DVDAfterEdit Pre-Mastering Introduction

DVDAfterEdit DLT Mastering Edition, in addition to all the other features/capabilities of the program, includes an unmatched array of capabilities for formatting and proofing projects (VIDEO_TS folders, output from any authoring system) for replication.

If DVDAfterEdit is used to adjust the VIDEO_TS folder, the authoring system cannot be allowed to format it for replication, in most instances. The reason is simply because the authoring system will not be aware of the potentially massive (or simple) changes made to the project. The program also makes it possible to format to tape any VIDEO_TS folder for CSS encryption, without the presence of the authoring system that generated it.

In addition, DLT tapes (generated by DVD Studio Pro, DVDAfterEdit or any other authoring system) that have previously been formatted for CSS encryption can be restored back to hard drive from tape and the program reconstitutes the image into 2048 byte sector sizes, ready for post-authoring and re-output.

Outputting Tape image folders to hard drive, for Firewire or DVD recordable submission of projects to replicators, is also supported.

Error Correction and Reporting

You also have the assurance that the DLT tapes/Tape/Disc Images you send in for replication will be DVD Spec compliant in all details, and free of errors.

[inline:7=center,Compare Image]

The program accomplishes error detection by providing a true "round trip" system, which means that anything you write can be read back and verified against the original control files and VIDEO_TS folder. This is the "Compare" feature of the program.

A full log is provided that you can print and submit to the replicators along with your DLT tapes, showing all the control files contents, ISO and UDF bridge files, and everything on the tape (ROM data, etc.), in a highly readable format (with parenthesis next to items, containing info on what the data fields mean) that they will recognize and appreciate.

For writing DVD-9 projects, choosing the layer break cell is accomplished visually in cooperation with the main program window. The final build, including the VIDEO_TS folder, and any ROM data, is measured and layer data sizes reported, so that you may be sure that the layer break cell you choose, generated by the authoring system or created in DVDAfterEdit, will be a spec-legal location. Also that cell will be automatically specially prepared, to serve as DVD spec compliant layer break.

The program also gives you control over the several possible flavors of output formats, including DDP 2.0 (with the required 2054 byte sector sizes in non CSS encrypted projects for the CONTROL.DAT file, so proper region info gets written to the lead-in on the final DVD), DDP 2.1, and CMF (Cutting Master Format), and the optional output of CSS (Content Scrambling) and Macrovision.

[inline:3=center,Dual_ DLT writing]

Speeding up the workflow considerations have been added, including the ability to attach several DLT tape drives to the SCSI chain, and have them work in conjunction. Two DLT 8000 tape drives can write the two layers to tape for a DVD-9 project at the same time, in about 15 minutes.

DVDAfterEdit's Pre-Mastering Interface

When you're ready to pre-master, the Format Window is invoked from the DVDAfterEdit File Menu.

[inline:4=center,Mastering Interface]

Source Popup

[inline:1=center,Source Directory Options]

Note the Source pop-up menu, which contains the name of the NewCivilWar project. This project (enclosing folder containing the VIDEO_TS folder) was open in DVDAfterEdit when the Format/Copy window was invoked. When you select this pop-up, it will show all open projects in any other instances of DVDAfterEdit running with other open VIDEO_TS folders (if they exist), plus all DLT tape drives on the SCSI bus, plus three additional choices: Disk Folder, Disc Image, and Tape Image.

The default choice in the Source pop-up will be the VIDEO_TS folder you first loaded. Clicking on the Disk Folder, Disc Image, or Tape image, will open up a requestor allowing you to make a selection. Choosing one of the DLT Tape drives allows you to work with a Tape Image already written to tape; to copy it to another DLT Tape, or restore the image to Disk Folder, Disc Image or Tape Image on the hard drive.

Format/Copy To or Compare To

[inline:5=center,Compare to DLT]

This popup chooses whether to do a Format/Copy, or a Compare with whatever you've got set in the Source Pop-up.

The Format or Copy To pop-up contains many of the same choices that are available in the Source pop-up, except that some of them may be greyed out depending what is currently selected in the Source popup. You wouldn't format a Build folder to another Build folder, for instance. Comparing in DVDAfterEdit always compares the "raw" disk files for all of the folders and files inside the folder enclosing the VIDEO_TS folder.

