Suggestions for BD authoring features...leave comments

[bluseminole]

Recent discussion on paidgeek's insider thread has brought up some suggestions for certain features and/or improvements to be made to Blu-ray discs, primarily Java titles. Credit goes out to Hanser for bringing these points up:

Originally Posted by hanser

Dear paidgeek,

now that I have some experience with BD titles from various studios, I have accumulated some suggestions, how Sony titles could be further improved IMO (apart from the already mentionned adding the calibration pictures to the menu), in no particular order:


- I like the scenes menue with the scrolling band of small pictures, but it would be still better, if it would start at the scene you are just watching. E.G if I go the scenes menu in the middle of the movie, because I am looking for a scene further at the end, I nevertheless start with the first scene and have to scroll through all scenes which takes some time and work. Could the player be instructed to start at the current scene?

- I do not know if it is only with my Sharp player, but I can´t chose chapters via the numbers on the remote. If it is a general BD thing, it would be nice to have this function.

- User prohibitions. Is it really necessary to forbid going "next" for exemple while the menu is building up? I would be nice if this restriction would not be used any more, it is really bothersome, if you just want to watch the movie.

- Since most players still take a long time to load Java menues, would it be possible to include at the beginning a choice between the full Java menue loading and a "movie only" option which circumvents the Java with all the extras. It would be extremly helpful if you just want to watch the movie, which is mostly the case in real life. Ideally then the disc would be like a Warner BD: Logo, maybe some FBI thingy if necessary, and the movie starts without further ado.

- BD-Java titles start from the beginning after one has pressed "Stop", while other titles just resume with play. If technically possible it would be nice, that also Java titles could resume after "Stop".


- When I watch extras I can´t access the menu, I have to skip forward until the extra is finished, then it reverts to the movie. It would be nice to access to the menu at all times during watching extras, so you could directly switch to another extra.

I hope this may be helpful.

The original thread may be located here

Added poll at the suggestion of paidgeek. He seems to be rather interesting in gathering the opinions here, so VOTE! Poll will close in 14 days--it's a short little poll.

[HDJK]

Since I usually watch a movie start to end I'm only interested in eliminating the user prohibitions and bypassing Java features as an option.
Movie resume can come in handy as well.

[aygie]

Originally Posted by HDJK

Since I usually watch a movie start to end I'm only interested in eliminating the user prohibitions and bypassing Java features as an option.
Movie resume can come in handy as well.

Same for me. Just let me watch the movie.

[hanser]

Thank you bluseminole for putting up the poll for me!

[ckenisell]

Just take a look at what New Line does and copy them. I just watched Rush Hour 3 last night and it didn't take me very long to get from inserting the disc, to the main menu and then into the film.

Here's what I did:

1. Insert the disc into the PS3, go to the BDVM icon and select it.
2. As soon as the text came of the screen, I hit the next button on the remote. Please note: There were no user prohibitions. It went straight to the menu.
3. I verified the setup (audio options were set to my liking although this disc only had one option for audio). I do this for all of my movies.
4. Started the movie. Also note: There were absolutely NO messages, FBI warnings, trailers, etc. It went RIGHT to the New Line Blu-Ray video and then RIGHT into the movie. This is how they should ALL be.

Here are some things to note about how much I enjoyed the above experience:

1. I was able to go right to the menu and I didn't have to skip several trailers (take note BVHE).
2. Once in the menu I could go right to the movie. There's no need for FBI Warnings. I bought the movie. And if copyright protection is really doing its job correctly, there shouldn't need to be an FBI Warning. Especially and FBI Warning that can't be skipped.
3. I wish movies would pick up where they left off without having to use some kind of "Bookmarking" functionality (a la Sony movies). Although I welcome the bookmarking functionality, I still want my player to remember where I was in a movie. I suppose it's up to the player to add that functionality, but I don't know if it's even a possibility. Perhaps it isn't a possibility and THAT'S why Sony introduced the bookmarking feature.
4. New Line has always gotten home cinema right. Take a look at the Lord of the Rings EE DVDs.
5. I absolutely HATE when the move autoruns without going to a menu first. I hate it even worse when there is no main menu at all. (a la Warner releases). I don't want to have to set my audio options while the movie is playing. Many movie go right into the movie now, with the music starting as soon as the studio logos appear. I don't want to have to pause the movie, bring up the pop-up menu, change the audio, cancel he pop-up menu and THEN un-pause the movie. That looks very cheesy to guests. Let's have a menu and allow the users to get to it quickly if not instantly.

