Authoring program question

[CncertLuvr]

Well I have 2 questions really... First being is there any other program besides TMPGEnc DVD Author that will let you import dvd structures directly to work with... Secondly... I would like to add text to my video just like MTV does with music videos... Is it possible to do that without converting to mpeg or is there no other way... Any help on both of those would be appreciated...

Michael

[yoda313]

You might want to look into dvdlab pro. That might let you import the vobs. I don't know though since I don't use it.

I would like to add text to my video just like MTV does with music videos... Is it possible to do that without converting to mpeg or is there no other way.

I don't think there's any way to do it other than to reencode it. Though you could go to uncompressed avi but you'd have to reencode back to mpeg before authoring the dvd. So mpeg would be a time saver way to go about that.

[guns1inger]

DVD Lab Pro can import VOBs, but you are better of demuxing them first, as DLP will recommend it anyway.

You can do overlays using subpictures - basically the same way subtitles are done - however you are limited to only 4 colours. What is the source of your video ?

[CncertLuvr]

You can do overlays using subpictures - basically the same way subtitles are done - however you are limited to only 4 colours. What is the source of your video ?

I use a standalone recorder to record things... Put it on the computer... And then cut out all the mess that I dont want etc... Being limited to 4 colors is not an issue for me provided white and black are 2 of the 4 as long as I can do it without converting... I am not trying to do a professional job... Just for my own personal stuff for archival... Sorry if I am " blonde " on the issue... lol

[guns1inger]

Subpictures will be the only way to do this without re-encoding, however I can't see an easy way to create anything otehr then text based subs for DVD Lab Pro (or anything else, for that matter). Maybe someone here has done this ?

[sunnycrest]

I use Womble to do graphic and text overlays.

[guns1inger]

Any editor, even virtualdub, can do text overlays, however this requires demuxing, and re-encoding.

[sunnycrest]

I believe Womble is only reencoding the portion where the text occurs. I've used graphic boxes and text to cover up unwanted portions of the image. (Best example, I record a program from cable and the cable guide warning message pops up announcing an impending channel change for the next recording. I overlay a gray box on that portion of the image for the 10 seconds the graphic is on the screen.) I do not have to demux and remux. The file save time is not much greater than if no overlay were performed.
A future experiment will be to capture a portion of a good frame before the unwanted graphic and use that as the overlay.

[mikiem]

It is possible to create subs that I guess I'd say are graphics based rather then the text we're used to. Problem is there's little info and it seems fewer tools available.

DVDLab Pro will let you import individual bitmaps into the sub dialog. Many sub creation prog. will let you position text wherever you want. But the only programs I can think of that let you do something more graphics based are during menu creation in an authoring prog. where the sub tracks are used for button highlights etc.

[kisrum]

I believe Womble is only reencoding the portion where the text occurs. I've used graphic boxes and text to cover up unwanted portions of the image.

I believe that's correct