Episode DVD Menu

[Art Vandelay]

I have a DVD folder that has 2 episodes of a show in it VTS 1 is 44 mins, VTS 2 is 55 mins.

I have made a single frame 720X480 VTS that will be the menu. I have used a 720X480 bmp image and I have placed 2 thumb-nail size bmps on the 720x480 image. I want this to be my menu.

The ploblem I have:

1. is setting the playback order so the menu comes up first
2. placing buttons on the 2 thumbnail pics to select episode 1 or episode 2 from the menu.
3. when VTS 1 ends, going back to root menu, when VTS 2 ends going back to the root menu.

I have looked at pgcedit and guides but am still lost. I have the VTS that is the menu, is there a way with Pgcedit to activate the thumbs in the VTS which is the menu, and set the playback order. Please help, I have been reading but am confused.

[r0lZ]

I suggest you author your menu (with your BMP) in the VMGM. It's much easier than doing it in the Root menu if the two episodes are in different VTSs. (If it is currently authored as a VTSM, you can import it in the VMGM with PgcEdit's Import Menu, then delete the VTSM.)

The button command to jump to the eps from the VMGM menu is JumpTT. You can define a rectangular area with PgcEdit to cover a thumbnail, and modify its color scheme to use any color and transparency you like. (Do not use the default color scheme 0, usually full transparent.) Don't forget to modify the adjacent button links to be able to select the other button with the remote.

To go back to the menu, use CallSS_VMGM (to a PGC or menu entry) as the post-command of your episodes. You might want to add a SetHL_BTN command before the jump to select another button by default. That's really simple.

To jump to the menu directly when the DVD is inserted, use a JumpSS_VMGM in the first-play PGC.

If you want to be able to use also the Root menu button to jump to the menu, you will have to create new dummy root menus, again with a JumpSS_VMGM pre-command.

Here is a (minimal) example of what you should do:

VMG (VIDEO_TS.IFO)
------------------

  VMG , First-Play PGC 
        ********** pre commands:
           1  (JumpSS) Jump to VMGM PGC 1 
        ********** post commands:
        ********** cell commands:


  VMGM , LU 1 (en):

    VMGM , LU 1 (en) , 1  (0:00)  2b.  TitleM - Chapters: n/a,  Programs: 1,  Cells: 1 
        ********** pre commands:
        ********** post commands:
        ********** cell commands:
        ********** menu buttons commands:
        VOB ID 1,  Cell ID 1  (First NAV pack LBA=0)
        1 Group, Select button=0, Action button=0, 2 numerically selectable buttons.
           1: (JumpTT) Jump to Title 1 
           2: (JumpTT) Jump to Title 2 



VTS 1 (VTS_01_0.IFO)
--------------------

  VTSM 1 , LU 1 (en):

    VTSM 1 , LU 1 (en) , 1  (dummy)  RootM - Chapters: n/a,  Programs: 0,  Cells: 0 
        ********** pre commands:
           1  (JumpSS) Jump to VMGM PGC 1 
        ********** post commands:
        ********** cell commands:



  VTST 1:

  VTST 1 , 1   TTN 1  (0:05)  Title 1 - Chapters: 12,  Programs: 12,  Cells: 12 
        ********** pre commands:
        ********** post commands:
           1  (CallSS) Call the VMGM PGC 1, resume cell 1 
        ********** cell commands:



VTS 2 (VTS_02_0.IFO)
--------------------

  VTSM 2 , LU 1 (en):

    VTSM 2 , LU 1 (en) , 1  (dummy)  RootM - Chapters: n/a,  Programs: 0,  Cells: 0 
        ********** pre commands:
           1  (JumpSS) Jump to VMGM PGC 1 
        ********** post commands:
        ********** cell commands:



  VTST 2:

  VTST 2 , 1   TTN 1  (0:05)  Title 2 - Chapters: 12,  Programs: 12,  Cells: 12 
        ********** pre commands:
        ********** post commands:
           1  (CallSS) Call the VMGM PGC 1, resume cell 1 
        ********** cell commands:

If your menu has been authored as a title with BOVs, it's much more complex, as you will have to jump from the menu to the episode via a dummy in the VMGM. Same thing to go back to the menu.

