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<channel>
	<title>Behind the Scenes</title>
	<atom:link href="http://backstar.com/blog/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://backstar.com/blog</link>
	<description>of cutting edge art, media + technology</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Wed, 19 May 2010 18:49:08 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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			<item>
		<title>Google Opens VP8 Codec</title>
		<link>http://backstar.com/blog/2010/05/19/google-opens-vp8-codec/</link>
		<comments>http://backstar.com/blog/2010/05/19/google-opens-vp8-codec/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 19 May 2010 18:48:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ben Baker-Smith</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[None]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://backstar.com/blog/2010/05/19/google-opens-vp8-codec/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The VP8 codec, widely speculated to become one of the major players in HTML5 video, is expected to be released later today.
See the following article for more information:
http://www.osnews.com/story/23322/BREAKING_Google_Opens_VP8_Codec_Enables_it_on_YouTube
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The VP8 codec, widely speculated to become one of the major players in HTML5 video, is expected to be released later today.</p>
<p>See the following article for more information:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.osnews.com/story/23322/BREAKING_Google_Opens_VP8_Codec_Enables_it_on_YouTube" target="_blank">http://www.osnews.com/story/23322/BREAKING_Google_Opens_VP8_Codec_Enables_it_on_YouTube</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://backstar.com/blog/2010/05/19/google-opens-vp8-codec/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>FFMPEG on Ubuntu 9.10</title>
		<link>http://backstar.com/blog/2010/05/12/ffmpeg-on-ubuntu-9-10/</link>
		<comments>http://backstar.com/blog/2010/05/12/ffmpeg-on-ubuntu-9-10/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 12 May 2010 18:23:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ben Baker-Smith</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[None]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://backstar.com/blog/?p=572</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Just installed FFMPEG on a new Ubuntu 9.10 Lucid Linx server using the following guide (recommended):
http://howto.blbosti.com/2010/03/ubuntu-9-10-compiling-ffmpeg-with-x264/
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Just installed FFMPEG on a new Ubuntu 9.10 Lucid Linx server using the following guide (recommended):</p>
<p><a href="http://howto.blbosti.com/2010/03/ubuntu-9-10-compiling-ffmpeg-with-x264/">http://howto.blbosti.com/2010/03/ubuntu-9-10-compiling-ffmpeg-with-x264/</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Darwin Streaming Server on Ubuntu</title>
		<link>http://backstar.com/blog/2010/05/07/darwin-streaming-server-on-ubuntu-8-04/</link>
		<comments>http://backstar.com/blog/2010/05/07/darwin-streaming-server-on-ubuntu-8-04/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 07 May 2010 17:52:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ben Baker-Smith</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Media]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://backstar.com/blog/?p=569</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Darwin Streaming Server (DSS), Apple&#8217;s open-source version of the Quicktime Streaming Server, is a great little piece of software for streaming your Quicktime movies. Where it really shines is in its ability to stream .ogg videos to mobile devices.
However, getting it installed on Ubuntu can be a bit frustrating (it is primarily designed to [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The Darwin Streaming Server (DSS), Apple&#8217;s open-source version of the Quicktime Streaming Server, is a great little piece of software for streaming your Quicktime movies. Where it really shines is in its ability to stream .ogg videos to mobile devices.</p>
<p>However, getting it installed on Ubuntu can be a bit frustrating (it is primarily designed to run on Fedora). The following guide includes the patches you need to get DSS up and running on Ubuntu 8.04 (and possibly later versions as well, haven&#8217;t tested that yet).</p>
<p>http://cwshep.blogspot.com/2008/08/darwin-streaming-server-603-on-linux.html</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>XviD Files Won&#8217;t Play On Mac</title>
		<link>http://backstar.com/blog/2009/11/20/xvid-files-wont-play-on-mac/</link>
		<comments>http://backstar.com/blog/2009/11/20/xvid-files-wont-play-on-mac/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:28:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ben Baker-Smith</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Codec]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fix]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://backstar.com/blog/?p=549</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I recently found myself in a troubling situation.  A client had come in to do an edit with a harddrive full of XviD encoded AVI files.  When I tried opening up the first of them on our Intel Power Mac I received a Quicktime error stating that I was missing a required codec [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I recently found myself in a troubling situation.  A client had come in to do an edit with a harddrive full of XviD encoded AVI files.  When I tried opening up the first of them on our Intel Power Mac I received a Quicktime error stating that I was missing a required codec (VLC also would not play the files).  Quicktime linked me to the <a href="http://www.xvidmovies.com/mac/">XviD download page</a>, which was troubling as I knew XviD had been previously installed on that machine.<span id="more-549"></span></p>
<p><a href="http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en">MediaInfo</a> confirmed that the files were encoded with XviD, so I went ahead and re-installed the codec, making sure to get an Intel Mac compatible binary.</p>
<p>This did not fix the problem.  Upon rebooting (probably not necessary anyway) I continued to receive the same error, and the same link to the XviD page.</p>
<p><center><a href="http://www.perian.org"><img src="/images/perian_logo.png" style="border:none;" /></a></center></p>
<p>Long story short, a quick install of <a href="http://www.perian.org/">Perian</a> cleared up all my problems.  I&#8217;m still not entirely sure what was at fault; maybe the DivX codec which I believe is a pre-requisite for XviD on Mac.</p>
<p>Anyway, I&#8217;ll wrap with a plug for Perian.  It&#8217;s a great package of Quicktime components, and is super-easy to install.  I use it on every Mac that I use regularly (somehow this one got overlooked, probably due to a recent reformatting).</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Append Videos With Mencoder</title>
		<link>http://backstar.com/blog/2009/11/10/append-videos-with-mencoder/</link>
		<comments>http://backstar.com/blog/2009/11/10/append-videos-with-mencoder/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:24:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ben Baker-Smith</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Encoding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mencoder]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scripting]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://backstar.com/blog/?p=538</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Mencoder, the free audio / video transcoding software packaged with MPlayer, offers a free command line (CLI) method for combining many video clips into one.
Why would you choose this over the multitude of free GUI transcoding programs out there?

