DVD slideshow GUI - development thread.

[tin2tin]

What version are you using?

Could you try the tests mentioned here?
https://forum.videohelp.com/topic245071-450.html#1837978

Close all programs which might interfere with the clipboard.

[ernstblaauw]

What version are you using?

Could you try the tests mentioned here?
https://forum.videohelp.com/topic245071-450.html#1837978

Close all programs which might interfere with the clipboard.

- My clipboard is not altered after trying to import. I now get a error - because there is something else in the clipboard and I think DSG doesn;t understand it.
- Disabling my firewall (Comodo Firewall Pro) / antivirus (AVG Free 8) doesn't make a difference
- I think I closed all programs which have access to the clipboard
- it is not a tif image

If you need more info, please ask .

[tin2tin]

My clipboard is not altered after trying to import

When you hit open on the import file dialog, the imported file names should be added to the clipboard(paste in Notepad to check), unless some program is running which interfers with it...

What is your version number(when did you download it? Check if the latest version is newer.)

[ernstblaauw]

My clipboard is not altered after trying to import

When you hit open on the import file dialog, the imported file names should be added to the clipboard(paste in Notepad to check), unless some program is running which interfers with it...

What is your version number(when did you download it? Check if the latest version is newer.)

I redownloaded the latest 0.85A, but I think I was already running that version.

I don't know what interferes with the clipboard, but I closed almost all programs (except for wireless connection, anti-virus and firewall), but still the problem exists. I have no clue which program is possibly interfering.

Do you know other things I can try?

[ernstblaauw]

My clipboard is not altered after trying to import

When you hit open on the import file dialog, the imported file names should be added to the clipboard(paste in Notepad to check), unless some program is running which interfers with it...

What is your version number(when did you download it? Check if the latest version is newer.)

I redownloaded the latest 0.85A, but I think I was already running that version.

I don't know what interferes with the clipboard, but I closed almost all programs (except for wireless connection, anti-virus and firewall), but still the problem exists. I have no clue which program is possibly interfering.

Do you know other things I can try?

I was thinking: maybe you can use a text file to store the names of the imported files? That way, you do not mess with the clip board (maybe the user has valuable info in it) and no other programs can be involved by blocking the clip board.

[tin2tin]

Well, that's was the way it worked before Salvatore couldn't run the filedialog.exe on Vista, because Vista wouldn't allow it to save temperary files...

By using the clipboard apparently DSG now works on Vista and is still working on my two XP SP2 computers.

[ernstblaauw]

Well, that's was the way it worked before Salvatore couldn't run the filedialog.exe on Vista, because Vista wouldn't allow it to save temperary files...

By using the clipboard apparently DSG now works on Vista and is still working on my two XP SP2 computers.

Is it possible to make it an option? Then, the problems are solved. I do not think I will find the program which interferes, and it is not a perfect solution: you never are allowed to run programs interacting with the clipboard. I'm sure there are or will be other people with the same problems.

Btw, I was wondering if there isn't a built-in file viewer inside the Windows-API (the standard file open dialog), so you do not have to use an external program?

Hopefully, you will make it an option .

And of course: thanks for all your time and your program!

[tin2tin]

DSG is programmed in wxbasic, which is an unfinished and uncomplete programming language build on wxwidgets. Unfortunately it's not possible to load multiple files in wxbasic, therefore I'm using autoit script for the filedialog, whch has caused new problems with Vista (saving temp files), and causing untrue troyan horse repports. I getting fed up with the errors caused by differet windows setups/installed versions etc.

[ernstblaauw]

DSG is programmed in wxbasic, which is an unfinished and uncomplete programming language build on wxwidgets. Unfortunately it's not possible to load multiple files in wxbasic, therefore I'm using autoit script for the filedialog, whch has caused new problems with Vista (saving temp files), and causing untrue troyan horse repports. I getting fed up with the errors caused by differet windows setups/installed versions etc.

I understand you very well, and I agree it is much better to use your time for new features, etc than working around the problems of the programming language.

I'm still searching what's wrong with my configuration, but also in Safe Mode, the clipboard stays empty. Maybe I have stopped a service or something else is wrong (other locale, security settings, registry values, keyboard lay-out?). Do you have ideas left? Because I do not think it is a program that interferes, as in Safe Mode there are no started programs.

update
I also got the problem with version 0.84. I cannot test with version 0.83, as I do not have that version. Tin2tin, could you provide me that version, please?

