Bad quality video

[mikes]

I am having unacceptable results also with converting to avi and then processing for dvd. I am using arcsoft showbiz 2 - it came with burner. Slideshow on tv is just terribly grainy. Spent several hours converting to other codecs - especially uncompressed (thought it might solve my problem) but uncompressed would not open in MS media player and was not recognized by arcsoft as a usable file. So, my client is left without a dvd. From a previous post, someone said Nero would produce much better results. I might be able to get my hands on this, but am extremley disappointed in the difficulty and problems with using any software to convert avi to dvd. Also, most of the codecs produce terrible results (I know, very program specific), but the uncompressed should work with anything and everything. Please give any advice you can. The dvd is lower quality is true, but not the problem - if all dvds looked like this, we would all still be watching vhs. While lower tv quality is one thing, adding noise and artifacts to photos is another. This is software. I can create a seperate slideshow in arcsoft showbiz 2 - standalone of my photos - and get very nice results. So the problem lies in the conversion. Note - I use p2e mainly for slideshows - has the features I want, so if my client wants a dvd, not an exe, I have to build it in another program. The 2 (exe/dvd) will never be the same show - I just can't reproduce the p2e slideshow on any other program - and having to manually rebuild it for dvd is unacceptable. Is there an answer?

[LumenLux]

Mikes, from time-to-time, especially in "early days", I have had lots of problems going PTE to DVD. Ultimately in all cases, the problems seemed to be in the recipient program of the PTE-produced avi. Sometimes Igor was able to change something in PTE to accomodate the problem in the recipient program. The chances of you or I getting any other program than PTE to make a responsive change is minimal!

For several months now, I have had very good success in burning to DVD the same shows of PTE. I think maybe some of the problems I had in the past are not an issue when I am using a more powerful media-oriented PC. I currently use Ulead DVD Movie Factory 2, Roxio Video Wav 7 Pro, and possibly others. I have used your cited, bundled, Shobiz DVD 2 to burn DVD's from mini DV tape input, but I have not tried it on a PTE sequence. I will attempt to try a short test tonight to see if I too find "created" defects as it seems you are getting.

[Michel]

Some encoders mpeg are not very good and when you use a excellent encoder, the results are excellent.

But, you must read your DVD on your TV (100hz if possible) with a DVD-TV player.

However, Igor studys all the problems and find a soluce if a problem exist with a particular software.

Is arcsoft excellent to create a mpeg file ? I don't know, but, you could try also another encoder.

[Ken Cox]

buy nero 6.6 full suite

ver 7 to be released shortly - same may already be released

approx $90 Canadian

what you got with the dvd burner will not be a full suite and will be lacking in many features

you will save time and frustration in the long run

if you search the forum you will see many problems with other software

"time is money"

ken

[LumenLux]

I have now used the bundled, Shobiz DVD 2, which I think is what you are using. My brief experience gave me mixed results which may or may not be of any help to you.

The problems you encountered did not appear in the DVD's I was able to burn of the PTE produced shows. When I played the DVD on my TV with a normal set-top DVD player, all looks perfect. Not as good as .EXE on PC monitor, but VERY good, as with Ulead, Roxio, etc. As Michel pointed out, you must actually view your DVD on a TV, not just with DVD software on the PC monitor. Often, the home-made DVD will look rotten on the PC monitor but look fine on the TV.

The problems I ran into were that not all the test shows I was making could be accepted by Shobiz ! But then I realized the same shows from PTE could also not be played by Windows Media Player ! some of the problems seemed to involve the use of sound in the PTE show. I tried various changes in the # of slides, length of sound, no sound, etc. and still could not isolate what PTE shows would work and which ones would not. We may need some help from Igor on this situation. Have you already addressed an email to Igor in case he has not read this thread? He is so busy with development, I am surprised how often he does pick up problems we write about here. Good eyes and or good staff/help I guess.