Column: Create a Story from a Single Still Photo with Photo Story

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" Whats wrong with the profiles used for DVD. Why is the picture so blurry
when saved using these profiles. "

I found the same problem. Pictures are not as clear copying them to DVD.
Looks clear when revewing them on small screen in program, but not as clear
when burnt to DVD.
 
Dear Rolando,

did you find ways to resolve the problem ?
Im having the same issue when compiling my project in step 3, same error
message appear.

my file size is huge as well.

den
 
Hi, Chris and everyone.

Very nice article. I really like the cool features of Photo Story 3,
especially the pan and zoom capabilities together with the wide variety of
transitional effects. Using the wizard with it's defaults is really a
no-brainer, and can already produce amazing hig-quality videos of still
pictures.

Now I want to know if there's any way to MERGE or JOIN existing MULTIPLE PS3
PROJECTS INTO ONE large project. This would really be a neat feature to add
to PS3's list of already cool features.

Your response would be very highly appreciated.
 
Gaston said:
Now I want to know if there's any way to MERGE or JOIN
existing MULTIPLE PS3 PROJECTS INTO ONE large project.
This would really be a neat feature to add to PS3's list
of already cool features.
Click to expand...
==============================
You can use Windows Movie Maker
to combine two or more PhotoStorys.

--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

Making Good Newsgroup Posts
http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
 
John said:
==============================
You can use Windows Movie Maker to combine two or more PhotoStorys.
Click to expand...

...or any video editing program that can import .wmv files produced by
Photo Story 3 will allow further editing/authoring. I prefer to use
NeroVision Express 3.

-michael

Home page: http://members.aol.com/MJMahon/

"The wastebasket is our most important design
tool--and it is seriously underused."
 
Hello guys,

Thanks a lot for the very specific tips, John and Michael.

Now, those tips would be really cool if you can do them to merge
_PhotoStory3_ project files -- you know, those with the WP3 extension. WMVs
are no longer editable in those programs as far as photo pan/zoom options and
timing/transiton effects are concerned.

Is there a way to do this on WP3 files?

Thanks again.
Gaston
 
Gaston said:
Hello guys,

Thanks a lot for the very specific tips, John and Michael.

Now, those tips would be really cool if you can do them
to merge _PhotoStory3_ project files -- you know, those
with the WP3 extension. WMVs are no longer editable in
those programs as far as photo pan/zoom options and
timing/transiton effects are concerned.

Is there a way to do this on WP3 files?

Thanks again.
Gaston
Click to expand...
==========================================
You can open PS3 project files in PS2 with the
same renaming trick (with possible loss of some
of the previous editing) but I don't know of a way
to combine several project files. If you discover
a way...please share it with this newsgroup.

--

John Inzer
MS Picture It! MVP

Digital Image
Highlights and FAQs
http://tinyurl.com/aczzp

Making Good Newsgroup Posts
http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
 
thanks a lot, sir.

well now you got to know someone who's been wanting to do it. and you're
right -- i'm no programmer, w/c is why i'm on this forum -- and it's no
surprise since this is about XP consumer/end-user digital photos/movies tips.
We all know that WMVs can easily be merged using the right tools (there's a
lot of free ones). But WP3 project files are the source files that are
PS3-editable. So merging WP3 project files would just logically result in a
single, larger, and still PS3-editable project file.

the reason i posted my question is i want to merge several 30MB WP3 project
files, each of which was created by importing several dozen 2MP+ JPGs. the
photo sequence, pan/zoom options, and transition effects for each project
file is almost perfect already (took me forever), although I might want to
make some minor changes (e.g. insert/change photos, music, timing, whatever)
in the resulting "merged" (if possible, w/c now i know is not) project file.
now you may not find that "merging" capability to be really neccesary at this
point. but we're aware how much of a drag it is to make the correct photo
sequence for a project with a hundred or more of 3MP photos, esp. when you're
pressed for time. of course you can just drag/drop using the thumbnailed
photos timeline w/in PS3, but the problem is you can't select multiple frames
simultaneously (Ctrl+click and Shift+click don't work), even if you want
multiple frames to have the same transition effects and timing/duration
settings. so I ended up renaming each jpeg file accordingly (001.jpg,
002.jpg, etc.), while in thumbnail view in windows explorer, before importing
them altogether to my individual project files.

