Photo Story 3.1 - burning DVD's

[Guest]

I've been reading up on these forums on how to create a DVD from Photo Story
3.1. I did, in fact, follow some advice and download the custom profiles from
PapaJohn's website (www.papajohn.org) and tried saving a short test slideshow
from Photo Story 3.1 using these higher resolution profiles. I then used
NeroVision Express 2 to create my DVD. The test movie was about 10 pictures
long (maybe 6mb size, can't remember gith now) and when I created my DVD, it
took almost 36 minutes. Most of the movies that I want to put onto a DVD are
more like 35 mb once I use the higher resolution (on computer 3 800x600, they
are less than 10mb). I have about 40 movies I want to put onto a DVD. I did
some test ones of 5 of my movies saved as the two custom profiles from
PapaJohns website and also computer 4 profile. I had 5 movies with 3 profiles
each to put onto a DVD. I started it last night and it told me the elapsed
time would be 28 hours!

My questions are:
1) I've seen mention the Sonic DVD Plugin for Photo Story 3. I presume I can
use it for 3.1 that came within Digital Image Suite 2006? I also saw you can
bundle purchase MyDVD as well. What does that particular software do
differently than the plug in software?
2) Also, maybe I'm not doing this DVD creating thing right. When I save a
movie using the custom DVD (NTSC) profiles with the higher resolution, am I
supposed to be creating a DVD when I go to NeroVision Express2 by going
through adding video files and creating a menu, etc? Or should I just be
copying these movies to a DVD directly since they are already formatted to
DVD? I've never created a DVD before from Photo Story 3.1 except for the one
last night and I just don't want to have to wait 1 hour for each movie to be
put onto a DVD.
3) Also if the answer above is that I can just copy the PhotoStory movie
files onto a DVD instead of creating a DVD with menus, etc., can I copy these
movies all at once or can I copy them one at a time? I know when I copy music
onto a CD-R, it only lets me write once and then it tells me to insert a
blank CD. So I'm not sure if this is how DVD's work or not. I don't want one
movie per DVD. And I know there are limitations as to the number of movies I
can put onto a DVD according to how big the slideshows are.
4) Is there a website that steps you through how to create a DVD from Photo
Story 3.1 slideshows that does not directly showcase the Sonic plug-in? I saw
the tutorial on I think Windowsphotostory.com website, but I don't have the
Sonic plug-in. And from what I read, some people who downloaded that plug-in
ended up having issues with it and having to download other things to enable
it to work. Just don't want to buy it if it's not going to work, ya know???

Thanks for your help on this!!!!

 

[PapaJohn]

The Sonic DVD Plug-in gets you one story per DVD... with you needing to use
other DVD software if you want to have more stories on a disc.

To get discs with a number of stories on them, you need DVD software that
will make the DVD menu and other files needed for a video DVD. If you copy
the stories to a disc using Windows, you'll only be able to play it on a
computer.

Story files are in WMV format.... and a DVD needs files in MPEG-2 format
(VOB extensions).... for XP Microsoft doesn't have any DVD making software.
The new Microsoft DVD Maker in Vista can do it, but for XP, things like
ULead, Nero, MyDVD, etc. are needed.

 

[Bobdddds]

The SonicDVDPlug-in gets you one story perDVD... with you needing to use
otherDVDsoftware if you want to have more stories on a disc.

To get discs with a number of stories on them, you needDVDsoftware that
will make theDVDmenu and other files needed for a videoDVD. If you copy
the stories to a disc using Windows, you'll only be able to play it on a
computer.

Story files are in WMV format.... and aDVDneeds files in MPEG-2 format
(VOB extensions).... for XP Microsoft doesn't have anyDVDmaking software.
The new MicrosoftDVDMaker in Vista can do it, but for XP, things like
ULead, Nero, MyDVD, etc. are needed.
--
website references are towww.papajohn.org

PapaJohn








- Show quoted text -

You can try the DVD Slideshow Builder which is very powerful and very
popular now, many friends and I like it very much. It's very easy to
create a customized DVD slide show with photos and videos, and I can
add music, transitions, and motion effects and make beautiful DVD
menus. To be important, it has great photo and video editing function
that can meet your needs. Also, we can create .mp4, .wmv, .avi, .3gp
slideshows for our iPod, Zune and 3GP Cell Phones, Youtube .etc.