[ernstblaauw]

As you posted the format of the memory, I thought: I can create it myself! So, I made a small batch file (DSGlist.bat):

@echo off
chdir > DSGlist.txt
dir %1 /b >> DSGlist.txt

You have to specify which files you want to include. So, to make a list of all jpg files inside the current map, I do:

DSGlist *.jpg

Now, a file called DSGlist.txt is created with on the first line the map and after that, all jpg files. I open the file, I copy the content to the clipboard (except for the last empty line!) and I go to DSG. As DSG does not alter the clipboard on my computer, I just select a random file to open. DSG reads the clipboard and voila: it adds the files you manually copied to the clipboard!

Tin2tin, I found a little bug. I liked the idea of BackZoomBlur.avs, so I tried to use it. However, it is only usable if all your pictures have the same 'rotation' or the same height/width. If not, a black area is seen during a transition. Do you know what I mean?

Keep up the good work

[tin2tin]

Sorry for all your troubles. I hope that the option to load multiple files in wxbasic one day will be added, so files can be imported internally with the standard windows filedialog from DSG. Either that or if I get Vista some day will find a way to get the filedialog to save temp files to hdd.

About BackZoomBlur - try to load the .dll it in Ffrend, then you can change it to your needs and export as metaplugin with the included filters embedded and exchange that with the current .dll or make a new(name) dll and a new avs script file to load the dll.

[Edit: when using motion backgrounds - don't use the differet dissolves - the background is key'ed into the color $00000000(black). There is a pop up window mentioning that when choosing a motion background]

[vix11]

Hi Love working with this prog its going well, downloaded it yesterday. However I encountered a situation yesterday and today with media player. I put the pc on standby and returned to work on the prog again but media player froze up and I couldn't get things started again for the day. So today I uninstalled and reinstalled the whole prog, which I now realize was a bit stupid as it were just media player that wasn't working but any how, I'm back on track and compiled the jpegs for the slide show and today I tried importing an mp3 to it and again media player freezes up on me. Tried playing without music added and its fine but its only when I try to import a music file this happens. I have also noticed that another file has been created for my mp3 track but ends with .d2a.

I tried what I could from my basic knowledge which is close to zero when it comes to the media part of IT. I'm basically stuck on what to do. I am planning on adding another 1 or 2 slideshows to the dvd and will be using GUI4dvdauthor, can I put my tracks in on this prog perhaps if I am unable to do it on dvdslideshowgui?

Thanx.

[tin2tin]

I tried importing an mp3 to it and again media player freezes up on me.

Does this happen with any of your mp3(from different sources)? If not try to find the difference with mediainfo.

If MPC hangs use ctrl+alt+del to kill the process - killing the visible gui isn't enough. There are some bugs in MPC - you could try to update it to the latest version.

Adding more slideshows to a dvd with GFD: http://www.digital-digest.com/articles/Photo_Slideshow_Using_DVD_slideshow_GUI_page3.html

[vix11]

Hi Thanx for the reply I checked out first if the track from another source works and guess what it worked a treat. Cheers tin2tin. BTW as U might guess I didn't need to use mediainfo but thanx for showing me the site could come in handy one day.

[vix11]

Hi again, encountered a different situation now. I was importing an avi file that was taken from my digital camara and I checked if it is tagged as avi and it is. However I get the following msg

DSG Message

Can't load the file C:\Documents and Settings\Lodhia01\Desktop\102_COPY\Radhe/DSCF0240.AVI
AVISource: couldn't locate a decompressor for fourcc mjpg

I assume here I might need to download a decompresser of something but need a bit of guidance on what exactly I need to do and with what.

Thanx.

[tin2tin]

Check this link out on how to load media into avisynth(which is what DSG is using):
http://avisynth.org/mediawiki/Importing_media#How_do_I_load_my_video_clip_into_AviSynth.3F

[tacman1123]

I see others have had the same fourcc problem, but I don't see a solution for importing avi's with that problem into DVD Slideshow GUI.