Mencoder is super-fast
Allows the process to be scripted
Wide range of codecs
Cross-platform compatible

Once you get the feel for [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.mplayerhq.hu">Mencoder</a>, the free audio / video transcoding software packaged with MPlayer, offers a free command line (CLI) method for combining many video clips into one.<span id="more-538"></span></p>
<p>Why would you choose this over the multitude of free GUI transcoding programs out there?</p>
<ul>
<li>Mencoder is super-fast</li>
<li>Allows the process to be scripted</li>
<li>Wide range of codecs</li>
<li>Cross-platform compatible</li>
</ul>
<p>Once you get the feel for it, you can append videos much quicker with Mencoder than a more &#8220;user friendly&#8221; GUI program.  And, it works on Linux, Macintosh, and Windows machines, so you don&#8217;t have to learn 3 different programs if you work on multiple operating systems.</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s the basic format of a Mencoder append command:</p>
<pre>
mencoder -oac copy -ovc copy -o 'combined_clip.avi'
'clip1.avi' 'clip2.avi'
</pre>
<p>Simple as that.  The breakdown is as follows:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>-oac</strong><br />
Tell Mencoder what audio codec to use.  For a complete list of options, check out the <a href="http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/info.html#docs">Mencoder documentation</a>.  In this case we have simply used &#8220;copy&#8221;, which will keep the current audio codec the same without transcoding (this option should only be used if the audio codecs are the same for all the clips).</li>
<li><strong>-ovc</strong><br />
Tell Mencoder what video codec to use.  Otherwise, same as above.</li>
<li><strong>-o</strong><br />
Define the paths to input and output files.  First list the output filename, then all the clips in the order which they will be appended.</li>
</ul>
<p>Knowing this, it is easy enough to script the process.  Say I have a whole directory of video files that I want to combine (ex: VID001.AVI, VID002.AVI, VID003.AVI, etc.).  I could use the following ruby script to string them all together in their numbered order:</p>
<pre>
vlist = String.new()
vpath = "/path/to/my/video/directory/"
vdir = Dir.new(vpath)
vdir.each do |v|
  if v.include?(".AVI") == true
    vlist << "\'#{vpath}#{v}\' "
  end
end

