnings when parsing menu buttons?".
"Fix number of streams in VMGM/VTSI_MAT tables" macro to change the number of streams in the VMGM_MAT and VTSM_MAT tables according to the number of streams enabled in the PGCs.
Domain Streams Attributes check now if the current number of streams match the number of streams enabled in the PGCs.
Domain Streams Attributes allow now to edit the audio stream types and parameters. (Still no support to edit the karaoke parameters.)
Open DVD: If there are empty VOB files, an option to delete them is now presented to the user when the DVD is loaded.
Added a Burn DVD/Create ISO toolbar icon. (Windows only)
Added some missing credits and thanks in the About dialog.
Kill Playback macro: New algorithm to determine if it is safe to use the macro. It is safe to kill playback if there are no menu buttons, and if there are no cell commands jumping outside of the current PGC.
Blank Out PGCs in Domain: The "Kill Playback only when it's safe" option now uses the new Kill Playback macro.
Cell type flag SCR Discontinuity (System Clock Reference) renamed to STC Discontinuity (System Time Clock). (Recommandation of Mpucoder)
Burn DVD: The MenuShrinkBackup is now removed automatically from the DVD.
Added the audio and subpic stream IDs in Domain Streams Attributes GUI and in Info -> Streams.
PgcEdit_Preview.exe v1.6 by Jeanl. Fixes an aspect ratio bug with VCD and SVCD resolutions, and another one with garbage addeded in the bottom of the image when the vertical resolutions was not a multiple of 32.
When a cell is reassigned or blanked, the Seamless Joint flag is now cleared.
Trace mode: The target of LinkPTT commands was wrong (was pre-commands of the PGC instead of target chapter.)
Trace mode: A NOP command in a menu button or BOV is now ignored.
Highlight Target/Jump to Target did not work in some cases with CallSS.
Menu buttons viewer bug: After selecting another frame with the < and > buttons, the background image was not displayed for VMGM menus.
Fixed a bug with the Video Attributes display. The resolution, bitrates and 'top & bottom cropped' flags were wrong. The saved attributes were OK, though.
Fixed a bug when writing a PTT_SRPTI table containing PTTs assigned to program 0. Yes, I've seen a DVD with such bizarre things!
Fixed a bug occurnig after a Delete Program. The program map table was not padded to an even number of bytes.
Misc. little bug fixes.

Links to PgcEdit's versions within this thread: PgcEdit 0.5.7 (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=663939#post663939)
PgcEdit 0.5.7 beta (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&postid=654538#post654538)
PgcEdit 0.5.6 (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&postid=652642#post652642)
PgcEdit 0.5.6 beta (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&postid=643951#post643951)
PgcEdit 0.5.5 (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&postid=643413#post643413) (Special thread on Preview under Linux and Mac OSX (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=93355))
PgcEdit 0.5.4 (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&postid=642928#post642928)
PgcEdit 0.5.3 (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&postid=642646#post642646)
PgcEdit 0.5.3 beta (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&postid=641136#post641136)
PgcEdit 0.5.2 (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&postid=640425#post640425)
PgcEdit 0.5.1 (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&postid=631296#post631296)

Links to old discussion threads: PgcEdit 0.5.1 beta (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=91521)
PgcEdit 0.5.0 beta (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=89918)
PgcEdit 0.4 (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=85329)
PgcEdit 0.3 (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=79853)
PgcEdit 0.2 (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=78618)
PgcEdit 0.1 (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=77980)

[Wheelie4]

Open DVD: If there are empty VOB files, an option to delete them is now presented to the user when the DVD is loaded.

Forgive my dvd structure and protection ignorance. But,is this for the pesky dummy files for protection sony uses?

[r0lZ]

No. The empty VOB files are only 0 byte files. These files are obviously useless, and Nero doesn't like them. Sometime, these files are referenced in the IFOs.
If you answer yes when the dialog ask if you want to delete them, the empty VOBs are deleted, and the references in the IFOs are cleared. It's only a clean way to get rid of them.

[Wheelie4]

Ahhhh cool. Thx for the info. :)

PGCEdit can do so much I'm terrified of it. Just not sure how to use more than 2 or 3 of it's features. HeHe :D

[blutach]

@wheelie

Experiment and just play around a bit. When you're finished just restore backup. Can not fail.

What's in the program will simply astound you.

@rolz - another masterpiece!

Regards

[selyb]

r0lZ: I am thoroughly impressed and pleased with your program.

