Merge chapters

[r0lZ]

The physical layer break, by definition, is at the middle of the disc. As a consequence, the layer break cell must be near the middle of the DVD content. Since a DL DVD is never completely full, you can place a bit mode data on L0 or on L1. That means that there is an area (or a "margin") near the middle of the DVD content that is theoretically suitable for the layer break. The layer break cell must begin in that area. Of course, if the DVD is almost full, the margin is thin, and the number of cells suitable for the layer break is small (or can even be 0!) So, to increase the number of possibilities, you must remove (or shrink) some content, or split a cells.

You can also try to swap some titlesets. For example, if there is a little titleset at the end of the DVD, you can try to move it at the beginning. The next titlestes will be shifted toward the end, and with some luck, a cell that was previously outside the margin may become available. Experiment with PgcEdit's Remap Titlesets, and use the PgcEdit burn function to check what cells are suitable for the layer break.
(You don't need to burn with PgcEdit: just abort the operation after the layer break option dialog, and burn with ImgBurn. Since it uses the same logic to search for suitable LB cells, it should offer the same possibilities).

[VRYK]

I should like to revert to another aspect of merging. Where a title’s entry PGC (VTST3.1) is just a blank frame (even if it is supposed to contain Chapter1) while the actual playback is in VTST3.2 (which shares the same TTN1 number), is it possible for these 2 PGCs to be merged such that VTST3.2 becomes the entry PGC?. The title has the “NOT One Sequential Title” flag set.

[r0lZ]

Yes, that should be possible if the title is alone in the VTST domain.
Use Title -> New 'Play All' PGC. That function will create a new PGC containing all cells of the current VTST domain, in sequential order. You may have to reorganise somewhat the programs and chapters to clone the chapter points of the original Title, especially if there are cells without programs and chapters assigned to them.
After that, use Go to Calling Command to find all jumps to the original entry PGC, and redirect them to the new Title PGC.
Take care of the original pre, post and cell commands, and copy them when needed to the new PGC. (Of course, jumps from one PGC to the other PGC of the original title must be removed, but be sure to copy the commands as they should be executed.) PgcEdit does its best to clone them for you, but it is impossible to be sure that they work as expected, so you may have to verify and edit them.
If there are cells commands that must be maintained, you will also have to edit the cell table to add the cell command numbers and clear the seamless flag of the following cell(s).
When done, the old title should be unreferenced, and you can remove it with Delete Uncalled PGCs.
When you save the DVD, PgcEdit should automatically build the time map of the new title.

Note that the same method can work also if there are several titles in the same VTST domain, but you will have to remove the cells pertaining to the other titles from the new PGC, and perhaps change the chapter numbers. That's a bit more complicated, but the logic is identical: the idea is to clone the PGCs of the original title as one single new Title PGC, and delete the original title.

The title has the “NOT One Sequential Title” flag set.

Theoretically, that's an authoring error, but since the first PGC is almost a dummy, most players should not complain. Anyway, if you delete it, you delete also the problem!

[VRYK]

Many thanks for your reply re the layer break problem. Sorry I missed it earlier by not turning to page 2 of the messages (a kind of layer break problem in itself!).

> if the DVD is almost full, the margin is thin, and the number of cells suitable for the layer break is small (or can even be 0!)<
It happened to me once that ImgBurn found no suitable layer break and suggested where to split a cell.

I shall have a shot at the PgcEdit’s New “Play All” Title function.

[VRYK]

After running Delete Uncalled PGCs, 2 PGCs should be fixed:
[61 00 00 04 00 84 00 00] 1 Set gprm(4) =(mov) sprm(4:Title number in volume)
[61 00 00 05 00 85 00 00] 1 Set gprm(5) =(mov) sprm(5:Title number in VTS).

I don’t understand what the respective SPRMs should contain. The first command is in the VMG domain where there are no Titles and the second one is in the Title Set Menu domain whose Title Set contains Title2.

[r0lZ]

Title Number in Volume (SPRM 4) is the global Title number.
Title Number in VTS (SPRM 5) is the TTN number of the title in the current VTS.

[VRYK]

I’m lost here. Both SPRM4 and SPRM5 hold 1. If I understand correctly, this means that TTN1 in Title 1 was the last “local” title in the navigation path. So, what is the error that needs to be fixed in the two commands setting GPRMs equal to these SPRM values ?

