Help!VCD Interative Menu

[hawk123]

Hi, everybody

This is my first post.

First of all, thank you to you guys for creating this very helpful website and its forum. I have learned a lot of new stuffs regarding VCD/DVD Authoring through the links or tutorials on this website.

I am facing a problem to make an interactive menu on a vcd. I have created quited a number of vcds with interactive menu through VCDEasy and TSCV. All these vcds are not interative enough to the one I am wanted to create. VCDEasy and TSCV only allow the users to create an interative menu only can be communicated by number on the keyboard or on the remote control.

I have brought a commercial vcd with a more interative menu. Its interactive menu allows the users to use a mouse click on the menu to command when it was play on a computer using PowerDVD. It works similar to a hyperlink on a website, the corresponding chapters/movies will start to playback whenever you click the links.

I have made a search on this website. No sign of it. The only thing i found is regarding Philip VCD 2.0 Toolkits. But, it only mention very little about it.

Is there anybody know the software can do this?

Pls help. Thank in advance.

[adam]

They are called hotspot buttons. The only program that really supports this feature in any robust way is Video Pack 4.0. I've used it to make these sorts of VCDs many times. Philips VCD Toolkit can also handle some hotspot features but it only runs on NT so I was never able to get it to work. It is free though you just might have to do some serious searching on Philip's site.

Other then that, you could create hotspots using XML scripting and authoring in VCDImager but you'd be very limited in what you can do.

[hawk123]

Thanx Cyber.

Learn a new jargon. I will give it a try.

[Cornucopia]

Actually, I'm gonna disagree with adam on 2 points.

Philips VCD Toolkit was written as a Win 3.1 16bit app. (Yes, it's that old). It should be able to work on ALL Win32 platforms. I haven't tried it yet on XP, which broke lots of old apps, but I know it works on 98, ME, and 2k.
It's available (for free) at:
http://www.icdia.org/sw_pc/vcdtools.html

I still wouldn't recommend you go that route, though. You can only save to a non-standard disc image format, as it doesn't support any newer burners. Converting to a standard disc image format like BIN/CUE and then burning with the usual apps is possible, but complicated.

Here's what I would do (and have done):

Create your VCD project in VCDEasy. Use the numerical menu selection feature, even if that's not your main way of selecting. It's helpful as a placeholder. Save your project, making an XML.
Then, using the VCDImager manual as a guide, open up the XML in a text editor and add in the coordinates of the area for each "hotspot". Not to hard, just tedious. Then using the XML, create a new BIN/CUE and burn. (Can be done with VCDEasy's tools).

I wish someone would make a menu creator app for VCD (even though most have moved on to DVD). I'll have to ask dephi.stuff...

Scott

[adam]

I could never get it to work on 98, ME or 2k. It would run but would just crash whenever you did anything. It though it was NT only, I must be thinking of some other VCD app.

XML scripting will work, video pack 4.0 just supports so much more. You can animate the buttons so that they do various things when you highlight them or select them. Its also much easier to use then XML, but I have no idea where you'd get video pack 4.0 today.

[hawk123]

Yape, I have made a net search for video pack. The latest version is 5.0. However, all of them are not provide any link for downloading the software for a trial.

That means i have to use the second way mentioned above.

Cornucopia, do u know any link provide a guide on the script of the xml used in this example?

Thanks guys

[mustang581]

hawk123, trying doing a search for Winoncd 5 PE. I have used it in the past to create menus like you have mentioned, they work with the numeric pad on a standalone dvd player but work as hotspots on a computer.

[mikesbytes]

Getting an interactive menu out of a VCD is also something I have played with, however, I was looking for the interactivity on the DVD player. The closest I got was to display a new, but similar page to the menu page when the previous or next buttons were clicked, which gave the impression that you were moving from one item to the next on the same menu screen. To give more effect, I changed the background image in relation to the currently selected menu item and then rolled the menu itself thru a slide show for a bit more action. The result was good, but it was one hell of a lot of work. The version of VCDEasy didn't permit me to save it as a template and I found it too difficult to adapt to the next project, so it died a death.

