DVD Authoring Hints (and for rememberance!)
Monday, March 19, 2007The 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…
