PgcEdit 0.6.0

[zacoz]

@blutach
using "Remove VOB", it's not changing the commands at all.

The normal kill playback inserts a NOP at the end of the pre-commands and then pastes the post commands after this in the pre-command section. Is this what you expected to happen here also, or are you indicating that the vob removal effectively kills playback without the need to change the commands?

[zacoz]

@r0lZ

I don't recall it having been asked before (that may just be my bad memory), but is it viable to have a "macro" to identify all the unreferenced PGC's? Basically, looking for a "goto calling command" that checks all PGC's not just the selected one and only lists those that would show as unreferenced.

Reason being is that I like to do my rips with DVD-D leaving the unreferenced material in place so that I can see what's there. I then need to load it into DVDShrink purely to see what, if any, unreferenced material there is. What I really want to do is just load it straight into PgcEdit and check it out as part of my processing.

Seems 2COOL & blutach (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=99222) may also find this useful. Any support from others ????

[r0lZ]

Can you add the option to add end frame of last chapter when creating celltimes.txt?Why do you need that? You may already concat several PGCs in the same celltime.txt file with the offset option, because, if the offset is non-zero, it will be added as the first cell time.
Also, the offset is the last celltime (actually the time of the first frame after the end frame of the last cell). It is displayed in the title bar of the text viewer, and in the offset requester the next time you launch the function. All you need to do is to copy it manually (eventally, decrease it by one if you really wants the time of the last frame).

However, I think another useful option should be to include only the chapter or program times. Currently, all cells are included. If, for example, a cell is used for the layer break position only, it will be converted to a chapter by Muxman and IfoEdit. This is not necessary what you need.
So, maybe I will revamp the interface, and include the option you want...

[r0lZ]

Does this mean that if the VOB is removed, that "playback" of the PGC will flow through the Pre-commands and then straight onto the Post-commands, thus achieving the same result as having killed playback anyway - hence no need for kill playback? (assuming commands themselves don't direct flow elsewhere)Exactly! If a PGC has no video to play, the pre commands and the post commands are executed. No need to change anything.
Like Blutach, I use the Completely remove VOB option whenever possible. It's clean, fast, and you don't need to process the VMGM with VobBlanker to recover the VOB space.

Note: if you use that option on the VMGM, you should burn the DVD with the 32K gap option enabled, or your VIDEO_TS.IFO and VIDEO_TS.BUP files will certainly be on the same ECC block.

[r0lZ]

@r0lZ

I don't recall it having been asked before (that may just be my bad memory), but is it viable to have a "macro" to identify all the unreferenced PGC's? Basically, looking for a "goto calling command" that checks all PGC's not just the selected one and only lists those that would show as unreferenced.

Reason being is that I like to do my rips with DVD-D leaving the unreferenced material in place so that I can see what's there. I then need to load it into DVDShrink purely to see what, if any, unreferenced material there is. What I really want to do is just load it straight into PgcEdit and check it out as part of my processing.

Seems 2COOL & blutach (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=99222) may also find this useful. Any support from others ????First, a little clarification. There is two kind of unreferenced stuff in a DVD.

1. Unreferenced VOB cells are video cells present in the VOB but these cells are never used by any PGC in the IFOs. These VOB cells are dropped automatically by VobBlanker, and they appear in the unreferenced section in DVD Shrink. Being an IFO editor, PgcEdit has currently no way to display these VOB cells to the user.
There are several ways to convert regular VOB cells to unreferenced ones in PgcEdit: Kill Playback on menu PGC when you answer yes at the question to remove the references in the IFOs, PGC Editor -> Remove Cell, PGC Editor -> Remap VOB/Cell ID, Remove last PGC in domain, etc...

2. Unreferenced PGCs are PGCs that are never called by another one. These PGCs are unreferenced, but the VOB cells they use are referenced, since they are referenced in the IFOs.
When you use the Info -> Calls Cross References, these PGCs are detected, and displayed in pink in the PGC selector pane, and at the end of the info text. To be considered as unreferenced, a PGC may not be called by any command, nor by a Prev/Next/GoUpPGC link. Also, a menu PGC is considered as referenced if it is theorically callable by pressing a menu button on the remote (Title, Root, Chapter menu, etc...) Note that a PGC may be referenced by an unreferenced PGC! This is why you have the option to remove the commands in the unreferenced PGCs when launching the Calls Cross References function.