It seems like every day I find something else that pgcedit can do.

Thank you very very much :)

[r0lZ]

Thanks to you, and to everybody, for your kind words.

[CoNS]

Originally posted by CoNS in the PgcEdit 0.5.0 beta thread
When 0.5.0 final is released, could you make a description for nOObs like me on how to use the new menu editor function, and especially on which of the new options to select when loading a disc, if I just want to do the usual editing - or if I want to edit menus?

Originally posted by r0lZ
It's not so complex. There is a new GUI when loading the DVD allowing to parse the VOBs for BOVs.
If you are sure there are no BOVs in your DVD, then you can safely abort the scan, and even disable the startup parsing.
If you have already scanned the DVD, you may also manually disable the checkboxes for the VTSs w/o BOVs.
The slider is used to speedup the scanning process. The BOVs are defined in the Nav Packs of the VOBUs. Checking only some nav packs usually works pretty well.
I recommand to check a DVD the first time with the slider to 30 (maximum). If some BOVs are found, rescan the VTSs with a lower value (for example 5). If the number of BOVs is the same, then you may safely use 30 each time you load the same DVD.Ehmm, sorry for being such a pain-in-the-ass-nOOb but I'm still not really sure how to use the new feature... :confused:

Basically the problem is that I don't know what the BOV thing is for. Button Over Video... Are BOVs another word for menu button commands?

I understand that they're values or setting stored in the vobs, either in menu vobs or title vobs. Is it correct that PgcEdit so far only handles BOVs in title vobs? Why not menu vobs - buttons usually occur in the menus of the disc, and that's what I'd want to edit most of the time then?

I assume the BOV scanning feature is similar to the scanning done by MenuEdit when loading a vob? But with MenuEdit I can edit the buttons in menus?

How exactly is the new BOV thing in PgcEdit connected to the Menu preview function which has been there for some time now? If the menu preview thing would allow me to view the buttons and display the button commands, why is neccessary with the new BOV scanning?

Is it correct that if I want to use PgcEdit for the stuff I used to use it for up to version 0.4.x, i.e. add PGC pre/cell/post commands, kill PGC playback, blank out whole VTST og VTSM etc., I can simply skip the scan startup window every time? The BOV scan is only needed for some new menu editing function in the new 0.5.0? What exactly can PgcEdit do now that it couldn't do before? How do I take advantage of the new features?

[r0lZ]

Originally posted by CoNS
Ehmm, sorry for being such a pain-in-the-ass-nOOb but I'm still not really sure how to use the new feature... :confused:

Basically the problem is that I don't know what the BOV thing is for. Button Over Video... Are BOVs another word for menu button commands? Almost. The only difference is that the buttons are located in the title domains (VTST). Also, the BOVs are often used to access special features when watching the main movie (White rabbit in Matrix).

I understand that they're values or setting stored in the vobs, either in menu vobs or title vobs. Is it correct that PgcEdit so far only handles BOVs in title vobs? Why not menu vobs - buttons usually occur in the menus of the disc, and that's what I'd want to edit most of the time then?The regular menu buttons (in menu domains: VMGM and VTSM) are always scanned by PgcEdit. Since menu VOBs are not so large, it is not an option. The scanning for menu buttons occur before the GUI for BOVs is opened. You can see the scanning progress in the status bar.

I assume the BOV scanning feature is similar to the scanning done by MenuEdit when loading a vob? But with MenuEdit I can edit the buttons in menus?The implementation of the BOVs is the first step. I am currently working on a button editor, that will work on the regular menus and on the BOVs.

How exactly is the new BOV thing in PgcEdit connected to the Menu preview function which has been there for some time now? If the menu preview thing would allow me to view the buttons and display the button commands, why is neccessary with the new BOV scanning?The menu button viewer is the GUI. To be able to display the buttons, I must know where they are located, how to display them, and what command they use. Unfortunately, there is nothing in the IFOs allowing to know if there are buttons in the VOBs and where. This is why the scanning is needed.

Is it correct that if I want to use PgcEdit for the stuff I used to use it for up to version 0.4.x, i.e. add PGC pre/cell/post commands, kill PGC playback, blank out whole VTST og VTSM etc., I can simply skip the scan startup window every time? The BOV scan is only needed for some new menu editing function in the new 0.5.0? What exactly can PgcEdit do now that it couldn't do before? How do I take advantage of the new features? It is better to know if there are BOVs in the DVD, because you will see the number of buttons associated with a specific PGC in the PGC Selector pane, and display them with the viewer, just like with regular menus. It may be dangerous to kill playback or blank a PGC with menu buttons.
Also, the trace function is now complete. It is now possible to follow the flow of operations of the DVD in all cases. Before 0.5, if a menu was authored in a title domain (BOV), the trace was broken.
And, as I said before, when the menu editor will be complete, you will be able to edit all VM commands of the DVD, even in the menu buttons and BOVs.