I can load my avi file with DirectShowLoad(), but not AVISource():

AVISource: couldn't locate a decompressor for fourcc mjpg

I see the link on how to load media into avisynth, which DSG is doing, but I don't think I can change that. I'm just using the GUI to import an AVI file, and I get the error. I think DSG looks like a great program, but I can't get beyond the first step, importing my video.

Any insights?

Thx,

Tac

[tin2tin]

[Check out the Q and A here: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071204005948AAaPfXw]

Did you install the included XVID? Alternative: try to install ffdshow it should contain the mentioned decoder(as mentioned in the link above).

DSG can import avisynth scripts (avs) as slides, therefore the link above. That way ex. DirectShowSource() can be used. Or any other media avisynth supports can be imported as explained in the above link with a bit of avs scripting.

Btw: Here's a couple of MPEG decoders:
http://download.videohelp.com/liquid217/dvdauthorgui.pl?p=download

[tacman1123]

Making some progress -- I downloaded and installed the Panasonic DV Codec, and now AVISource() in Avisyth works!

Alas, it's still not importing into DVD Slideshow, now it's giving the error "Video Framerate Doesn't Match". I'm 100% certain that the framerate is 29.97, I've tried the Presets at all 4 settings (the correct one is NTSC 720x480, 29.97fps), but it still won't let me import.

Getting close, though -- any ideas?

Thx,

Tac

[tacman1123]

Okay, I've traced the problem down to the automatically generated DVDsGUICheckFPS.avs, which generates

try{blankclip(length=1,width=720,height=480,fps=29 .97).eqaudio().converttoyv12()+avisource("S:\vt\av s\/burns295.avi").eqaudio().converttoyv12().LanczosRe size(720,480)}

If I tweak the code and add AssumeFPS(), the splice works:

try{
x=blankclip(length=1,width=720,height=480,fps=29.9 7).eqaudio().converttoyv12()
y=avisource("S:\vt\avs\/burns295.avi").eqaudio().converttoyv12().LanczosRe size(720,480).assumefps(x)
x+y
}

There's some info at

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?p=1098648

My theory: the 29.97 as a fraction is being stored as something slightly different, and this problem isn't showing up when the frame rate is 25 (PAL). It appears, however, that the script generation, to check the FPS, is hard-coded in DVD Slideshow.

Any suggestions on how to work around this?

Thx,

Tac

[tacman1123]

Getting even closer...

The file avifpscheck.txt contains one line:

29.969999

when run from my debug script.

So it's a rounding error, which again appears to be hard-coded in the exe.

I could create a tiny .avs file that just contains the line that loads the avi file, but I really don't want to do that, I'd prefer to be able to import the .avi file directly. Is there any way to get on the beta list for DVD Slideshow, as I think this is something that will have to be fixed in a release.

Tac

[tin2tin]

Bad news. A virus has killed my computer with the sourcecode for DVD slideshow GUI.

Meaning I can't even boot the computer ...

[tacman1123]

Good luck recovering that, I'm very much hoping you have a backup somewhere!

[roma247]

Hmmm...I can see this is probably not the best time to be asking questions, but I'm floundering and could use assistance...

I am doing a project with DVD Slideshow GUI and first I have a comment: importing files would be much easier and faster if one could do it using thumbnails instead of only filenames. (I know that you recommend dropping them into one folder so they can be imported in a batch, but that also is time consuming...) In addition, when creating a large slideshow, using the arrow buttons to place them is a bit troublesome, particularly since they often do not remain in the same order you import them (I'm not sure why).

But the biggest problem I'm having is that whenever I try to add any animations to the slides, the whole file goes haywire on me. At some point, the program crashes and reduces the slideshow to all one image and subtitle over and over again, and I have to revert to my last saved version. I'm not sure why this is happening.

Lastly, another comment regarding subtitles: first, the font style and color settings never seem to be retained... Second, it would be nice to be able to format the text itself. For example, if there is more than one line of text, it would be nice to be able to select the line breaks. Is there a way of doing this that I am unaware of?

Sorry if these comments/questions seem ignorant. I think I know what I'm doing, but I don't have the technical vocabulary...

TIA for your assistance,
Lisa

[tin2tin]

Hmmm...I can see this is probably not the best time to be asking questions, but I'm floundering and could use assistance...