so one should not just be after the resulting WMV, but the WP3 file as well.
and i'm sure we're aware that once you've imported those tons and tons of
photos (up to 300/project) to your project, you no longer need to retain
those photos in your hard drive (if you need to free up some space and you
already have copies of them somewhere else -- e.g. CD/DVD) even if you'll
need to edit your project later.

again, as a free product, PhotoStory3 is really impressive and cool already.
and like those who've been using it, i have liked it the first time i saw
it. adding a couple of very simple/basic but truly time-saving features is
just gonna make it a lot better.

well, i guess i can just consider the two features below as my top wishlist
items for any future PS3 upgrades:
(1) the ability to merge multiple project files into a single WP3 file
(2) the ability to select multiple frames simultaneously w/in the PS3
project thumbnailed photos timeline

Anyway, thanks for the time. :-)
=====================
 
Gaston said:
thanks a lot, sir.

well now you got to know someone who's been wanting to do it. and you're
right -- i'm no programmer, w/c is why i'm on this forum -- and it's no
surprise since this is about XP consumer/end-user digital photos/movies tips.
We all know that WMVs can easily be merged using the right tools (there's a
lot of free ones). But WP3 project files are the source files that are
PS3-editable. So merging WP3 project files would just logically result in a
single, larger, and still PS3-editable project file.
Click to expand...

But, of course, this would not overcome the 300 photo limitation
of PS3, since PS3 is the only application that can "play" .ps3 files.

If find that generating the .wmv files from PS3 and combining them in
a DVD authoring tool is quite adequate.

If, for some reason, I feel that I need to ajust one or more of the
segments, I return to PS3, edit the segment(s), re-generate the .wmv's,
and re-burn the DVD.

The only way this would get *really* easier would be if I could burn
a high-resolution DVD of a PS3 show directly from PS3--and the Sonic
encoder only produces blurry DVDs.
the reason i posted my question is i want to merge several 30MB WP3 project
files, each of which was created by importing several dozen 2MP+ JPGs. the
photo sequence, pan/zoom options, and transition effects for each project
file is almost perfect already (took me forever), although I might want to
make some minor changes (e.g. insert/change photos, music, timing, whatever)
in the resulting "merged" (if possible, w/c now i know is not) project file.
now you may not find that "merging" capability to be really neccesary at this
point. but we're aware how much of a drag it is to make the correct photo
sequence for a project with a hundred or more of 3MP photos, esp. when you're
pressed for time. of course you can just drag/drop using the thumbnailed
photos timeline w/in PS3, but the problem is you can't select multiple frames
simultaneously (Ctrl+click and Shift+click don't work), even if you want
multiple frames to have the same transition effects and timing/duration
settings. so I ended up renaming each jpeg file accordingly (001.jpg,
002.jpg, etc.), while in thumbnail view in windows explorer, before importing
them altogether to my individual project files.

so one should not just be after the resulting WMV, but the WP3 file as well.
and i'm sure we're aware that once you've imported those tons and tons of
photos (up to 300/project) to your project, you no longer need to retain
those photos in your hard drive (if you need to free up some space and you
already have copies of them somewhere else -- e.g. CD/DVD) even if you'll
need to edit your project later.

again, as a free product, PhotoStory3 is really impressive and cool already.
and like those who've been using it, i have liked it the first time i saw
it. adding a couple of very simple/basic but truly time-saving features is
just gonna make it a lot better.

well, i guess i can just consider the two features below as my top wishlist
items for any future PS3 upgrades:
(1) the ability to merge multiple project files into a single WP3 file
(2) the ability to select multiple frames simultaneously w/in the PS3
project thumbnailed photos timeline
Click to expand...

I'd like to see (2), but it would seldom make sense for me to use
the same transition/zoom/pan setup on a group of pictures. The
controls would need to be split out so that what was being set
identically could be restricted just to a few things--like duration.

In practice, I find that I seldom set several pictures to the same
parameters--except time--and there I sometimes want a "pattern" to
be repeated to match the rhythm of the music, so a simple "set all
to a fixed value" wouldn't cut it.

Maybe making all the photo parameters editable and block copyable
and pasteable as in a spreadsheet would be the way to go. In fact,
having them literally in a spreadsheet, with the first column being
a thumbnail of the picture, would be outstanding.

-michael

Home page: http://members.aol.com/MJMahon/

"The wastebasket is our most important design
tool--and it is seriously underused."
 
Thanks, Mike.