You may skip the BOV parsing if you are sure there are no BOVs in your DVD. Also, you may skip it even if there are buttons but only if you don't want to use the trace, and you are just interested to kill playback on some FBI warnings or to edit some commands (for example to change a SetSTN to enable your preferred language by default.)

What I do usually: The first time I load a DVD, I parse the buttons with the slider to the maximum. It's verry fast. If there are no BOVs in the DVD, I switch off the option to automatically parse the BOVs when the DVD is opened. If some BOVs are found, I try to lower the slider (usually to value 5), and parse again the VTSs with BOVs. If the number of BOVs after this second parsing is the same, I set the slider back to 30, so that the next time the DVD is opened, the parsing will be as fast as possible.

I hope you understand better the interest of the BOV scanning.

[rayvt]

I, too, want to thank you for PgcEdit. In order to eliminate FBI warnings, I had been using various combinations of Vobrator, IFOedit, VobBlanker, etc. Nothing worked very good, and nothing could reliably show me the video clips so I could pick out the ones I wanted to delete.
And I was using DVDShrink to get rid of the fullscreen movie on a DVD with both FS and WS. But this was slow, because I had to load in each movie, plus it still left the movie with "this has been deleted" stills.

PGCedit does all this for me reliably and easily. Trace mode is great, but it's also easy to just eyeball the short segments to pick out the Warning clips. And -- now that I found the guide--it's real easy to completely strip out the FS version and the FS/WS menu.

The worst thing about PGCEdit is the lack of any kind of user guide.

Anyway..... GREAT PROGRAM!!! Thank you!!!

[Tobii]

@ r0lZ

Problem with a still show, at a disc. I can play the files in every software player.
The preview alone for this PGC, works.
If I, however, try it in PgcEdit in the trace mode, the trace mode stops.



trace log:

DVD inserted: ""; Provider:
DVD inserted: Resetting all GPRMs to 0.
DVD inserted: Initializing the SPRMs to default/setup values.
------> Entering VMG , First-Play PGC
-- pre 1 : (JumpSS) Jump to VMGM PGC 1
------> Entering VMGM , LU 1 (de) , 1 (0:00) TitleM
******* Start playback VMGM , LU 1 (de) , 1 (0:00) TitleM...

The trace mode stops here, no preview of the Pgc!
With other versions of PgcEdit, I receive the same result.

[r0lZ]

******* Start playback VMGM , LU 1 (de) , 1 (0:00) TitleM... When this message appear, you have to click Step one more time to enter the first cell of the PGC. The playback should start.
If that doesn't work, please send me the IFOs and the VMGM VOB.

[Tobii]

I already have tried, the preview doesn't start. I send the IFOs and the VMGM VOB.

[r0lZ]

Thanks, Tobi.

I've found the problem. It's a new bug I introduced in 0.5. In the new method of parsing the menu buttons, I assume there are no buttons (or BOVs) in a domain if the domain has no subpictures defined. This is a good way to speedup things when loading the DVD, because there is no need to parse the VOB.
The bug is that some variables needed in the trace mode were not initialized in those circumstances.

Unfortunately, I cannot release a bugfix version right now, because I am currently integrating the menu editor in the main program.

If you want to be able to trace your DVD, try this method:

1. Select any PGC in the the menu domain that caused the problem. (In your case, you may select the first PGC of the VMGM.) Open the PGC Editor, and set the first subpic status to "0 0 0 0", to enable it.

2. Use the new macro "Fix number of streams in VMGM/VTSI_Mat tables" to increase the number of streams in the VMGM.

3. Save and reload the DVD.

You should now be able to trace your DVD correctly.
When you will not need to trace the DVD anymore, you may want to remove the new stream, but it's not required.


NOTE: When the bug occured, there was no error message because you have probably launched the trace mode with the toolbar icon. When an error occur, for an unknown reason, the code launched by the toolbar doesn't trigger the error routine. So, when you suspect a bug in a function launched with the toolbar, you should try to launch the same function via another method, for example with the menu, to be able to see the error message.

