Chapters in Windows-Compatible Video File

[fpdave]

For a software demo video project that I'm preparing, I've been asked to create a video file that will reliably offer a chapter menu for playback in Windows computers.

My research indicates that several formats and players support chapters, but I haven't found a clear method of actually accomplishing this.

I'm planning on editing the project in Adobe Premiere Elements, but I'm open to any sub-$200 editor. It's also fine if I need a separate app to do the chapterizing.

Aside from the creation method, is it even possible to automatically load chapters when the (whatever) player starts up after double-clicking?

Thanks for any help.

[Baldrick]

You can add chapters to mp4 or mkv but you wont see any chapters in windows media player. You need a player like vlc to access the chapters under playback and chapters.

Or do you want to create a chapter menu like in a dvd menu?

[hello_hello]

I don't know about every software player, but support for MKV chapters seems fairly common. MPC-HC, for example:



VLC also supports chapters in MKVs.
I don't work with MP4 files much but MP4 supports chapters in a similar manner. I've never had a need to create and add chapters to an MP4.

An MKV chapter file isn't anything complicated. It can be a text file something like this:

CHAPTER01=00:00:00.000
CHAPTER01NAME=Chapter one
CHAPTER02=00:10:29.216
CHAPTER02NAME=The next chapter
CHAPTER03=00:14:29.520
CHAPTER03NAME=Another chapter
CHAPTER04=00:19:44.000
CHAPTER04NAME=Chapter four
CHAPTER05=00:25:43.735
CHAPTER05NAME=One more chapter


The chapter file can be "muxed" into an MKV with a program such as MKVMergeGUI. It has a section for adding chapters under the Global tab. MKVMergeGUI has it's own chapter creator although I've not used it myself. There's also programs which can extract existing chapters from DVD/Bluray.

I have no idea if Windows Media Player supports chapters. I never use it. Although thinking about it, you'd probably need to install the Haali media splitter in order to play MKVs with Windows Media Player, and when the Haali icon pops up while playing an MKV, it can be clicked on to provide a list of chapters and should allow you to navigate that way. It'd probably also allow you to access MP4 chapters the same way if you're using Windows Media Player.



The pics used for examples above didn't have chapters with "names" as the sample text file does, which is why there's no names appearing in the chapter list. Without names, just the chapter timecodes are displayed.

[ndjamena]

MP4Box (Apple/.ttxt Chapters):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<!-- GPAC 3GPP Text Stream -->
<TextStream version="1.1">
<TextStreamHeader width="480" height="368" layer="0" translation_x="0" translation_y="0">
<TextSampleDescription horizontalJustification="center" verticalJustification="bottom" backColor="0 0 0 0" verticalText="no" fillTextRegion="no" continuousKaraoke="no" scroll="None">
<FontTable>
<FontTableEntry fontName="Arial" fontID="1"/>
</FontTable>
<TextBox top="0" left="0" bottom="368" right="480"/>
<Style styles="Normal" fontID="1" fontSize="32" color="ff ff ff ff"/>
</TextSampleDescription>
</TextStreamHeader>
<TextSample sampleTime="00:00:00.000">Genesis of the Daleks, Episode Five</TextSample>
<TextSample sampleTime="00:04:25.840">A Virus</TextSample>
<TextSample sampleTime="00:09:51.600">Revolution</TextSample>
<TextSample sampleTime="00:15:33.000">Genocide</TextSample>
<TextSample sampleTime="00:18:50.640">The Incubation Chamber</TextSample>
<TextSample sampleTime="00:22:22.880">Credits</TextSample>
<TextSample sampleTime="00:23:31.000" text = ""></TextSample>
</TextStream>

MP4Box (OGG/Nero Chapters), MKVTOOLNIX (OGG Chapters)

CHAPTER01=00:00:00.000
CHAPTER01NAME=Genesis of the Daleks, Episode Five
CHAPTER02=00:04:25.840
CHAPTER02NAME=A Virus
CHAPTER03=00:09:51.600
CHAPTER03NAME=Revolution
CHAPTER04=00:15:33.000
CHAPTER04NAME=Genocide
CHAPTER05=00:18:50.640
CHAPTER05NAME=The Incubation Chamber
CHAPTER06=00:22:22.880
CHAPTER06NAME=Credits

MKVTOOLNIX (xml chapters):

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<!-- <!DOCTYPE Chapters SYSTEM "matroskachapters.dtd"> -->

