The last file on my DVDs are always the credits which are separate from the main movie. Since DVDA can set end actions, all I do is set the end action of my credits to the top menu and hence you don't get to the next chapter if there would be one. I have done DVDs with extras in DVDA before, not a problem at all.

Setting a deliberate specific action is always desirable where you can but some of what you are actually predicting in your authoring is biased by your single own expectations. For example, in your authoring mind, you say to yourself, that with a certain firmware, remote, and set-top player hardware I predict that one single press of the next button will get me to....?. Generally you can author in this fashion but for limited audiences and known dynamics. Predicting what a blind audience might do and subsequently ultimately cause headaches in the playback interface is the province of more robust solutions.

videoITguy

Thanks for the reply, but you did not answer my questions.

Sorry videoITguy but I disagree with you... totally. You can predict what people are doing, you can't what machines are doing. Nevertheless, I have been doing it this way for the last 7 years and not a single complain from a customer. I also test all my discs on 7 different players, from the very early and very simple Panasonic to one of the later BD players from Sony and they all work as predicted. I have even two old PAL DVD players which I feed with NTSC disc to make sure they work in those too.

And by the way, you have not yet provided an example like my picture that would show the structure you are talking about.

videoITguy, you are spreading some incorrect information in this thread.

DVDAPro can create one video title set consisting of many vobs

This is not true. DVDA can create DVDs with multiple video title sets. OldSmoke posted a screengrab above of a DVD containing 4 video title sets and here is a similar one with 4 video title sets I am currently working on:



Here is a screengrab from PgcEdit, where the 4 titles are actually listed as "Titles".



Question: how do you create title set 2 in DVDAPro?

You author it with a logical menu structure and DVDA takes care of it under the hood. Here's my project that created the above structure:



Just shows that .vob sizing has occurred which would be normal for a lot of video/menu content.

This is not true. Within one video title set, video objects "fill up" to 0.99 GB (1,024,000 KB) and flow into the next video object. For example, from my screen grab, within video title set 03, the first 3 VOBs have each reached their maximum size and further data within the VTS is stored in the next VOB:

VTS_03_01.VOB 0.99 GB
VTS_03_02.VOB 0.99 GB
VTS_03_03.VOB 0.99 GB
VTS_03_04.VOB 517 MB

However the examples shown by OldSmoke and myself contain VOBs (e.g. VTS_04_1.VOB) belonging to distinct video title sets which DVDA has created for us. In our examples none of the VOBs called "VTS_0X_1.VOB" was created as the result of sizing/overflow of a "previous" VOB.

Where did you get the notion that DVDA can only create one video title set?

In DVDAPro Version 5.0b, create a SD DVD with a video asset of 99 chapters..try adding the 100th chapter - what happens?

Subject: RE: Title: Multiple End Actions
Reply by: videoITguy
Date: 6/12/2013 11:57:01 AM

+1 for TOG62 - noting the heart of the matter here - methods of chapter marks and set in/out points as well as small individual clips are all suitable for complex projects - and I often have incorporated all these methods concurrently in one title of an authored disc in DVDAPro. 99 links apply to one title.

When you use the DVDAPro helpfile the following numbers entered into a search box will tell you more:

99 - for chapters, media assets, button links
1023 - for menu pages per title per single video title set
18 - for max number of buttons per menu/page matrix per title in widescreen -
36 - for max number of buttons per menu/page matrix per title in SD television format 4:3 aspect -
250 - for max buttons per Blu-ray title
999 - for chapters per Blu-ray title
255 - for markers within in a playlist per title per single video title set



then discuss this:

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=22&MessageID=880987


http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=22&MessageID=860089

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/forums/ShowMessage.asp?ForumID=22&MessageID=861613

From MediaChance.com
Flexible DVD structure - Note the selling point - read the full help file:
DVD-lab PRO is a full Multiple-VTS application, that means you can put different aspect ratios or movies with different audio channels on one DVD. But unlike other Multi-VTS applications in this category, DVD-lab PRO does not force you to use any predefined DVD structure. Each Video Title Set can be as complex or as simple as you want. The full flexibility of creating the DVD structure is one of the strongest point of DVD-lab PRO.

I would guess that it bombs out because 99 chapters in one title set is the max. Is that so, and if so, what is your point.? If it doesn't, what is your point?

Yes, PeterDuke, that would be the point - recall our discussions in the post just above yours...?

I've lost you guys completely, all I want to do is put a movie and 350 pictures on 1 Blueray with 1 menu where I can choose to start the film or the pictures, it shouldn't take a year of studying Blueray specs, I hope someone agrees with me?

I thought I built that, because when i previewed the Blueray in DVDA it worked like a charm. After the render it doesnt work, I call that a bug in the software.

