Posted by afn03488 on 11/15/83 11:50

> I have never used the TDA "Track Menu" so I have no idea what
> happens when you do use it. -- Bob

Yet here you are bitching about TDA when it is quite obvious you
have neither taken the time to understand it or DVDs in general.

>> It's behavior is also obnoxious in that it requires multiple
>> presses to start play and multiple presses to return to what
>> you call your "Main Menu". -- me

> Clrearly the author of TDA did not understand American remote
> menus. -- Bob

To the contrary, it is you who do not understand. There is no such
thing as a "remote menu" or an "American menu". A remote is only a
device which permits you to operate the player without getting off
your fat ass. The VM which set top players implement and PC players
emulate is defined by an agreed standard, not your desired usage.
TDA conforms to that standard, your usage of it is what is lacking.
See below. BTW, many commercial DVDs require multiple key presses
to obtain the same result. Maybe they were built with TDA. Nah.

I repeat, the "Main Menu" you see on commercial DVDs is not a
"Title Menu" in terms of the DVD standard, and often is not even
a "Root Menu". Of course commercial DVDs are not even structured
like your DVD, not even those composed from TV episodic series.

>>> Maybe I need to reprogram my remote to the "Title" button and
>>> leave the "Menu" button off. -- Bob

>> NO!!!!! You will mess up your remote's behavior with commercial
>> DVDs. -- me

> Yep, I found out yesterday when I started a commercial DVD with
> Title. It plays all the crap in front - the FBI tonguewagging, the
> flying logos, all the crap you don't want to see ever again. --Bob

That is generally what happens, although some authors set flags
in the First Play section and use them to prevent this. Sorry
the warning was too late.

>> BTW, what is the make and model of this remote? -- me

> URC 8910 http://www.ofausa.com/remote.php?type=URC%208910 -- Bob

OK, this beastie tries to control a multitude of devices. It
provides four "learning keys" L1-L4. When you enter the codes
for your DVD player, what functions do they perform? Have you
remapped these keys for your DVD player? I suspect that at least
three of those keys were mapped to invoke the "Angle Menu", the
"Subtitle Menu", and the "Audio Menu" to provide the functions
contained on most remotes accompanying a DVD player. A "Zoom"
function is most likely the function for the fourth. How often
do you use these functions? The "Guide" key for the DVD is
described as being used to reach the setup functions of the player
as opposed to the "Setup" functions of a DVD. How often do you
change the default settings of your DVD player? Is it infrequent
enough to use the player's remote for this use? Any of those keys
is a more likely a remap target than the "Menu" button to emulate
the "Top Menu" key found on DVD remotes.

>> If you will download and install PgcEdit and drop me an e-mail,
>> I will step you thru the procedure to create a "Root Menu" for
>> each VTS which does nothing but invoke your "Title Menu". -- me

> Thanks, but I rarely use TDA. I am into AVIs. -- Bob

So you'd rather bitch than learn enough to solve YOUR problem.

> I am concerned that the DVD does not operate the way commercial
> DVDs operate. -- Bob

But it does; the DVD goes precisely to where you tell it when you
press the "Menu Key" which is NOWHERE because YOU fail to provide
a location to go. If you used "Track Menus", they would respond to
your "Menu Key". See below.

> I have put literally hundreds of commercial DVDs thru my systems
> and not one of them has caused any menu problems. But I make a
> TDA DVD and it does not behave the same. -- Bob

That is because the authors of commercial DVDs go thru considerable
effort to utilize the capabilities of the DVD virtual machine and
you don't want to expend the time and effort to obtain the same
results. I repeat my earlier assessment that you are a one click
wonder who demands instant comfort.

> Is it asking too much that the author of TDA fix his s/w so that
> DVDs produced by it behave the same as commercial DVDs?
> Apparently it is. -- Bob

I agree. If you would take the time to understand DVD structure and
player operation, you wouldn't have such naive expectations. For the
user TDA is intended, it does an admirable job. I don't like their
periodic validation policy, so I won't purchase it. If you want
commercial disk calibre menus, you are going to have to purchase a
heftier authoring program, and sit down on your fat ass and WORK to
obtain similar results.

Lastly, why are you putting your clips in seperate tracks? Because
they do not share the same video parameters? [That is one of the
requirements of THE DVD standard, that all video within a VTS have
the same video parameters. Why didn't DVD player manufacturers
accomodate differnt video parameters within a VTS? It must be their
fault, not yours]. Preprocess all your MPEG clips to the same video
parameters. Put all the clips on one track, and establish chapter
points [nasty, nasty work] for each clip. [I surmise you don't do
this because it involves work on your part, and if you just dump
your clips into seperate tracks you don't have to standardize the
video parameters or establish chapter points and TDA will still give
you a menu even if you have to use a different remote]. Now use TDA
to make your DVD and specify only a "Track Menu" and no "Main Menu".
You will end up with a DVD with only one VTS which responds to your
"Menu Key". [ie, TDA's "Track Menu" is a "Root Menu" for the VTS
involved.]. And no multiple key presses required either.

PEBKAC. The DVD virtual machine does not provide IBM's extended
instruction set with CBVD and PII instructions. You expect to use
a CPATCB, that doesn't exist either. If you want the results, YOU
must expend the necessary effort to get them.

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