Having problems with powerpoint presentaion and movie on Dvd

[scrivy69]

Hello, I have been trying to make a dvd with a powerpoint presentation and mpeg movie on it but nothing but problems. I have been using camtasia snagit to capture screen from powerpoint , seems like the best from what Ive seen on different posts. captured at 800 X 600, produced on camtasia studio production wizard on recommended 640 X 480 resolution. This saved it to avi format. burned in nero , picture quality is very poor on the presentation but the movie is fine (movie is not part of presentation) . Just need some tips or other recommendations, I also would like to add something like autopause to the presentation, so I can hit next button on the dvd player remote to go to the next slide instead of time increments on powerpoint slides which I am using now, because some slides need more explaining.
I hope this makes sense to someone who has done this before. Thanks to all replies in advance.

[Cornucopia]

Alot depends on whether you're just doing user-advanced "slides" with no audio/animation or NOT.

For timed slides with audio/animation, a "slideshow moviemaker" type app or NLE exporting to video or Screen Movie cap type app would be best.

For simple, user-advanced still slides, try this:

1. Set size to 4x on-screen (640x480-->2560x1920). If text or graphics change, fix them now.
2. Put 24bit small graphic in each slide (this way, they'll all export as 24bits)
3. Export as folder of PNGs
4. Resize with app of choice (mine's Photoshop) to 704x480.
5. Encode to MPG stills with VCDEasy (you can do this even if you aren't making a VCD)--no resizing needed, or if you prefer--use it and skip #4.
6. Add to DVD authoring app as individual menus.
7. If you have a movie integrated into the PPT, encode it separately and re-add it at author time.

Scott

[scrivy69]

Thanks for your reply Cornucopia. This is a basic powerpoint presentation with no animation or audio. just tried what you recommended and I cant set screen to 2560 X 1920. also don't understand ( Put 24bit small graphic in each slide (this way, they'll all export as 24bits) also movie is not integrated into ppt.

[woods]

Maybe get PowerPoint2DVD a try! It is an easy to convert PowerPoint to DVD or Mpeg and view them on your video, complete with background music, narration record and selection menu.

Good luck.

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[Cornucopia]

I've got DVDxPoint (321 studios) and have tried PowerPoint2DVD. Both apps limit how the title is authored, both have "predifined" aka canned navigation graphics, and both seem to munge the video quality.

re: resizing...

I opened up PPT just now,--
Go to [File | PageSetup]
Should say "On-Screen show", w=10",h=7.5", etc.
Change w-->40",h-->30"

You could skip that and the subsequent size down, but it'll show much more jaggies otherwise.

re: color clip...

When exporting pix from PPT, if the slide is <= 256 colors, then the export will be 8bit, not 24bit. This is, unfortunately, on a slide-by-slide basis.
To get around that, add a little 24bit graphic (I made a gradient rainbow thing) and place it in an inconspicuous part of the screen. I used to put it "off-screen" and it would work, but have recently noticed that it no longer works--could be the recent version upgrade, I dunno. Will have to test further.

1 more tip,
You may want to resize all pix to 640x480, then add black border all around to fill out to 720x540, and then resize to 720x480. This will accomplish the same as before, but will also have main graphics all within the title safe area.

HTH,
Scott

>>>>>>>>>>>
edit--I'm all for the point-and-clik sometimes, but when you have a simple slideshow and you want complete control. This way looks MUCH better. Have done quite a number of these for corporate clients who are very pleased with the results.

[scrivy69]

Note: this presentation will be playing thru a dvd played and lcd projector if this helps. Still dont understand the 24 bit thing I go to display properties>display settings in desktop shows 32 bit. Powerpoint2dvd wont help me I dont think. This type of movie is all new to me, can mess with mpeg movies easy but ppt. files and slideshows are a new thing, Really need the autopause feature, so I can navigate thru dvd ppt (mpeg)slideshow then on to the movie.

[Cornucopia]

PPT doesn't follow your display settings when exporting. I know, I've tried.

The display type (CRT,LCD,DLP) doesn't really factor into it. All allow for (and kind of expect) 24bit color (Millions of shadings). DVD (which actually internally uses 16bitsperpixel, but nevermind) also allows/expects 24bit. You could do 8bit, etc, but you'd have more jaggies, bad color gradient splotches, HiContrast MPEG encoding artifacts, etc.

PPT looks at your slides and the content that's on them. If all you got is text a a couple of colors in the background--it'll export as 8bit. BAD!
My way cheats PPT by bumping up the color requirements per slide to be above 8bit, so it forces it to export as 24bit. GOOD!

Make MPEG stills of all your exported pix, add them as menus in your authoring app of choice, have a invisible button jump (Right Arrow?) jump from 1 slide to another. Maybe another invis button (Left Arrow?) jump back (just in case). Have another menu for choosing between MenuPix chain and your movie. Compile and burn, that's it.

Scott

>>>>>>>>
edit: Also, make sure your fonts are all larger size, Sans Serif type, or you'll end up with twitter/ringing and legibility problems. Also check/restrict the contrast and color gamut. These can all be done as actions in Photoshop, or use another app with scriptable batch processing.

Lot more work than point-n-clik, but the proof is in the pudding.