cmd = "mencoder -oac copy -ovc copy -o \'combined_clip.avi\'
#{vlist}"
system cmd
</pre>
<p>Save the script as VAppend.rb and run it like so:</p>
<pre>
ruby VAppend.rb
</pre>
<p>(you must be in the same directory as the script in order to run it with the above command)</p>
<p><strong>Final Notes</strong><br />
The command in the first code box is all one line, and the line in the second code box starting with "cmd =" is also all one line that continues onto a second for formatting purposes (in other words, #{vlist}" belongs at the end of the previous line).</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Avidemux Append Limit</title>
		<link>http://backstar.com/blog/2009/11/06/avidemux-maximum-clips/</link>
		<comments>http://backstar.com/blog/2009/11/06/avidemux-maximum-clips/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:32:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ben Baker-Smith</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Avidemux]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scripting]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://backstar.com/blog/?p=533</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I ran into an invisible barrier with my favorite free video editing software, Avidemux: a limit on the number of clips you can draw from for a single project.
Avidemux will only accept segments from up to 100 clips.
If you are appending each clip manually, there may or may not be an error message (this is [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I ran into an invisible barrier with my favorite free video editing software, <a href="http://fixounet.free.fr/avidemux/download.html">Avidemux</a>: a limit on the number of clips you can draw from for a single project.<span id="more-533"></span></p>
<p><strong>Avidemux will only accept segments from up to 100 clips.</strong></p>
<p>If you are appending each clip manually, there may or may not be an error message (this is not how I encountered the limit, so I&#8217;m not sure).  However, if you, like me, are using scripting to append a large number of files, there will be no error message; just a crash file.  This crash file will show one <em>app.load()</em> entry and 99 <em>app.append()</em> entries, and the comments will state something like <em>// 100 Videos</em>, regardless of how many more your script attempted to append.</p>
<p>My workaround was an obvious one: if I have 300 videos to splice together, I create three or more smaller videos first and then splice those together.</p>
<p>For example&#8230;</p>
<ul>
<li>Vid_A.avi = clips 1 &#8211; 100</li>
<li>Vid_B.avi = clips 101 &#8211; 200</li>
<li>Vid_C.avi = clips 201 &#8211; 300</li>
</ul>
<p>&#8230;and then&#8230;</p>
<ul>
<li>Vid_Final.avi = Vid_A.avi + Vid_B.avi + Vid_C.avi</li>
</ul>
<p>Of course, this takes a little longer, but when automated from the command line with another script, it&#8217;s not so bad.</p>
<p>If anyone else has a different tactic for dealing with this limit, please leave it in the comments.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Blu-Ray Disc Won&#8217;t Play</title>
		<link>http://backstar.com/blog/2009/11/03/blu-ray-disc-wont-play/</link>
		<comments>http://backstar.com/blog/2009/11/03/blu-ray-disc-wont-play/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:38:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ben Baker-Smith</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[BD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Blu-Ray]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Firmware]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fix]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[HD]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://backstar.com/blog/?p=523</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Have you ever tried to watch a brand new Blu-Ray disc only to find that it won&#8217;t play in your player?  A player you know works with other discs?
Now, assuming that you haven&#8217;t recently dropped the player, or rubbed sandpaper across the bottom surface of the disc, this could very well be a firmware [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Have you ever tried to watch a brand new Blu-Ray disc only to find that it won&#8217;t play in your player?  A player you know works with other discs?</p>
<p>Now, assuming that you haven&#8217;t recently dropped the player, or rubbed sandpaper across the bottom surface of the disc, this could very well be a firmware issue.<span id="more-523"></span></p>
<p>Since Blu-Ray is a relatively new format, the technology is still being refined.  Some newer discs may contain data that is incompatible with earlier generations of players, resulting in playback problems.</p>
<p>Luckily, this is relatively easy to resolve.  All you need is the following:</p>
<ul>
<li>Computer</li>
<li>Internet Connection</li>
<li>CD Burner</li>
<li>Blank CD-R</li>
</ul>
<p>First, write down the model number of your Blu-Ray player.  Then look for your model on this page:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.blu-ray.com/firmware/">http://www.blu-ray.com/firmware/</a></p>
<p>The download link on your model&#8217;s page will bring you to the official company website (Sony, Panasonic, etc.) where you can follow their directions to download and update your firmware.  This will involve downloading a zipped .iso file (disc image) and burning it to a CD, which you then load into the player and input a series of menu commands.</p>
<p>You should <strong>ALWAYS</strong> follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer when upgrading your firmware.  Failure to follow the steps they outline may &#8220;brick&#8221; your player, effectively converting it into a doorstop / giant paperweight.</p>
<p><center><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2006/11/ps3smashed.jpg" /><br />
yeah, i know this is a PS3.</center></p>
<p>If you cannot find your model at the above link, search for the brand&#8217;s site directly, locate your player in the product, download, or support pages, and there should be links to firmware upgrades there.</p>
<p>Once completed you should be able to play the most recent Blu-Ray discs without any problem.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Avidemux Basic Script Elements</title>
		<link>http://backstar.com/blog/2009/10/20/avidemux-basic-script-elements/</link>
		<comments>http://backstar.com/blog/2009/10/20/avidemux-basic-script-elements/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:01:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ben Baker-Smith</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Avidemux]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scripting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tutorial]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://backstar.com/blog/?p=460</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Avidemux is a free, cross-platform video editing program that is both very simple and immensely powerful.  Much of its power is thanks to its command line interface (CLI) and potential for scripting.
In this particular post I will be focusing on the latter aspect: scripting.
Specifically, I will be covering the elements and commands found in [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://fixounet.free.fr/avidemux/download.html">Avidemux</a> is a free, cross-platform video editing program that is both very simple and immensely powerful.  Much of its power is thanks to its command line interface (CLI) and potential for scripting.</p>
<p>In this particular post I will be focusing on the latter aspect: scripting.<span id="more-460"></span></p>
<p>Specifically, I will be covering the elements and commands found in a basic Avidemux script.  I am currently using Avidemux 2.4.4 on a Mac, though I routinely use 2.5.1 on Linux, and even occasionally on Windows.  For those who have multiple platforms available, I recommend the Linux or Windows versions for their increased stability.</p>
<div style="height:22px"></div>
<hr />
<p><a></a><br />
<h2>Table of Contents</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="#language">Scripting Language</a></li>
<li><a href="#script">The Basic Script</a></li>
<li><a href="#head">Header</a></li>
<li><a href="#video">Video</a></li>
<li><a href="#segments">Segments</a></li>
<li><a href="#postproc">Postproc</a></li>
<li><a href="#audio">Audio</a></li>
<li><a href="#running">Running Your Script</a></li>
<li><a href="#moreinfo">More Information</a></li>
</ul>
<div style="height:22px"></div>
<hr />
<p><a name="language"></a><br />
<h2>Scripting Language</h2>
<p>Avidemux reads and writes scripts in Javascript.  While basic script modifications can be made without any prior Javascript knowledge/experience, it is recommended that those of you interested in creating more advanced scripts learn the basics of the language before getting in too deep (you will only be frustrated).</p>
<p>Here are some Javascript concepts you might want to be familiar with.<br />
(this is in no way a comprehensive list)</p>
<ul>
<li>Declaring variables</li>
<li>If&#8230;Else statements</li>
<li>Arrays</li>
</ul>
<div style="height:22px"></div>
<hr />
<p><a name="script"></a><br />
<h2>The Basic Script</h2>
<p>Now, let&#8217;s get down to basics.  The easiest way to start learning about Avidemux scripts is to look at one.  Lucky for us (since the documentation online is pretty weak), Avidemux project files are actually just basic scripts.</p>
<p>So, if you want to know how to do something in a script, first try accomplishing it from the graphic user interface (GUI), then save your project, and open the project file in a text editor to see how the resulting script is put together.</p>
<p>For the following example, I did just that.  This script simply lays down a first video in its entirety, then appends a second video.</p>
<p><strong>Important:</strong> Avidemux scripts do not have an extension.  Even though they are written in Javascript, do not add a .js extension to the filename or they will not work.  If you can&#8217;t get Avidemux to recognize your scripts, be sure there isn&#8217;t a hidden extension (some text editors will add .txt or .rtf to the end of files that do not specify an alternate extension)</p>
<pre>
<div class="code">
//AD  <- Needed to identify//
//--automatically built--
//--Project: /Volumes/Media_G5/Ben/Tutorials/Test_Script

var app = new Avidemux();

//** Video **
// 02 videos source
app.load("/Volumes/MEDIA_G5/BEN/TUTORIALS/clip1.mov");
app.append("/Volumes/MEDIA_G5/BEN/TUTORIALS/clip2.mov");
//02 segments
app.clearSegments();
app.addSegment(0,0,3587);
app.addSegment(1,0,2707);
app.markerA=0;
app.markerB=6293;

//** Postproc **
app.video.setPostProc(3,3,0);

app.video.setFps1000(23907);

//** Filters **

//** Video Codec conf **
app.video.codec("Copy","CQ=4","0 ");

//** Audio **
app.audio.reset();
app.audio.codec("copy",128,0,"");
app.audio.normalizeMode=0;
app.audio.normalizeValue=0;
app.audio.delay=0;
app.audio.mixer("NONE");
app.setContainer("AVI");
setSuccess(1);
//app.Exit();

