Pretty Basic Question on Projector v Image

[trailertrash]

I read all the topics I could find on sizing and it throws up a basic question.

My presentation will be for a camera club audience [our AV selection night is in September], and we are told to limit our images to 1400 x 1050 for normal club competitions. Our AV shows are burned to DVD and displayed through the clubs projector, via the clubs DVD player or laptop.

1. Would it be best for me to crop my original images to 1400x1050?

2. Fill the screen or apply a fancy BG and perhaps a border? [i know this must be a real personal preference thing, but any advice would be welcome]

3. Masks - Is it best to colour any masks [basic rectangle masks etc] to compliment the BG colour?

That'll get me started and I'll try to keep the questions sensible.

Thanks for the help previously and in future.

Andrew.

[Guest Yachtsman1]

I read all the topics I could find on sizing and it throws up a basic question.

My presentation will be for a camera club audience [our AV selection night is in September], and we are told to limit our images to 1400 x 1050 for normal club competitions. Our AV shows are burned to DVD and displayed through the clubs projector, via the clubs DVD player or laptop.

1. Would it be best for me to crop my original images to 1400x1050?

2. Fill the screen or apply a fancy BG and perhaps a border? [i know this must be a real personal preference thing, but any advice would be welcome]

3. Masks - Is it best to colour any masks [basic rectangle masks etc] to compliment the BG colour?

That'll get me started and I'll try to keep the questions sensible.

Thanks for the help previously and in future.

Andrew.

Hi

The best advise I can give is "Do What Pleases You". The method you describe regarding how the club presents the shows seems a long winded affair. Burning your show to a DVD will degrage the images, so if you can, run in through the laptop/projector. Sizing depends on your projectors projected size. If it's the common or garden XGA projector, 1024x768 and a medium resolution is fine. Don't put in too much animation, pick a subject that gets your audience into a happy frame of mind, & just go for it. Fill the screen is what I do, can't see the point of fancy frames & backgrounds, if it's a good picture lets see it as large as possible.

Now, before someone else posts, this is just my opinion.

Yachtsman1

[fh1805]

Hi Andrew,

I share Yachtsman1's concern about your club's approach to using the hardware. If possible, get your club to accept your sequence as an EXE file on a USB memory stick. That way, your images will be seen at their best. Next best quality comes from creating as a "HD Video for PC or Mac". The worst quality comes from creating as a "DVD-Video disc".

Get confirmation of the native resolution of your club's projector (it sounds as though it may well be 1400x1050). And then build your sequence to that size.

You are quite right when you surmise that use of backgrounds, frames etc. is a personal choice. It is!

Yachtsman1 and I know each other quite well and we have learned to agree to disagree on this point. I think that careful use of appropriate backgrounds and frames can add to the visual appeal of a sequence.

Whatever you do: make it your sequence, done your way, sized to the projector's resolution and run as an EXE.

Good luck with your endeavours.

regards,

Peter

[Ken Cox]

" The worst quality comes from creating as a "DVD-Video disc"."

PETER

how can you make that statement -- by your own admission your have no experience with dvd production?

ken

[fh1805]

Ken,

I have said, in the past, that I have experimented with burning to DVD using Video-Builder, and I don't like the results.

In my opinion, when a sequence that has not been built specifically for DVD is "downsized" to fit the PAL or NTSC resolutions, it is visibly and unacceptably degraded.

Of the three options that are open to Andrew for creating a sequence for "projection" at his camera club, the worst quality will come from burning a DVD - fact! The best quality will come from producing an EXE file - fact! And the HD Video file will be somewhere between the two; but probably nearer to the EXE quality than to the DVD-Video quality - fact!

I have tried all three create modes and those are my findings using my sequences and my computer. And the experience of others, as related in posts elsewhere on this forum, has reinforced that view in my mind. True, I do not produce DVDs or HD Videos as part of my normal workflow and so am speaking from limited personal experience. But I stand by my opinions.

regards,

Peter

[Limey]

Peter,

Just for interest. When you experimented with DVD burning did you play the result on a DVD player/TV combination or on your computer? I have found that when played on the computer the results from Video-Builder are terrible but using the DVD player/TV the results are equivalent to a commercial DVD.

Regards,

Limey

[fh1805]

Limey,

I played it back both ways. It looked better on the computer than on TV. And it was very soft and fuzzy on both compared to the crispness of the exe on the computer.

