Getting Matroska Editions Working

[ndjamena]

I've put in a feature request with the developer of MakeMKV to add the Segment Map as a second edition of chapters to the output MKV file to make it easier to identify different versions of Movies/Episodes taken from a disc. To that end I've been experimenting by adding a second edition to an MKV with MKVMerge GUI but when I try to switch to the second edition in VLC nothing seems to happen other than the video restarting. Am I doing something wrong or has VLC's support for MKV chapters degenerated to almost nothing?

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

It should work. If it does not, file a bugreport.

[ndjamena]

Well, at this point I've been fiddling with the MKVMergeGUI chapters settings for days and have tried pretty much everything I can think of and nothing has worked. I installed both the 32 bit AND 64 bit Windows versions of VLC with no change. I've never been on the VLC forums before and am not sure what constitutes Windows Troubleshooting or General Troubleshooting and thought since Matroska chapters seemed a multiplatform container I put it here, I hope I did the right thing. However I tried installing the 64 bit Windows version of the current nightly build (on Win 8.1) but it keeps complaining that it is unable to elevate, despite me running it as administrator. I've tried compatibility mode and still it doesn't work, the bug report area is kind of daunting for now and I'd like to be sure what I've encountered is an actual bug before I make a fool myself, and it would be nice to make sure it hasn't been fixed in the nightly build yet, but...

What I've got at the moment is that if I add a second edition of chapters to a Matroska file and play it in VLC a second title has been added to the playback/title menu, but if I click it the video restarts but the chapters stay the same. Through all my fiddling the only different outcome I've found seemed to remove chapters altogether. Anyway, VLC seems to display only the first edition of chapters, even if another edition is set as default and it stays that way no matter which title I try to choose.

I'm not sure what's supposed to happen, maybe I'm thinking too simplistic, or maybe it really is a bug and I'm overcomplicating things. I've been through the Matroska website looking for clues but reading through all the possible tags nothing seems relevant. I'm kind of flying blind at the moment, fiddling with something I barely comprehend.

If someone could tell me what exactly is supposed to happen or post an xml of a dual set of chapters that should work I may be more confident in posting it as a bug...

Actually, I just realised I was being a pussy and opened another tab to post this as a bug, first it told me I didn't have the right to create a ticket, now it's telling me my login is invalid. Either Norton is bringing up the wrong password or I need a second account to post a bug. Either way, I'm confused and out of my depth... I'll just leave it at that.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

Matroska editions are very rare.
Post your samples.

[ndjamena]

OK, now I know beyond any shadow of a doubt that Mastroska Editions (or at least the way the chapters are displayed) is broken in the current version of VLC (Rincewind 2.1.4). Has this been fixed in a pre version yet or do I still need to report it?

[ndjamena]

