[longtalltom]

In EMC 7.5 I could successfully produce a high-res slide show in DVD Builder with both a narration and background music. The output was a Super Video CD (SVCD). When I try this with EMC 8 where DVD Builder is now called MyDVD I don't get the same results. The capabiity to add a narration seems to be gone. Under Transition Style I selected Super Video CD High Resolution. This does not allow transitions or effects in either 7.5 or 8. When it was time to burn, inserting a CD gave the error "incompatible medium". It would only burn to a DVD, whereas EMC 7.5 would only burn to a CD for the high res slide show. File size was about 100 mb so it would easily fit a CD. I have diferent files on the discs from each version. 7.5 has several folders with one being SVD. EMC 8 has the typical VIDEO_TS folder and contents for a DVD. The background audio I added will not play. My questions are:
1) Is the narration capability really gone or just hidden somewhere?
2) Why won't a Super Video CD project burn to a CD?
3) How can I get the background audio to play?

[sknis]

longtalltom, on Jan 27 2007, 12:23 AM, said:

In EMC 7.5 I could successfully produce a high-res slide show in DVD Builder with both a narration and background music. The output was a Super Video CD (SVCD). When I try this with EMC 8 where DVD Builder is now called MyDVD I don't get the same results. The capabiity to add a narration seems to be gone. Under Transition Style I selected Super Video CD High Resolution. This does not allow transitions or effects in either 7.5 or 8. When it was time to burn, inserting a CD gave the error "incompatible medium". It would only burn to a DVD, whereas EMC 7.5 would only burn to a CD for the high res slide show. File size was about 100 mb so it would easily fit a CD. I have diferent files on the discs from each version. 7.5 has several folders with one being SVD. EMC 8 has the typical VIDEO_TS folder and contents for a DVD. The background audio I added will not play. My questions are:
1) Is the narration capability really gone or just hidden somewhere?
2) Why won't a Super Video CD project burn to a CD?
3) How can I get the background audio to play?

Use Video Wave to produce your slide show and then MyDVD to burn it. You are using an assistant that does not have all the features you are looking for. Video Wave has all the features you are looking for. In MyDVD did you select, SVCD as project type?

Forget everything you know about previous versions; this one is different. You cannot use any old projects, transitions, themes, etc from previous versions; they are incompatible.

Where did you get the background audio music. If you bought/rented it from an on-line source, you can't use it in the program directly.

Some of your problems may be hardware related. Please post your computer specs. Also it sounds like you need a little time with the manual.

One post is enough. Do not continue to post all over the place.

This post has been edited by sknis: 27 January 2007 - 04:24 AM

[longtalltom]

I was delighted to get your quick reply. I'm going to start in reverse order with my information.

Regarding multiple posts, I kept getting an error message that the message had not been sent because of an ftp error. I tried changing my firewall settings and resending. I did not know any had actually been posted, but all must have been sent. I was surprised to see my post when I logged on.

Computer- Dell Dimension 8250 - Delivered May 2003
Processor Intel Pentium 4 2.66GHz
Memory RDRAM 512 MB
OS:Windows XP SP2 Home Edition
Local Disk Western Digital WD1200JB-75CRA0 (7200 rpm) Total Capacity: 111.70 GB
Free: 20.1 GB
I also have a 160 meg WD drive installed, same basic model.
Video Card Model: 128 DDR ATI Radeon 9700 TX w/TV-Out
Sound Card: Creative Technology Ltd. Creative SB Live! Series (WDM)
CD-ROM Drive (D:) Model: LITEON DVD-ROM LTD163
CD-ROM Drive (E:) NEC DVD+RW ND-1100A
It is getting a little out of date, but still works well for video work if I'm careful to use all available resources for the work.

Time with the manual-I've found it to be sparse at best. It has ony a half page on slide shows. The EMC 7.5 manual on page 209 has a full page on high resolution slide shows. I can't find anything on it in the EMC 8 manual.

Background audio - Using the Home > Audio > Convert CDs feature, the default capture bit rate is 256 kbps. EMC seems to not be able to use that for background audio, although no error message was displayed. When I reduced the bit rate to 192 kbps, it worked fine.

Regarding narration, I discovered that a narration button appears after step 2 in the slide show wizard. The manual doesn't mention this.

I discovered that if you start in MyDVD, you cannot make a Super Video CD despite selecting this under Transition Style. It will only allow burning to a DVD. I burned the SVCD slide show from MyDVD to a DVD and got a VIDEO_TS folder with .ifo and .vob files. Played fine as a movie but not high resolution. I then rendered it to a .iso file and burned that to a CD. But it was just the VIDEO_TS folder on a CD. It wouldn't play on the set top player of course.

Starting in Videowave, it sent me to MyDVD Express for rendering and burning. This allowed me to select an SVCD. I did that and produced one. Starting in Videowave was successful. I was careful to not use transitions or effects to maintain the high-res feature. I also produced a third disc with added transitions and effects to kill the high resolution feature and produced a SVCD.

