Everyone has been helpful in the past, I thought I would get some ideas again. I have been reading a book on Capture NX software. Capture NX is software used to edit Nikon NEF files. The book talks about jpeg files are 8-bit and tif files are 16-bit. I had just finished a 20 minute picture slide show (standard def). I took the pictures with my Nikon D80 in raw mode and used the Capture NX software to modify the white balance, black/white control points, etc. The pictures looked great. I then saved them to jpeg format using the best quality for compression so that I could import them into my slide show project.

So I started thinking that maybe the tif would have a better results for viewing. I took one of the raw pictures and saved it as a tif file. For comparison I created a new project, imported the .jpg and .tif files (both were the exact same picture). When I drop both pictures into the storybook, I am prompted with the question of standard def or high def. When I answer standard def, both the .tif and .jpg image thumbnails will show in the storybook, but when I click to play, I get the big blue ! for the tif image, while the .jpg image will play. When I do the same thing again but choose high def, the tif and .jpg image thumbnails will show in the storybook. When I click play, they both play once or twice. But eventually, it starting playing just a black screen and I would have to do the reboot thing to get Studio to start showing images again during play.

 So I have a couple of questions. 1) My graphic card is Nvidia GeForce GTX 7800, I think it has 512 RAM, but not sure. I am more of a UNIX girl, than Window.  Is it my graphics card that has a problem playing a tif file in standard def or do tifs not work in sd? and 2) Which is probably the hardest question to answer. What file types (tif or jpg) and project settings (high def or standard def) will result in the best viewing results? I realize your mileage may vary. But knowing that my camera has great resolution and that I will be burning a slide show onto standard dual layer dvd, how can I get the best quality?

 Thanks to everyone for helping.

Hi and welcome back to the forum!

The reason you get the question of SD or HD is likely because in Project prefs, you have said, "Set project by first clip". You should see the same results that you have seen if you choose a standard or a high def project instead of letting Studio make the educated guess. I doubt that it is your video card. If you post the files to a file sharing site, I (and possibly) others can test them on our systems to see what we get in the same tests. 

Standard def DVDs (NTSC/North America) are 720x480. Nothing you do wth your stills will greatly enhance your resolution since ultimately they are "dumbed down" for the DVD.  If you apply pan and zooms, then using 2-3x the resolution mentioned above will help. Anything above that is overkill.

Project settings depend on the playback. Will you be making an HD DVD or Blu-Ray disc? If so, then choose a high def setting. From what you wrote, you are using a standard DVD as output, just use that as your project setting.  By setting your project at a higher resolution than the output, you are essentially just slowing down the editing process with unnecessary background rendering slowing down your computer. Either you dumb down the footage initially or at the end. Quality wise you won't see much difference. As an FYI, for slideshows, it is suggested to NOT CHECK "progressive" in the Make Movie section.

Hi and thanks for the quick response.

You are correct, I do have my preferences set based on first clip.

So if I understand you, it will not matter whether I use jpg or tif in my project, even though tif files are 16-bit versus an 8-bit jpg file. But how do you explain why when I selected sd, the tif file plays as as a blue !, but the jpg file plays? And when I selected hd, the tif file plays without problem. When I get home this evening I will put the 2 files up on a website and replay back. Do you have a suggestion for a web?

 At this time, I am only using a standard def dvd player. I have not delved into Blu-Ray yet, waiting for the war to be over. You suggest that the "progressive" not be checked (and I don't think that it is) for slideshows, does that also hold true, if the dvd also contains avi's or mpg's?

So how to I get those crisp, clear pictures that I took with my camera to look crisp and clear on my standard def dvd player? I have watched lots of slideshows (granted they were done professionally) where the pictures didn't look as grainy as mine.

Blue Ray already won the war..... Though Studio has yet to support it.

I understand grainy frustration. I can pull a pic from my camera just flat out in windows and it looks awsome. I drop it into Studio and it looks like I got my Grandmas old 110 film camera outa storage and used some 20 year old film. These are .jpg as well.

It's bad enough on my PC (grainy look), put it on a disc and toss it on my 55" plasma and it looks like I layed a steamer on my TV.  Frustrating. I want to be able to make videos that have some resemblance of quality. I don't completely blame my video camera as my still camera takes awsome photos and slideshows look like crap....

Cynthia,

Imageshack or Mediafire are free and quick/easy to sign up for. If the original footage for the .avi, .mpg (ot other video) was interlaced (eg. 60i footage), then it is usually better to keep prgressive unchecked (in contrast to what is listed in the Studio Help & Manual).