During the Compare operation for projects needing CSS projects, all encryption flags are stripped from the files in the Target (in memory) before comparing, as these particular files are not included in the source, they only exist when written to DLT tape or in a Tape Image. All files and folders other than the VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders make up the DVD ROM data, and are included in the Compare operation.

The Format/Copy Options

[inline:6=center,Format DLT Tape]

There are four items you can Format or Copy from or to:

1) Disk Folder

A disk folder (i.e. "DVD build folder) is any folder containing a VIDEO_TS folder.

An open project (VIDEO_TS folder) in DVDAfterEdit is actually the same thing, except that you can explore and edit it. The program lets you choose to work with either an open project or another disk folder directly, without opening it in DVDAfterEdit. You just have to have one instance of DVDAfterEdit running to Format/Copy any build folder on your computer.

You can also open a project in another instance of DVDAfterEdit, after you have selected it in the Format/Copy window of the current instance.

Once you make all of your choices (see the other fields in the window, above), and commit to start a Format, Copy, or Compare, you are not allowed to make further changes in an open project from the same disk folder.

If you have made changes since opening, but before starting the Format, Copy, or Compare operation, the project is automatically saved before the routines begin.

2) Disc Image

A disc image is a DVD image on hard drive. It contains the same structure you would get from "formatting" from DVD Studio Pro or other authoring system to a DVD-R, or burning a DVD with Toast or another writing program. It can be "mounted" so that it appears as if it is another drive, which will then usually cause it to be played automatically in the Apple Player.

Disc Images are designed to be written to DVD recordable by the host authoring system, or third party software, like Toast; or remain resident as a "DVD without a platter" to be played on a computers' hard drive. They can also be used as a "package" for passing from one facility to another (Tape Images, covered below, should be used to send into the replicators to insure control over formatting settings, though).

Disc Images cannot contain copy protection flags or region info (region info must be written as "0" for recordables), CSS (Content Scrambling), or Macrovision.

3) Tape Image

A tape image is an exact copy of what would be written to DLT tape(s), organized into a folder structure. At the top is the "enclosing folder", which can be given a name reflecting the project it was created from. This is not the same as an enclosing folder for a VIDEO_TS folder.

Inside that folder is a "Layer0" folder, and if there is a second layer for a DVD-9 project, a "Layer1" folder. Again, inside each layer folder are the actual files, bit for bit, exactly as they would be written to each tape.

The contents of these folders are similar to what has been referred to as a "DDP Image". Nowadays most replication facilities accept these folders submitted on any convenient media, including Firewire hard drives. After all, they are exactly the same as the tape except for the ANSI tape headers and trailers.

The actual main image data (typically named MAIN.DAT OR IMAGE.DAT) is written as a single large file. If the image originally had 2054-byte sectors for CSS copy protection, they are preserved, of course, in the disk file image.

DVD-9 size Tape images may be freely burned with Toast (one layer per DVD-R) and submitted as replication-ready images to any replicator with a DLT drive and the ability to format the layer folders to DLT tape for their mastering process. As long as you choose high-quality media, burn at 2x, and verify the result in Toast, there should be minimal fear of media errors. But still, DLT tape submission or Firewire HD submission is preferred.

Note: Tape images do not play back on players; they're for submitting to replicators for glass mastering. To use Toast to write the Tape Image to DVD-/+R, for instance, you would set it up to write a DVD-ROM, and then drag the build folder containing the layer folder onto the data window, and then burn that.

4) Tape

This is a DLT tape in a DLT tape drive, which must be a DLT III, DLT III XT, or DLT IV tape, and which can only be written by DLT Tape drives in the range DLT2000 to DLT8000.

These drives are also known as DLT 10/20 (DLT2000), 15/30 (DLT2000XT), 35/70 (DLT7000), and 40/80 (DLT8000). The first number is the actual capacity of the tape in GB.

The second number is the purported capacity for compressed data.

The drives have built-in compression, but DVDAfterEdit Pre-Mastering Edition will automatically turn this off for you. Pre-Mastering always overrides the compression settings on the front panel of the drive and produces uncompressed tapes, which are required by the replication process.

All of these numbers are larger than the capacity of a single layer on DVD, and DLT tapes are never allowed to contain more than a single layer; which is why a DVD-9 Project submitted to the plant requires two DLT tapes.

