Why aren't chapters being added to my m2ts using tsmuxer?

Question

Question - Why aren't chapters being added to my m2ts using tsmuxer?

Background I have a mkv file with 61 chapters. I confirmed the presence of those chapters by using mkvtoolnix. I want to convert the mkv to a bluray ISO. But whenever I use tsmuxer, the produced m2ts file lacks any chapters. I confirmed this by opening the file in VLC player; no chapters are listed.

Please note that I am adding a custom chapters list in tsmuxer.

On the input screen, I can see the video codec is indeed H.264 and the audio is AC3. I've pasted the input view from tsmuxer below.

Command line arguments are:

MUXOPT --no-pcr-on-video-pid --new-audio-pes --blu-ray --vbr --custom-chapters=00:00:00.000;00:02:34.000;00:05:04.000;00:08:45.000;00:10:58.000;00:15:36.000;00:18:05.000;00:22:46.000;00:24:42.000;00:28:14.000;00:31:25.000;00:34:49.000;00:37:46.000;00:41:06.500;00:43:39.000;00:47:31.000;00:51:32.000;00:55:52.000;00:58:23.000;01:01:53.000;01:05:16.000;01:09:48.000;01:12:52.000;01:16:25.000;01:19:06.000;01:23:14.000;01:27:35.000;01:30:36.000;01:33:15.000;01:37:26.000;01:40:56.000;01:46:10.000;01:48:35.000;01:52:14.000;01:54:18.000;01:59:38.000;02:03:04.000;02:08:26.000;02:11:30.000;02:15:11.000;02:19:07.000;02:22:57.000;02:26:04.000;02:28:53.000;02:33:00.000;02:36:30.000;02:38:39.000;02:42:59.000;02:46:18.000;02:49:52.000;02:52:37.000;02:55:44.000;03:00:54.000;03:05:29.000;03:09:23.000;03:13:14.000;03:15:19.000;03:17:55.000;03:21:24.000;03:25:15.000;03:28:45.000 --vbv-len=500 V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC, "F:\Videos\Yule Log Project\Movies\test5.mkv", forceSEI, contSPS, track=1, lang=und A_AC3, "F:\Videos\Yule Log Project\Movies\test5.mkv", track=2, lang=und

Answer 1

M2TS as a format / container is not able to store chapter information itself. On Blu-Ray disks, the chapter data is stored in the playlist files. Therefore you won't see chapters when you just load an M2TS file in a player.

I am actually a total newbie to this, so I have no clue whether tsMuxeR creates appropriate playlist files when producing the ISO file. If so, you should see the chapters when you load the playlist file into the player, not the M2TS file.

Answer 2

FIGURED IT OUT THX TO THIS POST I FOUND ON ANOTHER FORUM PEOPLE!!

"Find the main movie .m2ts file (could be 00001.m2ts) and find the matching playlist file in the PLAYLIST folder (would be 00001.mpls). Add only the playlist file in tsMuxeR and the matching .m2ts file will be imported. Go to the Blu-ray tab at top of tsMuxeR and select "Custom chapters list". Mux whatever you need and you have the original chapters."

you just need to add the playlist file into tsmuxer not the m2ts file! and add ur chapters and it worked for me perfectly! hope this helps you! :D