DVD-Slideshow looking terrible at DVinfo.net

Bjørn Sørensen · November 22nd, 2006, 03:37 PM

I need to make a DVD slideshow based on some TIF files in widescreen format, generated from PowerPoint.
The tif slides are in a good quality with both images and text.

I scaled them down to 720x576 pixels and imported to DVD Studio Pro and added some transitions etc.
Looked good on my computer monitor.

But when burned to DVD and played from a DVD-player to a 42" plasma it looks terrible! Unsharp text and pixel looking images...

What is the secret of making a slideshow like this look perfect? I have seen it before, also played from a DVD ! Should it be a movie file instead of a series of still images?

I need some help here!

Thanks...

Kyle Ringin · November 22nd, 2006, 05:50 PM

Sounds like the downsample process is making the images basically unusable.

What resolution are you creating the tiff files at?
What is the content? is it generated media (eg text, computer generated graphics, etc) as all the fine detail will create problems.

You could try capturing at a lower resolution, ie set your display to 800x600 or something and then do the screen capture.

Kyle.

Bjørn Sørensen · November 23rd, 2006, 01:21 AM

Original TIF's generated by PowerPoint is 1536x864 pix.
I then opened them in Photoshop and downscaled to 720x576 pix (with uncheked "Constrain Proportions" button).

Then imported to DVD SP and used these new TIF's as images in the slideshow on a SD 16x9 project.

The slides contains both text and images, fine details also.

When played from the DVD on the computer monitor and 21" TV it looks fine, but of course you can see that it is not high resolution (since PAL only has 720x576).

But when the DVD is played on a 30"/42" plasma you really see the poor resolution. I don't think that could be different ?

Ervin Farkas · November 27th, 2006, 09:21 PM

Tiff is a compressed format, why not use uncompressed bitmaps when exporting from PowerPoint?

I have recently had to import some 100 PowerPoint slides into a DV project. I exported to bitmap from PowerPoint, then opened the bitmaps in Photoshop, resized to 720x480 (I'm in NTSC land), changed the pixel aspect ratio to 1.2 since it was a 16x9 project, and saved as Photoshop files. Imported these PS files in Premiere Pro and they look gorgeous on DVD!

Can DVD Studio Pro handle Photoshop files?

Gints Klimanis · November 28th, 2006, 05:08 AM

TIFF can be a lossless compression format. I find saving 24-bit color files with LZW compression in TIFF (from Nikon Capture software) to be a major space saver.

Gints Klimanis · November 28th, 2006, 05:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bjørn Sørensen

But when burned to DVD and played from a DVD-player to a 42" plasma it looks terrible! Unsharp text and pixel looking images...

Are you saying that everything was blurred or that text was blurred and everything else was pixelated ? Also, the situation you describe may very well be one of how your larger TVs display images that probably contain excessive detail.

I've burned a number of slideshows to DVD , using Microsoft Photostory 3 (FREE!) to create the slideshow WMV file and Sony DVD Architect for DVD authoring. I found that DVD architect yields a better picture if I output a WMV file at 1024x768 from source images (4 MPixel files) rather than a 640x480 "NTSC" output, then burn that WMV file directly to DVD.

Sony DVD architect a proper downsizing of my slideshows - better than Photoshop or MS Photo Story. I know that you probably don't want to hear about using another costly DVD authoring program, but you may find that the FREE Microsoft Photo Story 3 software will yield better slideshows.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...DisplayLang=en

November 22nd, 2006, 03:37 PM	#1
Bjørn Sørensen Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Denmark Posts: 143	DVD-Slideshow looking terrible I need to make a DVD slideshow based on some TIF files in widescreen format, generated from PowerPoint. The tif slides are in a good quality with both images and text. I scaled them down to 720x576 pixels and imported to DVD Studio Pro and added some transitions etc. Looked good on my computer monitor. But when burned to DVD and played from a DVD-player to a 42" plasma it looks terrible! Unsharp text and pixel looking images... What is the secret of making a slideshow like this look perfect? I have seen it before, also played from a DVD ! Should it be a movie file instead of a series of still images? I need some help here! Thanks... __________________ x

November 23rd, 2006, 01:21 AM	#3
Bjørn Sørensen Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Denmark Posts: 143	Original TIF's generated by PowerPoint is 1536x864 pix. I then opened them in Photoshop and downscaled to 720x576 pix (with uncheked "Constrain Proportions" button). Then imported to DVD SP and used these new TIF's as images in the slideshow on a SD 16x9 project. The slides contains both text and images, fine details also. When played from the DVD on the computer monitor and 21" TV it looks fine, but of course you can see that it is not high resolution (since PAL only has 720x576). But when the DVD is played on a 30"/42" plasma you really see the poor resolution. I don't think that could be different ? __________________ x

November 27th, 2006, 09:21 PM	#4
Ervin Farkas Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Atlanta/USA Posts: 2,515	My workflow Tiff is a compressed format, why not use uncompressed bitmaps when exporting from PowerPoint? I have recently had to import some 100 PowerPoint slides into a DV project. I exported to bitmap from PowerPoint, then opened the bitmaps in Photoshop, resized to 720x480 (I'm in NTSC land), changed the pixel aspect ratio to 1.2 since it was a 16x9 project, and saved as Photoshop files. Imported these PS files in Premiere Pro and they look gorgeous on DVD! Can DVD Studio Pro handle Photoshop files? __________________ Ervin Farkas www.AtlantaLegalVideo.com

November 22nd, 2006, 05:50 PM	#2
Kyle Ringin Major Player Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 241	Sounds like the downsample process is making the images basically unusable. What resolution are you creating the tiff files at? What is the content? is it generated media (eg text, computer generated graphics, etc) as all the fine detail will create problems. You could try capturing at a lower resolution, ie set your display to 800x600 or something and then do the screen capture. Kyle.

November 28th, 2006, 05:08 AM	#5
Gints Klimanis Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: San Jose, CA Posts: 2,222	TIFF can be a lossless compression format. I find saving 24-bit color files with LZW compression in TIFF (from Nikon Capture software) to be a major space saver.