VCD Builder: Multiple chapters in single MPEG sequence.

[whizdog]

I'm using VCD Builder 1.1.3 to author a VCD.
I used the '1 Menu 1 Sequence' template to start my project.
I have a menu "page" and a single (long) MPEG sequence. I have added
chapter markers using the slider in VCD Builder. My VCD works almost
the way I want it. There's one thing missing.
If I am on my menu screen (playing the VCD with my DVD player), I can
select any chapter via a number (i.e. pressing 3 on the remote takes
me to chapter 3). However, when I am playing the MPEG, I cannot press
a chapter number to go to that chapter. I can press forward or
backward to go forward/backward a single chapter.

Using VCD Builder, is it possible to author the VCD such that I can
have direct access from one chapter to another non-adjacent
chapter.....that is contained in the same MPEG sequence? (In other
words, using VCD Builder, how can I 'control-drag' a chapter link from
a sequence to itself?) I realize I could split the MPEG file into
multiple files, and achieve what I want, but can I do it with a single
MPEG file?

[AntnyMD]

I am almost certain the VCD spec only allows the selection of an entrypoint using the remote while in a menu. You'll also notice that while you can move back and forth between entrypoints while the MPEG is playing, if you skipped to entrypoint 3 and watched the video past entrypoint 6, when you attempt to skip ahead to entrypoint 7, the disk actually "skips forward" to entrypoint 4!

The VCD format is limited in many areas, this one among them.

[whizdog]

>I am almost certain the VCD spec only allows the selection of an entrypoint using the remote while in a menu.

Well, I've done a little snooping around. I downloaded the source code for VCD Builder to determine the values for links used in the XML file for saved projects (.vcdproject). I found that link type 6 is what I want to use. So, I hand-edited the XML file to point a chapter link from a sequence back to itself. For example, the relevate parts of the XML file are listed below. Sequence "1" is my menu sequence, and sequence "2" is my "real" video. Therefore a chapter link from sequence "2" to sequence "2" was required:

"snip"
<sequence id="2">
"snip"
<link-list>
"snip"
<link type="6">2</link>
</link-list>
"snip"
</sequence>

When I open this hand-edited project with VCD Builder....it gets a little confused as to where to draw the link. (It just draws a line up to the upper-left corner of the window (0,0). However....the good news....is that this techinque works when I burn the VCD.....I can have direct access to chapter markers while playing the MPEG on the VCD. It's kind of a cheap work-around....and I wish the application supported it natively...but, I guess it'll have to do for now.

[AntnyMD]

I was thinking through your process and comparing it to what I remember from working on PCs... I can see how your manual fix worked, but only if you had one MPEG track. Can you duplicate it with multiple MPEG tracks on a disc?