I'm new to this forum and to DVDMF6.0Plus. I'm creating a DvD of photo slide shows. I would like to know if I can create two different slideshows 1. 4:3 and the 2nd one in 16:9 Ratio and have them both on the same DvD? The photos are HQ Jpegs from a Canon 20d camera.
Then I would like to have both ratio choice's on the main menu for the viewer to choose!
It would be great if I did not have to create a 16:9-1024x576 Black background, and then size the photos down to fit in the center leaving two small black bars left and right. I'm pretty proficent in PS but I have 104 photos to work with.
Hi,
As you probably have already found out if you set your project settings to 16:9 and use 4:3 pictures they will be inserted into the 16:9 framesize without resizing them to 16:9 and this will maintain correct proportioning of the picture(s).
There are many methods you can use to create a slideshow, I wrote this if you want to use the more advanced features in MF.
****Alternate workflow: Using MF Exporting Features:****
If you want to put a 4:3 aspect ratio picture into a 16:9 frame without distorting the 4:3 original proportion then I suggest using the MF Export Features. To do this you would export your 4:3 videos to a video file that has as aspect ratio of 4:3. Then start a MF 16:9 project and insert the 4:3 video into the 16:9 project. The 4:3 slideshow video you created though must be dvd compliant.
MF creates/converts your slideshows into videos (mpeg format), your project settings will determine whether they are rendered 4:3 or 16:9 IF you render in the final stage of the dvd.
You first have to decide what aspect ratio you want the dvd to be in for the menus.
Whatever videos you put on the timeline IF they are dvd compliant (AND IF) under the GEAR Icon you have "Do Not Convert Compliant Mpeg Files", then you can mix different aspect ratio's provided they are dvd compliant videos.
You can use MF's EXPORT Feature to create the videos ahead of time, setting the properties to your choice. Slideshows should be Frame_Based so under the "Frame Type" or "Field Type" set this to "No Fields" or "FrameBased". The easier method is to set your project settings under the "GEAR" Icon, make the slideshow & export it using the "Fast Export Dvd Compliant" feature. The slideshow will be rendered to a video file with the properties you setup as the "Project Settings".
You can also use "Export -> Customize -> Options" to tailor settings. If you take source 4:3 pictures and render a new 16:9 video file the 4:3 pictures will be resized to 16:9 aspect ratio, somewhat confusing. But if you take a 4:3 picture or video(dvd compliant) and insert it into a 16:9 project it will not be converted nor resized and inserted into the 16:9 correctly with the black bars on both left & right sides. Provideing the videos are dvd compliant and the feature to not convert them is checked ON.
After you create the slideshow videos then start a new project, select the aspect ratio for the dvd's menuing system as your project settings.
Then import the 2 slideshow videos, create menus and burn.
Do not edit the slideshows or they will need to be re-rendered again. If you want to edit them then perform all editing before creating the video file.
I use this method to display on a HDTV that's 16:9. The 4:3 pictures maintain their correct aspect ratio. If I do want them full screen then I'll use the zoom features of the player or the TV.
For the most part if the target is a 16:9 TV then just set the project settings to 16:9 and insert either 4:3 or 16:9 pictures. They will come out proportionally correct without having to do the customizing as stated above.
Wow! Someone who knows what they are doing. Super good info. Just one last question.
In regards to the 4:3 photos, some are horizontal and some are vertical, does MF adjust the verticals as well as the horizontals, when the project is set to 16:9?
Thank you very much! Very helpful info. So far I like MF. It seems to have a good codec for photos. I have tried many other programs and none of them could render a slideshow at the quality of MF. My images are not snapshots, they are proffesional images. So far I'm very happy with MF6Plus.
Well, I exported both 4:3 and 16:9 slideshows as DVD compliant.
Then created a new project as you mentioned, and imported both the 4:3 and the 16:9 dvd compliant videos, then I did a preview to see what it would look like, and now the video slide shows look way over saturated and the highlights are blown out! The normal slide shows when burned and viewed were super! I checked to make sure that the "Don't encode dvd compliant video" was checked. I'm thinking of just making two DVD's for the client, one 4:3 and the other 16:9.
Leon,
I don't know, could be the previewing isn't accurate. Are your images in raw format? Similar to the new Nikon raw format?.
I would create dvd folders on the harddisk before burning an actual dvd and test them using power_dvd, windvd or the ulead dvd player.
Creating dvd folders prior to actually burning the project is a widely used method to preview & check the dvd before the actual burn.
If all looks good then you burn the dvd folders to a dvd as a DVD-Video disk.
Have you tried to simply start a new 16:9 project, create 2 separate slideshows, one with the 4:3 pictures & the 2nd with the 16:9 pictures.
MF should automatically size them correctly. After you finish the first slideshow and return back to the timeline click on the create slideshow again to create the next slideshow.
If the target device is both 4:3 & 16:9 TV's then I would make 2 separate disks.
They suggest if having problems with conversions you can resize the photos to 720x576. This may help with the conversion.
Important point to remember is slideshows are frame_based versus motion video which is usually fielded (interlaced top or bottom field first)
