From EncoreCS3 DVD-9 VIDEO_TS folder to replication house via DDP (mastering steps in GEAR etc.)

Question

Ok, the "solution" or steps I'm trying to provide here is not complete, just the way I see it now. We will do it this way as we want to deliver the DVD-9 dual layer DDP master to the replication house. The intention is that this should be corrected or fullfilled in order so that in the end we have a proper guide for everyone here, so people, read this, and share you info and if there is anything to be corrected or tips for making things work better.
Here we go:
Let's assume we have created successfully a VIDEO_TS folder from Encore CS3, meaning we have not set a layer break yet, but otherwise we have a working product.
STEP 1. SET THE LAYER BREAK IN GEAR Mastering Edition, guide http://www.gearsoftware.com/howtoguides/dvdvideobreakpoint.cfm
Possible problems: non-seamless cells don't exist in the layer break window
Possible solution: Use PGCEdit to change the cell type from seamless to non-seamless. This happens by opening the VIDEO_TS folder with PGCEdit and then double clicking on the VTS which holds the layer break point "window" (the VTS you chose in GEAR). Then you deselect the seamless joint checkbox in the cell (making it non-seamsless) you want to use as the layer break. Then you press OK and save the DVD. After that you create a new project in GEAR, do the layerbreak calculations based on the newly changed VIDEO_TS (with the non-seamless cell) and re-open the selected VTS_xx_0.IFO now in IFOEdit where you can now find the a proper non-seamless cell address for the layer break. Now you should be able to finish setting the non-seamless layer break in GEAR.
Question: Do we have to and do we need to have the When saving, leave at least 32K of space between IFO and BUP" from the Options to be on when we do this in seamless joint change and save the dvd in PGCedit?
STEP 2. CREATE DDP IMAGE FROM THE PROJECT, guide: http://www.gearsoftware.com/howtoguides/dvdvideotoddp.cfm
STEP 3. TEST THE DDP IMAGE BY BURNING IT ON DVD-R DVD-9
First you need to restore the DDP Image you just created, guide http://www.gearsoftware.com/howtoguides/restoreddpimage.cfm
Burn the restored VIDEO_TS folder to DVD-9 with GEAR, guide
http://www.gearsoftware.com/howtoguides/burndvdmovies.cfm
STEP 4. SEE HOW THE PRODUCT LOOKS LIKE WITH THE LAYER BREAK SET
-If the product looks good and the layer break makes you satisfied, deliver the DDP image to replication factory for replication.
.............Ok people, share your thoughts if something is wrong or if you got points to remember, answers to the questions given, suggest changes, or even better, write here a better version of this guide? The aim would be in the end having a guide which says all the required things in order to achieve a successfull DVD-9 project.

Answer 1

Neil, once again, thanks a lot.
>The seamless/non-seamless question is a bit of a non-issue unless you are using multiple camera angles, as this is all it refers to. Unless you have multiple angles, ignore this completely.
In Multiple Angles (unsupported in Encore anyway) Seamless means there is no pause in playback when switching between angles. That is all.
So, I really thought the seamless/non-seamless would have affect on the actually layer switching when playing the DVD, so that it might affect the slight layer switch pause time. It's just that the gear guide says that you need to find a non-seamless break in the IFOedit, and that's it, so I guess it is a bit missleading there in that GEAR guide. But, I'm glad you cleared this out that this only has to do something with the multiangle views.
>The 32kb of space is a "must-tick" option, otherwise you stand a high chance of having the master rejected by the factory. Nero is a bugger for running these 2 files (Video_TS.IFO & Video_TS.BUP) into what the player will see as one file.
Ok, so unless you use PGCEdit, this should be already ok in your project, right? But if you use PGCEdit for something like changing the seamless joint for multiple angles to your VIDEO_TS folder, this selection should be always on in PGCEdit.
>One gotcha though - early versions of the GEAR Spreadsheet for calculating the layer break seem to give the VTS to use the start sector from as VTS_xx_0.VOB - this is wrong.
Yeah, luckily this seems to be fixed now in the GEAR guide calculator.
Another way I've found that is useful what comes to the selecting the layer break from the layer break "window" for your project is this:
In order to know exactly where the cell starts in your video, you can use IMGBurn to preview the cells, so that you can choose the most suitable cell from the "layer break window". This means following the SET THE LAYER BREAK IN GEAR Mastering Edition guide to the point where you have found out the "layer break window". Then when going to the IFOedit you can see the cells that fall in to this window. Mark them down in your notepad and open the VIDEO_TS in IMGBurn, set the BUILD mode, choose to burn the VIDEO_TS folder and proceed the workflow ahead until you get to the set the layer break window. In this window you can preview the cells of the project, being able to see the videos of the cells. Go through the cells you marked in the IFOedit and find the cell that starts in the least disturbing place where the possible pause might occur during the moment when your dvd player changes the layer. When you've chose your cell, cancel the process and continue what you were doing in the GEAR layer break guide.
If there are any other methods for this test purpose, or if there is something I'm missing, please share?
Question about choosing the layer break cell: Is it the fact that no matter how you have bitcalculated your project size when building it in Encore, the layer break window that the GEAR spreadsheet provides you, doesn't take this into account at all? Meaning, if you choose the biggest cell number from the layer break window to be the layer break cell, it will go over the 4% overhead at the outer layer edge? If this is the case, you shouldn't use the last cells from the layer break window at all? And should we always try to choose the cell with the smallest number no matter what (in order to make the layer break as far from the layer's outer edge)?