Still pictures on Panasonic

[nextlife1]

I understand from looking at the DMR-E100HS manual (which I downloaded) that still (JPEG) pictures can only be recorded to HDD and -RAM but not DVD-R (whereas video can be recorded in all 3 formats). Am I correct that still pictures recorded to DVD-R by another device (e.g., pn a PC) would still be recognized and displayed by the 100HS? I have a mega travel slide collection and want to use my bigscreen for slideshows as well.

Thanks,

nextlife

[thoots]

I understand from looking at the DMR-E100HS manual (which I downloaded) that still (JPEG) pictures can only be recorded to HDD and -RAM but not DVD-R (whereas video can be recorded in all 3 formats). Am I correct that still pictures recorded to DVD-R by another device (e.g., pn a PC) would still be recognized and displayed by the 100HS? I have a mega travel slide collection and want to use my bigscreen for slideshows as well.

Nextlife,

This is where I've had success doing it with a computer -- Ulead's DVD PictureShow does a fine job, both to VCD and DVD format. I usually set the "show picture time" for VCD's to 600 seconds -- 10 minutes -- which lets me control those totally with the remote control, advancing when I want to. That doesn't work well for DVD, though, because extra seconds adds to the DVD video time -- you'd only get a few images. So, for DVD's, I just leave it at the default 5 seconds.

VCD's will play in many, but by no means all, DVD players. And, the DVD-R format or DVD+R format will work in most DVD players. So, I indeed make DVD's for friends and families, full of pictures.

Works for me!

thoots

[nextlife1]

Thanks very much for the reply. Sorry to ask such naive questions but I have not started into this yet. So if you leave the default time for DVDs at 5 seconds can you still control how long the image displays and when to go to the next one?

nextlife

[handyguy]

I use Nero it only takes a minute to make a vcd photo show that can play on my Panasonic. I don't know how many images you can have on one disk but its probably thousands.

[verchad]

I have used windows movie maker to create movies of my pictures, each picture about 5 seconds. Added any special things, titles, fade, added background music, which will pause if you pause the created dvd. then saved the movie through firewire to my d8 camcorder. Then used the firewire and input into and recorded with my panasonic dmr-hs2. Have made some of these for family members and they love them.

[thoots]

Thanks very much for the reply. Sorry to ask such naive questions but I have not started into this yet. So if you leave the default time for DVDs at 5 seconds can you still control how long the image displays and when to go to the next one?

nextlife,

Actually, no -- the DVD with 5 second pauses shows each picture for 5 seconds and then moves on. You can hit the "pause" button and hold the picture, though.

As you can see already, there are lots of different ways of getting pictures onto DVD's. My info is really just about the one program, Ulead's DVD PictureShow, but there are probably a dozen or two different programs out there that will do this kind of thing. And, heck -- some DVD players will now just take a CD-ROM filled with JPEG images, and display that natively. Of course, you can't depend on anyone really having such a machine, unless you find out about that specifically. A DVD-R or DVD+R created in one of these programs would probably be most compatible with "whatever you might find out in the world," followed by a VCD, then followed by just a CD-ROM full of images.

Personally, I went with my folks to buy them a DVD player that I knew would play my VCD's full of images, plus the DVD-R's I'd be making on my DVD recorders. But, at any rate, those are just some of the issues to consider if you're going to make these things for your friends and family. There are definitely "many ways to do it" -- good luck!

thoots

[nextlife1]

Thanks everyone--these comments are very helpful. THinking about taking the plunge. Best deal for me right now on the DMR-E100HS seems to actually be Amazon. Not the cheapest price at 878, but shipping is free and most importantly, items ordered during holidays can be returned up until Jan 31. So if I order now I can have up to 2 months to decide. I haven't seen better with respect to return policy--has anyone else?

nextlife

[houtx67]

I haven't seen better on a return policy, but you will have to pay return shipping if you decide not to keep it (can't just return to the store). Of course, you are also saving tax I assume since it's Amazon (not one of their partners who might be in your state already)? If it is one of their partners, you might check what their return policy is. You may get charged tax, but you may be able to return directly to the store, too.

