Seamless Branching

[koberulz]

I'm trying to author a Blu-Ray using seamless branching, but it seems I can only branch into a clip from one other clip. Which is fine for alternate endings, but not what I want to do.

I've got a Blu-Ray of The Town, which uses seamless branching to insert deleted scenes, which seems like it'd be the same process I'm trying to use...is this just a problem with the software I'm using (DoStudio), or is there a trick to it?

Basically, I've got a sporting event with two commentary tracks that don't line up except for during the game. So my thought was to create separate pre-game, quarter-time, half-time, three-quarter-time, and post-game clips for each track, and then use seamless branching to have each of the four quarters with only one video clip each.

So I was planning on two sequences:
PreGame1 -> First Quarter -> QuarterTime1 -> Second Quarter -> HalfTime1 -> Third Quarter -> 3QuarterTime1 -> FourthQuarter -> PostGame1

PreGame2 -> First Quarter -> QuarterTime2 -> Second Quarter -> HalfTime2 -> Third Quarter -> 3QuarterTime2 -> FourthQuarter -> PostGame2

But I can't do this, I can only have the post-game clips separate because I can't go back into the game via seamless branching.

Is there a method of pulling this off?

[pandy]

Not sure if this help you a bit but I believe for any seamless sequence a closed GOP is absolute must.

[koberulz]

I can link any of the segments together perfectly fine, I just can't have any segment link in from multiple segments. I can only link out to multiple segments. So I could create an alternate post-game just fine, but the other pieces don't work.

I'm just not sure if this is some weird limitation of the Blu-Ray spec, or a DoStudio quirk, or what. And how, if it's a Blu-Ray thing, it can be worked around because it obviously has been for things like that The Town disc I mentioned in the OP.

[Arnold_Layne]

I'm not expert, but just thinking out loud here:

Does each clip have one or two audio streams? If the main footage has two audio streams, and the footage you are trying to branch to only has one, that may be what's causing the issue. I would think for seamless branching the video and audio streams must be of the same type and quantity.

[JVRaines]

Is this the problem?

"The connection between two segments can be seamless in only one playlist in your project." (DoStudio Authoring manual p. 15)

Seems like a rather arbitrary limitation from a logical point of view. Perhaps it stems from a restriction in the Blu-ray spec.

[koberulz]

Thing is, if you can only make them seamless in one playlist why not make them both part of the same segment and not bother with seamless branching? That just defeats the purpose.

Reading that, you'd think it only limits identical seamless connections, but it seems to apply branching into anything twice.

[Arnold_Layne]

Might have to use Blu-Print instead. Seems it's Sony's fully functional professional version that allows all aspects of BD authoring.