How to create dual-content DVD

April 29, 2008 2:03 PM

How to create a dual-use DVD. Typical menu-driven dvd content for a dvd player, as well as easily-navigate computer accessible file structured content.

I need to create a dvd-disc that will play in a typical home dvd player, simply bringing up the main menu and allowing selection of the available video. This single DVD-disc will also need to be inserted into a computer and navigated via file explorer to find and view photos.

I am creating a picture slideshow/video for our graduating class. I have thousands of pictures and will include a smaller number of those in a slideshow/video I will create in Sony Vegas, and finalize a menu structure in Sony DVD Architect. I'm no slave to the programs, but know them well-enough. I then want the same disc to hold the remaining pictures in an easy-to-find fle folder structure that can be accessed by computer. Please tell me the easiest way to do so, other programs I need to consider, or even options I haven't considered.

posted by samuel1613 to computers & internet (6 comments total)

You need to use the 'DVD-ROM' capability of your DVD software in conjunction with your 'regular DVD content'.
posted by dance at 2:20 PM on April 29, 2008

All the DVD-player-accessible stuff is going to end up transcoded into VOB files and stuffed somewhere inside /VIDEO_TS. As far as I know, DVD players will ignore stuff that's not contained inside /VIDEO_TS, /AUDIO_TS or /JACKET_P; so if you create another top-level folder, and put an easy-to-navigate folder structure full of JPEGs inside that, it should all Just Work. You will of course end up with two copies of every picture (one JPEG, and one included inside some VOB somewhere) but that's the price of compatibility.
posted by flabdablet at 4:55 PM on April 29, 2008

++flabdablet. There is nothing magic about DVD video discs. Players just look for that VIDEO_TS directory and read that, ignoring all else.
posted by trinity8-director at 6:01 PM on April 29, 2008

I should add that when I do this, I typical tell my DVD authoring software to write to disk files (and not to burn an actual DVD). Then I use Nero to create the directory structure I want and dump the extra files on the disc. Lastly, Nero burns my DVD.

If you do not have the option of writing to disc, not to worry! You can copy the VIDEO_TS directory to your hard drive then use Nero (or whatever burner software you have) to do as above.
posted by trinity8-director at 6:04 PM on April 29, 2008

Yeah - this is how special edition DVDs with ROM content are created; technically they're called hybrid discs. I've no idea your Sony software works, but if it doesn't have an option to create a hybrid disc, then just create your regular disc for the player first - which'll result in Audio_TS and Video_TS folders - and then just burn that information as a Data DVD putting - as flabdablet says - the Audio_TS, Video_TS and your pictures' root folder at the top level. You could use a free app like Deepburner to do this if your software won't.

Bear in mind that a lot of computers autorun DVDs, so when you put your finished disc in the ROM drive you'll probably have to close out of the default player before you can navigate to the photos.
posted by forallmankind at 6:06 PM on April 29, 2008

flabdablet's pretty much got it, but you will need to burn it as a DVD-Video, not a DVD-ROM, in order to have the correct block sizes and filesystem (UDF 1.02, IIRC) for it to play on a normal DVD player (yeah, some will play anything including DVDs burnt as DVD-ROM, but it's not spec and therefore not guaranteed).

Note: I'm not talking about the booktype there, but the actual filesystem structure. Booktype is a different thing altogether.

My version of Nero (6.something) won't do allow you to do this, I don't think. I believe VSO's CopyToDVD will, but I'm not sure. I know the burning engine in Mediachance's DVD-Lab does, and I'd expect whatever burning tools come with DVD Architect would too. Or you could figure something out with some of the usual ISO tools by creating the DVD-Video ISO in DVD Architect, mounting it and adding your files, then burning the resultant ISO.
posted by Pinback at 6:13 PM on April 29, 2008