PPT storyboarding with Photo Story 3

Well I prefer a nice cold crisp Keith's .... salt of the earth ...
here's tipping my glass .. or rather a shaker to this group:
http://www.jensign.com/keithsbal75.jpg

I'm willing to be persuaded. g

I filmed a movie way back when, a kind of combination of live action and
stop-motion animation. There was a fractious saltshaker involved; it got to
take a bow during the credits.



-----------------------------------------
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================

"Steve Rindsberg" wrote in message
...
In article , Mitch Gallant wrote:
There is an inaccurate comment in that article (I think). For PPT 2003,
the
faq article indicates that the "DPI number is approximately 80" but in
fact
the default value is exactly 96, the same as for PPT 97. So on my system,
with a default slide width of 10" the exported image width is 960
pixels).

There's an Alice In Windowsland air to anything having to do with bitmap
import/export in PPT. It *changes* so. I'm guessing that it wandered
back
from 80 to 96 as a result of one of the SPs.

Thanks for pointing that out ... I've updated the article accordingly.

I was actually going to suggest that perhaps it was something like that
(feature creep). I'm glad to see that there are others who are willing to
update their web site content on a dime like that. Kudos!
- Mitch

In article , Mitch Gallant wrote:

Thanks for pointing that out ... I've updated the article accordingly.

I was actually going to suggest that perhaps it was something like that
(feature creep). I'm glad to see that there are others who are willing to
update their web site content on a dime like that. Kudos!

I'm far too lazy to do that regularly. Wrote a program to do the dirty work
for me. Computers and mindless tasks ... what a great combination!

Anyhow, the updated version now starts with a "Here's how to figure out what
YOUR version of PPT will do" and then backs it up with "and here's what we know
about most versions. YMMV."

-----------------------------------------
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================

Perhaps a bit off topic now, but I'm impressed by the quality of responses
in this group. I'm thinking of buying Nero Ultra 7 which seems to have good
support for audio and video standards. Any comments on anyone who has bought
this product? or other competing products recommendations? I prefer
something that has as much control as possible instead of a product that is
targetting the drop-dead easy to use market.

I'm still using Nero 6 - it ships with a couple of proprietary codecs and wants
to set up file associations that I'd rather it didn't. It also makes it very
simple to override any of these defaults, so no complaints there. Just don't
install too far past your own personal primetime. g

Oh, and unless they've changed things with 7, getting the help files downloaded
will make you crazy. You have to be sure to choose the help file version that
matches your software versions. Exactly. Otherwise you get all sorts of weird
messages that suggest you've installed the wrong language version.

Or maybe I'm just exceptionally dim. I'll buy that.


-----------------------------------------
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================

I actually have parts of Nero 6 also. Seems good and I know exactly what you
mean about that language pack version bs. No good excuse for that nonsense!
I was interested in Nero 7 .. because it has a lot of advanced audio
capability (like 5.1 audio recording capability etc.. ). Not sure if the
Nero 7 DVD authoring is usefully work buying it as a replacement for Nero 6.
I am a bit concerned that it might be somewhat bloated and my current
hardware is living precipitously on the performance edge!

I didn't actually have NeroVision express (but Nero and some of there
ultra-cool audio stuff), but was happily surprised to see that I COULD
download the Nero 6 update pack with NeroVision Express SE version, based on
the strength of my fcurrent Nero license. And, yes .. when I installed
NeroVision, I opted-OUT of Nero grabbing any file associations (I like my
Microsoft and Creative MediaSource associations thanks very much!) ..
- Mitch

"Steve Rindsberg" wrote in message
...
Perhaps a bit off topic now, but I'm impressed by the quality of
responses
in this group. I'm thinking of buying Nero Ultra 7 which seems to have
good
support for audio and video standards. Any comments on anyone who has
bought
this product? or other competing products recommendations? I prefer
something that has as much control as possible instead of a product that
is
targetting the drop-dead easy to use market.

I'm still using Nero 6 - it ships with a couple of proprietary codecs and
wants
to set up file associations that I'd rather it didn't. It also makes it
very
simple to override any of these defaults, so no complaints there. Just
don't
install too far past your own personal primetime. g

Oh, and unless they've changed things with 7, getting the help files
downloaded
will make you crazy. You have to be sure to choose the help file version
that
matches your software versions. Exactly. Otherwise you get all sorts of
weird
messages that suggest you've installed the wrong language version.

