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I bought my first DVD Writer yesterday: the LG GSA-4081B, which is supposedly to be compatible with ALL DVD formats. There are a few prgrams included in the package. I had to try the new DVD authoring program as Nero 5.5 does not support (or see) my new LG writer. The neoDVD program by MediodStream works good to burn a DVD-RW (Memorex 1X 4.7 GB), directly with the PTE generated .AVI file, and my Pioneer DV-333 has no problem playing the DVD-RW, even with menu. Quality is not bad either...at least better than my SVCD generated with TMPGEnc+ & Nero5.5 combination. Before I bought this LG writer, I haven't even heard about MedioStream. Here is the link to the neoDVD: http://www.mediostream.com/neodvd/index.html Well, my next step is to find out if my Pioneer DV-333 can play the Pine DVD-R (4X 4.7GB) disk which is relatively inexpensive (CAD$ 1.5/disk).

When I produce an exe, I generally reduce my JPEG files to around 200KB as some of my clients will have older computers that don't have the CPU power to handle larger files. But when it comes to video output should the JPEG file size matter? I work with different files for video output as I want the best quality possible in the final video. So these JPEGs range from 500 to 800 KB. I just finished a show of about 14 minutes, with about 250 transitions (all fades, 0.5 - 2.0 seconds). When I watch the DVD on my player/TV I see occasional flickering to other slides that shouldn't be there. For example, when slide #159 appears, there are about 7 or 8 frames showing slide #1. The same project produces an exe that plays perfectly on my PC (Pentium 4, 3.0 GHz, 1GB RAM). Is this a bug? Or should we be using smaller files for video output also? To Igor: If it's a bug, I'd suggest there might be some video frame caching that is not being dumped/overwritten properly. Has anyone else experienced this? (I'm using beta #5.) Ray

Hi I previously posted a message indicating my success in producing a SVCD using Nero 6. Since then, I have followed the various posts on this subject and now realise that the time it is taking to convert from the PTE AVI file to a saved (not burned) MPEG2 file with my setup is unacceptably long. I have a Pentium III 800 MHz PC running Windows XP (Home). 768 MB RAM, 60 GB HDD (7200) and 40 GB HDD (4500), Rage Fury Pro/Xpert 2000 Pro Graphics (32 MB RAM), and Creative Audio PCI Sound. I have tried various tests using PTE Beta 5 and slide resolutions from 640x480 to 1280x720 (all at 72dpi) and an MP3 Sound Track. Using Nero Vision Express 2 to convert seems to take around 2 to 3 hours for the 6 minute show, depending upon whether I use single pass/normal quality or 2-pass/high quality. The resulting SVCDs play well on my Panasonic DVD Player and Panasonic TV. Using 640x480 slides and the 4:3 format the sequence fills the screen. With the 1280x720 slides and 16:9 format I get an fairly accurate TV image in it's 16:9 setting with very slight cutoff at the edges. I have no desire to get into the technicalities of producing SVCDs/DVDs - I just want to be able to do it as speedily as possible with presentations that match the PTE quality. Can anyone tell me whether it is the limitations of my current PC that is the likely cause of the slow conversion or the Nero 6 software. Eric

I downloaded the trial version of ulead movie factory after trying in vain to get either "click to DVD" (Sony software) or pinnicle studio 8 to open the avi files. Installed the trial version of movie factory and imported the video file. Ran the preview and it worked like a charm. Tried to write to a CD 3 times (each time using a newly created video file) and got the Message "failed to convert video file, error 80041c21". Each time the message occurred at a different spot during the process. Anyone else having similar problems? Can't get any tech support for trial versions from Ulead.

Hope someone here is able to assist me with this. Have a picture cd with the ready made .exe that I would like to reverse engineer so that I can now burn it onto DVD. The original files and pictures are gone and this CD is all we have left to to be able to do this. Is anyone here able to help on how this could be done..???? Thanks a ton for all of the knowledgable people here.!!!!!!

Hello I have a DVD player connected to my TV with SVHS (400 lines of res). I have made an SVCD 480x480 and a Mini DVD 720x504. I can't see any difference in the quality of the shows. Note: Not all DVD players support the mini DVD format and there are only a few programs that can make one. I used NeroVision Express. I was considering buying a DVD Burner but unless there is a difference in the quality I will be disappointed. Has anyone out there also tried this? I have tested with and without transitions and I prefer without. The alpha blends do not compare to the Computer. In fact I think they detract from the show on a Television. Thanks in advance. Ralvis

I've been experiencing very long encoding times w/Pinnacle Studio 8.10 and the PTE AVI files. My usual times are between 2 and three times the length of the movie. This AM I was encoding a PTE AVI and for a 12 minute show encoding had only completed 4 minutes of the show after the better part of an hour! I then used Pinnacle's Expression and got normal encoding times. Anyone else using Pinnacle Studio and have any issues w/PTE AVI encoding time vs. other AVIs? Can you post your CPU and "encoding ratio" (minutes encoding time per minute of video)? (I'm running on a P4 2.4.) Also, I'm losing audio when encoding in Studio - plays OK in PTE, and OK from within Studio before I encode. However, completed DVD is mute when played back on stand-alone DVD player or on DVD drive in computer. Using MP3s. Thanks, Dana

PicturesToExe v4.20 beta #5 http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums//index...t=ST&f=2&t=1440 This thread is intended for discussions concerning video part of beta #5

Anyone else tried this? I just tried it on a DVD resolution show and it seems to work fine. Could be an alternative for sending to folks with OS's other than Windows or for posting to the Web.....and it's free.

