Following a tutorial from here. I swear it doesn't work: Combine dvds

[D-7]

Here is the link to the tutorial:
https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=120021

I have several vob files and I joined them using vobedit as described. They are:
VTS_01_1.VOB, VTS_01_2.VOB, VTS_01_3.VOB, and VTS_01_4.VOB.

Now when I use IFOedit, everything appears just fine and the DVD burns fine using Nero DVD burning ROM. However, the full DVD wont play. There is something wrong with the way the IFOs are created when using mutliple vobs.

Can anyone advise?
Thanks

[D-7]

I just did a little test and here is what I got:

If I just use 1 vob to create the IFOs I get 89 Chapters in my PGC_1. However, if I try to use all 4 vobs, I only get 18 chapters. Something is obviously wrong.

Would it help it I attach the IFO's or something?

Thanks.

[mats.hogberg]

IMO, the best way to join VOB files is vob2mpg. Then author the resulting mpg using any competent authoring app.

/Mats

[jimmalenko]

You're not having much luck with these guides .....



Your VOBs need to have the same attributes for this to work properly. Same number of audio streams and formats, same subtitles, same frame size and PAL/NTSC formats ..... the works.

You must rename your VOBs VTS_01_001.VOB, VTS_01_002.VOB ..... and so on for this to work properly. Once VOBEdit has successfully joined the files, then follow the instructions here:

http://members.dodo.net.au/~jimmalenko/test.htm#ifoedit

It is very important that you do the "Get VTS Sectors" step (it's actually very important that you do all steps, as written).

I wonder though whether you might be hitting the upper limit of 99 chapters per title ?

[Bjs]

Use "Get Vts Sector's" is number 1 when authoring with ifoedit ... if you dont , you now know why thing's are not working .

If there are difference's between clip's , this is the most difficult part as most authoring tool's do not allow the mixing , mostly associated with the video format .

The normal method is to re-encode all title's to a matching format which will take time ... or

========================

The way around this would be to :

1: Generate a new dvd using dvdauthorgui , add on small clip (both m2v and audio "ac3 prefered")
2: Creat a new menu that has enough button's related to each title .
3: Each of the button's is directed to a new menu for each title .
4: Each sub menu may require atleast 1 subtitle choice menu , and 1 multiple audio menu .
5: For now all button's related to playback are set to this dummy small title , all other buton's can be linked to return to menu 1 for now .
6: Author title .

7: Open pgcedit , and import all title's (preferebly in match to how they correspond to the new menu structure) ... COPY title's .

Ie , main has vob title 1 connected to button 1 , vob title 2 is connected to button 2 (at the moment) .
So you import title 1 first , title 2 next , and so on ... I have seen people screw this up before .

8: You now import your menu from the dvdauthorgui project output dvd .
9: Now proceed to delete all nav command's , every one of them .
10: Add the required nav command's in the correct order for menu's and title's to fuction correctly .

This take's time to figure out , but I have guide's with reference's to some nav command's to give you an idea as to how to proceed .

If title has multiple subtitle's , and audio , these "breakup" command's are placed in the title's nav area ... no where else .
This mean's that all known choice combo's are actually driven from the previous menu's .
(I have seen some completely messed up nav structure's before ... the idea is to keep them SIMPLE)

It's not hard once you know which is which and how too organize them ... just remember to save the dvd , playtest it , if all is ok , burn it .
If something isn't working correctly , re-enter pgcedit and check the command's to the area that mal-functioned .

Of course , to me , this is simple ... but not so for newbie's ... it take's less than a week or so to get somewhat comfortable when editing nav command's ... the more time you spend doing this , the easier it will come to you ...

=============================

Finally :

As these may have difference's related to format , multiple sub's , multiple audio , avoid using the "play all" feature ... otherwise your player could not only get lost in what it was doing , but you can make the player unstable and have issue's with playback .

I would also be carefull with audio type's ... in this situation , when a title end's , I would re-direct it to go back to main menu ... This also involve's setting up the post nav command's to kill off the particular audio and subtitle choice's ... some dvd player's do strange thing's , so it is better to add these as well .

By keeping navigational command's to a minimum ... your title should play as expected on any player without problem's ... the only issue's is not to forget the rule's , such as , use dvd-r only , 4x burn max , and keep dvd output below 4.3gig , as some player's have issue's reading non dvd-r media .

=============================

See ... simple isnt it .

[D-7]

Thanks guys!

I'll read through everything and post back what I find. I just wanted to make sure I said "thanks" for such nice and lengthy post!

As far as video formats (and stuff), as far as I know they are all the same. I'm recording my new puppies with an Sony DVD HandyCam i recently got (puppies and cam). As far as I know, the disc are all formated the same way (NTSC i assume because of the screen res and at 16:9 ). Other than that, I'm not sure what is going on.

I'll try the IFOedit another time, and zip up my IFOs for you to look at. Then i'll try the method Bjs suggested if that doesn't work out.

Cheers!

[Richard_G]

DVD Handycam........

That explains a lot

[D-7]

I wonder though whether you might be hitting the upper limit of 99 chapters per title ?

Actually, I believe so! If one VOB file alone has 89 chapters and I have 3 more VOBs left, I believe you are right.

Any work-around with IFOedit for that?

[jimmalenko]

I wonder though whether you might be hitting the upper limit of 99 chapters per title ?

Actually, I believe so! If one VOB file alone has 89 chapters and I have 3 more VOBs left, I believe you are right.

Any work-around with IFOedit for that?

Not really. That's a DVD specification and it needs to be followed. The only way to fix it is to remove some of the chapter stops, or alternatively let it make one title per VOB or something so that you don't go over the limit.