multitrack xml? please help!

[behoovedgirl]

there's something screwey about my xml...
i created it with vcdimager, but had to add in the playlist from another sample xml, because everything was lumped onto 1 track.

it created 2 tracks, which i want, but somehow seems to have lumped my 2 mpegs onto the same track both times, instead of 1 per track.

what have i done wrong? here's the xml:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE videocd PUBLIC "-//GNU//DTD VideoCD//EN" "http://www.gnu.org/software/vcdimager/videocd.dtd">

<videocd xmlns="http://www.gnu.org/software/vcdimager/1.0/" class="svcd" version="1.0">
  <info>
    <album-id></album-id>
    <volume-count>1</volume-count>
    <volume-number>1</volume-number>
    <restriction>0</restriction>
  </info>
  <pvd>
    <volume-id>maybe</volume-id>
    <system-id>CD-RTOS CD-BRIDGE</system-id>
    <application-id></application-id>
    <preparer-id>GNU VCDIMAGER 0.7.10 DARWIN1.3.7/POWERPC</preparer-id>
    <publisher-id></publisher-id>
  </pvd>
  <sequence-items>
    <sequence-item src="/Users/cheryl/Movies/mpegtools/avseq01.mpg" id="sequence-00">
      <default-entry id="entry-000"/>
    </sequence-item>
    <sequence-item src="/Users/cheryl/Movies/mpegtools/avseq02.mpg" id="sequence-01">
      <default-entry id="entry-001"/>
    </sequence-item>
  </sequence-items>
<pbc>
    <playlist id="lid-000">
      <next ref="lid-001"/>
      <return ref="lid-end"/>
      <wait>5</wait>
      <autowait>0</autowait>
      <play-item ref="sequence-00"/>
    </playlist>
    <playlist id="lid-001">
      <prev ref="lid-000"/>
      <next ref="lid-end"/>
      <return ref="lid-end"/>
      <wait>5</wait>
      <autowait>0</autowait>
      <play-item ref="sequence-01"/>
    </playlist>
    <endlist id="lid-end" rejected="true"/>
  </pbc>
</videocd>

btw i used this to create a .bin image and burned that to create the SVCD.

thanks in advance to anyone who can help me! =)

[kinneera]

Your XML seems to be OK, so maybe I'm not understanding what behavior you're expecting (or seeing). You're saying you want two separate tracks, and not a single one with entrypoints? Are you saying it plays both MPEGs on each track (for a total of 4 different sequences)? Just trying to better understand the problem, since it looks like it's set up to create two separate tracks and play through them in order.

[behoovedgirl]

Are you saying it plays both MPEGs on each track (for a total of 4 different sequences)?

yup, that's what it's doing. it makes no sense to me either. is there another method to set up the xml playlist that i could try?

[kinneera]

It doesn't seem like it should be causing the problem, but you might try removing the default entry line from the sequence definitions. You're not using entrypoints, so they don't need to be there.

Also, might seem like a stupid question, but avseq01 and avseq02 don't each contain both video sequences, do they?

[behoovedgirl]

there's no doubt the mpegs are each their own file, i watched them on my computer to make sure.

i tried removing these from the code, as you said:

<default-entry id="entry-000"/>
</sequence-item>

<default-entry id="entry-001"/>
* * </sequence-item>

then i also had to add a slash at the end of this to complete the tag:

id="sequence-01"/>

but now it wont even play at all. "SVCD" comes up on my tv screen, and it tries to play, but it just stops. this happens most of the time with all the other svcd methods i've tried, so i'm thinking maybe it's my dvd player. even though it says on the front it plays svcd's which is weird.

thanks for your help though. :)

[kinneera]

i tried removing these from the code, as you said:

<default-entry id="entry-000"/>
</sequence-item>

Whoops - I meant remove only this line: <default-entry id="entry-000"/> . Leave the </sequence-item> in!

[behoovedgirl]

oh oops.. well i just tried that as well, and produced the same dissapointing results as i described above. :(

for some reason my dvd player has no problem reliably playing an svcd when there is no playlist in the xml, and all the sequences are lumped onto one large track. but when i add the playlist.. it either produces double-sequenced tracks, or just refuses to read the disc altogether. are there any alternative ways of coding a playlist different to the one i have above?

thanks again for all your help!

