VCD - chaptesr/bookmarks

[insane]

Just a simple question. Is there a way to add chapters to a vcd, like a DVD has?

[BobK]

Yes- it's possible. However, I don't think it's possible for them to be just like the ones on a DVD. In all the VCDs I've made (and all 5 players I've played them in), the chapters are only accessable from the menu- chapters are numbered and you use the number pad on the remote to select the chapter you want to jump to. While watching the video, if you try to use the button to jump forward (or backward) a chapter it returns to the menu.

[dunnright]

but it still plays continually from chapt one-five right?

[RabidDog]

test it out with your player and your files with vcdeasy. It will play frm start to finish.

[BobK]

Every one that I've made plays through all the way regardless of chapters.

[vitualis]

Read up on the concept of VCD chapters using the entrypoint system here: http://www.michaeltam.com/chapters.html

Regards.

[dinkob]

This can be tricky.

I tested 15 players at best buy today and NONE of them are capable of seeing the chapters using ffwd button.

However I do have a player that supports this feature and I found another one (at best buy but it's not quite a player).

Philips DVD 951 (which I currently own)
Philips DVDR 75 (500 bucks this is a DVD recorder).

Anyone want to add more????

Dinks

[vitualis]

Entrypoint chapters as described in my above link work on essentially ALL VCD2.0 compatible DVD players, which are essentially ALL DVD players (except for the handful of crippled Apex units).

If you make a disc with entrypoint chapters and it didn't work on several players, I can bet you didn't author it correctly somehow.

Regards.

[dinkob]

oh ok I see.

Here's how I "preffer" to do it;

I usually create one MPEG file with TMPGENC. However right off the start I use non-standard VCDs (128 bps audio).

Also I just noticed that there is the thing for create bitstream for editing that I never used.

Then I somply drag the file into VCD easy, click on Chapters (I usually pick every 1 min 20 seconds, sometimes 3 mins). and GO.

Nothing complicated, no menu, notta just "simple" chapters.

So I am trying to read the page you suggested (ok I am tired), and those things I mentioned above are the ones that I can "catch".

And lastly, what do I do wrong?

Update: I noticed that my VCDs don't have CDI folder (I didn't change any of the default settings in CD-I application). I enabled this but there is still no chapter recognition by my Toshiba DVD player (standalone), nor Power DVD and Intervideo DVD.

However I found computer software application that recognizes chapters.

Good ol'e STHSDVD. This thing plays like a charm VCDs. The VCD though shows as 1.1 although my setting in VCD easy is 2.0. So I just don't know what to do (I haven't used the PBC interactivity playback option yet; don't need it)

Dinks

[vitualis]

VCDEasy makes entrypoint chapter in exactly the same was as described on that link. In fact VCDEasy references that page in terms of chapter creation!

If you have turned of PBC, then that's your problem.

The entrypoint based chaptering system (as described in that page) must use PBC. You don't need to have a "menu" per se, but it won't work without PBC.

The type of "chapters" you are making (i.e., entrypoints in VCD1.1 or entrypoints in a <playlist> rather than a <selection> ) are the "true" VCD chapters. They are supported by essentally NO hardware device, except for some Phillips players (who wrote the White Book specification). Interestingly enough, you've discovered that modern Phillips players still support this which is neat, and some cool info to know.

Regards.

[dinkob]

ooohh yeah, that was the key...

My toshiba (standalone) and power dvd now can play "chaptered VCDs". All that was the problem is the interactivity checkmark I think. (One thing remaining is the CDI default application checkbox but I can investigate this one later).

After all the hassle though, I would still preffer to have Philips player. Sony and toshiba dissapointed me big time.

After "noticing" that Philips DVD 951 was able to see the chapters (from slightly older line) and Philips DVDR 75 as well (from newer line) I began thinking that there has to be some "connection" there regarding manufacturer. Now it's all clean.

Dinks

[vitualis]

Yeah. I believe that some Philips players are the only ones that support "true" chapters.

As for CD-i, read my comments on the CD-i application here: http://www.michaeltam.com/cdi_app.html

The CD-i application is actually required for White Book compliance but it is ignored by all players unless you have a CD-i player.

