DVD Authoring Question

[witkotatanka]

I have a dvd that only has one title nd no chapters. Can't even use the slider in nero 7 dvd player to advance. I can only play the dvd from start to finish. Can I add a menu and or chapters using IFOedit or PgcEdit? Can I convert back to avi and then create a menu and make chapters?

Thanks!

[pawel]

Yes, you can use IFOedit or PgcEdit but it would be rather pain in the ass to author in them Guides are on www.videohelp.com or www.doom9.org

Conversion to AVI and back to MPG is lossy. None authoring program requires it. Some may export a DVD as it is (TMPGEnc DVD Author Pro, Mediachance DVD-Lab Pro > demuxes), but all accept demuxed VOBs > m2v + audio (AC3, WAV, MP2).

Nero has built-in authoring package: Nero Vision. I have never used it, and what I red it's not lossless - it re-codes the source.

[witkotatanka]

Originally Posted by pawel

Yes, you can use IFOedit or PgcEdit but it would be rather pain in the ass to author in them Guides are on www.videohelp.com or www.doom9.org

Conversion to AVI and back to MPG is lossy. None authoring program requires it. Some may export a DVD as it is (TMPGEnc DVD Author Pro, Mediachance DVD-Lab Pro > demuxes), but all accept demuxed VOBs > m2v + audio (AC3, WAV, MP2).

Nero has built-in authoring package: Nero Vision. I have never used it, and what I red it's not lossless - it re-codes the source.

thanks pawel. I thought it might be a pain. I saved many tutorials from the ifoedit site last year. haven't been trading or d/l'ing since then so no need to use it since then. I'll try playing with nero vision. Is there a way I can check if the dvd turns lossy after re-authoring?

[pawel]

Originally Posted by witkotatanka

Is there a way I can check if the dvd turns lossy after re-authoring?

DVD is always lossy, as the MPG compression is such A good software should inform if it re-encodes or not. You can try to:
1. demux VOBs, i.e. with ProjectX: http://rapidshare.com/files/21235572/ProjectX.rar,
2. check the bitrate with Gspot http://gspot.headbands.com, and generate md5 checksum for m2v video file
3. author DVD in Nero
4. demux authored version, check the bitrate again, compare md5

Md5 may not match as even lossless packages may change info in the header of a video file. Also during demuxing process average bitrate can be calculated differently - even 1 bite change will cause md5 won't match.

I think easier would be to find a copy of TMPGEnc 1.6, DLP or DVD Maestro, which do not re-encode MPG files.

There are also a few freewares, like DVDStyler and DVDAuthorgui: http://www.videohelp.com/tools/sections/authoring-dvd

I've never played with them, so I can't write how good they are - I use DVD Maestro, which is still the best for Windows OS, imo.