I'm confused about some aspects of VCD, SVCD, and stills.

[dsatchell]

I'm trying to make some (S)VCD's for my parents from some stills and have a couple of questions. Assume the TV is the standard non-HD variety and that I'm a newbie when it comes to video and an expert at computers.

I know that still images are supposed to have better resolution at 704x480, but if the screen is only at 352x240 then how does this help? Does it have to do with interlacing?

If I'm going to import pictures into Adobe Premiere to eventually make an (S)VCD would I import them at 720x480, 704x480, 352x240, or full resolution and then use an Adobe Premiere filter to a specific resolution?

Why would I want to use SVCD over VCD? With Nero I can get ~1900 stills on a single SVCD. I don't think I would be able to get very many more than that by making a MPEG in Premiere so it seems that stills via Nero would be a better option. Am I missing something?

Thanx, Dave.

[Shabubu]

I wouldn't use premieres resizing filters, they aren't the best. Decide your movie resolution first, then resize to that with a paint prog (or irfan view).

[vitualis]

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>
On 2001-11-14 11:19:22, dsatchell wrote:
...but if the screen is only at 352x240 then how does this help?</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>

Who told you that? A TV screen can definitely display at a higher resolution than 352x240. Even on a standard TV, you will notice a massive difference between a still at 352x240 and one at 704x480.

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>If I'm going to import pictures into Adobe Premiere to eventually make an (S)VCD would I import them at 720x480, 704x480, 352x240, or full resolution and then use an Adobe Premiere filter to a specific resolution?</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>

There is an aspect ratio issue that is not easy to explain. You should use Premiere to resize the images to 480x480 of course (SVCD video) without preserving the aspect ratio. In so doing, your source images then must be in the correct 4:3 display aspect ratio. Thus, your source images should be 640x480 or similar (e.g., 800x600).

I've written something about this in greater detail here: http://www.geocities.com/medinotes/vcd/mpeg_still_images.html#aspect_ratio

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>Why would I want to use SVCD over VCD?</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>

If you are using still images, you wouldn't. There is no benefit in using SVCD over VCD as both support hi resolution images.

<TABLE BORDER=0 ALIGN=CENTER WIDTH=85%><TR><TD><font size=-1>Quote:</font><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR><TR><TD><FONT SIZE=-1><BLOCKQUOTE>With Nero I can get ~1900 stills on a single SVCD. I don't think I would be able to get very many more than that by making a MPEG in Premiere so it seems that stills via Nero would be a better option. Am I missing something?</BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></TD></TR><TR><TD><HR size=1 color=black></TD></TR></TABLE>

Nero is completely retarded when it comes to making still menus. I strongly recommend that it avoid it. There is a new proggy out by Ulead that is quite good. I believe there is a guide out by Baldrick on how to use it (it is linked from the main page here: http://www.vcdhelp.com ).

WinOnCD3.8 PE apparently makes good "photo" VCDs as well.

Neither program corrects the aspect ratio problem I mentioned before so you should check my link before. In a nutshell, if you don't fix it, people will look fat on PAL and too thin on NTSC.

As for making an MPEG with Premiere, you can definitely fit more than 1900 images. You could fit thousands if you wanted to. However, if you have lots of images, I believe still images are the way to go.

Regards.