After finishing the DVD series, for the umpteenth time, I think it’s finally ready to mail out and have duplicated. So today I wrote down things that I learned in the past 8 months so I didn’t have to learn much of this over again. Using a free program (xmind) I was able to hammer this out today. Enjoy, but be careful! (Make sure you enlarge the tall image…)

This is one reason why I don’t like to work on computers. You spend 7 or 8 months working on a project, and when it’s finally done, all you have to show for your labor is 6 plastic discs, which hardly look any different from when you bought them, waiting to be sent off for duplication. Well, to be fair, the project isn’t totally finished, as I need to create DVD artwork in Spanish as well, but the hard part, it seems, is finished. I never in my life imagined re-authoring this series was going to take so much time. But hopefully it will be a benefit to many people out there. It will be fun to find out!

If you really want to know, these DVDs are in English and Spanish, over 150 menus, that means over 300 Overlays (creates the selection for the menus, in both 4:3 and 16:9 formats). First you have to create all those, and then put them all together. To proof each DVD, you need to watch the video once, listen to 2 audio tracks, and watch 5 caption/subtitle tracks for each of the 51 video clips (11 hours total.) You also have to proof all the menus, their operation (links, color, navigation) in wide and narrow formats, with the DVD player set to English, then all again set to Spanish. When you come to a problem, you fix and try again.

It will be a couple months before these will be available… but at least it’s in the pipeline!

It was 7 years ago, when I was in a similar situation. That is when this DVD set was first completed, documented by yet another photograph…

I’m thankful to the Lord for allowing the project to be completed this far, and for those who have been praying and giving support so I can stay and work on projects like this. And I look forward to getting the artwork done so we can send these out for duplication, possibly next week.

Well, here it goes. This is some of the programming that goes in behind the scenes in authoring a multi-language, multi-subtitled DVD. I realize most who read this won’t understand hardly any of it, but it’s a post to help remember what I did for future reference. As well as possibly be a help to someone else out there trying to figure it all out! Enjoy!

The Problem:
In creating DVD’s using Sonic Scenarist, the Subpicture (Subtitle) Menu is designed for use in the Video Title Set (VTS), not the Video Manager (this is not Sonic Scenarist’s problem—it’s the DVD format that has the problems.) However, the Stranger Interactive (and the STR) DVD need the Subpicture Menu to reside in the Video Manager (as each VTS is set for each chapter represented) to save duplicating the Subtitle Menu 16 times.

So, to get around that problem, one needs to use GPRM’S (General Parameters) to track the Subpicture Status (whether on or off.) One problem with this is that if the user selects SUBTITLES on his remote during a video clip (setting the SPRM (System Parameters) to “64”,) the GPRM is not updated, and hence, upon playing the next video, the subtitle selection will default to the setting BEFORE the user changed it with his remote.

The Solution:
Before a video clip is played, it needs to check the GPRM if the subtitles are ON or OFF. At the end of a clip, the SPRM needs to be checked and adjust the GPRM if the Subtitle setting has changed.

The Subtitle Menu just sets the GPRM accordingly.

My Variable Settings:
GPRM0 = subtitles (0=off, 1=on, 2=Spanish) (By default, a third subtitle track (Spanish “Text on Screen”) is shown if no subtitles are selected with Spanish audio. This puts subtitles up when there is English text on screen.)
GPRM1 = language (or Audio track - but I match menu language to the audio language) (0=English, 1=Spanish)

I’m sure there are other ways of going about this, but for now that’s the best I could figure out.

One thing I learned today:
Don’t make a video clip for a DVD, that starts ‘right now.’ Allow at least a second of black before the clip action, as some DVD players have a little ‘lag time’ in there. If you start too soon (speech within the first 10 frames) you’ll loose words!
This would be not such a big deal, except the DVD in question has 110 video clips, each with both Subtitles and Closed Captions, and a 4 day authoring time (there was a learning curve in there for this one.) And to fix, I need to put some time on the head of each clip (and tail, while I’m here), render that to AVI, then convert that to M2V, change and re-output all my captions (timing is now off) and then the subtitles. Then my hope is that if I clear my Encoded Cache files, it’ll all work right when I open Scenarist. We’ll see…

Well, first thing this morning The Lamb books arrived. Only 4500 of them this time (500 was shipped to Australia.) So glad to have them in house!

Today I learned that the empty field across from our office (an old drive-in theater) will now be developed into a 121 unit housing development. This is from the barber (Mike) next door. Then the UPS delivery man (Tony) said it was going to be a retirement center, gated community. Mike said they pulled about 8 million worth of permits. So, we’ll see what develops in the days ahead!

Barney and I hiked up Mineral Ridge, to look at the 239 bald eagles flying around. I’m not sure who counted, but that’s what they say. They fly in this time of year to eat up the spawning kokanee (land locked salmon.)

Today I noticed our first sale for By This Name on Barnes and Noble. It does take a while to get started, but so good so far! The Stranger sold 38 this month on Amazon’s Kindle. 

A great watch.

The human genome contains about 3 billion letters (not to mention the strands on either side holding it all together.) Evolution people say life “started” about 3.8 billion years ago. I’m sorry, but 3.8 billion years isn’t enough time for this putting 3 billion letters together in correct sequence by chance, starting with nothing but soup! I think you better upgrade to a googol of years. Or better yet a googolplex.

Just the 4th trip up this year—another truck-load of books and stuff!

Stopped in Missoula for the night—but all in all it was a good trip, but VERY windy.

Thanksgiving!

Getting ready for tomorrow…

Just hanging out.

Spend the day shooting several hundred rounds, qualified on the M16, some full auto, and 9mm. Fun day - thanks James!