DVDAfterEdit will prompt you to insert the second tape if you only have a single DLT tape drive hooked up to your system.

Drive Popup

[inline:2=center,Second Drive]

The second drive popup allows you to choose a second drive for formatting a DVD-9 Project/ Disk Folder to two tapes at the same time. Both tapes will write at full speed, thus saving time. If you have more DLT Tape drives hooked up to the SCSI bus, they will show up as "third drive", etc.

Format/Copy/Compare Dialog Body

The remainder of the Format/Copy/Compare dialog contains information about the Source object and/or options chosen for formatting. If the function chosen is formatting a project or disk folder to a tape or tape image, there are quite a few fields. All other functions give a very limited set of choices. We will describe the project to tape fields in more detail:

Layer Break

The first three lines of the project dialog (containing three popup and several information fields) give the layer break information. Often all three popups will be greyed out. This will be because either the project size does not qualify for a DVD-9, or there is only one current possible layer break cell.

The inclusion of the "Disc Diameter" field in the layer break group is made because it is possible to make a dual layer disc with an 8 cm disc.

The maximum size of the project, given the disc diameter, is given in both sectors and decimal gigabytes. The size of each layer, given the chosen layer break cell, is also given in sectors and decimal gigabytes.

The pre-mastering preferences allow you to change these maximums to allow for differing capabilities at various replication facilities. These sizes include any ROM data in the enclosing folder. They also include the exact directory structure that will be created when the project is mastered. (No guessing before building necessary!).

The program always chooses the first viable non-seamless layer break cell it finds in the project. If it cannot find a non-seamless cell, it will make the cell it chooses non-seamless and save the project. Or, you can hop back in the program and create a cell.

For a DVD-9 project, the layer break cell chosen in the mastering dialog is saved in the OS-9 Folder Information of the DVD enclosing folder. This information allows a subsequent opening of the same project for mastering to display the same layer break cell that was chosen last time, unless the project folders have been moved, in which case the folder information is not preserved.

Output Format

This chooses the DDP output format for the DLT. DDP 2.0 was the original DVD-Video Disc Descriptor Protocol and is still preferred by many replicators. DDP 2.1 and CMF (Cutting Master Format) are essentially the same, except for the names chosen for the files, though some replication facilities will accept one and not the other. For instance Sonic Toast produces CMF, strictly. Use whichever format your replication facility desires.

Copy Protection

This is technically a separate field though it is seldom used except with CSS, which forces it to be "No Copying Allowed".

Format for CSS

Choose this if the output is to be copy-protected with CSS encryption.

Disc Side

Side A is used if the disc is single-sided.

Number of Sides

A disc may be double-sided, which means two sides.

Macrovision

Macrovision is an analog copy protection scheme that results in very poor picture quality if a DVD is copied directly to a VCR tape. CSS must be enabled to allow Macrovision. Macrovision is actually a separate field in each and every Nav Pack, and can be edited directly or by VTS, etc., in various authoring systems. DVDAfterEdit does not have multiple Macrovision editing capabilities, and none are planned unless a need is demonstrated. It's either all the video in the Titles in the Project are flagged with Macrovision, or none. Our mastering options are:

None: This will clear all Macrovision fields to zero in all Nav Packs, but on the output tape or tape image only.

Type 1, 2, and 3: This will set all Macrovision fields in all VTS VOBS to the value chosen, in the output only, of course. VMG VOBS will not be affected.

Author: This will copy whatever flags were set by the authoring system to the output.

Enable Joliet Extensions

Without the Joliet extensions, file names in the ISO directory are forced to DOS 8.3 format. This does not apply to the video image itself, since the file names in the VIDEO_TS folder are already proscribed to be very particular values in that format.

If there are still people playing DVD's in Windows 95 machines, who want to access ROM data, they might need to have this option turned off. Another issue with Joliet is the directory depth of ROM data, which is limited to a spec value. We will be examining these issues in more depth later, and probably supporting more Joliet options, but for now it shouldn't be a problem unless you have unusual ROM data requirements.

Region Code Mask

This field accepts a typed hexadecimal value. It is followed by a popup for each region. The values shown are read from the IFO files. If they are changed here, the IFO files are updated appropriately, and the project will be saved automatically before mastering.