Can I download pictures directly from my camera to this program?

Now that we have a few weeks under our belts with the PTE-avi beta, I am wondering if some conclusions have been drawn on a few aspects. I know there are several, perhaps many, who have been successful. My questions - (I think these apply equally to DVD and SVCD, correct me on that if I am wrong.) If I want my entire photo to show on the TV (without losing edges of photo and max use of TV screen) - 1. What is the best photo dimension? 1024x768 ? 800x600? 2. Optimum PTE settings as to fit to screen, windowed mode or not, etc. 3. PTE setting to 80% of screen, or 90% etc.? 4. When the "perfect" combination is determined for the TV I am using, how much variation will there be on other TV's that recipients of the show may be using?

When using DVD RW (rewriteable), can we expect what works on the RW will indeed work with +R and -R ?

Hello.. I have made a tutorial using PTE and TMPGEnc! If anyone is interested, here is the link: Tutorial It has a few step-by-step instructions and hope it is useful! If you have any questions, I will try to answer them to best of my knowledge (I will try to answer the same day, if not I will answer ASP..working these 12 hour shifts at 6 days and has this guy little time to be here or my site ) Please exuse if it is not a professional tutorial..I made it in about an hour..OK? ENJOY! Bart btw... Resolution is set at 800X600 Personal Note: Be sure to have your screensaver inactive and maybe your anti-virus to conserve resources when you are compiling!

When I made my first DVD, I wrote it using the DVD option. Using Moviefactory 2 I created it on my CD writer, not DVD. I played it in my computer and it worked great using my DVD software. Then I took it home and tried to play it in my Panasonic DVD Player and it I got an U11 error or something like that. It wouldn't play... So then I took and made a DVD disk and it worked just fine... Can you make a DVD movie on a CD disk and have it play in DVD player or do you have to use a DVD disk?? Also what is the difference between DVD and SVCD? BTW, thanks for such a great forum to help a newbee like me.... Gary

Thanks for all the topics which helped make my first DVD using P2E. One topic spoke about cropping images to 85%, which is great so my photo's are not to the edge. When I made my first DVD, I found that 85% was perfect to my DVD TV Player at home. It actually becomes almost full screen. However, the "Comment" doesn't show up on my TV? When I play it in my 17" Powerbook computer, the comment is just fine... So I looked in P2E and cannot find an adjustment for moving the "Comment" down. It's only choice it top or bottom or right or left, but no tweak or way to move it down.... Any way around that? I chose DVD in the AVI option box and then import using MovieFactory 2. Or maybe I should be choosing a different option in MovieFactory?? Any help or ideas would be appreciated... It takes about 2 hours to make the DVD. which is way to long, but it looks awesome on the TV. I was so surprised to how sharp every thing looks... Great Job P2E!!! Gary

Will Ulead enable me to made SVCD'S? Does it have the MPeg2 codec encoder that I need? Or is Igor working on this to have this implemented in his own software? Harry

I reported this a few days ago and it seems that at least one other person can duplicate it: Using PTE Beta 4 and creating a .ptev file for import into Ulead DVD Movie Factory 2 creates the following problem for me: I am unable to change the thumbnail from white block to the frame I have selected for the thumbnail. I have created an .avi file from the same PTE project and do not have the same problem. Is this a bug with PTE or DVD MF2? I have reinstalled Ulead DVD MF2 and have tried the update patch for MF2 as well. Any other ideas?

Asked this question once before but never heard anything. Is it possible to include the exe. file along with mpeg file on the same disc so the viewer can have both viewing options? If so what's the secret, have tried to do it with no success. pip

Hi It may be of interest to members that I have successfully made a VideoCD that plays well on a colleague's Panasonic DVD535 Player using P2E Beta 4. I converted my slide show (6 mins of 45 images sized at 750x500 pxls at 72 dpi and a sound track of music in mp3 format) to an AVI file checking the "interlaced for TV" box. Leaving P2E open I dropped the AVI file into Nero Vision Express and created a Nero Project which took around 50 mins to convert and then burned a Video CD at the fastest setting (single pass). The picture quality and sound was very good, the transitions (all fades) smooth, and with perfect synchronisation of sound and picture. I did all this with absolutely no technical knowledge whatsoever and no experience with either P2E or Nero. I've had P2E about 5 weeks and Nero 6 two days (I didn't even read the manual of either before doing all this). This says a lot for the user friendliness of P2E (and Nero). I hope the final version of P2E doesn't change it's apparent compatability with Nero 6.