[r0lZ]

The first command should not be modified. If gprm 4 is used elsewhere to verify that the navigation is really coming from a specific title, then the nav may be broken if the Title numbers have changed. So, to fix it, you should simply restore the original Title nums as they were before the change. For example, if you have 10 Titles in the DVD and you modify Title 1, you will have created Title 11 with Create 'Play All' PGC. Then Title 1 is deleted with Delete Uncalled PGCs, and all subsequent numbers are decreased by 1. The Play All Title is now Title 10. Use Remap Title Numbers to move it back to Title 1, and the other titles numbers will be increased by 1, so everything is back to normal.

Title 2 is not related to your change, and is in another VTS, right? If it's the case, you should not modify the second command, since it deals with another TTN in another VTS, and that VTS has not changed. Otherwise, you should remap the TTN number, exactly like the Title numbers in my explanation above. But there is no "Remap TTNs" function. To remap them, you should remap the PGC containing the TTN to remap so that the TTNs are ordered correctly, and use "Reorder TTNs". That function renumbers the TTNs in the order of the PGCs.

[VRYK]

Many thanks for your explanations. The fog is (gradually) lifting.

[VRYK]

If I may come back to this. A video’s main feature (Title 1) is in VTST1.1, TTN1. Title 2, which is in VTST1.2, TTN2 and contains 4 “dummy” PGCs is flagged as NOT One-Sequential. Using New 'Play All' Title creates a new Title which, however, contains the main feature from Title 1.
Is this to be expected ? Since the video seems to play OK, I am inclined to let be.

[r0lZ]

Yes. The Play All function merges ALL cells of the current VTST domain in a new PGC. (It's why it is called "Play All".) With your DVD, it will therefore contain all cells of TTN 1 and TTN 2. If you need only the cells of TTN 2, you must manually remove all cells not pertaining to TTN 2 (and re-organize the PGs and PTTs, as you know).

[VRYK]

Thanks for the clarification.

[VRYK]

Unfortunately I am floundering again after having created a Play-All PGC which “telescopes” a video’s Titles 2, 3, and 4 (all in VTST 2) which are flagged as NOT-One sequential.
The newly-created Title 6 contains 40 cells (compared with a sum of 41 for the replaced Titles), the large majority of which have Still times of 3 seconds (PGC Editor duly indicates that the following cells should be unflagged as seamless joins). With no separate Menu PGCs there are no 255s cell Still times.

Jump VTS_TT commands to the “old” Titles have been modified. However, there remain LinkPGCNs to the three respective Title entry PGCs. I am not clear as to how these should be treated.
There are Links to Nowhere which all concern the new Title 6: e.g..
VTST 2, 46 TTN4 (8.59) 91b. Title 6, cell 1, group 1, BOV 1 LinkPGCN PGC 2

Incidentally, the number of buttons in Titles 2, 3, and 4 total 80, and their play times 10.22.

[r0lZ]

It seems that your titles are slide shows of still images. Right?

When you create the Play All PGC, PgcEdit doesn't modify the commands of the BOVs.

I suppose there are initially 2 or 3 buttons per cells to jump to the next or previous cell. Since in the new Play All PGC, the cells have been re-ordered, they do not have the same cell number any more, and therefore I guess that the command of almost all buttons must be edited manually to point to the right cell. Anyway, you should verify if it's the case.

I suppose also that the links pointing to nowhere were initially a way to jump from the last cell of a title to the first cell of the next title (and vice versa), in order to play them as if they were in a single big title. So, to restore their correct behaviour, you should modify them to point to the cell that corresponds to the first cell of the initial "next title". That should be easy to do, when ou know the number of the cell to point to.

BTW, it might be a bad idea to use the Play All title in this case, as there is no real advantage compared to the original authoring. Since the cells are stills with still times, you can't use the Rew or FF buttons of the remote (or the seekbar of a software player) to skip them, so I guess there is no benefit in converting these titles to one sequential title. So, unless you have another reason to do it, I suggest to keep the original authoring unchanged.

[VRYK]

Many thanks for your reply.

>It seems that your titles are slide shows of still images. Right?<
Essentially yes. There are biographies, still shots, etc., The main feature is in Title 5.

>When you create the Play All PGC, PgcEdit doesn't modify the commands of the BOVs.<
Originally, the buttons were “normal” menu buttons with 255s still times..

>I suppose there are initially 2 or 3 buttons per cells to jump to the next or previous cell.<
Yes, plus cells with a single return button.

>BTW, it might be a bad idea to use the Play All title in this case, as there is no real advantage compared to the original authoring.<
Unfortunately, though the main feature is in Title 5, the cursor to advance is inoperative (jumps back to its initial position). But I suppose this is a "lesser evil".
I wonder if there is a way to separate the three titles into separate VTSs (if that could help) ?