My end conclusion was to buy a DVD burner and find the right software. VCD's are great, but DVD's have better menu's and remotes. Love the DVD left, right, up, down arrow buttons.

[adam]

Yup, you can do some very convincing stuff on a VCD or SVCD but its just so much extra work. To simulate hotspot buttons on a dvd player you need a separate pic for each button, which gets ridiculous when you've got something like a slideshow with 50 stills each with a menu bar.

If you ever get your hands on a CDI player the hotspot buttons will actually work on it, so there is hardware support but these days you could probably get a dvd player and burner for about the same price.

[mikesbytes]

CDI player, now thats interesting. Just checked the DVD Player List and there isn't a search option for CDI, but mabye these hotspots will work on a reasonable collection of DVD players. Interesting enough to test. Should I be using VCDImager to do this?

[Cornucopia]

I'll drudge up an XML example to post when I go in to work tomorrow A.M...

Scott

[adam]

CDI players a very peculiar piece of hardware. I can pretty much guarantee that there is no dvd player in existence which can play hotspots in a VCD or SVCD.

If you can't get a hold of a version of VideoPack then I think VCDImager is really your only viable option.

[mikesbytes]

Sounds like cdi is not the solution for interactive movies, unless you are simply interested in playing the VCD on the computer.

Without an easy way to save a complex template (I checked VCDEasy site just in case), it would appear that the DVD menu solution is superior, however, it may be a case of converting the stills to a video, so to avoid the creation of 100's of menu objects, as they need to be unquie to each still.

[mikesbytes]

Is TSCV dead? I just looked at the developers site and it hasn't been updated since 2002. Also the link to the download doesn't work.

http://www.tscv.org/

[Cornucopia]

Ok,

Here's an example of an XML script that I did for a "client" earlier this year:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE videocd PUBLIC "-//GNU//DTD VideoCD//EN" "http://www.gnu.org/software/vcdimager/videocd.dtd">

<videocd xmlns="http://www.gnu.org/software/vcdimager/1.0/" class="vcd" version="2.0">
	<info>
		<album-id>CLIENT_SPECSVCD</album-id>
		<volume-count>1</volume-count>
		<volume-number>1</volume-number>
		<restriction>0</restriction>
	</info>
	<pvd>
		<volume-id>CLIENT_SPECSVCD</volume-id>
		<system-id>CD-RTOS CD-BRIDGE</system-id>
		<application-id>CDI/CDI_VCD.APP;1</application-id>
		<preparer-id>CORNUCOPIA</preparer-id>
		<publisher-id>VCDEASY_V1152</publisher-id>
	</pvd>
	<filesystem>
		<file src="_autorun.inf">
			<name>AUTORUN.INF</name>
		</file>
		<file src="_license.txt">
			<name>LICENSE.TXT</name>
		</file>
		<file src="_readme.txt">
			<name>README.TXT</name>
		</file>
		<file src="_client.ico">
			<name>CLIENT.ICO</name>
		</file>
		<file src="_vcd_play.exe">
			<name>VCD_PLAY.EXE</name>
		</file>
	</filesystem>
	<segment-items>
		<segment-item src="item0001.mpg" id="segment-0000"/>
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		<segment-item src="Specs_RSL1.mpg" id="segment-0046"/></segment-items>
	<sequence-items>
		<sequence-item src="avseq01.mpg" id="sequence-00">
			<default-entry id="entry-000"/>
		</sequence-item>
		<sequence-item src="avseq02.mpg" id="sequence-01">
			<default-entry id="entry-001"/>
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		</sequence-item>
	</sequence-items>
	<pbc>
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			<bsn>1</bsn>
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	</pbc>
</videocd>

As you can see, it's neither super-easy nor super-complicated. It does show a good example of what can be done with hotspots and XML / VCDImager.

