2 movies on 1 DL w/ basic menus w/ no luck..any ideas?

[Moontrash]

I've tried to do 2 movies onto 1 DL and followed the pgcedit guide for the layer break placement and its all wrong.I first authored the 2 movies w/ a basic menu in tmpg dvd author and ran it through pgcedit but got confused around the layer break placement here.
Does anyone know of a definitive guide on doing 2 movies and a basic menu on one DL disc,one that really works well.I've looked all over but I guess the pgcedit guide is for 1 movie only.Any help would be appreciated.

Thanx

[Edmund Blackadder]

Moontrash, this is your solution:

https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1392448#1392448

However, you'll need to get hold of DVDMaestro and RecordNow 7.3. After that, with the above description, you can put as many movies as you'd like (as long as you're within the size limit) and have a total control of the layer break placement. The menus though you'll have to design elsewhere (Pain Shop Pro, After Effects, Premiere, Photoshop, etc.) and then bring them into Maestro. After that it's almost a piece of cake.

[manono]

Hi-

DVDRemake Pro allows you to merge 2 DVDs, keeping the original menus, or any menu you've created for each video. You can set the layer break using PGCEdit, or following that part of Edmund Blackadder's guide:

http://www.dimadsoft.com/dvdremakepro/ht_merge_full.php

DVDRemake Pro costs money (somewhat cheaper than Maestro, though ), but it's good at a lot of useful things, so you might find it worth it.

[Moontrash]

Thanx for the input Edmund and manono.Much appreciated.Its been quite a feat to find a guide online for this kinda authoring.Most just wanna back up a long movie w/ the special features and dvd decrypter handles those well(done 5 or 6 myself).This though was the main reason I got a DL burner,to kinda play around and put in multiple movies myself but I knew the layer break would be an issue.I'd seen to many failures to try myself so I waited to find a guide to try.I've tried Dvd Maestro and its quite an app to master...im gonna read through the whole guide to see what i can do though...it seems to be the king of Dvd authoring apps.I know someone who has Dvd Remake and I've seen it used so I know what i'm getting into there.I'll give both a try and report back w/ or w/ out success.Again..Thanx

[manono]

Hi-

So your main concern is creating good safe layer breaks? Then PGCEdit is the way to go, I think:

http://home.tiscali.be/debie.roland/pgcedit/third_party/blutach/dl_burning_with_pgcedit.htm

About half way down begins the layer break part.

[Moontrash]

yeah I knew it would be an issue cause I'd seen too many people complaining that nero was messing up there DL discs and I wasn't gonna try it until I knew the proper way.I'm not an authoring expert for sure but I'm willing to give it a try.I read the pgcedit how to the other day and went through each step and was almost done,then I got to the layer break part,I knew somethin I had done was wrong.One day they'll make idiot proof software so this will be as easy as backing up a regular 4.7 single is(w/ multiple titles ofcourse) and the ease of tmpg dvd author or nero's vision express.

[Moontrash]

Well I tried the dvd remakePro route and this is what I got below....I think it they are the same results as tmpg dvd author.It was actually a rather easy app to figure out its just not gellin' w/ pgcedit I guess.Is the area where it has the title highlighted green(where it says title 8 cell 1 (3:32.00), VCID:1/1) the correct position or not?

[manono]

Hi-

In all honesty, I've never burned a DL disc. I just find the guides, but am too cheap to buy DL discs and try it myself. I'd hate to give advice, have it not work, and then have you mad at me. I'd feel terrible if I felt your curses rain down on me.

Having said that though, according to the guide, any of the green places are fine, and the layer break pause shouldn't even be noticeable. If you think it would help, I think I can track down the PGCEdit author and Guide author and ask him (them) to have a look at your thread here. Or perhaps ask yourself where he (they) hangs out more often:

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=96974

Lots of useful information in that thread.

[Moontrash]

I was gonna post in doom9 but I have to wait 5 days b4 posting.Reason Y I think it's not correct is if you check out the pic here it shows the break is in the middle of the title(i.e...the minutes) where as my pic shows a lot of menu sections and are at .15 secs into the movie.I'm pretty sure thats not correct but I'm not sure.Just check out the layer break section in the middle of the title.

[manono]

Yeah, his example is for setting the break on an original DVD9, and you have 2 different movies. I understand what you're saying now. Sorry I'm a little dense. I don't think it makes any difference if you set it in a menu. Those 00.15 sections are just a bunch of static menu screens, but I agree with you that you might be better off setting it at that last green line, at the (3:32.00), VCID:1/1) place you suggested before.

Stuck in that 5 day limbo, eh? Like I said, I can ask r0lZ to come have a look if you like. He and blutach (the guide author) are good guys, and as I'm a mod over there (not in the DVD forums, as maybe you can tell), they might do me the favor.

[Moontrash]

that's cool..I appreciate it..this app is real easy to master and i kinda like it..no frills and basic..Maestro is difficult but that's y it's the best..Gonna take a bit to learn but who knows..maybe success.

PgcEdit is a great utility but like Maestro..takes a bit to learn.I've authored many basic menu dvd-5's and cut out many bits and pieces w/ PGCedit but these dual layers are a challenge w/o experience.

I dig the help I'm getting here..very useful indeed..thanx guys..

[r0lZ]

Hi!

According to the screenshot posted above, what is confusing you is that you are very lucky!

