DVD Creation Problems

[RalphTomaccio Profile Private message]

I'm in the process of trying to burn a DVD for playback on both TV's and Computers. I'm experiencing three problems I can't seem to solve.

1. I broke down my long slideshow into two separate shows. In both, I made sure I have a thumbnail set for the show. The menu was created and both thumbnails appear as they should. BUT, when I burn the DVD the thumbnail for the second show ends up appearing as a black rectangle. It works when selected and the show starts, but the thumbnail image is missing in playback as well. What is causing the thumbnail not to appear when I burn the DVD?

2. When the slideshow plays, the music is broken up and not playing smoothly.

3. When I play the DVD on a Windows (XP SP3) computer or on my iMac computer, the image is "soft", not appearing sharp, as though the images were taken with a cheap camera. While on the Windows (XP SP3) side of the iMac, played in Presenter, the images are nice and sharp as I expect them to be. What's going on with that and is it correctable so that they appear just as sharp without Presenter? I would like to send a DVD to family and certainly want them to see the best image possible, especially since I am a retired photographer!

[Astra Profile Private message]

Yes :

"When I play the DVD on a Windows (XP SP3) computer or on my iMac computer, the image is "soft", not appearing sharp, as though the images were taken with a cheap camera."

Had the same problem with my DVD on TV... & did not solve it - either.

Looks like: we are getting ahead of technology: playing perfect on PC & horrible on TV....

.. So far - I did not find reasonable (technical) answer - yet.....

Alex

[DickK Profile Private messageWebsite]

1. I broke down my long slideshow into two separate shows. In both, I made sure I have a thumbnail set for the show. The menu was created and both thumbnails appear as they should. BUT, when I burn the DVD the thumbnail for the second show ends up appearing as a black rectangle. It works when selected and the show starts, but the thumbnail image is missing in playback as well. What is causing the thumbnail not to appear when I burn the DVD?

Don't know but it means ProShow couldn't find the image or correctly render it. I'd try it again and try a different image (same image edited).

2. When the slideshow plays, the music is broken up and not playing smoothly.

Function of the playback device--is this the DVD player or the computer? I presume it's okay in Preview and with Presenter?

3. When I play the DVD on a Windows (XP SP3) computer or on my iMac computer, the image is "soft", not appearing sharp, as though the images were taken with a cheap camera. While on the Windows (XP SP3) side of the iMac, played in Presenter, the images are nice and sharp as I expect them to be. What's going on with that and is it correctable so that they appear just as sharp without Presenter? I would like to send a DVD to family and certainly want them to see the best image possible, especially since I am a retired photographer!

You're getting the expected result. A DVD is a pretty low resolution format, roughly like 720x480 pixels. Put that on a device with double the resolution but go full screen and you'll get that result. Presenter is always going to give you the best result as you've seen. For a Windows machine the best results will be with an EXE but even there it will only be best if the dimensions match the screen or it runs in window.

Dick

[RalphTomaccio Profile Private message]

1. I broke down my long slideshow into two separate shows. In both, I made sure I have a thumbnail set for the show. The menu was created and both thumbnails appear as they should. BUT, when I burn the DVD the thumbnail for the second show ends up appearing as a black rectangle. It works when selected and the show starts, but the thumbnail image is missing in playback as well. What is causing the thumbnail not to appear when I burn the DVD?

Don't know but it means ProShow couldn't find the image or correctly render it. I'd try it again and try a different image (same image edited).

2. When the slideshow plays, the music is broken up and not playing smoothly.

Function of the playback device--is this the DVD player or the computer? I presume it's okay in Preview and with Presenter?

3. When I play the DVD on a Windows (XP SP3) computer or on my iMac computer, the image is "soft", not appearing sharp, as though the images were taken with a cheap camera. While on the Windows (XP SP3) side of the iMac, played in Presenter, the images are nice and sharp as I expect them to be. What's going on with that and is it correctable so that they appear just as sharp without Presenter? I would like to send a DVD to family and certainly want them to see the best image possible, especially since I am a retired photographer!

You're getting the expected result. A DVD is a pretty low resolution format, roughly like 720x480 pixels. Put that on a device with double the resolution but go full screen and you'll get that result. Presenter is always going to give you the best result as you've seen. For a Windows machine the best results will be with an EXE but even there it will only be best if the dimensions match the screen or it runs in window.

Dick

Dick, again I appreciate your help!

I haven't tried re-burning yet as I need to make a few minor changes but, in the Create DVD/Shows tab, the thumbnail appears there for the show and it appears in the menu tab in the custom menu I created. Wouldn't that indicate PSG knows the location of the file?

The sound breaking up is when the show is played on the DVD player. I'm going to try burning at a slower rate as well as use DVD HQ (High Quality - Safe) mode. In the past I have been using the (High Quality - Maximum) mode.

So, there is no way to get closer to the image quality as when Presenter is being used for playback using some other method?

[DickK Profile Private messageWebsite]

On the sound issue, there are two choices for the format of sound as put on the CD. You could try switching to the other format but ProShow's default is the most compatible so that may not help. Is it present only on part of the audio or the whole thing? Last, verify that the volume level settings are never over 100% and look at the audio track to see the audio waveform (hit the TAB key) -- the peaks need to stay visible and if a lot of them are cut off you're in a "clipping" condition that can sound bad.

As for output resolution/quality every format has it's advantages and disadvantages. The highest is in an EXE when that's set to match the viewing screen. With any kind of DVD there are settings on the output screen that should all be set for the highest quality, but beyond that there's little that can be done, its up to the ability of the DVD player to play it and on an HD-capable TV playing a standard def DVD how effectively upscale the standard DVD video. Same story if your target is a PC, the EXE will be far better than playing the DVD because it doesn't need to scale the video.

Dick

[RalphTomaccio Profile Private message]

The broken up sound is present only in part of the show, typically in the beginning. The sound that plays sounds good, not like the volume setting is over 100%. It's just broken up.

The last DVD I tried the sound came out well. The only remaining problem is the missing show thumbnail for the second show that is suppose to appear but isn't. I am going to try you suggestion of modifying and re-selecting it. I am also going to select it from a file a opposed to an image in the show.