There was, at one time, an Excel spreadsheet that would help you fill in the correct values for the hotspot coordinates. I downloaded it at the time, but found that the formula wasn't completely correct. You could try looking for it, if it might help...

Scott

[mikesbytes]

Scott, which lines in the xml are the hot spot ones?

[Cornucopia]

There are many lines; it's the part of the lines that have "x1", "y1", "x2" and "y2".
X1= Left Border
Y1=Top Border
X2=Right Border
Y2=Bottom Border
The numbering is IIRC based on 0<--->255, as in percentage of the screen going from top left and counting using 8 bit word.

Check out the VCDImager manual (there is text, html & pdf versions). It's all in there.

Scott

[vcd4ever]

The problem when authoring a vcd with interactive menus with videopack 4, videopack 5 and winoncd is that the vcd will not work in a CD-i player because this programs doesn't include a CD-i app that supports playing vcd's with interactive menus when authoring the vcd.

The only programs that I have found that author vcd's with interactive menus that works in a CD-i player is philips videocd toolkit and vcdeasy when manually adding hotspots.

The only problem with vcdeasy is that you can't FF or FR when playing the movie in a CD-i player because vcdeasy doesn't enable this function in the CD-i app when authoring the vcd.

I have a CD-i player and the only way for me to author a vcd with interactive menus that works in my CD-i player with all CD-i app functions enabled is with philips videocd toolkit.

vcd4ever.

[Cornucopia]

Ohhhh!
Now I get it.

Here's the scoop...

A CDI settop player uses the CDI player app, and its supporting files, which are those files located in the CDI folder. That much you probably know.
What's more, the complete functionality of the title is determined solely by the CDI player app--with it's particular version number, etc. This is explained in more detail on the CDI website.
Check out http://www.icdia.org/sw_app/index.html and also http://www.icdia.org/faq/cdifaq6.html#6.3.1.

What you can always do, particularly if you prefer VCDEasy/VCDImager over Philips VCDToolkit (many do), is this:

Replace the contents of the CDI subfolder contained in the VCDEasy program folder--with the the contents of the CDI subfolder contained in the VCDToolkit program folder.

If that doesn't automatically work, then try this:

Author like you normally would in VCDEasy. Save the XML.
In addition to editing the XML text to include the hotspots, change the naming and association/link of the CDI section to include the Philips version instead.

HTH,
Scott

[Cornucopia]

Aha!

Check out http://www.icdia.org/faq/cdifaq6.html#6.5
This may solve the scan problem you're having, and allow you to further optimize the authoring.

HTH,
Scott

[Cornucopia]

Another thing to try:

Author a simple disc the same way in both VCDEasy and VCDToolkit. Create disc images of both. Use ISOBuster to extract any particular files that are pertinent to helping the CDI section have more functionality. Obviously, this'll be coming from the more functional disc. (My guess here would be the VCDToolkit one).

Scott

[vcd4ever]

Ohhhh!
Now I get it.

Here's the scoop...

A CDI settop player uses the CDI player app, and its supporting files, which are those files located in the CDI folder. That much you probably know.
What's more, the complete functionality of the title is determined solely by the CDI player app--with it's particular version number, etc. This is explained in more detail on the CDI website.
Check out http://www.icdia.org/sw_app/index.html and also http://www.icdia.org/faq/cdifaq6.html#6.3.1.

I read every faq on this site some years ago and the faq's have been helpfull but there are some things that are not covered in any faq and the faq's on this site hasn't been updated since I last read them.

What you can always do, particularly if you prefer VCDEasy/VCDImager over Philips VCDToolkit (many do), is this:

Replace the contents of the CDI subfolder contained in the VCDEasy program folder--with the the contents of the CDI subfolder contained in the VCDToolkit program folder.

If that doesn't automatically work, then try this:

Author like you normally would in VCDEasy. Save the XML.
In addition to editing the XML text to include the hotspots, change the naming and association/link of the CDI section to include the Philips version instead.

