Edit SPRM 8 setting

[r0lZ]

Interesting link! I didn't know that bug. Thanks!

In DVDSubEdit, Ctrl-N skips the German button and cycles only through the other 3.

Are you sure it is really skipped? Or do you mean that when it should be shown, nothing appears in the DVDSubEdit window? It's very different. If it skips it, that might be because the menu has a bug. Otherwise, it's simply the bitmap of the highlight of that button that is fully transparent.

You should try this: go to the menu editor in PgcEdit, and use Button -> New Button. Accept and save the DVD. Reload it, go again to the menu editor, select the new button, and do Button -> Delete Button. Accept and save again. That operations are useless, but with some luck, PgcEdit will re-organize the menu correctly, and the German button could be available in DVDSubEdit.

If it's only a problem with the bitmap, open the menu in DVDSubEdit, and select the option to export the bitmap as a BMP in the File menu. Then, with a good paint program, copy the highlight of another button, and place it at the right position for the German button. (That's the difficult part, as the exact position is often difficult to determine.) Save, and import the bitmap back in the menu with DVDSubEdit. If your menu is a 16:9 menu, you will have to select the other display mode in DVDSubEdit, and apply the same method with the other bitmap. (It is even possible that your menu has 3 display modes, and if it's the case, you must apply the procedure 3 times.)

If the original bitmap(s) contain(s) the highlight, you should also verify if the colour scheme used for the German button is correct. In the PgcEdit menu Editor, look at the colour scheme number of a button that works, then select the German button, and set its colour scheme to that number.

One of these methods should work. Good luck again!

[VRYK]

Many thanks for your reply.

I now believe that Ctrl-N in DVDSubEdit does not skip the German button in the sense of not stopping there. Since the highlight is absent (no indication of a highlight when the Transparency slider is set to 15). it was not manifest that the button was being selected. The fact that in the PgcEdit menu editor Ctrl-N clearly selects the German button made me re-think. Incidentally, the German button has the same colour scheme (opacity levels) as the others. Also it is operational; clicking it selects the German audio.

I tried your suggestion of creating and deleting a new button, but this didn’t change things

<If it's only a problem with the bitmap, open the menu in DVDSubEdit, and select the option to export the bitmap as a BMP in the File menu.>
In DVDSubEdit’s File menu there is a command “Save current video frame as .BMP”, but which is the command to import the edited >BMP ?

Though this does not concern the highlight question, the PGC consists of 3 cells of which #2 and #3 are blank. What purpose do these two cells serve ?

[r0lZ]

In DVDSubEdit’s File menu there is a command “Save current video frame as .BMP”, but which is the command to import the edited BMP ?

You should use "Save current subpic as bitmap". The highlight are in the subpicture bitmap, not in the video. Then use "Replace current subpic with .BMP file" to import it back.

If you need to edit the image of the button (not its highlight), you should save the video frame, but DVDSubEdit being a subtitle editor, it cannot re-import it. You can do that with VobBlanker, but you'll have to convert the menu to still (with or without audio).

Though this does not concern the highlight question, the PGC consists of 3 cells of which #2 and #3 are blank. What purpose do these two cells serve ?

It depends of the authoring. They are perhaps skipped, or used to blank the menu when a button has been activated, or whatever. I can't tell without the DVD.

[VRYK]

I did "Save current subpic as bitmap".in DVDSubEdit, but the .bmp opens in Photoshop Elements as a blank white image. There is nothing to see.

[r0lZ]

Then try again, but set the color/transparency option to "Use automatic CLUT" (instead of "Use IFO CLUT").

[VRYK]

Thanks so much – that did the trick! After all the time I have spent trying to edit highlights, this comes as a real gift from Father Xmas.

Incidentally, there were 2 subpics involved – subpic_0x21_012.bmp and subpic_0x20_012.bmp. I edited the two images separately, since I take it that one could not use subpic_0x21_012.bmp for both images – which would be quicker. Am I correct?

Another video’s main menu has highlights, but when returning to the main menu (from e.g. the audio menu) navigation goes to a different PGC which has no highlights. I suppose there must be navigational reasons for this procedure, but I wonder what they might be.

[r0lZ]

Thanks so much – that did the trick! After all the time I have spent trying to edit highlights, this comes as a real gift from Father Xmas.

I am Santa. But it's a secret.

Incidentally, there were 2 subpics involved – subpic_0x21_012.bmp and subpic_0x20_012.bmp. I edited the two images separately, since I take it that one could not use subpic_0x21_012.bmp for both images – which would be quicker. Am I correct?

Yes, correct. The two images are made for two different display modes. For 4:3 menus, there is only one subpic stream, as 4:3 is always displayed as 4:3, regardless of the aspect ratio of the TV. But for a 16:9 menu, there must be a subpic used on the 16:9 TVs, and one (or two) subpics tor the 4:3 TVs (in "Automatic Letterbox" or/and "Automatic Pan&Scan" modes).
The video stream itself is resized automatically (and black borders are added if it's necessary) by the DVD player, to adapt it to the correct aspect ratio, but the subpics are displayed over the resized video without changes. Hence the need for several subpic streams, as otherwise, the highlights will not be at the correct location.
BTW, most software players can only use a single display mode (usually 16:9), and it is difficult to test if the new highlight has been set at the correct place in the other modes. To verify the 2 (or 3) display modes, you should burn a RW, and try it in a standalone player, configured for a 4:3 TV (LB and/or P&S) and for a 16:9 TV.

