How Do I make a DVD-A?

[schultz1010]

Going to put a quick project together in 3.0.11 and post some screenshots.
3.0.5 was never released to the public though, so not sure of it's quirks......

In one sense it is the only version that was "released" to the public - none of the other later ones have appeared


Didn't you mention having 3.0.5 at one time but then updating/upgrading to 3.0.11/12? I believe .05 did go out to customers and one of 'em let it escape to the wild.

The only quirk I saw with 3.0.5 is that if you need to update/change any menus, etc and re-run the AUTHOR program you LOSE all of the navigation/button assignments so carefully added in the Command Editor - at 2 to 4 assignments per button and 12 buttons per menu it's a real exercise in anger management when that work is overwritten.

WHEN you create the sample project *PLEASE* use a single LONG MLP file and the 'track editor' (it's page 59 in the 3.0.5 manual 'Defining Multiple Audio Tracks in a File'). I probably could have gotten things to work by using multiple tiny encoded individual tracks (one file per song). Think DSOTM or an opera.

 

[neil wilkes]

I never did get 3.0.5, although I "have" a copy of it I was given.......but let's not go into that here.
As for single long MLP files, this is the best way to do it & the way I generally approach the job - there is one reason only to split out the tracks & that is when you have so much graphical content that adding single streams will tip you over the contiguous limit of images before they get seriously squished as Chrome does, and creates artifacts.
I am building a single group project here - one surround mix with 14 tracks and a stereo mix in the same group (PGC Block authoring) that has 3 "PGC Menus" (the ones that go in the "Language" section and are not track associated), one single track image per track and am embedded playlist for each track.

I'll be taking screenies as I go along......but it may be faster to talk it through so if you want to try this, send me a PM with a phone number and a good time to call.

Quick Questions:
1 - Is the project folder structure correct?
2 - Are the buttons complex? If they are simple geometric shapes a separate _BTN layer is not needed.
3 - Are the naming protocols correct?
4 - Are the _HL and the _LB (button image files) properly indexed and *not* RGB?

More soon.......

 

[schultz1010]

I never did get 3.0.5, although I "have" a copy of it I was given.......but let's not go into that here.

Oh, ok. The thought was if you had it or could stand it up for testing purposes it could be extremely instructive - are the problems with the "Chrome like" behavior I see with menus at track points due to bugs/limitations of 3.0.5 that were fixed in later versions? IF 3.0.5 can't do it then your efforts with 3.0.12 while appreciated will be for naught.

As for single long MLP files, this is the best way to do it & the way I generally approach the job - there is one reason only to split out the tracks & that is when you have so much graphical content that adding single streams will tip you over the contiguous limit of images before they get seriously squished as Chrome does

According to Chrome's manual and my experience thus far if one stays less than 20 images in a single stream there's no serious squishing going on. I've only been up to 12 and it looks perfect.

I am building a single group project here - one surround mix with 14 tracks and a stereo mix in the same group (PGC Block authoring) that has 3 "PGC Menus" (the ones that go in the "Language" section and are not track associated), one single track image per track and am embedded playlist for each track.

I'll be taking screenies as I go along......but it may be faster to talk it through so if you want to try this, send me a PM with a phone number and a good time to call.

Thank you for the offer! At this time I'd have to recreate assets and set up for the project and I'm in the hip deep in another project unrelated to DVD-A (too many irons in the fire as the saying goes). I'll file away the offer for possible future use.

Quick Questions:
1 - Is the project folder structure correct?
2 - Are the buttons complex? If they are simple geometric shapes a separate _BTN layer is not needed.
3 - Are the naming protocols correct?
4 - Are the _HL and the _LB (button image files) properly indexed and *not* RGB?

1 - To the best if my knowledge yes, the layout (screen shot in post #173), the folder structure's correct - the IMPORT/AUTHOR/COMMAND programs found their files. No errors were seen (or if errors were given they were corrected).
2 - no, I was staying simple - square blocks or underlines, just something visible.
3 - As far as I know the _LB, _HL, _... were all present and accounted for. Seemed weird the _LB ones couldn't be auto-created by DAC if needed.
4 - yes, indexed - just as I use with DLP.

