Stand alone won't read menu made with Gui for dvdauthor

[billqs]

I love using Gui for dvdauthor since it's a very simple way to author a DVD. I hadn't used it in several months however because lawschool has taken up all my time. Last night I upgraded it to the .96 version and then used it to author a couple of episodes of House onto dvd.

I used 352 x 480 for video and mp2 audio. The files were converted from Divx using TMPegnc 2.5+ and then demultiplexed using PVstrumento.

Everything took fine. I could not use the whole mpg files because dvdauthor stated there were problems with the timecode, so I added in the demultiplex step.

I authored the DVD and then burned it to a + disc. I put it in my current standalone which is an ILO 04 recorder equipped with the latest firmware. It would not show the menu. After pressing menu and top menu a couple of times, the first episode started to play. I could chapter skip to the end of the first episode, but I could not get the 2nd episode to play. It quit at the end of the first episode.

I took the disc out and put it in my computer and the menu played correctly on PowerDVD. Thinking it might be the disc I burned it to a - disc and put it in the ILO and got the same thing- no menu only 1st ep playing.

Does anyone know why? Could it have something to do with burning using semi-compliant mp layer II audio instead of adding yet another step to convert to ac3? I used to get odd results with DVDs using mp2 audio on my prior DVD player.

Thanks for your help!

Bill S.

[borax]

I don't know why. But you can try to use a higher number of frames for still menus. In the Def. Settings, Tab Permanent you will find a selection therefore. Try with '12' or '15' (one GOP) for example. Maybe this helps. The only disadvantage would be that a little more space is needed for the menu files.

[Lester Burnham]

Could it just have been something as simple as a bad burn / disk?

Have you still got the same image, and could you burn that to another disk?

[billqs]

Thanks for the reply, Borax... That's a wonderful app you've created! I'll try the proposed solution tonite.

Bill

[billqs]

Well, I burned the image twice once to a DVD+R and once to a DVD-R to check and got the same result both times.

Bill

[non-linear]

Well, I burned the image twice once to a DVD+R and once to a DVD-R to check and got the same result both times.

Do yourself a favor and get some DVD-RW discs, that way you won't waste your write once media.

[billqs]

I've been meaning to get some more RW.

Bill S.

[Bjs]

Prior to burning to dvd .

If appropriate dvd codec and ac3filters is installed , you should launch ifoedit , and open the video_ts.ifo , then hit dvd playback button .

Not sure how it responds to mp2 audio , I have yet to try it .

I think someone in the forum mentioned the mp2 audio should be 48khz , but also it should not be 64kbs or lower rate . In my tests at 64kbs , there is no audio heard playing .

But this should allow you to asses if the menu is functioning correctly prior to burning your creation to dvd , it dosent matter for now if ifoedit dosent play the audio here , your just checking how the menu performs.

The other would be to load the dvd in pcgedit , and check what menu's and buttons might be linked too , if a command in the right window is connected to something listed too the left , it will highlight itself for a second or so .

After using pgcedit for a while , you'll get the hang of it .

When checking each command used in pgcedit , if any are red or pink they need to be corrected first , pink might work , red wont .

If links are fine and ifoedit plays it , its pretty well a gimme to burn .

Powerdvd is not the best player , and many have switched to nero on recommendation from others .

I can only guess they said if nero plays it fine its ok too burn .

I got sick off it flicking my pc screen which nero dosent do .

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The only other things is to double check the commands you used to connect menu's and video in dvdauthorgui .

Pgcedit allows you to get very specific with commands as dvdauthorgui dosent , unless you want too spend some time editing the xml file , which isnt fun , pgcedit really is the tool for this .

Just the other day I did switched menu's using dvdauthorgui and pgcedit , for me its simple .... guide for that soon ... when I find the rotten disc I backed up too .

[billqs]

Thanks for everyone's help. I took Borax's suggestion and upped the frames on the static menu to a full 15 and that allowed it to be read on my standalone ILO.

After correcting the menu frame length, the DVD played fine. Is there an advantage in taking the extra step of converting the mp2 to ac3 if it plays ok on my system? I don't mind doing it if there is a good advantage.

Bill S.

[borax]

Well cool, I'm glad it's working!
Should be something for the FAQ...

Concerning MP2<-> AC3:
IMHO the only advantage of AC3 is a better compatibility for pure US stand alone players. All players in europe have no trouble with mp2 if it is 48 kHz and bitrate >= 96 kBit (I would never use an audio bitrate below 128 kBit for mp2)