Disc Name

The name of the enclosing folder is filled in here. The name is forced to all upper case and no spaces and a very limited character set. It will be the name used for the replicated disc. You may change the name for output. Currently the field is not validated, unfortunately, so be sure to choose a legal name. (This will be fixed later, of course).

Volume Creation

This is pre-filled with the current date and time. It is an information field that is written to the tape, intended to make it easier to identify the tape at a later time. You may put whatever you wish here.

Other Format/Copy/Compare Options

When copying to a disc image, all regions are enabled by rule. Only the Disc Name and Enable Joliet fields are presented.

All other options display no additional dialog fields beyond those used to choose the source and destination.

Operating the Pre-Mastering Process

Once you have chosen the various options you want, you may Cancel, or press Start to begin the operation. When you press start, the dialog view changes to a status view.

In the status view, none of the fields may be changed. The field descriptions are abbreviated, and take much less room. There are two active buttons, Cancel and Pause. There is status information to the left of the Cancel and Pause buttons.

At the top of the window, a progress bar is updated as the operation progresses. If two tapes are being created simultaneously, two progress bars will show.

Each progress bar also has an estimated time remaining line, which changes to the elapsed time when the operation is complete.

Below the progress bar area the source and destination are shown, using full path names for any disk folders or files.The current operation may be cancelled via the Cancel button. It may also be paused, using the Pause button, which changes to a Resume button. Once the operation is complete, the Pause button changes to an OK button, meaning you may dismiss the dialog if you wish.

During the operation, various alert and information dialogs may appear. The next release will feature expanded error checking and recovery, plus the ability to change from the first layer to the second layer tape without having to wait until it is ready.

Comparing a project to its other forms

You may compare a project, tape image, tape, or disk image to any other form of the same project. Currently you may not compare a project to a project, a tape image to a tape image, or a disk image to a disk image. That will probably be expanded later, when time permits.

As mentioned, during the compare, all information except the actual disk files is ignored, and all copy protection and Macrovision flags are removed from the compare.

If the compare succeeds, you may be sure that the entire video was compared, byte by byte. If it fails, information is logged which can give a clue of what is wrong. It is intended to expand the compare failure logging information when time permits.

The Mastering Log

Logging the DLT Control files and the UDF Bridge can be very useful when communicating with replicators or with us, and for your own information. These options can be enabled in the Mastering Preferences.

The ISO Bridge can also be useful, though it duplicates much of the UDF Bridge which is the preferred copy by most players.

Logging SCSI calls can be useful for debugging hardware problems.

The logs are not currently directly printable, but you may copy and paste them to a text editor. It wouldn't hurt to send in a copy with your tapes, since the control files plus UDF Bridge give all of the important information that will be used for replication (When time permits we'll add a print log function).

DLT Control Files

The mastering preferences include logging the DLT Control Files, which describe the format and options chosen for the DLT, and describe to the replication process how to proceed. It is not necessary to understand all of the details to use mastering, but it can be helpful to understand the general structure of the control files and some of the most important fields.

DDPID

The DDPID file describes the overall structure of the control files, and is the first file written to tape. The first field, DDP Level, describes the Output Format chosen in the dialog. It will be DDP 2.0, DDP 2.1, or DDV 1.00, this last for CMF format. For CMF, the file name itself is DDVID.DAT instead of DDPID for the other two.

The first part of the DDPID file describes the overall content of the tape. For DLTs created by DVDAfterEdit, a limited number of choices will be made. For DLTs created by other authoring systems, other choices may appear. Following are the possible values used by Mastering:

Master ID: always blank

Type of disc: always DV

Number of disc sides: either 1 or 2

Side of current surface: either 0 or 1

Number of disc layers: either 1 or 2

Layer of current surface: either 0 or 1

Direction of translation: always 0 for opposite track path (OTP). Other mastering systems may use I for parallel track path (PTP)

Replica disc size: A (8 cm) or B (12 cm)

Security system status: 0 (no CSS), 3 (DDP 2.0 CSS), or 5 (DDP 2.1 or CMF CSS)

Security system mode: always 0

For DDP 2.1 and CMF only:

CPSTY_RMA valid: It's V, or blank

CPS_TY: 00 (no CSS) or 01 (CSS)

Region Mask: hexadecimal region value

Following the overall data is one or more sub-records each describing a file to be written to the tape after the DDPID. These sub-records are described by the Data stream type, and occur in descending sort sequence:

T5, T2: Optional Text records which are seldom if ever used.

