Say, you have a video segment from which you want several options to be serviceable at the end of play of the segment.
Set the end action of the video play to be automatic and given to the pointing to a menu page. On the menu page present the various option buttons - for example - (1) repeat play of the last segment (2) jump to another video of some different subject (3) etc.

Steve,

I've been working with separate titles project-wide and so far so good; however, as the project is nearing completion, I am getting dangerously close to exceeding the 99 title limit DVDA and/or DVDs themselves impose. By combining/stitching a handful of short titles together (in combination with the individual titles I have already), I'm looking to consolidate my estimated 100+ title project to avoid the need to delete content.

I was hoping that the stitched titles could be programmed to function identically to single titles so the viewer won't notice any difference between menus using stitched or single titles.

I'll take a look at videoITguy's suggestion and see if it provides a solution.

Thanks for the reply!

videoITguy,

I'll try your suggestions and see if they work. Thanks for your help!!

videoITguy -

I don't seem to have any end action options in my version of DVDA 5.2 to set to automatic.

I have the following drop-down options available:
Command: Link/Stop
Destination: most recent menu...etc.
Destination Item: Start/Loop Point
Destination button: N/A

The last 3 options are related to audio and subtitles.

It would appear that my end action options are limited; I'm not sure how I would set the media EA to "auto."

Thanks.

In DVDAPro - for the media properties of a video segment - if you set the endaction to link to something else- by default that is an automatic activated link - in other words (as you know all menus are just videos) then the link is supposedly becoming a continuous flow of movie stream from the video segment to a linked menu. This may not work extremely efficiently in a burned disc media BECAUSE the video and menu stream locations can not be ordered in the file hierarchy.

Now I know you are contemplating a pressed disc output - so test , test, and test with the help of your service bureau.

vITg,

You've confirmed my suspicion that each chapter point or a designation/delineation within a title cannot be assigned an individual end/service action (i.e. single title, 3 chapters - after chapter 1 completes, the viewer is returned to the previous menu and button #2 is highlighted) - only the title itself is programmable after it plays through.

That stated, it appears that I'm relegated to either deleting a few titles or perhaps stitching the multiple titles of the instructional menu (menu 1) into a single title - including play buttons as scene selectors rather than links to separate videos/titles and the functionality they would permit.

While this is not perfect, I don't think it will be objectionable to the viewer provided a clear explanation is included in said instructional, distinguishing the first menu's functionality from the the 17 subsequent.

Thanks for the explanation vITg. And YES, I will be CERTAIN to thoroughly TEST, TEST, TEST before submitting my DL masters to the replicator!! I will state for the record that so far everything works flawlessly on my high-end set top player, a cheap "give-away" player and a new portable player I've purchased for testing.

Cheers,

Steve M.

I just had an idea respective to my above mentioned concern about the need to consolidate titles in order to keep the total under the 99 limit and I managed to test it successfully in DVDA 5.2, but not on a burn as yet.

When recently adding multiple audio tracks to a title, I realized that one can as well add multiple video tracks for video angles. It dawned on me that I should be able to add up to 8 total videos to the same title (9 technically, but DVDA seems to only support 8 audio tracks).

If I'm not a little punchy at this ungodly hour, my thinking is this:

Add several shared menu videos to the same title in separate tracks. Seeing that the out point will need to be positioned where the lengthiest video ends, I can make all of these clips the identical length by simply "padding out" shorter clips with blank space at the beginning - both audio and video. I can add individual chapter points to the title on the I frames where each video begins and link each to its respective play button. I would then simply set the audio track change to the correlating track.

Whereas I'll not be able to program the title end action to return to a specific play button for each video, I will achieve the same functionality of a separate title returning to the previous menu after it plays through. I will of course disable the video angle remote button.

Am I correct in understanding that the added video clips under a single title are assets only and not separate titles?

As I mentioned, this does work within DVDA, but I'm wondering if this workaround may invoke issues I've not yet considered.

Any opinions are welcomed of course.

Perhaps this workaround (if viable) will serve to help the next poor soul who has to wrestle with the 99 title limit in a complex project such as mine.

