photos SVCD for standalone DVD player

[wranglercrabe]

Hi.Please excuse that super beginner question:what are(is)the best softwares for conversion of an entire repertory of JPEG photos to MPEG 2 and than burn them on a CD ( format SVCD) ?
Thank you.

[vitualis]

For a no-brainer (well, some brains is advisable), use VCDEasy to convert all your JPEGs to MPEG Still images and then put them all onto a S/VCD.

For a still image only S/VCD, standard VCD is advisable over SVCD.

http://www.vcdeasy.org

Regards.

[El Torro]

I like Nero better... it converts your JPG's automaticly...
NEW COMPIL -> SVCD -> Select your JPEGs and drag them to the other window -> BURN and watch ur pics

[vitualis]

Firstly, Nero is limited to 99 images.

Secondly, Nero authored menus / still screens are buggy.

Thirdly, I don't think that it takes into account the aspect ratio problem: http://www.vcdimager.org/guides/mpeg_still_images.html#aspect_ratio that VCDEasy does fantastically (not to mention automatic and adjustable overscan adjustment).

VCDEasy is MUCH better than Nero in this regard.

If you want to go commercial, there are some really good proggies by Ulead (called ?PictureShow or something like that).

Regards.

[wranglercrabe]

Well,thank you for answering and advices.
Beginning with VCDeasy i'm hesitating on the correct way to translate the soft in French.
Something has to be done with ****** and ** in TXT notes joined to VCDeasy but what exactly what should be done ?
Probably am i "off-subject" in that forum asking that question...

[El Torro]

Thats not true, it isn't limitated with me... I wonder why they all say that... I Usually make full PhotoCD's... It isn't limited... I can get 200 On one!

Image quality is PERFECT

I disable the menus...

* I'm very happy with nero, and why make it hard if it's possible to do it easy too *

[susie]

Could someone recommend a software other than Ulead, VCDEasy or FlyVCD to create interactive PhotoVCD.

With the software I will be able to create a PhotoVCD that allows me to use my remote control of my Apex DVD player to navigate through all the photos. If I press forward button , I should be able to jump to the next picture or if I press the backward button I should be able to move to the previous picture.

Is there a software that can create such a PhotoVCD ?

[m204310]

Try WinOnCD 3.8 and newer. You can organize your pictures in albums with thumbnails and navigate with your remote. You can also setup the time your picture stays on the screen (or undefinitely if you prefere forward/backward buttons on your remote). It plays perfectly on my APEX. If you wish you can add background music. There is a newer version I think 5 and the software is made by Roxio.

[vitualis]

Firstly, you can't disable the menus with Nero (if you are making high res still images). Each high res still is in effect a "menu"... http://www.vcdimager.org/guides

I don't know what you mean by "full" PhotoVCDs with 200 images as you can put 1980 segment-items onto a VCD.

Furthermore, there is still the aspect ratio issue I mentioned before. I don't think that Nero adjusts for this (which means that your photos will come out slightly "fatter" in PAL and slightly "thinner" in NTSC).

Regards.

[susie]

I will give it a try.

Thanks

Try WinOnCD 3.8 and newer. You can organize your pictures in albums with thumbnails and navigate with your remote. You can also setup the time your picture stays on the screen (or undefinitely if you prefere forward/backward buttons on your remote). It plays perfectly on my APEX. If you wish you can add background music. There is a newer version I think 5 and the software is made by Roxio.

[VideoMann]

El Torro:

Tell me how you get more than 99 pics using Nero in detail.

Where do you drag yout images to exactly ?

Thanks

[Fred©]

Could someone recommend a software other than Ulead, VCDEasy or FlyVCD to create interactive PhotoVCD.
Is there a software that can create such a PhotoVCD ?

give a try also in PictureToTV..

www.picturetotv.com

Fred©

[mrbass]

do NOT try picturetotv...nor xatshow..they both create movies from stills...The results of the quality is a joke.

