SVCD Chapters

[D4v1d]

HI yall
i read the articels about making chapters and menus but i haven't found the awnsers to my problem
i captured a holiday video on my hardisk and ecoded them to svcd with tmpgenc
i caputered them by days
so i have the files like
Day 1.mpg
Day 2.mpg
etc. etc..
but now i want to burn those files on cd so it would like it is one long movie without stops but i also want an option so i can select the day i want to see
do i have to join those files to 1 big file then make the chapters then make an image of it??
or is it posible to make the chapters for those files then make an image of it??

Please help
thanks in advance

[D4v1d]

Anybody???
Nobody??

[AngusMacGyver]

I think you have to join them in a single file and create a chapter for each entry.
Or not.

[scottb721]

It's very simple.
In VCDEasy add all the files(days) you want, or can fit, on the disc. Create chapters in each file(day) for the Next and Previous buttons, but set up the numbers on the keypad to go to the start of each (Day)

VCDEasy will create a SVCD image and then burn the image with Nero. All very easy. Let me know if you need help.
Cheers

[scottb721]

Menu's are very easy also.

[D4v1d]

thx for the info scottb721
but if i put every file in VCDEasy and make chapeters in every file
will it play on my dvd player without stopping afther a track??
i allready burned it on cd with nero and with 0 sec wait time afther each track
but if i play it on my dvd it still stops like 2 sec every track
i have a svcd of monster and co for the kids and i saw that the cd have like 12 tracks but if you watch it it just play it without any stops between the tracks
is the movie cut in chapters or is it just tracks??
cuz if i watch it it just play it fluently without stops after every track

[scottb721]

When I put chapters in my mpeg files using VCDEasy it plays thru each chapter point without pausing.

The way I believe SVCDs work is that,
The mpeg file is one complete unbroken file and the chapters are just a seperate list of entry points (that you have created) that the player can access at your request.

Think of it as just index points that the DVD player can jump to and not as breaks in the mpeg itself. You haven't actually put chapters in the mpeg but just created a list of entry points that the DVDplayer uses to access the mpeg.

This is what allows it to play seamlessly.

Now, the pause between mpeg files, ie between day1 and day2 mpegs, for example can be set to whatever you want using VCDEasy.
You can even choose zero seconds.

You tell it the delay between the end of 1 mpeg and the start of the next.
You may also like to create still shots saying what day is about to be shown. Then sets delays between the end day1, the day2 still shot and the start of day2.

You could create a opening still shot that shows a little piccy of each day so the user knows which day they want to jump straight to, just like DVD chapter screens.

This is where VCDEasy becomes fun to use.
Think of VCDEasy as creating the street map where you tell the disc and remote control how to operate.

[Frontier]

Using VCDeasy, you can decide what will happen each time the clip has been played. A good idea would be to return to the menu.

I have just posted this, which will tell you more about menus that work on all players.

/Frontier

[darkelf]

I've run into the same problem myself. Tracks (ie separate MPEG files as you currently have them) will almost *always* have some sort of gap or anomoly between them when played on most DVD players out there. This was a limitation of the original VCD (and VCD 2.0) specification and there is no way to *fix* it, since technically there is nothing wrong. Separate files, you get pauses.

Merging all of the individual files into a single MPEG will give you the seamless (from the perspective of the DVD player anyway) transition from one day to the other, since technically there is no transition, it's all one big file.

You can use VCDEasy/TSCV/whatever to provide fairly precise chaptering using either method mentioned above. Single file is the way to go.

Luckily concatenating<sp?> MPEG files together doesn't affect quality to an appreciable amount.

Hope this helps....

[scottb721]

But if you are doing home movies, a slight pause between each day may not be detrimental to the viewing experience like it would be in the case of a movie. If it was a movie then yes, I would merge files to make just 1 mpeg.

The seperate tracks would also allow the easy addition of quick stills between files showing, for example "DAY 2"

Try buring to a CD-RW with 0s delay between mpegs and see if it's acceptable. My CR-RW disc gets a good workout doing test runs of what I'm doing before the final burn to CD-R.

[darkelf]

I guess it really depends on how you want the video to be viewed. It makes sense to have the individual day-clips split to facilitate addition of titles, info, etc. But then there will always be a track boundary to deal with. My current DVD player works fine with tracks, but hopping from one to the other is noticeable.

So D4ve, it sounds like both options are viable for your needs, depending on how you would like the disc to display.

-elf