Questions About A Project - Original Trilogy

Author: andy_k_250
Time: 20-Jun-2006 5:43 PM
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Hi everyone,

I am finally getting ready to start on a project I've had on the back-burner for the past year. I won't discuss specifics here yet, but I have some questions in advance that I know I will have to eventually tackle, so I am making a short laundry list here. Any help from experienced folks would be greatly appreciated.

I am using Windows XP and have Womble MPEG Video Wizard and SoundForge. If I need to do something that these programs cannot do, I am willing to get others that will.

Here are my questions - I apologize in advance if they are too newbie-ish:

1. Are there any more expanded guides than ADigitalMan's - which is great - for editing/authoring DVD's?

2. How do you make a seamless branch? I want to use it for two scenarios:
- I have two alternate versions of a scene that I want to include, while still giving the viewer the option of hitting the angle button to switch (comparable to the EditDroid crawl toggle). Does it matter if one scene is longer than another? Can the audio be scene-specific, or do the two scenes share the same audio? When constructing a menu for which scene the viewer would like to watch (essentially which version of the movie they want to see), what do I need to do to make the player know which scene to insert?
- I also want to make an option to play my movie with or without a certain scene included (like ADigitalMan's Jabba-full/Jabba-less Episode IV edit). I assume this is similar to seemless branching. What is the method to do this?

3. How do you create multiple audio tracks for a DVD (again, like the EditDroid set's isolated score)? Can the audio tracks be for select scenes only? i.e. - Is there seamless branching for audio, as well, that would not require two complete audio tracks but one base track with minor branches between the two?

4. How do you incorporate subtitles into the DVD? Which file does subtitle information go into?

5. What are some good programs for creating menu's?

6. If I want to insert a still image for several seconds into existing footage - such as adding an introduction, title, extra credits, or a text block (ala silent films) - how would I go about doing this?

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Super Mario Bros. - The Wicked Star Story
"Ah, the proverbial sad sack with a wasted wish."

Author: MeBeJedi
Time: 21-Jun-2006 11:57 PM
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"3. How do you create multiple audio tracks for a DVD (again, like the EditDroid set's isolated score)? Can the audio tracks be for select scenes only? i.e. - Is there seamless branching for audio, as well, that would not require two complete audio tracks but one base track with minor branches between the two? "

DVD-Lab can do this. It won't be seamless, but say that Chapter 7 was a segment with a secondary soundtrack. You would create a second video segment with its own soundtrack, and tell DVDLab to play the second chapter seven when designated. One caveat: The audio filetype must be the same. If the first audio track for the movie is PCM, then the first audio track for the extra scenes must be PCM as well.

When I made my prototype SW DVD, the second soundtrack was the commentaries, which altogether comprise about 20-30 minutes of audio. I had chapter selections that would play the video with the second sountrack, and then return to the commentary menu. You can create a second soundtrack that is silent except for sound at the designated spots, and force an audio track switch for those segments. This would probably be a lot more "seamless".

MeBeJedi: Sadly, I believe the prequels are beyond repair.
JediRandy: They’re certainly beyond any repair you’re capable of making.

MeBeJedi: You aren’t one of us.
Go-Mer-Tonic: I can’t say I find that very disappointing.

JediRandy: I won’t suck as much as a fan edit.