Or maybe I'm just exceptionally dim. I'll buy that.


-----------------------------------------
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================

Well I think the exported ppt images at 960x720 should be sufficient quality
for input to any DVD slideshow authoring tool.
I next will try importing these images directly into the DVD authoring tools
(Ulead MovieFactory or NeroVision Express 3SE). Not sure if it is worth
trying the Windows Movie Maker and create a large avi first with the images.
Any ideas or suggestions on 2nd try ??
Actually I looked at my first attempt below with 640X480 and it isn't too
shabby except for some small text problems, border clipping etc..

Question: Since I am burning a few expendable DVD -R for this, if I get a
bad DVD video burn, is there a way to easily add some BACKUP data to that
disk so if the video created is no good, at least I have some backup data
and the disk isn't a complete writeoff? The slideshows only use a small
part of the DVD.

- Mitch Gallant

"Mitch Gallant" wrote in message
...
PPT 2003 exports jpg images by default on my system as 960x720 (1.333
aspect), and the quality of the generated images is quite impressive. Is
that exported jpg resolution configurable?
(My current LCD monitor size is 17" with the display resolution set at
1280x1024).

As I mentioned in my OP on this thread, with MS PhotoStory I used the save
setting "Profile for creating DVDs" NTSC 640x480 which is WMV Q=98 4:3
aspect ration and 30 ffs. That suggested resolution seems somewhat low
(DVD is 720X480?).

Also, I noticed that my DVD authoring/burning app (ULead MovieFactory 3
SE) has ability to directly create image slide-shows, so maybe PhotoStory
isn't necessary. I also have NeroVision Express 3SE and it also has
slide-show capability, but haven't tried it. I imagine these apps. are
similar in their results. Maybe importing PPT exported images directly
into these tools makes more sense than using MS as intermediate slideshow
generator.
I didn't see any "safe area" setting, to assist with managing unwanted
display cropping in Ulead's product.

- Mitch Gallant

"Echo S" wrote in message
...
"Mitch Gallant" wrote in message
...

I didn't see any "preview what this will roughly look likeon your TV" in
MovieFactory before committing to burn to DVD. That might have showed
the edge problems.

When you create stuff for TV display, you want to put nonimportant parts
of the pictures in the margins because, while that area may show on some
TVs, it may not show on others. And, as far as I know, there's really no
way to tell ahead of time. So some products (Adobe products being some of
them) have what's called a "safe area" indicator you can turn on. One's
for titles, one's for margins. Anything inside the margin area will show
on most (all?) TVs, and anything inside the "title safe area" is where
you want any text to be if you want to be sure it will show on most
(all?) TVs.

I don't know the ULead products, but you might look for something like a
"safe area" option in them.

I think sometimes when people user PowerPoint for too long, it tends to
blind people as to the only way to go as the source slide authoring
approach.

Totally agree. (I might say "source screen authoring," though.)

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/powerpointannoy/
PPTLive! Sept 17-20, 2006 http://www.pptlive.com

In article , Mitch Gallant wrote:
Well I think the exported ppt images at 960x720 should be sufficient quality
for input to any DVD slideshow authoring tool.

Just for grins, I'd also try PNGs or BMPs if the authoring tool will eat 'em.
These use lossless or no compression compared to JPG's lossy compression.
With text and other small, 'hard-eged' graphics, JPG can give you compression
artifacts ... stuff that looks like hairs or paramecia hovering around your
graphics.

I next will try importing these images directly into the DVD authoring tools
(Ulead MovieFactory or NeroVision Express 3SE). Not sure if it is worth
trying the Windows Movie Maker and create a large avi first with the images.
Any ideas or suggestions on 2nd try ??
Actually I looked at my first attempt below with 640X480 and it isn't too
shabby except for some small text problems, border clipping etc..

Question: Since I am burning a few expendable DVD -R for this, if I get a
bad DVD video burn, is there a way to easily add some BACKUP data to that
disk so if the video created is no good, at least I have some backup data
and the disk isn't a complete writeoff? The slideshows only use a small
part of the DVD.

- Mitch Gallant

"Mitch Gallant" wrote in message
...
PPT 2003 exports jpg images by default on my system as 960x720 (1.333
aspect), and the quality of the generated images is quite impressive. Is
that exported jpg resolution configurable?
(My current LCD monitor size is 17" with the display resolution set at
1280x1024).