Thanks,
Steve M.

Gosh , Steve, ever since I first corrected your terminology of the term title in the DVD authoring process - you just continue to flail around with these terms over and over again. You are certainly persistent!

Media assets are the only thing you are dealing with in a SCS DVDAPro authoring environs - you have only ONE TITLE - period -something you cannot manipulate in this software.

You can author multiple video angles with multiple video assets in a single video timeline easily. But keep in mind that each 'angle' shaves the quality in half. Two angles - each media asset quality is one-half of its original value. ON a Blu-ray disc this is not a big deal.
On DVD - well ,...its a compromise. Do not add more than two angles as the usage will get self-defeating to the customers ability to interpret what is going on. Two angles can be effective if you lead off with instructions included in your total package how you expect the customer to use it.

Video angles on a timeline must have the same exact timeline length of play. Remote controls for DVD players differ in their accessibility to the angle. Generally older set-top players are better designed to give the best customer experience.

End actions or even on-screen buttons within the play of the timeline will be interpreted by the player to do the same thing regardless of which angle is in current view.

At least I now know the theoretical workaround I had hoped would address my issue is a no go. I had a suspicion that it seemed too good to be true.

Next, this "title" back and fourth thing has become a thorn in my side (to be polite). DVDA's instruction manual specifies the term "title", DVD Lab's specs do as well, plus every other participant (except you) in this and an additional thread in the V-Pro section used the term in the same context as have I - not to mention countless additional sources on the web. I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm saying you've not quantified this title thing to where I am able to make sense of it - the #1 definition of your DVD 101 primer was contradictory or at best unclear. The heck do ya mean???

Again, I elevate my chin in hopeful preparedness for a full on slug in the face with a straight answer or three - I don't need to do any DVD soul searching at this time or do I wish to pop on by Mr. Wizard's DVD tech lab - maybe later.

(1) What in God's name is the proper term for the video files appearing in my project overview window which reside outside of the menu folders if NOT "title?"
(2) How many of these (for now unnamed) media entities may be included in a single project?
(3) What about additional media assets (provided I've not improperly referenced them) such as menu images, video thumbs, additional audio tracks, etc do they add to the restrictive tally?
(4) What specifically is the quantitative constraint of 99 within one project respective to...total media clips (yet to be properly termed), number of menus, total files (all media clips including those listed above combined not to exceed 99), links from play buttons...please for the love of all that's holy what?

Just to reiterate, I have close to 100 videos which I'd like to be able to link and play individually spread out over 18 menus (each menu has video thumbs and graphics, one thumb for each linked video plus background images) - where is/are my restriction(s)?

AS i only suggested the first time - Steve, you need to read the original DVD specification document as translated from Japan.

SCS has the documentation written loosely in "their" language and its totally mis-leading from what the spec actually is.

DVDLABPro by Mediachance goes into a fair diatribe about this - but maybe borders on it's own sins as terms get thrown around in other parts of its help file.

Think of a title this way - it is a so-called wall around a DVD authoring process. Here is how a Scenarist author in Hollywood might use it.
1) Issue a feature length movie title on DVD - that is walled -in by one title with many scenes. On the same DVD offer a special section called Extras which includes movie bloopers, a director's feature documentary etc. - This is walled in by the second title of the authored DVD. This DVD contains two (2) titles, but has many scenes, many audio tracks, many subtitle tracks, and a whole lot of menus and video segments.

Simply in DVDARchPro by SCS - -it is called an auto-single title app - you can not create more than one title with 99 links.

Again you leave me needing more.

What are links - merely the connections from my menu play buttons to the media clips or does every single asset add to the tally? In my case (which at this time is my only concern) I have just under 100 videos which will link from 18 different menus. Four of these media clips will have multiple sound tracks - does this add to the 99? Do the menu thumbs and video thumbs add to the 99 link limit???

as you hint at in your quest - it is simply put a matter of mathematical order. For example it is in actual practice you could have 97 or 98 short segments of video enabled by links of one or more menus per one DVD title.
One complicating factor is that you can have only so many menus per title and only so many links per menu. All in the DVD specs, sir.

