Ready to Burn DVD's

[kp Profile Private message]

I need to put together a few shows onto a DVD including the PC version of the show, so here are my questions:

1. Are there different methods for doing this (if so what are the Pros & Cons)?

2. Is it best to create a high resolution PC file first (and what is the max resolution available)? I have several reasons for wanting to do this besides putting the PC file on the DVD (I tend to be disorganized by nature and as I maneuver my files around, in an attempt to order them, I tend to mess up my projects. Once a high resolution PC version is built, can it be imported directly into the DVD? I am hoping that I can collect all my finished shows in one folder and minimize the potential lost shows (in .psh format) as I reorganize my hard drive, etc..

3. I am interested in making customized DVD menus with multiple pages, unique video and backgrounds, along with action buttons. Not something that I would finish all in one sitting. What is the best way to collect the shows and structure them to facilitate a successful and relatively painless compilation?

Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts and your experience.

kp

[DickK Profile Private messageWebsite]

I'm confused -- are you using the DVD simply as storage or are you expecting all of those to be playable on a TV & player? If it's the latter it won't work, any one DVD only has one menu tho' it could have multiple shows on the menu and the DVD. Or did I miss something here?
Dick

[gpsmikey Profile Private message]

In reference to the second question about putting extra "stuff" on the DVD
(assuming you have the room), I often do that for the parents of the kids
on the soccer teams etc. If you look at a DVD file structure, you normally
find 2 folders there AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS (everything is actually in the
VIDEO_TS folder). There are several ways to get there, but one of them is
in the "Disc burning" menu is an option to "include additional files" and you
can specify a path to a folder with additional stuff in it. In there, you can
put the original pictures in a sub folder, a copy of the PC executable and
anything else that fits within the size of the DVD. They can then either
play it on a normal DVD player OR "Explore" it on a pc and get the pictures,
executable etc. There are other ways, but you end up basically at the
same system of additional files added to the DVD.

mikey

[kp Profile Private message]

Sorry if I wasn't clear.

I am interested in information on the following:

1. Make a DVD that has both PC Executable (high resolution to be played on computer) and a playable show (regular resolution to be played on TV). I am confident this is achievable per instructions in help file and as described by Mikey (thanks Mikey).

ProShow Producer allows you to create DVDs of your slide shows to share with clients, friends and family. The DVD format is very popular because it will play on most DVD players and it has the highest quality TV playback. Also, you have the option to include a PC Executable on a DVD for hassle-free PC playback.

Standard resolution for DVD output is 720 x 480 (720 x 576 for PAL). This is much lower resolution in comparison to PC playback resolution. Photographers or professionals may notice the reduced resolution, but most consumers will not as they are used to the DVD format.

2. Identify if there are different ways of doing #1 (and if so, what are Pros & Cons)

3. What is the highest resolution a PC Executable can be made to?

4. Does a menu for a DVD have to be created all in one sitting, or can you work on it save your progress and then come back to work on it later?

My original post may be unclear as I was trying to explain why I would like to this. I have already had to rebuild a few slideshows as I have moved source files around. This is not fun. If upon completion of a show, I immediately make a high resolution PC executable, it is my hope that I can later export it into a DVD as both a standard play show (DVD quality) with menus, etc. and attach as a PC executable.

Please let me know if I helped clear this up or not.

Thanks,

[gpsmikey Profile Private message]

Well, as far as "#1" and different ways - there are a number of ways to
get extra stuff on there and it is not so much a case of "pro's and con's"
as it is on what tools you have available and how comfortable you are
playing around with stuff. For a playable DVD, it needs to have the two
folders AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS (and there is something magic about
the order of the files physically on the disc - Nero knows about it and
Proshow apparently also creates the correct order. How you put an
additional folder on there with "other stuff" can be achived in a number of
ways - create the DVD, copy the files back and add another folder, already
have a folder ready with your stuff in it and include it by using the simple
checkbox in PSP on the menu as I mentioned earlier etc. The end result is
the same - you get extra stuff on there your clients/friends/whatever can
view (and it gives you a backup of the originals of the pictures assuming
there is room on the disc).

As far as the resolution for the executable, I have not played with that
much, but a number of people have reported that especially if you are
going to view it on a LCD (Laptop etc), setting the resolution to the
native resolution of the display gives the best results. Of course that
means if you are dealing with a number of laptops etc, it is a moving target

One more comment here - many people have reported better results if you
burn your DVD at speeds less than the rated speed. I usually use T-Y 8X
media and burn at 4x. There have been issues with the burning portion of
PSP, so what many of us do is to select the "create ISO" from the menu
where you select the burner, "burn" to an ISO (image of the DVD instead of
a real DVD) then use something like the free "imgburn" utility to actually
burn the DVD. One advantage to this method is if you are making multiple
copies of your DVD, once you have the ISO, you can tell imgburn to make
10 copies and they are all identical - all you need to do is feed the burner.
Be aware that assuming you are working with a fairly large show/image,
you need to be saving the ISO to a NTFS partition (assuming winders) since
FAT32 can't handle a 4 gig file (just one of those handy little "gotchya's")

mikey