DVD slideshow GUI - development thread.

[tin2tin]

Yes, that's true, the " can't be used and DSG is not checking if this character is used in subtitles. I should add this in the next release. Thanks.

[fvisagie]

Hi tin2tin,

I've just started using DSG 0.86D and am very impressed - slick & uncluttered user interface yet feature-rich and works very well! Congratulations!

I have encountered two problems with it, though. Below is information which I trust will help you locate and fix them. Feel free to ask if you need more information.

1)
When rendering to .gfd, at the end of the process (I think!) DSG errors out with a message like:

"Execution of command 'C:\Programmer\Gui for dvdauthor\GUI_DVDauthor.exe C:\TEMP\GfD\Photo Gallery.gfd' failed (error 3: the system cannot find the path specified.)"

This seems to be a convenience step - loading GfD once DSG has completed rendering, because when I manually open the rendered project in GfD and create the DVD, all is well.

The cause of this error is the executable path which is incorrect and seems to be hardcoded in DSG - on my system GfD is located at "C:\Program Files\Gui for dvdauthor\GUI_DVDauthor.exe". Maybe you can add a user-specified path for that like you already have for some other components.

2)
When rendering to .gfd, in certain cases the process gets stuck, but can be "awoken" again. The DSG project has all default settings and is very simple, consisting of imported .jpg pictures only. No animations, only dissolve transitions, nothing fancy. The pictures themselves are small - 720 x 576.

When I import 10 or so photos, the process completes successfully, except for the above GfD execution error.

With 55 photos, the progress bar at the top goes to 100% and the right-hand corner of the status bar gets to "Preparing images... (55/55)". After that nothing more happens - no other windows/GUIs are opened and the DSG display doesn't change again. Not even overnight!

I've gone through the troubleshooting section and increased the system's virtual memory without any effect. With physical memory of 1GB and vitual memory at 1.5GB, Task Manager shows DSG is using about 160MB, HcEnc about 185MB, with Commit Charge 707 / 2458M. At this point HcEnc is using 99% of CPU power. The fact that between them DSG and HcEnc aren't even using up the physical memory makes me suspect the problem isn't memory-related.

When I highlight HcEnc, click End Process and choose Yes in the Task Manager Warning, the HcEnc GUI appears and only seems to START processing then, according to its progress bar and counters. At that point its memory usage also goes up to around 315 - 320MB. Everything else then runs to completion seemingly successfully (except for the above GfD path error of course). The resultant project can be successfully built in GfD.

The version HcEnc used is the one shipped with DSG - the latest version 0.23.

I hope this helps. I'd be happy to test changes for you, let me know.

Kind regards,
Francois

[tin2tin]

I've just started using DSG 0.86D and am very impressed - slick & uncluttered user interface yet feature-rich and works very well! Congratulations!

Thanks

1) When rendering to .gfd, at the end of the process (I think!) DSG errors out with a message like:

"Execution of command 'C:\Programmer\Gui for dvdauthor\GUI_DVDauthor.exe C:\TEMP\GfD\Photo Gallery.gfd' failed (error 3: the system cannot find the path specified.)"

Oh, I must have forgotten to to take my own gfd auto loader path out(for testing gfd export) out before compiling. Thanks for letting me know.

2) Do you have enough free harddisk space on the drive where DSG is installed and the drive you're saving your export? Can you preview the 55 slides long show in DSG?

[cocophone]

Is it possible to turn off transitions?

[tin2tin]

@ cocophone: Use 'Cut' as transition with a short length.

[cocophone]

Thanks

[fvisagie]

Do you have enough free harddisk space on the drive where DSG is installed and the drive you're saving your export? Can you preview the 55 slides long show in DSG?

Hi tin2tin, yes lots of space, comparatively speaking. There's around 25GB free on the drive, and the rendered .gfd project takes about 241MB.

The preview renders and starts playing within around 40s (even now with lots of office applications open). However, the .gfd rendering getting stuck happens even when DSG is the only user application running.

Another thing, once the .gfd rendering has gotten stuck and been "awoken", the HcEnc "info" field shows "allocated memory: 67 MB" - could this perhaps be increased regardless?

I am eagerly awaiting further news or instructions!

Kind regards,
Francois

[tin2tin]

Okay, made a patch which checks for bad characters in subtitles and converts them like this: "->' and \->/.
And now an exported gfd file opens automatically if gfd and dsg both are installed in default dirs.
The hanging HcEnc problem seems to disappear when the HcEnc Gui is running during export.
Check it out and let me know if this solves your problems.

Run this from the main folder of an installed DSG 0.86D: DVDsGUI086E_PATCH.exe

Btw. There is a new Avisynth RC out(with better memory handling): http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=138143

[fvisagie]

Aahhh...... all is now very well .

Thank you. I also downloaded the Avisynth RC4, thanks for the hint. It works well so far.

BTW, if ever we should meet I should kiss your feet, for choosing to put the GfD project in MuxMan format. That allows me to easily add the other half of my DVD-Video project, which is in MuxMan format .