D5: Video Object Location Table. This file is produced only for DDP 2.1 and CMF CSS. It gives the inclusive range of sector numbers for each VTS to be encrypted. Mastering always encrypts each VTS VOB, including menu VOBs, and never VMG VOBs. Other authoring systems offer more control over which sector numbers and which VOBs are to be encrypted.

D2: Lead-in Control Information. This file only occurs on layer 0, since opposite track path does not include lead-in control information on the second layer. Other mastering systems may us PTP.

The data stream length is always 16 sectors, always starting at sector 193024. The DVD mode is always DV. The source storage mode is always 1 (2054-byte sectors).

The first 6 bytes of each sector will contain the region management information (RMA) and copyright protection fields. Other mastering systems may use storage mode 0 (2048-byte sectors).

D0: DVD Image. For layer 0, the data stream start is always 196608 (or 0X30000in hex).

The data stream length will always be a multiple of 16 sectors in an ECC (Error Correction Code) block. The DVD mode will always be DV. The source storage mode is always 0 (2048-byte sectors) or 1 (2054-byte sectors).

Source materials scrambled is always 0. The data stream identifier will be MAIN.DAT (DDP 2.0) or IMAGE.DAT (DDP 2.1 and CMF). Other mastering systems may use different storage modes or file names.

VOBTABLE.DAT

The VOB table file lists the VTS number, VCPR_MAI (always b0), and the starting and ending sector addresses to be encrypted with CSS.

Other mastering systems may use a different file name.

CONTROL.DAT

The lead-in information file lists mostly information that is either always the same or is determined by the options chosen in the Format/Copy dialog.

Book Type: always 0 (DVD-ROM)

Part Version: always 1 (Version 1.0x)

Disc Size: either 0 (12 cm) or 1 (8 cm)

Max Transfer Rate: Always 2 (10.08 Mbps)

Number of Layers: either 0 (single) or 1 (dual)

Track Path: either 0 (Single or Parallel) or 1 (Opposite)

Layer Type: always 1 (Read-only)

Linear Density: always 0 (for single layer) or 1 (for dual layer)

Track Density: always 0

Start Sector: always 196608 or 0X30000 hex (for layer 0), or the one's complement of the last sector number of layer 0 (for layer 1)

End Sector (for single layer): always 196608 or 0X30000 hex plus the number of sectors (rounded up to multiple of 16) minus one

End Sector (for dual layer): one's inverse complement of the last sector of layer 1

End Sector Layer 0 (for single layer): always 0

End Sector Layer 0 (for dual layer): always 196608 or 0X30000 hex, plus the number of sectors in layer 0 (rounded up to multiple of 16) minus one

Burst Cutting Area: Usually 0 (does not exist)

ISO Bridge Log

Each DVD contains both an ISO-9660 directory structure and a UDF directory structure, which are part of the UDF Volume Structure.

Mostly for debugging purposes, the ISO Bridge structure may be logged. Because the UDF Bridge Log is more modern and useful, we will not bother with descriptions of the ISO Bridge at this time.

The UDF bridge log lists UDF Partition Start sector, the Partition Length in sectors, and then the directory structure. The UDF directory structure always follows the ISO directory structure, so its starting sector will depend on how many files are to be stored in the final DVD.

Similarly, the length of the UDF directory structure also depends on the number of files.

The first directory is always the overall enclosing directory. It in turn will contain the VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS directories, and any folders or files at the same level of these directories (ROM data).

DVDAfterEdit DLT Pre-Mastering Edition will always place the VIDEO_TS directory first, followed by the AUDIO_TS directory (always empty), and any ROM data last.

The directories are shown in the sequence their contents will be written to the disc image, indented to show the recursion level of the directory. Inside each directory the directories and files in that directory are shown.

Each file lists the name, extent (sector address), and file length (in bytes). Then two columns of CGMS data are listed. For CSS, each file that is to be encrypted will contain b0 in the first column and 01 in the second column. All other files will contain zeros. It is possible to get other values with other authoring systems, or by selecting copyright protection without CSS.

