slideshow on DVD in 16:9 (widescreen)

[filipdebie]

Now that I got a new widescreen TV, I want to make my slideshows from holiday pictures on DVD in widescreen (16:9)
What's the best way to do that ?
Do I have to resize all my pictures or can the video-editor, or DVD author program do this for me.
(I have Pinnacle studio 9, Photodex proshow gold and TMPG DVD author.)

[Roz]

Sorry pressed the wrong button!

I found a nice simple way to do this using photoshop

1. Use a widescreen ratio image as a background
2. Import your photos in their 4:3 original format and resize and position on your background.
3. Flatten layers then save new photo as widescreen image.
3. Import new photo into PS9 to create transitions, add text etc and create a slideshow.
4. Export as mpeg or avi etc

A backgound image of a photo album or book page would look cool if you can get one - I,m still looking.

Hope this helps

[sjohans1]

Hey, if you find an appropriate background, could you please post it or a link to where you got it right here.

I do the same thing you described with my slideshows (using Photoshop) and yes it looks great. I usually take the best part of the pic and crop the useless stuff while resizing it to 16:9. But for those pics where I want the whole thing making the background 16:9 and inserting the pic is terrific.

Still looking for that attractive 16:9 background though. Please let me know if you find one.

Now that I think about it, VS9 may have some in it, I'll have to check.

[tin2tin]

DVD slideshow GUI will do that for you.

[thecoalman]

Generally I find preparing the images in a image editing app produces better results that what you get if you let the video editing app do it. If you want to take some time this is the way I do it:

1. Crop the image to 16:9 or 4:3 ratio, whichever your final video will be. In your case it will be 16:9. Make sure to leave a little room for the ovescan area. Any image editing app worth using will have this feature.

2. Resize to 720x480 OR whatever resolution your using for your video, this will skew the image but it doesn't matter. In the end the aspect will be correct.

3. Apply a slight gaussian blur to the image or soften it, especially if you inserted any text in the image. TV's don't like hard edges, the edges will flicker if you don't soften them. This is one of the reasons I suggest doing this with a image editing app instead of a video editor. Most video editors have a anti-flicker filter but it's been my experience that they usually don't work that well. I think the reason is because they apply the blur at a static setting. If you have inserted a large image this isn't going to do much..........

4. Adjust the colors for NTSC/PAL, should be availble in better editors. If not don't worry about it.

5. Save the image and insert into your video editor at full screen. You can do a lot of images quickly if your image editor has batch operations.