RE: Join Several DVDs, merge VIDEO_TS ... Help

[chisoxfan84]

I am trying to "merge" a couple of exercise DVDs for a friend. I've so far used DVDShrink 3.2 to output 2 seperate VIDEO_TS folders from the 2 disks. I am only interested in merging a total of 3 titles. (By the way, I am almost totally unfamiliar with the DVD file structure: VOB, VTS, IFO, BUP...) The total file size of the titles i want is under 4 GB.

With guidance from the Sticky, I gather that DVDReMake is the program to use here. (I want the First Play menu to be a Select title 1,2 or 3 kinda thing) I got DVDReMake and started the process and just like one of the Sticky Posters, found that to customize the root "First Play" Menu in DVDReMake is more of an involved process than I'd hoped.

Navigating the DVDReMake help file leads me eventually to here:
http://www.dimadsoft.com/dvdremakepro/ht_customize_menu_full.php

What is a Dummy Disk? I'm working on the menu in Photoshop and DVDit Pro but have no Idea what to do next. Help a n00b out.

[hech54]

The best way to do it is to actually make DVD folders from wanted portions of each DVD and put them on your HDD. When you have all the portions you want....just re-author them again in DVDShrink.
So if you have 3 exercise DVDs....you will first make 3 shortened versions and put them to your HDD. Open all 3 shortened versions again in DVDShrink(again...in re-author mode) and make 1 DVD out of the 3.

[bobkart]

TMPGEnc will let you easily author a new DVD from material on multiple source DVDs.

[Alex_ander]

If you don't need keeping original menus, then TDA is your best and only friend for making any compilation.

Navigating the DVDReMake help file leads me eventually to here:
http://www.dimadsoft.com/dvdremakepro/ht_customize_menu_full.php

What is a Dummy Disk?

That dummy disc should contain the menu you create for substitution (with working buttons) authored as VIDEO_TS folder, the other DVD files in it may be of any size or blanked. E.g. I make such a disc with menu by authoring in TDA the proper number of tracks sourced from small video files (sometimes I use 'export test DVD' output from DVDRemake). TDA generates the menu, I edit it the way I want and output the DVD folders. If you have the wanted menu on a DVD (e.g. to take it back to your reauthored compilation) then you don't need that dummy and simply import that DVD to DVDRemakePro as second project to get access to its menu blocks for further replacement.