How do you use pgcedit?

[winifreid]

I just looked at the new guide for using pgcedit with Shrink and I wonder why anyone would go to this much trouble. Most of the guides I have read for this have over 15 steps to either save or change the menu. I may be wrong - I have never tried it -but I would guess it take s at least 10 to 15 minutes to do these procedures. In most cases I can't even be bothered to use voblanker, so it is hard to imagine why anyone would go to this much effort to preserve or edit a menu. Maybe if it is a home movie and you want to get the menu right it would be worth it. But in that case I think I would just reauthor the disk. If it was a simple matter to eliminate all the warnings or retain the menu just for the main film, I might try it. But all the guides I have seen seem difficult and time consuming.

[jimmalenko]

I tend to agree. I think it's just a "because you can" type program, from what I've read.

[jeanl]

I disagree with you guys!
There are things that are difficult to do if you don't use PgcEdit (or vobblanker since the original post mentions it). Sure, they might not be what typical users might want to do, but they're still important.
PgcEdit is crucial when you want to change the way your DVD plays: if you want to skip things, or play things in a different order, then you have to go to PgcEdit. Like I said, most users don't need this because all they do is rip, shrink and burn. If you want to do more than that, then PgcEdit is a great tool.
Here's a quick list of examples
- If you want to skip stuff at the beginning of the DVD, you can use PgcEdit for that. (sure, you can also reauthor in shrink, but you'll loose your menus). I don't know any other free program that lets you do that kind of stuff that easily.
- If you want to entirely remove chunks of the DVD (for example, all the "extras") you can use PgcEdit. You can also use titlesetblanker for that, but you don't have a preview...
- If you want your DVD to start with the movie instead of the menu, that's a job for PgcEdit. Sure, a lot of eople don't care about that, but some do!
- If you want your DVD to start with a specific audio/sub track, then that's a job that PgcEdit can easily tackle. Again, not very many people care about that but for those that do, PgcEdit is an easy solution.

Personally, I use PgcEdit between DVDDecrypter and DVD Shrink, as a way to remove all the stuff I don't want, while keeping functional menus. For that type of task, it's really an easy tool to use.

Jeanl

[winifreid]

Yes, I agree it would be nice to remove the extra and still have a menu. I just can't see going through 15 steps to do it. I really started this tread to see if there was some one step magic that would do the same thing, but I guess there isn't.

[jeanl]

Yes, I agree it would be nice to remove the extra and still have a menu. I just can't see going through 15 steps to do it. I really started this tread to see if there was some one step magic that would do the same thing, but I guess there isn't.

winifred,
I think you might have been put off by the guides. It's true they're very detailed and I've noticed that they make it look like the procedure is very complicated. It really isn't, you should give it a shot to see for yourself.

But I see your point. For example, to remove extras, the difficulty really is identifying what those extras are. This means you have to go through all the titlesets and preview them, and kill them if you don't want them. It would be easier if you could just identify the movie and say "kill everything but that!".

Maybe we could ask r0lZ (who wrote PgcEdit) if he could create a command that would remove everything but the movie, and still keep all the menus. That would make PgcEdit much simpler to use for users that want a "movie-only" DVD with menus.
I'll see if we could convince him (I would be one such user!).

Jeanl

[jimmalenko]

That would make PgcEdit much simpler to use for users that want a "movie-only" DVD with menus.

Now, IMO, that is kinda pointless. I've never quite understood why if you're doing movie-only, you wouldn't just have the movie start up on insert ? It just seems a bit laborious to me to have to select Play from a menu, where Play is the only working option that you could possibly select anyway !

I'll stand by what I said though - it is a because you can program (as are any programs that let you do any mods to the DVD, mind you ) that I don't personally have a use for.

No biggie ...

[jeanl]

That would make PgcEdit much simpler to use for users that want a "movie-only" DVD with menus.

Now, IMO, that is kinda pointless. I've never quite understood why if you're doing movie-only, you wouldn't just have the movie start up on insert ? It just seems a bit laborious to me to have to select Play from a menu, where Play is the only working option that you could possibly select anyway !

but you forget about the chapter menu! If it wasn't for that, I would totally agree with you! (except maybe to select things as director's comments and things like that). Not having the chapter menu for me is the single big drawback to Shrink's reauthor mode. I don't think I'm the only one in that category.

But like you said. No biggie!
Jeanl
P.S. If you don't use any program that do any modifications to your DVDs, then I guess all you use is decrypter and shrink right? (just out of curiosity)

[jimmalenko]

If you don't use any program that do any modifications to your DVDs, then I guess all you use is decrypter and shrink right? (just out of curiosity)

Yep, DVDDecrypter & DVDShrink

When I first started backing up my DVDs, IFOEdit was pretty much the only way I could find, so I soon got in the habit of doing Movie Only, otherwise I'd have to worry about splitting discs, etc etc. Then DVDShrink and the like came along and I tossed up backing up my DVDs again, but in the end decided that probably 97 times out of 100, I'll watch a DVD for the Main Movie, and the other 3 times I might check out the extras (I'm not much of an extras man ). So from that early beginning, I'd pretty much decided just to keep the Movie-Only backups I'd made, and pull out the originals if I wanted to watch the extras. Obviously once I got to know DVDDecrypter and DVDShrink, any subsequent backups have included everything if feasible.

So it's pretty much just what suits me, I guess

[DoubleShadowIce]

@winifreid

I really started this tread to see if there was some one step magic that would do the same thing, but I guess there isn't.

I had a feeling you were a one-clicker.

You are suffering from guidus intimatidus. That means you initially scan through the guide taking notice of how much stuff to read, technical terms, how many pictures, how many steps, how many tools you need, etc. and then you make a hasty analysis and say "15 step?! I don't have time to go through this and I probably won't understand it anyway. I just want a one-click tool!".

Though to each their own on how one wants to backup a DVD, PgcEdit provides a way for people to not only customize their DVD but it also let's them understand how the there DVD navigates the way it does. You'll be surprise on how many inquiring minds want to know how things work. Of course, there are some people who just don't care. Sooner or later, you'll get a problem DVD and you'll be glad there's a free tool to hopefully help you out.

As for menus, the only menu I'm concerned about is the scene selection menu. I don't have time to create DVD sleeves to tell me what my chapters are titled and also I use hub labels so there is no room to put that info on. I can skip forever from chapter to chapter but I really like to know what scene I'm viewing also. I used to strictly do movie only backups but just like a buying the current fastest CPU I can get, I always want something more the next day. My goal is to keep as much as I can or want and still keep the quality at according to my own eyes.

[FallenAngel10]

Try Titlewriter 1.71 Can readd menu to reauthored movie only dvd without all that editing, can readd original menu in about 98% of cases (Some are to wild/strange in navigation). Typically I start with movie and only call menus for scene selection, or audio setup. You must make room for menu ahead of time (titlewriter will tell you amount) or shrink after.

[jeanl]

As for menus, the only menu I'm concerned about is the scene selection menu. I don't have time to create DVD sleeves to tell me what my chapters are titled and also I use hub labels so there is no room to put that info on. I can skip forever from chapter to chapter but I really like to know what scene I'm viewing also. I used to strictly do movie only backups but just like a buying the current fastest CPU I can get, I always want something more the next day. My goal is to keep as much as I can or want and still keep the quality at according to my own eyes.

so may I ask what tools you currently use for that purpose? I'm just curious... I'm still mostly using titlesetblanker and dvd shrink to achieve movie only with chapter menu... (I'm pretty much in the same boat as you, I can't stand to lose the chapter menu).
Jeanl