Yet another LotR:EE Question (but different)

[TheSpoon]

Ok, first let me start by saying this is going to be a long post as I've tried MANY different things(and read many forums) to try to get this to work. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

My situation:
I have the 3 movies EE. I DO NOT want to put them onto 1 DVD, instead I'd just like to back them up onto my computer and combine disks 1 & 2 of each movie to a single .vob movie(I'm not saying file since each .vob file is 1GB) so I can play them "seamlessly" using TheaterTek(a DVD playing software for the Home Theater computer). I know there will probably be a small pause between the switching of titles which is not a big deal. I plan on using no compression and only getting the DTS track since it will be playing on my Home Theater System.

My Trials(and tribulations):
I orginally started with DVDShrink in Re-author mode and backed-up Disk 1(Title 1) to the computer. Verified it played alright then backed up Disk 2(Title 1). Verified Disk 2 copied alright then combined Disk 1 & 2 and Backed-up. When I then tried playing it back the only thing that played was Disk 1 at just over 85min long. I tried the same thing only taking Disk 2(Title 2) thinking that because I had used both Title 1's that was causing a problem, however the same outcome happened.
So I then tried a combination of DVDShrink, VobEdit, and IfoEdit. I copied each Disk's Title 1 to seperate directories then used the guides HERE and HERE to try combining them. Success.... somewhat. The entire time of the movie showed up; I skipped to the end of Title 1 and watched the (near)seamless trasition to Title 2, however, when I tried to skip ahead any further the playback jumped back to a position on Title 1 about the same length into it as I tried to skip ahead into Title 2.

So thats pretty much where I stand now. I'm currently trying other options with DVD Decrypter & IFOEdit but I don't know if this is going to get me anywhere. ANY help would be appreciated as this is starting to tick me off some .

Nelson

[Chewy]

then combined Disk 1 & 2 and Backed-up

you did something wrong in this step, shrink should have made one folder and renamed title1/disk2 to title 2

[TheSpoon]

Sorry, I've done this so many times I left something out. What happened was I got a still image of Disk 2(Title 1) at the very end and then the movie stopped.

On a couple side notes, I maybe onto something with DVD Decrypter/IfoEdit/VobEdit. DVD Decrypter doesn't seem to like PGC 1(Title 1?) on either disk. The rip comes out blocky and green. PGC 2 seems fine though. Also, last time I tried it VobEdit only showed a VOB-ID of 1 so I made Disk 2(Title 1) start at 2. This time after I used DVD Decrypter I'm showing a VOB-ID of 2, so I'll start Disk 2(Title 2) with a VOB-ID of 3.

Nelson

[Chewy]

shrink and a lot of space on a well defragged hard drive(s) is all you need

[TheSpoon]

I have a 300GB(50% free) Hard drive that has been defrag'd in the past 2 weeks. Thats not the problem.

**EDIT** Just finished with the DVD Decrtypter/IfoEdit/VobEdit and I still have the whole movie time showing(4 hrs 2 mins) but I can't skip past the end of "Disc 1".

Nelson

[paglamon]

Did u try out Nero Recode's MERGE TITLE option?

[Chewy]

but I can't skip past the end of "Disc 1".

have you tried another player(software)?

[TheSpoon]

paglamon:
Tried Recode, after combining it only plays 1hr 45min (Disc 1).

Chewy:
Power DVD allows me to "slide" past the Disc 1 mark, however if I try a chapter skip after that point the movie restarts.

Nelson

[Chewy]

with power dvd you should be able to use the go to title 2

[paglamon]

paglamon:
Tried Recode, after combining it only plays 1hr 45min (Disc 1).

I recall of having a similar problem once.I deleted all the bup and ifo files that recode created and created new ifo with Ifoedit.It worked.

[TheSpoon]

Ok, after so more "I wonder"s during DVD playback I've found that using the slider in either program doesn't work so well. Not a big deal, I just won't use the slider. So for the most part everything is OK. I have the movies combined into one long set of .vob(11 for Fellowship).

When I try using the chapter skip through the entire movie though at chapter 54 the movie "ends" if I try to skip past. Bad IFO? Too big of a vob set? Bad vob?

Nelson

[blutach]

The most number of VOBs you can have is 10 (from 0 to 9). This is due to the archaic peculiarity of making the standard filenames 8.3

You can combine some files with the dos copy/b command though.

copy /b file1.vob+file2.vob JOINED.vob

I simply would have used this guide to put them together (since you didn't mind the pause):

http://www.dvdshrink.info/compilation.php

If you got nav problems try a mock strip, see link in my signature.

Regards

[TheSpoon]

Ok, it appears part of my problem was the player and part was me being stupid.

The info on vobs only being able to be from 0 to 9 was helpful. Thanks blutach.

You have been very helpful, now I'm off to TheaterTek's website to see if I can find a fix for the player freezing after the first frame of Disc 2.

Nelson

[nwg]

You could uncheck "split vobs into 1GB chunks" in Shrink and do a reauthor. Both discs will be one single vob. There will be a slight pause as it goes from one disc to the next.