In your case, I suggest you use several times the Calls Cross References function with the option to remove the commands. Then, kill playback on the unreferenced menu PGCs, with the option to remove the refs. Kill playback also on the unreferenced Title PGCs, and process them with VobBlanker.

It is theorically possible to display a list of unreferenced VOB cells in PgcEdit, at least in the menu VOBs, and in the title VOBs which have been scanned for BOVs, because PgcEdit maintain a list of the VOB cells internally. Scanning the PGCs to see if all cells are referenced is not very difficult, and I will probably add this feature with the Blank with VobBlanker function. I have still to release a new version of PgcEdit before beginning this job...

[2COOL]

1. Unreferenced VOB cells are video cells present in the VOB but these cells are never used by any PGC in the IFOs. These VOB cells are dropped automatically by VobBlanker, and they appear in the unreferenced section in DVD Shrink.In the case of Sin City (R1) (http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=98841), VobBlanker won't automatically remove the cells as the PGC was not reported as unreferenced.

[blutach]

@zacoz - I just use Ctrl-H consecutively (excising the commands as I go) till there are no more "pinks". Of course, on complex DVDs, you might find it easier to "re-build" your DVD with the media elements you want on it, either with PgcEdit or DVDRMP.

Regards

[zacoz]

Thanks guys.....I had overlooked the Calls Cross References function. Also hadn't thought about the 2 unreferenced types (VOB cells/PGC's) you mentioned r0lZ. I'd only thought about unreferenced and unplayed (as in video cells referenced by the PGC but never played due to pre commands that always jumped elsewhere before cell could be played - as mentioned by 2COOL).

[2COOL]

However, I think another useful option should be to include only the chapter or program times. This would be a plus.

[Taelon]

A title I recently reauthored had a significant amount of space left so I decide to try adding back in some of the 'Featurettes'. Everything tested fine in the Software players, but my old standalone would just flicker when 'Featurettes' was selected. My only guess is that there is a problem with this code:
-- pre 6 : (JumpSS) Jump to VTSM 2, Root menu (TTN 2) I screwed up, there is only 1 title in that VTS, I mistakenly thought setting sprm(5) = (TTN 2) was just for the indicator on the player, and since it wasn't the Main Title I figured I should call it Title 2.

So I'm wondering if PGCEdit can perform a check and flag authoring errors like this?

I also thought possibly the (JumpSS) Jump to VTSM 2, was a problem, and that I should have simply used a (JumpTT) but I have other disks that use (JumpSS) without problems, my confusion comes from The unofficial DVD Guide:
This command jumps to a PGC in the system space...
The system space encloses the menu space and the first-play domain. Note that the title domain (Video Title Set VTS domain) is not part of the system space.So it sounds like (JumpSS) here would be illegal? :confused:

[r0lZ]

You don't say from which domain you used the JumpSS command.
JumpSS to a VTSM can only be used from the FP-PGC and the VMGM.
Although really not common (and probably not recommended), it is also possible to use JumpSS to a VTSM menu in the same domain. In this case, you must use 0 as the VTS number, like this:[30 06 00 01 00 83 00 00] 12 (JumpSS) Jump to VTSM of last visited VTS, Root menu (TTN 1)To be honest, I don't know exactly what's the usage of the TTN parameter. I usually leave it at 1. Anyway, don't set it at an higher value than the last TTN in the domain.

JumpTT can also be used only from the FP-PGC or a VMGM PGC.

If you are not sure, use the last menu in the command editor to select the right command.


So I'm wondering if PGCEdit can perform a check and flag authoring errors like this?Well, I haven't designed PgcEdit to be a DVD verifier. It detects some authoring errors, but certainly not all. For example, if you try to jump to target or to trace a command jumping to a non-existent PGC, PgcEdit will detect the problem, because it will be unable to find the target. But PgcEdit will not detect some invalid command (such as a wrong TTN value in JumpSS, or a Call without the resume cell.)