I actually did create a DVD-A that played on the Oppo-103 - just that the ONLY menu that ever appeared was the one from the 1st track. Didn't look all that pretty (since I was concentrating on the naming and structure instead of aesthetics) but it worked/played. The buttons worked but the highlighted button didn't change with the track. Since that's, for ME, the only thing DAC offers over Chrome I bailed out and did the project as static stills and track points in Chrome. Took about 1/20th the time that I spent with DAC

QUICK question for you: if you re-run AUTHOR step does it wipe out all the navigation you've set up for the buttons on all the menus? Getting everything 100% CORRECT isn't always done the first time thru the Import, Author steps - it was a real painful experience to redo the button navigation and linkage setup

 

[schultz1010]

I never did get 3.0.5, although I "have" a copy of it I was given.......but let's not go into that here.
As for single long MLP files, this is the best way to do it & the way I generally approach the job - there is one reason only to split out the tracks & that is when you have so much graphical content that adding single streams will tip you over the contiguous limit of images before they get seriously squished as Chrome does, and creates artifacts.
I am building a single group project here - one surround mix with 14 tracks and a stereo mix in the same group (PGC Block authoring) that has 3 "PGC Menus" (the ones that go in the "Language" section and are not track associated), one single track image per track and am embedded playlist for each track.

More soon.......

Thread behaved like the (dvd-a) format - dwindled away.

How'd the project and screenshots turn out?

After doing a few discs the next hurdle presented itself - not only is there almost no current (and even semi-supported) software for AUTHORING but there's a similar dearth for playback! Nothing on a Mac that I have found will navigate/play an AUDIO_TS folder and even in the Windows area WinDVD ceased support for DVD-A after version 7. Doing a search for dvd-a player software results in a list of 1) circa 2002-2005 methods for using a WinDVD hack or analog outputs or 2) ripping/extraction programs to get wav/flac/mp3 files from a dvd-a. No programs I've found for 'in situ' playing of a disc.

Heck - I can play Scarletbook iso images from a SACD on a computer - but not a DVD-A disc or image

It's been an interesting road, fun in spots, frustrating at other times but I'm coming to the conclusion that it's time to move on. I didn't realize at the outset how bleak the software situation was for DVD-A. Even in its heyday there wasn't a lot of software support and time has not been kind to the format.

Cheers,
Steven

 

[quadsearcher]

Play a DVDA on a computer disc drive? I haven't tried to do that. To me, the computer can play from a file, which saves wear on the disc and is less hassle. Again, to me, discs are for computer-less systems...the car, main system, outside system, bring to a friend's house, etc.

It looks like all physical formats are on the way out eventually (except legacy formats). Being constantly in transition causes problems. At least with a computer, one can somewhat easily rip a disc (except SACD or CP DVDA!) With a car, if there's no mobile solution for file-based playback of high res mc it just can't be done.

Wait a minute. It seems like I've played an SACD disc on the work computer using Foobar2000, easily. I think it would play from a DVDA disc as well. Not exactly a consumer-ready software solution though, needing plug-in installations.

In a perfect world, a brand new computer would automatically play any shiny disc and Oppo would make mobile units.

 

[ji eff]

Heck - I can play Scarletbook iso images from a SACD on a computer - but not a DVD-A disc or image

Hey Steven, Foobar2000 can play DVD-A. You just need the right add-on.. It called "foo_input_dvda-0.4.11".

Once installed, you'll have a new option in the preferences tab (tools) to select the "multichannel" or "stereo" layer.

Works well here on Win7 and Win10. Don't know if foobar is compatible with MAC though.

I can play discs, and rip them in flac using this. You might need the free "Encoder Pack" from the official Foobar2000 site for the flac part..

 

[ji eff]

It seems like I've played an SACD disc on the work computer using Foobar2000, easily.

That would be so cool! I'll have to look into that...

 

[JanBakker]

Wait a minute. It seems like I've played an SACD disc on the work computer using Foobar2000, easily. I think it would play from a DVDA disc as well. Not exactly a consumer-ready software solution though, needing plug-in installations.

In a perfect world, a brand new computer would automatically play any shiny disc and Oppo would make mobile units.

To my knowledge a computer can only play the redbook (CD) layer of the SACD and yes Foobar2000 can play DVDAs, please correct me if I'm wrong :couch .

 

[quadsearcher]

To my knowledge a computer can only play the redbook (CD) layer of the SACD and yes Foobar2000 can play DVDAs, please correct me if I'm wrong :couch .

Yeah, I was wrong about that. Just tried it, redbook only. Although I can find a reference online to playing the disc itself, it is also wrong. From files only.

