Not like a couple weeks ago (with 53 boxes going out the door), today we only had 10.
But, in my time off, I went and talked to a friend who writes mortgages to see what kind of money I’m worth. It was interesting to note that it was more than I expected, and will even be looking at a place tomorrow. (Barney and I looked at the same place today, but will be going down w/ a realtor, another friend, to take a look.)
James 1:5
17.1 miles, 1:11:14

Ok, last Friday I finished a ‘good’ copy of The Interactive Stranger DVD. It was a long, hard project, but seemed to do well. I gave it to Lloyd to proof ‘watch’ for me. Well…he came back with some informaiton I didn’t want to hear - that the first couple words were being clipped when playing.

When I was building the video files, I was cutting things pretty close, thinking it wouldn’t be a problem. But it ended up being a problem. So this week, I’ve been adding 1 second of black video to the beginning and end of each clip (110 of them, remember?) That threw the closed captioning / subtitles off 1 second, so fixing that was in order. That’s 220 captioning files to work and export.

To implement the idea, it was better than expected. I didn’t have to delete much of the programming on the DVD disc, just all the video tracks from the Scenario Editor. Then you have to delete the tracks. Then you have to delete the video and audio clips. Once done, you can import the new clips, build your tracks (with Subtitles and Closed Captioning) then position them in the Scenario Editor, hooking the menu links back up.

I did all this, to come to find out that it now won’t fit on one DVD disc (adding 220 seconds to the clips made it too big.) Wasn’t much, about 12 mb, but there’s nothing to cut out. Sooo, after attempting to burn a DVD+R DL (Dual Layer), and succedding, but with much hassell, I decided it best to re-encode the audio to a smaller spec, saving about 57mb. I couldn’t squeeze the video anymore (there’s minimum standards for using VBR (Variable Bit Rate) and I was already as small as I could go, without jepardizing the quality significantly.

But - it worked just fine. It now fits on a single layer DVD and we are back to proofing it to make sure everything is right on.

Well, that’s about it for the week. A good learning experince, and one that I hope I never have to repeat!

Been having some trouble w/ my blog. Not sure what the deal is, and this is just a test.
BTW: Some of the video files don’t show in IE7. I might fix it - or just take them out. Time will tell…

Just a quick report - The Lamb DVD - Just the Story came in today. It will be a little while before it’s up for sale on the web, but it’s good to know that it made it in today. Last week, What’s in a Name and Flying Truth in Formation came in too. These were not real big projects, but were drawn out to completion because of all the other things going on. But I’m glad to see them finished!

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=variable setting. (0=off, 1=English (track1), 2=track2, etc.)

PreCommand of the First PGC:
Move GPRM0, 0
Move GPRM1, 64
Move GPRM2, 65
Move GPRM3, 66
Move GPRM4, 67
Move GPRM5, 1
Move GPRM6, 2
Move GPRM7, 3
Move GPRM8, 4

SubtitleOFF PreCommand:
if(GPRM0==1) link PGCN_SubtitlesON)

SubtitleOFF Button Command:
{Move GPRM0,1; Link PGCN_SubtitlesON}

SubtitleON Button Command
{Move GPRM0,0; Link PGCN_SubtitlesOFF}

PreCommand to ROOT MENU in each VTS
if(GPRM0<GPRM5)SetSTN subpicture=1:OFF
if(GPRM0==GPRM5)SetSTN subpicture=1:ON
if(GPRM0==GPRM6)SetSTN subpicture=2:ON
if(GPRM0==GPRM7)SetSTN subpicture=3:ON
if(GPRM0==GPRM8)SetSTN subpicture=4:ON

PostCommand for each video clip
SetHL_BTNN HL_BTNN=2 (or whatever the next clip is)
if(GPRM1<SPRM2)Mov GPRM 0,0
if(GPRM1==SPRM2)Mov GPRM0,1
if(GPRM2==SPRM2)Mov GPRM0,2
if(GPRM3==SPRM2)Mov GPRM0,3
if(GPRM4==SPRM2)Mov GPRM0,4
CallSS RSM=1, RootMenu

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 (speach 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…

Pantheism:

After church (which was on 1 Jn 2:14-17 - encouraging us to continue to walk w/ God, which was real good) I had some lunch and went for a bike ride. Nothing major, but it was good to get out. 18 miles, 1 hour and a half I guess.

As some of you may be aware, Lloyd takes Wednesdays off, and on these days I do the shipping in his stead. Last week we reached our record (not counting skid orders), and this week we had 31 boxes go out the door. The worst part of that, is I had only 6 boxes done by 12:30 (lots of customer service calls.) I was still packing when UPS came a couple hours later. It was a relief when he came because I knew I could stop!
Ryan packed Audio CD’s, and then I was able to (hopefully) finish the changes for the Spanish Lamb reprint. I sent the last files out to be proof-read.
Oh, and I finally figured out how to get Closed Captioning on the DVD’s I’m mastering right now. It’s not a big deal, but in creating the files for Subtitles, I ‘double bold’ everything so the subtitles come out big and easy to read. Taking that file and exporting the Caption data, if the text is still bold, it makes the text blink (as you can’t make Captions bold, as it’s just like a text file.) It’s one of those experience things that you almost only learn by accident. Now, to run that process through the 110 video clips this one DVD has…
Thanks, Boo, for the package! It’s great! You guys have too much time on your hands…or is it too many hands for your time?
Very full day!

Today I shot myself (not like a friend of mine who shot himself in the foot.) It’s a lot harder to take someone’s photo if the someone you are taking is you. But after a few tries I managed to come up with something that works. If you want to print one and hang it up, you’ll have to download THIS, get it printed, then trim the bottom to do it justice. Or send me an email and I’ll mail one out to you.

Today I packed and shipped 53 boxes of books. I think that’s the highest we have done yet in one day. Our UPS bill was just about $1k!

I just realized today that this is the first post of 2007 that I’m making that includes photos. Not a good thing, but glad I got back on. The freezing on the truck was referred to a few posts ago. The basement is Jim and Leslie’s, almost as I left it (the ceiling had been textured before I left.)
Today started with moving out of Lloyd & Faith’s house (of which I was house sitting), which was not too much trouble (the move out, that is.) Just before 8:00 am, a truck arrived with 8 skids of The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus - a real blessing because we had been out of stock for a few days.
So, most of my day was re-stacking the 10,000 books to such a way that would fit in our warehouse nicely. They come stacked 10 per layer on a skid, and with a little care and concern, you can get 12 boxes per layer. And if you stack them higher, you can turn that 8 skids into 6. So, because we are so crowded (see photos) I took the time to consolidate them. Don’t forget, we have 10,000 Beginning with Moses coming and I think around 5,000 By This Name on it’s way yet too. (Hopefully we’ll sell a few skids worth before they come in.)

I’ve been home sick last couple days. Nothing serious - muscle aches was the main symptom. But Bill called this morning, and asked if I was going to be in the office so he can drop off 4 big boxes. (Bill is our mail man.) I had been thinking of going to the office today, and this pushed me over the edge. He came around lunch time and got that taken care of.
In the meantime, I was able to do the corrections for The Lamb in French, and most of the corrections on the Portuguese Lamb.
Also, I uploaded some new MP3 Bible Study lessons at http://www.nsbiblechurch.com There aren’t tons there, but some real good studies if you have the time. I recommend starting with Romans.