Please help, DVD Slideshow problem !!!

[Mayer]

Please help me, I am tired of finding what this problem is!!

I am using Premier Pro to compile some slideshows with music, my plan is to get as many pictures on a dvd as possible and include menu's. I have no problem with premier setting up the project, my settings are

re size jpg's to 720*534 and save a bmp's
bring into storeyboard after changing default timings to 7 seconds
export to timeline and bring in audio file
also use transitions between clips
encode to disc, these are my settings;

Video Summary:
Codec: MainConcept MPEG Video
Quality: 5.00 (high quality)
TV Standard: PAL
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Frame Rate: 25 fps
Program Sequence: Progressive
Bitrate Encoding: VBR
Encoding Passes: Two
Target Bitrate (Mbps): 6.0000 (medium quality)
Maximum Bitrate (Mbps): 9.0000 (high quality)
Minimum Bitrate (Mbps): 4.0000 (low quality)
M Frames: 3
N Frames: 15

Audio Summary:
Codec: PCM Audio
Sample Rate: 48 kHz

Multiplexer Summary:
Multiplexing Type: None

Then i use dvd lab to create the menu's and then mux the files to disc and burn with nero

When viewed on my standalone tv the majority of the stills flicker which in some cases is intolerable. I have tried other settings in Premier to try to remove this flicker but to date have had no luck, the strange thing is though, if I use DV Lab to create a slideshow using the same images (without audio) and mux them and burn with nero the quality is fine therefore i reckon the problem is somewhere within Premier.

The project settings for the slideshow are set as this;

Pixel aspect ratio D1/DV Pal
25fps Timecode
No fields (progressive scan)

Large beer to who can kill this one for me.

[njford]

Having never used this app its difficult to tell but I can say, having made many slide shows to DVD (mostly with DVD Studio Pro) you're image quality can suffer greatly if you let the app do the image compression/resizing. E.g. you should resize your images in Photoshop prior to importing to your DVD authoring app. This way you can control precisely how they are compressed. It takes longer yes but worth it quality wise.

[Mayer]

Thanks for the reply,

The images are re sized by batch conversion in Photoshop and then saved as bmp's which is the correct way (as you confirm).

No matter what tweeks I use in Premier there is still flickering when viewing the finished product back on TV.

Any other idea's on where I may be going wrong?

[njford]

Mayer,
One other thing to consider is your bit rate. If its too low you may get artifacts or flicker. Also, 2 other things:
1) if you're using lines of 1 pixel they will not resolve on a tv properly - this will definitely cause flicker.
2) Have you applied a de-interlace filter to the pics? This could help dramatically. You can test to see which PS de-interlace works best for your (or clients') tv.
HTH
NJF

[Mark_nzht]

You shouldn't need to use Premiere at all.

In DVDlab click 'Slideshow/Add New' then just add your pictures and music. Then Click time and change the time each picture is displayed. DVDlab will convert them into video and put chapter at each change of picture.

Then make & link your menus

Mark

[Mayer]

Funny you should say thet Mark, I am trying DVD Lab out right now, seems to be coming on ok but I am now at a loss on how to create the connections, so far I have compiled about twelve slideshows with audio and times the sequence to coinside with the images. But the connection is trying me out.

So far i have created a Menu 1 and twelve slideshows, I would like a scene selection menu compliment these slideshows but cannot find out how to do it.


njford

Bitrate is ok, I havve set it to encone to the max possible but one thing you mention might be the problem

Lines of one pixel... I have heard this could have an effect on tc playback but excuse my ignorance, how do I, or what do I, do to improve this??

The only filter added is a slight blur to the offending images but this will not solve things as I do not want to go through all the trouble of finishing a test project of a couple of hundred images and then identify which ones are the offending flickerers then go back and apply some blur then re do the project again.

Any help would be appriciated

[Mark_nzht]

To link your slideshows to the menu:
Double Click 'Menu 1' in the project viewer (on the left) so the menu opens. Then drag & drop 'Show 1' etc onto the open menu.

I don't think you can do scene selection for slideshows, only movies (I may be wrong). If you are making the slideshow in Premiere you can select 'Menu/Add Scene Selection' & it will automaticlly make the scence selection menu.

If using Premiere to reduce flicker, right click your clip, select 'Video Options/Field Options/Flicker removal' or you could try de-interlace but I've found flicker removal works better

Mark

[Mayer]

Thanks Mark

I will give it a go, at least I seem to be getting somewhere

Cheers