Adding a new menu to a pre-existing DVD

parachutist wrote on 4/4/2007, 5:18 PM

I do linear editing for speed to create a DVD on a standalone DVD recorder. What I'd like to do is take the burned but unfinalized DVD out of the standalone recorder, put into my computer and simply add a menu using DVDA.

Is it possible to do this using the video that's already on the DVD? Or will DVDA need to record the whole video + menu from scratch?

I didn't see any mention of this scenario in the manual, but I'm hoping it's possible =]

TIA,
Chris

Comments

MPM wrote on 4/4/2007, 7:06 PM

1st off you have to get the mpg2 on your PC's hard drive -- usually not a problem but depends on your DVDR. PgcDemux works well, but there are other programs you can use to get your separate video and audio streams. Once on your hdd you can do cut edits in a few programs, regular edits using something like one of the Womble products, or re-render to mpg2 after doing normal editing in Vegas [probably want to use DGIndex & VFAPI]. You might have some success editing your audio (AC3?) but I've had better luck converting to regular wav, editing, then re-encoding to AC3 with a little boost in volume. These optionally edited streams should import into DVDA for authoring.

If you're currently doing editing in your DVDR, you *Might* have luck copying only the edited title using Shrink or similar -- perhaps a ripper like DVDFabDecryptor? The key would be if they followed the player directions for the title rather than just copying all the mpg2 that you've recorded -- AFAIK editing with a DVDR simply writes directions not to play those portions you've cut, but they're still there.

johnmeyer wrote on 4/4/2007, 7:18 PM

I just did this yesterday. It was very easy. However, my source was not a DVD from a set-top DVD recorder, but instead from my own previously recorded DVDs.

If you have finalized your DVD, try simply copying all the VOB files to your hard drive. Next, drag those VOBs into the DVDA project list. You should then be able to add chapter markers, and then add menu items that point to those chapters.

If you want to edit the VOBs (cut them) and/or if you want to add the chapter stops BEFORE you bring them into DVDA, and if you don't want to spend any money, you can use DVD Shrink. Use the "Re-Author" mode which lets you cut on "I" frame boundaries. It's the world's cheapest MPEG-2 editor. There are various tutorials on how to use the re-author mode, but it is extremely simple once you read the tutorials. Basically zero learning curve.

So, yes, you can create as fancy a set of menus as you want, and you won't have to recompress any video. The whole operation is very straightforward and doesn't take very long.