//End of script
</div>
</pre>
<p>Again, this script simply loads clip1.mov and then appends clip2.mov to that.  Nothing more, nothing less.</p>
<p>Now let&#8217;s examine the code.</p>
<div style="height:22px"></div>
<hr />
<p><a name="head"></a><br />
<h2>Header</h2>
<div class="code">
<pre>
//AD  <- Needed to identify//
//--automatically built--
//--Project: /Volumes/Media_G5/Ben/Tutorials/Test_Script
</pre>
</div>
<p>This is the header information.  The first line must always be included, as it identifies the file as an Avidemux script.  The second and third lines contain additional information that can be discarded or re-written.</p>
<div class="code">
<pre>
var app = new Avidemux();
</pre>
</div>
<p>This is the first line of actual code after the header (always).  It starts a new instance of Avidemux, so you need to include it (always).</p>
<div style="height:22px"></div>
<hr />
<p><a name="video"></a><br />
<h2>Video</h2>
<div class="code">
<pre>
//** Video **
// 02 videos source
app.load("/Volumes/Media_G5/Ben/Tutorials/clip1.mov");
app.append("/Volumes/Media_G5/Ben/Tutorials/clip2.mov");
</pre>
</div>
<p>This section loads the videos that will be used by the script.  You must always have one (no more, no less) app.load() command, after which you may list any number of additional clips using app.append().</p>
<p>Also, these scripts do not support relative paths.  You must include the full paths to the source videos.</p>
<div style="height:22px"></div>
<hr />
<p><a name="segments"></a><br />
<h2>Segments</h2>
<div class="code">
<pre>
//02 segments
app.clearSegments();
app.addSegment(0,0,3587);
app.addSegment(1,0,2707);
app.markerA=0;
app.markerB=6293;
</pre>
</div>
<p>Here's the meat of the script.  app.clearSegments() clears the timeline to ensure that you are starting with a clean slate.  As far as I know, there are no arguments for this command.</p>
<p>app.addSegment() adds the specified frames to the timeline in the order that the app.addSegments() commands appear.  They each require three arguments:</p>
<ul>
<li>Video clip number</li>
<li>Starting frame</li>
<li>Number of frames to add</li>
</ul>
<p>The Video clips are numbered in the order that they are added in the previous section.  The clip referenced by app.load() is always number 0.  In this case, clip2.mov is clip number 1.</p>
<p>The starting frame should be self-explanatory, as should the number of frames to add, though it should be noted that the final argument is NOT equivalent to the ending frame.  Also, because the starting frame is the first one added, the ending frame is not equal to (startingFrame + numberOfFrames) but rather (startingFrame + numberOfFrames - 1).</p>
<p>For example,  app.addSegment(1,15,60); would add frames 15 - 74 from clip2.mov.</p>
<p>app.markerA and app.markerB are optional.  They can be used to select a specific section of the timeline (by setting in and out points to specific frames), but if left out then the default is to simply count the whole timeline as selected.  This is very fortunate because it keeps us from having to calculate the total number of frames in every script.</p>
<div style="height:22px"></div>
<hr />
<p><a name="postproc"></a><br />
<h2>Postproc</h2>
<div class="code">
<pre>
//** Postproc **
app.video.setPostProc(3,3,0);

app.video.setFps1000(23907);

//** Filters **

//** Video Codec conf **
app.video.codec("Copy","CQ=4","0 ");
</pre>
</div>
<p>This section sets post-processing parameters.  I don't really know what function app.video.setPostProc() serves, but i know that it isn't necessary to include this line.  I leave it out of all my custom scripts and they still function just fine.</p>
<p>app.video.setFps1000() sets the framerate of the timeline:</p>
<ul>
<li>1000 = 1 Fps</li>
<li>23907 = 23.907 Fps</li>
<li>29970 = 29.97 Fps</li>
<li>30000 = 30 Fps</li>
</ul>
<p>You cannot set the framerate below 1 Fps (the value of app.video.setFps1000() cannot be less than 1000).</p>
<p>Filters would be listed under //** Filters ** but I haven't applied any to this timeline.</p>
<p>app.video.codec() specifies some codec settings.  I often leave this out of my scripts and simply set these parameters via the CLI or GUI when I run the script.</p>
<div style="height:22px"></div>
<hr />
<p><a name="audio"></a><br />
<h2>Audio</h2>
<div class="code">
<pre>
//** Audio **
app.audio.reset();
app.audio.codec("copy",128,0,"");
app.audio.normalizeMode=0;
app.audio.normalizeValue=0;
app.audio.delay=0;
app.audio.mixer("NONE");
</pre>
</div>
<p>I'm not going to get deep into audio in this post (you won't find anything about codec settings here), but I'll run through some basics.  </p>
<p>The normalizeMode and normalizeValue variables can be replaced with a single normalize on / off variable like so:</p>
<pre>app.audio.normalize=0;</pre>
<p>Where 0 is "off" and 1 is "on".  The same goes for the delay variable, which determines how much of an offset there is between the audio and the video (in milliseconds).</p>
<p>app.audio.mixer can take values of "NONE", "STEREO", or "MONO".</p>
<div class="code">
<pre>
app.setContainer("AVI");
setSuccess(1);
//app.Exit();