I selected a photo in the slide show with fine detail and compared the results. When viewed on a monitor at 1024x768 resolution, there is absolutely no difference between the DVD with a .vob file, the high-res SVCD, and the SVCD with transitions and effects. All are identical and definitely much softer than the original photo. I believe they are all at 640x480 resolution. So I've made progress but am not there yet. The high-res feature is not working despite being sure of no transitions or effects. In EMC 7.5, High Definition Slide Show was displayed and an error message popped up if you tried to add a transition saying this would defeat the high-res feature. No message like this in EMC 8, but I was careful to make sure high-res was maintained by no transitions or efects. What should I try next?

[sknis]

longtalltom, on Jan 29 2007, 06:59 AM, said:

I selected a photo in the slide show with fine detail and compared the results. When viewed on a monitor at 1024x768 resolution, there is absolutely no difference between the DVD with a .vob file, the high-res SVCD, and the SVCD with transitions and effects. All are identical and definitely much softer than the original photo. I believe they are all at 640x480 resolution. So I've made progress but am not there yet. The high-res feature is not working despite being sure of no transitions or effects. In EMC 7.5, High Definition Slide Show was displayed and an error message popped up if you tried to add a transition saying this would defeat the high-res feature. No message like this in EMC 8, but I was careful to make sure high-res was maintained by no transitions or efects. What should I try next?

I'm glad you are making some progress. Thanks for addressing all of my questions. In the slide show assistant, under the photo tab, one of the transitions is "VideoCD High Definition". Did you try that?

Make sure you update the drivers for that card. V 8 hands off much of the rendering from the program to the card if you are running in the hardware render mode. You might try going into VideoWave or MyDVD and using the top menu, go to tools>options and run the video test. After the test, where is the dot? If it is near hardware, move it to software and try your project again. Rendering will be slightly slower and you won't have some transitions (this won't affect you for this show) but the images should be somewhat sharper. If it was already near software before you began, this probably will not help.

This post has been edited by sknis: 29 January 2007 - 06:32 AM

[longtalltom]

sknis, on Jan 29 2007, 06:23 AM, said:

I'm glad you are making some progress. Thanks for addressing all of my questions. In the slide show assistant, under the photo tab, one of the transitions is "VideoCD High Definition". Did you try that?

Make sure you update the drivers for that card. V 8 hands off much of the rendering from the program to the card if you are running in the hardware render mode. You might try going into VideoWave or MyDVD and using the top menu, go to tools>options and run the video test. After the test, where is the dot? If it is near hardware, move it to software and try your project again. Rendering will be slightly slower and you won't have some transitions (this won't affect you for this show) but the images should be somewhat sharper. If it was already near software before you began, this probably will not help.

Regarding SVCD selection, yes that is what I selected. I get it after Videowave > New Slide Show > Add Photos > Next. After Next, I get a Transition Style selection and it is in that group. (Incidently, this is where the add narration button appears.)

Regarding driver update, I first ran the Video Test under Tools>Options. The radio button went to Software so the original work was rendered in Software mode. Then I updated mine and the driver went from a 12/2003 date to a 12/2006 date. Now the Video Test always goes to Hardware so I've probably picked up some rendering speed. Also I have had some trouble with video/audio sync that this forum has addressed in several other threads. I tried re-rendering a video file from a 1-hour VHS tape capture in MPEG-2 and variable bit rate that had a very noticeable sync problem after rendering and burning. (Original capture file is in sync.) Now the DVD is in sync. So the driver update has fixed a different problem.

Thanks very much for your help. I'll make another set of test slide shows soon and see how they look with the new driver and report the results.

[longtalltom]

I made a SVCD high-res slide show and burned with the Interlaced option and another with the Progressive option. Then a third with dissolve transitions, etc, not at high-res. There is absolutiely no diffrence in sharpness between the three shows when viewed at 1024x768 resolution. The original photos are much sharper. In Slide Show Assistinant, the Transition Style reads as follows when Super Video CD is selected: "Enjoy your photos at twice the normal resolution. Note: Video CD only, no transitions and no effects." But giving these up produces no benefit that I can detect.

[grandpabruce]

longtalltom, on Feb 4 2007, 03:58 PM, said:

I made a SVCD high-res slide show and burned with the Interlaced option and another with the Progressive option. Then a third with dissolve transitions, etc, not at high-res. There is absolutiely no diffrence in sharpness between the three shows when viewed at 1024x768 resolution. The original photos are much sharper. In Slide Show Assistinant, the Transition Style reads as follows when Super Video CD is selected: "Enjoy your photos at twice the normal resolution. Note: Video CD only, no transitions and no effects." But giving these up produces no benefit that I can detect.

Since you have a DVD burner, try burning it as a DVD video instead of the lesser quality SVCD.

