Freeware to mix photos & music & video to create a DVD slide show

On Mon, 26 Jan 2009 19:34:08 +0000, David Catterall wrote:

http://download.videohelp.com/tin2tin/index.html

I'll try DVD GUI out.

While Photo Slideshow Creator created a working DVD on the first try, it
bombed out multiple times when I tried to add MOV files to the mix.

Maybe DVD Gui will be a bit more stable for creating DVD-Video format files
out of JPEGs + MP3 audio + MOV video files.

Also, one advantage DVD GUI might have over PhotoSlideShowCreator, based on
the features page:
http://download.videohelp.com/tin2tin/features.html
is that DVD GUI can write DVD folders whereas Photo SlideShow Creator can
only burn DVD folders (apparently).


Thanks.

On Mon, 26 Jan 2009 18:24:05 -0600, M.L. wrote:

Why has nobody mentioned "DVD slideshow GUI" ?
http://download.videohelp.com/tin2tin/index.html

I found it hard to use. And it doesn't burn to DVD, which the OP
wanted.

Actually I'm fine if DVD SlideShow GUI doesn't 'burn' to DVD media (because
ImgBurn will burn to DVD media) but I did want it to WRITE to the file
system DVD-Video format files (i.e., VIDEO_TS, etc.) so that I didn't have
to run DVD Flick to perform the same task.

Normally I stop looking when I find usable freeware but Photo Slideshow
Creator crapped out when I put a few MOV movies into the mix so it's not as
stable as I would have liked.

I'll check out DVD Slideshow GUI to see if it works better to create
DVD-Vido format files on my hard disk.

On Tue, 27 Jan 2009 07:02:10 +1000, miskairal wrote:

I suspect I might need a more powerful pc as I only have a 2.0GHz
Celeron and 512MB of RAM. WinXP Home SP3. Can you tell me your computer
specs just out of interest - to give me an idea of where the problem lies?

Actually, my first DVD was a simple compilation and I was shocked myself it
worked.

But, unfortunately, PhotoStage Slideshow Producer version 1.12 on WinXP
isn't as great as I was hoping it would be (I'll bet TruthSquad is smiling
now! ... I mean that in a good way).

My next two or three attempts at creating a DVD with PhotoStage Slide Show
Producer failed for some reason or another. The videos locked up mid
stream. And the program hung.

So, I'd say it's buggy software. It works but it's not really very stable.
I'm using an IBM Thinkpad PC.

The good news is someone suggested another program for creating DVD-Video
out of MP3s, JPGs, and MOV files so I'll test that out too.

tony cooper wrote:

Surely, though, you see that it's horses for courses. I make movies
and slideshows in MovieMaker and Picture Story, burn them in Nero, and
play them on a DVD player and send DVDs to relatives. They're family
movies of the grandchildren. Not exactly Sundance material.

It would be foolish of me to spend a lot of money on software and
equipment to do what I do. That freeware crap works just fine for my
intended purpose.

Tony,
I think you've hit the nail on the head; I'm in your League too!
If we were trying to make money then I'd agree with Truthsquad that
the hard-working guys at the MPEG are entitled to their slice.
Cheers,
David

On Mon, 26 Jan 2009 22:59:56 -0800, Bill Wells
wrote:

On Mon, 26 Jan 2009 19:34:08 +0000, David Catterall wrote:

http://download.videohelp.com/tin2tin/index.html

I'll try DVD GUI out.

While Photo Slideshow Creator created a working DVD on the first try, it
bombed out multiple times when I tried to add MOV files to the mix.

MOV was developed by Apple and one reason you are likely having
problems is you either don't have their Quick Time player on your
system or it isn't installed correctly or Photo slideshow Creator or
something else you're using isn't smart enough to find/link to the
required codec.

Since Quick Time is a free offering from Apple, you might wish to
install it and see if that resolves this annoyance. The technical
reason again boils down to licensing. Apple like Microsoft is playing
hard ball. There no longer allow small vendors to use their codecs,
necessary to open proprietary file types they developed. This is a
pigged headed move, but that's another issue. Microsoft drew a line in
the sand for their ASF and WMV file formats.

As I already suggested installing Apple's Quick Time normally gets you
around the problem for MOV files. Microsoft does the same thing with
their older and no longer supported ASF file type. Where in the past
many freeware applications like VirtualDub could open ASF file,
Microsoft threatened them with legal action so they no longer support
it.