[Taelon]

You don't say from which domain you used the JumpSS command.Sorry, yes it was from VMGM, here's a partial trace:
------> Entering VMGM , LU 1 (en) , 1 (dummy) TitleM

-- pre 3 : if ( gprm(3) != 4 ) then { Goto line 5 }
if ( 0 != 4 ) : true.
-- pre 6 : (JumpSS) Jump to VTSM 2, Root menu (TTN 2)
-> sprm(5:Title number in VTS) = 2 (0x0002)

------> Entering VTSM 2 , LU 1 (en) , 1 (dummy) RootM
To be honest, I don't know exactly what's the usage of the TTN parameter. I usually leave it at 1. Anyway, don't set it at an higher value than the last TTN in the domain.I think in this case setting TTN 2 is what my standalone didn't like, since there was only one title in the VTS, and I think the rest of the changes I made were all ok. Once again it tested fine in the computer with Software players (frustrating).
If you are not sure, use the last menu in the command editor to select the right command.Are you referring to the 'Jump and Call' pulldown? That's what I normally use since it prevents me from doing stupid things like trying to jump from VTS to VTS.
Well, I haven't designed PgcEdit to be a DVD verifier. It detects some authoring errors, but certainly not all. For example, if you try to jump to target or to trace a command jumping to a non-existent PGC, PgcEdit will detect the problem, because it will be unable to find the target. But PgcEdit will not detect some invalid command (such as a wrong TTN value in JumpSS, or a Call without the resume cell.)Does there exist an affordable verifier, or is tracing with PGCEdit, loading into DVDShrink, and testing in Software players the best available methods for hobbyists before burning?

[r0lZ]

Are you referring to the 'Jump and Call' pulldown? That's what I normally use since it prevents me from doing stupid things like trying to jump from VTS to VTS.Yes.
You're right. Since your JumpSS is in a VMGM menu, it should the TTN parameter that cause the problem.

Does there exist an affordable verifier, or is tracing with PGCEdit, loading into DVDShrink, and testing in Software players the best available methods for hobbyists before burning?I don't think there is a simple and free verifier. The Philips DVD Verifier (http://www.licensing.philips.com/ordering/soft/documents1048.html) is extremely expensive, and also very frustrating, since it detects tons of errors, even in an original, unmodified DVD.
And yes, the PgcEdit/DVDShrink/Soft players combination is currently the best way to test before burning.
You may also try to burn the DVD with Nero, but don't put any media in the drive. This way, it will report if the compilation is OK, but will not burn it.

[2COOL]

I was just working with Man of the House R1. Upon opening files, I had streams to correct because of inconsistencies in IFO. Anyways, I chose yes for all and saved. I also reloaded to see if I had it again. Confirmed fixed. But when I started blanking VTSs and saving, I would get streams to fix again after reloading.

[r0lZ]

Yes. Currently, when blanking a domain, PgcEdit removes the streams definitions in the VMGM/VTSI_MAT tables, but don't remove the streams assignments in the PGCs.
I may add that soon, but I have alot of work...

[katjarella]

0.6.1Beta5/6 not working anymore under W2k.
Error sourcing /Tcl/work/PGCEDIT/PgcEdit.tcl: can't read "geocode": no such variable

Under W2K, this entry doesn't exist: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\International\Geo]
"Nation"="94"

[r0lZ]

Thanks. I already know the problem with this registry key. But I really need a way to know in which country the program is executed. Do you know where the country code is stored under Win2K? And under Win9X?

[2COOL]

Would this help?

http://www.delphipages.com/threads/thread.cfm?ID=30018&G=29973

or these.

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/tmcd2/Country.htm
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/Windows/2000/server/reskit/en-us/Default.asp?url=/resources/documentation/Windows/2000/server/reskit/en-us/regentry/34660.asp

[r0lZ]

Well, HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\International\Locale gives the code of the currently selected language. Not the country. For exemple, the Locale on my system is United-States, because I have an US Windows, but the Geo\Nation code is Belgium, the country I live in.
Maybe I will try to read the Geo code, and if it doesn't exists, I will use the Locale code.