[longtalltom]

grandpabruce, on Feb 4 2007, 07:17 PM, said:

Since you have a DVD burner, try burning it as a DVD video instead of the lesser quality SVCD.

I did that early on when I started in MyDVD. That would only let me burn to a DVD. I also made three discs where I selected six photos with fine detail and compared the results. I made one as an SVCD, one as an SVCD with transitions, etc, and one as a DVD. When viewed on a monitor at 1024x768 resolution, there is absolutely no difference between the DVD with a .vob file, the high-res SVCD, and the SVCD with transitions and effects. All are identical and definitely much softer than the original photos.

The above were rendered as Interlaced in the Options menu. I made two more with Progressive Option, and they were no sharper than the others. So a SVCD at High-res, and SVCD at low-res, and Interlaced and Progressive made no difference and a DVD also made no difference.

The manual for version 7.5 on page 209 explained it better. The High Devinition is supposed to go onto a SVCD. The version 8 manual doesn't mention it but it is in the software.

[myguggi]

longtalltom, on Feb 5 2007, 07:51 AM, said:

I did that early on when I started in MyDVD. That would only let me burn to a DVD. I also made three discs where I selected six photos with fine detail and compared the results. I made one as an SVCD, one as an SVCD with transitions, etc, and one as a DVD. When viewed on a monitor at 1024x768 resolution, there is absolutely no difference between the DVD with a .vob file, the high-res SVCD, and the SVCD with transitions and effects. All are identical and definitely much softer than the original photos.

The above were rendered as Interlaced in the Options menu. I made two more with Progressive Option, and they were no sharper than the others. So a SVCD at High-res, and SVCD at low-res, and Interlaced and Progressive made no difference and a DVD also made no difference.

The manual for version 7.5 on page 209 explained it better. The High Devinition is supposed to go onto a SVCD. The version 8 manual doesn't mention it but it is in the software.

If you create a SVCD slideshow and you want to keep high resolution, you cannot use any transitions or effectx in your production. A SVCD slideshow has a resolution of 720x480; all slideshows will not have the "quality" of the original photos

[longtalltom]

myguggi, on Feb 7 2007, 07:31 AM, said:

If you create a SVCD slideshow and you want to keep high resolution, you cannot use any transitions or effectx in your production. A SVCD slideshow has a resolution of 720x480; all slideshows will not have the "quality" of the original photos

I produced a high-resolution slide show using the following steps: VideoWave > Slideshwo Assistant > step 2. Here in Transition Style one of the choices is Video CD High Resoluiton. Info under the Style bar says "Enjoy your photos at twice the normal resolution. Note: Video CD only, no transitions and no effects." The resulting slide show was not very sharp. I did not use effects or transitions.

Since I like occasional dissolves and pan-and-zoom in a slide show and had given them up for high-res, this was disappointing. I made several more discs as follows:
1) One with dissolves, etc, low-res.
2) One high-res and one low-res burned with Progressive Option instead of Interlaced Option.
3) One rendered as a DVD movie and burned onto a DVD (.ifo and .vob files).

All were identical in sharpness and much softer than the original photos when viewed at 1024x768 resolution. So giving up effects and transitions so far has produced no improvement in sharpness. I'm not getting high-resolution turned on somehow.

[Larry]

longtalltom, on Feb 8 2007, 07:18 AM, said:

I produced a high-resolution slide show using the following steps: VideoWave > Slideshwo Assistant > step 2. Here in Transition Style one of the choices is Video CD High Resoluiton. Info under the Style bar says "Enjoy your photos at twice the normal resolution. Note: Video CD only, no transitions and no effects." The resulting slide show was not very sharp. I did not use effects or transitions.

Since I like occasional dissolves and pan-and-zoom in a slide show and had given them up for high-res, this was disappointing. I made several more discs as follows:
1) One with dissolves, etc, low-res.
2) One high-res and one low-res burned with Progressive Option instead of Interlaced Option.
3) One rendered as a DVD movie and burned onto a DVD (.ifo and .vob files).

All were identical in sharpness and much softer than the original photos when viewed at 1024x768 resolution. So giving up effects and transitions so far has produced no improvement in sharpness. I'm not getting high-resolution turned on somehow.

As noted in the assistant (and as you copied here), it states that style is for a VCD project meaning you burn it to a CD not a DVD. Any project burned to a DVD will re-render the pictures into a video file for playing.

[longtalltom]

Larry, on Feb 8 2007, 06:02 AM, said:

As noted in the assistant (and as you copied here), it states that style is for a VCD project meaning you burn it to a CD not a DVD. Any project burned to a DVD will re-render the pictures into a video file for playing.

I did burn more than one to VCD at hi-res. Also one to DVD to see what the difference was. And one with transitions, etc, to VCD. There is absolutiely no difference in sharpness between these. Giving up transitions and pan-and-zoom gained nothing. I do understand that it needs to be to VCD for high-res.