[Tobii]

As well...thanks for her fast help, r0lZ.

Have carried everything out according to her instruction and it is working now in the Trace mode.
Unfortunately, I cannot release a bugfix version right now, because I am currently integrating the menu editor in the main program.
menu editor :)

NOTE: When the bug occured, there was no error message because you have probably launched the trace mode with the toolbar icon. When an error occur, for an unknown reason, the code launched by the toolbar doesn't trigger the error routine. So, when you suspect a bug in a function launched with the toolbar, you should try to launch the same function via another method, for example with the menu, to be able to see the error message.

In future, I will do it that way and I must thank you again. :)

[CoNS]

I've experiencing something with the bmp capture function in the preview function, which may be an error. When I preview a (VTST) PGC the picture is displayed fine. But when I capture a still pic of the video using the bmp capture function, and view the saved picture with a picture viewer program (or load it into a sup subtitle creation program), it's vertically stretched as if something is wrong with the aspect ratio... :confused:

I've tried a number of PAL and NTSC discs, and I'm getting this every time I try in both PgcEdit 0.4.9 and 0.5.0. I know for sure that the aspect ratio of the captured still pic from PgcEdit was correct in earlier versions of PgcEdit, though I'm not sure how far back (at least up till version 0.4.5-7, I think)

[r0lZ]

I tried the BMP capture again, and everything seems fine.

The preview is always stretched to be displayed in the correct aspect ratio. The stretching takes into account the pixel format (PAL or NTSC), the original resolution, and the 16:9 or 4:3 display aspect ratio. The target monitor is assumed to be a PC monitor with square pixels.

In the other hand, the saved image is not resized at all. The BMP should be in the same resolution as the original video. This is required if you want to edit, re-encode and replace the frame. Also, you may use any image editing program to stretch it to another format, with whatever resize quality your program is able to do.

Please verify the format of the video with the Domain Streams Attributes function. If the format of the BMP doesn't match the video resolution, then there is a problem. Keep me informed. Thanks.

[blutach]

@CoNS

This is undoubtedly the result, as r0lZ implies, of an anamorphic transformation.

If you want to see it, how it is actually displayed, stretch the BMP horizontally by 33%.

Regards

[CoNS]

Ah, ok, both of you thx for explaining.

I've checked the resolution. Both the video (checked in PgcEdit domain attributes window) and the exported bmp (checked in PSP8) were 720x576, which they should be, according to you explanation.

Then the problem must be that the subtitle program I use (Subtitle Creator (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=80109) by Paddington) doesn't display the imported background pics correctly (allow stretching if needed). The weird thing is that I haven't experienced the stretching issue until recently, which led me to the conclusion that something must had been changed, probably in PgcEdit preview...

Here's an old screenshot where I'm using an older version of Subtitle Creator with a letterboxed picture captured in PgcEdit preview (NTSC format). And in this case it's shown correctly: http://home25.inet.tele.dk/dvdkat/sc-image6.jpg

[r0lZ]

The Save BMP function has not changed. But I have changed the way the picture is displayed in the preview window and in the menu buttons viewer. The image is now always displayed in the correct aspect ratio on a PC monitor.

Maybe there is a switch somewhere in Subtitle Creator? Or does it retrieve the DAR info from the IFO or the VOB?
Note that this info is stored in both the IFOs and VOBs. PgcEdit uses only the one from the IFOs (It has precedence). If the DAR in the VOB is not the same, Subtitle Creator may use the wrong display aspect ratio.

[CoNS]

Originally posted by r0lZ
Or does it retrieve the DAR info from the IFO or the VOB?
Note that this info is stored in both the IFOs and VOBs. PgcEdit uses only the one from the IFOs (It has precedence). If the DAR in the VOB is not the same, Subtitle Creator may use the wrong display aspect ratio. I don't it does... No vobs are loaded in SC, and it's optional to load ifo file. I think the loaded ifo is only used to determine subtitle colours and the format (PAL or NTSC).

[goonix]

Hi rolZ

I'm currently backing up my old burns to more reliable dvd medias.

Now I have burned a dvd with pgcEdit/DVDdecrypter (as I usually do now) that won't play.
This dvd contains 2 movies reauthored with an old DVDShrink version (don't know which) some time ago.
It plays in my desktop player (but stuttering, thats why I make a back up now) in PowerDVD and can be opened with DVDShrink.

After open and save with pgcEdit 0.5.0 without changing anything, the IFOs are defect.
Even pgcEdit can't open the saved IFOs.

