Process and Tools for making wedding video/slideshow

[tr0utman]

Hello,

I am quite new to all this ripping, DVD authoring stuff, but am trying to educate myself in all this before posting my concerns.

I need to create a video picture slideshow for my brother's wedding:
- low budget, hoping to spend $50/60 (if possible) on two or three software tools to get the job done, not 100% of the tools to use
- hoping to be able to do following:

- bring in still photos (.jpg)
- transitions from photo to photo
- able to simulate "animation" of a number of still photos with quick split-second transtions, like someone running for example
- add music (.mp3) or (.wav) alongside still photos
- able to record and do voice over / narration into audio file
- can adjust volume with audio file (.wav or .mp3 or narrated voice)
- rip movie scenes from DVD movie (into VOB format?)
- split video and audio into separate files from VOB files
(video file to retain MPG2 format, audio I guess something like .mpa or .mp3)
- each of these to be editable
(i.e. trim and get the scene or video clip of just what I need)
(i.e. trim and get a clip of the audio of just what I need)
(i.e. use audio clip somewhere else in slideshow)
(i.e. change volume of audio clip)

- ability to recombine audio and video portions of slideshow and burn onto DVD disc (so DVD is playable at least in most DVD players)

After looking at this site, my guess is using the following possible tools:
=============================================

** I would appreciate anyone's help if I am in the right direction and if these tools will do the job <or> if I should use other tools. **

- SmartRipper or DVD Decrytper (to decrypt DVD movie content into VOB files)

- TMPGEnc (to split MPG or VOB into video and audio files, .mpg and .mp3?)

- Virtualdub-MPEG2 (to convert audio portion of VOB file into .mp3 or .wav format to be edited individually and later used in say Pinnacle Studio to add audio into the slideshow)

- Pinnacle Studio 8 (ver 9 is too expensive now), on eBay for less $
(to edit TMPGEnc \ Virtualdub resulting video or audio files - trimming, using portions of clips, increasing volume, etc.)
(able to add jpgs, add in .wav or voice narration, do transitions, simulate "animation" with quick transitions)
(to combine all MPG clips and wav, mp3 clips into one MPEG2 file,
burnable on DVD, and playable by most DVD players?)
(playable in full NTSC mode, 640x480)


Thanks a lot in advance!

Tr0utman

[presto]

Your going to get a lot of very different answers on this. I'm just going to suggest my favorite tools and not go into detail yet.

1) Memories on TV (30 day fully functional trial available) - Does most of the first things on your list (untill you get into video editing). It pans over the photos to add the feeling of movement. Beautiful transitions. You have full control over the panning and transitions but you can also just let the program do it automatically. Can handle video and pics. It's easy to add audio but you need another program to create the audio.

2) DVD Shrink (Free) or DVD Decrypter (Free) - If you want to use a small clip from a store bought movie you'll need to use one of these programs to decrypt it. I think it is legal to use a small clip in this way. I could be wrong.

3) Tmpgenc DVD Author - To convert a DVD to mpg. I would also use this program to author the DVD.

4) Muvee Auto Producer - This is a really fun program. You just feed it all of your video and it creates a video montage by taking small clips here and their and stringing them togethor with transitions. You can choose the style (MTV Video Style, Slow and Moody, etc). It's much quicker to make several of these "muvees" and pick the best one than to edit the whole thing scene by scene and for me the results are just as good. There are lots of features to let you influence the end results, it's not just random.

[DaveS]

tr0utman ... more 2c:

- I second the memoriesontv idea...very nice on slides and I think the new version does in fact handle adding videos as well..I have also used it to author once and although it's capabilities are very basic, it can do it (and the new version is better than the last)

- suggest to avoid studio 8/9...I have s8 and it is very easy to use..however, many people have had much technical trouble w/ it ... you may get lucky and not have troubles but IMHO you are just as likely to have these problems as not and if you are not embarking on a new hobby w/ this stuff, you may be asking for more than you want w/ these products..it's too bad b/c their similicity is soooo appealing at the entry level but again IMHO it's just not worth the possible trouble for a one shot deal

- if you can do your project quickly, I think the womble mpeg2vcr demo is fully functional with no watermark .. very good for trimming your mpegs into clips you can import into memoriesontv .. other s/w will do this as well

- did your dvd burner come bundled w/ any s/w? some come w/ a basic sony (?) product which may help you do basic authoring as well

good luck ... looks like you are doing good research before diving in, which is great...

[presto]

Well Dave S and I are on the same page. I had a lot of trouble with Studio 8 too. You can spend hours editing a project and then lose all of it because of a crash and then corruption of the project.

I love womble mpg vcr. Unlike other programs you can scroll quickly to any spot in your video smoothly and quickly for editing.

[Renegade6]

I have used Ulead Video Studion 7 for your jpegs, transitions. You can even add your own voice over. Adjust the speed of the video clip. It's not that bad of a video editing software. They do have trial versions, but I don't know if the trial versions comes with the full package. DVD decrypter is what I have used to rip vobs. You can even rip the specific chapter if you know which one you what instead of ripping a huge file. If you want, you can change the extension of your vob to mpeg and then edit your clip. I have not used Tmpgenc. When I burn my dvd, I use SonicMyDVD which came with my dvd burner. I hope this helps.

[tr0utman]

Thanks for all the great advice. Looks like I will stay away from Studio 8. I will try the demos of the tools mentioned, and if they look like they'll do the job, I'll buy them.

Tr0utman