As I mentioned in my OP on this thread, with MS PhotoStory I used the save
setting "Profile for creating DVDs" NTSC 640x480 which is WMV Q=98 4:3
aspect ration and 30 ffs. That suggested resolution seems somewhat low
(DVD is 720X480?).

Also, I noticed that my DVD authoring/burning app (ULead MovieFactory 3
SE) has ability to directly create image slide-shows, so maybe PhotoStory
isn't necessary. I also have NeroVision Express 3SE and it also has
slide-show capability, but haven't tried it. I imagine these apps. are
similar in their results. Maybe importing PPT exported images directly
into these tools makes more sense than using MS as intermediate slideshow
generator.
I didn't see any "safe area" setting, to assist with managing unwanted
display cropping in Ulead's product.

- Mitch Gallant

"Echo S" wrote in message
...
"Mitch Gallant" wrote in message
...

I didn't see any "preview what this will roughly look likeon your TV" in
MovieFactory before committing to burn to DVD. That might have showed
the edge problems.

When you create stuff for TV display, you want to put nonimportant parts
of the pictures in the margins because, while that area may show on some
TVs, it may not show on others. And, as far as I know, there's really no
way to tell ahead of time. So some products (Adobe products being some of
them) have what's called a "safe area" indicator you can turn on. One's
for titles, one's for margins. Anything inside the margin area will show
on most (all?) TVs, and anything inside the "title safe area" is where
you want any text to be if you want to be sure it will show on most
(all?) TVs.

I don't know the ULead products, but you might look for something like a
"safe area" option in them.

I think sometimes when people user PowerPoint for too long, it tends to
blind people as to the only way to go as the source slide authoring
approach.

Totally agree. (I might say "source screen authoring," though.)

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/powerpointannoy/
PPTLive! Sept 17-20, 2006 http://www.pptlive.com





-----------------------------------------
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================

OK .. i tried the following and the image quality is very good on my aging
standard TV:

(1) Using Ulead DVD MovieFactory, select "create a slide show" and SVCD
format
(2) Add the images (in this case 22 images exported as 960x720 from ppt
2003
(3) Unfortunately, Ulead slide-show designer does NOT let you adjust the
timing of each slide to accomodate synching with different added audio
files, so I didn't bother adding any sound files or track at all.
(4) burn the SVCD (fairly fast)
(5) view the SVCD on my Toshiba combo DVD/VCR and oldish TV

The visual quality and text is very sharp and readable and MUCH better than
the first approach where I create a video from Photo Story (as wmv).
Question: When you create a slide show in either a VCD, SVCD or DVD, what
format is that stored in?
Is it still MPEG2? what about bandwidth usage?

Since I am very happy with SVCD and the ppt converted presentations I am
targetting will mostly be less than 1/2 hour, that suites the bill and CDs
are cheaper than DVDs.
I just need to find a good DVD authoring tool, with slide-show design that
allows adjusting time of individual slides so can synch with audio clips.
Microsoft MovieMaker can export to huge high quality uncompressed avi .. and
it has nice control of individual picture interval ... audio clip, cropping
etc.. but is using that MovieMaker exported slide-show as avi and then
importing into say Ulead DVD slide-show the same as creating a slide show
from images directly in Ulead MovieFactory?

- Mitch Gallant

"Steve Rindsberg" wrote in message
...
In article , Mitch Gallant wrote:
Well I think the exported ppt images at 960x720 should be sufficient
quality
for input to any DVD slideshow authoring tool.

Just for grins, I'd also try PNGs or BMPs if the authoring tool will eat
'em.
These use lossless or no compression compared to JPG's lossy compression.
With text and other small, 'hard-eged' graphics, JPG can give you
compression
artifacts ... stuff that looks like hairs or paramecia hovering around
your
graphics.

I next will try importing these images directly into the DVD authoring
tools
(Ulead MovieFactory or NeroVision Express 3SE). Not sure if it is worth
trying the Windows Movie Maker and create a large avi first with the
images.
Any ideas or suggestions on 2nd try ??
Actually I looked at my first attempt below with 640X480 and it isn't too
shabby except for some small text problems, border clipping etc..

Question: Since I am burning a few expendable DVD -R for this, if I get a
bad DVD video burn, is there a way to easily add some BACKUP data to that
disk so if the video created is no good, at least I have some backup data
and the disk isn't a complete writeoff? The slideshows only use a small
part of the DVD.