Kind regards,
Francois

[tin2tin]

Glad to hear that it works for you now. Btw. if you do something cool with it I would like to see it. Bragging is allowed

[fvisagie]

He he, thanks for the invitation, it WILL be technically excellent . The effort to put a working excellent tool chain together has by now somewhat dimmed my creative flair, dash and verve, but I'm aiming for a smooth and understated user experience anyway. Somewhat reminiscent of the BBC's "planet earth" DVD series .

[Sorry moderator, I realise way off-topic, but please indulge me just a little further]

The second project will be video material and still photos from http://reports.overland.co.za/Francois_Visagie/Botswana_Caprivi_07_08.pdf. The current project is for similar material from Namibia.

What is your involvement with the "real-life" blog and/or its contents your videohelp home page refers to?

Kind regards,
Francois

[tin2tin]

DVDsGUI086F_PATCH.exe
Run this from the main folder of an installed DSG 0.86D

Bug fix:
GFD transition error
Added:
Outlines, greyscale and uppercase buttons on GFD export.
Gfd export name will be title in menu.

[fvisagie]

Hi tin2tin,

I'm unsure whether by "GFD transition error" you mean the problem with opening GFD at the end of exporting I experienced and which was fixed in DVDsGUI086E_PATCH.exe, but everything works well in this patch.

Personally I prefer capitalised text, although it's quick enough to touch up the 1 label and 3 buttons.

Kind regards,
Francois

[olivier]

Hello tin2tin,

I have a big slideshow to make, so I export an AVS file in DSG, then open it in VirtualDub and frameserve it to encode it in TMPGEnc.
As I don't want permanent subtitles, I comment the last line of the exported AVS file (#textsub("C:\Program Files\DVD slideshow GUI\DVDsGUItemp.ssa")), and I keep a backup of the generated SSA file.

Now, I have my m2v/mp2/ssa files. I try to import them in "Gui for dvdauthor" v1.04, but it doesn't take SSA files anymore. I think it only takes SUP files.
Could it be possible to make the avs script generate a SUP file for the subtitle ? It seems to be the new standard format for subtitles...

And BRAVO for your beautiful software, DSG is always a great slideshow creator!

[tin2tin]

If you don't want "burned in" subtitles uncheck Presets/Subtitles.

Have you tried to export to .gfd format(and get menus pre-made)?

Read up on how to change ssa 4+ to ssa 4 (in notepad) to sst(with MaestroSBT) which can be loaded in the latest version of GFD 1.07 here: https://forum.videohelp.com/topic310993-120.html#1854201

[Edit: if you open a ssa from dsg in aegisub and save it as ssa then MaestroSBT will read it correctly]

[fvisagie]

@ olivier

As I recall GUI for dvdauthor 1.04 did accept SSA subtitles, but only if you use the dvdauthor engine. The GFD-compatible output of DSG is compiled for MuxMan use.

If you do insist on SUP subtitles for either dvdauthor or MuxMan, there are many utilities and ways of achieving that, see the Subtitle tool section https://www.videohelp.com/tools/sections/subtitle.

In principle the easiest way is to select the SUP generator you want, check whether it accepts the .SSA generated by DSG, if not use one of the excellent text-based subtitle tools such as Subtitle Workshop or Aegisub to convert from .SSA to the input format required by your tool.

When using GFD with MuxMan, I find it both easiest and best to input DSG's .SSA into MaestroSBT to render .SST. You either need GFD 1.07 which supports .SST with MuxMan, or use MuxMan directly. Beware that the current MuxMan has a subtitling bug that seems related to the use of (multiple?) titlesets. The good news is there's a work-around: https://www.videohelp.com/tools/Muxman - look for the text "encoded line exceeds 1440 bits".

Hope this helps,
Francois

[majgeek]

I like DVD slideshow very much, I have run into a small problem though. I am working on a show that has several solid black title slides. NO matter what I try it seems that the color of the slide is dark grey when it is imported instead of black. I have the slideshow background set to black and the dark grey stands out. I noticed this same problem makes the slides loose a lot of their contrast. What if anything can I do to get black blacks in my imported pictures?

Thanks,

Paul

[tin2tin]

DSG converts colors into Broardcast colors for proberly viewing on a DVD::

Broadcast Colors

Your computer monitor can display many more colors than can NTSC video. Broadcast colors are those colors that are safe — that is, they will display properly for use in broadcast video.

[olivier]

For my subtitles, I loaded the le SSA file in Sub Station Alpha v4.08,and saved it (change 4+ format to 4).
Then I opened it with MaestroSBT and generated SST file. Gui for dvdauthor v1.07 accepted it, great!
Here are the parameters I set in MaestroSBT:
Rendering:
- SST export
- Windows BMP 4 bit (Gui for dvdauthor only takes 4 bits)
- 720*576 (DVD resolution)
- Only one set of text antialias and outline colors: Checked
Timing:
- FPS 25
Styles:
- Font: Arial
- Font-size: 16
- Font-style : bold
- Outline-size: 2

Thank you everybody for your help, and also thank you to Afterlife who has made a guide called "Near Perfect subtitles".