[Art Vandelay]

Wow, thanks r0LZ;

you mention using VMGM to make the menu. I have searched google but can't find this software even at videohelp I can't find it.

thanks for the information, it will take me some time to figure it all out as I have used your program in the past but have limited knowledge of it. It is a power full program.

[r0lZ]

you mention using VMGM to make the menu. I have searched google but can't find this software even at videohelp I can't find it.

VMGM is not a software! It means Video MaNager Menu.
I was suggesting to put the menu in the VMGM part of the DVD (ie to author it as a Title menu instead of a Root menu.)

The example I have given above was produced by PgcEdit. I did it in 2 minutes. If you have your two titles and the menu correctly muxed, you should be able to assemble everything with PgcEdit only.

[Art Vandelay]

Lost

r0lZ;

I am lost. I am experimenting with 2 VTS's that are about 1 minute long each. I made the bmp menu 720x480 with the 2 thumbnail pics I want to use as buttons to select VTS1 and VTS2 and authored it with muxman. I then imported it into pgcedit and this is what I have so far;

VMG , First-Play PGC - Chapters: n/a, Programs: n/a, Cells: n/a
********** pre commands:
1 if ( gprm(0) == 1 ) then { Goto line 3 }
2 (JumpTT) Jump to Title 1
3 (JumpTT) Jump to Title 2
********** post commands:
********** cell commands:

Playback time: 00:00:00.00 (at 30 fps)
PG Playback mode: sequential
PUOs: 0 (0x00000000)
NextPGCN: 0
PrevPGCN: 0
GoUpPGCN: 0
PGC Still Time: 0


What do I click on in the left preview to see the menu I made as a VTS. I want to see the menu so I can make the 2 thumbnail pics the buttons but can't figure out how to do this. I can't even see the menu I made. Do you know of a guide for my application? I have been searching google and see some stuff from blu that I have read but it refers to DVD menus and editing existing buttons.

my head is ready to explode.

[r0lZ]

Honestly, I don't use muxman to author the menus. I prefer DVD-Lab pro. But if you don't need specific highlights for your menu buttons, you can author the menu with PgcEdit and VobBlanker. Note that the path to muxman.exe must be correctly configured in the VobBlanker settings. (Use Settings -> Configure Paths.)

Download this archive: menu templates.zip, and extract the files somewhere.

Open your compilation with the two titles in PgcEdit. Right-click on the FP-PGC and select "Import Menu". Navigate to the folder where you have extracted the archive, and then to the right sub-folder according to your movie properties. (For example, select PAL 4;3 if you live in the PAL zone. I strongly suggest using a 4:3 menu, even if your movies are in 16:9, as the procedure is much more simple.) Select VIDEO_TS.IFO and accept. When prompted, copy the menu VOB file. A new Title menu should be created automatically, with a gray background and a single pre-defined button. Save.

Load the DVD in VobBlanker. Be sure to tick Process Menus and untick Process Titles. Tick also Use Input Folder. Select VIDEO_TS and click the "Process" button to the right. VTS 1 and 2 should be Skipped. Then, Double-click on the VIDEO_TS line in the upper listbox to open the "Menu of VIDEO_TS" window. Click once on the Language Unit and double-click on PGC 1 to open the "CELLS IN MENU: VTS=00, PGC=01" window. Click once on the only cell in the list, then on the "Still" button to the left. Drag and drop your BMP with the two thumbnails over the black window. After a couple of seconds, you should see your BMP in the window. OK the 3 windows to return to the main VobBlanker window, and click the "PROCESS!!" button at the bottom. The processing should be extremely fast. Verify if VB doesn't report an error in its log, and quit it.

Reload the DVD in PgcEdit. Open the menu viewer. You should see your BMP as the menu background, but there is only one button, and it is not correctly positioned. Click the "Edit" button. Use the sliders to position the button exactly over your first thumbnail.

In the menu editor, select Button -> New Button, and move it over your second thumbnail. Select the color scheme 1. Change the command to jump to title 2. Now, change the 4 adjacent button links to point to button 1. Return to button 1 and change them to point to button 2. (Use the cursor keys to verify that you will be able to go from a button to the other one with the arrows of the remote.) OK the menu editor and quit the menu viewer. Save.

Now, you should create the two Root menus of VTS 1 and 2 (Right-click on them and select New Menu) and change the commands of the FP-PGC, the two root menus and the two title PGCs as explained in my example above. Save.