//End of script
</pre>
</div>
<p>app.setContainer() sets your container format (imagine that!).  This accepts the following arguments: PS, ES, TS, OGM, AVI, AVI_DUAL, AVI_UNP, MP4</p>
<p>It may actually accept more that are not documented, MP4 was one that I found through trial and error.</p>
<p>I am not entirely sure what setSuccess(1) does, but I leave it alone and it doesn't bother me.</p>
<p>If you uncomment app.Exit() it will quit Avidemux upon completing the script.  This, however, is not recommended unless you add a save command before it.  I have never been able to get the save commands to work reliably, so I just incorporate them into the CLI commands I use to run my scripts.  That said, app.save(filename_goes_here) is supposed to do the trick.</p>
<div style="height:22px"></div>
<hr />
<p><a name="running"></a><br />
<h2>Running Your Script</h2>
<p>You can run a script by opening up the GUI and selecting "Load/Run Project" or with the CLI, as below:</p>
<div class="code">
<pre>
avidemux2_cli
--run YOUR_SCRIPT_HERE --save YOUR_OUTPUT_FILE_HERE
--quit
</pre>
</div>
<div style="height:22px"></div>
<hr />
<p><a name="moreinfo"></a><br />
<h2>More Information</h2>
<p>More information on this topic can be found <a href="http://avidemux.org/admWiki/index.php?title=Scripting">here</a> and <a href="http://avidemux.org/admWiki/index.php?title=Scripting_tutorial">here</a> on the Avidemux wiki.</p>
<p>That wraps up today's lesson on the basic Avidemux script.  Soon I will be posting some more advanced tips and tricks, including elements and commands not found in a basic Avidemux project file.</p>
<p>If you found this post helpful, please leave feedback in the comments section below.  If there is anything that you need further clarified, or that you would like included in the next, more advanced post, do the same.</p>
<div style="height:22px"></div>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://backstar.com/blog/2009/10/20/avidemux-basic-script-elements/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Hard Drive Permissions Fix</title>
		<link>http://backstar.com/blog/2009/09/25/hard-drive-permissions-fix/</link>
		<comments>http://backstar.com/blog/2009/09/25/hard-drive-permissions-fix/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:58:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ben Baker-Smith</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fix]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[HDD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[repair]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Solutions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tutorial]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://backstar.com/blog/?p=422</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Yesterday one of our internal media drives got locked up so we no longer had read or write access even from the Admin account of our Mac Pro.
As a result, the easy Get Info permissions fix was not an option.
So, I dove into the Terminal to make some repairs.  A simple chmod command didn&#8217;t [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Yesterday one of our internal media drives got locked up so we no longer had read or write access even from the Admin account of our Mac Pro.<span id="more-422"></span></p>
<p>As a result, the easy <strong>Get Info</strong> permissions fix was not an option.</p>
<p>So, I dove into the Terminal to make some repairs.  A simple <strong>chmod</strong> command didn&#8217;t work either, but here&#8217;s what did:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Open a new Terminal window</strong><br />
Located in ./Applications/Utilities</li>
<p></p>
<li><strong>Enter the following into the Terminal</strong><br />
sudo chflags nouchg /Volumes/&lt;drive name here&gt;</p>
<p></p>
<ul>
<li>If there are spaces in the name you will need to put double quotes around it like so:<br />
/Volumes/&#8221;&lt;drive name here&gt;&#8221;</li>
</ul>
</li>
<p></p>
<li><strong>Change permissions</strong><br />
sudo chmod 775 /Volumes/&lt;drive name here&gt;
</li>
</ul>
<p>Hope that helps.  Permissions problems can be a real pain.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Create new menu for existing DVD</title>
		<link>http://backstar.com/blog/2009/09/22/create-new-menu-for-existing-dvd/</link>
		<comments>http://backstar.com/blog/2009/09/22/create-new-menu-for-existing-dvd/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:45:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ben Baker-Smith</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DVD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fix]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[menu]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tutorial]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://backstar.com/blog/?p=232</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This tutorial explains how to create a new menu for an existing DVD (one that has already been authored and burned to disc) without requiring the original project files.  It does so without recompressing or otherwise modifying the video tracks or other menus.
This is done entirely with freeware running on Windows XP.
Important: If you [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This tutorial explains how to create a new menu for an existing DVD (one that has already been authored and burned to disc) without requiring the original project files.  It does so without recompressing or otherwise modifying the video tracks or other menus.</p>
<p>This is done entirely with freeware running on Windows XP.<span id="more-232"></span></p>
<p><strong>Important:</strong> If you want to modify an existing menu, another post will be made soon to clarify some of the differences.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Contents</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="#why">Why?</a></li>
<li><a href="#setup">Setup</a></li>
<li><a href="#newmenu">Create new menu image</a></li>
<li><a href="#dummy">Create menu PGC</a></li>
<li><a href="#replace">Import menu image</a></li>
<li><a href="#subpic">Import Subpicture</a></li>
<li><a href="#buttons">Edit menu buttons</a></li>
<li><a href="#firstplay">Create first-play and root-menu PGCs</a></li>
<li><a href="#build">Build ISO / burn disc</a></li>
<li><a href="#conclusion">Conclusion</a></li>
<li><a href="#sources">Sources</a></li>
</ul>
<hr />
<a name="why"></a><br />
<h2>Why?</h2>
<p>This tutorial is written for anyone looking to replace the menu page on an existing, already authored DVD.  This is for situations in which you don&#8217;t have access to the original DVD project files (if you have access to these files you should just re-author the DVD through standard processes).</p>
<p>It is also for those who would like to create a menu on a DVD that doesn&#8217;t currently have one.</p>
<hr />
<a name="setup"></a><br />
<h2>Setup</h2>
<p>You will need the following programs to complete this tutorial:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.free-codecs.com/download/PgcEdit.htm">PgcEdit</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.videohelp.com/tools/Muxman">MuxMan</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.videohelp.com/tools/VobBlanker">VobBlanker</a></li>
<li><a href="http://download.videohelp.com/DVDSubEdit/">DVDSubEdit</a></li>
<li>image editor (recommended: <a href="http://www.gimp.org/windows/">GIMP</a>)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.imgburn.com/index.php?act=download">ImgBurn</a></li>
</ul>
<p>Begin by copying the VIDEO_TS folder from the DVD to your harddrive. </p>
<ul>
<li>You may have to right-click on the DVD icon in My Computer and choose Explore in order to display the folders, then simply drag the VIDEO_TS folder to an internal or external drive.</li>
