Quick-Play Menus, the hidden gem of BD Rebuilder.

[Lowpro]

Originally Posted by doobre

Hi Lowpro, I have a rather dummy question regarding the BD-RB "quick-play backup" option, which I am sure you would have checked out a while back, before you took the level of menu creation/editing to a vastly new sexy level... but if you can advise me on probably this simple question about that option.

I am firstly trying to get BD-RB to create/author a BD-25 containing two titles (total size 19.5gb).
1. Following threads found here I set BD-RB to quick-play backup.
2. Select the two .mkv files.
3. BD-RB scans the files and does it stuff.
4. The resultant iso outputted by BD-RB displayed on VLC shows the 'space' menu background and nothing else, no text. Clicking anywhere makes no diff.
5. On the VLC menu Tools\Codec info shows a list of titles on the iso, the contents show only one title (video+audio+subs)
that's it....

Any idea what I am doing wrong..!?
Cheers CD

here is the log from BDREBUILDER
---------------------------------------
[07/09/23] BD Rebuilder v0.61.28
[21:48:23] Source: BD-RB_SOURCE
- Input BD size: 16.70 GB
- Approximate total content: [03:55:13.974]
- Target BD size: 22.95 GB
- Windows Version: 6.2 [9200]
- Quick-Play Reauthoring mode enabled
- Quality: Highest (Very Slow), 1-Pass VBR
- Decoding/Frame serving: NVENCC
- Audio Settings: AC3=0 DTS=1 HD=0 Kbs=640
[21:48:24] PHASE ONE, Encoding
- [21:48:24] Processing: VID_00001 (1 of 2)
- [21:48:24] Extracting A/V streams [VID_00001]
- [21:49:26] Reencoding video [VID_00001]
- Source Video: MPEG-4 (AVC), 1920x1080
- Rate/Length: 23.976fps, 169,192 frames
- Bitrate: 12,243 Kbs
- [21:49:26] Reencoding: VID_00001, Pass 1 of 1
- [22:03:29] Video Encode complete
- [22:03:29] Processing audio tracks
- Track 4353 (eng): Reencoding audio to AC3...
- [22:04:35] Multiplexing M2TS
- [22:06:13] Processing: VID_00002 (2 of 2)
- [22:06:13] Extracting A/V streams [VID_00002]
- [22:09:12] Reencoding video [VID_00002]
- Source Video: MPEG-4 (AVC), 1920x1080
- Rate/Length: 23.976fps, 169,192 frames
- Bitrate: 12,326 Kbs
- [22:09:12] Reencoding: VID_00002, Pass 1 of 1
- [22:23:59] Video Encode complete
- [22:23:59] Processing audio tracks
- Track 4352 (eng): Keeping original audio
- [22:23:59] Multiplexing M2TS
[22:28:15]PHASE ONE complete
[22:28:15]PHASE TWO - Rebuild Started
- [22:28:15] Rebuilding BD file Structure
- [22:28:15] Creating Quick-Play Menu...
- Building menu structure...
[22:28:24] - Encode and Rebuild complete
[22:28:24] Writing BD structure to ISO file
- ImgBurn completed successfully
- BD-RB_SOURCE folder removed.
- WORKFILES folder removed.
[22:38:05] JOB: BD-RB_SOURCE finished.

Hi Doobre. I'll be on the road most of the day today. Heading out now. I'll chime in on this when I get home this evening.

[doobre]

that's great thanks for any advise.. cheers CD

[doobre]

Hi again... I got it sorted.. as you no doubt thought, I didn't have java installed correctly... all fine now..
Q. did you do much playing with the menu options inside BD-RB, or did you go straight to your higher level of menu design..?
I doubt I will have the time to ever get as sophisticated as that..
perhaps a motion menu background.?!

Anyway cheers for offering any advise.. CD

[Lowpro]

Originally Posted by doobre

Hi again... I got it sorted.. as you no doubt thought, I didn't have java installed correctly... all fine now..
Q. did you do much playing with the menu options inside BD-RB, or did you go straight to your higher level of menu design..?
I doubt I will have the time to ever get as sophisticated as that..
perhaps a motion menu background.?!

Anyway cheers for offering any advise.. CD

Glad you got it sorted out. Most excellent!

And yes, my trip down the Blu-ray authoring rabbit hole all began with BD Rebuilder and the Quick-Play feature. I played around with BD Rebuilder's Quick-Play related menu options and hidden options quite a bit. Longing for more control and the ability to customize my Blu-ray's further I started editing my BD Rebuilder based Blu-ray's after the fact using BDedit. Little by little I started to put it all together and now have a fairly comprehensive understanding of the Blu-ray format. Well, HDMV based Blu-ray's anyway. I still create Quick-Play menus from time to time, but my preference is to create Blu-ray menus using Photoshop, PNG Quantizer and BDedit in combination with other tools as needed.

