Question about DVD chapter menus

[drfsupercenter]

Just outta curiosity, how do the scene selection menus on DVDs work? Do they go by chapter, timecode, or something else? I am curious because I found an NTSC version of the menu that I converted from PAL, but this one was natively NTSC. Thus, the movie does not suffer from "PAL speedup", so the movie is a little bit slower. Thus, the timecodes of the chapters are off. If I put the chapters back in the same scenes on the converted movie, will the chapter menus still be functional or will they go to the wrong spot?

[blutach]

A chapter is a part of a title. There is a table in the IFOs that shows where each chapter is. Chapters can only break at cell boundaries. Load an IFO into IfoEdit or PgcEdit and have a look.

ChapterEdit - a little tool originally in Japanese - can edit chapters in place.

Regards

[drfsupercenter]

What does the chapter menu do then? For instance, if I click on chapter 4 in the chapter menu, does it go to chapter 4, or to the timecode for that chapter (or both)?

[blutach]

Goes to chapter 4.

Regards

[drfsupercenter]

Alright, so if the converted DVD is slightly faster than the original, thus the timecodes are off, it will not care?

[blutach]

It will go to the chapter. Of course, the chapter point may not be where you want it. ChapterEdit can fix (and so will the next version of VobBlanker, which will allow you to split cells exactly where you want).

This feature has been available in DVD Remake Pro for a while now. http://www.dimadsoft.com/dvdremakepr...aa02b5434c1569

Regards

[drfsupercenter]

DVD Remake Pro is not freeware, so I will stick to either VobBlanker or ChapterEdit. Can't TMPGEnc DVD Author make chapters though? What I am thinking is: take the converted movie (VTS_01_1 thru VTS_01_4) and overwrite the original, also VTS_01_1 thru VTS_01_4, and so the movie will be widescreen and not fullscreen. But, what happens if the languages are not the same? The only language that is the same is English, but the original menu has French as well, which I took out. What happens if I clicked French on the menu - would it be silent?

[jsoto]

Just to add some info...

When you do format conversions (PAL <-> NTSC), you have to choices:

Option 1.- Speed up or slow down the movie, keeping the number of frames intact. This is usually done in asisynth with "AssumeFPS" filter. You need to adjust the audio and the subs, but this is not a problem, there are free of tools to do that.

Option2.- True rate conversion. In this case your PC has to re-convert (interpolating frames) the video. This is usually done in asisynth with "ConvertFPS" filter (and with a powerful PC).

Well, in option 1, the frame numbers are exactly the same, so to remux the elementary streams you can use the same framenumbers to select the chapters (the well known file "Celltimes.txt" used by IFOedit or MuxMan)

In option2, your timecodes (in seconds) are the same, but not the frame numbers. You need to convert your framenumbers to the new ones or use a muxer that allows the timecodes in seconds

jsoto

[drfsupercenter]

Dang, I just downloaded ChapterEdit and it is in Japanese. Too bad I can't understand Japanese! Is there an English version somewhere?

Hmmm... jsoto, I used benbryant's method to convert, which I am not sure what it does. Here is a link: http://forum.digital-digest.com/showthread.php?t=56599

[jsoto]

But, what happens if the languages are not the same? The only language that is the same is English, but the original menu has French as well, which I took out. What happens if I clicked French on the menu - would it be silent?

Yes, it will be silent. The usual porocedures is to hide the button with pgcEdit buttons editor.
In the last version on VobBlanker, you can replace the menu background, so in many cases (audio selection in a still and simple buttons) you can completely delete the button easily.
jsoto

[drfsupercenter]

It is a motion menu, however.

[jsoto]

Ah! DGpulldown, from neuron2...
Unfortunately I'm a PAL user and we cannot use these "tricks".

IMHO, yes, this is best and faster conversion from PAL to NTSC. No frame interpolation is done, so the quality is exactly the original. The drawback is that the result is not full standard and (may be) some players cannot play it.

Not an expert on these NTFS tricks..., but I believe your framenumbers have changed, so is like the option 2 of my post, but without a powerful PC, only a super-powerful tool (written by a MPEG-2 guru)

jsoto

[jsoto]

It is a motion menu, however.

Well, you can change only this menu (audio selection) to a still ... or leave the button there, but disabled.
jsoto

[blutach]

jsoto!!!

Regards

[blutach]

ChapterEdit - English attached

Regards