I am doing a project with DVD Slideshow GUI and first I have a comment: importing files would be much easier and faster if one could do it using thumbnails instead of only filenames. (I know that you recommend dropping them into one folder so they can be imported in a batch, but that also is time consuming...) In addition, when creating a large slideshow, using the arrow buttons to place them is a bit troublesome, particularly since they often do not remain in the same order you import them (I'm not sure why).

What version are you using(look in the Help file)? The import dialog is with thumbnails. You can also use copy/paste to move slides.

But the biggest problem I'm having is that whenever I try to add any animations to the slides, the whole file goes haywire on me. At some point, the program crashes and reduces the slideshow to all one image and subtitle over and over again, and I have to revert to my last saved version. I'm not sure why this is happening.

If you find a way to repeat that error, then please let me know what you're doing exactly. I can't fix problems I can't reproduce.

Lastly, another comment regarding subtitles: first, the font style and color settings never seem to be retained... Second, it would be nice to be able to format the text itself. For example, if there is more than one line of text, it would be nice to be able to select the line breaks. Is there a way of doing this that I am unaware of?

Linebreaks are not supported. Sorry. Concerning the font etc. DSG is using as many of there attributes as possible(and olso in GFD export). Most subtitle formats do not contain the actual format of the font.

[roma247]

I'm using version .78. Errrrmmmm...I looked just now and saw the "thumbnails" button. Don't I feel like a total dork. Though they are awfully small... :wink:

I have no problem repeating the error. Right now I have a file with about 25 slides in it. It's doing OK until I choose to add an animation to slide 9--a zoom. Everything's all right, I save my work, I click the preview button ( the slideshow preview, not the animation preview...). The slideshow preview goes smoothly until I hit slide 9. It tries to render the zoom, fails, goes back to slide 8. I get slide 8 for the rest of the preview.

If I happen to save my work after this glitch, it actually populates all of the slides from 9 to 25 with slide 8's, down to the end. The only way to recover is to restart the program and re-open the file. Then it's fine, except that it does it all over again when I hit preview.

I'm guessing that I don't have enough RAM...but on only 25 slides? It seems to me that does not bode well. I read what the help file said about that topic...man, do I have my work cut out for me.

But at the end of the day, if I do everything else (import it all, set the duration, add the text, etc), save the animations for last and don't preview them, will my system be able to handle the final processing, or will it crash and burn then too? I can live without previewing it if I have to, but I don't want to do the work and then not be able to burn it to DVD.

FYI: I'm running Windows XP v.5.1.2600 on a machine with an Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.00GHz , 1 GB of RAM and a 75 GB Hard Drive, of which only about 18 GB is free. I just did a defrag last night, but it didn't help much. (And the more I try to convince myself that I know what I'm doing, the less I'm convinced...)

Hmmmmm...

Thanks again for your help.

Lisa

[roma247]

grrrr...I downloaded and installed the latest version of DSG, and I had no idea that the file I created with the previous version wouldn't open in the new version...

...but worse, when I try to import images (the same ones that I had in the former file...), it keeps giving me a 'bad index error' :

Index 0 outside of array size 4094 (wGrowGet)
menupaste() in file "C:\ProgramFiles\DVD Slideshow GUI\DVD Slideshow GUI.exe, line 1520:
> if (kb_bank[ani[i],0,0>-1 then

I have to click OK, then it asks if I want to exit. Whether I click yes or no, it closes anyway.

I got around it by importing more than one file at a time, but when I went back to importing a single file, it did one, then gave me the error again.

Should I uninstall and re-install?

I'm not trying to be troublesome, really I'm not...

[tin2tin]

@ roma247 - Download this one(0.85B - patch), place it in the main folder of an installed 0.85A and allow the old one to be overwritten. Let me know if this solves your import bug. (0.78 is really, really old and I hope that the bugs you are mentioning are fixed in the newer version).

@ tacman1123 - I'm sorry about your framerate problem. The fps error is the error report of avisynth. It will not allow splicing of video which isn't the exact same framerate. I think someone made an avisynth batch scripter where you can batch generate avisynth scripts(with assumefps(29.97) for videos. Use that to generate .avs scripts for your videos and import those .avs scripts into DSG as slides.

[tacman1123]

@ tin2tin - Any luck finding a back up of the source code? What language is it written in?

[tin2tin]

I'm up and running again. It's coded in wxbasic. Did you see my batch suggestion for you above?