In case it's relevant

Code: Select all

<?xml version="1.0"?> <!-- <!DOCTYPE Chapters SYSTEM "matroskachapters.dtd"> --> <Chapters> <EditionEntry> <EditionFlagDefault>1</EditionFlagDefault> <EditionUID>1021215810648130494</EditionUID> <ChapterAtom> <ChapterUID>2103088742970626800</ChapterUID> <ChapterDisplay> <ChapterString>00</ChapterString> <ChapterLanguage>eng</ChapterLanguage> </ChapterDisplay> <ChapterTimeStart>00:00:00.000000000</ChapterTimeStart> <ChapterTimeEnd>00:04:33.565000000</ChapterTimeEnd> <ChapterFlagHidden>0</ChapterFlagHidden> <ChapterFlagEnabled>1</ChapterFlagEnabled> </ChapterAtom> <ChapterAtom> <ChapterUID>1268896617306000896</ChapterUID> <ChapterDisplay> <ChapterString>"Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)"</ChapterString> <ChapterLanguage>eng</ChapterLanguage> </ChapterDisplay> <ChapterTimeStart>00:04:33.565000000</ChapterTimeStart> <ChapterTimeEnd>00:06:11.245875000</ChapterTimeEnd> <ChapterFlagHidden>0</ChapterFlagHidden> <ChapterFlagEnabled>1</ChapterFlagEnabled> </ChapterAtom> <ChapterAtom> <ChapterUID>5256559782503559553</ChapterUID> <ChapterDisplay> <ChapterString>01</ChapterString> <ChapterLanguage>eng</ChapterLanguage> </ChapterDisplay> <ChapterTimeStart>00:06:11.245875000</ChapterTimeStart> <ChapterTimeEnd>00:13:02.531750000</ChapterTimeEnd> <ChapterFlagHidden>0</ChapterFlagHidden> <ChapterFlagEnabled>1</ChapterFlagEnabled> </ChapterAtom> <ChapterAtom> <ChapterUID>6264777471543884654</ChapterUID> <ChapterDisplay> <ChapterString>02</ChapterString> <ChapterLanguage>eng</ChapterLanguage> </ChapterDisplay> <ChapterTimeStart>00:13:02.531750000</ChapterTimeStart> <ChapterTimeEnd>00:22:43.570541666</ChapterTimeEnd> <ChapterFlagHidden>0</ChapterFlagHidden> <ChapterFlagEnabled>1</ChapterFlagEnabled> </ChapterAtom> <ChapterAtom> <ChapterUID>4219441676172985332</ChapterUID> <ChapterTimeStart>00:22:43.570541666</ChapterTimeStart> <ChapterTimeEnd>00:32:39.791166666</ChapterTimeEnd> <ChapterDisplay> <ChapterString>03</ChapterString> <ChapterLanguage>eng</ChapterLanguage> </ChapterDisplay> <ChapterFlagHidden>0</ChapterFlagHidden> <ChapterFlagEnabled>1</ChapterFlagEnabled> </ChapterAtom> <ChapterAtom> <ChapterUID>16597881320747510167</ChapterUID> <ChapterDisplay> <ChapterString>04</ChapterString> <ChapterLanguage>eng</ChapterLanguage> </ChapterDisplay> <ChapterTimeStart>00:32:39.791166666</ChapterTimeStart> <ChapterTimeEnd>00:37:51.227291666</ChapterTimeEnd> <ChapterFlagHidden>0</ChapterFlagHidden> <ChapterFlagEnabled>1</ChapterFlagEnabled> </ChapterAtom> <ChapterAtom> <ChapterUID>13833113847563323505</ChapterUID> <ChapterDisplay> <ChapterString>05</ChapterString> <ChapterLanguage>eng</ChapterLanguage> </ChapterDisplay> <ChapterTimeStart>00:37:51.227291666</ChapterTimeStart> <ChapterTimeEnd>00:44:40.928250000</ChapterTimeEnd> <ChapterFlagHidden>0</ChapterFlagHidden> <ChapterFlagEnabled>1</ChapterFlagEnabled> </ChapterAtom> <ChapterAtom> <ChapterUID>18238071194295586744</ChapterUID> <ChapterDisplay> <ChapterString>Credits</ChapterString> <ChapterLanguage>eng</ChapterLanguage> </ChapterDisplay> <ChapterTimeStart>00:44:40.928250000</ChapterTimeStart> <ChapterTimeEnd>00:47:40.448000000</ChapterTimeEnd> <ChapterFlagHidden>0</ChapterFlagHidden> <ChapterFlagEnabled>1</ChapterFlagEnabled> </ChapterAtom> <EditionFlagOrdered>1</EditionFlagOrdered> <EditionFlagHidden>0</EditionFlagHidden