Well I'm sorry if I wasn't able to get the real message across in my earlier
post -- well, it's not about overcoming any fixed limitation as to the number
of photos that can be imported to a single PS3 (.WP3, not .PS3) project file,
or what does or does not make sense to any PS3 user. I just thought that,
for "really behind" users like me -- who sometimes work without the luxury of
time and a fast PC, who just want to merge existing project files and apply
the same duration settings to multiple frames -- having those two features
is not too much to ask for. And also, making PS3 look like Excel may make
sense to some, but not all.
:-)
 
I'm currently working on a test project with just two pictures in it... both
copies of an 11 megapixil image.... I want the identical settings for the
panning/zooming/transitions/duration settings. Here's my approach.

1 - Open the saved project... it'll create a temporary folder with copies
of the files in it.
2 - The pictures will have names of 0.jpg, 1.jpg, etc.... maybe BMP if
that's what you used. It doesn't keep the original file names. This is one
issue with combining two projects as you'll have two sets of files with the
same names.
3 - Rename my new pictures with the same 0.jpg, 1.jpg, etc.... and replace
the temporary ones with them
4 - Save the open project to a new project file name... it'll carry the new
pictures into the new project file
5 - Render the story and it'll have you new pictures.

It might work in your case too... see the Photo Story 3 > Narration and
Motion page of my website for info about the location of the temporary
files... I first got into them when swapping out the music/narration files.
--
PapaJohn

Movie Maker 2 and Photo Story 3 website - http://www.papajohn.org
MM2 Tips and Tricks: http://www.simplydv.co.uk/simplyBB/viewtopic.php?t=4693
Online Newsletters: http://www.windowsmoviemakers.net/PapaJohn/Index.aspx
 
Lisa B. said:
Hi, I have a problem I am hoping I could get some help with. I downloaded
PS3 and made my story only to find out that I dont have the VCD burning
capability. I have no clue how to make a VCD now. I saved using the
profiles and tried to burn that but it doesnt not work. I tried to download
PS2, which I used before with out a problem, but now this version will only
allow 5 pictures. Will someone pleas send me instructions oh how to burn a
VCD from PS3 or give me some alternative suggestions?

Thank you
Click to expand...
 
Is there a best size/resolution for images in this program? To get the best
image, I read that each should be 720X480.

So I resized to those pixels and set resolution to 72. Used 72 as this will
be viewed on a computer. BUT if this DVD will be seen on a TV screen, do I
use different settings?

Should that give me the best I can get?

My originals are 1 to 2 mgs in size. So I have great latitude, but no sense
in using huge files if smaller ones will do.

Tippy................
 
Tippy said:
Is there a best size/resolution for images in this program? To get the best
image, I read that each should be 720X480.

So I resized to those pixels and set resolution to 72. Used 72 as this will
be viewed on a computer. BUT if this DVD will be seen on a TV screen, do I
use different settings?

Should that give me the best I can get?

My originals are 1 to 2 mgs in size. So I have great latitude, but no sense
in using huge files if smaller ones will do.

Tippy................
Click to expand...

You don't need to worry about the size of the images, as long as they
are bigger than your target format, they will have all the detail you
need. You don't need to, and, in general, should not, reduce their
size--let Photo Story do that when it renders your story.

There's no sense in using smaller images if larger ones will do. ;-)
Storage is cheap and growing. Time is expensive and limited. So save
your time by importing the full-resolution images.

I have found Photo Story 3's DVD profile too "soft" for my preferences
on a large TV. I tell PS3 to render a 1024x768 .wmv file "for display
on a computer", then use NeroVision Express 3 to import that .wmv file
and burn a DVD. This provides excellent resolution in the photos.

(Though some with lots of near-horizontal or near-vertical detail may
show "pixel crawl" during zooms or pans. This can be corrected by
applying a small amount of smoothing ("gaussian blur") to the offending
image(s) and then re-importing them into PS3.)

-michael

Music synthesis for 8-bit Apple II's!
Home page: http://members.aol.com/MJMahon/

"The wastebasket is our most important design
tool--and it is seriously underused."
 
I have created a Photo Story from 155 photos taken of the construction phases
of one of the homes my son has built. I did everything perfectly except
inserting the narration of the photos into the story. I followed directions
and clicked save when finished. But when I play it back, no narration of the
photos plays. Do you know how to get this part of the program to work.
 
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