DVD slideshow picture size/ratio questions

[csaag]

My goal is to take a series of pictures taken with my 3.1 mp digital camera and make a NTSC DVD slideshow to play on my (fullframe) TV.

I was using Windows Movie Maker 2 to make the slideshow (via the High quality NTSC setting). I took the wmv output and used TmpgEnc to encode it to Mpeg2. I then used TmpgEnc DvdAuthor is add a motion background menu and audio.

The result was that the output as played on the TV wasn't nearly as sharp as the individual pictures from the camera.

The original pictures were all different sizes as I cropped them to focus on what I wanted to see. I've since seen threads that stated Windows MM is very poor at internally resizing photos. It was stated that one should crop the photos to a 4:3 ratio (fullframe TV) and resize to 720x480 (NTSC)
via a program other than Win MM. It was suggested that Win MM could then take those files and make a better quality output since it didn't have to resize.

Is that info correct? If so, I have some 400 photos all of different sizes so
are there other programs that make better slideshow output from pictures that aren't in the right size/ratio?

I wanted to try Ulead DVD MF3 SE to make a slideshow, but it seems that they only allow background motion menus of 10, 20 or 30 seconds and I had a 2 minute clip I needed as the motion menu. Plus It doesn't seem to be able to output to mpeg2 (or other format) so that I could use DvdAuthor to add my bckgrnd motion menu.

Windows Photo Story 3 forces transitions and pan/zoom effects that can only be turned off picture by picture so that's not an option.

Any recs on other programs to make DVD slideshow presentations especially when using photos at 'incorrect' sizes/ratios? Can they output to mpeg2 or something I can feed into TmpgEnc?

[trock]

The free IrfanView has a very good batch resizing function.

I wouldn't recommend using .wmv as a format for photographs. I tend to use DV or raw (best) or even Huffy or MJPEG.

As for programs for slideshows, I get good results with either Sony Vegas Movie Studio or Magix Movie Edit Pro. Authoring program DVDlab has a built-in slideshow maker that is also good.

Make sure that when you encode you do it as progressive, not interlaced.

[csaag]

I tried outputting in dv-avi format from Win MM, but for some reason the raw output was much fuzzier than a .wmv file. Even burned a DVD from it and it looked just as fuzzy on the TV as it did on the PC. The DVD burned from the .wmv file was much better.

Since I'm displaying this on my TV wouldn't I encode as interlaced? I don't have a progressive DVD player.

[trock]

All I can tell you is I was having a fuzzy and flickering problem quite badly and I came across a thread on this board about the need to encode still photos as progressive and ever since I did my photo slideshows on DVD have been beautiful and flicker-free, even when paused.

If I encode interlaced (as I do for video DVDs), the photos flicker badly especially on straight black lines and it's even visible when paused. Try it and see which works better for you.

I'm surprised that your .wmv files are better than DV. That's the opposite of what I get. I only use .wmv for web videos. For the ultimate quality in photos I use raw uncompressed and when I'm resizing them I also batch convert them to .bmp or .png so that I don't add any jpeg compression.

[guns1inger]

WinMM uses the standrad Microsoft DV codec, which is pretty poor in comparison to other DV codecs (Sony - V good, Panasonic - Good, Canopus - V good, MS - Average) which explains the softness to the output. It really is designed more for wmv output, which is one reason why the quality is some much better.

[thecoalman]

Most image editors such as Photoimpact and PaintShop Pro will auromatically adjust the cropbox for the correct ratio and convert the images to NTSC safe colors. I'm sure Photoshop does it too but that will cost you some coin.

It's the only way to fly...... gives you a lot of flexibility in what you crop since you can adjust the size and position of the crop box and still maintain the correct aspect ratio.

[MOVIEGEEK]

I would crop the photos to 768x576/72dpi and use a dedicated slideshow software such as Sonic MyDVD 6 (it allows motion menus and 999 photos per show).

[csaag]

Thanks for all the info. I've come to the conclusion that Win MM isn't really the way to go. From what I've found out so far, I should crop my photos to a 4:3 ratio (I have a fullscreen TV) and then resize so that the height is 480 (I want NTSC; isn't PAL 768x572?). I was told by a MS person over at their forums that the width isn't as important (in terms of being 720) as it is that the height is 480.

I found a link here to a freeware program called Irfanview that has a batch resize function that's easy to use and quick. It also has batch crop - but obviously every picture would need to be cropped at the same location.

I'll start researching photo programs - all I really need is output that I could throw into Tmpg. That allows me to use DVDAuthor so I can still add music and have motion menus of any length (I have Ulead MF3, but I'm not using it because it limits me on the length of a background motion menu)

Thanks again for the info & recs.

[csaag]

Let me ask 1 other, possibly dumb, question.

As far as picture size goes, 640x480 is a 4:3 ratio, but the NTSC DVD standard is 720x480 (3:2 ratio). So if I cropped a photo to a 4:3 ratio, wouldn't resizing to 720x480 distort the picture since that's a 3:2 ratio?
So is it better to resize to 640x480 after cropping?

EDIT:
Found a link to some info that basically stated (if I understood it correctly) that I should crop to a 4:3 ratio, then resize/resample (is there a difference?) to 704x480, then add black borders on the left & right to pad it to 720x480 and use that to make the slideshow.

If that's right, how to accomplish that? I can crop easily enough. I found a program, Irfanview, that could resample to 704x480. But how would I add black borders to a JPG? Is there something that could do it automatically to a bunch of files? Is this something a AviSynth script could do easily (to a series of JPG ) photos?

[racer-x]

It depends on the program you want to use. If you're using Premiere, you should crop all photos @ 720 x 540 (NTSC), then just import into the timeline.

If you're using something else and you're not sure, then I would crop all Photos to 720 x 540, then resize the hight only to 480. This will give you a final resolution of 720 x 480. Yes the image will be distorted, but when the video is played on a 4:3 AR TV, it will be displayed correctly.

Another good free program you can use to create slideshows is Wax2. You'll have to output to avi, I'd use Huffy if I were you.

[csaag]

The only programs on my PC are Ulead MF 3 which handicaps me with background motion menus & limits on # photos, Win photo Story 3, & Win Movie Maker which I've found out is poor at resizing photos which is why I'd like to get them in the right format myself. It's a once in a while thing as fas as making slideshows which is why I haven't gone out and dropped $100 on another package.

So basically I'm looking for something that can let me take a 704x480 JPG and add black borders to make it 720x480

The info about using 704x480 came from here:
http://www.uwasa.fi/~f76998/video/conversion/

Thanks for the note about Wax2; I'll look into it.

[tin2tin]

I don't live in a NTSC land, so I couldn't check how the ntsc feature works - but with my GUI you can add backgrounds - use fine scaling and other stuff and export to 720x480. Check it out - its free.
https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=245071
Tin2tin

[csaag]

Thanks, but if my input is 704x480, could it add black borders to it or would it resize it to 720x480 (i.e. no borders just enlarging the original)

[tin2tin]

So basically I'm looking for something that can let me take a 704x480 JPG and add black borders to make it 720x480

Yes, you can do this.

1. Load all your images into DVDsGUI.
2. Under presets select Ntsc 720x480
2. Set safearea to your 704x480.
3. Add a black background.
(4. Add music, transitions, texts ect.)
4. Export slideshow to mpg - and you will have your slideshow ready.

(If you just need the scaled images - it is actually scaling all images and using them as a temp imagestring(you'll se them pop up when exporting) - use ctrl+alt+del to shutdown the DVDSGUI before rendering with Quenc and DVDsGUI will not clean up the temp imagesting files.(sized 704x480+720x480 background)

Tin2tin