As everyone has mostly hinted to you - the most efficient design you can have with an auto single title app as DVDAPro - is one single video with 97 or so chapter markers. But of course from the user point of view enabling real benefit from this choice is almost impossible. And that is the art side of DVD creation.

Again as I have hinted to you in the beginning - your project and it's goals are better suited by a higher level of authoring tools (those that can build multi-title double layer pressed DVD master) than what you are attempting to do with SCS products.

Hints I don't need - time to get empirical. It seems that media assets such as audio tracks, graphics and video thumbnails don't add to the 99 limit provided they are dragged into an existing media timeline from the explorer window and/or ARE NOT brought into the left pane.

I just added about 40 dummy clips (with my existing media files - totaled 100 for testing) to the left pane of the overview window and when I went to prepare the DVD; I got the 99 warning.

I deleted the one clip which took me over 100 and the error was not present on my next attempt to prepare the DVD.

Evidently DVDA doesn't count assets residing outside of the left pane window of the project. Based upon my new found understanding of DVDA's unique media restriction, I THINK I'll be OK. I have no interest in or the time to purchase and learn another piece of software now and starting this ridiculously complex authoring project from scratch. I'll say a few prayers and burn a DL on Monday when I pick up my DL blanks.

Maybe it's not really all that complicated after all?

OK, as a fairly low level user I contribute to this thread with some trepidation. However, If I were faced with this requirement here is what I would do supposing that I had shot 100 clip and wanted to place them on 10 menu pages:

Render groups of 10 clips to 10 files in Vegas, or whatever NLE I used.
Create my DVDA project with 10 menu pages.
Drag one file (or asset) 10 times onto each page.
Set the in and out points of each menu item to a position corresponding to each original clip.
Set the end point of each item to whatever is required.

The fact that you can add an asset as many times as you like to a DVDA project without increasing the space taken up is one of the main reasons that I use the program.

As I have never worked on projects of this size I don't know if multiple references to the same asset contribute to the 99 asset limit.

"Maybe it's not really all that complicated after all?" - SteveM
Indeed the ART of creating an interesting DVD is ten times more difficult than the MECHANICS of authoring the DVD. You are essentially trying to get a user-friendly interface that will be satisfying to the customer - not very easy to do that - and see the next comment.

"Set the in and out points of each menu item to a position corresponding to each original clip.Set the end point of each item to whatever is required.The fact that you can add an asset as many times as you like to a DVDA project without increasing the space taken up ..." TOG62

When authoring a multi-segment of video assets in a single Video Title Set (VTS) with one Title as DVDAPro only permits - these kinds of options that TOG62 references are much more efficient within that environment. Producing complex programs with numerous menu pages and submenus only frustrate user-friendly actions.

What are the old programming addages? Don't create menus more than three levels deep? Don't create listings of pick items of more than a few that can be read in a quick 2/3 seconds on any one menu pick list?

Steve's original project emphasis is ideally suited for a DVD that has multiple video title sets each with possible multiple Titles . 1) Because he has an abundant amount of material to press on a dual layer DVD. 2) He has the expectation of many different kinds of user interactions with different sections of the program over the run of the entire disc. 3) Video Title Sets with different Titles allows the flexibility to do what he has predicted would be the user interaction with this disc.

TOG62,

Unfortunately your suggestion won't work for my project (I sincerely appreciate your kindness in sharing it nonetheless!!), as a single media clip can only have (1) in and (1) out point regardless of how many times it is dragged into a menu or linked in button properties.

As and aside: my buttons and menus are all custom, I find building the menu with all elements included, then linking through properties a much more logical workflow for my design rather than dragging media clips, resizing, aligning and replacing thumbs. Actually, because all of my menus share the same design and elements, I've simply copied and pasted all components of menu 1 to subsequent chapter pages and simply re-linked images and buttons where required. This workflow has obviated the need to realign multiple components in each of 18 instances.