<Chapters>

  <EditionEntry>

    <EditionFlagDefault>1</EditionFlagDefault>

    <EditionUID>2528212991325365314</EditionUID>

    <EditionFlagHidden>0</EditionFlagHidden>

    <ChapterAtom>

      <ChapterUID>2149667045356269636</ChapterUID>

      <ChapterTimeStart>00:00:00.000000000</ChapterTimeStart>

      <ChapterTimeEnd>00:04:25.840000000</ChapterTimeEnd>

      <ChapterFlagHidden>0</ChapterFlagHidden>

      <ChapterFlagEnabled>1</ChapterFlagEnabled>

      <ChapterDisplay>

        <ChapterString>Genesis of the Daleks, Episode Five</ChapterString>

        <ChapterLanguage>eng</ChapterLanguage>

      </ChapterDisplay>

    </ChapterAtom>

    <ChapterAtom>

      <ChapterUID>17625766951139430599</ChapterUID>

      <ChapterTimeStart>00:04:25.840000000</ChapterTimeStart>

      <ChapterTimeEnd>00:09:51.600000000</ChapterTimeEnd>

      <ChapterFlagHidden>0</ChapterFlagHidden>

      <ChapterFlagEnabled>1</ChapterFlagEnabled>

      <ChapterDisplay>

        <ChapterString>A Virus</ChapterString>

        <ChapterLanguage>eng</ChapterLanguage>

      </ChapterDisplay>

    </ChapterAtom>

    <ChapterAtom>

      <ChapterUID>18178648756594595210</ChapterUID>

      <ChapterTimeStart>00:09:51.600000000</ChapterTimeStart>

      <ChapterTimeEnd>00:15:33.000000000</ChapterTimeEnd>

      <ChapterFlagHidden>0</ChapterFlagHidden>

      <ChapterFlagEnabled>1</ChapterFlagEnabled>

      <ChapterDisplay>

        <ChapterString>Revolution</ChapterString>

        <ChapterLanguage>eng</ChapterLanguage>

      </ChapterDisplay>

    </ChapterAtom>

    <ChapterAtom>

      <ChapterUID>9144860596800975552</ChapterUID>

      <ChapterTimeStart>00:15:33.000000000</ChapterTimeStart>

      <ChapterTimeEnd>00:18:50.640000000</ChapterTimeEnd>

      <ChapterFlagHidden>0</ChapterFlagHidden>

      <ChapterFlagEnabled>1</ChapterFlagEnabled>

      <ChapterDisplay>

        <ChapterString>Genocide</ChapterString>

        <ChapterLanguage>eng</ChapterLanguage>

      </ChapterDisplay>

    </ChapterAtom>

    <ChapterAtom>

      <ChapterUID>7550932843978132960</ChapterUID>

      <ChapterTimeStart>00:18:50.640000000</ChapterTimeStart>

      <ChapterTimeEnd>00:22:22.880000000</ChapterTimeEnd>

      <ChapterFlagHidden>0</ChapterFlagHidden>

      <ChapterFlagEnabled>1</ChapterFlagEnabled>

      <ChapterDisplay>

        <ChapterString>The Incubation Chamber</ChapterString>

        <ChapterLanguage>eng</ChapterLanguage>

      </ChapterDisplay>

    </ChapterAtom>

    <ChapterAtom>

      <ChapterUID>9847495469640570137</ChapterUID>

      <ChapterTimeStart>00:22:22.880000000</ChapterTimeStart>

      <ChapterTimeEnd>00:23:31.000000000</ChapterTimeEnd>

      <ChapterFlagHidden>0</ChapterFlagHidden>

      <ChapterFlagEnabled>1</ChapterFlagEnabled>

      <ChapterDisplay>

        <ChapterString>Credits</ChapterString>

        <ChapterLanguage>eng</ChapterLanguage>

      </ChapterDisplay>

    </ChapterAtom>

  </EditionEntry>

</Chapters>

Decide between MKV or MP4 and we can tell you how to add them to the file.

[hello_hello]

<TextSample sampleTime="00:00:00.000">Genesis of the Daleks, Episode Five</TextSample>

Tom Baker is still my favourite Doctor.

[ndjamena]

Sorry, but 'the enemy of the world' didn't come with proper chapter names!

I should have used 'the tomb of the cyber men' but now that I have no internet, it's too late to change my mind.