After performing a "mock strip" with IFOEdit, a "mock blank" with VobBlanker or a "mock shrink" with DVDShrink on my original files the dvd is still playable. But it won't help for the pgcEdit issue.

I have finally backed up this dvd with nero, so I don't need help, but maybe you are interested in improving pgcEdit.

I sent a small version of this dvd to your mailbox (blanked out 99,99% with VobBlanker).
Also on this small version you can see the effect.

goonix

[r0lZ]

Well, your original DVD is badly authored! There are lot of errors in the table pointers in VTS_01_0.IFO and VTS_02_0.IFO.
If you load the IFOs in IfoEdit and try to save them immediately, it will complain: the pointers to the VTS_TMAPT, VTS_C_ADT and VTS_VOBU_ADMAP tables are wrong, as well as the last sector of VTSI.

I tried a mock strip, which reorganize the pointers, but the VTS_TMAPT table is still missing. But the mockstripped DVD may now be saved with PgcEdit without problems.
Try to load the original in DVDShrink, and process it again in reauthor mode. Probably DVDShrink will rebuild the missing table.

Anyway, it's not a PgcEdit bug (although it doesn't detect the problem.)

[r0lZ]

Originally posted by CoNS
I don't it does... No vobs are loaded in SC, and it's optional to load ifo file. I think the loaded ifo is only used to determine subtitle colours and the format (PAL or NTSC). I don't know what's the problem, but it is obviously not related to the BMP saved by PgcEdit. Maybe there is a wrong flag in the subpic file? Sorry, but as I'm really not an expert on subpic stream format, I can't help much more.

[goonix]

You are right.
Seems to be a badly authored dvd by a very old DVDShrink (maybe a beta).

If I do a "mock strip" with IFOedit I get the Message "There is no TimeMap table! Skipping TMap table creation!". But this shouldn't be a problem. see here (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=42991)
The DVD is still playable afterwards.

If I load the IFOs in IfoEdit and try to save them immediately (as you suggest), then I get a lot of complains.

And you are right again, a new reauthor of the already reauthored dvd with DVDShrink 3.2 has solved the problem.

I was wondering, that this badly authored dvd plays well in my hardware- and software players and that VobBlanker and DVDShrink can handle it, but not pgcEdit.

---------

But now to the future. I like FilipeAmadeuO's idea (from the VobBlanker thread) to save the menu background as a BMP, wipe out the not used text with a bitmap editor and import the bitmap back to the menu. This is useful if you can delete a button with pgcEdit in your new version.

And I think pgcEdit is a better place do realize this funktion as in VobBlanker. Isn't it a challenge if you get bored after finishing the menu button editor? ;)

goonix

[r0lZ]

Originally posted by goonix
But now to the future. I like FilipeAmadeuO's idea (from the VobBlanker thread) to save the menu background as a BMP, wipe out the not used text with a bitmap editor and import the bitmap back to the menu. This is useful if you can delete a button with pgcEdit in your new version.

And I think pgcEdit is a better place do realize this funktion as in VobBlanker. Isn't it a challenge if you get bored after finishing the menu button editor? ;) Hum, I don't think PgcEdit is the best choice for that tool. PgcEdit is an IFO editor, not a VOB editor (although there are some functions dealing with VOBs.) Furthermore, the programming language used (Tcl/Tk) is not suitable to parse large amount of binary data.

If someone write a command line app to do what you want, I may integrate it in PgcEdit. But I will not write such a tool myself. I have enough work with PgcEdit. Sorry.

[r0lZ]

The first beta with the menu buttons editor is available. See here (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=91521).

[CoNS]

Posting here, as it doesn't concern the menu editor:

Often when I rightclick a PGC in the panel to the left in the main window in PgcEdit, I accidently select something from the brought up menu by the same (right) click.

This probably happens because I hold the right mouse button a splitsecond too long and because it's possible to select from the menu by a single right click and not only by left click.

It's not really a bug, it's just annoying. Could you disable selections with right click? (I use Win 2000) :)

[r0lZ]

I don't know if it's possible. Will try...

[mrg]

Hi rolZ,
it is possible to make a "Play all VTS" function or a window that show all VTS and it is possible to select what VTS is automatically play after the end of the VTS?

[r0lZ]

No. It's not possible to add that automatically to any DVD, because the there are too many ways a DVD may be authored.

If you want to do that, you have to use DVDShrink in reauthor mode. Pick the titles you want to play, and add them to the compilation.

