DVD Authoring Help Needed

[nooneimportant]

OK...here is my situation and I am really needing some help....

I am currently making DVD's using an authoring program called DVD Wise......it does support Dolby Digital 5.1 audio streams and imports VOB video files....the only problem is it imports each video clip as a title as opposed to chapters and that's a problem....there is a slight pause between each song because it goes from title to title as opposed to chapter to chapter in 1 title

What I am doing is capturing music videos and concerts to DVD....I capture each song at a time and I am looking for an authoring solution that will allow me to import each video clip as a title and not a chapter....that way there will not be any pauses between the tracks....any ideas? I am looking for the following in an authoring solution :

- Import VOB or MPV and AC3 media as chapters and not titles (to avoid pauses between tracks or songs)
- Great menu creation that will allow songs to play in the background while the menu is running

Any / all help is GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!!!!!!!

[SLK001]

Each imported video would be a different VIDEO TITLE SET when burned, thus, the pause between them. If you want them in the same VTS, then you are going to have to merge them together (I use TMPG MPEG TOOLS > MERGE/CUT).

BTW, how are you getting .AC3 files from a capture (or, are you sure that the audio is .AC3)?

[nooneimportant]

Have you had much luck with using the merge option in TMPGEnc? Will it merge VOB files? If not then what do you merge? I have tried a program called MpegCutter (I think...www.jummpa.com) and while it did join the files I tested it....the joined files played with no problems on my PC DVD but on a stand alone DVD burner it would lock up and freeze at the joined spot. Since my whole reason for doing this is stand alone related that was not an option for me. I have never tested TMPGEnc so you have definitely peaked my curiosity.......I am doing the audio completely seperate from the video and that is how I am making a true Dolby Digital 5.1 audio stream....which poses another problem...can you combine AC3 files as well with TMPGEnc? The audio is DEFINITELY AC3. I will convert the audio after I digitally remaster the audio from the video file as well. Keep in mind that VOB files can't be bigger than 1 GIG in size....all of your help is DEFINITELY appreciated and I am looking forward to hearing back from you...

THANKS!!!!!

[SLK001]

Will it merge VOB files?

I don't think so (but haven't tried this). You will have to do this:
1) DEMUX all of your .VOBs into .M2V and .AC3 files.
2) Use the MERGE option in TMPG to combine all of your .M2V files into one .M2V.
3) Use your audio software to combine all of your .AC3 files into one .AC3 (BTW, what prog is this?).
4) REMUX your resultant .M2V and .AC3 file into one .MPG (although this is not necessary - most DVD authoring progs prefer elementry streams - ie, the .M2V and the .AC3 file).
I do captures of laserdisks, and I haven't had any problems with TMPG in merging the files. However, TMPG CANNOT merge an .AC3 file (because of licensing with Dolby).

Keep in mind that VOB files can't be bigger than 1 GIG in size....

This is true (part of the UDF spec), but then the .VOB files are created by your authoring software, so it doesn't matter how large the resulting .M2V + .AC3 file is (provided that your OS can handle a file this big).

I've been looking for a program that can handle .AC3 files for my laserdisk captures (only caps .MPA, which is about 3 times the size of a .AC3 file). What do you use?