 

[holland123]

there is an sacd plugin and a dvda plugin for foobar at sourceforge, but be forewarned it won't work on all pc's, or all versions of foobar, not sure why this is the case but when it is working it will recognize, play, and convert the stereo and multichannel sacd stream and or dvda quite nicely.

 

[GOS]

there is an sacd plugin and a dvda plugin for foobar at sourceforge, but be forewarned it won't work on all pc's, or all versions of foobar, not sure why this is the case but when it is working it will recognize, play, and convert the stereo and multichannel sacd stream and or dvda quite nicely.

which foobar version do you think it works with?

 

[JanBakker]

I have v 1.3.8 and can rip dvda's and sacd iso.

 

[GOS]

I have v 1.3.8 and can rip dvda's and sacd iso.

Yikes - I don't understand ISO....so what do you do with an ISO after you rip it?

 

[JanBakker]

With me it ends in the bin since I cannot play the iso in dsd, I just rip it to flac and thats it. You do need a friend with a sacd capable ps3 though to have the actual sacd ripped as an iso.
But there are people here that can tell you more about this (grill or Lizardking come to mind ).

 

[GOS]

With me it ends in the bin since I cannot play the iso in dsd, I just rip it to flac and thats it. You do need a friend with a sacd capable ps3 though to have the actual sacd ripped as an iso.
But there are people here that can tell you more about this (grill or Lizardking come to mind ).

Oh....bummer on the PS3.

 

[JanBakker]

Oh....bummer on the PS3.

I've heard that it's also possible with some standalone Bluray/sacd players but again grill can tell you more about this, it's rather technical stuff.

 

[JanBakker]

With me it ends in the bin since I cannot play the iso in dsd, I just rip it to flac and thats it. You do need a friend with a sacd capable ps3 though to have the actual sacd ripped as an iso.
But there are people here that can tell you more about this (grill or Lizardking come to mind ).

You can also burn the iso to a dvd rom to make a spare copy but then you need a player that can play these , I think your Oppo can.

 

[GOS]

I've heard that it's also possible with some standalone Bluray/sacd players but again grill can tell you more about this, it's rather technical stuff.

LOL! If it's technical...I won't understand it.

 

[Boogiepack]

I got the Jethro Tull Aqualung 4.0 quad in FLAC, how can i make a DVD playable in my SONY DVP-NS700V? I have tried to make an image to burn in HD Audio Solo Ultra put it wont play. I´m very useless in this area, but i would really like to hear these songs. Every DVD-A i have made from various "ready to burn images" have worked so far.

 

[schultz1010]

I got the Jethro Tull Aqualung 4.0 quad in FLAC, how can i make a DVD playable in my SONY DVP-NS700V? I have tried to make an image to burn in HD Audio Solo Ultra put it wont play. I´m very useless in this area, but i would really like to hear these songs. Every DVD-A i have made from various "ready to burn images" have worked so far.

You need to use DVD-VIDEO authoring software. The Sony DVP-NS700V can NOT play DVD-Audio discs. If you look on page 6 of the manual (found at http://pdf.crse.com/manuals/3070605311.pdf) you will see that the listed disc formats that can be played and the list that can NOT be played. DVD Audio discs are explicitly listed as "can not be played".

The "ready to burn" images that have worked are known as "universal" discs - they have BOTH a DVD-Video (VIDEO_TS) AND a DVD-Audio (AUDIO_TS) directory. In a player that does not understand DVD-Audio the video zone (VIDEO_TS) is played. DVD-Video format's limited to 448Kb/s DolbyDigital (AC3).

While technically 4 channel PCM (uncompressed audio) is "in spec" for DVD-Video few players will recognize or play such discs therefore it's almost a certainty that the discs you have burned used Dolby Digital (AC3) and perhaps DTS in the DVD-V(IDEO) section.

To make discs that your player can handle you'll need a way to encode the FLAC files to AC3 and some DVD authoring software. Choices for DVD authoring software have dwindled a lot over the last few years - DVDLab Pro http://mediachance.com/dvdlab/dvdlabpro.html is quite good (doesn't run on a Mac natively but VMWare works well with DVDLab). You'll need to find an AC3 encoder though to convert the FLAC to AC3.

An alternative that requires no new software or a learning curve would be to get a newer player (the Sony DVP-NS700V manual is copyright 2001). An Oppo 103 will not only play SACD but also has support for pure (no video section) DVD-Audio discs . https://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-bdp-103/