You can download it free here
http://www.photo-to-dvd.com/dvd-slideshow-builder.php?sid=8
And a specific tutorial is here
http://www.photo-to-dvd.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1452
Some useful information such as tips to make slideshow awesome is
here:
http://www.photo-to-dvd.com/other/popular-way-to-hold-memory.html

Hope this helps!

 

[Guest]

Thanks PapaJohn for the info. So pretty much I'm stuck with waiting 28 hours
to create a DVD with a cover menu from my movies created in PhotoStory 3.1
that were saved with the higher resolution custom profiles? I did get a
chance to play back the 5 movies I made that were saved in all three of the
higher resolution profiles (yours, the other one from John (?) on your
website and computer 4). I played them back on a 52" big screen rear
projection TV and I couldn't tell much difference between the two except for
maybe some "movement" during zooming.

Bobdddds posted that he uses another DVD creating software that does all the
music and what not, but from what I've read, you would lose the pan/zooming
effect, which I must say is the beauty of PhotoStory 3.1. I *HAVE* to have
the pan/zooming, so is there any movie maker, Slideshow or DVD creating
software where you can have several "stories" on one disc with the same
smooth transitions along with pan & zoom like PS 3.1 has that won't take 28
hours for 15 movies to be put onto a DVD? Thanks again for your help!

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the info, Bobdddds. You mentioned this DVD Slideshow Builder would
allow me to create several movies one after another to put onto a single DVD
(as many, that is, as would fit properly). You also mentioned it has the
capability of adding music, transitions, motion effects and DVD menus.
However, does it have the same capability of panning/zooming that PhotoStory
3.1 has? Most DVD creation software or movie maker software does have the
transitions and music capability, but NOT panning and zooming, which I
definintely need for sure as that's really a neat feature of PhotoStory 3.1.
Thanks again for your help.

Peppi S.

 

[Guest]

Bobddds,

I think I answered my own question about the DVD Slideshow Builder. I
visited the link and it does have the Ken Burns panning/zooming capability.
Haven't downloaded the trial version to try it yet, but it looks promising.
If you have used this software, it says that it has faster DVD rendering. I
have about 39 movies that are approximately between 12-30mb apiece (depending
on what resolution I make them) that I need to put as many as I can onto one
DVD. As mentioned before, when I try to burn a group of PhotoStory 3.1 movies
onto one single DVD, it takes FOREVER. Do you know how long it would take to
create one DVD from several movies? Also, do you know if you can just add in
full size photos without having to resize them down when adding them into
your storyline in this product? That's one thing I like about PhotoStory 3.1
is that you can just add any size picture and it does the rest for you. That
way you aren't having to waste time in resizing photos to just a certain size
for the program to work. Does this DVD Slideshow allow the same thing? If
you've never used the product, I noticed the software does have a support
team to ask questions of. Thanks again for your patience and help!

 

[PapaJohn]

I've not used DVD Slideshow Builder... sounds like from your other post,
you'll be trying it and letting us know.

PhotoStory 3 stories are video files, not a folder of still pictures, so the
transcoding to get to MPEG-2 files is the same process used to get any
videos to DVD. .

 

[Guest]

PapaJohn, have another question for you.