[r0lZ]

@ Linux users!

The standalone executables for Linux V0.5.0 (including all beta releases) and 0.5.1 beta1 are broken. When you launch the executable, the main window do not appear, and the CPU load is almost 100%.

This is a bug in freeWrap 6.0 for Linux, which I used to make the linux executables, starting with v0.5.0.

The new v0.5.1beta2 version is fixed. I use the old freeWrap 5.6.1 again. If you click on the "Download pgcedit for Linux (not compressed)." link on my homepage, you will now download v0.5.1beta2, although the last official stable release is still 0.5.0.

If you really want to use v0.5.0, please download the source files. You need Tcl/Tk 8.4 to use the source files.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

[mrg]

Thanks r0lZ, but I make it with PgcEdit with the following way:
- Open DVD
- left "VTST 1,1 TTN 1 (x:xx) Title 1"
- "post commands:" shows for example "1 (CallSS) Call the VMGM PGC 7, resume cell 1"
==>> notice the 7 after VMGM PGC
- click on "VMGM , LU 1 (en) , 7 (dummy)"
- doubleclick "3. pre Command (JumpSS)"
- Alphabetically -> JumpTT
- "Jump to the entry PGC of title" select next Title
- and so on (VMGM ... 8 ...)

Is there a better way?

[iliketowatch]

Originally posted by r0lZ
@ Linux users!

The standalone executables for Linux V0.5.0 (including all beta releases) and 0.5.1 beta1 are broken. When you launch the executable, the main window do not appear, and the CPU load is almost 100%.

This is a bug in freeWrap 6.0 for Linux, which I used to make the linux executables, starting with v0.5.0.

The new v0.5.1beta2 version is fixed. I use the old freeWrap 5.6.1 again. If you click on the "Download pgcedit for Linux (not compressed)." link on my homepage, you will now download v0.5.1beta2, although the last official stable release is still 0.5.0.

If you really want to use v0.5.0, please download the source files. You need Tcl/Tk 8.4 to use the source files.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

It works! Thanks r0lZ! The BOV scan window is a big help for configuring the process and as a status indicator.

The menu editor is great. It is intuitive and appears very flexible. You can edit the entire button or just the command, plus add, delete, hide, move and reorder buttons. I just took a look at the GUI. I'll give it a workout later. Now to find a DVD with BOVs ....

Thanks.

[r0lZ]

@mrg
Most of the time, it will work as you did. But if there are cell commands, it will probably not work. And it's not so easy if you have several PGCs in the same VTS. Sometime, a second PGC share exactly the same contents as the first one, but with different sound or subpic streams. Which one to choose? And there are tons of difficulties like that...

Anyway, it ia always possible to do what you want by hand. But it's difficult to write a macro that will work in all circumstances.

@iliketowatch
:)

[CoNS]

Posting here as it's not related to the menu editor:

r0lZ, a small detail: When I'm adding an extra subtitle stream to a DVD, which I often do (custom subs in native language), I am now using PgcEdit to correct the stream numbers.

I used to use IfoEdit for this, but the PgcEdit GUI is much more userfriendly for this case, too.

With PgcEdit, I load the disc and doubleclick the relevant PGC to enter the PGC editor window. Here, I click on the first available sub-picture stream (at the top), and assign the correct subtitle stream number for 4:3, wide, letterbox and pan&scan and click "Set".

Now, here's the thing: If I then click "Current domain stream attributes", I don't get the dialog box about fixing the stream number, and I can't see my new subtitle stream.

In order to get the dialog box about fixing the stream number etc., I have to click "Ok" in the PGC editor to close it, and then enter the PGC editor again, and click "Current domain stream attributes"...

[r0lZ]

Hum. I see.
The problem is that you must accept the changes made in the PGC Editor before the new streams assignments are seen by the Domain Streams Attributes function.
In fact, the "Domain Streams Attributes" button has really nothing to do with the PGC Editor, because it is a setup global to the current domain, and not local to the current PGC. I've added the button here just to be able to see the current streams assignments easily.
The correct procedure is to add your new streams assignments in the PGC, then quit the PGC Editor with OK, and enter the Domain Streams Attributes GUI via the menu. You don't need to open the PGC Editor again: the Domain Streams Attributes function is available directly via the Utilities menu, or the popup menu in the PGC selector.
Sorry, but I can't change that behavior, because the Cancel button of the PGC Editor will not react as expected if I save the streams assingments directly.