Verify with a software player that you can see the menu highlight. Change the color scheme if you are not happy with the highlighting. To change the colors, edit the CLUT of the Root Menu PGC (in the PGC Editor), or select another color in the Color Scheme 1 of the menu (Menu Viewer -> Menu Editor -> Edit Color Schemes.) You can also change the opacity value. Leave the opacity of the background color to 0, and change only the color and opacity of the Pattern. The two Emphasis colors are ignored with this simple menu.)

That's all.

[r0lZ]

Hum, I've just tried this method, and there is a big problem! The buttons highlights are not visible, because there is no subpic defined for the title menu. I will try to find a solution to this problem.

(Note that the highlights may be displayed anyway with some players, but the software player I use currently doesn't display them.)

[r0lZ]

OK, I have edited post #6, and that method works. You'll need to download a little file that contains a predefined menu with a subpic stream. The method consists of changing that menu background, and then of moving the existing menu button, and creating a new button for title 2. This method is easier than the previous one, and works well.

The limitation of this simple method is that the highlight of the menu button is very simple: a semi-transparent rectangle over the thumbnail. If you want a more sophisticated result, you have to use an authoring program, and I can't help you.

[Art Vandelay]

Thanks r0lZ, some more questions:

(1) I defined the path for muxman.exe in Vobblanker, do I need to set a path for BMP to still temp working folder?

(2) I downloaded the .zip folder of menus and selected 4:3

(3) I am confused with these sections:

Tick also Use Input Folder. Select VIDEO_TS and click the "Process" button to the right. The process button to the right is grey out, can't select it. and the 2 titles still say process after unticking process titles, and ticking process menus


Click once on the Language Unit and double-click on PGC 1 to open the "CELLS IN MENU: VTS=00, PGC=01" window. Click once on the only cell in the list, then on the "Still" button to the left. Drag and drop your BMP with the two thumbnails over the black window. After a couple of seconds, you should see your BMP in the window.

Then, Double-click on the VIDEO_TS line in the upper listbox to open the "Menu of VIDEO_TS" window. Click once on the Language Unit and double-click on PGC 1 to open the "CELLS IN MENU: VTS=00, PGC=01"

I don't see anything in the 2 sections when I select VIDEO_TS, if I select VTS1 I see the cell and the grey menu. I can try and drag drop but I get and error message saying Please check muxman + working folder path in tools menu. I thought I defined mumman.exe path. That is the only path I defined in that section of VobBlanker.

(3) you mention

You'll need to download a little file that contains a predefined menu with a subpic stream. Where is this file? is this the file that had the menus that were in the zip folder?

I am slowly getting there r0lZ, please advise further.

Thanks

[r0lZ]

1) Yes, the TEMP folder should be configured too. Use any empty folder, or your default temp folder (assigned by Windows.) I think that the folder must exist.

2) That's OK.

3) When Process is greyed out, Skip is available, and vice-versa. The important thing is that the Action column of the VIDEO_TS titleset must be marked as Process and not Skip. Titlesets 1 and 2 should be marked as Skip (as there is no need to process them.)

I suppose you have imported the menu as the Root menu in VTS 1 instead of the VMGM. To keep things as simple as possible, you should click on the First-Play PGC and import the grey menu as the Title menu in the VMGM. (You can remove the useless menu from the VTS 1 by right-clicking it and selecting Remove Menu.)

4) Yes.

[Art Vandelay]

I am at this point in your instructions:

Change the command to jump to title 2. Now, change the 4 adjacent button links to point to button 1. Return to button 1 and change them to point to button 2. (Use the cursor keys to verify that you will be able to go from a button to the other one with the arrows of the remote.) OK the menu editor and quit the menu viewer. Save.

I defied the area for button 1 and when I click on it I can see on the menu JumpTT to title 1, now I created the second button and positioned it over the 2nd thumb nail pic but it says link tailPGC rather than title 2. How do I assign title 2 to this button?

I don't understand this section also:

Now, change the 4 adjacent button links to point to button 1. Return to button 1 and change them to point to button 2.


I am getting there but still don't understand fully.

[r0lZ]

Click on the big button with the command to open the command editor. Use the menus of the command editor window to select JumpTT, and then edit the "Title" field. (The command editor is the basis of PgcEdit, btw!)

