Behaivioral Problems with VCDImager, Apex 500W

[homerpez]

Pardon me, first, if this is a "been here, done that" topic. I am new to VCDImager usage, so Im just trying my luck with this sort of thing...

Anyway, I tried doing 2 different movies. One was a VBR VCD (off-spec), and the other is an (off-spec) VBR SVCD. I multiplexed both of them with VCDIMager Easy GUI.

Both discs make the image file, and both discs have some weird menu with 4 choices that doesn't work as intended. Differences follow.

On the SVCD disc, I run it through as a "Broken SVCD", though I don't believe I have to, and when I burn the .bin, I can put it in my Apex, it auto-plays, and looks/plays great. No "GOTO" feature, but FF/RW works since I have offsets calculated. I am well pleased!

OK, on my VBR VCD disc, I run it through as normally someone would, and it makes the image. I burn it, try and play, and it tries to auto-play, then stops. I can repeat this a hundred times... Play... Stop. It will not run! BUT, if I toggle "PBC ON/OFF" either way, or hit the "SEARCH" button first, then press "Play", it will start the movie, and play nicely, with no glitches!

Who's come across this problem before? It's not fatal, I can seem to get around it, but it's ANNOYING. Any fix?

[homerpez]

Anyone at all?

[sunmiztres]

I have a Apex 703 that is very touchy with menus and chapters. Sometimes it will play without a hitch and other times it will only use half the screen when playing. The way i get around it is turning pbc off.

I have found a great chaptering method using TSCV, latest version and my Apex has no problems. I would give that a try. It more less takes all the guess work out of Xml and has alot of different things you can do with your mpeg.

[homerpez]

Just curious now, does TSCV work if you JUST want to make a normal disc? As in, if you leave it alone, don't mees with entrypoints, will it just make a normal disc?

I have had that worry with it, I made one disc with it (earlier version), and it did make it semi-correctly (though the entrypoints were in the wrong place)

Also, do you know if they fixed it where you can select a frame to jump to, rather than a timescale? The Apex does not read timescale on a home-brewed VBR disc correctly, unless you play through (then the "Elapsed Time" is correct)...

Sorry again for all the questions, I'm new to this...

[ya_jai]

I confirm that created-xml file of TSCV (latest version) works for APEX both VCD and SVCD. Don't too worry about off spec (S)VCD because mines are as well.

[sunmiztres]

Homerpez...If you haven't tried the latest version of Tscv you are missing out, it will do just a basic no chapters or it will do the complex chapters which can be accessed through the #'s or the next button on the remote and i have not had a problem with it working on my apex.

[homerpez]

I must be doing something wrong...

Not only does this problem persist (for VCD, so far SVCD is fine), but I tried to do a 3-track disc (3 separate MPEGs on it) using TSCV, the newest.

Well, now I have the startup problem, AND IT TOOK MY 3 MPEG FILES AND MERGED THEM! I must really suck at this.

Prev/Next did nothing, it just took all 3 clips and made one big one.

Also, I think I need a guide for this, for beginners. I couldn't do things like chapters (plus no preview movie in the window. "Create Cue/Bin" button never worked right, but if I save the XML that it creates, then re-load the XML under the tools area, and thebn click "Do It" next to vcdxbuild (or something), I finally got the cue/bin (but with merged movies).

Any guide, even more of a walkthrough than the one found on the programmer's site?