Picture VCD's

[Mark Smith]

I am trying to generate a CD that will play in a DVD player that is composed of still images.

My images are all 208 x 320 which is slightly larger than the height of a PAL VCD. To get around this I have tried using VCD Easy to generate picture VCD mpegs which are created at a higher resolution.

This works sucessfully and I can generate VCD's that play in my DVD player.

Now the problem. I require that the output is exactly the same as the source images with no loss of quality or scaling. However it does not seem possible to create mpeg's for VCD without losing quality.

Does anyone know of a solution? Failing that if I bought a DVD writer is there any software that will allow me to create a perfect quality slideshow of my images that will play on a standalone DVD player?

Regards,

Mark.

[Comberman]

I doubt if you will be able to sustain the original quality regardless of how you produce your final videoCD compliant mpeg, because you are scaling up and the encoder is having to make up the difference. The golden rule is large resolution in/ reduced resolution out, not the other way round. There will always be some loss in quality because of the compression. Cyberlink have a product called Media@show which is more a multimedia presentation package, than a video application. It produces good quality output from still images and the final video programme is in fact a .exe file, which will auto run from start to finish once the cd is placed in the cd or dvd drive. You specify how long you want each image to be on screen. You don't say how you have presented the still images to the mpeg compressor, but if it happens to be via an avi file of still images, then one of the best avi to VideoCD compliant mpeg encoders is AVI2VCD. Hope this had been of some help.
Cheers

[Mark Smith]

I created a slideshow using the MPEG still options in VCD Easy. I gave it several .BMP files from which it generated 1 second MPEG files. I created an image of these in VCD Easy and imported it into Nero.

I set VCD to use the high resolution available for stills. This meant the resolution was higher than that of the image. I tried putting them in directly with no scaling and creating a blank image at the higher resolution used for VCD stills and pasting my lower resolution images into the center of this so no scaling would take place.

Quality was set to maximum but there is visible quality loss which is very obviously around text and icons in the images.

Is there a way of generating MPEGS which are VCD compatible from images but encoded using a lossless MPEG compression?

[Comberman]

Well I can't find fault in your methodology. I don't know VCDEasy but your approach (given the limitations of your original stills) seem okay. Firstly text: If you intend to view the output VCD on TV you should go for a font such as Arial or Verdana (or something similar). These fonts will show better than a font such as Roman. Text should be no smaller that 16pt. In fact you should use the biggest font your frame size will permit without showing the dreaded jagged edges on curves. I would normally go for 18 - 24pt but it all depends on how much text you require in the frame. I would also soften the font when possible (using blurr or a minimal of drop shadow. Avoid white text on black if you have a lot on the screen and vice versa as the lettering will appear to "bleed". Try different colours. A pastel type background with bold coloured text works well (pale blue bg/dark blue text even red lettering on yellow can look good if the font size is not too small. Secondly icons: there's very little you can do here because icons are small resolution and can be quite detailed. Again contrasting bg might help bring up the outline. I still can't help thinking that there is something you can do to protect the clarity of your original images. You will not be able to sustain the original definition because (in the simplest of terms) the encoder is breaking down your original image and reconstructing it in another compressed form. The only thing you can do is to present the compressing stage with the best possible image you can compose. The loss is relative to the quality of the original.
All the best

[Deus]

I have always created picture Vcd's by just droping them into nero. You can set the delay and seems to work fine. I havent come across a picture that was too big to load.

[Comberman]

There you are, Mark. Deus says he can do the job in Nero. If you've got Nero you could give it a try. I'd be interested to hear how you got on.
All the best.

[setarip]

A suggestion, if I may - predicated on the assumption that your standalone player can playback SVCDs (SuperVideoCD):

1) Use a graphics or "paint" program (such as Paint Shop Pro) to add black borders to each of your images, so that the total dimensions become 352x480 (Add 72 to each left and right and add 80 to each top and bottom - In Paint Shop Pro, you can do this for all of your images in an automated fashion, byusing its batch control)

2) Use Blaze Media Pro to create an .AVI file of the images (You can set a time delay between images)

3) Use TMPGEnc to convert the .AVI into a "CVD" ("Chinese Video Disk - SVCD with resolution of 352x480 instead of the NTSC standard 480x480) format by selecting "MPEG2-SuperVideoCD" and then changing the ratios under both "Video" and "Audio" tabs to 352x480. Set the video bitrate to 2,520Kbps.

Let us know of your success ;>}


(If your player cannot playback SVCDs, I'll post a "quick and dirty" method whereby you can fool the player into "thinking" it's playing back a VCD)

[SKD_Tech]

Originally posted by Deus
lol "CVD" thats funny ive never heard that before

Stuff like this is not needed it was a mere typo since C is right next to V

[SKD_Tech]

opps lol sorry

[Comberman]

Setarip
Love your turn of phrase - you are obviously a Diplomat by profession. How about spilling the beans on that "quick and dirty" method - just for the record.
Regards

[Mark Smith]

Thanks to all for your suggestions. I've tried my DVD player with SVCD's and it doesn't like them. I've also tried Nero but I still have issues with quality loss and scaling.

I've used the MPEG stills mode in VCD Easy which allows a higher resolution. I've created a blank image in Paint Shop Pro at the Stills resolution and pasted my image into the centre of it. This is to get around the issue of it scaling the image as I now have an image that matches the resolution but with borders around it.

However I still suffer quality loss when the MPEG is generated for the VCD. This is especially obvious with the text and icons I have in the image. I really need a lossless method of MPEG encoding. Any suggestions?

Perhaps the trick you mentioned might help if I could create a lossless AVI.

Regards,

Mark.

[setarip]

This will allow you to playback your higher resolution SVCD file on a standalone player that recognizes VCDs (but not SVCDs), by fooling the player into believing it's playing back a VCD.

Use TMPGEnc as follows:

File>>MPEGTools>>Simple Multiplex

Load your SVCD file

Change mode to "MPEG1-VideoCD"

Enter a new filename in the "Output" box

Press the "Run" radio button

(Do not be concerned about any "Buffer underflow" messages you may see)

Burn (DO NOT ask burning software, such as NERO to CONVERT to VCD, rather merely BURN as a VCD)

[Mark Smith]

Thanks. I'll give this a try tonight. What would be the best way to create the original SVCD file so that I don't lose any quality? Do I still create it as an AVI file as you stated in your earlier post, and where can I get Blaze Media Pro or a trial version if commercial?

Regards,

Mark.

[setarip]

1)"What would be the best way to create the original SVCD file so that I don't lose any quality?"

As I posted previously, use TMPGEnc to convert the .AVI into a "CVD" ("Chinese Video Disk - SVCD with resolution of 352x480 instead of the NTSC standard 480x480) format by selecting "MPEG2-SuperVideoCD" and then changing the ratios under both "Video" and "Audio" tabs to 352x480. Set the video bitrate to 2,520Kbps.



2)"where can I get Blaze Media Pro or a trial version if commercial?"

Do a Googlesearch - It is commercial (I believe there's a trial version available)

[miker]

Try http://www.nu2.nu/photovcd/

The lite version is free.