[bluseminole]

You're welcome, hanser.

In retrospect, I probably should have included an option for "none of the above", but oh well...

[hanser]

Originally Posted by ckenisell

[[*]I was able to go right to the menu and I didn't have to skip several trailers (take note BVHE).[*]Once in the menu I could go right to the movie. There's no need for FBI Warnings. I bought the movie. And if copyright protection is really doing its job correctly, there shouldn't need to be an FBI Warning. Especially and FBI Warning that can't be skipped.

I agree with those points. If a FBI warning is thought necessary then I would prefer it to appear AFTER the movie.

Originally Posted by ckenisell

[[*]I absolutely HATE when the move autoruns without going to a menu first. I hate it even worse when there is no main menu at all. (a la Warner releases). I don't want to have to set my audio options while the movie is playing. Many movie go right into the movie now, with the music starting as soon as the studio logos appear. I don't want to have to pause the movie, bring up the pop-up menu, change the audio, cancel he pop-up menu and THEN un-pause the movie. That looks very cheesy to guests. Let's have a menu and allow the users to get to it quickly if not instantly.[/LIST]

Here I do not agree. First, normally I do not have to change audio at all since it is already in English. Second If I want to change it, I can push the audio button, I do not have to use the pop up menu. It is faster and less distracting.

I also do not find the pop up menu cheesy, rather the opposite. it is something that DVD does not offer, so I think it is rather cool looking. But this is personal preference I guess.

So for me the optimum would be to go directly to the movie if using the Java bypass. For those prefering the main menu they would have the Java option.

[Jackietreehorn]

Originally Posted by ckenisell

[*]I absolutely HATE when the move autoruns without going to a menu first. I hate it even worse when there is no main menu at all. (a la Warner releases). I don't want to have to set my audio options while the movie is playing. Many movie go right into the movie now, with the music starting as soon as the studio logos appear. I don't want to have to pause the movie, bring up the pop-up menu, change the audio, cancel he pop-up menu and THEN un-pause the movie. That looks very cheesy to guests. Let's have a menu and allow the users to get to it quickly if not instantly.[/LIST]

See, I also disagree (and I guess agree with Hanser?) I love when I put the disc in and once it's spun up, it just starts the movie. If I need to go to the menu, I can use the popup menu or if I need to change sound, I can just do that on the fly. I'm actually a bit disappointed that all BDs don't do this. I like the idea of there being a main menu you can go to, but I like the movie starting asap. But, different strokes for different folks I suppose.

[ckenisell]

Originally Posted by hanser

First, normally I do not have to change audio at all since it is already in English.

English - yes. But which format of English? DD 5.1 Lossy? Dolby TrueHD? DTS Lossy? DTS-HD MA?

Originally Posted by hanser

Second If I want to change it, I can push the audio button, I do not have to use the pop up menu. It is faster and less distracting.

I like the ability to press the audio button to find things like commentary tracks, but, again, how do you know which format you've selected? Many discs have three or four different "English" tracks and pressing the audio button doesn't show you a format, but rather a language. "English 1", "English 2", "English 3" and "English 4" don't tell me anything about format.

Originally Posted by hanser

I also do not find the pop up menu cheesy, rather the opposite. it is something that DVD does not offer, so I think it is rather cool looking. But this is personal preference I guess.

I like the pop-up menu myself. But I am looking at it from my guests perspective. It is perfectly reasonable to go to a menu and set things up BEFORE the movie starts, but once the movie starts, they don't want things popping up on the screen over the movie...even if it is just the studio logos. Can you imagine going to the movie theater and the New Line logo animation starts up with the opening music playing and some dude is in the back popping up a menu to set the audio from stereo to surround sound? It just feels a little hokey to me. And guests are used to menus before the movie starts.

If I set things up in a main menu, guests think, "Oh, well, he's just setting things up. I appreciate that he's looking out for our best interests." If I start the movie and bring up all kinds of menus blocking opening credits and movie-type stuff, guests think, "What a geek. He's gotta have everything perfect and I just wanna watch the darn movie. Get that crap off of the screen." Like I said, it's perfectly acceptable before the movie starts, but once the movie starts, all bets are off...It's movie time.

[bluseminole]

Originally Posted by ckenisell

English - yes. But which format of English? DD 5.1 Lossy? Dolby TrueHD? DTS Lossy? DTS-HD MA?



I like the ability to press the audio button to find things like commentary tracks, but, again, how do you know which format you've selected? Many discs have three or four different "English" tracks and pressing the audio button doesn't show you a format, but rather a language. "English 1", "English 2", "English 3" and "English 4" don't tell me anything about format.



I like the pop-up menu myself. But I am looking at it from my guests perspective. It is perfectly reasonable to go to a menu and set things up BEFORE the movie starts, but once the movie starts, they don't want things popping up on the screen over the movie...even if it is just the studio logos. Can you imagine going to the movie theater and the New Line logo animation starts up with the opening music playing and some dude is in the back popping up a menu to set the audio from stereo to surround sound? It just feels a little hokey to me. And guests are used to menus before the movie starts.

If I set things up in a main menu, guests think, "Oh, well, he's just setting things up. I appreciate that he's looking out for our best interests." If I start the movie and bring up all kinds of menus blocking opening credits and movie-type stuff, guests think, "What a geek. He's gotta have everything perfect and I just wanna watch the darn movie. Get that crap off of the screen." Like I said, it's perfectly acceptable before the movie starts, but once the movie starts, all bets are off...It's movie time.

Oh...see, my Panny DMP-BD10 lists the audio formats selected when I press the audio button...for instance, one will be English Dolby 5.1, then I have to switch to English TrueHD 5.1. In this case, switching audio on the fly is much less time consuming and just as precise as doing it in the menu.

[hanser]

Originally Posted by ckenisell

But I am looking at it from my guests perspective. I

Ok, lets agree to disagree. Obviously everybody has different priorities. I am looking at it from my perspective, since it is my home theater and it is I who is using it alone or with the family in 95% of the time. Guest are guests and should be happy to have the priviledge of being invited to a movie. I like having guests but would not let them dictate me how i do thing in my house, as I would never do it myself when being a guest myself. When in Rome, do as the Romans do...

In summary (for paidgeek): This question if a movie should start at once or after a menu (but without any further ado), is not clearly answered here on the forum, you find proponents for each solution.

OK, ckenisell?

[ckenisell]

Originally Posted by hanser

OK, ckenisell?

OK.

[bluseminole]

bump

[djOS]

I guess Im greedy, I selected all options.

[Ian_S]

I'd like to see the following: One of the things that drives me round the twist is the lack of consistency between titles that automatically go straight into the movie, and those that (after adverts) go into the main menu...

So, if possible I'd like there to be a global setting stored in player persistent memory that ALL discs can read to determine whether they should go straight to the menu or auto-play the film.

To extend that concept further it would be nice to also be able to store audio preferences so that if you prefer TrueHD to be the default track if present, that it is automatically selected without having to find it in the menus...

I imagine this is relatively easy for BD-J, I don't know if it's possible with BDMV titles.

However I would like this to be a generic things that ALL studios should use.