crazy navigation in burned disk

vedagraphics wrote on 6/28/2007, 1:04 AM
I just completed my first Menu based DVD in DVDA3. In the preview it looks perfect, but after I burn a disk the navigation seems totally messed up.

I start with a first play video that then goes to a menu. On the menu I have a play all button linked to a playlist that has all of my movies (.avi) When I click on the link the playlist is played -- perfectly. But if I hit the "skip forward" button on the remote (while this playlist is playing) the movies play in some sort of random order. If I hit the "Skip Back" it only goes to the beginning of the movie.

Another problem that I keep seeing is... at the end of a movie sometimes it stutters or freezes in the middle of a fade to black before transitioning to the next video. After one movie it actually holds for 10-15 seconds before it goes on to the next video.

Another thing: on the play first video I had it working so that if you clicked on the skip forward button it took you to the menu. Now that doesn't work and the only thing that has changed is that I have replaced the movie with an updated version, but all of the settings are the same.

I intended to put a "SKIP" button on the movie -- but there doesn't seem to be a way to put a button on a movie, only on menus. Is that correct?

Waz up

Now I am a newbie so I'm convinced that half of the problems are me. But some of these things are just too wierd and I can't imagine that I did it.

Comments

ScottW wrote on 6/28/2007, 5:49 AM
Your "skip forward" or "skip back" buttons are actually "Next Chapter" and "Previous Chapter." The behavior of these buttons is player dependent when there are no chapters, or when you have passed the last chapter in a movie. Most players (but not all), will take you to the next titleset/movie if you use "Next Chapter" after the last chapter of the current titleset/movie. Likewise, most players will not take you backwards beyond the beginning of a titleset.

The "next" titleset is determined by the order that you brought the media into DVDA. With DVDA4 you can re-order things after bringing them in.

So, in a nutshell, what you are seeing is normal.

The stutter at the end of the movie sounds more like an issue with your player, or possibly too high a bitrate for the encoding, or even just poor quality media. A fade to black is a big event for the encoder since everything in each displayed frame is changing; so you're likely maxing out the data rate for a longer period of time, which might be pushing the player over the edge.

As for your first play - if you brought new media into the project and set it as first play, then you changed the titleset order, hence the behavior change with "Next Chapter"

--Scott
vedagraphics wrote on 6/28/2007, 7:54 AM
I'm using a playlist. I have the movies ordered the way they should play. If I play the playlist straight thru it plays in the order that I set up in the list. But if I hit the next button anywhere during the play of the playlist it jumps randomly to another movie in the playlist.

?????
ScottW wrote on 6/28/2007, 10:48 AM
Doesn't matter if you are using a playlist. As soon as you hit "next chapter" on the remote, you've taken control away from the DVD and handed it over to the DVD Player to figure out what to do and each player brand is different in how it implements this.

Most players implement this as a request for the next title in the sequence on the DVD. This has NOTHING to do with the order in the playlist, it has to do with the order that DVDA puts things on the DVD, which is the order that you brought the material into DVDA. With 4.0 you can re-arrange this order so that it could match your playlist order.

As not all players implement this the same way, it's entirely possible that you may be seeing something random - it's a function of the player though.

--Scott
vedagraphics wrote on 6/28/2007, 12:08 PM
How do you re-arrange the order. I am thinking of upgrading to 4.0. I downloaded a trial version and it is not obvious where I need to re-order them.

I just played a disk on the pc in a dvd player and it lists the movies by title. My first movie on the DVD is actually "title 14" These seem to be the order of the "next" button.

When I brought them in I just dragged a whole bunch of movies in at a time.

Thanks in advance for your help.

ScottW wrote on 6/28/2007, 12:20 PM
File, Order DVD Titles... then select the title in the dialog and move up/down as needed.
vedagraphics wrote on 6/28/2007, 2:02 PM
I don't see "Order DVD Titles." under the file menu.
I'm using DVDA Studio 4.0.
ScottW wrote on 6/28/2007, 2:36 PM
Sorry then. Sounds like a capability that's only available with DVDA, not DVDAS. Your only other option is to bring the media into the project in the order that you want it in your playlist.