The sector numbers in the UDF Bridge are based on the start of the UDF Volume information, which is the beginning of the disc image itself, and does not include the lead-in information. In order to relate the sector numbers in the CONTROL.DAT file to the extents, you must add 196608 to the extent sector numbers.

For a Dual layer project, the layer break information will be shown in the log where the break occurs. If the break occurs in the middle of a VTS, it will show how many sectors of that VTS belong in the layer 0. The last sector number of Layer 0 shown in the log will match the last sector number in the CONTROL.DAT, as will the last sector number of a single-layer project. (The program adds in the 196608, or in hex, 0x30000, for you). The last sector number for layer 1 is the decimal equivalent of the last sector number as listed in the CONTROL.DAT.

If you have any questions on the above, please don't hesitate to ask them in the DVDAfterEdit Public Forum.

Pre-Mastering History and Usage

Pre Mastering is the preparing of DLT Tapes or DDP Images for submission to a Replication Facility for mass replication of DVD's.

When this process was invented several years ago, it was thought that only Hollywood studios would be able to produce DVD's, and the state-of-the-art medium for exchanging large amounts of data was DLT (Digital Linear Tape). These tapes are read in by a program at the replicator, most often Eclipse but there are other systems. Replicators invested millions in equipment and software to be able to produce a "Glass Master", from which many copies can be "Mastered".

To protect their investment, the Hollywood studios came up with copy protection schemes, CSS (Content Scrambling System) and Macrovision (causes degradation of video streams copied directly by a VCR). Today these schemes are easily defeated by software and hardware freely available on the internet, but they are still widely used. Also a region scheme was adopted so that DVD's produced for one region would not play in another. (The world is divided up into six regions plus Airline/Ships).

DVDAfterEdit Mastering Edition offers Pre Mastering to DLT Tape and DDP Images on hard drive. It also will read tapes or images Pre Mastered by other software, and convert them to a disk folder for further editing. Usually, these tapes and images are only "tagged" for encryption, and the encryption is applied during the mastering process. We do not own the CSS keys, nor do we use decrypting software, so we cannot read tapes where the CSS encryption was applied directly. Luckily this is probably a very rare case, such tapes are not in general circulation as far as we know.

Some DVD Authoring Applications, such as DVD Studio Pro, do not pre master directly from a Video_TS folder, but always refer to their inputs (assets) when building a DLT or image. This prevents using their Pre Mastering after DVDAfterEdit has made changes, since the changes would be overwritten by the original data. Other Authoring Application separate the building and Pre Mastering phases such that their Pre Mastering can work from a modified folder, and therefore can coexist with DVDAfterEdit, giving you a choice of which system to use for Pre Mastering.

DVDAfterEdit Mastering Edition has been engineered for and tested with a wide variety of Authoring Applications. It gives you visual feedback on choosing the layer break, showing you multiple blue arrows for each of the possible layer breaks at each level of the hierarchical Program Chain display, and red arrows for the path to the currently chosen break. (A break is chosen at the cell level, but a current cell may be split in order to provide a new cell for the break). The layer break is always marked non-seamless, which is a spec requirement that has often been ignored by other Pre Mastering systems, particularly DVD Studio Pro.

[inline:1=center,DVDAfterEdit Mastering Edition Screen]

In this screen dump, the chosen layer break is VTS 1 PGC 1 PG 4 Cell 4. It was chosen by the author because it is a transition from black, and so any delay caused by the player switching layers will likely not be noticed.

Dual-layer DVD recording devices are not a reliable medium for testing layer breaks for replication, if you use utilities such as Toast or Nero, since they do not give the user any control over where to place the layer break. DVD-R's, whether dual layer or not, are not suitable for direct submission for replication unless the replicator has the necessary software and procedures in place to produce a non-CSS, region all disc from such a submission. Many replicators have not updated their software or procedures for years.

Most replicators are capable of accepting DDP images as data on DVD-R, if they understand the necessary procedures. In this case, the DVD-R is being used as merely a data carrier or transporter. For dual-layers, each layer is written to a separate DVD-R.

To produce a DDP Image from DVDAfterEdit, choose "Tape Image" as the output, and build the tape layer(s) to a hard drive. Then using Toast 6, copy each layer folder to a DVD-R using the settings DVD-ROM (UDF) and Data (not Video) to get a disc that is readable by both PC's and Macs.