[nextlife1]

Thoots, Handyguy and others;

I am resurrecting this thread as I have finally taken the plunge and gotten the 100H and the GSA-4040B. Having a blast paying with both of them. I am still a newbie but it is clear to me that a lot of this is just experimenting (and reading this forum) since the manual is so poor. I do have a couple of questions:

First, I was surprised that the 100H reads -RW disks from the 4040B. I did not realize that the Panasonic reads -RW; I thought it only read -R. Is this always the case?

Secondly, I am still hoping to transfer some stills (digital photos) back to the HDD for slide shows. I can do it with a CF card and PC card adapter--as long as I have not monkeyed with the photos in any way (even if I put them back in the right folder structure and don't change the name it still can't copy them). But my question is how do I do this with a -R or -RW disk burned on my PC (I know that the 100H won't recognize a -RAM disk burned from the PC)? Clearly on the 100H there is the option under still pictures to choose the DVD as the source. But what format should I burn the jpegs onto the DVD in in order to access them from the still menu on the 100H? I can't figure it out.

Handyguy--I haven't tried using Nero to burn a VCD but that's probably what I should do. Just seemed like it would be nice to keep one's I would be showing frequently for a while on the HDD.

Thanks!

nextlife1

[nextlife1]

Tried burning a video CD with Nero. Easy to do and works but the picture quality is terrible (these are 3 megapixel images). What am I doing wrong?

nextlife1

[thoots]

Tried burning a video CD with Nero. Easy to do and works but the picture quality is terrible (these are 3 megapixel images). What am I doing wrong?

nextlife1

Not sure what's up with Nero, but you might try the Ulead DVD PictureShow program. I'm sure you can download a trial copy and give it a shot...

http://www.ulead.com

thoots

[nextlife1]

I will. Thanks Thoots!

nextlife1

[nextlife1]

Tried Ulead DVD PictureShow and it definitely works--images look much better. What I don't understand is that I have tried several softwares (including Nero) to make VCDs with the same images, but they always come out very poor quality. Surely that can't be normal. I am ideally looking for a software that can serve not only as a slideshow but also as sort of a photo album on DVD--that is where photos can be looked at one by one. Is there any such beast?

THanks for the Ulead suggestion--it will definitely do if I can't find something else.

nextlife1

[thoots]

Tried Ulead DVD PictureShow and it definitely works--images look much better. What I don't understand is that I have tried several softwares (including Nero) to make VCDs with the same images, but they always come out very poor quality. Surely that can't be normal. I am ideally looking for a software that can serve not only as a slideshow but also as sort of a photo album on DVD--that is where photos can be looked at one by one. Is there any such beast?
nextlife1

I know there are a bunch of different programs that do "slideshows" like this, but I kind of grabbed Ulead DVD PictureShow right off the bat, and I've always been happy with it. So, I'm not sure what's up with any of the competitors. What I do know about DVD PictureShow is this:

First of all, on a VCD, I think you're getting "MPEG2" picture quality (740x480) instead of "MPEG1" quality (320x240). That is, unless you add "transitions," and then you bump down to the lower resolution. Also, DVD PictureShow has some pretty intelligent processing -- indeed, I have always found the results on VCD most impressive. For instance, one of the options that I believe is "on" by default is an "anti-flickering filter," which helps whole bunches on a lot of images. Bottom line, it makes VCD's with image quality that seems as good on the TV screen as the pictures appeared on my computer monitor.

This is what I do, and this might help you get the kind of results you're looking for:

I never add anything but "pictures" -- no transitions, no music, etc. I make VCD's with about 200 pictures per slideshow. This usually gives me about 8 to 10 slideshows per VCD. I try to keep the total file size right around 500K -- I've had some discs that wouldn't work in my DVD players when I've gone over that, and you can't really go a whole lot over that, anyway. The program will definitely let you know when you reach the limit.