[tin2tin]

For a much, much faster preview/render of slideshows dl this HC_fast.ini and overwrite the old in the main folder of DSG with it.

Btw. I tried to change the ssa fileformat into something MaestroSBT likes, but I can't get DSG to convert the hex colors into decimal ssa color format.

[tin2tin]

New Patch.

Run this patch from the main folder of an installed DSG version 0.86: DVDsGUI_0.86.7.exe

Fixed some bugs in the toolbar, and redesigned the slidesettings menu.

[tin2tin]

New Patch:
- SSA 4.00 subtitles instead of SSA 4.00+ (aka .ASS) subtitle format. MaestroSBT will load SSA 4.00 for high q. STT subtitles(and GFD(in Muxman mode) will load sst).
- Avi export will be muxed.

Overwrite the old DVDslideshowGUI.exe with this one: DVDsGUI_Patch_0.8.6.8.zip

[tin2tin]

New DVD slideshow GUI release candidate out.

Thanks to a new version of wxBasic a lot of things has been reworked and improved in DVD slideshow GUI.

New stuff:
* Localization added: (Now is english and danish included)
You can localize this software by loading the 'DVD slideshow GUI/Locale/en/en.po' in Poedit. Translate it into your language and send me the resulting po and mo file and I'll add it to DSG.

* Transition preview in Slide Settings menu.
(Click on the media player icon to render the library of transitions)

* Updated all menus and most icons.

* DSG will now adapt your windows look.

* Internal file loader(should be more Vista friendly).

And lots of other good stuff...

I call this a release candidate because I been all over the program, and I might have broken something too. So let me know if you run into any (reproduceable) bugs then let me know or else this will be the official release in a couple of days.

And let me know if you want to translate in into your language...

Get it here: DVDsGUI0899RC1.exe

[tin2tin]

New DVD slideshow GUI release candidate: DVDsGUI0899RC2.exe

NEW:
Instant transition preview in Slide Settings menu(without render time).

BUGS FIXED:
Safe area - check/uncheck load/new
Dialog added: Render transition/previews lib. menu?
Thumbnails moved to project menu.
Enable delete button.
Get the right window focused after MPC.
'Expo:' translated
Save ini - if load okay.
Avisynth memory handelig
Hcenc faster render.
Point bug in danish translation. Wouldn't save, load, export to gfd correctly.

[olivier]

Hello tin2tin,

Could it be possible to translate DSG into French language ? If you need help, please send me english words/sentences you want me to translate.

I have tried last DSG version, unfortunately it doesn't load older DSG projects as this is not the same format. I will try to create a new slideshow from scratch till burning DVD with GFD, and will tell you if something is wrong.
At first sigth, DSG has a nice look & feel!

[tin2tin]

I'm pretty sure that you wouldn't want me doing a translation to french. I can't even order a baguette in french.

If you feel up for doing a translation to french, then this is how you do it:

Download Poedit.exe (it's free)

In DVD slideshow GUI\Locale\en\ you will find a file called en.po load this into poedit. Change the properties to french and write the french translations in the right collum and save as fr.po. When saving a .mo file is also created - these are the two files you should send me, so I can include it in DSG.

But I should clean up the .po file a bit before you do that. So maybe wait a couple of days and I might have a new RC out.

The file dsg: open it in notepad and change the first line to 0.89 and insert a new line under that one and write 'English' in it, save and then you should be able to use it in the rc versions.

[olivier]

Ok, I will wait for your new RC before using Poedit, and before translating baguette to... baguette (DSG sure uses this word
I edited the DSG file, changed version to 0.89 and added English under it; I also had to change transitions' name , for example Dissolve by Dissolve.avs.
Everything loads properly, I will try same features as before to burn to DVD and will tell you if something is wrong.

[Mike99]

tin2tin,

Thanks for a great program. I've asked a few questions on a different thread and am not sure where you prefer questions to be posted.

The slideshow photos displayed on my HDTV look just a bit lighter than the same ones from my digital camera connected to the TV. Or the original jpgs displayed on my computer monitor. There is not a lot of difference & the slideshow could be correct. But I was wondering if DSG does any automatic correction to jpg photos?

[tin2tin]

Tv has a limited color range compared to computers therefore colors are converted til tv friendly colors when using DSG. I don't know if/how colors are converted when you watch jpg's from your dvd player and if it's the same process in convertion. In the end of the day dvd/mpg and jpg's are two different things.

[tin2tin]

New patch to 0.8.9.9 RC2: DVDsGUI_0899RC3.zip
Unzip and place in an installed 0.8.9.9 RC2 main folder of DVD slideshow GUI.

Bugs:
Shut down: Kill help
Resize images in listctrl correctly.
check/uncheck safe area
Locale's ',' vs. ntsc.
Stop player when hidden.