DVD-Audio Creation with WaveLab 6

• support for creating up to 9 Groups (maximum possible)
• support for creating 99 tracks in each Group (maximum possible)
• the tracks must all be PCM uncompressed wav file format
• all tracks in a given Group must have the same sampling frequency
• basic menus for navigation of Group selection and track selection
• support for custom background images for the top menu, track selection menus and multiple images during any track playback
• no support for authoring to the VIDEO_TS folder
• no support for MLP (Meridian Lossless Packing) used in commercial DVD-A

• import the audio clips from existing wav files to define the music content
• generate DVD-A track markers using the DVD Wizard; the default gap between DVD tracks is 2 sec.
• the generated DVD view track list can be edited. Rename the tracks the way you want them to appear in the DVD-A navigation menu. Reorder them by drag/drop
• specify the target (on final DVD-A) resolution (16 bits or 24 bits) for the target Group; this could be different from the bit resolution of the clips in the montage
• for 5.1 surround clips, use the default "Stereo Mixdown" settings or customize
• add a Picture track to each montage (Group) if you want custom images displayed while each track is playing; adjust transition effects if desired

• add each of the montages you wish included in the DVD-A disc to the DVD-A project
• rename the montages "group name" the way you want them to appear in the top level DVD-A navigation menu. Reorder the groups to suit the way you want them to appear in this top level DVD-A menu.
• in the Main settings window, enter the Album Name which will be displayed on the top level menu and also on the individual group menus. Make sure Generate Menus and text option as no DVD-A players support this capability. Change the other options to suit your needs.
• generate the DVD-A menus. This requires a bit of time to understand how it works. There are two types of menus: (1) The top level menu which allows navigation of the Groups (if you have more than one montage in the DVD-A project) and (2) the second level menu for navigating the DVD-A tracks within a given group. These 2 menus can each have their own background images, or you can opt for a fixed customizable Color background. Note that if you have several DVD-A groups (montages) you can specify individual background images for each Group menu .. very handy. Adjust the various margins and use fairly large font sizes that are easy to read on a TV. Watch the "safety area" so parts of the menus aren't cut off.
• Do NOT edit the DVD-A text (the large T menu choice) as it isn't supported on DVD-A players.
• Check the DVD-A project (the glasses icon).
• "Render" the multi-montage (group) DVD-A project. Rendering here has a slightly different meaning than the usual "Rendering from the Master Section". Rendering the DVD-A project encodes the various audio tracks, organized into groups with menu navigation information and images into the AUDIO_TS folder. The format of the files generated are defined by the DVD-A specification and are not directly accessible by WL6. A typical folder contents is shown below for a rendered DVD-A project consisting of two montages, corresponding to two DVD-A "groups". The uncompressed LPCM audio data is embedded in the AOB (Audio Object) files as LPCM with various header files and timer information for playback.
  
  
  
  This rendering process also creates an empty VIDEO_TS folder. Content (video, music, slide shows etc.) authored by a DVD-Video editing program such as Nero Vision can be added to the VIDEO_TS folder, depending on how compatible you want your "universal" DVD-A disc to be. Without content in the VIDEO_TS folder, the DVD-A disc will only be playable on a DVD-A player.
  
  The rendering process above automatically opens a new Dava CD/DVD project. At this stage you can immediately burn a DVD-A compatible disc, perhaps after editing the Disc Label (in Functions menu). I prefer to choose "Save as ISO Image ..." and burn the DVD-A disc image using another program (Nero 7). While some DVD-A players support adding a data folder at the same root level as the AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS folders, some players may not recognize this type of disc.

  Typical DVD-A Menu Layout as Authored with WaveLab 6.1

  DVD-A discs created using the above approach were tested with the OPPO BDP-83 Blu-ray DVD player and also with Creative Technologies MediaSource DVD-Audio Player software. (Note that depending on the DVD-A player design/architecture, a DVD-A "group" may be called a "Title" and a DVD-A track may be called a "Chapter" as is typically used in DVD-Video.) The screen shots below were taken from the computer display of Nero Vision 4 which is identical to that displayed by the BDP-83 player when connected to a standard (not HD) TV in NTSC mode via component video output. Following are some screen shots for a typical 2-group DVD-A disc. The top level menu shows the Album Name Home Recordings Vol 1 and a selectable menu of the two group names: Stereo 24 bit 48kHz Tracks and 5.1 Surround 24 bit 48 kHz Tracks. The corresponding total time duration of each group (all tracks) is shown at the right.
  
  
  
  Selecting either of these two group choices (using either the remote control of the DVD-A player, front panel controls, or a mouse selection if you are using a software DVD-A player) displays the corresponding track list for that group. For these more detailed menus, I chose the default background color (no custom image) for easier reading but your personal visual creativity can be used here. The small house icon at the bottom navigates back to the top level menu. The next screenshot shows the track selection menu from the second group:
  
  
  
  Depending on how the DVD-A player is configured and designed, clicking a track may playback the entire group in order starting at the track, randomly or once. The next image is displayed during playback of the 2nd track of the 2nd group. This image was one of several I placed on both montage Picture Tracks to identify information of the currently playing track. For this DVD-A I used the same starter image and simply edited the central part of the image with pasted text corresponding to the track name in the group menu. These images were simply placed on the montage Picture Track timeline at positions corresponding to where the audio tracks started. Any number of images could be added along the Picture Track subject to the 2 Mb total size limit for images in a given TitleSet (see WL6 documentation on increasing this limit):
  
  
  
  The next image shows the display menu (taken from a video grabber) from a standard definition NTSC display. The image quality would of course be better with a HD display. The top line provides navigation (using the GOTO button and arrow keys on the remote) of the Titles and Chapters and time positioning. The data bit rate is shown at the top left, in this case 7.1 Mbps for a 5.1 24 bit/48 kHz audio file. At the lower left, the sampling rate, channels (48 kHz and 5.1) and encoding for the current track are shown. If the audio data is either MLP encoded or is unencoded LPCM (linear Pulse Code Modulation .. the usual wav uncompressed format), the MLP indicator will be displayed. Otherwise it will not be displayed (e.g. for DD or DTS etc..):
  
  
  
  Creative Technologies MediaSource DVD-Audio software Player is shown next. The menu text shown had to be entered manually and is stored in a JET database file which can be shared with other computers having Creative soundcards that support their DVD-Audio software player.
  
  
  
  Nero Vision 4 can play some types of DVD-A discs (not MLP encoded ones) and the video portion displays but since Nero Vision is really intended as only a DVD-Video player, there are synchronization problems between the audio and video. However this is still useful in viewing how the images will appear.
  
  
  
  The information screen displayed by Nero Vision shows that it correctly decodes the information in the AUDIO_TS folder:
  
  
  
  

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  References

  • Creating DVD-Audio Discs
  • DVD-Audio Wikipedia Article
  • DVD Audio Tools Project
  • Multiple Channel Audio Data and WAVE Files
  • Creating DVD-Video Music Discs