Save slide show on a DVD disk

[grannywin]

I am having a lot of difficulty saving the slide show to a DVD to show on TV instead of the computer. I tried using a DVD +RW and scrapbook max would not accept it. I had no problem writing to a CD-RW with the SBM program, but it only plays in a computer.
I am using an Dell Inspiron laptop.

Any suggestions???? I am still using the earlier version and haven't upgraded yet. Would an upgrade solve this problem? Can a DVD be written in the new program?

[grannywin]

Well I gave the program a try and it found 2 display adapters out of date. Since this computer is only a year old, I question how out of date they really are. Next, it wanted $10 to fix the problem. Did I misunderstand this message?

Now I really am confused. I saw a free program from Norton that was displayed over my message. I thought it was finally a reply, but it isn't visible at all after I posted a reply.

[juliescraps]

I am not sure if SB Max does the DVD. Maybe Karen will see this and give you help or email support directly and ask them. If not maybe you have another program that will do the DVD on your computer. I use Photo Show but it is out of date and is not even owned by the same company any longer.

[Karin]

Hello!

Grannywin - you said you are using the earlier version - do you mean Scrapbook MAX! 1.0 (the "Classic Edition")? If so, below an excerpt from the User's Guide for different ways that you can share on TV.

(Please note that not all of these same options are offered in Scrapbook MAX! 2.0 - I am looking into what exactly can be done with Scrapbook MAX! 2.0 with regards to your question, and will try get back to you shortly.).

For now, here is an explanation for making slideshows for TV using Scrapbook MAX! 1.0:

* * * *
Sharing on TV
One of the most comfortable ways to view a digital scrapbook with a group of people is to watch it on TV. There are a few ways to accomplish this with Scrapbook MAX!, ranging from very easy to very high on the "need a geek" scale.

(1) The easiest method is to use the built-in Video CD publishing option. All you need for this is a CD writer installed in your computer, and a blank CD. Just choose File > Publish to > Video CD, follow the instructions, and you'll have a slideshow that can be viewed on your home DVD player, right in the comfort of your living room!

The only downside to this approach is that the quality of a Video CD isn't always that impressive; to be compatible with the "low-res" Video CD format it involves scaling the pages down to a very low resolution which makes the images look a bit grainy and can make small text difficult to read.

(2) Depending on your DVD player, there might be a second "easy" method you can use that will generate higher-quality results.

Some newer DVD players are able to "play" CDs with image files on them, automatically turning the photos into a kind of slideshow.

If your DVD player supports this—and you probably won't know for sure until you try it—you can just publish your scrapbook as a Photo CD, by choosing File > Publish to > Photo CD. Pop that into your DVD player, and if you're lucky, you'll see a nice high-quality slideshow.

(3) The third, and most advanced, method is to use the "Movie" publishing option, which will output your scrapbook as an MPEG video file. Once you have this MPEG file, there are two ways you can get it to play on your TV:

· you can hook your computer (or a laptop) up to the TV, so that you can play the video file on the computer and have it appear on the TV
· you can use a third-party DVD authoring tool to convert the MPEG into a compatible format and burn an actual DVD

Both of these options are too advanced for us to explain, so if you don't know how to do them you will either need to find someone who knows, or search for the information on your own.

[Karin]

Hello!

My previous post was about Scrapbook MAX! 1.0.

In Scrapbook MAX! 2.0, there is a Publish to Movie option. You can try making your scrapbook into a Movie (MPEG1) and then using a DVD authoring tool to put it on a DVD to be played back on TV. Since all dvd players and dvd authoring tools are different, I can't guarantee that this will work for you, but it is something to try.

[grannywin]

Thanks for the advice, Karin. I am working with my son to figure out this problem. Hopefully with your advice I will find a solution. There is a suggestion for Version 3- have a simple program to create a DVD with music.

[grannywin]

Again Karen, thanks for the advice. I was successful. I saved the slide show as a MOVIE. Then transferred the mpg file to a video transfer program like Freemaker. That created the DVD. I was so pleased to see the music also transferred.

The only bad thing about the slide show DVD is that it doesn't repeat. It is great for a one-time view, but not great for a party where you want the show to play continously. My suggestion is to create a DVD for the honoree but then play the slide show on your computer as a saved Slide Show or using the Slide Show CD feature. It took forever for the Slide Show CD to play on another computer--if it played at all. Hopefully, this DVD will bring better success.

The advantage of using this DVD method is adding several albums to the same disk. I was able to add the slide show plus an album of pictures used in the slide show to my test disk.

As I said before, this might be something to add to the next version of Scrapbook Max.

[Karin]

Hi there!

Glad you had success with your project, and thanks for the suggestions, too!

Karin