friend of mine has a homemade wedding dvd. consists of >>>

VIDEO_TS.BUP
VIDEO_TS.IFO VTS_01_0.BUP
VTS_01_0.IFO
VTS_01_1.VOB VTS_01_2.VOB
DVD plays automatically when inserted, has no menu, no chapters either.

she has asked me if i can create a simple {top ?} menu such as >>>



she also would like chapters in the dvd, for navigation, but no chapter menus needed.

i thought i'd rip VOBs to harddrive, load VOBs into Nero VisionExpress, create menu etc., done. but NVE crashes during final stage of writing files to hard drive. same with ShowBiz DvD. So, anyone have any other suggestions [apart from WinDvD Creator and Ulead products !]

I recently had the pleasure of using TMPGEnc DVD Author to create menus and chapters on a DVD which had random chapters but no menu. The existing chapters were deleted and new chapters were created with topic menus (not chapter menu).

At first is appears to be a daunting task but if you take it step by step it is really quite logical.

Give it a shot Ghosters, see if it works for you.

is it possible to import vob files into TMPGEnc DVD Author ?

Yes, at Source Setup your choices are "Add Files" or "Add DVD Video". TMPGEnc DVD Author is fairly straightforward. Guide here:

http://www.doom9.org/index.html?/mpg/tmpg-dvdauthor.htm

ok, thanks dude. i'll have a go...& report back in a few hrs

bloody apps ! i hate ALL software ! lol.
ok, so i install the AC3 sound plugin, BUT this damn app wont recognise it ! Grrrr...
y do i bother...and y did i KNOW that this would take me 5 years to complete...if lucky...

i give up...

Hmm, you don't really need the plugin unless you want to re-encode the audio. But I suspect that's not the real problem. Something's foobar with the authoring.

Use the latest GSpot to check whether the you've got a compliant file. Look for aspect ratio ( You're in Oz? PAL 720x576, 704x576 352x576, or 352x288, at 25 fps ). Maybe its patched? Also, you don't want a combined bitrate over about 10 Mbps, 9 is better, TDA is touchy about that. If it looks okay, probably best to rebuild the whole damn thing. Home-made DVD, right? Sometimes standalone players will play stuff that in theory is totally fooked. Like my Apex.

Look here:

http://members.dodo.net.au/~jimmalenko/test.htm

This will make a playable DVD file from VOBs that you can import into TDA. And if THAT doesn't work, demux in Rejig and make a new MPEG, then re-encode and author it. That's all I can think of at the moment. Can dig up more pertinent guides if necessary. Good luck.

demux in Rejig and make a new MPEG...
that did the trick ! thanx :-)

ok, now, moving on to more "adventurous" menu creations, i think i have this program sussed...after 12hrs of fiddling about with it. but nothing comes without some negative impact, no ? for now i discover that Recordnow DX 4.6 no longer recognises my pioneer dvd burners...great ! i notice primo...dll in TMPGenc folder. tried installing pxengine 504 AGAIN, no luck. anyway, nero visionexpress is still my preferred menu creator...except its kinda useless, cos it throws the audio outta sync...when it recompiles the dvd....stupid app ! i mean, why they cannot rectify that egregious flaw is unforgiveable !. so ,now to Titanic...while i also try fixing my now broken RecordNow DX...:-(

Good on yer.

maybe you might want to try this program here:
http://www.videohelp.com/~gfd/

I wanted to do the same thing you wanted to do and i found this program here.
To be totally honest i havent played with it that nuch so i'm not sure if it will do want you want, but from reading the feature it should. If it does what you want, cool; if it doesn't forgive me for being lazy and not trying a program before suggesting it.

thanx, i'll take a look @ that app tonite :-)
and found another which is free and got good reviews by users
http://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=DVDStyler

Yeah, they're both frontends for DVDauthor, along the lines of DVDauthorGUI. Not noob friendly, really. Apart from default, you have to make your menu background in some other app (even paint will do) and import. They're capable of motion menus with audio, unlike TDA. Technically, it'll accept system streams in addition to elementary streams, but not in practice, generally For GUI for DVDauthor, anyway, don't know about the other one. And they're free. Be advised, it'll be an education, since you do everything yourself, you'll discover how much is automated in other progs. But there's not much you can't do with these apps if you're up to it.

[EDIT] Actually DVDstyler does look to be a bit easier to use.

TMPGenc is EVIL ! not only did it screw up recordnow, it also screwed up my ability to keep FTP connections live. had this issue before with some apps. restored from acronis image...ftp connections are now perfect. got nero visionexpress syncing again though.

You may be crashing at the end stage due to low memory. I had the same problem running a 5-hour Showbiz job, but it cleared up after I doubled my memory to 1 GB. Closing down all unnecessary processes and increasing your virtual memory, i.e. swap file size, may buy you just enough memory to get the job finished.

Why don't you try DVDLab?
Just demux the VOB's (use DoItFast4U in HDD mode)
Load the A/V into DVDLab.
Create a simple menu
Compile DVD.