The help file says:

"Each title on your Blu-ray Disc can have no more than 999 chapter markers. If your compilation contains additional pictures beyond these limits, you can navigate to them using the Fast Forward button on your player (Previous/Next Chapter buttons allow navigation through the first 99 pictures for DVD, and the first 999 for Blu-ray Disc)."

So why is it only accepting 255 orange chapter markers in the design process and why is it only showing even a lot less of those pictures in the final rendered Blueray??

It seems that all VideoITguy is doing is trying to prove why I can't call that a bug in the software because I don't understand all the technical details of the Blueray/DVD specs, but shouldn't the software take care of making a compliant Blueray for me when i use the intuitive interface in the way they describe it in the help file?

I even tried making a new test project and only put 1 picture compilation of 350 pictures on the Blueray, nothing more, same result....

I will explain step by step what I'm doing, maybe someone can see if I'm actually doing something wrong?

1. Start a new Blueray project
2. Right click the design area and choose 'insert picture compilation'
3. Doubleclick this new item to open it
4. I drag the 350 pictures (1920x1080) into the compilation area at the bottom that says 'drag and drop image files from the explorer"
5. After a few seconds the list of 350 pictures is in this compilation

BTW when I choose the 'timeline' TAB it shows me 255 orange chapter markers and the rest up to 350 is green , indicating that 255 is the limit...even though the help file suggests 999 is the limit

6. In the compilation area I select all images and click on the 'Generate slideshow animation icon' and then OK with the defaults to make the images zoom and pan

7. I render the Blueray, thats it!

BTW Before rendering it says that 'there are too many slides in the picture compilation, they will not all have chapter markers' even though its way less than 999...

The dude, very sorry for the derailment.

videoITguy, your reply to goes to illustrate that you have been spreading the same misinformation in other threads too. You keep saying that DVDA can only make DVDs with one title. You are wrong.

As further evidence, as my screen grabs above obviously weren't enough, here's a photo of my player's pop-up menu, showing 4 titles on the DVD that I authored in DVDA:



"DVD-lab PRO is a full Multiple-VTS application, that means you can put different aspect ratios or movies with different audio channels on one DVD."

You can do that in DVDA too. The DVD I am working on now has a 16:9 title and a 4:3 title. And in the past I have authored DVDs in DVDA with a both a narration audio channel and a music-only audio channel for the same video, selectable from the menu.

For sure DVDA has limitations that DVD-Lab Pro probably doesn't, but creating DVDs with multiple titles isn't one of them.

@ The Dude

My SWAG

I looked at the Internal preferences of DVD Architect and found an entry that would lead me to believe that this is either a "bug" in DVD Architect or a design decision made by SCS.



I was unable to change that field to any number greater than 255. [I]Further SWAGGING[/I], the coders may have only devoted one hex byte to enumerating the chapters per Scene Selection Page.

1) File a Bug Report and/or 2) limit the number of slides to 255 or less.

If you want to see this and other SCSSS:

Hold the Control + the Shift keys and select Options / Preferences. You will be presented with an Internal tab where there is a search box.

Disclaimer:

Have a good image backup before you do anything I do.

I don't work for Sony Creative Software and my observations are worth what you paid for them.

After March 1, 2015, I won't be working for anyone.

Good sleuthing John Dennis - hmm, this ranks as one of the absolute greatest reveals in sometime....the question really becomes is the coding solid behind these preferences and what happens when you change both internally on the PC and again what results come out on the burned disc. I am very impressed that you discovered this interface -albeit something dangerous.

Nice discovery John. Lots of things in there that I would change and experiment with if I was doing a lot of DVD projects.

Thank you John!

That explains very well why it doesnt work for 350 or 999 pictures...
Maybe they also have a secret setting that says "after displaying 177 pictures out of 255 turn the screen black on Bluerays to annoy the user" ;)

I'll put your findings in the support ticket, but I've given up hope they will look at it this year since its been registered and not looked at for more than a week now...

Marcel

The dude, if you bypassed my earlier post just above with specs, you should re-note that the spec allows you 1023 pages in your title. So if you follow my advice about the menu page metaphor, you can get close to 1023 images per disc. You won't get that exactly because as you add more pics in that scheme you are going to incur overhead in the menu structure that will not contribute to another picture. Play it smartly - you could get close.

Hi VideoITguy,

I didn't bypass it, I just dont understand what you mean by 'using menu pages as the authoring metaphor' for my project where I need a slideshow?

Did you mean I should not put the slideshow on the main menu page with the film or something?

Just to put it in one simple question: What should I do to create a slideshow of 350 pictures in DVDA that works?

I'm really dying to get this project fixed because its a wedding video and my customers are getting impatient... :(

So any way to get the 350 pictures on the Blueray in a way that they can see them all on a TV screen is fine! I prefer to do it as a slideshow with chapters but if that is just not possible I will have to make it into a video with Vegas...

Thank you for all your help!

Marcel