- Mitch Gallant

"Mitch Gallant" wrote in message
...
PPT 2003 exports jpg images by default on my system as 960x720 (1.333
aspect), and the quality of the generated images is quite impressive.
Is
that exported jpg resolution configurable?
(My current LCD monitor size is 17" with the display resolution set at
1280x1024).

As I mentioned in my OP on this thread, with MS PhotoStory I used the
save
setting "Profile for creating DVDs" NTSC 640x480 which is WMV Q=98
4:3
aspect ration and 30 ffs. That suggested resolution seems somewhat low
(DVD is 720X480?).

Also, I noticed that my DVD authoring/burning app (ULead MovieFactory 3
SE) has ability to directly create image slide-shows, so maybe
PhotoStory
isn't necessary. I also have NeroVision Express 3SE and it also has
slide-show capability, but haven't tried it. I imagine these apps. are
similar in their results. Maybe importing PPT exported images directly
into these tools makes more sense than using MS as intermediate
slideshow
generator.
I didn't see any "safe area" setting, to assist with managing unwanted
display cropping in Ulead's product.

- Mitch Gallant

"Echo S" wrote in message
...
"Mitch Gallant" wrote in message
...

I didn't see any "preview what this will roughly look likeon your TV"
in
MovieFactory before committing to burn to DVD. That might have showed
the edge problems.

When you create stuff for TV display, you want to put nonimportant
parts
of the pictures in the margins because, while that area may show on
some
TVs, it may not show on others. And, as far as I know, there's really
no
way to tell ahead of time. So some products (Adobe products being some
of
them) have what's called a "safe area" indicator you can turn on.
One's
for titles, one's for margins. Anything inside the margin area will
show
on most (all?) TVs, and anything inside the "title safe area" is where
you want any text to be if you want to be sure it will show on most
(all?) TVs.

I don't know the ULead products, but you might look for something like
a
"safe area" option in them.

I think sometimes when people user PowerPoint for too long, it tends
to
blind people as to the only way to go as the source slide authoring
approach.

Totally agree. (I might say "source screen authoring," though.)

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/powerpointannoy/
PPTLive! Sept 17-20, 2006 http://www.pptlive.com





-----------------------------------------
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================

"Steve Rindsberg" wrote in message
...
In article , Mitch Gallant wrote:

Just for grins, I'd also try PNGs or BMPs if the authoring tool will eat
'em.
These use lossless or no compression compared to JPG's lossy compression.
With text and other small, 'hard-eged' graphics, JPG can give you
compression
artifacts ... stuff that looks like hairs or paramecia hovering around
your
graphics.

Don't you need a good microscope to see paramecia? However I could have
sworn I saw a Simocephalus
- Mitch

Adding to this, I tried creating the video as uncompressed DVD avi file in
Microsoft Movie Maker along with about 7 30 sec. mp3 audio clips. There were
22 slides exported from ppt.
Raw avi file generated was 1.5 Gb! (for a total slide show of 10 minutes).

Converted that to SVCD MPEG file format (using WinAVI) .. quite fast
.. -- 72 Mbytes
Imported that generated SVCD file into Ulead MovieFactory authoring tool and
burnt as SVCD.
Quality is good .. but not as sharp as the 2nd approach below where I
created photo story directly from ppt exported images in Ulead movie factory
(all other SVCD settings were the same).
Obviously, this current technique is not really a photo-album cd .. controls
on the SVCD are different also.

So the clear winner, if you want to do a slide show in either SVCD or DVD is
to create it directly from the exported images as a real photo CD slide show
and not a converted video file from the original images. Much faster also.

By comparison, the first technique (at bottom) which used MS Photo Story and
converted to wmv was 14 Mbytes and quite blurry on DVD player/TV.

- Mitch

"Mitch Gallant" wrote in message
...
OK .. i tried the following and the image quality is very good on my aging
standard TV:

(1) Using Ulead DVD MovieFactory, select "create a slide show" and SVCD
format
(2) Add the images (in this case 22 images exported as 960x720 from ppt
2003
(3) Unfortunately, Ulead slide-show designer does NOT let you adjust the
timing of each slide to accomodate synching with different added audio
files, so I didn't bother adding any sound files or track at all.
(4) burn the SVCD (fairly fast)
(5) view the SVCD on my Toshiba combo DVD/VCR and oldish TV

The visual quality and text is very sharp and readable and MUCH better
than the first approach where I create a video from Photo Story (as wmv).
Question: When you create a slide show in either a VCD, SVCD or DVD, what
format is that stored in?
Is it still MPEG2? what about bandwidth usage?

