1) I don't want to put a lot of video onto the DVD, since I need the space for all those 30 minute audio files. I can have a still graphic display with each audio clip, but I'd prefer something that moves. Therefore the interest in a looping video of some sort. Another option would be to have the menu itself visible when the audio is playing. Is there a way to do that?

2) The MP3 audio plays fine on my set top DVD player. Maybe it is converted somehow during the DVD creation process, or maybe not. Whatever is the case, it seems to play fine.

3) I'm trying to figure out what a music compilation IS. Can the user select each song individually?

1. You could make a lot of menus and set the audio as the background music/sound. If you want to loop it, the loop would have to last the entire length of the audio file.
2. If you make a data disc mp3's will play but there will be no way of making it a DVD Video. On my set top player I can play mp3's but they have to be on a cd (I don't know why it won't play a data mp3 DVD), but CD's are all it will accept for mp3. To make a video DVD, the audio must be converted... explore the disc and you will see in the Video_TS folder a bunch of files with .vob extensions as well as some others. These are the encrypted files that DVD players read. There won't be any mp3 files... and for that matter you won't see .pcm or .ac3, but all audio has to be converted and mp3 is not an option for DVD Standards.
3. Click here to do a search on this site. Just type in Music Compilation as it has been covered extensively here before. You could also try looking at the .pdf manual that came with your software as it covers it as well. Not the quick start guide, but the manual.

j razz

A music compilation is a way to combine multiple MPEG files into one MPEG file (more or less) so that it plays as one continuous file. Everything is put into one titleset, so you only end up with a single series of VOB files (i.e., they are all the same basic number). Each MPEG file (or in your case, AC-3 file) will automatically become a chapter, so you can navigate to it by pressing the chapter advance on your remote, or by pressing numbers on your remote.

Each music compilation becomes a separate titleset.

You can also put music in a picture compilation, and of course you can simply put the music in a playlist. Playslists are primarily navigation tools that let you take the same material that is already on your DVD and provide alternate ways of navigating through the material, without having to add the material more than once.

This is a very incomplete explanation. For more, read the documentation, the help file, search these forums, and also search VASST, DMN, etc. I think Ed Troxel has tutorials at his site (jetdv.com) that may help you as well.

John,

Thanks for the info. I've printed out the manuals now, and they are SUPER! The Quick Start Manuals are so cut down that they aren't highly useful.

It looks like no matter what I do, the program stretches the MP3 into real time, so I can't really fit 40 hours of MP3 audio onto a playable DVD. I CAN put 4GB of MP3 files onto a DVD, but the DVD player doesn't recognize and play them, as it does with MP3 files on a CD. Maybe there's a way to do it, but I haven't figured it out.

It definitely can be done. I have a DVD with nothing but AC-3 audio files. It is about 40 hours long. You need to put the MP3 files into the compilation and then let DVDA convert them to AC-3. There is a small time quality loss, but you'll never hear it with OTR as the source (pretty low fidelity). Even with Hi-Fi sources, the quality hit isn't bad. Any DVD player will then play the disc. You can even add visual navigation, etc.

Good luck with your project, Lou.

What shows are you putting on DVD? I'm a big fan of the old shows and have collected quite a few, especially Jack Benny, Burns and Allen and the Great Gildersleeve. I just really got nto the Suspense series, and am enjoying those.

I might have to try to do what you are doing, and see what I come up with. It just hadn't occured to me to put them on a DVD in that fashion. Mostly I just dump them over to the mp3 for the drive to and from work and our tripps.

Tom

John,

Thanks for the info. I will persist.

Tom,

I do the OTR stuff for my wife, who is a huge Great Gildersleeve fan. I'm becoming one, too -- the programs are well done, have nice stories, and are still valid 40+ years later.

We get ours from www.otrcat.com, which sells discs full of OTR programs for $5 each. Not bad for about 40 hours of program material. He seems to have a huge collection, and he organizes things very well.

Lou Sander