[doobre]

Thanks for the reply, Quick Q... how much mucking around is it to achieve a video background instead of the default space image.?

Q#2.. have you been able to see/use BD menus from a BD ISO file?

[Lowpro]

Originally Posted by doobre

Thanks for the reply, Quick Q... how much mucking around is it to achieve a video background instead of the default space image.?

Well, the default space image is a video background. BD Rebuilder uses that image by default encoding a .5 second video of the image.

You can direct BD Rebuilder to use a different image by adding the "MENU_BACKGROUND" hidden option to your BDREBUILDER.INI file.

(EXAMPLE: "MENU_BACKGROUND=C:\Users\AlienM15x\Documents\AnyStream\AS_HOMICIDE_HUNTER\IMAGES\BACKGROUNDS\S7\HOMICIDE_HUNTER_S7D1.png")

That being said, you can replace that .5 second video with any video that you'd like outside of BD Rebuilder. I've outlined the steps below.

STEP 1: Take the video you'd like to use for your menu background and author it to Blu-ray as if it were a single movie (TITLE 1).

STEP 2: Open the resulting Blu-ray in BDedit (INSTANCE A) navigating to the PLAYLIST tab and selecting the playlist for TITLE 1. (Keep this instance of BDedit open as you'll be referencing it later.)

STEP 3: Take a copy of the M2TS and CLPI files for TITLE 1 renaming them "99001.m2ts" and "99001.clpi". (This is the naming convention used by BD Rebuilder for the menu background.)

STEP 4: Take the renamed files from Step 3 and place them in the STREAM and CLIPINF folders of the Blu-ray containing the Quick-Play menu overwriting the original files.

STEP 5: Launch a second instance of BDedit (INSTANCE B) and open the Blu-ray containing the Quick-Play menu navigating to the PLAYLIST tab and viewing the playlist for the TOP MENU. (If the Blu-ray contains 2 titles for example, the playlist for the TOP MENU would be "00003.mpls".)

STEP 6: From BDedit (INSTANCE B) edit the MPLS file for the TOP MENU. Edit the "IN time" and "OUT time" values for the single Playlist Item (id 0) so that they match the values seen in the first instance of BDedit (INSTANCE A). Do the same for the single PlayListMark (id 0), then saving your changes.

STEP 7: If you want the video to play more than once just add duplicate instances of the PlayItem, then saving your changes. This is done by selecting the PlayItem (id 0) and pressing the "Insert" button on your keyboard. Hold the "Insert" button down to add duplicate PlayItems multiple times in rapid succession. A total of 998 PlayItems are supported per playlist. (The "Insert" function may or may not perform as I described based on the version of BDedit you're using.)

Originally Posted by doobre

Q#2.. have you been able to see/use BD menus from a BD ISO file?

Yes, but only after mounting the ISO using Virtual CloneDrive (freeware) which is available for download here.

[doobre]

Hi there Lowpro.. checking the menu created by BD-RB on powerDVD 12, it shows three choices but there are only two movie titles in the disc..
there are only FOUR files in the STREAM folder and again FOUR files in the CLIPINF.

Do you know why?
cheers again CD

[doobre]

UPDATE...

I created another 'test' BD folder structure and this time it turned out as expected, two titles onloy, so no idea what happened earlier..

Anyway the editing of the BDMV folders for the second 'test' disc, following your instructions, worked perfectly. So a BIG THANK YOU for your advice.
It looks involved on paper, but having done it once it becomes logical/understandable..

Now I will get around to making a motion background 'Generic', as well as some special ones for certain compilation discs.
My plan [at the moment] is to keep the menu text buttons, disc title and positioning set up by BD-RB quick-play menu creation process, and just change the background, as desired.
I am assuming that the colour and size of that text is adjustable by the settings in BD-RB somewhere, hidden. Can you advise on that.?

Q. Do you know if there is a size limitation on the space used by the menu background.?

So here's looking forward to a nice little project, and all thanks to your initiative.. Cheers CD

P.S. I wonder if the third menu item in my previous email/image, was the menu background, based on the duration displayed.[00.00.00.542]..!

[jdobbs]

There's no size limit... but with BD-RB the amount used for menu background is subtracted from the space made available for the actual movie/series.

Usually when a short "extra" like that shows up it is related to the setting of MIN_PLAYLIST_MINS or MIN_M2TS_SIZE.

