Read too many resize posts

[steven62]

Hi,

While I have been using photoshop since Cs3 (now CS5) I have seldom dealt with resizing issues as I generally crop to size for printing so please bear with me.

I read as many posts here on resolution and resizing as I could and now find that I have confused the living tweedle out of myself.

I am trying to make a slide show for DVD (LCD TV's) using 125 slides, average length for each slide is 8 seconds (for older folks to view).

I made 2 DVD's using 10 slides each and they do not look right on my LCD TV.

I think I know what I have to do but am not sure.

Each of the 125 files will have to be cropped from the original file size of 3896 X 2616 pixels (raw file) to 1920 x 1080 and saved as a jpg file.

Then in the project options I set the aspect ratio to 16:9, music set to synchronize music and slides, screen and slide set to fullscreen, size of slide: 1920 x 1080 and fixed size of slide checked on.

Is this correct?

Thank You,

Steven

[xahu34]

Your settings look good, at least for playing an exe-version of your show on a PC. Maybe you did something wrong when creating the video.

Regards,

Xaver

[steven62]

Hi Xaver,

I am trying to make a DVD for TV not an exe file for PC. Am I doing something wrong?

Steven

[Ken Cox]

WHAT IS SIZE OF YOUR EXE?

quite important -- that will give us an idea if you are too big

http://www.picturest...e-show-too-big/

http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?/topic/6880-got-burned-at-99/page__pid__42914

ken

[steven62]

Ken,

In the Pictures ToExe Deluxe version 7.0 manual on page 7 there is a list of questions and answers two of which I will retype here.

Question: How many slides can I include in my slide show?

Answer: Up to 20,000

Question: What is the largest size that the generated executable file can be?

Answer: The resulting executable file can be up to 4 GB.

I know that my 125 slides will be well under that. In addition the 2 sample DVD's I made only contained 10 slides each as I was just experimenting.

The problem is that they were coming out too small on the screen.

One thing I am wondering is should I be burning ISO and/or Mpeg 2 files? See, I told you that I'm confused. This is my first time trying to do a slide show with something other then a simple $5.00 program but I am learning. Just can't seem to get past this resizing and cropping issue.

Steven

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Hi Steven

Assuming you have the de-lux version with Video Builder, this is what you use to publish a DVD for TV or PC, see screen shot.

Just add a title & don't change any settings as you proceed through the building.

Yachtsman1.

[Ken Cox]

"The resulting executable file can be up to 4 GB."

the exe can be that big but not if you plan on burning it to dvd

the 2 links i provided should tell you the max size for a dvd and the other parameters -- they have not changed in years -- look at the date stamp of the threads

make an exe with the existing files and tell us how big it is

ken

[JEB]

Steven,

What precisely do you mean by "....they do not look right on my LCD TV" ?

John

[davegee]

You need to untick the box below the resolution figures on the SCREEN tab of project options which might be causing a problem.

You also need to set TV Safe Zone.

DG

[nobeefstu]

Steven

DG's post above is correct. You need to remove your setting of fixed size of slide when making a (standard definition) SD DVD disc. Video Builder does not create (high definition) HD DVD disc.

* This is necessary due to NTSC/PAL standard definition for DVD is not 1920x1080.

[steven62]

Assuming you have the de-lux version with Video Builder, this is what you use to publish a DVD for TV or PC, see screen shot.

Just add a title & don't change any settings as you proceed through the building.

Thank you Yachtsman1, I will do that.

You need to untick the box below the resolution figures on the SCREEN tab of project options which might be causing a problem.

You also need to set TV Safe Zone.

DG

and

DG's post above is correct. You need to remove your setting of fixed size of slide when making a (standard definition) SD DVD disc. Video Builder does not create (high definition) HD DVD disc.

I will untick the fixed size of slide as I did have it checked.

One question though: what or where is the TV safe zone?

I will run another test slide to see if the images come up in size.

I appreciate all of your comments Thank you.

Steven

Edit.

OK, I ran another sample of 10 to a DVD and the sizing looks great!

Thanks again for all of your help. It seems that unchecking the fixed size of the slide was the culprit.

Thanks again.

Steven

[davegee]

Thanks Stu,

I was replying from my phone and could not remember what the "fixed size of slide" was called!!

Steven,

Put a border around your trial of a few pixels - can you see the border on the TV?