I know zilch about the Properties of JPEGs & TIFF File Types, one of them being .tif. However I do convert JPEGs to .tif Files with transparency, for overlay on Video/Image backgrounds. Also attempting to Edit an existing .tif File appears to alter it's Properties & I have to convert to JPEG to Edit & then Save As a .tif with Transparency. Therefore I can't see any point in using a .tif File in a Slide-Show over a .jpeg. Maybe there is one. Googling TIF would give a complete description. 

Colour - I agree with you. We are simply confined by the resolution available in the output format (typically PAL or NTSC DVDs).  Studio might handle them differently, but I haven't seen any real indication of it.

A great book for those Still photographers getting into Video is Photoshop for Video by Richard Harrington. This book is also interesting from a understanding of you can improve titling, backgrounds and other bits and pieces in Video using Photoshop. I use PS Elements, but the book is written for the pro version of Photoshop. Also goes through resolution and other questions like the one we are discussing.

Thanks everyone.

Frustration has now set in. I have tried both of the sites markk655 mentioned (imageshack and mediafire) for the last 1-1/2 hour. I am able to upload the jpg file just fine. But on both sites, when I try to upload the tif file, I keep getting various error messages - invalid key state, 404 error messages, 503 error messages. I am starting to think the line "it's not you, it's me" is true. The computer I am on now does not have anything fancy to view files, but I am able to view the tif file with a Microsoft viewer. I will move the file to another machine which has Photoshop on it to see if I see anything different. But studio is able to view this file in hd mode but not sd mode. I will write back when I know more or when I can get the tif file up to a share site.

OK, I opened the photo in Photoshop and was prompted with the message "Embedded Profile Mismatch The document has an embedded color profile that does not match the current RGB working space. The emdedded profile will be used instead of the working space. Embedded: ProPhoto RGB Working: sRGB IEC61966-2.1 OK"

After I clicked OK, the image came up. I did a "save as" a tif again, but I did not check the ICC information box. I will try the new tif file in Studio this evening and see if it is visable in standard def mode.

markk655: I am still unable to upload either tif files to imageshack or mediafire. For whatever reason, they don't like my file. But I will keep trying.

cmullis:

markk655: I am still unable to upload either tif files to imageshack or mediafire. For whatever reason, they don't like my file. But I will keep trying.

[butt in] Please see this thread for more info about uploading a pic or a screenshot.[/butt in]

Welcome to the forums. 

Hey Marc P.,

If I read imageshack correctly, they takes files < 1.52 MB. My file is too big for them. The file size is 58 MB. I tried mediafire. They allow files up to 100 MB, but I keep getting "invalid key state."

Any ideas who might take a file that big? I was hoping someone could try both of my files (tif and jpg) and see if they experience what I have been. Or has anyone else been successful at adding a tif to an sd project?

You could Zip it and then try mediafire again.

Good idea. Didn't know they would accept zip files. When you watch the header information pass back and forth in firefox, it shows that it is trying to perform a gzip on the file. I will try that and let you know when the file is there.

I guess realistically it would not be practical to have a slideshow full of 58 MB size files. With that being said, could the problem be with the size of the file that would prevent an sd project from being able to play the file?

Cynthia,

Try mediafire again. If that doesn't work, I'll send you an address to send the file to and I'll check it out.

Hey Mark,

 The zip idea worked great. I uploaded the files this morning. The zip of the tif is 23 MB. Here are the links:

jpg:

http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=i1mjmygdxy4&thumb=4

 

tif zip:

 

http://www.mediafire.com/?o9uzemhsjjx

 

Here is what I tried last night:

 

I opened Studio and started a new project. I dropped 2 files in - coach.jpg and coach.tif. When prompted for sd/hd, I chose sd. It played just fine. Don't know why, but any. While watching it (not on the small window), I noticed that I couldn't tell the difference between the 2 images. I was hoping I would, but I couldn't. In order to tell when I moved from one image to the next, I added a 2D transition. And guess what, the transition wouldn't play. I would get the blue !. I tried various transition, but with the same results. After several combinations of tif next to jpg, blah, blah, blah, I found that if a tif was next to anything, the transition was a !. If I had a jpg next to a jpg, the transition would play fine.

 

Then I ventured into the hd. After I played the 2 images (with a transition in between, which also had a blue !) one time, the view screen went black and stayed black. It would not play anything. You could not even see the images on the screen when you highlighted a thumbnail. I removed pics, readded pics, tried sd, tried hd, but nothing. So I stopped.

 

Let me know if you have any trouble getting the images. It's the first time I've used imageshack and I hope I did it correct.

 

Thanks for the help.

Cynthia - will try it this evening!

Thanks a lot Mark. I'm interested in hearing your results.

Cynthia,

 I picked up the files - no problem. I am always amazed at what a good photographer can do with a camera. Nice shot.

I performed the same test as you did - and got the same results. As long as there is  16 bit TIF file, the transition next to it gives an exclamation mark in SD or HD. For me the exclamation was bluw in SD and black in HD, but the it still played in HD.

