Attach External VTS

File - Attach External VTS

Note: If you don't fully understand this feature, you may easily create unplayable disc or player lockups.

Attach External VTS will allow a user to load a whole VTS that has been previously compiled with DVD-lab.

One example of using this feature would be a very complicated DVD with many hundreds of menus. It would be much easier to handle and test it, if you divide it into few VTS blocks that are created, compiled and tested separately. Then at the end you can join these VTS blocks into a final disc using the Attach External VTS feature.

Another example would be creating a special VTS project in another DVD application and then using it in DVD-lab. For example create a fancy slideshow in some advanced DVD slideshow software. However, especially here apply the above warning: if you don't understand how the external VTS is built and what objects it calls from within, you may create an unplayable DVD.

This option will does what it says - it will attach the whole VTS as is, without any changes. It is your responsibility to know what your VTS exactly does. A VTS that calls other VTS or VMG menus that will be not present in this new disc will lock up or crash the player.

VTS import has two inputs that can be used in connections:

By doubleclicking on the imported VTS you will see some details:

Here you have some detailed info about the imported VTS. From the details above we see that the VTS has Root menu. We also see that there is only one PGC (one movie) which has 6 chapters (Num of Programs/Cells).

Note that in some cases the Root menu may be just a dummy containing just VM commands.

Note: You can attach only 3 VTS's in one project.

Connection

The only thing you can connect is the input. The VTS must handle the end link (if any) by itself.

Since it is a VTS, you have to connect it from VMG menu.

Select any button in VMG menu and right click (or press SPACEBAR) to open the link menu.

The VTS import will have two entries Menu and Movie. Similarly if we create a button connection from the Connection window we get to choose the input of VTS import as either Root menu or First movie.

You can't connect to VTS import from VTS menu because of the cross-VTS limitations on DVD. Eventually you can connect any VTS menu to VTS import using Bridge.

If you link from the end of a VMG menu (menu timeout) or a Bridge the connection is unspecified (the link comes to the left side). The pre-compile will first test if VTS import has a Root Menu and if not it will connect to First Movie.

A simple example

This is just a very simple example that shows the idea of working on one project per VTS. Obviously, there is no reason for this particular example to do it this way, but it is just for illustration. Imagine the project is far more complex.

First we create the VTS project as below.

We have one VMG menu that is used just temporary. It calls Root VTS menu. The Root VTS menu has Play button and Scene Selection button, but it has also button called "Main Menu" that links back to the VMG menu.

We save the project, then compile it to C:\DVDVolume1 and then test it with a software DVD Player.

On the image above, all objects that have blue number 1 in top left corner belongs to the VTS and can be later attached to new project. The VMG menu is just a temporary here. It will be not attached to the final project, but the link in the VTS menu to the first VMG Menu will still exist in the VTS.

Now create fresh new project: that will import the previously created VTS

In this project we Attach external VTS the VTS_01_0.IFO we created just previously in C:\DVDvolume1\VIDEO_TS

Then add a VMG menu and another movie with its own VTS root menu. The VMG menu buttons links to VTS Import Root Menu and another to the new VTS Menu 1 with link to some other movie. Because in the previously compiled VTS, in menu we put a "Main Menu" button that links to the temporary first VMG menu, this will work in the new project as well. The imported VTS menu will link to first VMG menu, but this time we have VMG Menu that we want on final DVD.

Now compile this to a new place C:\DVDVolumeResult

The result should be fully working.

The Attach External VTS is designed for projects compiled with DVD-lab PRO. While there is a theoretical probability that Attach External VTS will allow you to add VTS built by other DVD applications, please note that in many other authoring applications (even in advanced ones) it is not exactly clear to the author which menus are put to VMG and which to VTS. The authoring application does this often behind the author's back and mix it in a messy DVD structure. Yes, even some professional expensive applications will create structure where a simple link from one menu to another may go through few dummy VMG menus.

In such VTS, linking to Root menu may easily crash or lockup player and only linking to First Movie may work to some extent.

DVD-lab PRO favors a clean structure where you exactly know where is what, therefore Attaching External VTS should work without problems if you understand what you are doing.