sdkikikins

Oooh! Eagerly awaiting all of the responses! The DVD and HD resolution issue still has my head spinning! Even if I don't have an HD-burner or player at this stage, I will likely in the future, so should I be designing my slideshows with this future in mind?

Thank you so much for all of your thoughtful repsonses! In theory, I do agree with your logic of creating a show at the same resolution that you will be viewing on your finalized DVD. However...a couple of things still rumbling thru my head: 1. I'm not as concerned with aspect ratio, as I am the resampling that may or may not be going on when PTE is transcoding to DVD output. You are right that starting with an already reduced image in PS would maintain that I am the one in control of the resampling parameters and look of the final output instead of the software. 2. What about panning and zooming? Wouldn't it stand that I'd need MORE original pixels in order to do this? If so, what might be optimal? 3. What about the near future when 1080i/p output on DVD is readily available, and I have all of these crappy 720 DVDs? Might it be better to create in higher resolution now, in anticipation of higher resolution viewing in the future? Thanks again to all the folks who give a rats behind about these things, as I do. And Barry -- can't wait to receive all of your DVDs and start really diving into the software!!

And, I guess that leads to another question. Why is it that people aren't using this amazing slideshow software for DVDs? Is it because the majority of users are professional photogs, who really want only the best in terms of image quality?? Let me give some background... My younger sister is a professional and successful photographer in San Diego - she does both portraits/weddings, but I would say that her "specialty" is child photography. In awe of her, and in an effort to lend some of my computer/software expertise to her business, I suggested displaying her proofs in the form of a slideshow on the web as a way to show her very first images to clients. If someone wanted to actually BUY a slideshow, then, I would benefit. Well, so far, most people have actually purchased MORE reprints from her, and also asked for a DVD from me. So, I'm trying to determine the BEST software for what I'm trying to do. I was using ShowIt for my "easy, fast, un-DVDable" slideshows, but ProShowProducer for the folks who wanted "The Real Thing". All of a sudden, I was introduced to PTE5, and think it might be everything I am/was looking for. Anyhoo - I digress....is it just me, or am I only one of a few that actually use this software for ONLY DVDS? Thanks!!

So funny you mentioned those! I ordered ALL of his DVDs yesterday, and am just waiting to receive them! I can't wait. I already purchased all of his PTE downloadable tutorials, but, I couldn't find any info on source picture sizing based on a purely DVD-specific output result. I already have an HD plasma TV, (not an HD-DVD though), so I would like to produce to the best possible output specs right from the get-go. I did my own test this evening, using 3 out-of-the-camera images (approx. 3456x2304), cropped only within PTE5 and the same 3 images "pre-resized" to 1600x900 at 72dpi. I burned a DVD and played on a widescreen plasma. I have to say that I don't think I could see a difference between the 2 sets of photos, and not having to batch resize everything ahead of time would save on workflow. However, maybe I am overlooking something -- filesize when I get more than 6 images bogging my system down, perhaps? Any other suggestions? I am a convert from ProShowProducer, so I'm just trying to figure out all of these nuances. LOVE the product and LOVE this forum. You guys are all a wealth of knowledge, and I look forward to getting to know you all better! Thanks!!

Ok, so I've read everything I could find on this topic, but am still not clear in my mind. If I'm designing a slideshow presentation ONLY for widescreen (16:9) NTSC DVD viewing, is it wise to resize all of my pics ahead of time, or do I let the engine reduce my originals upon export to avi and subsequent DVD? And, as another relevant question -- if I DO need to resize in advance, and want to make sure that I have some wiggle room for pan/zoom effects, wouldn't 1600x900 be too "small"? Do I need some additional pixels on either side? HELP!

Hi all! This is my first post, although I've been pouring over the forum for days/weeks! I've just been asked to do a 40th birthday slideshow for a paying customer. To date, I've been using PSP, but am liking PTE much better, although I'm still in the middle of the learning curve. Anyhoo, back to the question about resizing. In PSP, I just used my original images, picked an aspect ratio of 16:9 or 4:3 and let PSP do the math. I suspect that isn't the best way to go in PTE. Since I am only going to be displaying this slideshow on a DVD, I understand that 720x480 is the highest resolution that will be displayed. However, how do these resizing standards change for widescreen viewing? Should I be resizing my original pictures to something else to get the most out of my widescreen TV at 16:9? I will want to do some zooms, so should I start with a higher resolution image? HELP! I'm short on time, so I'm looking to just batch resize and go for it! Thanks in advance! Kim ETA: Right now my pics are scans at 300dpi, so some are quite large, file size-wise. I know I will need to resize, so am trying to get the "optimal" starting size, so as not to have to batch process several times.