[inline:dept38.jpg=Ben Weinrach]
Hi everyone and welcome!
I'll use this area to investigate ways DVDAfterEdit can improve DVD projects, especially in regards to DVD Specification authoring (or re-authoring, if you will). Every time I work with DVDAfterEdit, I get inspired to find new (and more!) ways to use it for projects. In fact, I now do the bulk of my authoring with the application, and use DVD SP4 primarily as a multiplexer (and to make jacket pictures, of course). I've even returned to old projects and re-authored those abstraction layer builds, bringing them up to spec, so to speak, by improving navigation performance and organization.
Way back at NAB 2004, a group of us casually formed a contingent we called "The Nav Pack". Our objective: to push and abuse the DVD Spec in ways that can only be accomplished with DVDAfterEdit. Unlike authoring applications, we now have direct access to the smallest unit of the DVD structure, the nav pack. There are numerous parameters to experiment with - many of which are directly related to the way overlays are displayed. At NAB, The Nav Pack tossed around some exciting ideas for ways to use this unique capability, and we'll continue to share them here (once we know they work, naturally).
Though quite different from authoring applications, modifying projects in DVDAfterEdit is a breeze once you have a little experience, and quite fast too! You can quickly copy and paste commands and parameters all over the place, which is impossible in Creator/Fusion. Since it works with fully multiplexed VIDEO_TS folders, your projects are ready to test right away - whether with the built-in Tracer feature or a software DVD player, no building required. Experimenting with the DVD Specification has never been so productive and easy.
Tracer is much more useful than an authoring application's simulator, since it not only works directly from the build being tested but also allows the user to step through each command, forwards and backwards to help isolate problems.
I intend to include before and after DVDAfterEdit-modified build files to accompany each article where applicable, so you can jump in and get hands-on experience without having to create or modify an existing project. These files will be small and available in the Members Download area, and should be especially helpful to those coming from DVD Studio Pro, Maestro, and other abstraction layer authoring applications.
I encourage you to obliterate the abstraction layer, and enjoy doing it!
Thanks for visiting,
Ben