Back to the in/out/chapters: If I had as an example 5 buttons on a menu page all linking to the same clip, the in/out points would be identical for each; the only way to designate "starting points" AKA chapter markers is to insert one for each button. Problem is that the media clip must play to the end before returning the viewer to the previous menu (only 1 end action per media clip). The chapter markers only serve as scene selectors not start/stop/return points which I require for my project. My media clips are "separate entities" (deliberately so), each of which includes an opening, info roll-outs, etc. I feel the viewer will quickly become annoyed sitting through back-to-back compilations of multiple brief clips with bold intros, hence my "single entity" design.

If you've not seen the flow charts I've created, please take a look at the links below. Hopefully you'll understand my project design more clearly than I've been able to convey in this string:

http://s1261.photobucket.com/user/pcasttv/media/1flowchart_zpsc1afc0e5.jpg.html?sort=3&o=2

http://s1261.photobucket.com/user/pcasttv/media/2flowchart_zps0a49c26f.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

http://s1261.photobucket.com/user/pcasttv/media/3flowchart_zps2a3b9506.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1

Please note in the last chart, I have since abandoned the chapter marker method for reasons I described above. Please be sure to enlarge these charts to max as there's a lot of info on them.

Cheers,
Steve M.

VITG,

I'll respond without copying and pasting all of the previous comments to keep this post streamlined and with any luck "interesting." I should add that the majority of this post should be considered elective reading.

I addressed the suggested chapter marker method above. Unless there is a way to have each chapter return to the previous menu after completing (that was my original query in this string wasn't it?), that won't work for me - moot point at this time unless there is a loophole.

Regarding my DVD design and user-friendliness: As this disc will be an accompaniment to a tangible, co-ed fitness/therapeutic/sports performance product, SANE end-users will not wish to view the disc in a typical linear fashion; this is precisely why I've designed the disc as I have. In fact the end-user CAN'T view this disc in a linear fashion as per my design - it is a selection only disc.

Cogitating the "art" of user-friendly design, I invested a lot of time developing this interface, and quite frankly if there were no bounds within the realm of DVD authoring, I'd really not change a thing. Before I even opened DVDA or created the first project graphic, I drafted a project-wide blueprint with pen and paper, developing an interface from the end-user's point of view, however keeping my program and its most succinct delivery to viewers with different needs/interests in mind. I've been involved in the fitness biz for most of my life as a trainer, an innovator and an end-user; resultantly I have a multi-angle perspective of the genre and I understand the end-user's needs.

I've purchased numerous pieces of home fitness equipment over the years (for myself and others) and I've to date found the accompanying video instructionals (when included) sorely lacking. One of the biggest influences (in this case what NOT to do) upon the design of this project is a video distributed by Bowflex, which accompanied a machine I bought a few years back.

After sorting through the countless nuts, bolts and what-nots, and suffering though an awkward, lengthy assembly, I was ready to take the Bowflex challenge baby! I anxiously popped the included VHS tape into my VCR (I didn't say I got this thing yesterday!) and sat through the entire 60+ minute video. While I felt the production itself was nicely done, inspirational and informative, the means by which I had to review the multitude of quirky exercise set-ups was enough to drive me into a roid rage! Due to the linear constraint of VHS, I had to skim all over the tape amid my initial workouts seeking time codes, squinting through one eye as beads of salty sweat stingingly cascaded into it. In fact I had sticky notes affixed to my Bowflex tower denoting these references - what a mess!

I'm sure current Bowflex models include more user friendly DVDs these days, but the lesson learned (in my cranium anyway) is that a fitness product offering dozens of exercises requiring various setups needs to be segmented for instant review by the end-user. I wholly believe if you understand my program and my objective to deliver the most succinct user friendly experience, you'll see the methods to my madness. See flow charts linked above - I've made a few changes since they were created, but you'll get the idea.

My target audience is as full gamut as it gets in the fitness world and each sub-demo within it will have different needs, interests and attention spans. Rather than trying to be all things to all people, I've thusly made the disc completely elective for the viewer - nothing auto-plays except the few seconds of intro media - the viewer watches precisely what he/she wants thereafter (I do instruct the viewer to click the "Get Started" play button however - within the video to which it links awaits a comprehensive orientation).