Since I am very happy with SVCD and the ppt converted presentations I am
targetting will mostly be less than 1/2 hour, that suites the bill and CDs
are cheaper than DVDs.
I just need to find a good DVD authoring tool, with slide-show design that
allows adjusting time of individual slides so can synch with audio clips.
Microsoft MovieMaker can export to huge high quality uncompressed avi ..
and it has nice control of individual picture interval ... audio clip,
cropping etc.. but is using that MovieMaker exported slide-show as avi and
then importing into say Ulead DVD slide-show the same as creating a slide
show from images directly in Ulead MovieFactory?

- Mitch Gallant

"Steve Rindsberg" wrote in message
...
In article , Mitch Gallant wrote:
Well I think the exported ppt images at 960x720 should be sufficient
quality
for input to any DVD slideshow authoring tool.

Just for grins, I'd also try PNGs or BMPs if the authoring tool will eat
'em.
These use lossless or no compression compared to JPG's lossy compression.
With text and other small, 'hard-eged' graphics, JPG can give you
compression
artifacts ... stuff that looks like hairs or paramecia hovering around
your
graphics.

I next will try importing these images directly into the DVD authoring
tools
(Ulead MovieFactory or NeroVision Express 3SE). Not sure if it is worth
trying the Windows Movie Maker and create a large avi first with the
images.
Any ideas or suggestions on 2nd try ??
Actually I looked at my first attempt below with 640X480 and it isn't
too
shabby except for some small text problems, border clipping etc..

Question: Since I am burning a few expendable DVD -R for this, if I get
a
bad DVD video burn, is there a way to easily add some BACKUP data to
that
disk so if the video created is no good, at least I have some backup
data
and the disk isn't a complete writeoff? The slideshows only use a small
part of the DVD.

- Mitch Gallant

"Mitch Gallant" wrote in message
...
PPT 2003 exports jpg images by default on my system as 960x720 (1.333
aspect), and the quality of the generated images is quite impressive.
Is
that exported jpg resolution configurable?
(My current LCD monitor size is 17" with the display resolution set at
1280x1024).

As I mentioned in my OP on this thread, with MS PhotoStory I used the
save
setting "Profile for creating DVDs" NTSC 640x480 which is WMV Q=98
4:3
aspect ration and 30 ffs. That suggested resolution seems somewhat low
(DVD is 720X480?).

Also, I noticed that my DVD authoring/burning app (ULead MovieFactory
3
SE) has ability to directly create image slide-shows, so maybe
PhotoStory
isn't necessary. I also have NeroVision Express 3SE and it also has
slide-show capability, but haven't tried it. I imagine these apps. are
similar in their results. Maybe importing PPT exported images directly
into these tools makes more sense than using MS as intermediate
slideshow
generator.
I didn't see any "safe area" setting, to assist with managing unwanted
display cropping in Ulead's product.

- Mitch Gallant

"Echo S" wrote in message
...
"Mitch Gallant" wrote in message
...

I didn't see any "preview what this will roughly look likeon your
TV" in
MovieFactory before committing to burn to DVD. That might have
showed
the edge problems.

When you create stuff for TV display, you want to put nonimportant
parts
of the pictures in the margins because, while that area may show on
some
TVs, it may not show on others. And, as far as I know, there's really
no
way to tell ahead of time. So some products (Adobe products being
some of
them) have what's called a "safe area" indicator you can turn on.
One's
for titles, one's for margins. Anything inside the margin area will
show
on most (all?) TVs, and anything inside the "title safe area" is
where
you want any text to be if you want to be sure it will show on most
(all?) TVs.

I don't know the ULead products, but you might look for something
like a
"safe area" option in them.

I think sometimes when people user PowerPoint for too long, it tends
to
blind people as to the only way to go as the source slide authoring
approach.

Totally agree. (I might say "source screen authoring," though.)

--
Echo [MS PPT MVP] http://www.echosvoice.com
Fixing PowerPoint Annoyances
http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/powerpointannoy/
PPTLive! Sept 17-20, 2006 http://www.pptlive.com





-----------------------------------------
Steve Rindsberg, PPT MVP
PPT FAQ: www.pptfaq.com
PPTools: www.pptools.com
================================================