As for your "photo album" concept -- piece of cake. You can set the "duration" time to anything beyond its default of 5 seconds, right? Well, I set mine to "600 seconds" -- ten minutes. I figure I'll have had enough of one image within ten minutes. So, I always view these "one by one" by advancing with the "next" and the "previous" buttons on my DVD player's remote control.

So, that scenario has worked very well for me. I can't quite get that done with a DVD, though -- adding "more seconds" eats up the available time on the DVD, which it doesn't do on a VCD. Unless, of course, they've changed that in any update from the last time I tried it. So, with a DVD, I leave the duration at five seconds, and then you just have to act fast, and hit the "Pause" button on the DVD player in order to stick with any single image for a longer duration.

By the way, if and when you purchase the program, make sure to go to the "freebies" page, and download the free extra menu templates they've got for it. There are templates with more menu items per page, which you might find handier than the ones it comes with.

I hope that helps -- good luck!

thoots

[nextlife1]

Thoots;

Thanks for the help! Tried it again on PictureShow and it looks great--not sure what I did before. One question--when I put just one slideshow on the disk the controls work great. But when I put 2 onto it I could not advance to the next picture within a show--that is, when I hit the "next" button it went to the other slideshow. Any suggestions?

nextlife1

[thoots]

Thoots;

Thanks for the help! Tried it again on PictureShow and it looks great--not sure what I did before. One question--when I put just one slideshow on the disk the controls work great. But when I put 2 onto it I could not advance to the next picture within a show--that is, when I hit the "next" button it went to the other slideshow. Any suggestions?

nextlife1

If you're doing a VCD, you need to select each slideshow with the "number" buttons on your DVD player's remote - "1" "2", etc. If you have more than one "page" of slideshows, then the "next" button will get you to the next page. Looks like if you've got just one page, the "next" button will get you to the next slideshow, I guess. I've always had more than one page!

So, try this -- hit "1" or "2" on your remote to go into the slideshow you want. That should get you into whichever one you chose. Then, the "next" button should get you to the next picture.

Hope that helps -- good luck!

thoots

[nextlife1]

Thoots;

Thanls for the suggestion but still doesn't seem to work, even when I select the slideshow with a number first.


Handy guy:

I have tried making a VCD with Nero but am having problems. When I make a VCD slideshow the resolution is very lousy (terribly pixelated). If I make it in SVCD format the resolution is great but it won't play on my DMR-E100H nor my 4 year old Sony DVD player. Can you help me? I don't know how to make the VCD work better.

nextlife1

[thoots]

Thanks for the suggestion but still doesn't seem to work, even when I select the slideshow with a number first.

Sounds like you just need to figure out how any given DVD player will actually navigate your VCD.

I play my VCD's pretty much exclusively in Apex players -- currently the AD-5131 3-disc changer. On that, you just hit the number button, and you're in that slideshow.

So, I took one and put it in my DMR-E50, and just hitting a number button indeed didn't get me moving. Hitting a number button and then the "Enter" button didn't work, either. But, hitting a number button and then the PLAY button got me into the slideshow for that number.

Give it a shot!

thoots

[nextlife1]

Thoots;

All right--I just needed you to do my work for me! Figured out how it works--uses different buttons on my Panasonic and Sony but works on both. And the quality of the images is so much better than a VCD made with Nero (at least in my hands).

Thanks for all your help and patience!!

nextlife1

[thoots]

nextlife,

Ahh, glad to hear it!!

Glad to hear that you're working fine now -- I've been doing the "pictures on VCD" thing for quite a while now, and I've been VERY happy with Ulead DVD PictureShow. Excellent picture quality with just fine functionality -- it sure works for me!

So, good luck with it, and enjoy!

thoots