Regards.

[hyena77]

i've been playing around with nerovision express so far and the only thing that i don't seem to be able to get around is the way it numbers the chapters in the menu. for example, i have 12 chapters created and i chose a 4 chapter per page layout. what nero does is number the chapters 1-4 on each of the 3 pages, but what i want is 1-4 on the 1st page, 5-8 on the 2nd and 9-12 on the 3rd just like a DVD. would vcdeasy allow me to adjust the chapter numbering system or eliminate the numbering and just have the chapter titles? thanks.

[vitualis]

As VCDEasy is ultimately based on the VCDImager authoring system, you can do whatever you want.

So in essense, the answer is "yes".

However, you may need to know/learn a bit on how to author VCDs with VCDEasy before being able to achieve everything you've just posted.

Regards.

[hyena77]

since vcdeasy only works with mpeg-1, what do you guys use to create chapters for mpeg-2 (SVCD)?

[Cornucopia]

hyena77, did you even look at VCDEasy? Since quite early on (maybe always) it has been able to do SVCD. In many ways, it still does it better than most $$ commercial apps.
I don't do SVCD all that often, but when I do, my 1st app of choice is usually VCDEasy / VCDImager.

Scott

[hyena77]

hyena77, did you even look at VCDEasy? Since quite early on (maybe always) it has been able to do SVCD. In many ways, it still does it better than most $$ commercial apps.
I don't do SVCD all that often, but when I do, my 1st app of choice is usually VCDEasy / VCDImager.

Scott

yes i did. i have the commercial version 1.1.7. maybe i should've been more specific with the problem i'm experiencing. i added the SVCD file that i had encoded with TMPGEnc and clicked on the Chapters tab. i clicked the left-most button below the screen to load the video and pressed the play button. i get this popup 'Warning' window that says:
The display of MPEG2 files requires you to have a software DVD player installed on your PC (thus you will have some MPEG2 "Codecs")
i do have PowerDVD installed on my system. so i click ok on the box and i hear the audio but i see no video. i hit the stop button and the program closes up. so i can't add my chapters if i can't see the video! do i need to install a plug-in or some codec for the program?!? is there a guide somewhere that shows how to create chapters for SVCD? cuz the ones i've seen only use VCD as examples.

i had no problems using nerovision express creating chapters with the same file, but it's pretty basic and not as interactive as i would like the menu to be that vcdeasy can make it.

[hyena77]

figured it out. i d/led and insalled the MPEG2 codec from the tools section and i can see the video now. i thought i already had it installed. so now, i'm playing around with vcdeasy creating chapters and i have 2 questions. with nerovision express i specify down to the second where i wanted to create a chapter. but for vcdeasy, for example, if i enter 00:21:35:94 for a chapter, it will set it too 00:21:40:866. i can't seem to set the chapters at the times that i want. vcdeasy sets it a couple seconds before or after the number i enter and the chapters are a bit off. can this is adjusted?

also, i can't see where i can give each chapter it's own unique name, how they are laid out in the menu (eg.how many chapters/page, size, how they are placed in the menu), setting background picture and music, etc that i was able to customize with nerovision express.

[Cornucopia]

figured it out. i d/led and insalled the MPEG2 codec from the tools section and i can see the video now. i thought i already had it installed. so now, i'm playing around with vcdeasy creating chapters and i have 2 questions. with nerovision express i specify down to the second where i wanted to create a chapter. but for vcdeasy, for example, if i enter 00:21:35:94 for a chapter, it will set it too 00:21:40:866. i can't seem to set the chapters at the times that i want. vcdeasy sets it a couple seconds before or after the number i enter and the chapters are a bit off. can this is adjusted?

also, i can't see where i can give each chapter it's own unique name, how they are laid out in the menu (eg.how many chapters/page, size, how they are placed in the menu), setting background picture and music, etc that i was able to customize with nerovision express.