I have no requirement to go down the DVD route and, based on my limited experience, no inclination to do so, either.

regards,

Peter

[Guest Yachtsman1]

I've burned over 150 DVD's using PTE's DVD creator, on a scale of 1 to a 100 I would estimate the picture degredation playing the DVD through my DVD player & TV is around 10%, I believe CRT TV's are marginally better. With a VGA connection from the computer to the TV you lose TV sound but similar picture quality to the PC monitor with an exe file. I've just burned a new DVD of a PTE show & will give it a try & report back. Some forum members are using HD connections between PC & TV & reporting good quality pictures, I haven't an HD connection on my laptop, so can't comment.

Yachtsman1

[Ken Cox]

Peter

never say never

ken

[lathompson]

Peter,

I agree that there are certainly limitations when a PTE show is burned to DVD and yes, the quality cannot compare with a show from an EXE version, but if you want to circulate the show to people that don't have a computer or don't have a laptop to feed it to their tv, the DVD is about as good as you can expect. And viewed on a tv, at a normal viewing distance, quality is very nice indeed, particularly if the viewer has never seen the higher quality version to compare with.

I find that given a choice of messing with a computer/TV feed, most consumers prefer the convenience of the plain old freestanding dvd player. Not advanced hobbyists like most of the forum members. Not AV professionals, but everyday consumers. For the past 2 years, all of my customers have requested dvds. Previously, the shows were delivered on Cds as an executable, but when dvds became common, people began to ask if the CDs would play on the dvd players and didn't like it that they didn't. I got strange looks when I suggested viewing on the computer. The result was to switch to producing dvds. I still offered the CDs and explained that the EXE could be played through a computer to their new TV monitor for superior quality. Surprisingly, not one single client, commercial or not, has wanted the EXE version. Seriously. Every customer has gone for the dvd version. Quality is what they wanted but convenience is what they buy and they tell me they love it. I do about 1500 slide shows annually. I have no complaints on quality and my business on referrals is fantastic. Quality is what it is to the consumers. It's weird! Remember BETA vs VHS? And where the hell did SVHS ever get to? Never saw an SVHS rental movie.

Hobbyists settle for nothing but top quality and smart professional presenters do it right as well, that's the way it is and the way it should be, but to the average consumer, it's the message of the show, the music, the flow and the convenience of viewing.

You are right, Peter, but for those that belong to this forum and new to the world of PTE, and will not produce for a club or present a formal presentation beyond family and friends, the choice to burn to dvd is a viable one with it's own advantages and quality range. I think that PTE's video burner does great work if compared to other dvds, viewed at proper distance on regular and/or new plasma/lcd screens. To brand it as poor quality against a beautiful EXE version is not fair. That comparison should always come with an astrisk.

larry

[fh1805]

Larry,

I've no disagreement with what you say but...

Please read Andrew's original post. He wants advice in respect of projecting his sequence at his local camera club. If I have understood Andrew's post correctly, the club appears to offer either computer/projector playback or DVD-Player/projector playback. I stand by my assertion that the computer/projector playback of an EXE file (with his sequence on a USB memory stick) will present his sequence to best advantage. The DVD-Player/Projector combo is, for Andrew, a route best avoided.

I'm simply trying to keep my advice focussed on my perception of Andrew's needs. Some of the above posts have wandered away from that.

regards,

Peter

[JEB]

Hi,

".........Some of the above posts have wandered away from that."

I agree with the above Peter but it has been an interesting debate!

Cheers

John

[xahu34]

.... I stand by my assertion that the computer/projector playback of an EXE file (with his sequence on a USB memory stick) will present his sequence to best advantage ....

Peter,

In principle, you are right. But not all laptops are well suited for real-time hardware-rendering, in particular when animation and mask objects are used. As possible alternatives, WMV or MP4 videos could be taken into consideration.

Regards,

Xaver

[lathompson]

Larry,

I've no disagreement with what you say but...

Please read Andrew's original post. He wants advice in respect of projecting his sequence at his local camera club. If I have understood Andrew's post correctly, the club appears to offer either computer/projector playback or DVD-Player/projector playback. I stand by my assertion that the computer/projector playback of an EXE file (with his sequence on a USB memory stick) will present his sequence to best advantage. The DVD-Player/Projector combo is, for Andrew, a route best avoided.

I'm simply trying to keep my advice focussed on my perception of Andrew's needs. Some of the above posts have wandered away from that.

regards,

Peter

Peter, I did understand Andrew's original questions and you guys gave excellent advice. Excellent! I agreed with everything including the fact that dvd is a terrible choice for Andrew.

I felt that statements concerning dvds and quality of dvds needed some clarification. I provided the asterisk.

larry