Chaining videos

cdclark707 · Post by **cdclark707** » Wed May 17, 2006 3:52 pm

Is it possible to chain videos in DVD Workshop 2.0?

To see the online version of the product, go to http://www.smileenhancementstudio.com/ and click on The Dental Wizard Patient Education link.

I'd like a button on the menu of the DVD version of this product that says "Chain". The dentist clicks on that button and a list of the 12 tutorials with text boxes next to them appears.

The dentist enters 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. in the boxes next to the tutorials he wants the patient to view (1 being the first tutorial he wants the patient to view, etc.), then clicks another button called "Start."

The patient then watches each of the tutorials without having to go back to the menu and click on another title. After all the tutorials have played, the Wizard menu is displayed again.

So... is this possible? If so, how do I do it?

Thanks!

Carol

Helge · Post by **Helge** » Wed May 17, 2006 5:52 pm

I believe its not possible. DVDs in general dont have a concept of text boxes, where you can enter numbers. So you would have to fake them (e.g. hidden menu buttons which react on the digits and switch to an other menu where in the background image the number is painted.) But you would need too much menus for all possible combinations of numbers. Then you had to store the numbers in GPRMs and write your own low level pgc programm code. (For that you would need other tools than dws2.)

Maybe that there are some programmable dvd players on the market. My cd player can be programmed to play a specific list of titles.

cdclark707 · Post by **cdclark707** » Wed May 17, 2006 5:56 pm

Thanks for your insights. I won't pursue that avenue.

However... would it be more possible to do what I envision if I output to CD (using DVD Workshop 2.0)?

Thanks.

Carol

Helge · Post by **Helge** » Wed May 17, 2006 6:17 pm

You could write a pc programm, put it on the cd or dvd and run the disk on a pc.
Otherwise I think you have to wait for blue ray disks and dws4.

cdclark707 · Post by **cdclark707** » Wed May 17, 2006 7:16 pm

Thanks!

Carol

GeorgeW · Post by **GeorgeW** » Wed May 17, 2006 7:24 pm

Are you trying to create a "dynamic" playlist where the user enters a list of numbers, and playback occurs in that order

This is possible, but you would need an authoring program that allows access to GPRM's and VM commands. Unfortunately, DWS 2.x does not have these features...

Regards,
George

cdclark707 · Post by **cdclark707** » Wed May 17, 2006 7:55 pm

Yes, I think that's what I'm talking about. What authoring software can do that?

Thanks.

Carol

sjj1805 · Post by **sjj1805** » Thu May 18, 2006 3:03 am

This might be able to do it I'm not sure.
If it does it won't be easy though and you will probably have your work cut out creating it.
http://www.mediachance.com/dvdlab/dvdlabpro.html

On a side note, I downloaded a trial of DVD LabPro sometime ago and soon removed it from my computer as it was a real resource hog.
It might be powerful but it's very cumbersome.

GeorgeW · Post by **GeorgeW** » Thu May 18, 2006 10:51 am

The software that Steve mentioned can definitely do it (DVDLab Pro).

It comes with a learning curve, but it's very powerful...

Do a web search for a tutorial by Alex Alexzander about Bit-Shifting and Bit-Extracting. It's written for DVDSP (on a MAC) and for a playlist of 8 items, but it gives you an idea of what's involved...

Regards,
George

cdclark707 · Post by **cdclark707** » Thu May 18, 2006 12:33 pm

Thanks so much for your help!

Carol