Anyway, the problem is due to a bug in my code. The check for the presence of the Geo code is inverted. Next beta will at least fix that.

Thanks.

[2COOL]

Well, HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\International\Locale gives the code of the currently selected language. Not the country.What you want is the value for "scountry".

[r0lZ]

I'm still not sure. This value doesn't change if I change the geographic location in the control panel. Seems it is used only to define the numbers, currency and date formats. On my system, it's also United States, instead of Belgium.

[berrick]

This is the key i think you should be using r0lZ... the 3 digit number at the end represents the location (national) ie uk (242), usa (244) etc and is not dependent nor does it change the currency settings.

HKU\S-1-5-21-1292428093-2111687655-839522115-1003\Control Panel\International\Geo\Nation: "242"

Hope this is of use

PS

Sucking up time :) the new ver of PCGEdit is great now u added the trace function my understanding has really come on... tho i am still a neewbie

[katjarella]

In W2k / W98 do not exist these Registry entries. Only from XP.

Maybe one can read the information about the keyboard layout.:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Nls\Language
Default="" and InstallLanguage=""

But why is this generally important? It would be dear to me if PGCEdit reads nothing from the Registry or writes.

[LigH]

Aren't there Windows API functions for getting "Locale" information?

[r0lZ]

@berrick: As stated by katjarella, the Control Panel\International\Geo\Nation key doesn't exists on non-XP systems. This is the problem. Currently, it's the key I am using, but it's not sufficient.

@katjarella: I need to know in which country PgcEdit is running, because in Germany and UK, it is illegal to reference DVD Decrypter, DVD Shrink and Daemon Tools. :angry: So, if I can detect safely the geographic location, I will remove the functions that are illegal in these countries only when needed. Otherwise, to avoid problems, I will need to remove the burn with DVD Decrypter and the Mount ISO with Daemon Tools functions for the whole world. I don't want that!

@LigH: I can't use Windows API functions easily from Tcl/Tk. Furthermore, remember PgcEdit is multi-platform. (Of course, I can't test the registry keys under Linux and Mac OSX, but that's another problem.)

[LigH]

... in Germany and UK, it is illegal to reference DVD Decrypter, DVD Shrink and Daemon Tools.
Oh, really ... how can I circumvent the copy protection of Video DVDs using Daemon Tools? And: Copy protection of Video DVDs is covered by other laws than copy protection for data CDs/DVDs.

You are concerned about calling applications which are ... risky. But your program on its own isn't risky. Well - I'm not sure if "calling a risky program" is risky, too. In my opinion, it is not your fault if a user in those countries has installed these risky tools. So I wonder if you care too much.

[blutach]

In Germany, there is DVD Shrink 3.2.0.16 De-CSS Frei, which is legal, AFAIK. So is Nero Recode.

As for DVD Decrypter, DVD95Copy, Magic Ripper, DVDFab Decrypter etc, I suppose German law is against these.

I can't for the life of me think what could be wrong anywhere with D Tools.

Regards

[LigH]

"katjarella" wants to tell you:
This is not the perfect place for discussions about "copy protection and the law"; and: "DVD-Shrink CSS-free" is not completely legal, it still allows to remove Macrovision.

[r0lZ]

I don't know exactly the German law, but I'm sure that at least the Download DVD Decrypter and Download Daemon Tools buttons are illagal, because it is prohibited to provide links to illegal applications.
Daemon Tools is illegal because it can emulate some copy protection mechanisms.

DVDShrink is not a problem. PgcEdit don't use it directly, and the two functions related to DVDShrink have been removed from the main application. A DVDShrink plugin will be available with the next release. German and UK users should not download it. Simple.

PgcEdit do not use these apps for their illegal features. But the german doc has already been removed from my homepage because these apps are referenced in the text! I don't want the same thing for my program. And although the homepages are not hosted in Germany, I think it's better to keep the app on the legal side, so that it will still be allowed to write the name "PgcEdit" in the german forums!