I think the top two are Ulead PictureShow and probably winoncd 3.8 or whatever. I've never tried winoncd since it's only sold in Germany so I wouldn't know how it compares. I bought PictureShow for $29.95 and that was back in May I think. I don't regret it.

[JDaCunha]

Help this poor soul here with a basic question:
If I make a photoCD with EasyVCD or Nero can I go to WalMart and order prints from the CD?

[vitualis]

No you cannot.

However, if you simply burn your images (in JPEG or TIFF format) onto a CD as a CD-ROM some specialist photo shops (true in Australia and so I presume in the US as well) can make a print from those digital images. Basically, shops that can print photos from your digital camera media should be able to provide this service.

Regards.

[hp_lovecraft]

The local WalMart here in Maine can make prints from a "True" PhotoCD. Meaning, basically a CD-ROM with JPEGs.
Most DVD players can not play PhotoCD/JPEGs, but most can play Picture CDs. (Meaning, a VCD with MPEG Stills).
If you wanted the best of both worlds, you might be able to burn a standard VCD compliant Picture CD for DVD players, and throw the original JPEGs into a folder on the CD, and burn it. That way you could also have WalMart develope pictures, and have it work on 99% of DVD players....

It might sound complicated, but should work. I take a more drastic approach for myself since I want to have background music, effects, and more pictures- So I create a movie slideshow.
So I take my jpegs and spruce them up with IrfanView/Photoshop, pull them into WindowsMovieMaker to create a slideshow w/ music , then pull into Vdub to filter/effects, then pull into TMPG and convert to MPEG2- w/ KVCD-702x480 templates.
Then, I'll author some chapters/menus/intos/etc with VCDimager, and then burn with Nero as image.
OK...OK... its alot of work, and it won't work in most DVD players, but it produces fantastic results in my Mustek.

nick

[SingSing]

Does picture CD retains the resolution of the picture ( 1.3 meg and up ) ?

[vitualis]

Perhaps an unfortunately choice of words...

There's the original Kodak PhotoCD that has long since died. This was a disc with pictures that could played back (with zooming) on dedicated players and CD-i players.

There is now the Kodak "PictureCD" (I think it's called that but you can just check with your local camera shop) which is such some digiital images on a CD-ROM. These you can use on your PC but on very few stand-alone players. Depending on your photo service, they may be able to make prints from these too.

What the original thread was talking about is putting photos on a VCD -- there is no name for this, but I usually call it a "Photo VCD". The still images on a VCD have a maximum resolution of 704x480/576 (NTSC/PAL) but will look superb on a TV set (it's just a smidge off DVD quality for the stills).

However, as you can also put additional files on the VCD filesystem, you can put in your original source files as well (and hence, whatever resolution it was in originally). You won't be able to view these source files on a stand-alone player (which is presumably why you made the VCD in the first place), but you will be able to access them with any PC.

Regards.

[wranglercrabe]

VCDEasy seems not to let you put more than 99jpeg on a vcd
A solution could be to create with slide show movie maker a video with the number of jpeg wanted than encode that video in mpeg with TMPGEncoder ....and after that any idea which program and how to use it
to get the VCD burned ?
Thanks

[vitualis]

VCDEasy seems not to let you put more than 99jpeg on a vcd
A solution could be to create with slide show movie maker a video with the number of jpeg wanted than encode that video in mpeg with TMPGEncoder ....and after that any idea which program and how to use it
to get the VCD burned ?
Thanks

??

The fact that I've put more than 99 pictures on a VCD with VCDImager / VCDEasy would seem to invalidate that observation.

Regards.

[arealgijoe]

I sinmply make a 704x480 background screen and digitize my slides to fit in a little smaller frame size. NO aspect problems and no conversion need for vcd. I mostly use a colored background but you could just as easy use black. I limit my slides for vcd to a little under the 704x480 size. many slides were re-cropped one at a time to get the most out of the format. If a picture subject was mostly quite wide, then the width was the determining factor, and the height less like a letter box.

