Output ISO with menus & special features?

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rfg
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Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2014 9:04 am

Output ISO with menus & special features?

Post by rfg »

Obviously, Handbrake is very handy for many different tasks, and certainly not the least of these is that it can accept a .iso input file, e.g. from a DVD rip, can find the main title, and then can quite easily and simply transcode that to a (modern & compact) .mp4 file.

For anyone who wants to make compact /space efficient backups of their DVDs, this is obviously extremely useful. And I've done it myself on several occasions.

The problem, of course, is that in this process, one loses all of the menus and special features from the original DVD.

Sure, one can easily instruct Handbrake to transcode each of the several titles on a DVD to its own separate output .mp4 file, and then you will have a set of .mp4 files that represent all titles on the DVD. But now you have several files, rather than just one, which is a bit cumbersome, and you don't have the original DVD menus anymore.

So, you know, I was just wondering if anyone had ever previously proposed an enhancement / new feature for Handbrake whereby it would transcode -all- of the titles contained within a DVD .iso file at one go -and- where it would place those -and- the original DVD menus into a single output .iso file. Has anyone ever suggested that?

The point would be to preserve, as much as possible, the structure of the original DVD, including its menus, while reducing the size of the thing dramatically.

I'm guessing that this might not be possible if the output format were the same style of .iso as is used for DVDs, because as I understand it, in that case the only video encoding expected or allowed is MPEG2. But the new style .iso file format used for Blu-Ray allows for the content to be MPEG4/AAC, so I would think that this kind of (new) feature would work if the output file were just made to look like a Buy-Ray style .iso file, e.g. of the kind that Kodi knows how to play. (And that would suit me just fine, because Kodi is what I already use to play most everything I have anyway.)

What say you all? Is this a dumb idea for some reason I'm not seeing? Has anything like this been proposed before?

I don't imagine that DVD menus should be that awfully hard to copy.
Woodstock
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Re: Output ISO with menus & special features?

Post by Woodstock »

DVD authoring tools are available. Bluray authoring tools are available.

Why complicate a tool that is intended to be relatively simple to use?
rfg
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Re: Output ISO with menus & special features?

Post by rfg »

Is there a tool that can copy menus from an input ISO to an output ISO?
Woodstock
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Re: Output ISO with menus & special features?

Post by Woodstock »

Maybe someone who has had a need for such a tool can answer, but I do not see the value in copying menus.

ごめんなさい
Deleted User 11865

Re: Output ISO with menus & special features?

Post by Deleted User 11865 »

Perhaps DVDShrink, or CloneDVD?
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JohnAStebbins
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Re: Output ISO with menus & special features?

Post by JohnAStebbins »

rfg wrote: Fri Nov 10, 2017 6:49 am I'm guessing that this might not be possible if the output format were the same style of .iso as is used for DVDs, because as I understand it, in that case the only video encoding expected or allowed is MPEG2. But the new style .iso file format used for Blu-Ray allows for the content to be MPEG4/AAC, so I would think that this kind of (new) feature would work if the output file were just made to look like a Buy-Ray style .iso file, e.g. of the kind that Kodi knows how to play. (And that would suit me just fine, because Kodi is what I already use to play most everything I have anyway.)
Yes, if you want compression, you would want to use a format that supports h.264 (bluray) or h.265 (Ultra HD bluray). So you need an authoring tool for one of these formats. I can't recommend any since I've never done this.
What say you all? Is this a dumb idea for some reason I'm not seeing? Has anything like this been proposed before?
This is *way* out of scope for HandBrake to do the entire process. But HandBrake should be able to produce output that is compliant with the bluray specifications for video and audio streams. Subtitles would be problematic.
I don't imagine that DVD menus should be that awfully hard to copy.
Actually, "copying" DVD menus to anything other than DVD format would be a major effort. DVD menus run a program in a virtual machine language specified by the DVD spec. Converting this to some other menu system would require translating this virtual machine code into the other menu systems code. On bluray this can be either hdmv (a kind of scripting language) or BD-J (a bluray specific java environment). The most straight forward way would probably be to write a full emulator for the DVD VM in BD-J. It would be easier just to find a good menu authoring program and re-make the menus to your liking.
mduell
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Re: Output ISO with menus & special features?

Post by mduell »

rfg wrote: Fri Nov 10, 2017 6:49 amI don't imagine that DVD menus should be that awfully hard to copy.
Let me guess, you have no idea how they work?
rfg
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Re: Output ISO with menus & special features?

Post by rfg »

"Let me guess, you have no idea how they work?"

Guilty, as charged.
Woodstock
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Re: Output ISO with menus & special features?

Post by Woodstock »

Hey, they work simply by pressing the buttons on the remote! How hard could it be?!?

:)
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