> </EditionEntry> <EditionEntry> <EditionUID>7510692035709501062</EditionUID> <ChapterAtom> <ChapterDisplay> <ChapterString>0x02</ChapterString> <ChapterLanguage>eng</ChapterLanguage> </ChapterDisplay> <ChapterUID>13394420328953953411</ChapterUID> <ChapterTimeStart>00:10:00.000000000</ChapterTimeStart> <ChapterTimeEnd>00:20:00.000000000</ChapterTimeEnd> <ChapterFlagHidden>0</ChapterFlagHidden> <ChapterFlagEnabled>1</ChapterFlagEnabled> </ChapterAtom> <ChapterAtom> <ChapterDisplay> <ChapterString>0x03</ChapterString> <ChapterLanguage>eng</ChapterLanguage> </ChapterDisplay> <ChapterUID>16115976381632644016</ChapterUID> <ChapterFlagHidden>0</ChapterFlagHidden> <ChapterFlagEnabled>1</ChapterFlagEnabled> <ChapterTimeStart>00:20:00.000000000</ChapterTimeStart> <ChapterTimeEnd>00:30:00.000000000</ChapterTimeEnd> </ChapterAtom> <ChapterAtom> <ChapterDisplay> <ChapterString>0x05</ChapterString> <ChapterLanguage>eng</ChapterLanguage> </ChapterDisplay> <ChapterUID>17642937980740749740</ChapterUID> <ChapterTimeStart>00:40:00.000000000</ChapterTimeStart> <ChapterTimeEnd>00:47:40.448000000</ChapterTimeEnd> <ChapterFlagHidden>0</ChapterFlagHidden> <ChapterFlagEnabled>1</ChapterFlagEnabled> </ChapterAtom> <ChapterAtom> <ChapterDisplay> <ChapterString>0x06</ChapterString> <ChapterLanguage>eng</ChapterLanguage> </ChapterDisplay> <ChapterUID>8882050447248547976</ChapterUID> <ChapterTimeStart>00:20:00.000000000</ChapterTimeStart> <ChapterTimeEnd>00:30:00.000000000</ChapterTimeEnd> <ChapterFlagHidden>0</ChapterFlagHidden> <ChapterFlagEnabled>1</ChapterFlagEnabled> </ChapterAtom> <ChapterAtom> <ChapterDisplay> <ChapterString>0x01</ChapterString> <ChapterLanguage>eng</ChapterLanguage> </ChapterDisplay> <ChapterUID>1122966584120955805</ChapterUID> <ChapterTimeStart>00:00:00.000000000</ChapterTimeStart> <ChapterTimeEnd>00:10:00.000000000</ChapterTimeEnd> <ChapterFlagHidden>0</ChapterFlagHidden> <ChapterFlagEnabled>1</ChapterFlagEnabled> </ChapterAtom> <ChapterAtom> <ChapterDisplay> <ChapterString>0x04</ChapterString> <ChapterLanguage>eng</ChapterLanguage> </ChapterDisplay> <ChapterUID>12441377030217707412</ChapterUID> <ChapterTimeStart>00:30:00.000000000</ChapterTimeStart> <ChapterTimeEnd>00:40:00.000000000</ChapterTimeEnd> <ChapterFlagHidden>0</ChapterFlagHidden> <ChapterFlagEnabled>1</ChapterFlagEnabled> </ChapterAtom> <EditionFlagOrdered>1</EditionFlagOrdered> <EditionFlagDefault>1</EditionFlagDefault> <EditionFlagHidden>0</EditionFlagHidden> </EditionEntry> </Chapters>

Two sets of ordered chapters, one of them plays segments linearly the other plays the segments out of order and repeats a segment making it ten minutes longer. If I play the file it defaults to the first edition and displays the proper chapters and the proper title in the menu. If I switch to the second edition though it does PLAY the segments in the correct (out of) order with the correct +10 minute play length, it retains the chapter names and positions of the first edition. Further, the Playback/Title menu still shows that the first edition is playing complete with the negative 10 minute length and original chapters.

So basically when faced with multiple editions in a Matroska file the current VLC can play each edition but the metadata never changes and so it always retains the first editions stats.

...
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