Remove cells?

[Calimari]

In PgcEdit's PGC Editor, I remove cells from the main movie sometimes.
When I see that there are more cells than PTT's, I remove the (usually very short) cells so the cell number and the PTT number fit. It's easy to see this in Media Player Classic too. When the main movie starts, the playtime holds no sence and gets reset a few times before beginning to count up.

Mostly, the cells to be removed are at the beginning of the movie. Now I did one that had such cells at the beginning and at the end of the movie. I removed all. The result is, the navigation stops at the end of the main movie. I checked and found out that the navigation points to a cell at the end of the PGC, a cell that I had removed.

Question 1: How do I know when it's save to remove those cells (should they be removed at all)?

Question 2: I guess 'remove tiny cells' in RipIt4Me has nothing to do with this?

[blutach]

RipIt4Me tends to be cautious and keep cells it thinks it needs - see the guide and FAQ.

In ARccOS movies, you can see cell commands that point out - ie to a link somewhere. Don't delete cells with cell commands.

Regards

[Calimari]

In ARccOS movies, you can see cell commands that point out - ie to a link somewhere. Don't delete cells with cell commands.
Regards

How can I see in PgcEdit which cells have cell commands?
The cellcommand table of the main movie looks like this:

1 LinkCN Cell 1
2 LinkTailPGC
3 if ( gprm(11) & 0 ) then { LinkCN Cell 3 }
4 (CallSS) Call the VTSM Root menu of the current VTS, resume cell 1
5 (CallSS) Call the VMGM PGC 5, resume cell 1

The postcommands look like this:

1 Goto line 13
2 if ( gprm(6) <= gprm(6) ) then { LinkCN Cell 14 }
3 if ( gprm(12) > gprm(12) ) then { LinkCN Cell 26 }
4 if ( gprm(7) <= gprm(7) ) then { LinkCN Cell 37 }
5 Goto line 7
6 if ( gprm(4) >= gprm(4) ) then { LinkCN Cell 51 }
7 if ( gprm(1) != gprm(1) ) then { LinkCN Cell 35 }
8 if ( gprm(1) == gprm(1) ) then { LinkCN Cell 55 }
9 Goto line 32
10 Goto line 38
11 Goto line 36
12 if ( gprm(0) > gprm(0) ) then { LinkCN Cell 57 }
13 if ( gprm(4) <= gprm(4) ) then { LinkCN Cell 37 }
14 if ( gprm(9) == gprm(9) ) then { LinkCN Cell 7 }
15 Goto line 12
etc...

First, I don't get the idea behind if ( gprm(4) <= gprm(4) ) as this is always true? Line 13 is always executed, right? And, it was cell 37 that was missing (I deleted it).
Second, the LinkCN commands can link to a cell without cell commands? If so, it's not safe to delete any cell without cell commands?

[r0lZ]

Open the PGC Editor. In the cells list are the cell command numbers (indexes in the cell commands table.)
Hint: the cell command is displayed in a tooltip if you leave the mouse pointer over the cell command number.

And, yes, this is typically ARccOS cell commands, with fake conditions like if ( gprm(4) <= gprm(4) ) (always true) or if ( gprm(0) > gprm(0) ) (always false.) You can freely remove the condition when it is always true, and the whole command when it is always false. In the latter case, don't forget to replace the cell command number by 0 in the cells list. There are usually also a lot of cell commands not pointed to by cell command indexes, and therefore totally useless, except to confuse the newbie.

BTW, the old PSL2 plugin has an handy function to clean the cell commands automatically.

You have to follow the chain of the cells to know which ones you can freely remove. The fact that a cell has a cell command doesn't mean that you cannot delete it. But if a cell command that is executed points to a cell, that cell is executed, and you cannot delete it. However, it is usually safe to delete all tiny black cells at the beginning and end of the PGC, if you remove also their cell commands.

[EDIT] I realize that it's a new form of the protection, with cell commands jumping in the post commands (and maybe also in the pre-commands.) Use the trace mode and its log to examine the navigation and which cells are played and when, and delete all useless commands. Then delete the cells that are never played.

... or use RipIt4Me!

[blutach]

And if you look at your commands, the imporant one to go to is (most likely) 4 or 5 (as that will take you out of the PGC). So, you should keep any tinys that RipIt4Me leaves that have these commands.

Regards

[Calimari]

Open the PGC Editor. In the cells list are the cell command numbers (indexes in the cell commands table.)

Found it. There are all zero's in it with this movie, that's probably why I overlooked it So there are no cell commands. Only cells that get called from postcommands.

BTW, the old PSL2 plugin has an handy function to clean the cell commands automatically.

Well, I tried. It only removed 5 useless commands, the rest is still there (including a lot of 'if ( gprm(4) <= gprm(4)' stuff).

Use the trace mode and its log to examine the navigation and which cells are played and when, and delete all useless commands. Then delete the cells that are never played.

Good point. I also found out that I can 'by-pass' cells. In the postcommands, line 13, cell 37 (removed) is called. I replaced that with a CallSS to call the root menu of that VTS. Looks like the navigation works fine again, after the main movie it goes back to the main menu.

Anyway, thank you both for your advice. Next time I delete cells, I will do some investigation first. I know what to do now.