HTH,
Scott

This doesn't work because vcdeasy requires that the realtimefile is in mixedmode format and the realtimefile that philips videocd toolkit uses is in raw format.

Check out http://www.icdia.org/faq/cdifaq6.html#6.5
This may solve the scan problem you're having, and allow you to further optimize the authoring.

This doesn't work because this option is not supported in 4.xx CD-i app versions.

Author a simple disc the same way in both VCDEasy and VCDToolkit. Create disc images of both. Use ISOBuster to extract any particular files that are pertinent to helping the CDI section have more functionality. Obviously, this'll be coming from the more functional disc. (My guess here would be the VCDToolkit one).

This works if you fix the realtimefile from philips videocd toolkit before using it with vcdeasy. This fix is only needed if you want to use the CD-i app that philips videocd toolkit uses with vcdeasy.

vcd4ever.

[Cornucopia]

This doesn't work because vcdeasy requires that the realtimefile is in mixedmode format and the realtimefile that philips videocd toolkit uses is in raw format.

I was under the impression that both files, being CDI Realtime Files, should be in CDXA Mode2Form2 sectors (2324bytes).
One could alway use CDMage and/or ISOBuster to extract the sectors of a discimage AS IS, to maintain the correct byte count and sector alignment.

This works if you fix the realtimefile from philips videocd toolkit before using it with vcdeasy. This fix is only needed if you want to use the CD-i app that philips videocd toolkit uses with vcdeasy.

vcd4ever.

Yeah, VCDToolkit IS the original and most conforming software for authoring VCD's (they did make the spec), it's just a little difficult with the user interface. That's why I was suggesting to the original poster to try VCDEasy. He didn't say he had a CDI player.

Scott

[ilovevcd]

Actually, I'm gonna disagree with adam on 2 points.

Philips VCD Toolkit was written as a Win 3.1 16bit app. (Yes, it's that old). It should be able to work on ALL Win32 platforms. I haven't tried it yet on XP, which broke lots of old apps, but I know it works on 98, ME, and 2k.
It's available (for free) at:
http://www.icdia.org/sw_pc/vcdtools.html

I still wouldn't recommend you go that route, though. You can only save to a non-standard disc image format, as it doesn't support any newer burners. Converting to a standard disc image format like BIN/CUE and then burning with the usual apps is possible, but complicated.

Here's what I would do (and have done):

Create your VCD project in VCDEasy. Use the numerical menu selection feature, even if that's not your main way of selecting. It's helpful as a placeholder. Save your project, making an XML.
Then, using the VCDImager manual as a guide, open up the XML in a text editor and add in the coordinates of the area for each "hotspot". Not to hard, just tedious. Then using the XML, create a new BIN/CUE and burn. (Can be done with VCDEasy's tools).

I wish someone would make a menu creator app for VCD (even though most have moved on to DVD). I'll have to ask dephi.stuff...

Scott

Yes, run it on XP great

[mikesbytes]

The one thing that killed VCD's for me was the inability to create decent menus without doing a whole lot of work.

I once built a complex menu system that got about as close to a DVD style menu system that the VCD standard would permit. The problem was that it was not reusable to the next VCD.

It looks like to me that the author of VCDEasy may of lost some interest in his project, at one time he was talking about having templates.

[hawk123]

Wow....,

It is unexpected that my post get so many replies.
Thanks to you all.

For this hotspot stuff, I am now still working on it on my spare times. I will follow Cornucopia's suggestion to create a xml file with vcdeasy then add the hot spot thing.

I think the tedious part of this is to learn the xml language as I am totally is a programming inexpert. Well, just treat it as some exercises for my brain on spare time.

As all the cdi and vcd toolkit stuffs discussed above is really sound strange to me.

[mikesbytes]

Don't worry its not too hard. Once you have edited the xml, the vcdeasy user interface won't make adjustments for you, so best to get it all done in vcdeasy first and then edit the xml for the hot spots.

vcdeasy 1.5.2 (the freeware version) is fine for this task.