Ok I'll try one more (5th!) time since we seem to have a definitive place to post these topics now. I want to put small AVI files on my web site as demos so that non-Windows users can see them. This has nothing to do with burning them to DVD or to CD. The issue: when I select custom AVI for output, the resulting AVI file is always the same (huge) size - it doesn't matter what frame size I select. Generally speaking, video files (AVI, MPG, WMV, MOV etc.) are supposed to be smaller when a smaller frame size is used (just like a smaller JPG will produce a smaller file than a larger JPG). It appears PTE is not taking the frame size into account. So I end up with an AVI of about 40 seconds requiring a 7.5 Megabyte file! I've tried this with all 4 betas and get the same result. Any help on how to get this file size down is greatly appreciated! Ray

Hi All: I do not have DVD burner so tried to convert an old .exe to SVCD but couldn't use original MIDI music. In the past I have used midi music in most of my projects and would like to continue to do so. Any chance that this feature will be added in the future?? By the way.... thanks Igor for your continued efforts for making a great program even better!! Bob..

How to prepare and then burn DVD-Video or SVCD disc Using PicturesToExe you are able to produce AVI video file which can be easily burned as DVD-Video disc with help of any special software (read below). Even it is possible to create SVCD disc on usual CD-R disc with high quality of image and sound (almost as DVD-Video). PicturesToExe provides fast and lossless transferring of video and audio for converting into DVD-Video format. This allows to keep excellent quality of your presentations and very smooth transition effects. Advice: please create usual EXE files for playing of presentations on PC, and DVD-Video disc if you want to play your presentations on DVD players connected to TV. Newest version of PicturesToExe is 4.20 beta: http://www.wnsoft.com/apr/apr_beta.zip 1) Preparing of AVI file file in PicturesToExe: Start PicturesToExe; open your project; and then call AVI video output dialog ("AVI button in the main window of PicturesToExe"). Choose "NTSC" TV system, if you live in United States, Canada, Japan, Taiwan or South Korea. Choose "PAL/SECAM" TV system you live in Europe, Australia, Africa, or in any other country. Select "DVD-Video disc", if you have DVD-Writer or "SVCD disc" if you have usual CD-R/RW drive. "Interlaced for TV" option is highly recommended to get excellent quality and smoothness of transitions on TV. You can click "Preview" button to immediately see the resulting presentation playing as video file. In this mode, please ignore that transitions may be shown not so smooth. But on burned DVD-Video disc all transition effects will play excellent as in usual EXE file. Also we recommend to make sure that text fonts are enough large to be readable on the screen of TV. Now click the "Create AVI file" button and PicturesToExe will produce video file within 10-30 seconds. Important note: Please don't click "Finish" button until you didn't fully burn the DVD-Video disc. 2) Converting and burning AVI video file into DVD-Video disc: PicturesToExe can not burn DVD-Video, so you need to make use of any special software which can convert produced AVI video file into DVD-Video format and burn the disc. We recommend you to use Ulead DVD MovieFactory2 http://www.ulead.com/store/dmf/runme.htm which can do it. Also you will able to make simple DVD menu. (In this program, please don't forget to choose NTSC or PAL/SECAM in the Preferences window. To call this window, press F6 key). Please click the "Finish" button in PicturesToExe when the disc will be fully written. (Temporary AVI video file will be automatically deleted, because it is intended only for converting into DVD-Video format.) ------------------------------------------- Note: Advanced users can use "Create custom AVI video file" option for various purposes. This allows to produce AVI video file with necessary audio and video codecs (MPEG4, MJPEG, etc).

I see that beta 4 still requires to snyc to audio file to create a AVI. Any idea if or whenever it will be able to create a AVI file with just the pictures and no background music? As I see it now the length to the music file divided by the number of picture files determines the time the between transistions. So if I want a 5sec time and have 100 pictures I need a music file that is 500sec long. I did this once by recording nothing to a file but sure would be nice I all you want to do is load some pictures into a slideshow and create a AVI file. Thanks, Don

Using PTE Beta 4 and creating a .ptev file for import into Ulead DVD Movie Factory 2 creates the following problem for me: I am unable to change the thumbnail from white block to the frame I have selected for the thumbnail. I have created an .avi file from the same PTE project and do not have the same problem. Is this a bug with PTE or DVD MF2?

Can anyone tell me what I need (hardwear/software) to enable me to produce a DVD from a PictureToExe file please? Currently I have a DVD player and a CD rewriter installed on my computer. I use Roxio Easy CD Creator 5 to burn CD's. If I were to upgrade that software to facilitate the creation of a DVD could that be achieved using my CD rewriter or would I still need to purchase a DVD writer?