[CoNS]

Ok, that's what I thought, too.

Another thing:

I often edit the language selection menu of the disc in order to bypass it by copying the button command and pasting it to a new cell command and setting the still cell time to 0. However, half of the times I forget to correct the number of cell commands!

Why is it that you must manually specify this number whereas the number of pre commands and post commands are automatically calculated by PgcEdit? There probably is a very logical explanation, which I'm not aware of...?

Could you add some sort of check which brings up a warning asking to fix it if the specified number of cell commands doesn't match the actual number?

[jeanl]

Originally posted by CoNS
Ok, that's what I thought, too.

Another thing:

I often edit the language selection menu of the disc in order to bypass it by copying the button command and pasting it to a new cell command and setting the still cell time to 0. However, half of the times I forget to correct the number of cell commands!

Why is it that you must manually specify this number whereas the number of pre commands and post commands are automatically calculated by PgcEdit? There probably is a very logical explanation, which I'm not aware of...?

Could you add some sort of check which brings up a warning asking to fix it if the specified number of cell commands doesn't match the actual number?
CoNS, where is the number of cell commands you're talking about?? I can't see it anywhere in PgcEdit! As far as I know, cell commands are exactly like pre/post, you add one and that's that you don't have to modify anything else!
jeanl

[r0lZ]

Well, there is no 'numner of cell commands' in the PgcEdit GUI, but there are 'cell command numbers' in the cell table.
It's not easy to automate this. You may add, for example, the first cell command, to apply it to cell 2.
Also, on some commercial DVDs, I've found cell commands not assigned to cells. That doesn't hurt. Therefore, adding a popup requester to display a warning in such cases may be a nuisance.

Maybe I'll add some kind of automatic renumbering in the future, if i find a good way to implement it. But don't expect that soon...

[CoNS]

@jeanl: If I go to the PGC editor in PgcEdit (doubleclick on a PGC), I can see the cell table, as r0lZ referred to. Here I can see a row of numbers with the title "Cell Cmd". If I follow 2COOL's guide to bypass audio language/aspect ratio menus, on page 2 (http://home.tiscali.be/debie.roland/pgcedit/third_party/2cool/remove_language_aspect_ratio_menus/remove_language_and_aspect_ratio_menus_2.htm) I have to change the number to make the newly pasted cell command (= the button command) work.

[blutach]

But CoNS, they can be in any order you like, one to a particular cell. Adding 3 cell commands, doesn't and could not guess at which cell you want each command to belong.

It could only work automatically if there was a single cell and a single cell command. But even then, there are plenty of DVDs with cell commands NOT attached to cells.

This is not a hard thing to do manually, and it is proper that it is done that way.

Regards

[Paddington]

Originally posted by r0lZ
The Save BMP function has not changed. But I have changed the way the picture is displayed in the preview window and in the menu buttons viewer. The image is now always displayed in the correct aspect ratio on a PC monitor.

Maybe there is a switch somewhere in SubtitleCreator? Or does it retrieve the DAR info from the IFO or the VOB?
Note that this info is stored in both the IFOs and VOBs. PgcEdit uses only the one from the IFOs (It has precedence). If the DAR in the VOB is not the same, Subtitle Creator may use the wrong display aspect ratio.
I am the author of SubtitleCreator (http://sourceforge.net/projects/subtitlecreator), and thanks for explaining what was going on - I use another screen capture program, which already scales the output to the correct display format, so this caused the problem that CoNS mentioned. However, as you mentioned that it is possible to retrieve the correct display format from the IFO file, I was wondering if you are willing to tell me how it's done - it would even be easier if you had some code ;-)

Additionally, I would like to include a preview option in SubtitleCreator - I've found some C# code on the "Code project" which uses DirectX, but is incomplete. Can you tell me how you did it?

[r0lZ]

Hi Paddington, and thanks for your verry good program!

The aspect ratio is stored as a word in the IFOs at offset 0x100 for the menu VOB and 0x200 for the title VOBs. It's in the VTSM_MAT (for VIDEO_TS) or VTSI_MAT (for VTS_*) tables. Fortunately, these table MUST be in the beginning of the IFO, so the offset do not need to be calculated.