I really cannot see a better way to present my specific program based upon its intended design; when you boil it all down, there are really only 3 basic routes anyway (1) full linear - one long clip w/many chapters (2) segmented linear - several smaller clips w/fewer chapter markers as suggested above (3) fully segmented - one clip per play button which returns the viewer to previous menu after completion and the route I've chosen.

At this point, I feel I have the "art" aspect of this design under my belt (art is subjective after all); now it's a matter of the mechanics. If I can (and I expect to) get a properly working DL DVD master using my design in DVDA, I'll go with it for the first 1000 discs; this project has been side-tracked for far too long now and it needs be out for my mid-summer deadline. If I determine (from feedback, etc.) a need to re-author the disc using more sophisticated software (as hinted) I'll assuredly do so if need be. In the brief time I have left to get this thing out to the replicators, (unless this project totally tanks using DVDA) I'll be unable to explore another software solution. I am certainly open to fiddling around with a new program trial when the pressure is off.

As I've stated already, from what I'm seeing so far, this thing should function as intended using DVDA. The DL blanks will be the real acid test. I'll have them in hand tomorrow and this week should be telling.

Cheers,
Steve M.

"Is it possible to assign end actions to chapter points within a title"

Yes, contact me off-forum.

I tried sending through Sony's link on your profile but it failed:

This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification.

Delivery to the following recipients failed.

steve@XXXX.com

I obviously x'd out your addy to protect your privacy - is there another way to contact you?

Thanks,
Steve M.

Unfortunately your suggestion won't work for my project (I sincerely appreciate your kindness in sharing it nonetheless!!), as a single media clip can only have (1) in and (1) out point regardless of how many times it is dragged into a menu or linked in button properties.

I am mystified by that assertion, as I do this routinely. Just drag the item onto the menu multiple times, double click on each item and set in point, out point and end action. I guess I must have misunderstood what you are trying to achieve.

TOG62- you are exactly correct on your point about setting in and out on one video stream.

In fact in creating some special efx in DVD presentation - I use one single video stream and set in and out that regularly overlap each other. As far as taking up volume space on the disk - this is almost the best way to accomplish chapter selection.

TOG62,

"I am mystified by that assertion, as I do this routinely. Just drag the item onto the menu multiple times, double click on each item and set in point, out point and end action. I guess I must have misunderstood what you are trying to achieve."

Please don't think I was blowing off your suggestion - for whatever reason(s) I have not been able to assign multiple in/out points using the precise method you'd described. I uploaded a brief capture video on You Tube of what I'm experiencing:



Did I skip a step whereby I must save each set of in/out points?

"As I have never worked on projects of this size I don't know if multiple references to the same asset contribute to the 99 asset limit."

I found a short thread in another forum (comments quoted below) and the answer is YES it does. I should add that the guy who started the string was trying to accomplish something vastly different than am I, but the reply is where my interest and the info value lies.

Q: "I can only ever have 1 in/out point section. According to the documentation, it seems like I should be able to set several in/out sets throughout my .avi file. I am creating a Single-Movie DVD with one .avi file, but it is too long to fit on a single dvd so I'd like to edit some parts out. When I set the in point, then corresponding out point, things work fine. When I go to enter a second in point, the first one is moved to that location instead of a new one. Is there a way to not use the entire .avi file?"

A: "Correct. One In point per title, one Out point per title.

According to the documentation, it seems like I should be able to set several in/out sets throughout my .avi file.

If you're referring to the section I think you are, you're missing one important aspect: The instructions are to drag your file into the project multiple times (thus creating multiple titles) and adjust the In / Out points for each one.

At any rate, you're better off just editing down your AVI in Vegas and bringing the edited file into DVD Architect. The method you're using will put each "section" into its own title, and that can lead to erratic navigational issues."

Despite using the same media asset, DVDA sees it, or shall we say adds it to the 99 limit. So it would seem that regardless of the fact that you are pointing to/referencing the same media file, DVDA handles each individual link/reference as a separate media asset. That stated, it appears using 99 separate media assets or say 10 with 99 references would be synonymous - lest I am missing something. It sure would be nice if Sony provided proper documentation with their software - this is ridiculous already!

Steve M.