I think the issue is the 16 bit color. I guess Studio doesn't like it. I converted the jpg (8 bit) to an 8 bit TIFF and had no issues with SD or HD. I only have PS Elements, which I don't think can save 16 bit files (or maybe I just don't know how!). But I can open them. So, if you have a way to downconvert the color to 8 bit, you might be able to get it to work.

Mark,

Thank you for the compliment.

I am so glad it wasn't just me. You are right, the exclamation was black in HD and blue in SD. I opened the tif file in Photoshop and converted it to 8-bit. When I brought it back in to Studio, I was able to play it, but the transition between it and any other file would not play. It didn't give a !, it acted as if there was not a transition. Maybe it was the way I converted it in Photoshop. I am a Photoshop newbie. But on a bright note, when I performed the same test in HD, the screen didn't go black after I played it the first time. I was able to watch it multiple times.

I guess there is no real benefit in using an 8-bit TIFF over an 8-bit JPEG. Bummer, I was hoping the 16-bit TIFF would help a little in my quest for sharper slideshows. But the size alone of a slideshow with TIFF files will quickly fill up a DVD.

So if creating an HD project, but burning it on a standard DVD doesn't gain anything, what is one to do?

It gains something, but not to the extent you would think. Studio has to compress all of the pixels/lines into (for example) standard NTSC widescreen (720x480).  In HD is has to compress all the info into 1920x1080. If you have a picture that is 1920x1080, then it will look worse being compressed into 720x480 then it would in its native 1920x1080. Ultimately your ouput is 720x480 for SD, so you are limited by it. However, Studio will compress and do what ever it does to make your picture fit. It won't look as good as the original, but it will look better than if you used a 720x480 picture.

Try a test. Place the jpg and TIFF in the timeline (high def). Then make a standard DVD. Then make an 1440x1080 file and see the difference. Try not to judge the final output based on the preview screen.

Thanks Mark. I will give that a try when I get home this evening.

Morning,

 I did as you suggested, but first I applied the newest patch. I created a new project and made it 1440x1080/50i. I thought the picture looked way better than what I had created in SD. I decided to apply the same concept to my current slideshow project. I changed it to be 1440x1080/50i. That was easy. I created an avi file to be inserted into a larger project containing menus and other mpg. After I burned the avi, I thought that the change was way too easy. I would have expected it to spend time re-rendering the project, but it didn't. I decided to delete the aux files and let it re-render the project over night. When I checked on this morning, I wasn't quite sure it was in 1440x1080. Maybe I'm wrong, but I would have thought it would have looked different (16:9 instead of 4:3). Is it as simple as changing the project from Standard Definition to 1440x1080/50i in the preferences? I decided to go with the trusty ole copy/paste as many posters have suggested. But when I pasted it into a new project, nothing happened and nothing happened for 10 minutes. Should I have waited longer? I think my misunderstanding was that if I created an HD project then I needed to burn it using the HD DVD option instead of the DVD option. I think what I am going to do is recreate the project from scratch to make sure that I am getting the better resolution. Hopefully I can copy/paste images or titles from the old project to the new project that I have added effect to and maintain the new resolution.

 

Thanks for all of the help. You guys ROCK on this forum. I have learned so much from reading the various posts here.

Cynthia,

if your project is for North America, 1440x1080/60i would be the way to go. 50i is for PAL folks overseas. To make a new project you need to change your preferences first and then create a new project.  Studio will take your photos (typically 3:2) and draw black bars around them so that it fits all nice in a 16:9 frame. So, if you try this again, set up your preferences first and then create the project. You can always check what the project by mousing over the title just above the timeline on the left (in timeline view). It should say 1440x1080. You can certainly use the copy/paste trick for your photos. You essentially have 3 options (there are a multitde of others too!) assuming that you don't have the software to playback HD DVD or AVCHD which usually require additional software parts (codecs) to play. 

1. Make a standard def project and output to DVD

2. Make a high def project (1920x1080 or 1440x1080) and output to DVD - This will downgrade your HD quality

3. Make a high def project as above. Then ouput to a wmv file (use HD DVD or AVCHD disc, if you do have the necessary software for playback)

Then, compare the outputs from all 3.Quality should go 3>2>1.

Hey Mark,

60i over 50i, got it. Good information.

I did #1. That is when I realized yuck. I am not that happy with the quality.

I did #2 last night on a smaller scale (4 pics). I liked what I saw better than #1. This will probably have to be my option since I need to add menus and give several copies to different people.

#3. For playback, on the computer, don't you need VIsta? For watching on the TV, you need the appropriate player, right? By default you can't watch HD on XP?

 

So when are those Studio classes you teach? I need the schedule.