Here we go again!

wolfbass wrote on 8/22/2004, 6:28 AM
In my relentless persuit of a better quality product, I'm trying out lots of different tips I've picked up through the Sydney VASST and the wonderful knowledge of the people of this forum.

My two questions (this time!). And yes, I have RTFM :)

1/. I've got a project that has about 22 chapters. I want to make a menu in DVDA where I can select a chapter and have it repeat (loop?). I can make the menu (i.e. I can see the chapters), but I can't seem to get the chapters to loop.

2/. I've rendered to MPEG-2 and AC3 5.1 in Vegas, but now DVDA wants to recompress my MPEG. Obviously I don't want it to. Any ideas why it wants to?

As usual, Any help greatly appreciated.

Comments

Spot|DSE wrote on 8/22/2004, 7:41 AM
1. How many times do you want it to loop? End actions would be one way, but do you want people stuck in that loop forever, or do you want to eventually offer them a way out?
DVDA will want to recompress your MPEG if it's too large for the project. Remember, menus take up space as well, and DVDA has to account for those. Did you render audio with your MPEG 2? Or did you render a separate stream?
wolfbass wrote on 8/23/2004, 1:05 AM
Spot:

Thanks for the reply. I rendered without audio to MPEG-2. The 5.1 file i rendered seperate.

The total is 3.9 GIG for the disc. Plenty of room left. It shouldn't have to rerender to fit.

I want it to loop until I use the remote to selecet the next chapter. I've tried end actions, but they appear not to work.

Andy
farss wrote on 8/23/2004, 1:14 AM
Getting it to loop means setting it as an end action of the clip. However you also want to be able to Play All which presents a problem. You'd need to be able to control the end action based on the entry point and I don't think DVDA is that smart (yet). You could get around this but you'd need two copies of the media on the DVD which would be pushing it for the amount of stuff you've got.

Bob.
wolfbass wrote on 8/23/2004, 6:23 PM
Bob:

Thanks for the reply. I guess I'll just have to have the remote handy and repeat the chapters manually.

Any thoughts on why DVDA insists on wanting to rerender my MPEG-2?

Also Bob: You're in Brisbane aren't you?

Andy
Spot|DSE wrote on 8/23/2004, 6:42 PM
Is it rendering the whole file, or just the audio?
Is the file too large for the project with menus inserted?
wolfbass wrote on 8/23/2004, 6:47 PM
SPOT:

Nope, project is still 3.9gigs, and I've tried it both ways, rendering with Audio and without.

Thanks in advance.

Andy
wolfbass wrote on 8/24/2004, 12:05 AM
bump
wolfbass wrote on 8/24/2004, 5:36 PM
bump
apit34356 wrote on 8/24/2004, 7:21 PM
when rendering in vegas for mpeg2, did you select template for "dvd arch pal video stream"?
Are your defaults for DVDA preferences set for "pal"?
wolfbass wrote on 8/24/2004, 7:35 PM
No, I selected 2 pass render for pal.
apit34356 wrote on 8/24/2004, 8:35 PM
try running "bitrate" program on the vegas output file. check bit range to see if it outside the DVDA default ranges. Also review output for flashframes, one frame orphans, usually indicated by spikes in the bitrates.
farss wrote on 8/24/2004, 8:42 PM
Wolf,
I'm in Syndey IF that helps.

I've had the odd re-encode oddity from DVDA but saving,closing and re-opening the project fixed it.

If you've encoded from Vegas TL using DVDA template I cannot see any reason why DVDA 2 thinks it needs to re-encode.

Ah, but IF you have motion menus they do need re-encoding?

PS If you're in Syndey too you could give me a ring maybe?

email me first: farssAToptusnetDOTcomDOTau

Bob.
wolfbass wrote on 8/24/2004, 9:01 PM
Bob:

I didn't encode via the DVDA template, I encoded via dual pass PAL MPEG-2, so I guess that's the problem.

Shame, I though the whole reason for the dual pass was to maximise quality. I might as well render to AVI then let DVDA do the MPEG if this is the case.

Cheers,

Andy
farss wrote on 8/24/2004, 9:53 PM
Andy,

just use the DVDA template and then check the 2 pass box, simple!

Using the template does NO more than setting all the values, you can change any or all of them using the template as a starting point.

Bob.
wolfbass wrote on 8/24/2004, 11:57 PM
Thanks again Bob, I'll give that a whirl.

Andy
VegasVidKid wrote on 8/25/2004, 12:32 AM
You may be able to do a work-around for the looping chapter by creating a menu button that is full sceen (and use the sound from the clip as the background audio. It seems feasible in DVDA1, so may be even easier in DVDA2.
wolfbass wrote on 8/26/2004, 6:07 PM
I encoded using the DVDA template, and all appears to be fine now I can even select 5.1 surround and then prepare DVD and it's all working.

Happy Days!

Thanks Bob and Spot for the help.

If any of you have time, an explaination of what is different between a render to DVDA MPEG-2 Pal and normal MPEG-2 Pal render would be informative.

Andy
Spot|DSE wrote on 8/26/2004, 10:21 PM
If you use the DVD Architect PAL, it renders a video-only stream. That's the difference between the Architect output and the standard PAL output in Vegas. Nothing more.
Grazie wrote on 8/27/2004, 12:11 AM
Andy, I've taught myself to click on and then read the "details" of the formats - this has helped me - BUT please don't ask me about the "Psychoacoustic" models .. I'll leave that to SPOT! . . sounds like an Hitchcock character with an hearing problem - yeah? . .But, yes, the details of the formats is very interesting. If you compare DVDA PAL to straight DVD PAL the DVDA PAL has all the Audio options "greyed" out.

Grazie
wolfbass wrote on 8/27/2004, 7:51 AM
Graham:

Yeah, I know I'd like to, and should, know more, but sometimes I just want it to work, and get the job done! :)

Thankfully, when at my wit's end, the forum rescues me!

Andy