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  1. Hello, I'm spending hours and hours trying to look for the right software to do what I want, fully customizable DVD menus for multilingual videos, and I can't seem to find one to do exactly what I want:

    - Fully customizable menus using video (and image) as background.
    - Transparent buttons to place on my video/image menu background.
    - After each button command in the main menu, use a short clip as a transition.
    - Create a menu to be able to choose different audio tracks and subtitle tracks, for all the video files from the moment the "Play All" is selected. These audio/subtitle tracks are already in the .mkv video files and they are in the same # order. For example, if audio "Track 2/English" track is chosen in the menu before Playing All the videos/episodes, then the same track # "Track 2/English" is chosen for all the videos/episodes, otherwise if nothing's chosen then the default tracks are automatically selected. Same for the subtitles files.
    - GUI to easily move/remove/resize and link the buttons with the menus and the track files.
    - Maintain the video quality as much as possible. Videos are anime episodes in 4:3 aspect ratio, they're not HD, so I assume preserving the quality of these will be very possible.
    - Maintain the audios and subtitles quality, format and of course keep their track names and order as it is. Audio tracks are .ac3 and .flac. Subtitles are .ass format.


    I have tried a lot of programs and took some time on them, but only 1 program came close to my needs and that's DVDStyler. I liked how its GUI makes things easy and provides full customizable options. The main problem with that is it doesn't seem to recognize some of my audio and subtitles format, so they don't work in the output. Audio tracks are .ac3 and .flac. Subtitles are .ass format. The most recent program that I tried is ConvertXToDVD and although it's being said that it creates fully customizable menus, it doesn't, at least to my eyes.
    So basically I'm looking for a program similar to DVDStyler but more advanced, that will recognize all of the audio/subtitle formats. I don't mind if it's a paid program as long as it can actually do what I want, and if it has a trial then it will be perfect for me to experiment.
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  2. Member DB83's Avatar
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    Most dvd authoring tools are limited as to which sub-title formats they allow for input. SRT is the most common.


    Flac is not supported for dvd. So if the program does not convert the audio - LPCM will be the closest - you would have to manually convert the audio stream outside the .mkv and import that.


    Never used the program for menus specific for audio and subs selection but I would guess it can be done as long as the clips are in the same titleset.


    One program that you could explore - it has a trial - but maybe more complex than you want is DVD Lab Pro. But like all higher-end programs it does not transcode. So you have to import dvd-compliant assets - video AND audio. So .mkv is a non-starter.


    Creating a custom menu for the video part would be quite easy in dvd styler since you initially link to the into and set the end command to the actual clip with the end command for the actual clip set back to the menu. For 'Play All' you just set up a chain.
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  3. DVD Lab Pro was the next program in my list to try but instead I've decided to go ahead and do it with DVDStyler since it's so simple to use. I've omitted the .flac audio tracks that weren't working and kept the .ac3 tracks which are working. I've also omitted the .ass subtitles and found .srt subtitles and imported those. I've managed to create the menus and link them just like I wanted. Everything worked just fine, including the language and subtitle selections.

    However, the problem now is that the final result is lagging every few frames when played as a DVD with the menus and chapters. But when the video files are played individually (without the menus) they're playing just fine without any lag (just like the source video files but without their chapters). Why could that be? Why would the menus cause the video/episode files to lag?

    I've tried changing a few stuff to see if anything changes. I've removed the VMGM Menu and the Titleset, while keeping the menus and the titles (everything was still linked and the menus were working fine even without the Titleset); I've replaced the video background of the main menu with a still image background; checked/unchecked the 'keep aspect ration' option. Nothing changed in the final result and the lag is still there.

    These are the warnings that I got from the program while generating:
    WARN: Audio pts for channel 0 moves backwards by 10752; please remultiplex input.
    WARN: Previous sector: 0.530 - 0.786
    WARN: Current sector: 0.667 - 0.923
    WARN: not a valid DVD frame rate: 0x01
    WARN: attempt to update frame rate from 30000.0/1001.0 (NTSC VIDEO) to 24000.0/1001.0 (NTSC 3:2 pulldown converted FILM); skipping
    WARN: Video PTS does not line up on a multiple of a field.
    The source format is: h264, 708x480 (NTSC film), 4:3, progressive, FPS 23.976
    The destination format that I set is very close but not the same (since I don't have the option to manually change the resolution): NTSC 704x480, 4:3, progressive

    Is it something wrong with the frame rate when converting to the .vob format? If so how do I fix that, I can't find any settings for the frame rate?

    I'd like to think that this is an easy fix. I'm close to the result I want so if anyone is experienced with DVDStyler, please help me on this. Thank you in advance.
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  4. Member DB83's Avatar
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    There is nothing in a menu that affects playback of items selected by it.


    A cusory glance at the errors suggests that the program is not correctly converting 23.976 video, which is not dvd-compliant to 29.97 video which is. But it may also be that you have mixed sources with some being 30 fps or it may even be attempting the reverse of the above which is also not compliant.


    It is also not unknown for the mkv creation process to mess with frame rates which end up being variable rather than constant.


    You only remedy then is to render the video and audio outside the program to a constant fixed frame rate for all but variable frame rates are not simple to fix and I can not assist with that.
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  5. The source .mkv files share the same formats. All video files are 23.976 FPS and this is confirmed with the MKVToolNix GUI info tool.
    The tool also says that all the audio tracks (.ac3) are 31.250 FPS. Is this what you mean that could be the problem? The audio tracks FPS should've been the same as the video tracks FPS?

    I don't really have enough knowledge about these stuff, but I still can't understand why the .vob files when played individually are playing without any lag. For me it only suggests that the other DVD files are sending the wrong info to the .vob files which causes the lag.
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  6. Member DB83's Avatar
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    No. Audio does not have an actual FPS. That is a mere calculated value.


    I do not know about the tool you use but I have seen vfr in a .mkv when reading the specs with mediainfo.


    But those errors mean something. Maybe someone else will find the topic and advise further.
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  7. It appears that the fix to the lag is an easy fix. I can't believe that I was sitting on this problem for days. The problem is the MPC-HC player that is causing the lag. Poor testing by me. By using VLC everything seems to be working just fine, there's no lag anymore, so the conversion to DVD files using DVDStyler was actually successful. Shows how badass DVDStyler is; those warnings don't seem to affect the result from what I see.

    Now I won't pretend that I understand why this is happening, but I can speculate. When I tried MPC-HC to play a different set of DVD files (ripped straight from DVD) that worked fine, there was no lag, so I thought the same player would work for my DVD project too. I assume it has something to do with the players' filters and their settings. The MPC-HC player must be reading certain .BUP and .IFO files in a different way than VLC, using different filters/settings.

    I would still like to play my project with MPC-HC. Does anyone know how to make it play in MPC-HC the same way it plays in VLC by adjusting the settings? I'm using the default settings for both players. I believe this is also an easy fix, especially since my videos are not in HD or anything crazy.
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