Other file types might not be what they claim. Another common issue is
AVI, while it can be a true file type in it's native uncompressed
format and other variants is also can only serve as a "wrapper" with
some other true file type, typically DivX inside. Some applications
(typically freeware crap) are too dumb to read the file header which
should be coded correctly and thus might fail to open. Even dumber
than that many DivX files have the file's header miscoded by simply
not using the expected proper syntax.

Even my beloved Sony's Vegas stumbles on this one. A free utility that
can come in handy is something called AVIC. It's only purpose is to
read/write to a AVI file header so you can see if some dummy put the
wrong syntax in for DivX files. Simply changing the header to the
correct "DIVX" from "divx" or "Divx" making it the expected all caps
resolves many video applications saying they are unable to play some
DivX files.

On Mon, 26 Jan 2009 23:13:02 -0800, Bill Wells
wrote:

On Tue, 27 Jan 2009 07:02:10 +1000, miskairal wrote:

I suspect I might need a more powerful pc as I only have a 2.0GHz
Celeron and 512MB of RAM. WinXP Home SP3. Can you tell me your computer
specs just out of interest - to give me an idea of where the problem lies?

Actually, my first DVD was a simple compilation and I was shocked myself it
worked.

But, unfortunately, PhotoStage Slideshow Producer version 1.12 on WinXP
isn't as great as I was hoping it would be (I'll bet TruthSquad is smiling
now! ... I mean that in a good way).

My next two or three attempts at creating a DVD with PhotoStage Slide Show
Producer failed for some reason or another. The videos locked up mid
stream. And the program hung.

So, I'd say it's buggy software. It works but it's not really very stable.
I'm using an IBM Thinkpad PC.

The good news is someone suggested another program for creating DVD-Video
out of MP3s, JPGs, and MOV files so I'll test that out too.

Well Bill, (my real name too) I'm smiling because I see you running
into the same kind of issues I had over a dozen years ago and you're
still resistant to BUY a single application for a small fee that puts
most of the problems behind you rather than wasting your time fiddling
around with all kinds of freeware junk needing a half a dozen or more
applications rather than BUYING one that does it all correctly the
first time and every time after that.

Sorry, but your still behind the eight ball investing most of your
time fooling around with Mickey Mouse level applications trying to get
them to work rather than investing your time in learning how to make
better videos. ;-)

What you're suffering now is the equlivant of slow Chinese water
torture. You seem to enjoy spending hours trying to get some small
project to work, get it to work with blind luck maybe once, then the
next project failing sending you back to square one.

Yes, I'm smiling, hoping you throw in the towel for your own good.
Making DVD's is frustrating enough without having to fight with the
software constantly.

On Tue, 27 Jan 2009 09:55:44 +0000, David Catterall
wrote:

tony cooper wrote:

Surely, though, you see that it's horses for courses. I make movies
and slideshows in MovieMaker and Picture Story, burn them in Nero, and
play them on a DVD player and send DVDs to relatives. They're family
movies of the grandchildren. Not exactly Sundance material.

It would be foolish of me to spend a lot of money on software and
equipment to do what I do. That freeware crap works just fine for my
intended purpose.

Tony,
I think you've hit the nail on the head; I'm in your League too!
If we were trying to make money then I'd agree with Truthsquad that
the hard-working guys at the MPEG are entitled to their slice.
Cheers,
David


You're missing my point. Removing the license issue, its the QUALITY
of freeware or more correctly the LACK of it that causes most issues
when it comes to video editing and related DVD video creation.

I'm not against freeware. GIMP, available for years as a port to
Windows originally started as a LINUX project. It rivals Photoshop and
in some areas is better. VirtualDub, a basic video tool developed by
some smart college kid over twenty years ago has achieved a cult
following and has many good plug-in filters, but it can be geeky to
use and limited and severs best as a tool to fix broken files, rather
than being your mainline video platform.

Free Video editing and DVD creating software as a class of software
has ALWAYS suffered in quality and often in clumsiness and continues
too BECAUSE they either offer some hacked codec package to avoid
license issues or stumble on common file types leaving the user
wanting to pull his hair out.

Even Microsoft that has money to burn, blew it big time in their Movie
Maker offering. It's a world class bow-wow of an application filled to
overflowing with poor coding choices and bugs and at best is
problematic in performance.