BTW, if someone know a legal and free app to mount an ISO image, callable with command line arguments, I will replace Daemon Tools by this app.
I am currently investigating a solution to replace DVD Decrypter as well.

[berrick]

Oooops! forgot the bit in the post bout non XP. Having said that there is a similar key in win2k and in win98 the following might help if i understand you right.

My appologies if not

Not sure about WMI, if i find anything ill let you know..

windows 2k
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-436374069-57989841-839522115-500\Control Panel\International]
"iCountry"="44" <-- is country code like in DOS days
"iCurrDigits"="2"
"iCurrency"="0"
"iDate"="1"
"iDigits"="2"
"iLZero"="1"
"iMeasure"="0"
"iNegCurr"="1"
"iTime"="1"
"iTLZero"="1"
"Locale"="00000809" <-- country code as in my 1st post
"s1159"="AM"
"s2359"="PM"
"sCountry"="United Kingdom"
"sCurrency"="£"
"sDate"="/"
"sDecimal"="."
"sLanguage"="ENG"
"sList"=","
"sLongDate"="dd MMMM yyyy"
"sShortDate"="dd/MM/yyyy"
"sThousand"=","
"sTime"=":"
"sTimeFormat"="HH:mm:ss"
"iTimePrefix"="0"
"sMonDecimalSep"="."
"sMonThousandSep"=","
"iNegNumber"="1"
"sNativeDigits"="0123456789"
"NumShape"="1"
"iCalendarType"="1"
"iFirstDayOfWeek"="0"
"iFirstWeekOfYear"="0"
"sGrouping"="3;0"
"sMonGrouping"="3;0"
"sPositiveSign"=""
"sNegativeSign"="-"

windows 98
HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Nls\Locale\: "00000809"<-- <-- country code as in my 1st post
HKU\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\International\Locale: "00000809"

[r0lZ]

OK. I will probably use the Geo code under XP, and use one of these codes when the Geo code is not present. Thanks.

[LigH]

@ berrick:

"HKEY_USERS\S-so-many-uninterresting-and-personally-unique-numbers\Path" is rather useless, because only your PC will have this exact combination of numbers.

The generic location will be "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Path", because this is a shortcut to exactly the same path, but always for the currently logged-in user.

[2COOL]

@all

If, per chance, you have this warning dialog upon loading DVD...

http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/1281/screenhunter0209jl.png (http://imageshack.us)

... and you selected Yes to all and/or saved, you must manually execute the macro again if you had blanked out any menus or titles.

http://img360.imageshack.us/img360/8959/screenhunter0234lk.png (http://imageshack.us)

[r0lZ]

I know.
This is because the stream numbers are set to 0 in the VMGM_MAT or VTSI_MAT table, but are left untouched in the PGCs.
I made it that way because josto has signaled that removing the PGC streams can lead to problems. If, for example, subpic 2 has been set with a SetSTN command, and you play, say PGC 1, then PGC 2, and the PGC 1 has no subpic anymore, when you reach PGC 2, the subpic may be disabled.
However, on my standalone, I can't reproduce this problem. So, the question is still open: should I disable the streams assignments in the blanked PGCs as well?

[blutach]

I have also tried to reproduce this a while back when jsoto first posted it, and couldn't. But the fact that it happened twice to jsoto, means it can happen to others. Therefore, you need to keep it in and people re-authoring their DVDs should be careful and set their streams correctly.

Regards

[Taelon]

Speaking of the "fix number of streams macro" would it be possibly to add a "Yes to All" or equivalent option? The other day I was working on a backup that had 26 discrepancies, hitting the yes button 26 times was a little annoying.

[r0lZ]

Sorry, no. I use a standard requester for this kind of simple questions. The "Yes to All" option is not available with these requesters. It's a lot of work to program a new requester just for such things. Maybe later...