When you burn a single movie on a DL DVD, the layer break must be placed generally somehwere in the middle of the movie. So, finding a good cell to place it may be difficult.

But in the present case, the first movie fits completely on layer 0, and the second one on layer 1. So, it is possible to place the layer break in a menu, or at the beginning of a title. That's very good, hence the great number of green lines you see in the GUI.

As explained above, the green lines are very good candidate for the layer break, as they are the first cells of a PGC. So, the playback will not pause while you are watching the movie (or the menu) but instead, the pause will occur at the beginning of the title (or menu) and you will not notice it.

If the menu is animated, with transitions between the pages of the menu, it's best to avoid placing the LB at the beginning of a menu PGC, because it may be called smoothly from another menu page.
Therefore, the best position is at the beginning of title 3, 6, 7 or 8. Since titles 3, 6 and 7 are very short titles (less than 1 second), you have probably blanked them, and there is a good chance that those titles are never played. They are therefore good candidates.

Also, note the value of the "Optimal LB position for small disc size": it's around sector 1954679. Since title 3 begins at sector 1956643, which is the nearest sector, I would use Title 3 for the LB (ie the first green line.)

Note that PgcEdit tries to compute the best position, and it places the cursor automatically on the best cell.
Though I cannot see on the screenshot what's before Title 3, it's certainly a good position, but if there are green lines before this title 3, maybe it's even better ot use another one.

Anyway, don't worry too much. Selecting any green line is perfect. As I have tried to explain, Title 3 is probably even better. Use it and burn your DVD!

[Moontrash]

You are indeed correct.I did blank quite a few cells(all that usueless junk).Here's a pic of the top of the pgcEdit layer break window..u've seen the bottom.....I'll give it a try and see...I don't mind wastin a DL....if it works great and if not..I'll try again.

[Wile_E]

This is a very informative thread! But I have some questions(hopefully not far off-topic). Can DVD-R/DVD+R use reverse spiral when writing DL? There would be very minimal delay in layer-break using reverse spiral. Also why don't DVD players have read-ahead buffers to buffer several seconds of video while changing layers? A buffer would eliminate all this hassle of where to place layer breaks. Video could continue to play, while laser would be reseting to next layer on disc. Hopefully blu-ray/hd-dvd specs will tell manufacturers to add buffer to their players.

[r0lZ]

Can DVD-R/DVD+R use reverse spiral when writing DL? There would be very minimal delay in layer-break using reverse spiral.

They do. And the delay is minimal, but not on all players. My old Sony needs approx 2 seconds to switch.

Also why don't DVD players have read-ahead buffers to buffer several seconds of video while changing layers?

On most recent players, there are buffers. But it cost money, so a low cost player may still show up a slight pause.

IMO, the cell used for the layer break is important only if you want to play your DVD on old players w/o notifying the LB pause too much.

[r0lZ]

@ Moontrash:

In the upper part of the GUI, Titles 4, 2 and 5 are also blanked, and are therefore also excellent candidates for the LB.

Title 1 cell 27 is probably a dummy tiny chapter added at the end of the first main title to be able to skip to the end of the title with the remote. It has probably the "seamless playback" flag already clear, and is therefore also a good candidate. This cell is generally not played, and even if it is, the pause will occur at the end of the movie, on a black frame.
Since it's the "green" cell closest to the "Optimal LB position for small disc" value, it's probably the best choice. This is why it is selected by default.
But you may select Title 4, Cell 1, if you prefer to use a blanked Title.

[Moontrash]

SUCCESS!!!!!!! Here's what I did.I set the layer break at Title 3...took about 40 minutes to burn and I saw no pauses anywhere(I'm assuming that the pause was in or near a menu or or a black cell or blank screen...I saw nothing)....r0lZ...I decided to just give it a try and it worked!!!! I watched every frame and no problems at all.

Here's what I did from start to finish...I used Dvd2One(both discs were under 4.0 gb's..that's why I chose them as the perfect candidates to put on 1 disc...one was 95 minutes the other was 97 minutes..) to rip both discs in "full disc" mode...(I've had problems w/ Recode the last few weeks so I chuck't it)...I opened DvdRemakePro and created 2 projects....Then "merged" both..I blanked out all the garbage that I didn't want to see in Remake and saved the project...Edmund Blackadder mentioned the PGCedit guide and I followed it to the teeth....it was like...gravy...very simple ..I don't have RecordNow so I saw that PGCedit recommends Imgburn and so I tried it...at the end of the PGCedit process it gave me a # for the layer break position and I entered it manually in Imgburn and...success!!!!!!

I wanna thank Edmund and manano for their responses....I'm still gonna try to learn Dvd Maestro for its functionality cause Remake lacks in quite few areas but it basic function for me was perfect.Thanx manano for alerting r0lZ ..it helped a bunch....and r0lZ..I appreciate your help...I'm starting to understand the layer break issues but I'm gonna give it a few more passes to test myself.

If anyone shows some interest..I'll write a guide using these apps and showing the process I went through...it didn't take long at all...

[r0lZ]

Great!

Note that it is easy to burn the ISO from PgcEdit. Just configure ImgBurn in the Burn Setups of PgcEdit, and enable the option to start ImgBurn after the ISO creation in the burn GUI. If you do it that way, you don't have to enter the LBA number manually, and PgcEdit will remove automatically his backup (as well as VobBlanker and MenuShrink backups, if present) from the compilation.