Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

jack Chandler

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 21, 2004
21
0
Hi all,
Just completed my first attempt at creating an iDVD slide show (working on a G5 with all the updates). No problems with the burning process itself; 30 minutes to burn 650M of pics plus 6-8 pieces of accompanying music.

The problem: the picture quality of the slideshow is POOR. Looks like the program used thumbnail-size pics and enlarged them to full-screen--not quite that bad, but a distinct loss of image quality.

The pics used for the slide show are different sizes, but generally around 4000x2600 @ 300ppi, JPGs with no profiles. I simply imported to iDVD the original JPGs from iPhoto, no resizing. Used Maxell DVD-R, 8x.

Some of the preferences (relevant ones?) are set as follows: encoder settings=best performance; video standard=NTSC; always scale slides to TV safe area (checked).

What's the problem? Thanks in advance for all responses.
 

varmit

macrumors 68000
Aug 5, 2003
1,830
0
jack Chandler said:
Hi all,
Just completed my first attempt at creating an iDVD slide show (working on a G5 with all the updates). No problems with the burning process itself; 30 minutes to burn 650M of pics plus 6-8 pieces of accompanying music.

The problem: the picture quality of the slideshow is POOR. Looks like the program used thumbnail-size pics and enlarged them to full-screen--not quite that bad, but a distinct loss of image quality.

The pics used for the slide show are different sizes, but generally around 4000x2600 @ 300ppi, JPGs with no profiles. I simply imported to iDVD the original JPGs from iPhoto, no resizing. Used Maxell DVD-R, 8x.

Some of the preferences (relevant ones?) are set as follows: encoder settings=best performance; video standard=NTSC; always scale slides to TV safe area (checked).

What's the problem? Thanks in advance for all responses.

You have your preferences to do best performance, which means quality is going to be sacraficed for speed and smoothness of stuff like navigating the menu and changing pictures. So the pictures probably go downgraded in quality with the preferences you have choosen. Try changing them up a bit and make another burn.
 

jack Chandler

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 21, 2004
21
0
Best Quality v. Performance

Right or wrong?

The Best Quality v. Performance preference is counter-intuitive: its not as it would seem at first blush a get-it-now (performance) or get-it-right (quality) choice. Quality/Performance is a file size issue (more or less than 60 min in duration) related to the computer's configuration and ability, not the final quality of the presentation/slides/movie.

Roughly quoting an article found here:

file://localhost/Photography%2004:05/Technical:process/IDVD%20stuff/IDVD%20FAQs/iDVD4%20FAQs.html

Yes/no?

More astute observations please...
 

unixkid

macrumors regular
Jan 25, 2004
101
1
dvd's r only 720x480 so u cant expect any GOOD quality compared to the original photos
 

jack Chandler

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 21, 2004
21
0
then iDVD is usless

Wow unixkid, if this is the best iDVD can produce I'm sorry I've spent the time leaning to use it. What a sham program!

or, am I being too harsh? rash?
 

cemorris

macrumors regular
Oct 13, 2004
138
0
This is NOT iDVD's fault. unixkid has simply stated the DVD industry standard. No matter what program you use, you will only get 720x480. If you want higher resolution, you will need to wait for HD-DVD ot blue ray DVD to come out which is high definition. Also note that you will need a high definition TV when that day comes.
 

Le Big Mac

macrumors 68030
Jan 7, 2003
2,806
375
Washington, DC
jack Chandler said:
Wow unixkid, if this is the best iDVD can produce I'm sorry I've spent the time leaning to use it. What a sham program!

or, am I being too harsh? rash?

I think you're misinterpreting him. The photos on any DVD have a limited resolution because TVs have a limited resolution. They will not look as sharp on TV as they do on your LCD. That said, I've burned a slideshow several times, and the quality of the picture clealy was limited by the TV, not the DVD burn--they were pretty sharp--as sharp as any DVD or TV picture.

I don't know about what settings to try, but I can tell you it's possible to get a slide show looking very good on a TV.

BTW, when you burned, there's something about optimizing for TV IIRC--perhaps you need to check that? It may be that the DVD is automatically blowing up thumbnails instead of full-frame pictures.
 

jack Chandler

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 21, 2004
21
0
Auto resize in iDVD?

LeBigMac, its the reverse for me. The iDVD slide show image quality is "acceptable" when viewed on our home DVD/TV, but not so good when viewed on G4 laptop monitor--images loose definition compared to viewing originals.

Does iDVD do an automatic resize? If so, to what size? I haven't seen any details on this as yet.
 

cemorris

macrumors regular
Oct 13, 2004
138
0
Please read the posts closely. Yes everything will be resized to the DVD standard definition as stated above.
 

bousozoku

Moderator emeritus
Jun 25, 2002
15,603
1,761
Lard
jack Chandler said:
Wow unixkid, if this is the best iDVD can produce I'm sorry I've spent the time leaning to use it. What a sham program!

or, am I being too harsh? rash?

You have unrealistic expectations. The maximum HD resolution available is 1080 in 1080i and you have 4000 pixels across and expect them to be clear? You need to scale them appropriately ahead of time to get the best quality, but changing iDVD's settings will help somewhat.

Video generally gets by because the image is constantly moving and the mind is fixing the problems in real time, making them seem better than they actually are.
 

jack Chandler

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 21, 2004
21
0
I over-reacted

Thanks cemorris, but as I read the lit it suggests that the user do the resizing (to 640x480) suggesting that if he dose not do the resizing, the program will size to some default without specifying. In other words, if the program sizes images to 640x480 or 720x480 by default, why direct the user to do this? Just wasn't clear and its not spelled out (for non-techies like me) in the accompanying lit.

bousozoku, you nailed it. This is partly a welcome of sorts to the world of video. I'm a still photographer (digital) and definitely had unrealistic expectations in addition to no experience in video issues. I will experiment with re-sizing. Would you mind being more specific with regard to iDVD settings? I would appreciate the info.
 

unixkid

macrumors regular
Jan 25, 2004
101
1
jack Chandler said:
Wow unixkid, if this is the best iDVD can produce I'm sorry I've spent the time leaning to use it. What a sham program!

or, am I being too harsh? rash?

lol.... that is THE MAXIMUM for ALL DVD's. Every DVD u rent or buy is 720x480 (unless it says HD DVD). You cant burn any more than SD (Standard Definition). When HD-DVD(15gb) or Blue Ray(30gb) come out THEN u will be able to burn HD (High Definition).
720p = 1280x720
1080i = 1920x1080
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.