photo dvd , best software versus best quality pictures

[ying0yang]

a simple question but i want to begin my new photo dvd with the best.

there is several software to make a slideshow to do a photo dvd.

proshow gold .....(as describe in the tutorial section)

but i need your experience .supposing that i got high resolution pics and i want to make a good photo dvd, which soft do i need to use for the best result.

by best result i mean best quality pictures appearing in the tv when reading the photo dvd in a dvd player.

all suggestion will be much appreciated.

thx

[guns1inger]

High res photos are good to start with, but in the end they will all be resized down to standard TV res. Depending on what software you already have, and how you want the phtots to display, there are a number of ways of doing this and retaining good quality.

For automatic slideshows, ProShow Gold or Memories on TV both get favourable reviews here. They have the advantage of automating a lot of the process for you.

If you want total control, and have a good editing package, you could build it yourself. Premiere (Pro) or Vegas can do this for you.

Finally, if you want a manual slideshow (i.e. the user can move back and forward themselves), use photoshop to resize and massage the photos, then use your authoring app to put the photos on menu pages. Your slideshows will be restricted in length a little, but mostly it's not an issue.

If you want to preserve ultimate quality (as far as DVD goes, anyway), create the slideshows in an editing app and output as progressive. After you author, never display the results on anything but a high def progressive display. If you are going to dsiplay on a standard tube based TV, be prepared for some flicker, or to soften the photos to avoid flickering. This is a limitation of display tech, not DVDs per se

[ying0yang]

wow great explication , thx.

i have a tons of pics to put on , so i think it will be a lot of time to do it manually so i think i will do it with a soft. like proshow gold or another.

i dont really care about transition or something else , i only care about quality pics. i have a hdtv so it will be nice.

the simple way look like proshow gold 2.0 but do the quality of the final photo dvd is the same as the other soft???( i mean pics quality)

and just a little question , does the project compilation will be in mpeg-2 then i can put it in dvd lab and build some menu??

thx a lot

[guns1inger]

If your DVD player will read .jpg files (most modern ones do), consider making data CDs or even DVDs containing high res .jpgs instead. You may not get any transitions, but you will probably get much better quality on your HDTV.

Yes, ProShow's output will be mpeg-2. I haven't used it, so I'm not sure if you can output elementary streams (which DVD Lab prefers), mpegs or VOBs. DVD Lab can load any of these anyway.

[ying0yang]

thx for the explication guns1inger

will check if my dvd support jpeg files .

but how can i surf into the pics if im making a dvd data??

will try both way. really appreciate your help.

[Garibaldi]

a simple question but i want to begin my new photo dvd with the best.

there is several software to make a slideshow to do a photo dvd.

proshow gold .....(as describe in the tutorial section)

but i need your experience .supposing that i got high resolution pics and i want to make a good photo dvd, which soft do i need to use for the best result.

by best result i mean best quality pictures appearing in the tv when reading the photo dvd in a dvd player.

all suggestion will be much appreciated.

I have the piece of software that you are looking for... Slide Show Movie Maker! Its free and has many many features. It includes many many pictures, along with music and many many transistions. It also includes text overlays and effects. Another really great feature that it has that enhances any slideshow is Ken Burns Effects, or panning and zooming over a picture, making it like a video. I would highly recommend that you at least try it before you buy anything. I have been very happy with the high-quality results it produces. I'm also happy to answer any questions you may have about it!

[Wile_E]

It is best to just get a DVD player that has JPG support. That is what I did. I bought a Panasonic S47S. You can easily switch to different pictures, or start a slide show with this player.

Using a program like ProShow just converts the pictures into a video slide show (mpeg2). Not good for still pictures.

[Garibaldi]

It is best to just get a DVD player that has JPG support. That is what I did. I bought a Panasonic S47S. You can easily switch to different pictures, or start a slide show with this player.

Using a program like ProShow just converts the pictures into a video slide show (mpeg2). Not good for still pictures.

Right.. but making an mpeg 2 is how you can add titles, transitions, and music to your photos. If you want to be more creative with your pics you have to go that route.

[guns1inger]

It's also universal - even old players will play a video slideshow or menu based slideshow, even though they don't support jpegs.

But I agree that you may get better quality from a jpeg supporting player (note : May - some are very poor are resizing the image for display)

[Garibaldi]

It's also universal - even old players will play a video slideshow or menu based slideshow, even though they don't support jpegs.

But I agree that you may get better quality from a jpeg supporting player (note : May - some are very poor are resizing the image for display)

Here's a screenshot from an mpeg 2 slideshow that I made:

Its a small screenshot but it gives you an idea. I used Slideshow Movie Maker to do that. I can send you a demo video if you want.

[ying0yang]

thx to all who have taking time to answer my question.

looks like my dvd player doesn't support jpeg ; well , no mention of that in the manual ( but says that photo cd doesn't supported )

so i think i will try with proshow gold 2.0

will check if the result is acceptable.

thx