[kinneera]

OK, so for kicks I tried creating a similar disc structure in another authoring tool (TSCV) which has always worked just fine for me, and I got this:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE videocd PUBLIC "-//GNU//DTD VideoCD//EN" "http://www.gnu.org/software/vcdimager/videocd.dtd">
<videocd xmlns="http://www.gnu.org/software/vcdimager/1.0/" class="svcd" version="1.0">
  <info>
    <album-id></album-id>
    <volume-count>1</volume-count>
    <volume-number>1</volume-number>
    <restriction>0</restriction>
  </info>
  <pvd>
    <volume-id>NEW</volume-id>
    <system-id>CD-RTOS CD-BRIDGE</system-id>
    <application-id></application-id>
    <preparer-id>vcdxbuild (GNU VCDImager) 0.7.11</preparer-id>
    <publisher-id>TSCV082R2</publisher-id>
  </pvd>
  <filesystem>
    <folder>
      <name>SEGMENT</name>
    </folder>
  </filesystem>
  <sequence-items>
    <sequence-item src="[Path to your first MPEG here]" id="sequence-1">
      <default-entry id="entry1-0"/>
    </sequence-item>
    <sequence-item src="[Path to your second MPEG here]" id="sequence-2">
      <default-entry id="entry2-0"/>
    </sequence-item>
  </sequence-items>
  <pbc>
    <selection id="selection-m1-0">
      <bsn>1</bsn>
      <prev ref="endlist"/>
      <next ref="selection-m2-0"/>
      <return ref="endlist"/>
      <timeout ref="endlist"/>
      <wait>1</wait>
      <loop jump-timing="immediate">1</loop>
      <play-item ref="sequence-1"/>
      <select ref="selection-m1-0"/>
    </selection>
    <selection id="selection-m2-0">
      <bsn>1</bsn>
      <prev ref="selection-m1-0"/>
      <next ref="endlist"/>
      <return ref="endlist"/>
      <timeout ref="endlist"/>
      <wait>1</wait>
      <loop jump-timing="immediate">1</loop>
      <play-item ref="sequence-2"/>
      <select ref="selection-m2-0"/>
    </selection>
    <endlist id="endlist"/>
  </pbc>
</videocd>

Also, is there a particular reason you don't wish to use a single track with entrypoints, if it seems to work in your DVD player? (What brand/model is your DVD player, incidentally?)

[behoovedgirl]

cool, thanks for that.. i will give a try. :)

ideally i'd like to be able to put several different mpeg clips onto an svcd, and be able to jump between each using the track controls, instead of having to fastforward/rewind to where i want to be. what exactly are entrypoints? i'm a newbie at xml authoring.

and i'm using a Sampo DVE-611 DVD/SVCD/VCD/MP3/CD player.

[behoovedgirl]

eep! well i tried the xml file you gave me.. and i got a long string of errrors. :-? i'm not sure sure what any of this means, but it doesn't look good:

[localhost:MissingMpegTools_0.8.1.app/Contents/Resources] cheryl% ./vcdxbuild -c videocd.cue /Users/cheryl/Movies/mpegtools/test.xml
/Users/cheryl/Movies/mpegtools/test.xml:3: validity error: Element info content doesn't follow the Dtd
Expecting (album-id? , volume-count? , volume-number? , next-volume-use-sequence2? , next-volume-use-lid2? , restriction? , start-time-offset*), got (CDATA album-id CDATA volume-count CDATA volume-number CDATA restriction CDATA)
Ê </info> 
          ^
/Users/cheryl/Movies/mpegtools/test.xml:3: validity error: Element pvd content doesn't follow the Dtd
Expecting (volume-id? , system-id? , application-id? , preparer-id? , publisher-id?), got (CDATA volume-id CDATA system-id CDATA application-id CDATA preparer-id CDATA publisher-id CDATA)
Ê </pvd> 
         ^
/Users/cheryl/Movies/mpegtools/test.xml:3: validity error: Element folder content doesn't follow the Dtd
Expecting (name , folder* , file*), got (CDATA name CDATA)
Ê Ê </folder> 
               ^
/Users/cheryl/Movies/mpegtools/test.xml:3: validity error: Element filesystem content doesn't follow the Dtd
Expecting (folder* , file*), got (CDATA folder CDATA)
Ê </filesystem> 
                ^
/Users/cheryl/Movies/mpegtools/test.xml:3: validity error: Element sequence-item content doesn't follow the Dtd
Expecting (default-entry? , entry* , auto-pause*), got (CDATA default-entry CDATA)
Ê Ê </sequence-item> 
                      ^
/Users/cheryl/Movies/mpegtools/test.xml:3: validity error: Element sequence-item content doesn't follow the Dtd
Expecting (default-entry? , entry* , auto-pause*), got (CDATA default-entry CDATA)
Ê Ê </sequence-item> 
                      ^
/Users/cheryl/Movies/mpegtools/test.xml:3: validity error: Element sequence-items content doesn't follow the Dtd
Expecting (sequence-item)+, got (CDATA sequence-item CDATA sequence-item CDATA)
Ê </sequence-items> 
                    ^
/Users/cheryl/Movies/mpegtools/test.xml:3: validity error: Element selection content doesn't follow the Dtd
Expecting (bsn? , prev? , next? , return? , (multi-default | default)? , timeout? , wait? , loop? , play-item? , select*), got (CDATA bsn CDATA prev CDATA next CDATA return CDATA timeout CDATA wait CDATA loop CDATA play-item CDATA select CDATA)
Ê Ê </selection> 
                  ^
/Users/cheryl/Movies/mpegtools/test.xml:3: validity error: Element selection content doesn't follow the Dtd
Expecting (bsn? , prev? , next? , return? , (multi-default | default)? , timeout? , wait? , loop? , play-item? , select*), got (CDATA bsn CDATA prev CDATA next CDATA return CDATA timeout CDATA wait CDATA loop CDATA play-item CDATA select CDATA)
Ê Ê </selection> 
                  ^
/Users/cheryl/Movies/mpegtools/test.xml:3: validity error: Element pbc content doesn't follow the Dtd
Expecting (selection | playlist | endlist)+, got (CDATA selection CDATA selection CDATA endlist CDATA)
Ê </pbc> 
         ^
/Users/cheryl/Movies/mpegtools/test.xml:4: validity error: Element videocd content doesn't follow the Dtd
Expecting (option* , info , pvd , filesystem? , segment-items? , sequence-items , pbc?), got (CDATA info CDATA pvd CDATA filesystem CDATA sequence-items CDATA pbc)
</videocd> 
          ^
**ERROR: parsing file `/Users/cheryl/Movies/mpegtools/test.xml' failed