Breakdown of the Video Attributes bits:

Byte 0:
Bits 7 & 6: Coding mode: 0 = Mpeg-1, 1 = Mpeg-2
Bits 5 & 4: Standard: 0 = NTSC, 1 = PAL
Bits 3 & 2: Aspect: 0 = 4:3, 1 = not specified, 2 = reserved, 3 = 16:9 (1 & 2 should not be used)
Bit 1: Automatic Pan/Scan: 1 = disallowed
Bit 0: Automatic Letterbox: 1 = disallowed

Byte 1:
Bit 7: CC for line 21 field 1 in GOP (NTSC only)
Bit 6: CC for line 21 field 2 in GOP (NTSC only)
Bit 5: Bit Rate: 0 = VBR, 1 = CBR
Bits 4 & 3: Resolution (NTSC or PAL): 0 = 720x480 or 720x576, 1 = 704x480 or 704x576, 2 = 352x480 or 352x576, 3 = 352x240 or 352x288
Bit 2: Letterboxed: 1=top and bottom cropped
Bit 1: reserved
Bit 0: Film: 0=camera, 1=film (PAL only)

(Thanks to mpucoder for this information!)
As you can see, it's pretty simple.

Preview: A am not the author of the preview. Jeanl did it for me. In fact, it's a standalone executable which is called from my program. It is based on the old code of DVD2AVI. According to jeanl, the code is not easy to understand, because the GUI is mixed with the rest of the code. If you want to have a look, you may download the sources on my homepage (in the All Versions folder.)

You may also have a look at some GPL source code for Linux. VLan (Video Lan) is an open source multimedia player able to play a DVD (with lot of navigation problems) under Windows.

Sorry, I can't help much more.

[CoNS]

jeanl, it would be incredibly cool if Subtitle Creator could have a preview function like PgcEdit's and VobBlanker's... :)

Would you allow Paddington to use your code for the preview function in Subtitle Creator? And perhaps even help him implement it? If you don't know the program already, I can inform you that it's a freeware tool made in C# under the SourceForge project: https://sourceforge.net/projects/subtitlecreator/

[Paddington]

Originally posted by r0lZ
The aspect ratio is stored as a word in the IFOs at offset 0x100 for the menu VOB and 0x200 for the title VOBs. It's in the VTSM_MAT (for VIDEO_TS) or VTSI_MAT (for VTS_*) tables.

Thanks a lot! r0lZ! I will try it this week - I think I already read part of this information from the IFO file anyways, but didn't know all the bit flags (I used SubRip's open source code).

Just for your information, I've also found another basic OSS player on The Code Project (http://www.thecodeproject.com/cs/media/directshownet.asp), which uses DirectX/DirectShow for displaying audio/video. Although this requires that an MPEG2 decoder is already installed (e.g. WinDVD or PowerDVD) on your system. As it is in C#, it might be easier to integrate it with my own code, but if it doesn't work, I will certainly have another look at Jeanl's code.

[r0lZ]

Originally posted by Paddington
Thanks a lot! r0lZ! You're welcome.
Thanks also for the link to the Code Project. Seems interesting!

[r0lZ]

PgcEdit 0.5.1 released
Menu Buttons/BOVs Editor.
Wrong display aspect ratio was used in the menu buttons viewer for group types sharing modes "normal" + "letterbox".
Fixed wrong highlighted target/jump to target in menu domains: the target was always in LU 1.
Moved the stream's VOB IDs from the Domain Streams Attributes to the PGC Streams assignments GUI, where they should be. The streans IDs are now hopefully corrects.
Linux standalone executables 0.5.0beta1 to 0.5.1beta1 were broken. The sources were OK. V 0.5.1beta2 is the first working 0.5 standalone exe.
Fixed a bug in 'Delete last PGC in domain' in title domain. The new total number of TTNs was wrong when a PGC sharing the same TTN number with another one was deleted.
Small bug fixed that prevented to "Delete Last PGC in Domain" if the PGC was created with "New Dummy PGC" during the same PgcEdit session.

[r0lZ]

Please help improve PgcEdit!

I have a problem with the exact behavior of SPRM 7. According to the standard, it is supposed to hold the PTT (chapter) number. But on many players, it is the PG (program) number that is stored!

I need to know what's the majority of players is doing. So, I have made a little test-DVD. Please download it, burn it, try it in your standalone, and report the result of the test in this thread (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=92035#post631439). Don't forget to mention your player's brand and model.

See the thread mentionned above for details, and for the download link.

Thanks in advance!

[blutach]

@r0lZ

Irrespective of what the majority of DVD players are doing, you might want to make it an option for PgcEdit users to setup either Chapter or PGN in their virtual player setup.

What do you think?

Regards