I just re-read your newsletter regarding burning movies to DVD. I did the
same thing as you. First, I downloaded the custom profiles listed on your
website for the PapaJohn DVD-NTSC 780x640 (can't remember exactly) as well as
another profile you had somewhere else (I can't find it now, but I've got it
downloaded at least!) that was PapaJohn DVD-NTSC 1274x980 or something like
that. Then I created the movie using the computer 4, and the two custom
profiles listed below. When I played each one on a 52" large screen rear
project TV, on a 19" TV and on my 15" flat panel computer monitor, they all
looked about the same with exception to some of the zooming, you could see
some of the objects "moving" a little. There is actually one picture of an
outdoor fall setting that has a stream in the middle and one of the "side
effects" of the lower resolution left the trees looking beautifully and
clear, but when it zoomed in slightly, it causedthat little distortion
movement and
it actually looked like the stream was flowing! Very cool unintended side
effect.

Anyway, my question is this: you mentioned that in DVD rendering, when
dealing with .wmv's that quality = largest file size. That's good to know and
I'll have to check the file sizes that are on the DVD to see if that holds
true. But when I was trying to figure out whether to use PAL or NTSC, one of
my authoring programs said PAL was for use in other countries and NTSC was
for United States. But you mentioned using PAL format. So my question is
which one should I use if the people viewing the movies on the DVD are within
the U.S.?? Stupid question, I know, but I'll ask anyway!

 

[Guest]

Bobdddds,

I have another question for you regarding the DVD Slideshow Builder. I am
going to try the 30 day trial of it, but before I do, I have a few more
questions. If I've already saved the slideshows through Photo Story 3.1 and
want to import them into a program such as the one mentioned above, does it
automatically keep all the transitions you have set within PS3.1 or do you
have to start from scratch? I read where the above software has the pan/zoom
effects like PS3.1, but didn't know if I could just import, then render to
DVD without any effects to my original slideshow? I guess maybe by the time I
get a reply, I might have already found out, but others may be interested in
the answer as well. Thanks!

 

[PapaJohn]

The TV system used in the US is NTSC.... in England it's PAL... so you
should align with the country it'll be viewed in.

About custom WMV profiles.... they can be of higher quality than DVD. To get
video to a disc that plays in a stand-alone DVD player, the MPEG-2 files on
it have to meet the MPEG standards. If you make a WMV file of 1274x980 or
something like it, it would be higher quality than a DVD, and knocked down
when transcoded to the files for the disc.

 

[PapaJohn]

the transitions and effects used in a story will be in the saved story (wmv
file).... but they are in a video file, no longer a set of still pictures.

slide-show software implies still pictures.... not knowing Slideshow
Builder, I don't know if it can also handle video files as inputs.

 

[PapaJohn]

I guess you're talking about Wondershare DVD Slideshow Builder

online info says it can use pictures and video as input.... as Photo Story 3
uses a special codec, different than WMV movies... I can't tell if it will
accept story files.

 

[Bobdddds]

DVD Slideshow Builder will not be compatible with the project of Photo
Story. But if you have save slideshows in wmv format, you can insert
it to DVD Slideshow Builder.
Then you can edit the wmv video beacause the software has great video
editing function.

 

[Bobdddds]

It can accept story files, and you can also edit the video file from
story.

 

[Guest]

PapaJohn,

One more question and then I think I'm done asking! In your newsletter and
your post, you mentioned that no matter how high of resolution or profile you
make your pictures, when you render your PS slideshow to DVD, it only makes
the resolution to however high the DVD is limited to. So I guess my question
is this: I have a lot of movies that I want to put onto a DVD. If I save the
movies (which right now are saved as computer 3 800x600) to a higher profile
(such as computer 4 or the two custom profiles for DVD-NTSC from your
website), it takes me over 24 hours to save 15 movies. So am I just wasting
my time in saving them under a higher profile? When I played them back to
compare them, two looked about the same while some others that I think were
the lower profile, but I don't know which is which as I forgot to rename the
movie so I'd know for sure, were showing the pixels as they transitioned from
a black blank slide crossfading into the first picture.

You mentioned the MPEG-2 for DVD has different resolution than the PS
movies. On average, what would be the best PS 3.1 profiles to select for:

1) Playback on computer only
2) Playback on DVD player on a big screen like 52" TV
3) Playback on a DVD player on 32" screen TV and smaller

Thanks!