Another video’s main menu has highlights, but when returning to the main menu (from e.g. the audio menu) navigation goes to a different PGC which has no highlights. I suppose there must be navigational reasons for this procedure, but I wonder what they might be.

Usually, it's because the menu that is played for the first time when the DVD is inserted has an intro, not present in the menu that is called after. (There are other methods to skip the intro when it is not needed anymore, but authoring 2 slightly different menus is frequent.)

[VRYK]

Thank you for your detailed explanation.

>I am Santa. But it's a secret.<
I promise not to tell anyone.

I am still very much on the steep part of the highlights learning curve. I treated a menu with 4 buttons, one of which has the highlight missing. Exported to PS Elements from DVDSubEdit, the subpic revealed 4 highlights. I modified the size and position of the highlight which was the “odd one out”, to enclose it in the button lacking a highlight. However, when the subpic was re-imported into DVDSubEdit, none of the highlights were visible (this confirmed when opening the video in a software player).
This was using the IFO CLUT. Changing to the Automatic CLUT, the highlights re-appeared in DVDSubEdit but not in the player (I presume changing the CLUT doesn’t impact on the player’s behaviour – it just sees a different colour scheme).
Going back to the IFO CLUT, checking the “Ignore transparency” box caused the highlights to re-appear (but not in the player). I had thought that ticking this box would be equivalent to setting the “Subpic Color/Transparency” slide to 15 for “All pixels” – but this is not the case.
I am mystified as to why the highlights disappeared. I would add that all except the b pixel in the IFO CLUT colour scheme have the same colour.

[r0lZ]

It's really complex.
The BMP is a 4 colours image. You do not define the colour of the highlight in the image, but rather an index to the colour. For example, the first colour can be the transparent background, the second one the main colour of the highlight, and the two others may be used as additional colours, or for antialiasing.
When the bitmap is exported by DVDSubEdit, it assigns 4 colours to the bitmap. If IFO CLUT is selected, they are the colours defined in the IFO, and they should be similar to the real highlight colours, but without transparency. The problem with the IFO CLUT mode is that the same colour can be used for several pixel types, and of course, when you edit the bitmap, you cannot see the difference. It's why you can set the option to ignore the IFO CLUT. In that case, DVDSubEdit picks 4 very different colours, but of course, they are not related at all to the highlight colours.
Similarly, when DVDSubEdit re-imports the bitmap, it must know how to interpret the colours in the image. That means that you must use the same mode when exporting and importing the colours.

For more info on how the colours of the highlights are assigned and displayed, see this thread at Doom9.

[VRYK]

Many thanks for your reply and the reference to your Doom9 message.

> It's really complex<
I certainly agree!

After playing around with PgcEdit’s Colour Scheme Editor, I realise that I remain basically at sea.

You indicate that the designations B, P, e1 and e2 don’t necessarily refer to their intended usage – B(ackground), P(attern), E(mphasis) 1 and E 2 – since authors are free to fill the four slots as they wish. In the menu I am concerned with, the B pixels are the button fill-in colour and P the highlight. This menu has an audio (music) track – when this completes the highlight becomes an opaque white covering the text. I thought at first this reflected the 0 (“at rest”) colour scheme, but this does not happen when selection moves to a different button. Hence, I wonder what is happening here?

It seems to me that buttons can do without any of these four colours – all that is needed is the hotspot defined by the button outline for a button to be operational. If I understand correctly, the button text layer is part of the video background and hence not concerned here.

I still remain mystified as to the reason for the disappearance (or invisibility) of all highlights after modifying one and re-importing the subpic stream into DVDSubEdit. What could have happened?

In another video I added a menu button to its audio menu to accommodate an audio track which has been added (i.e. was not part of the original video). The button is recognised in PgcEdit, but not in DVDSubEdit. Does this absence from the subpic stream reflect its not being muxed into the VOB?

[r0lZ]

Many thanks for your reply and the reference to your Doom9 message.

> It's really complex<
I certainly agree!

After playing around with PgcEdit’s Colour Scheme Editor, I realise that I remain basically at sea.

You indicate that the designations B, P, e1 and e2 don’t necessarily refer to their intended usage – B(ackground), P(attern), E(mphasis) 1 and E 2 – since authors are free to fill the four slots as they wish. In the menu I am concerned with, the B pixels are the button fill-in colour and P the highlight. This menu has an audio (music) track – when this completes the highlight becomes an opaque white covering the text. I thought at first this reflected the 0 (“at rest”) colour scheme, but this does not happen when selection moves to a different button. Hence, I wonder what is happening here?

I don't know. Probably some kind of authoring bug.
Anyway, usually, a menu with music is a looping menu, and when the music is over, the menu should be restarted, as well as the highlight. If it plays another cell, you should edit the BMP of that cell with DVDSubEdit.
I can't help more w/o the original menu VOB and IFO.