I keep asking WHY torture yourself putting up with crap? I'm not
talking about taking out a second mortgage to get video editing
software. You can get really good packages for under $60 that once you
give them a chance you'll kick yourself for not doing it sooner rather
than putting up with constant failures the freeware collection offers.

On Tue, 27 Jan 2009 10:42:00 -0600, wrote:

Even Microsoft that has money to burn, blew it big time in their Movie
Maker offering. It's a world class bow-wow of an application filled to
overflowing with poor coding choices and bugs and at best is
problematic in performance.

I've read about problems with MovieMaker, but I have to say that I've
never had one. Perhaps your expectations are higher than mine. I put
together about one movie a month and burn it to DVD for distribution
to family. One goes to relatives in Europe, and the DVDs play just
fine on their equipment.

Never had a glitch. I add titles (jpgs made in Photoshop and
imported) and do quite a bit of editing to the raw footage. Maybe I'm
just lucky, but there it is. Any faults in the movie are strictly the
faults of the cameraman.

I don't add sound or narration, but that's because I really don't like
sound on this type of movie. Narration is replaced by titles with
written text.

I tried Pinnacle's Studio 10 program and found it complicated and
unworkable. MovieMaker is dead-simple to use.

I keep asking WHY torture yourself putting up with crap?

If it works, I'll use it. I've experienced no torture.


--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

miskairal formulated the question :
Bill Wells wrote:
On Tue, 27 Jan 2009 07:02:10 +1000, miskairal wrote:

The good news is someone suggested another program for creating DVD-Video
out of MP3s, JPGs, and MOV files so I'll test that out too.

Would you mind mentioning which one that is here as I don't think I can read
through all the garbage replies in this thread to find it. I've read many and
have just reread many now but can't find what you might be referring to.

My apologies for steering you wrong with Photostage


Sweetie, don't be a damsel in distress.

Do it yourself.

On Tue, 27 Jan 2009 10:20:44 -0600, wrote:

On Mon, 26 Jan 2009 23:13:02 -0800, Bill Wells
wrote:

On Tue, 27 Jan 2009 07:02:10 +1000, miskairal wrote:

I suspect I might need a more powerful pc as I only have a 2.0GHz
Celeron and 512MB of RAM. WinXP Home SP3. Can you tell me your computer
specs just out of interest - to give me an idea of where the problem lies?

Actually, my first DVD was a simple compilation and I was shocked myself it
worked.

But, unfortunately, PhotoStage Slideshow Producer version 1.12 on WinXP
isn't as great as I was hoping it would be (I'll bet TruthSquad is smiling
now! ... I mean that in a good way).

My next two or three attempts at creating a DVD with PhotoStage Slide Show
Producer failed for some reason or another. The videos locked up mid
stream. And the program hung.

So, I'd say it's buggy software. It works but it's not really very stable.
I'm using an IBM Thinkpad PC.

The good news is someone suggested another program for creating DVD-Video
out of MP3s, JPGs, and MOV files so I'll test that out too.

Well Bill, (my real name too) I'm smiling because I see you running
into the same kind of issues I had over a dozen years ago and you're
still resistant to BUY a single application for a small fee that puts
most of the problems behind you rather than wasting your time fiddling
around with all kinds of freeware junk needing a half a dozen or more
applications rather than BUYING one that does it all correctly the
first time and every time after that.

Sorry, but your still behind the eight ball investing most of your
time fooling around with Mickey Mouse level applications trying to get
them to work rather than investing your time in learning how to make
better videos. ;-)

What you're suffering now is the equlivant of slow Chinese water
torture. You seem to enjoy spending hours trying to get some small
project to work, get it to work with blind luck maybe once, then the
next project failing sending you back to square one.

Yes, I'm smiling, hoping you throw in the towel for your own good.
Making DVD's is frustrating enough without having to fight with the
software constantly.

Corporate software is no more of a guarantee of it working properly than
freeware. Freeware authors are generally quicker to fix problems, taking
pride in their work. As long as the corporation is raking in the dough they
don't have to fix a damn thing unless it is cutting into their sales. See:
Corel. Then others not realizing that that corporate crap is still broken
just blindly buy the POS software.

Quick example, Nero Recode goes belly-up on many files. You can find
thousands of hits on that problem for years and Nero Inc. refuses, or just
ignores, fixing it.

I'd try to name the other nearly dozen or so video and DVD authoring
programs that also went belly-up at one point or another for me, but I've
since deleted all your corporate crap from my computer.

Get your head out of your ass. Nobody can see you smile while it's there.