Comments

bStro wrote on 5/27/2005, 7:38 AM
Can skip chapters or has to? The viewer always can skip chapters. ;-)

If you're asking if you can set up a playlist that only has certain chapters, the answer is "sort of ." The thing is, chapters on DVDs aren't so much sections of a video, but rather bookmarks -- the beginning of a chapter is indicated on the DVD, but there's not really an ending. (You could think of the beginning of one chapter to be the end of the previous, but I'm not sure that's technically the case.)

So. If I'm interpreting your question correctly, what you would do is decide how many sections of your video you want on the playlist and drag the video into your Project Overview window (onto the root icon) that many times.

For example, say your video has six chapters, and you want a playlist that plays chapters 1, 3, 5 and 6. Then you drag the video in three times.

Then you divide each instance into the segments you want on the playlist: Double-click one instance and move its Out point to Chapter 2 (this leaves only Chapter 1). Double-click another instance and move its In Point to Chapter 3 and its Out point to Chapter 4 (these leaves only Chapter 3). Then double-click the third instances and drag its In point to Chapter 5 (this leaves Chapters 5 and 6).

(When doing this, keep in mind that moving the In point may alter the chapter numbering for that instance. After all, if your video starts after your original "Chapter 2," then it obviously can't be Chapter 2 anymore. For this reason, I usually change the Out point first so I don't get confused on the numbers.)

Rename each instance to something descriptive.

Then insert a playlist and add each segment.

Using this method, DVDA will only insert the video file once, but will reference each section of it accordingly.

Rob
Patryk Rebisz wrote on 5/28/2005, 1:37 AM
Rob, thanks for your elaborate answer but i think we missunderstood each other. What i meant to ask is if i have say 3 files in the playlist. Right now there is no way i can just gro from 1 file to the 2nd then to the 3rd... I have to play it from begining to the end. So how can i set up those chapters?
johnmeyer wrote on 5/28/2005, 8:07 AM
Press M on the timeline to set a chapter stop.
Patryk Rebisz wrote on 5/29/2005, 11:17 AM
yes, but if i have say 3 different timelines each with chapter 1 at the begining of the clip...???
johnmeyer wrote on 5/29/2005, 4:22 PM
I don't understand what you are asking.
Patryk Rebisz wrote on 5/31/2005, 10:50 AM
when you create a playlist with A3 the playlist consists of say 3 video clips. Each clip has a "built in" chapter 1 at the begining of its timeline. That means i have a playlist consisting of 3 clips with chapter 1 at the begining of the clip. obviously that doesn't let me jump from one chapter to another because i would need "chapter 2" at the begining of clip no. 2 -- right? If that's the case how can i build a playlist where the viewer can actually jump from clip 1 to 2 to 3?
rsp wrote on 5/31/2005, 12:56 PM
So you have 3 "seperate" movies - add those to your project - add a playlist and select those 3 movies- you can even change the running order

That's it - user should be able to skip from one movie to another unless it is a stand-alone related problem?
Patryk Rebisz wrote on 5/31/2005, 1:48 PM
Ok, I'm stupid and slow.

If i create a playlist all those seperate movies have chapter 1. Yes i can change the order but how do i change that chapter???
bStro wrote on 5/31/2005, 5:35 PM
but how do i change that chapter???

You don't.

Chapters are used to bookmark different points within a single, complete video. A playlist is not a single, complete video. It is simply a set of instructions for the DVD player to run several videos. You can set chapter markers within each of those videos, but you cannot "assign" a chapter number to any of those videos in the context of that playlist.

If you want them to behave as chapters, they have to be part of one video. To do that, combine them outside of DVDA or put them into a music compilation.

Rob