 

[PapaJohn]

Peppi,

Yes, you might be wasting time rendering higher quality stories, only to
turn around and transcod them to lower quality MPEG-2 files to go onto a
DVD. Standard NTSC DVDs have an upper quality size of 720x480 pixels, so
saving a story to anything higher than isn't needed.... hut some users
report getting better results with a higher sized custom profile.
Personally, I havn't seen an improvement, but DVDs are not my normal viewing
method. I do computer and online viewing.

For playback on a computer only, it's a matter of how smoothly the computer
can play the higher quality... and how high your screen resolution is. My
LCD screens are 1280x1024 and 1680x1050, so I could pump up the quality to
those levels and get higher quality as long as

- 1- the source material has the quality in pixels to pass along to the
story
- 2 - the memory needed to save the stories is in the computer.... higher
quality means more needed memory
- 3 - the computer has the horsepower to play the story smoothly

Playing on any size TV screen is limited by the 720x480 pixel size of the
DVD.... as long as the TV has at least 480 lines of resolution.

 

[Guest]

Thanks, PapaJohn. The one DVD that I burned directly from the PS3 slideshows
that took me 28 hours turned out perfect! I was just hoping that I wouldn't
have to tie up my computer for that long. Grrrr. So I guess I'll stick with
your custom profile of the DVD-NTSC and try it again until I get it just
right.

Now when I actually DO find that perfect DVD that plays clearly and smoothly
like I like it, if I then do a disc copy to make several copies of the 1st
DVD, will that clearness and smoothness be diminished at all on the copies?
Or do I have to burn all the "copies" as originals to retain the crispness
and smooth transitions?

 

[PapaJohn]

copies of discs should be identical to the original...

cheers!!!

 

[Guest]

Thanks for that info, PapaJohn! At least it will make something during this
process a little easier for me! <sigh>

 

[Guest]

PapaJohn,

I remembered what I was going to ask you when you said saving the PS3
slideshows using a much higher profile (such as the PapaJohn DVD-NTSC
1280x960) might just be a waste of time since when I turn around and make a
DVD from the .wmv slideshow, it knocks it back down to whatever a DVD or TV
can go to (which you said would be 720x480--which is what your PapaJohn
DVD-NTSC custom profile is). My questions are:

1) Is the higher custom profile (PapaJohn DVD-NTSC 1280x960) more for
widescreen HDTV's or larger computer monitors like the new widescreen 20-24"
ones? If it would be a waste of time for the ordinary Joe to burn his
slideshow movies off onto a DVD using the 1280x960 custom profile that he
wanted to play on any size regular or rear projection type TV (no HDTV), then
would you recommend using your other custom profile (720x480) or the computer
4 profile within PS that is 1024x768?
2) I also was looking at the various details for each profile. What's the
difference between the Aspect ratio of the two PapaJohn profiles and the
difference between the Variable Bitrate Quality between the two PapaJohn
profiles and the Computer 4 profile? What make one better than the other?
* The PapaJohn profile 720x480 shows Variable Bitrate (Quality: 100),
Aspect ratio of 3:2 and 30 fps
* The PapaJohn profile 1280x960 shows Variable Bitrate (Quality: 100),
Aspect ratio of 4:3 and 30 fps
* The computer 4 profile 1024x768 shows Variable bitrate (Quality: 95),
Aspect ratio 4:3 and 30 fps.

If there is a newsletter somewhere that already describes this, please
direct me to it. I'm just getting ready to burn my slideshows on a DVD and
just want to make sure I'm using my time wisely by selecting the best profile
to save my slideshows in PS3, so that I can be reassured when I get done at
the end of a 28 hour burn, that I will have the best results available to me.
BTW, off topic, I read a newsletter the other day about JPEG's being "lossy"
and to avoid that, you can save as a "tiff" instead to not lose some quality.
So I am learning, slow but sure! Thanks, PapaJohn!