[doobre]

Originally Posted by jdobbs

There's no size limit... but with BD-RB the amount used for menu background is subtracted from the space made available for the actual movie/series.

Usually when a short "extra" like that shows up it is related to the setting of MIN_PLAYLIST_MINS or MIN_M2TS_SIZE.

Hi there jdobbs
Thanks for the clarification on those two points..
and thanks to you for creating this gem, at the start, and continuing to provide support after all these years.
Cheers CD

[Lowpro]

Originally Posted by doobre

I am assuming that the colour and size of that text is adjustable by the settings in BD-RB somewhere, hidden. Can you advise on that?

There are a number of hidden options available for the Quick-Play feature. You add them to your "BDREBUILDER.INI" file if not already present and set the desired values for each. See below.

From the "HIDDENOPTIONS.TXT" file...
MENU_ACTIVE_COLOR=s | s = YELLOW/BLUE/GREEN/RED/PURPLE/WHITE, Color of active text in menu, default is GREEN
MENU_BACKDROP_AUTOSIZE=n | n= 0/1 - 0=Off (default), if set to 1, the menu backdrop automatically sized to match items
MENU_BACKDROP_OPACITY=n | n = 0-255 - Opacity of the Quick-Menu backdrop 0=Transparent, 255=solid, default = 150
MENU_CUSTOM_COLOR=n | n = Custom RGB color. Example: 0x40FF40 (hexadecimal: BBGGRR) or 4259632 (decimal)
MENU_FONT=s | s = Any legal font name supported on your computer. Font used for Quick menus. default=Arial
MENU_FONT_BOLD=n | n = 0/1 - 0=OFF (default) - if set to "1", then the selected menu font is set to boldface
MENU_FONT_ITALIC=n | n = 0/1 - 0=OFF (default) - if set to "1", then the selected menu font is set to italic
MENU_FORCE_QUICK=n | n = 0/1 - 0=OFF (default) - if set to "1", create Quick menu even for only one play item
MENU_HORIZONTAL=n | n = 0-1919 - Offset from left of 1080p screen for QP menu item selection area (16 items/page max)
MENU_INACTIVE_COLOR=s | s = YELLOW/BLUE/GREEN/RED/PURPLE/WHITE, Color of inactive text, defaults to subdued white
MENU_ITEMS_PAGE=n[,n...] | n = Items for each page of a quick menu/import. 4 page example: MENU_ITEMS_PAGE=13,5,12,8
MENU_MAXITEMS=n | n = 2-64 - Maximum number of menu items per Quick-Menu page. Default = 32
MENU_PAGE_ENABLE=n | n = 0/1 - 1=ON (default) - if set to "0", Menu Page number text will not be displayed
MENU_PREVNEXT_X=n | n = 0-1919 - 0=Automatic (default), X position for PREV/NEXT page menu button
MENU_PREVNEXT_Y=n | n = 0-1079 - 0=Automatic (default), Y position for PREV/NEXT page menu button
MENU_ROLLOVER=n | n = 0/1 - 0=OFF (default) Set to "1" = Quick-Menu: "up" on item #1 rolls to last and vise versa
MENU_TOP=n | n = 100-910 - Offset from top of 1080p screen for QP menu item selection area, default = 200
MENU_VERTICAL=n | n = 100-910 - Same as MENU_TOP - if both are used, MENU_TOP has priority

*A specific color RGB may also be specified such as 0x40FF40 -- see MENU_CUSTOM_COLOR,
For MENU_INACTIVE_COLOR: "SAME" is a subdued version of MENU_ACTIVE_COLOR.

Originally Posted by doobre

Do you know if there is a size limitation on the space used by the menu background?

You could have a feature length film be your menu background if you wanted. The menu background is just a video, the graphics for the Top Menu appearing on top of it.

Lately I've been creating my own videos to use with the Top Menu rather than generating one with BD Rebuilder. I take my static image (PNG) and create a 66 second video (MP4) of the image using FFMPEG. (Example: ffmpeg -framerate 30 -loop 1 -i homicide_hunter_s9d1.png -t 66 -c:v libx264 -crf 0 homicide_hunter_s9d1.mp4) I then import the MP4 to BD Rebuilder and author it to Blu-ray. From there I take the resulting M2TS file and import it to multiAVCHD authoring to Blu-ray trimming the video down to 60 seconds. I trim off the first five seconds (Cut start: 5) and the last second (Cut end: 65). This ensures the video plays cleaning from start to finish. I then incorporate the resulting M2TS/CLPI file into the Blu-ray I'm working on updating the playlist for the TOP MENU as I described in my prior post. In this case though I insert 997 duplicate copies of the PlayItem within the playlist once edited. This gives the illusion that the video is playing on a loop.