[goonix]

@rolZ

Do you think additional to the "New dummy PGC" a "New PGC with blank cell" in PgcEdit is possible?
This could be used to replace it later by VobBlanker with motion or still video.

goonix

[r0lZ]

Hum... That should be a function of the PGC editor, allowing to add a cell to any dummy. I will see if it's easy to do.
But take in mind that a blank cell is very tiny. VobBlanker is currently unable to replace a table by a larger one (at least if the table must expand over new sectors). So, it will be probably unable to create some tables if you want to replace the blank cell with a large video sequence. But it should work to replace it by a still frame or menu.
Also, I will not allow to create more than one cell per PGC, at least for now.

[goonix]

Thanks for your reply! I didn't know about this restriction in VobBlanker until now. Maybe replacing a table by a larger one can be done in future versions of VobBlanker (only jsoto knows...).

goonix

[r0lZ]

Anyway, I have already added the function to create the new cell. Was easy.
There is a little problem with the chapters if you add it in the Title domain, but I suppose you want to use it in the menu domain.
Please take some time to test the new function: PgcEdit_winexe_0.6.1beta8.zip (http://www.videohelp.com/~r0lZ/pgcedit/beta/PgcEdit_winexe_0.6.1beta8.zip). Thanks.

[blutach]

If we can add a cell to a dummy, can we add one to an existing PGC? And at least in the titles domain, I thought that VobBlanker's replace function added cells where necessary and there was no problem with the tables.

Re: Fix number of streams macro - I echo Taelon's request.

Regards

[r0lZ]

If we can add a cell to a dummy, can we add one to an existing PGC?Do you mean to a non-dummy PGC?
Currently, it is only possible to add one cell to an existing dummy PGC. Of course, since it is possible to create a new dummy, it is also possible to create a dummy with a blank cell, in two operations.

And at least in the titles domain, I thought that VobBlanker's replace function added cells where necessary and there was no problem with the tables.I think VobBlanker is not able to expand the IFO. In other words, if per bad luck, after the replace, one of the IFO table is to big for the current number of sectors occupied by the table, that table cannot be updated. But maybe (I hope) I'm wrong.
Jsoto?

[blutach]

Do you mean to a non-dummy PGC?
Currently, it is only possible to add one cell to an existing dummy PGC. Of course, since it is possible to create a new dummy, it is also possible to create a dummy with a blank cell, in two operations.No, I mean a PGC with exisiting video in it - like AddChapter. I envisage asking the number of cells to add and adding them, perhaps creating a new VID and CIDs in the process (or just adding new CIDs to the existing VID in the PGC).

Regards

[blutach]

New function - see attached pic.

http://img377.imageshack.us/img377/1640/untitled4of.png (http://imageshack.us)

Couple of things:

1. Little typo in the message ("ro" instead of "to")
2. I'm not sure that VobBlanker replaces in the menu domain.

Regards

[r0lZ]

Well, I'm just reading the code. It should be relatively easy to add a cell to a non-dummy PGC (aka a PGC with existing video in it ;)). Maybe I will also add the possibility to add several cells at once.
But it will not be possible to add new CIDs to the existing VID. Since the cell is always appended at the end of the VOBs, I think it's better to create a new VID.

[blutach]

But it will not be possible to add new CIDs to the existing VID. Since the cell is always appended at the end of the VOBs, I think it's better to create a new VID.Right!

Regards

[r0lZ]

Sorry, guys, I have too many things to change in the code to be able to easily add several cells in one operation. The problem is that my code is written to create a new VOB ID, not to add a new Cell ID to an existing VOB ID.

But the new version of the Create Cell can be used to add a new cell to a PGC with existent cells. So, you should be able to add as many cells as you like to any PGC (except, of course, to the First-Play PGC).

There are also a couple of bugs fixed in this version. For example, the old version was unable to create the cell in a domain with no cells at all (ie with no VOB file.)

I have removed the beta 8. Please download this version instead: PgcEdit_winexe_0.6.1beta9.zip (http://www.videohelp.com/~r0lZ/pgcedit/beta/PgcEdit_winexe_0.6.1beta9.zip).

[blutach]

Here we go again - 2 betas per day :D

Thanks r0lZ and PS. Congrats to Kim Clijsters :)

Regards

[r0lZ]

Congrats to Kim Clijsters :)Nice day for Belgium! ;)