How can I do seamless branching for a Blu Ray project I am working on?

[jrodefeld]

Hello everyone,

I am working on a project right now to author a Blu Ray with custom menus, special features and so forth. However, for this particular film, there are three slightly different edits of the same film that have been released in various parts of the world.


Some prefer one version and others prefer a different version. They are mostly the same with very minor variations.


For completion sake, I would like to include all three in one project, but there is no way I could include them all on one disc without lowering the bitrate too low and negatively affecting picture quality.


That is why I was hoping there was a way I could use seamless branching to include the uncut version as the main source, and just a couple other small clips and branch to them rather than including three whole video files on the disc.


Is there any way to do this? I was using Encore but I understand that you cannot do seamless branching with Encore.


Is there any way to accomplish this? Why do so few authoring programs allow seamless branching?




I really appreciate the help.

[aedipuss]

to author a blu-ray with seamless branching i think scenarist is your best bet.

[jrodefeld]

to author a blu-ray with seamless branching i think scenarist is your best bet.

Thats the only way? Why can't companies make this feature available to consumers in other authoring software?


Could anyone else verify that Scenarist is the only way to produce branching Blu Rays?

[Kerry56]

The only way? No, you should be able to do this with Sony Blu-Print also. Its more expensive.

Do Studio seems to have been taken over by Sony: http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/dostudio

[jrodefeld]

The only way? No, you should be able to do this with Sony Blu-Print also. Its more expensive.

Do Studio seems to have been taken over by Sony: http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/dostudio

Okay. Let me modify my question. Why is it that only incredibly expensive, incredibly complex, professional authoring software can create branching Blu Rays? I don't understand what is so technically challenging about this.


It seems mind boggling that there is no software available for under $1000 that can do branching. I would even settle for under $5000 software.




What about this. The menus, and most aspects of my project have been designed to be used with Encore. I could probably modify them. But what about a hybrid approach of some sort?


Let's say I author a folder with Encore, and then modify the folder with BDedit or another reauthor program?


Could I make a title branch by editing the structure of the folder some way?




There has got to be some solution for this.

[minidv2dvd]

you can modify the playlists and do it yourself for free but unless you are a programmer it's not gonna be easy to figure out what needs to be changed.

[jrodefeld]

you can modify the playlists and do it yourself for free but unless you are a programmer it's not gonna be easy to figure out what needs to be changed.

Are there any tutorials explaining what to modify? I'm sure I'm not the first person to want to create a seamless branching Blu Ray without $50000 software.

[minidv2dvd]

you are on your own there. i'd do the disc in parts. main movie and different endings. then a menu that connects them. may not be "seamless" but sure is painless.