When button 2 is selected, move the 4 sliders in the "Adjacent links" area to set them to 1. That means that when you will use the up, left, right or down button on the remote (or the cursor keys in PgcEdit), you will select button 1.
Do the same thing for button1, but of course, this time change the links to button 2, so that you will be able to select button 2 when button 1 is selected, and therefore jump from any button to the other one.
If you omit that part, you will be able to click with the mouse on any button, but you will be unable to play the second title in a standalone player, as you will have no way to select button 2 when button 1 is selected. (BTW, be careful with that part, as many software players ignore the cursor keys, and you must use the mouse to select a button. Therefore, it is impossible to test if the buttons work correctly without burning a RW. It's why you can check the links with the cursor keys in PgcEdit: they simulates the behaviour of the arrow buttons of a real remote.)

[Art Vandelay]

OK r0lZ, I believe the menu is finished and the buttons are set. When I save and play the files in the folder with MP Classic I don't see the menu and I see why. I don't understand how to enter this conde you describe below.


To go back to the menu, use CallSS_VMGM (to a PGC or menu entry) as the post-command of your episodes. You might want to add a SetHL_BTN command before the jump to select another button by default. That's really simple.

To jump to the menu directly when the DVD is inserted, use a JumpSS_VMGM in the first-play PGC.

If you want to be able to use also the Root menu button to jump to the menu, you will have to create new dummy root menus, again with a JumpSS_VMGM pre-command.

[r0lZ]

Just clone the structure in the "code" segment of post #2.

To insert a command, select the PGC, then, in the right pane, select the line just before or after the line you want to add, and click the "Add Before" or "Add After" button. A NOP command will be inserted. Double-click it to open the command editor, and modify the command according to your needs.

And please read the PgcEdit manual. I can't explain everything!

[Art Vandelay]

Almost there

r0lZ;

It doesn't quite look like yours but what is your opinion? I have read many guides by Blu, jmet, 2cool. After quite a bit of confusion this is what I have come up with. I used these 2 small clips to practice with the menu I will use on the finished product. seems to go back to the menu after 1st and 2nd VTS. I think I will edit the colors as 1 button is red when clicked on. I can't control the movement between the 2 buttons with my arrows on the keyboard. I guess I will have to go back to the menu and do some editing in PGCEdit. Nice progam.



DVD "C:\video to play with\VIDEO_TS/"
DVD-TEXT General Name: ""
Provider ID: ""
Number of VTS: 2

VMG (VIDEO_TS.IFO)
------------------
VMG , First-Play PGC
********** pre commands:
1 (JumpSS) Jump to VMGM PGC 1
********** post commands:
********** cell commands:

VMGM , LU 1 (en):
VMGM , LU 1 (en) , 1 (0:00) 2b. TitleM - Chapters: n/a, Programs: 1, Cells: 1
********** pre commands:
********** post commands:
********** cell commands:
1 (JumpTT) Jump to Title 1
2 (JumpTT) Jump to Title 2
********** menu buttons commands:
VOB ID 1, Cell ID 1 (First NAV pack LBA=0)
1 Group Select button=0, Action button=0
1: (JumpTT) Jump to Title 1
2: (JumpTT) Jump to Title 2

VTS 1 (VTS_01_0.IFO)
--------------------
VTSM 1 , LU 1 (en):
VTSM 1 , LU 1 (en) , 1 (dummy) RootM - Chapters: n/a, Programs: 0, Cells: 0
********** pre commands:
********** post commands:
********** cell commands:

VTST 1:
VTST 1 , 1 TTN 1 (1:47) Title 1 - Chapters: 1, Programs: 1, Cells: 1
********** pre commands:
********** post commands:
1 (CallSS) Call the VMGM PGC 1, resume cell 1
********** cell commands:

VTS 2 (VTS_02_0.IFO)
--------------------
VTSM 2 , LU 1 (en):
VTSM 2 , LU 1 (en) , 1 (dummy) RootM - Chapters: n/a, Programs: 0, Cells: 0
********** pre commands:
1 (JumpSS) Jump to First Play PGC
********** post commands:
********** cell commands:

VTST 2:
VTST 2 , 1 TTN 1 (1:01) Title 2 - Chapters: 1, Programs: 1, Cells: 1
********** pre commands:
********** post commands:
1 (CallSS) Call the VMGM PGC 1, resume cell 1
2 Exit
********** cell commands: