Menu Crashing in VLC with a runtime error

[davidb87321978]

Hi,

I built a disc using Encore cs6 containing a menu allowing you to choose between 3 different video clips. The menu has a 30 second audio file that plays and the 3 thumbnail buttons are animated (the background is not). When playing the disc using VLC when it gets to the end of the menu it crashes with a runtime error that says "This application has requested the Runtime to terminate it in an unusual way"

I had set the end action of the menu to go back to the menu thinking it would just restart the menu and play in a loop so that if the user doesn't choose anything the menu will just play on...is that wrong? Anyone know why I'm getting this error or what to do about it?

Thanks very much - I'm on a huge deadline for a big project so all guidance is REALLY appreciated!

[Ann Bens]

Burn the project do disk a see how it goes.

Might want to use a real dvd program like Power DVD.

[davidb87321978]

Thanks very much!

So it crashes when using VLC as soon as the menu is done.

I subsequently figured out that if I set the menu end action to stop, it will stop instead of crashing (which is kind of a friendlier version of a crash). I also tried to set the menu length to 20 minutes but got an error that it can't make a menu that long. So I tried it at 3 minutes and it worked (it shuts the disc after 3 minutes but I figured that's really long enough) but the audio file is only 30 seconds long so the audio dropped after 30 seconds.

Is there any other way to do this? Or is it a VLC issue with menus that VLC can't handle looping?

What would you recommend the settings be for:

1. Menu End Action

2. Duration

3. Loop

4. Loop #

thanks!

[Stan Jones]

I do not get this problem. VLC plays an Encore motion menu, including animated buttons, with repeats, selects a movie from the menu, and plays, returns to the menu and menu plays repeatedly without error.

VLC 2.2.6; what version are you using?

I assume your target is to play this with VLC, not on a TV?

Menu end action should never be reached (you want the menu to loop back when it ends) and should be set to "stop." (Even though it should never be reached, it may do odd things if set, for example, back to itself.)

Duration is best set to the shorter of the video and audio motion assets. Odd asset lengths can cause issues.

You are not using the loop option, so it should be 00;00 and "forever."

If this is not working, I would create a simple test project. Create a new DVD project. Import from the Encore library the "Crib Menu HD" which has a motion background with it. (Encore will make it DVD sized; we don't care about the oddities of doing that for the test.) Import one file "as timeline." Set the timeline end action to "last menu." Link the first menu button to the timeline and delete the other buttons. Build to a DVD Folder and see what VLC does with it.

Ignore the animated button option for the test: Encore renders all the motion into one motion background, so all VLC will see is the VOB for menu motion.

[neil wilkes]

VLC Media Player is extremely flaky with menus, and by the developers own admission is on a "best effort" basis and correct operation is not guaranteed. It is often the same with free players, as the reason they are free is often because they don't want to pay the royalties involved. That said, the VLC developer is a top chap though.

If you need to do serious checks, I recommend Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra - this just works, and is what we use to test playback on computer based systems, and on our last large job (we provided 4 BD and 2 DVD for a Box Set) the people who could not play the replicas with media players were all using free players that could not cope with either our Java code, the menus or even both. As soon as they tried using what Ann described perfectly as a "real dvd program" all the problems went away.

Free media players are usually free for a reason, the main one being they are not worth paying for.

[SAFEHARBOR11]

I test my DVDs on an actual set-top DVD or Blu-ray player, too many variables with software. Most new computers don't even have an optical drive any more, and in fact if the viewer is meant to view on a PC, give them an HD video as an .mp4 file and skip the old-fashioned DVD. If not meant to view on PC, then don't test on PC. DVDs that do NOT meet spec will often still play on a PC, providing the false assumption that the disc will then play on set-top players - which it may not.

Thanks

Jeff

[neil wilkes]

Jeff, I could not have put this any better than you have.

All I can add is that things are just as bad, if not worse, on a mac too.