I used my Sony mavica FD digital camera to take pictures of my slides, projected on a screen. Then used corel to create the background and superpose the slide over the background. I also did a little color correcting as my slides (many from'69) have faded some. I also made text slides for the beginning of each section. I put stacks of Kodak carosel boxes on a tiny little 3" CD.

JD

[vitualis]

I can assure that the aspect ratio issue exists. Not everyone sees it but you can show it mathematically (and I can see it which is why I wrote about it). http://www.vcdimager.org/guides/mpeg_still_images.html#aspect_ratio

If you use VCDEasy to make your MPEG stills, you don't have to worry about the aspect ratio issue because it automatically takes care of it. Also, you don't have to bother resizing your source images before hand as VCDEasy will resize it + letterboxing + TV overscan adjustment as required or appropriate.

Cropping your images so that they fit better on the 4:3 display aspect ratio of a TV is a good idea and suggestion. So is doing so pre-processing. It can make the difference between so-so looking pics and great looking ones.

Regards.

[VideoMann]

Regarding the aspect ratio, I found the following for making menus on DVDs which probably applies the same for NTSC or PAL. You need to open your photos in Photoshop and stretch them so that when they are displayed on TV they will be squashed to the correct size.

----------------------------

"Pixel Follies"
Computer images and video images both consist of pixels but they aren't quite the same. Computer pixels are square whereas video pixels are rectangular. A standard frame of video, in North America, consists of 720 x 480 rectangular pixels, but because the pixels in a Photoshop document are square, if you created artwork at 720 x 480 pixels, it won't look the same when it plays on a video monitor - it'll look slightly squashed.

To get around this problem, work with Photoshop documents that are 720 x 540 pixels with a resolution of 72 dpi. (All video graphics are 72 dpi.) This will give you a work-in-progress document that looks the same way it'll look on a video monitor (see figure 2). When you're done using Photoshop and ready to move your still graphics into a DVD authoring application, you can resize the artwork to 720 x 480. Some software like Sonic Solutions' MyDVD requires final graphics to be 640 x 480. If so, create a work-in-progress document that's 640 x 540. For widescreen graphics, use a work-in-progress document that's 854 x 540, then later resize it to 720 x 480.

Create a document that's 720 x 540 with a 72 dpi resolution

---------------
So stretch your images by 540/480=112.5% (should be distorted 12.5%taller)

[vitualis]

Yep, that's exactly what I'm talking about!

The numbers are a little bit different for VCD and SVCD of course, but the concept is the same.

Again, I described it here: http://www.vcdimager.org/guides/mpeg_still_images.html#aspect_ratio

If you are a VCDEasy user for your generation of MPEG still images, you don't have to worry about this problem as it automagically takes care of it for you (as long as you keep the "Apply Correction" check box checked!)

Regards.

[susie]

I just tried WinOnCD 6.0 PE and yes I can use the "forward" and "backward" button on the dvd remote to navigate the whole PhotoVCD.

Try WinOnCD 3.8 and newer. You can organize your pictures in albums with thumbnails and navigate with your remote. You can also setup the time your picture stays on the screen (or undefinitely if you prefere forward/backward buttons on your remote). It plays perfectly on my APEX. If you wish you can add background music. There is a newer version I think 5 and the software is made by Roxio.

[tobee]

You can also try Photo2VCD Professional. It's very easy to burn a photo video CD with background music and transtion effects.

Both VCD and SVCD are well supported now.

http://www.photo2vcd.com

[thomas_82]

I use DVD Photo Slideshow 1.0. It enables me to use my CD burner to create photo albums. Following only several simple steps, I can easily view photos, create and organize my photo albums, add background music, burn the photo albums on a blank CD/R or CD/RW. After that, I can enjoy my photo albums on TV through a DVD player. I download the trial version from http://www.DVD-photo-slideshow.com I really like it because of its easy-to-use interface.

[sfritzinger]

ProShow from Photodex (www.photodex.com) is GREAT! I can put any image into a slideshow on VCD/SVCD/XVCD with full menuing and it is easy. it can also put an autorun on the same CD and make an EXE as well. Very cool stuff!