It seems to me that buttons can do without any of these four colours – all that is needed is the hotspot defined by the button outline for a button to be operational. If I understand correctly, the button text layer is part of the video background and hence not concerned here.

Correct. However, note that the menu must have a subpic stream, or many players will refuse to activate the button. The subpic can be monochrome (fully transparent), but it must exist.

I still remain mystified as to the reason for the disappearance (or invisibility) of all highlights after modifying one and re-importing the subpic stream into DVDSubEdit. What could have happened?

Again, I don't know. Since you have had many problems with that menu, I suspect a severe authoring bug. Perhaps saving the modified menu with DVDSubEdit has damaged it even more. Anyway, as now you know how to modify the highlight, I suggest to start over with the original menu. Maybe you did something wrong that will not happen any more.

In another video I added a menu button to its audio menu to accommodate an audio track which has been added (i.e. was not part of the original video). The button is recognised in PgcEdit, but not in DVDSubEdit. Does this absence from the subpic stream reflect its not being muxed into the VOB?

PgcEdit doesn't modify the highlight image, and can only define a new "hot spot" for a button, as well as its command and parameters. When you save the DVD, PgcEdit should update the VOB file. There is no need to remux it completely.
DVDSubEdit, in the other hand, does exactly what PgcEdit cannot do: change the subpic. It is not supposed to be able to edit the hot spot (but it can to a certain extent modify the IFO CLUT).
With the two tools, you should be able to define a new button with an highlight.
You may still have to add the button design in the video stream, and that's a rather complex job if the menu is animated. Otherwise, it's easy to do with VobBlanker and a good paint program.

Here are some other interesting threads at Doom9:
How to make a new menu or modify the background image of a menu - Doom9's Forum
Create new / modify existing DVD menu - Doom9's Forum

[VRYK]

Many thanks for the information and for the references to creating a menu – the latter come at a good time since I have a couple of instances where menus are lacking.

I have another highlight problem. A subtitles menu has four buttons, two of which have highlights (horizontal straight lines), while a third highlight (a vertical straight line) lies outside a button hotspot. I deleted this last-mentioned highlight and created the two missing highlights. Now when either of buttons #1 or #2 is selected the highlight appears for both. I haven’t been able to fathom- why.

Is my understanding correct that the button groups correspond to the different aspect ratios?

With my best wishes for the New Year

[r0lZ]

If you can see two highlights when only one button is selected, that means that the button's area is too large and covers the two highlights. You must either change the bitmap with DVDSubEdit or the areas with PgcEdit.
Also, verify that the right colours are still assigned to the pixels. The default colour scheme (scheme #0, not editable with PgcEdit but editable with DVDSubEdit) may have changed. It is used to display the area outside the currently selected button, and it is usually totally transparent.

Yes, the button groups correspond to the display modes. (However, any group can be assigned to any display mode, so you can't tell easily what group is used for what display mode. PgcEdit resizes and/or crops the menu when a group is selected according to its assigned display mode.)

Happy new year to you too!

[VRYK]

Many thanks for your reply. I suspected the problem was as you described; with your confirmation I moved highlights and button outlines around a bit more and now the menu’s working fine.

I am again having a problem with non-one_sequential PGCs in a video where 6 out of 7 Titles are so flagged (the one exception consists of a single PGC). For example, Title 1 consists of 2 PGCs of which:
PGC 1 has video content and a single post-command (20 04 00 00 00 00 00 02) and no pre- or cell-commands.
PGC 2 has no video content and a single pre-command (30 08 00 00 01 83 00 00) and no post- or cell-commands.
If I click Title-New “Play All Title”, the new Title 8 is invalid (orange background ) with a post-command (20 04 00 00 00 00 00 36).
If I manually replace the PGC-1 post-command with the PGC-2 pre-command, leaving PGC-2 with no commands. Title 1 remains non-one_sequential. If I force it to one_sequential, PgcEdit issues the standard warning when leaving the PGC Editor.

As all menu buttons are BOVs, I wonder if this could be a complicating factor even though Title 1 has no buttons.

[r0lZ]

The post command added by New 'Play All' PGC is wrong. You should replace it with the pre-command of PGC 2.

The new PGC created by the New 'Play All' PGC function should be non-sequential. If it's not the case, it's probably because there is a non-zero NextPGCN or PrevPCN value. I suspect that, because it's the only reason to add a dummy PGC attached to a Title. Clear that value, or replace it with the number of the current PGC.

The non-sequential nature of the new PGC can also be caused be the PG playback mode being not sequential (random or shuffle). Verify that in the PGC Editor, but it's probably not the case. Verify also the not-one_sequential flag in the Title Play Map table, but it should be already clear.

If you want to force the "main" PGC (with video content) of a multi-PGC Title to sequential, you must destroy the dummy. (A multi-PGC Title cannot be sequential, even when all cells are in the same PGC.) If it's the last PGC of the VTST, it's easy. Just use Domain -> Delete last PGC in Domain. Then clear the not-one_seq flag in the Title Play Map, and verify the Prev/NextPGCN values.