How to split cells and add chapters automatically with VobBlanker

By blutach

There may be occasions where you may want to add a chapter marker to a movie.  This will most likely involve splitting a cell, since chapters can only begin on new cells.

The easy way to do this is with VobBlanker.

 

STEP 1

Open VobBlanker and load the DVD project which is on your hard drive.  Do this by browsing for the Input Video Manager (this is the file VIDEO_TS.IFO in your project folder).  Alternatively, you can drag and drop this file onto the VobBlanker GUI.

Ensure the settings are as shown in the diagram.

 

STEP 2

Locate the TitleSet (VTS) that contains the movie for which you wish make new chapter marks.  Click on it in the top pane and click Process (on the right).

 

STEP 3

Now find the PGC down the bottom that contains your movie.  In this case, there is only one, but you can use the handy tiny preview pane in the top right to identify what video is in which PGCs.

Click on the right PGC and click Cells as in the diagram.  This will bring up the CELLS IN TITLE dialogue box.

 

STEP 4

Here you can see the PGC is made up of 1 long cell (well, in this case, just 6 minutes as it is just an example J).  We want to make new chapters for it.

So, click on the cell and click Split.

This will bring up the Cell Split Mode Dialogue box.

 

STEP 5

Now, we get down to the business of splitting the cell.

Ensure Add Program and Add Chapter are ticked (this is the default anyway).

Now, simply use the slider to move to a point of your choosing using the preview screen and click Mark.  For fine tuning, you can use the Prev or Next button to select an exact frame.  (Note:  It is sometimes not quite possible to select an exact frame as the split needs to be made at the start of a Group of Pictures, which occur every 0.5 seconds or so).

If you want to delete a split point, highlight it on the right and click on Del.

You may choose up to 32 splits for each cell and you are not limited to splitting one cell at a time.

When you are finished, click OK.

To exit without making any changes, click on Close instead.

 

STEP 6

Now, back in the CELLS IN TITLE box, click on Apply.

Again, if you want to exit without making changes, click Close instead.

 

STEP 7

Back in the main screen, you now simply need to click Process down the bottom.  VobBlanker will do its thing and output a log.

 

STEP 8

Test in a software player before burning.

If you have a chapter menu in your DVD, you will probably need to alter some of the commands to accommodate your new chapter points.  You can do this with PgcEdit.

 

More information:  See the VobBlanker help file (search for Cell split window)

Version 1 – 28 April 2007