[kinneera]

Ouch! Did you use VCDxBuild under Tools in VCDEasy?

Back to your other question - entrypoints allow you to create one single track on the disc that you can start playing from arbitrary locations (similar to DVD chaptering, with a few limitations). It will also allow you to jump from track to track with the prev/next buttons. One of the major advantages is that this allows for seamless playback (no pause between chapter changes). Basically, you would merge your MPEGs, and set entrypoints at the merge points (or wherever you want chapters).

[behoovedgirl]

i used a unix version of vcdxbuild under a graphical front-end called missingmpegtools. i'm on a mac, by the way... which is why i'm having to suffer through this manual method rather than having a program like nero do everything for me. i do have vcdeasy under virtual PC though, perhaps i could try making a .bin image from your xml with that instead.

that entrypoint concept sounds nice. it doesn't require the playlist section of the xml, right? how would i tweak the original xml file i posted to result in the entrypoint method you described?

i really appreciate you sticking with me on this, i'm getting so close now...

[kinneera]

Hmmm, a unix-based OS always makes things more interesting. In that case, the simplest way to build the example XML I sent you is probably to simply to run vcdxbuild in a command window: "vcdxbuild -test.xml".

I'll have to get back to you in a bit about the entrypoints, I want to make sure I don't give you buggy example code and I haven't built an XML description manually for awhile.

Also, is it safe to assume you're using CDRDAO for burning?

[behoovedgirl]

you're so awesome to put so much time into helping me out with this. :)

i tried to run the xml you gave me under the tools section of vcdeasy in virtual PC, and it generated the same set of errors. the errors i copied and pasted before actually were from the command line window (the gui-frontend i'm using opens a terminal window and does everything in there).

i've been using toast titanium to burn my svcd images so far. probably the crappiest cd burning software in the world, but really the only choice on a mac. :( i did try cdrdao at one point, but couldn't figure out how to set up the driver for it to recognize my internal cd rom. i didn't have enough unix knowledge to troubleshoot it, so i just gave up.

sorry i'm such a pest. :p i really appreciate all the work you've put into helping me thus far! no rush on that xml file, but if you do end up getting around to making it, it's probably my last hope. :)

[kinneera]

OK, so since the XML example I posted runs through vcdxbuild on my machine without errors, I began to suspect maybe there's a transmission problem. I noticed that copying and pasting out of the forum leaves some type of extra character at the end of lines - bad sign number one. It also occurred to me that unix uses a different line termination character sequence than windows - bad sign number two. Neither of these problems are your fault. So what I decided to do was write the example xml scripts. Then I verified they work and exported them to unix-formatted files. I am then going to e-mail them to you to eliminate the possibility of some type of corruption resulting from posting them in the forum, right after I post this message. We'll see how that works and take it from there.

Switching gears again, CDRDAO wasn't able to use the default driver to talk to your burner? (The reason I'm asking about CDRDAO is because I know that it handles bin/cue files correctly. It was also originally written for unix).