<li>If the disc is write-protected you may need to use software such as <a href="http://www.soft32.com/download_75586.html">DVD Decrypter</a> to rip the VIDEO_TS folder from the disc to your harddrive.</li>
</ul>
<p>From now on, when I refer to a VIDEO_TS folder it is in regards to a folder on the harddrive, not on the original disc.</p>
<hr />
<a name="newmenu"></a><br />
<h2>Create new menu image</h2>
<p><strong>Important:</strong> The method described here requires that all buttons be drawn as part of the menu BMP image.  They will be mapped later on in the process.</p>
<ul>
<li>Create a new menu image using the image editor of your choice</li>
<li>Start with a canvas size of 720&#215;540 (4:3)</li>
<li>After creating your image, resize it to 720&#215;480 (NTSC) or 720&#215;576 (PAL).  This will correct for the difference in pixel aspect ratios between your pc display and DVD</li>
<li>Save your image as a bitmap (.bmp).  You can see my example below.</li>
</ul>
<p><center><img src="http://backstar.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/supermenu_sm.png" alt="supermenu_sm" title="supermenu_sm" width="351" height="234" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-447" /></center></p>
<p>You must also create a subpicture, which defines where the button highlights are on the menu image.</p>
<ul>
<li>Choose two colors (one for background, one for highlights).  I use green and black.</li>
<li>The colors you choose here have no bearing on the color of the highlighted buttons, they are simply for defining what part of your subpic image represents the background and what part represents the highlights.</li>
<li>Define where your highlights will be using the highlight color on top of the background color</li>
<li>Here are two examples.  The first will change the color of the buttons, while the second will create a square highlight over that whole section of the menu.</li>
</ul>
<p><center><img src="http://backstar.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/submenu_sm1.png" alt="submenu_sm1" title="submenu_sm1" width="234" height="156" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-448" /><img src="http://backstar.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/submenu_sm2.png" alt="submenu_sm2" title="submenu_sm2" width="234" height="156" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-449" style="padding-left:15px;"/></center></p>
<hr />
<a name="dummy"></a><br />
<h2>Create menu PGC</h2>
<ul>
<li><strong>Open PgcEdit</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><center><img src="http://backstar.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/pgcedit1a_sm.png" alt="pgcedit1a_sm" title="pgcedit1a_sm" width="498" height="315" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-271" /><br />
settings addressed in this tutorial are highlighted in red</center></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>File &gt; Open DVD</strong><br />
select the VIDEO_TS folder of your source DVD</li>
</ul>
<p>The PGCs present in the DVD will be listed on the left side of the interface.  The important distinctions (for our purposes) are as follows:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>VMGM</strong> = menu</li>
<li><strong>VTST</strong> = video track</li>
</ul>
<p>If there is no VMGM present then there is no menu.  If there is a VMGM, but you want to create a new menu from scratch, then remove it by selecting one of the VMGM PGCs and clicking <strong>Menu &gt; Remove Menu</strong>.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Menu &gt; New Menu</strong><br />
create a new VMGM in the PGC list</li>
<li><strong>PGC &gt; Edit PGC</strong><br />
open Edit PGC window</li>
</ul>
<p><center><img src="http://backstar.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/pgcedit2a_sm.png" alt="pgcedit2a_sm" title="pgcedit2a_sm" width="486" height="327" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-275" /><br />
settings addressed in this tutorial are highlighted in red</center></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Create new cell</strong><br />
create an empty VOB cell associated with your menu (this is the cell that we will replace with VobBlanker later in the tutorial)</li>
</ul>
<p>Click <strong>OK</strong> to return to the main PgcEdit window.  Click <strong>File > Save DVD</strong> to save changes to the source VIDEO_TS files.</p>
<hr />
<a name="replace"></a><br />
<h2>Import menu image</h2>
<ul>
<li><strong>Open VobBlanker</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><center><img src="http://backstar.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/vobblanker1b_sm2.png" alt="vobblanker1b_sm2" title="vobblanker1b_sm2" width="512" height="389" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-395" /><br />
settings addressed in this tutorial are highlighted in red</center></p>
<p>To begin with, you must link MuxMan to VobBlanker.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Settings &gt; Configure Paths</strong><br />
opens the PATHS menu</li>
<li><strong>Path to MuxMan</strong><br />
browse to your MuxMan.exe file and click <strong>Open</strong> to set the path.</li>
</ul>
<p>Click <strong>Ok</strong> to return to the main VobBlanker screen.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Input Video Manager</strong><br />
select the VIDEO_TS.IFO from the source VIDEO_TS folder</li>
<li><strong>Output Folder</strong><br />
select a new, empty folder to output your modified VIDEO_TS folder.<br />
(Optionally, you can select <strong>Use Input Folder</strong> under settings in order to simply overwrite the VIDEO_TS folder specified in the Input Video Manager.  This is not recommended unless you have a backup of that folder.)</li>
<li><strong>TitleSet</strong><br />
select VIDEO_TS.VOB, should be the top item in the list, then click Menu on the right hand side to open a new window</li>
</ul>
<p><center><img src="http://backstar.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/vobblanker2a_sm.png" alt="vobblanker2a_sm" title="vobblanker2a_sm" width="474" height="291" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-277" /><br />
settings addressed in this tutorial are highlighted in red</center></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Language Units</strong><br />
select the menu you want to modify from the list of languages (generally there is only one option)</li>
<li><strong>Menu PGCs</strong><br />
select the PGC that corresponds to the menu you want to modify.  Most of the PGCs will list 00 Cells, 00 Buttons, 0:00:00.00 Duration, &#8212;- Action, etc. These are not what you are looking for.  Find the PGC(s) that have data in these categories and click Preview on the right hand side to help locate the PGC that contains the menu image you are looking to modify</li>
<li><strong>Menu PGCs &gt; Cells</strong><br />
once you find your target PGC, select it and click Cells to bring up a new window</li>
</ul>
<p><center><img src="http://backstar.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/vobblanker3b_sm2.png" alt="vobblanker3b_sm2" title="vobblanker3b_sm2" width="450" height="296" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-397" /><br />
settings addressed in this tutorial are highlighted in red</center></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>CELLS IN MENU</strong><br />
select the cell that contains your target menu image, use Prev/Cut to preview</li>
<li><strong>Still</strong><br />
select your target cell and click Still to bring up a new window</li>
</ul>
<p><center><img src="http://backstar.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/vobblanker_still2_sm.png" alt="vobblanker_still2_sm" title="vobblanker_still2_sm" width="379" height="369" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-453" /><br />
