a DVD that will autostart a .ppt in pc and play a DVD in a set-top player

[GarrettChristopherso]

Is anybody aware of software that will allow a user to create a DVD that will autoplay a powerpoint presentation when placed in a pc with windows 98 or newer operating system and also play another video work, prepared in a standard DVD format in a DVD player (as long as disc formating is correct)? Just to be clear, I would like there to be two different media forms on the DVD. I know that this is possible with VCD Easy (creating CDs), but I was wondering if there was any software that can do the same thing with DVDs.

I appreciate any help that can be offered.

[Richard_G]

Create your DVD as normal with the VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders and everything in it's usual place. That will deal with the DVD player side of things. For the computer to run a powerpoint presentation, put it in the root directory of the disc with an autorun.inf file to point to the powerpoint presentation.

[GarrettChristopherso]

Ok thanks, I have another question though, which software allows easy access to the root directory of the disc? right know I am using Roxio's drag to disc which doesn't have the functionality needed. I need something that will allow me to create a file for the DVD project, and then allow me to include the editing to the root directory, then burn both of the file sets to a disc.

So, does the dvd player read everything on the disc and then only allows something that is formatted correctly to play? The drive on the computer might only read the what is first, find the autorun.inf file and run that before scanning the rest of the disc? Well, I know that when I place a dvd into my computer, it runs automatically - starting in the default program. So is there only one autorun.inf per disc? Or, can there be two autorun.inf and the computer only pays attention to the first one?

[Richard_G]

I can't help with Roxio software, I tried it when I got a copy bundled with my first DVD writer and found it as diabolical as everyone else on here says it is and have never used it since.

You need to use a burning application that allows you to put the DVD files in the VIDEO_TS folder and the others in the root. Presumably Roxio is a DVD burning app only and creates the files in the relevant folder without allowing any control over what is actually being burnt. Can it allow you to create a disc image on the hard drive? If it can, you can add the other files and then use something else to do the actual burn.

There is no autorun.inf file on a DVD disc, just the .ifo files in the VIDEO_TS folder. This is recognised by both a DVD player and computer as being a DVD and doing whatever it has been told to do with it. If an autorun.inf file is on the disc, this SHOULD take priority and that will be run before it looks at the other folders on the disc.

[Cornucopia]

I'll try to clear up a few misconceptions:

Since ALL dvd's are data discs, they'll all be read similarly on a computer (via the filesystem/s), with or without an AUTORUN.INF.

Since settop DVD players look at the VIDEO_TS folder only, as long as your disc, filesystem, and VOB/IFO structures are compliant, that's all you need to worry about for DVD playback (on settops).

Here's an excerpt of Autorun info that I recently sent to a client:

Believe it or not, adding autorun to a CD can be as easy as 2 lines in a
text file:


[autorun]
open=mydocument.xxx


If you have this file (which MUST be called "autorun.inf"--no ".txt" in this
case) placed in the root of the CD (not in a folder), it will automatically
open the file "mydocument.xxx" in the DEFAULT application for that document
type.

So, for example, if your document was "presentation.ppt", it would open
up that file in either PowerPoint or PowerPoint reader/player (depending
upon which was installed on that computer). Even better, if you renamed your
file from "*.ppt" to "*.pps" (which you can actually do), your presentation
will automatically go into [PLAY] mode (instead of [EDIT] mode).


However (you knew there had to be something...),
this feature ONLY works with PC's that have Windows2000 or newer (XP, Vista,
etc) installed. It will not work with Windows95, 98, 98SE, ME, or NT4.

In those machines, an older specification of autorun is in force that
REQUIRES the "open" line refer specifically to an application program
(*.exe, *.com, *.bat) that will be doing the opening/reading/playing. You
can then add a second filename after that to specify your presentation, etc
(the "object" of the program's work).

This all becomes a problem when you think that people may or may not have
certain programs installed on their computer, etc. A good way around that is
one I often use: specifying a general-purpose autorun program that is smart
enough to know when it's needed, etc.
Specifically, I use a program called "WinOpen". You can find it here:
http://www.duckware.com/winopen/index.html

This site also goes into detail about the various options that can be used
to customize the autorunning. Most of the ones mentioned are specific to the
WinOpen program, there are others that are general to all autorun features.
These can be found on Microsoft's site.


A couple of point's to mention:

Macs prior to OSX had a similar autorun capability built into QuickTime,
which was mainly ignored/overridden (due to it's vulnerability to viruses).
Newer Macs (OSX 10.0 and up) DON'T feature autorun at all.
PCs can also be reconfigured to not allow autorun at all (but that's not the
default).
PCs can temporarily ignore autorun if one holds down the [SHIFT] key while
inserting a disc.
So, no matter what, autorun CAN'T be universal. That's why I refrain from
recommending it anymore. Newer PC computers (XP and up) have a feature that
is specific to removable discs of all types that automatically reads them
and gives options of the different things one can do with the contents
available (watch movie, play music, view photos, open folder...). This makes
autorun somewhat superfluous.

Anyway, this will give you a good synopsis of how you want to go about
deciding whether or not to make use of autorun and how to configure it.

You have the compounded problem of possibly resident DVDplayer apps on a PC, which will usurp the autorunning, because it's constantly looking for DVD (and maybe VCD or AudioCD) material on any discs inserted.
Plus, XP PCs and newer have the "RemovableDiscAutoPlayDetermination" feature.
Betwen these 3 possibly SIMULTANEOUSLY running apps that are all vying for control of the DVD material, you could have a major freeze/crash on your hands.
Therefore, I STRONGLY recommend that you don't add autorun, unless you know who the disc audience is and that they DON'T have these OTHER features running.
You can still put the file on the disc, you just have to find and doubleclick it yourself.

Putting the file on the disc is as easy as creating/dragging an additional file and folder on the "compilation" window of your burning app.
If you've got Roxio Drag2CD, you ought to also have "Creator Classic". Make your DVD in there (though I'm not sure how compliant it is re: DVD-Video specs). Make sure it's using UDF1.02 filesystem, and isn't set for multisession (they call it "Read-Only". Duh).
However, I'd recommend you skip Roxio and use something like ImageBurn. It's well known here to provide compliant DVD's AND allow adding extra files AND create Closed/UDF/SingleSession/DAO discs. Hard to go wrong there.

Good luck,

Scott

[GarrettChristopherso]

Thank you Richard_G and Cornucopia for your posts. I appreciate your help!