If your TV has a USB input and Media Player you could avoid all of the "problems" associated with DVDs and increase the quality of the final product on the TV by making an MPEG4, transfering it to a USB key and playing it on the TVs Media Player.

Obviously, if you need to send a copy to someone then the DVD is the easiest way to do that.

DG

[steven62]

Thanks Stu,

I was replying from my phone and could not remember what the "fixed size of slide" was called!!

Steven,

Put a border around your trial of a few pixels - can you see the border on the TV?

If your TV has a USB input and Media Player you could avoid all of the "problems" associated with DVDs and increase the quality of the final product on the TV by making an MPEG4, transfering it to a USB key and playing it on the TVs Media Player.

Obviously, if you need to send a copy to someone then the DVD is the easiest way to do that.

DG

What a great idea! I never would have thought of using a USB stick. As it is my TV does have a USB port with built in media player and I will be checking the TV's of the folks who have LCD TV's to see if they also have a USB port and built in media player. Thanks for the idea.

One question though.

You mentioned in your first reply something about setting a "TV Safe Zone". Is that the same as "fixed size of slide"?

Thanks

Steven

[fh1805]

No. The "TV Safe Zone" is a throwback to the days of CRT technology when the area visible to the viewer was not always the total area of the CRT itself. Modern LCD TVs usually show the full image area. As was suggested in a post above, apply a border around a sample image and check that the border is visible when played back on the TV. My own LCD TV shows all 1920x1080 pixels with no loss.

"Fixed size of slide", when ticked, ensures that your images are never "up-sized" on the fly. Let's take an example: with "Fixed size..." unticked, you build a sequence at 1024x768 but then have it projected through a 1920x1080 projector. The result will be that the image quality is massively degraded because the computer has had to add in pixels that never existed (= interpolation). With "Fixed size..." ticked, the images will be projected at 1024x768. They will be the same quality you expected them to be - but very small compared to sequences built to a larger size.

General rule of thumb: build to the maximum size you think you might need (probably 1920x1080 with current technology) and, if needed, let the computer downsize your images to a lower resolution. Most computer systems do a very good job of preserving image quality when down-sizing.

Peter

[davegee]

You do not need tv safe with mpeg4 but it is % of main image in the more tab (??).

I have not used it for a while.

DG

[Ken Cox]

pg 74 read manual

In the first picture you can see this rectange which determines the zone you won`t see on your TV.

In the second picture you can`t see this zone, you just see the whole picture on you monitor. It is

recommended to show TV safe zone, because it is more convenient to adjust your menu watching

this zone. But if you want to switch this option off for some reason, then you should right-click on

the menu and the following box will be opened.

This dialog box is the same as Edit menu of this window. So you

have two ways of opening it: by right-clicking on the preview

window and by clicking on the Edit menu in the left upper corner of

the main window.

You can see several options here, almost all of them have been

described already.

Apply changes for each page is the option, which helps you to

make all changes very quickly. If you have more than one project

and more than one page in the menu and you have done some

changes on the first or second page, for example, you can click on

this option and these changes will be applied for all pages.

After adjusting this window, press the button Next to go to the next step.

When clicking, the following window for burning the disc will be opened.



ken

[steven62]

Peter, Dave, & Ken,

OK, finally the fog has cleared and it all begins to make sense.

I will be saving this topic in order to refer to it in the event I have a relapse.

Ken: I appreciate you sticking with me in order to understand. As I go through the manual in some areas I need to read and do as I go along, however occasionally it just does not gel so I seek tutorials to clarify what I have just read. Folks like Peter, Dave, you and the many others here with experience in P2E are walking tutorials and are appreciated.

I have been going through the tutorial section, downloaded and/or watched many demos, samples and tutorials as I can including most of Lin's stuff. I am amazed as to what this program can do and am chomping at the bit to produce some really good slide shows. As I mentioned before I am not new to photography having picked up my first 35mm SLR in the mid 60's, developed and printed my own film, then photoshop, but this all new to me as well as the terminolgy so I hope you folks bear with me because I have no doubt that there will be more question all be it simple for you but a big HUH! to me.

Thank You,

Steven

[davegee]

Peter,

Please clarify?

Are you sure that you do not need "TV Safe" when playing a 16:9 PTE show on a DVD into your LCD TV?

DG