Availability of chapter placement is determined during the encoding stage when you specify GOP length (and thus I-frames) and sequence / packet header positioning, etc. There is a good guide on this, examining TMPGEnc and the Panasonic encoder, either on this site or Vitualis' site, IIRC.
I know, when I specifically determine I-frame and sequence header placement for a TMPGenc encode, my chapters aren't off by even a whole frame!

Doesn't NeroVision do it's own encoding. If so, that's why you're able to do chapter placement so well. It's taking your direction for chapter placement as the placement for the I-frame & sequence header, and subsequently during the burn, the chapters will follow smoothly.

VCDEasy and VCDImager allows for near-total customization, much more than most alternatives. But, unlike it's moniker, it isn't quite so easy. You have to prep the menus beforehand--usually in a photo app. And you have to mux with audio in an encoder like TMPGEnc beforehand if you want menus with audio

Scott

[Cornucopia]

figured it out. i d/led and insalled the MPEG2 codec from the tools section and i can see the video now. i thought i already had it installed. so now, i'm playing around with vcdeasy creating chapters and i have 2 questions. with nerovision express i specify down to the second where i wanted to create a chapter. but for vcdeasy, for example, if i enter 00:21:35:94 for a chapter, it will set it too 00:21:40:866. i can't seem to set the chapters at the times that i want. vcdeasy sets it a couple seconds before or after the number i enter and the chapters are a bit off. can this is adjusted?

also, i can't see where i can give each chapter it's own unique name, how they are laid out in the menu (eg.how many chapters/page, size, how they are placed in the menu), setting background picture and music, etc that i was able to customize with nerovision express.

Availability of chapter placement is determined during the encoding stage when you specify GOP length (and thus I-frames) and sequence / packet header positioning, etc. There is a good guide on this, examining TMPGEnc and the Panasonic encoder, either on this site or Vitualis' site, IIRC.
I know, when I specifically determine I-frame and sequence header placement for a TMPGenc encode, my chapters aren't off by even a whole frame!

Doesn't NeroVision do it's own encoding? If so, that's why you're able to do chapter placement so well. It's taking your direction for chapter placement as the placement for the I-frame & sequence header, and subsequently during the burn, the chapters will follow smoothly.

VCDEasy and VCDImager allows for near-total customization, much more than most alternatives. But, unlike it's moniker, it isn't quite so easy. You have to prep the menus beforehand--usually in a photo app. And you have to mux with audio in an encoder like TMPGEnc beforehand if you want menus with audio

Scott

[Cornucopia]

figured it out. i d/led and insalled the MPEG2 codec from the tools section and i can see the video now. i thought i already had it installed. so now, i'm playing around with vcdeasy creating chapters and i have 2 questions. with nerovision express i specify down to the second where i wanted to create a chapter. but for vcdeasy, for example, if i enter 00:21:35:94 for a chapter, it will set it too 00:21:40:866. i can't seem to set the chapters at the times that i want. vcdeasy sets it a couple seconds before or after the number i enter and the chapters are a bit off. can this is adjusted?

also, i can't see where i can give each chapter it's own unique name, how they are laid out in the menu (eg.how many chapters/page, size, how they are placed in the menu), setting background picture and music, etc that i was able to customize with nerovision express.

Availability of chapter placement is determined during the encoding stage when you specify GOP length (and thus I-frames) and sequence / packet header positioning, etc. There is a good guide on this, examining TMPGEnc and the Panasonic encoder, either on this site or Vitualis' site, IIRC.
I know, when I specifically determine I-frame and sequence header placement for a TMPGenc encode, my chapters aren't off by even a whole frame!

Doesn't NeroVision do it's own encoding? If so, that's why you're able to do chapter placement so well. It's taking your direction for chapter placement as the placement for the I-frame & sequence header, and subsequently during the burn, the chapters will follow smoothly.

VCDEasy and VCDImager allows for near-total customization, much more than most alternatives. But, unlike it's moniker, it isn't quite so easy. You have to prep the menus beforehand--usually in a photo app. And you have to mux with audio in an encoder like TMPGEnc beforehand if you want menus with audio

Scott

[Cornucopia]

sorry about the triple post, my browser just went weird on me!!