Originally Posted by doobre

I wonder if the third menu item in my previous email/image, was the menu background, based on the duration displayed. [00.00.00.542]

Ding, ding, ding, ding. We have a winner! That's precisely what it was.

[doobre]

Ever helpful.. you're a star! thanks again. Cheers CD

P.S. sorry, but why did the file used as the menu bkgrnd turn up in the list of 'titles' in the menu itself..

[doobre]

Originally Posted by doobre

Ever helpful.. you're a star! thanks again. Cheers CD

P.S. sorry, but why did the file used as the menu bkgrnd turn up in the list of 'titles' in the menu itself..

It just dawned on me, the earlier reply from the Boss. About the duration.. cheers

BUT can it be removed by editing the BDMV file..? that's the real Q ..?

[doobre]

Ok, I have unknowingly changed something stupid with BDedit, cos now I am unable to save the file, and it save the changes. Specifically the PlayListMark setting for the new motion bkg (00003.mpls). If I reopen the same BDMV folder that I just had updated and saved, the changes for the PlayListMark are empty.!!?
Everything else is fine.

If I now manually add the data again in the PlayListMark box, shown in the attached jpg, and save. It's empty again when opening.

I do recall that at one time BDedit did show a question box that I had not seen before, when editing the timecodes, it asked if I wanted to update the 'out time' when I updated the 'in time', and another question again about the duration. I was copy/pasting so I did it all manually..

The outcome for the playback is that the menu bkgrnd plays for about a second and freezes. The text and title are still shown.
Any idea..?

Apologies for my newbie questions... (and probably my silly mistake somewhere)
Cheers CD

UPDATE...
Turns out that when BD-RB creates the BDMV folders with a quick-play menu that has the extra line for the background video [3 lines instead of 2], the required editing of the BDMV folder using BDedit does not work. It will not allow the editing of 00003.mpls. entry.
If the BDMV folder created by BD-RB displays a menu with only 2 lines [eg: minimum duration changed = 45 minutes] then the required editing with BDedit will succeed.

So it was not a stupid/finger problem care of me.
And all is now 'Quiet on the New Zealand front'.. haha
cheers CD

[doobre]

Hi there again, again
Is there an option to set the text of the created menu position/aligned to the center? currently is it aligned to the left.

This is getting interesting, glad I didn't break BDedit after all..
Cheers CD

[Lowpro]

Originally Posted by doobre

Hi there again, again
Is there an option to set the text of the created menu position/aligned to the center? currently is it aligned to the left.

This is getting interesting, glad I didn't break BDedit after all..
Cheers CD

Below are the hidden options which provide for positioning the menu items where you want.

MENU_HORIZONTAL=n | n = 0-1919 - Offset from left of 1080p screen for QP menu item selection area (16 items/page max)
MENU_VERTICAL=n | n = 100-910 - Same as MENU_TOP - if both are used, MENU_TOP has priority
MENU_TOP=n | n = 100-910 - Offset from top of 1080p screen for QP menu item selection area, default = 200

And see the first post of this thread regarding my use of a test folder to create a given Quick-Play menu. It can be a real time-saver.

[Lowpro]

Just when I thought I was done authoring "Homicide Hunter" to Blu-ray. I worked up Top Menus only in this case with the ability to resume playback if needed. End result shown below.

As seen from My Movies for Windows Media Center...

(Click on the image above to view my online profile for this title.)

As seen from my Blu-ray player...

(Click on the preview image above to view the full size image.)


(Click on the preview image above to view the full size image.)
__________________________________

As seen from My Movies for Windows Media Center...

(Click on the image above to view my online profile for this title.)

As seen from my Blu-ray player...

(Click on the preview image above to view the full size image.)


(Click on the preview image above to view the full size image.)
__________________________________

As seen from My Movies for Windows Media Center...

(Click on the image above to view my online profile for this title.)

As seen from my Blu-ray player...

(Click on the preview image above to view the full size image.)


(Click on the preview image above to view the full size image.)

[doobre]

Originally Posted by Lowpro

Below are the hidden options which provide for positioning the menu items where you want.

MENU_HORIZONTAL=n | n = 0-1919 - Offset from left of 1080p screen for QP menu item selection area (16 items/page max)
MENU_VERTICAL=n | n = 100-910 - Same as MENU_TOP - if both are used, MENU_TOP has priority
MENU_TOP=n | n = 100-910 - Offset from top of 1080p screen for QP menu item selection area, default = 200

And see the first post of this thread regarding my use of a test folder to create a given Quick-Play menu. It can be a real time-saver.

