Episodic DVD + menus Authoring

[Instant Martian]

Ok, I've made a re-think of the dvd structure.
The Main Menu will remain the same: two buttons 1) Play (plays Ep01 preview -> Opening -> Ep01 -> Ep02 preview -> Ep 02 -> Ep.03 Preview -> ... -> Ending -> Ep.07 preview -> Outro i.e. only ONE opening at the beginning and ONE ending at the end) 2) Episodes (loads the first of the two episode menus)
I've changed the episode menus like this:



The "Menu" button returns to the main menu, the "4-6" button loads the second episode menu, each Episode x button will play Opening -> Episode x -> Ending -> Episode x+1 preview.

Can this be done in GUIForDVDAuthor?

[borax]

Yes, that's more or less the suggested structure from here:
https://forum.videohelp.com/topic366153.html#1953847
Keep in mind that still one big file is necessary with exactly these clips joint together (everything except the intro):
Ep01 preview -> Opening -> Ep01 -> Ep02 preview -> Ep 02 -> Ep.03 Preview -> ... -> Ending -> Ep.07 preview -> Outro
Join as described here: https://forum.videohelp.com/topic366153.html#1954177
The 'Play' will just play exactly this big movie file. To select the episodes, you need chapters for Opening, Ending and each EpXX + EpXX preview (you may have even more chapters, but this is the 'minimum'). These chapters are put into playlists where each playlist contains:

Opening
Episode x
Ending
Episode x+1 preview

To create the menu structure, add the big file on the main menu and add a submenu (results in two buttons for the main menu). On the submenu add a second submenu and the first 3 playlists. On the second submenu add the remaining 3 playlists and an additional button to go back to the main menu directly.

[Instant Martian]

Yes, that's more or less the suggested structure from here:
https://forum.videohelp.com/topic366153.html#1953847

I just wanted to be sure

I'm going to try the joining and see if I'm able to figure out.

[borax]

The only problem could be that mpeg2schnitt/cuttermaran cannot join the clips properly. I would be 100% sure that there are no problems about it, if the clips were real PAL (as I have already joined hundreds of clips with them), but I've never tried converted material (with pulldown flags).

[Instant Martian]

I am not so comfortable with mpeg2schnitt so I joined the .m2v files with Avidemux wich I had already on my pc.
It seems to have worked and generated a 3.60 GB m2v file.
Now I am not able to figure how to join the mp2 audio tracks.
I tried with mpeg2schnitt but I didn't understand how to output the file.

[borax]

Why not join the audio files also with Avidemux?

I tried with mpeg2schnitt but I didn't understand how to output the file.

Try cuttermaran. There is an English documentation:
http://wiki.cuttermaran.net/

[Instant Martian]

Why not join the audio files also with Avidemux?

Because it gives me an error saying "Couldn't open the file".
I'll try Cuttemaran.

[Instant Martian]

No way.
Cuttermaran lets me load the first four episodes audio tracks but as soon as I open the fifth track it freezes at 80%.
Btw, the jap audio volume is a bit higher than the italian one. Is there a way to fix that?

[borax]

Is there a way to fix that?
Yes. With any decent audio editing/converting application. You can try it with audacity, besweet / belight, goldwave... Probably you will have to do it in a 'wav step' in between. You can also try delaycut, but I don't know, if it can do volume changes (like normalize).

[guns1inger]

If you use the latest beta version of Audacity, and install the ffmpeg plugin for it, you can import and export AC3 directly, I believe.

[Instant Martian]

What is the workflow in order to lower the jap volume (or make the ita volume higher, I don't know which is best) so that the two volumes match?

[Instant Martian]

One more question:
starting from AC3 192Kbps 48KHz 2ch (japanese) and MP3 160 Kbps 44.1KHz 2ch (italian) to end with mp2 files (for both jap and ita) what would be the most suitable bitrate settings to lose as little quality as possible?

[borax]

I would keep the AC3 192Kbps 48KHz 2ch (japanese) as it is and just convert the MP3 160 Kbps 44.1KHz 2ch (italian) to the same type and bitrate (AC3 192Kbps 48KHz 2ch)
HowTo:
Load the MP3 file in Audacity.
Set the Audacity Project Rate (lower left corner of the audacity window) to 48000Hz.
Use Effects-Normalize to set the max. volume.
Export as AC3 (set bitrate to 192kbps in the export options).
If necessary, do the same for the japanese track (if the volumes are still to different). If you still cannot get an equal volume, use the Amplify effect on one of the files to set a lower or higher volume manually.

[AlanHK]

One more question:
starting from AC3 192Kbps 48KHz 2ch (japanese) and MP3 160 Kbps 44.1KHz 2ch (italian) to end with mp2 files (for both jap and ita) what would be the most suitable bitrate settings to lose as little quality as possible?

No need to change the Japanese track as AC3 is already DVD compatible, so no quality loss.

Since you have to convert the Italian (as MP3 isn't DVD compatible), edit that to adjust volume and convert to AC3 (eg, in Audacity as Borax's post).

No point in using bitrate higher than 160, as that's the input. Won't hurt to use 192, except files will be 20% larger, but won't sound any better. (I do most TV episode DVDs at 128 kb AC3, saving bits to maximise video quality.)

[borax]

...No point in using bitrate higher than 160, as that's the input.
Yes. But mixing two different bitrates is only possible if these are put into two different titlesets. So if space matters, use 128 kb AC3 for both, or use 192Kbps for both (or lets say for all your audio files which should be joined into the big file). If all your other audio files are mp2 already, it may be better to convert also the Japanese track to mp2 (with Audacity/ffmpeg you can also export as mp2).
But either way: The type (mp2 or ac3), bitrate (128, 160 or 192 kbps) and the number of channels (probably 2 channel stereo) needs to be the same for all audio files which should be joined together.

[Instant Martian]

After several days of work I have managed to author this dvd, more or less the way I wanted.
Some trouble to fit the files on the disc. Is there a way to avoid the trial-and-error process? I used VideoCalc but had to re-encode anyway.
Now I'm gonna to test the dvd-rw and, if all is fine, burn on the blank disc.

[borax]

...Is there a way to avoid the trial-and-error process?
More or less yes. But a 100% correct 'guess' is very complex and time consuming to calculate. My personnel 'formula' (which is also used by GfD):
For simple still menus: 1MB each
For animated menus: 25 MB per minute
Movies: Totalsize_in_MB = Videosize_in_MB + Audiosize_in_MB + (VideoDuration_in_seconds * 0.011)

[lordsmurf]

DVDWS2 can make playlists, I do it all the time. Much easier than DVD-Lab too.

[Instant Martian]

It's ok so I've burned to final disc.
I want to thank all who have posted and helped with their time and knowledge.