settings addressed in this tutorial are highlighted in red</center></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>I Frame Selection > dropdown</strong><br />
set this to &#8220;File&#8221;.  In the following pop-up window, browse to and select the BMP image you created for your new menu (not the subpic file).<br />
(if you set the path correctly, VobBlanker will automatically call MuxMan to process the BMP into a VOB)</li>
<li><strong>Browse</strong><br />
If you need to change the file you selected in the pop-up window above you can use this button to force the pop-up window again and select a new VOB file.
</ul>
<p>Click <strong>OK</strong> then click <strong>Apply</strong> then click <strong>OK</strong> to return to the main VobBlanker screen.  </p>
<ul>
<li><strong>TitleSet</strong><br />
make sure that VIDEO_TS.VOB lists its Action as &#8220;Process&#8221;.  If not, select it and click Process on the right hand side.</li>
<li><strong>Skip</strong><br />
(optional) to cut down on the processing time you can select the non-menu VOBs under <strong>TitleSet</strong> and click <strong>Skip</strong> to ignore them during processing (assuming no changes were made to the audio/video tracks)
</ul>
<p>Click <strong>PROCESS!!</strong> to create your new DVD files.</p>
<ul>
<li>The new VIDEO_TS files will be exported to the specified output folder.  These are the files that will appear in the VIDEO_TS folder of the final DVD.</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<a name="subpic"></a><br />
<h2>Import Subpicture</h2>
<ul>
<li><strong>Open DVDSubEdit</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><center><img src="http://backstar.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/dvdsubedit1_sm.png" alt="dvdsubedit1_sm" title="dvdsubedit1_sm" width="450" height="345" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-450" /><br />
settings addressed in this tutorial are highlighted in red</center></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>File &gt; Open VOB File(s)</strong><br />
select the VIDEO_TS.VOB file in your new VIDEO_TS folder.</li>
<li><strong>Subpic Color / Transparency &gt; dropdown</strong><br />
select &#8220;Use automatic CLUT&#8221; from the dropdown menu.</li>
<li><strong>Subpic Color / Transparency</strong>
<ul>
<li>set <strong>b</strong> and <strong>p</strong> to the background color of your subpic BMP (must be exact color)</li>
<li>set <strong>e1</strong> and <strong>e2</strong> to the highlight color of your subpic BMP (must be exact color)</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><strong>File &gt; Replace current subpic with .BMP file</strong><br />
select your subpic BMP file</li>
<li><strong>File &gt; Save all modifications</strong><br />
save your project and quit DVDSubEdit.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Important:</strong> You must set the <strong>Subpic Color / Transparency</strong> settings before importing the subpic BMP.  This is how DVDSubEdit knows which elements of your BMP represent the background and which represent the highlights.</p>
<hr />
<a name="buttons"></a><br />
<h2>Edit menu buttons</h2>
<ul>
<li><strong>Open PgcEdit</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><center><img src="http://backstar.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/pgcedit1b_sm.png" alt="pgcedit1b_sm" title="pgcedit1b_sm" width="498" height="315" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-283" /><br />
settings addressed in this tutorial are highlighted in red</center></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>File &gt; Open DVD</strong><br />
select the VIDEO_TS folder of your source DVD</li>
<li><strong>PGC</strong><br />
select the VMGM that you created at the start of the tutorial.</li>
<li><strong>Menu &gt; Show/Edit Menu Buttons or BOVs</strong><br />
select the target VMGM on the left hand side then click this menu option to bring up a new window</li>
</ul>
<p><center><img src="http://backstar.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/pgcedit_buttons2_sm.png" alt="pgcedit3a_sm" title="pgcedit3a_sm" width="367" height="410" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-284" /><br />
settings addressed in this tutorial are highlighted in red</center></p>
<p><strong>Create / modify buttons:</strong><br />
This will show you how to map buttons on your BMP image.  It will not allow you to create new visual images, but simply to define the areas occupied by image elements that are intended to be buttons.  This is similar to creating image maps in HTML.</p>
<p>Also, by defining rectangular areas for the buttons, any part of the subpic image that is within a rectangular boundary will appear as a highlight when that button is selected.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Edit</strong><br />
The first time you click this it will ask if you want to create a new button, say yes.</li>
</ul>
<p><center><img src="http://backstar.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/pgcedit4a_sm1.png" alt="pgcedit4a_sm" title="pgcedit4a_sm" width="293" height="353" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-452" /><br />
settings addressed in this tutorial are highlighted in red</center></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Button &gt; New button</strong><br />
create a new button.  Use this to create all the buttons you need, you can edit the parameters of each by toggling between them with the <strong>Edit button</strong> slider.</li>
<li><strong>X position / Y position</strong><br />
set the horizontal or vertical position of the button</li>
<li><strong>Width / Height</strong><br />
resize the button to fit your background image</li>
<li><strong>Adjacent Buttons</strong><br />
set what button will be selected if a given arrow is pressed on the remote (generally, set position 1 to the button above or to the left of the selected button, position 2 to the button to the left or above the selected button, position 3 to the button below or to the right of the selected button, and position 4 to the button to the right or below the selected button)</li>
<li><strong>Use color scheme</strong><br />
set this to 1 for all.</li>
<li><strong>Edit Color Schemes</strong><br />
click this to bring up the <strong>Color schemes Editor</strong> window.</li>
</ul>
<p><center><img src="http://backstar.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/pgcedit_colors_sm.png" alt="pgcedit_colors_sm" title="pgcedit_colors_sm" width="283" height="235" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-451" /><br />
settings addressed in this tutorial are highlighted in red</center></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Color for Selected button</strong><br />
you only need to edit these colors for a basic menu.</li>
<li><strong>Background</strong> and <strong>Pattern &gt; Contrast (Opacity)</strong><br />
set the <strong>Contrast (Opacity)</strong> of these to 0.  Color doesn&#8217;t matter.</li>
<li><strong>Emphasis 1</strong> and <strong>Emphasis 2 &gt; Color index in PGC lookup table</strong><br />
set these to the highlight color of your choice (both should be the same, though I think Emphasis 1 is the active one).</li>
<li><strong>Emphasis 1</strong> and <strong>Emphasis 2 &gt; Contrast (Opacity)</strong><br />
set the transparency of your highlights.</li>
</ul>
<p>Click <strong>Ok</strong> to return to the Menu Editor window.</p>
</ul>
<li>Below the Edit Color Schemes button there is a button that looks something like this:</li>
</ul>
<p><center><img src="http://backstar.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/pgcedit_insert.png" alt="pgcedit_insert" title="pgcedit_insert" width="335" height="31" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-303" /></center></p>