Hi there, thanks for the info, but I think that those only control the positoning, not the alignment of the text on that line..
I will check out your way of creating the Q-P menu, as suggested... I am very rusty with Photoshop, but probably Gimp can do a similar job..

Nice job with your Homicide Hunter series menus, by the way..
cheers CD

[doobre]

I am using BDEdit 0.39b and have come across a couple of differences in the operation compared to your steps from earlier on..
and thought that it may be helpful to mention here..

"STEP 6: From BDedit (INSTANCE B) edit the MPLS file for the TOP MENU. Edit the "IN time" and "OUT time" values for the single Playlist Item (id 0) so that they match the values seen in the first instance of BDedit (INSTANCE A). Do the same for the single PlayListMark (id 0), then saving your changes.
I found that BDEdit will ask if I want to update the OUT TIME, LENGTH and the PLAYLISTMARK data by itself, when I update the IN TIME...

-------------------------------

STEP 7: If you want the video to play more than once just add duplicate instances of the PlayItem, then saving your changes. This is done by selecting the PlayItem (id 0) and pressing the "Insert" button on your keyboard. Hold the "Insert" button down to add duplicate PlayItems multiple times in rapid succession. A total of 998 PlayItems are supported per playlist. (The "Insert" function may or may not perform as I described based on the version of BDedit you're using.
)"
Correct, I don't seem to be able to achieve additional repeats of the menu background video [99001.m2ts]. The only box in the 'PLAYLIST' tab page of BDEdit that allows the insert button to add an additional item (in this case a menu video repeat) is the 'PlayList' section, but the related IN time, OUT Time and Length are all zeros. Right clicking on the line for the added item (id 001) allows 'edit mode', and manual editing for those timecodes, can be done. However, the menu video is not repeated when playing the BDMV folder in PDVD12.
In fact the menu text of the QP menu remains on screen after the menu background video has finished playback ie: the text remains on screen after the video has finished, even with a single play of the menu background video.

cheers CD
UPDATE..
Just noticed that the calculated LENGTH of the menu background video item is one ms different between that of the two instances of BDEdit. A = menu background and B = the compilation.

[Lowpro]

Originally Posted by doobre

I found that BDEdit will ask if I want to update the OUT TIME, LENGTH and the PLAYLISTMARK data by itself, when I update the IN TIME...

Yes, this is normal. BDedit presumes that if you edit the "IN time" you also want to edit the "OUT time" and other values by the same increment. This won't always be the case however. When presented with the prompt simply choose "No" if you don't want BDedit to update the given field for you.

Originally Posted by doobre

I don't seem to be able to achieve additional repeats of the menu background video [99001.m2ts]. The only box in the 'PLAYLIST' tab page of BDEdit that allows the insert button to add an additional item (in this case a menu video repeat) is the 'PlayList' section, but the related IN time, OUT Time and Length are all zeros. Right clicking on the line for the added item (id 001) allows 'edit mode', and manual editing for those timecodes, can be done. However, the menu video is not repeated when playing the BDMV folder in PDVD12.

As mentioned in my previous post, the inserting of additional Playitems may not function as I described based on the version of BDedit you're using. BDedit 0.39b is the free version of BDedit which was made available some 10 years ago. You can insert additional PlayItems with that version, but the values will be blank across the board. Once inserting the additional PlayItem you'll need to edit all its values, not just the values within the PlayList pane. You'll need to edit the values within the PlayList, STN, SubPath and PlayListMark panes. Once doing so the additional PlayItem should play as expected when testing via a software based Blu-ray player.

Originally Posted by doobre

In fact the menu text of the QP menu remains on screen after the menu background video has finished playback i.e., the text remains on screen after the video has finished, even with a single play of the menu background video.

Correct. It doesn't matter whether a video is actively playing in the background or not. The TOP MENU is an "always on" menu. BD Rebuilder for instance creates a menu background that's .5 seconds in length. The video plays for .5 seconds and is effectively paused once played, the last frame of the video remaining on screen while on the TOP MENU. With my hardware based players the OSD will show the .5 second video being paused once it plays. After a second or two the OSD is no longer displayed. The TOP MENU continues to function as it should. Again, the TOP MENU is an "always on" menu.

Originally Posted by doobre

Just noticed that the calculated LENGTH of the menu background video item (PlayItem) is one ms different between that of the two instances of BDEdit. A = menu background and B = the compilation.

Not sure what's going on there. The "length" of the PlayItems between instances of BDedit should match if the "IN time" and "OUT time" values are the same.