<ul>
<li>Click it to open the Command Editor.</li>
</ul>
<p><center><img src="http://backstar.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/pgcedit5a_sm.png" alt="pgcedit5a_sm" title="pgcedit5a_sm" width="321" height="168" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-286" /><br />
settings addressed in this tutorial are highlighted in red</center></p>
<p>I am assuming in this case that you are simply targeting video tracks with your buttons rather than other menus.</p>
<p><strong>In the Command Editor:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Jump to&#8230; &gt; VTST Title &gt; JumpTT</strong><br />
select this to target a video track</li>
<li><strong>Jump to the entry PGC of title</strong><br />
enter the number of the VTST that contains the video track you want to target.  To find this you may have to return to the main PgcEdit screen and preview the VTST entries on the left hand side by selecting them and clicking Preview > Preview PGC</li>
</ul>
<p>Click <strong>OK</strong> and <strong>OK</strong> again to return to the Menu buttons window.  Now repeat the above steps (from <em>Create/Modify buttons</em> through to here) for each button on your menu (creating new ones as necessary).</p>
<p>When you are finished editing the menu buttons, save your changes with <strong>File &gt; Save DVD</strong>.</p>
<hr />
<a name="firstplay"></a><br />
<h2>Create first-play and root-menu PGCs</h2>
<p>This step is only recommended if you have added a menu to a DVD that previously had no menu.  </p>
<p>This will make the DVD start out on the new menu, and return to it when you press the menu button during the video.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Keep PgcEdit open</strong><br />
or re-open it if you closed it after the last section (and load your project)</li>
</ul>
<p><center><img src="http://backstar.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/pgcedit1_menubuttons_sm2.png" alt="pgcedit1_menubuttons_sm2" title="pgcedit1_menubuttons_sm2" width="589" height="372" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-409" /><br />
settings addressed in this tutorial are highlighted in red</center></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>VMG, First-Play PGC</strong><br />
select the first-play PGC.  This will be the first PGC in the list, and is always present because PgcEdit will add it if it is not.</li>
<li><strong>pre commands</strong><br />
the right hand window will show the current first-play commands, probably something like &#8220;(JumpTT) Jump to Title 1&#8243;.  This means that the DVD will begin by playing the first video track.  Select this command</li>
<li><strong>Edit Cmd</strong><br />
this will bring up the Command Editor window</li>
</ul>
<p><center><img src="http://backstar.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/pgcedit_command_sm.png" alt="pgcedit_command_sm" title="pgcedit_command_sm" width="320" height="167" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-410" /><br />
settings addressed in this tutorial are highlighted in red</center></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Jump to&#8230; > VMGM Menu > JumpSS-VMGM-pgc</strong></li>
<li><strong>Jump to VMGM PGC</strong><br />
enter the number of the VMGM PGC that contains your new menu (this is the VMGM PGC that you modified earlier in the tutorial)</li>
</ul>
<p>Click <strong>OK</strong> to return to the main PgcEdit window.</p>
<p>Each video track (represented by VTST in the PGC menu) should have a corresponding VTSM.  Some may not, in which case you will have to add them.</p>
<p>To add a VTSM to a VTST, select the VTST and click <strong>Menu > New Menu</strong>.  Do this for each VTST that doesn&#8217;t have a VTSM directly preceding it in the PGC list.</p>
<p>By default, newly created VTSMs should contain the following pre command: <strong>(JumpSS) Jump to First Play PGC</strong></p>
<p>Check each of your VTSMs, if their command looks like this then you can leave them be (pressing the menu button on the remote will repeat the first-play action, which we already set to the menu).</p>
<p>If a VTSM contains different commands, select it and do the following:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Edit Cmd</strong><br />
this will bring up the Command Editor window</li>
<li><strong>Jump to&#8230; > First Play PGC > JumpSS-FP</strong></li>
</ul>
<p>Click <strong>OK</strong> to return to the main PgcEdit window.</p>
<p>When you are finished editing the VTSMs, save your changes with <strong>File &gt; Save DVD</strong>.</p>
<hr />
<a name="build"></a><br />
<h2>Build ISO / burn disc</h2>
<ul>
<li><strong>Open ImgBurn</strong><br />
Upon opening, select &#8220;Write files/folders to disc&#8221; or &#8220;Image file from files/folders&#8221; to start a new project.  Alternately, select Build from the Mode menu.</li>
</ul>
<p><center><img src="http://backstar.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/imgburn1a_sm.png" alt="imgburn1a_sm" title="imgburn1a_sm" width="421" height="294" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-287" /><br />
settings addressed in this tutorial are highlighted in red</center></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Source</strong><br />
select the folder you set as the output folder in VobBlanker (this is your new VIDEO_TS folder).  You can also set this through the File menu.</li>
<li><strong>Destination</strong><br />
select ISO file or Disc as target using the Output menu, then select the specific ISO location or Disc in the Destination section of the interface</li>
<li><strong>Labels/Advanced</strong><br />
You can also change some of the other settings on the right hand side, particularly under the Labels and Advanced tabs.  These will allow you to make changes to the disc metadata such as the disc label that will appear by its icon on your computer.  You can even force specific creation/last-modified times.  Of course, <em>all these right-hand settings are optional.</em></li>
</ul>
<p>Click the <strong>Folder &gt; Disc/ISO</strong> button to build.</p>
<ul>
<li>If ImgBurn builds without errors then you have successfully created a new, modified version of your source DVD (either in disc or .ISO format).</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<a name="conclusion"></a><br />
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>There is certainly a lot more you can do to modify existing DVDs.  You can create submenus, create motion menus, remove the menus and/or autoplay the main video, modify subtitles, loop videos, combine multiple DVDs, and even add brand new audio/video content (which you will then need to create new menu buttons for).</p>
<p>If any of these topics, or related ones, are of interest to you, drop me a line at <a href="mailto:ben@backstar.com">ben@backstar.com</a> and I will see about putting together another tutorial.</p>
<p>If you have a project that you need assistance with, please let us know via my e-mail (above) or the Contact-Us section of our site.</p>
<hr />
<a name="sources"></a><br />
<h2>Sources</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://backstar.com/blog/2009/09/01/edit-video-on-an-existing-dvd/">http://backstar.com/blog/2009/09/01/edit-video-on-an-existing-dvd/</a></li>
<li><a href="http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=99306">http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=99306</a></li>
<li><a href="http://wencas.profitux.cz/downloadmonitor/download.php?nazev=replace_menu_2&#038;url=http://wencas.profitux.cz/vid/replace_menu_2.rar">http://wencas.profitux.cz/downloadmonitor/download.php?nazev=replace_menu_2&#038;url=http://wencas.profitux.cz/vid/replace_menu_2.rar</a></li>
</ul>
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