windows media 9 image v2 codec in moviemaker?

  • Thread starter Thread starter dpalmans
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dpalmans

Hi,

Is it possible to use the same "image codec" that photostory uses, in
moviemaker? I created a new profile using this codec, but mm gives me an
error saving the file when I try to use my profile.

Thanks

Daniel
 
I am not surprised: this codec is optimized to render a series of photos
(incuding transitions, zoom, pan, ... ) into a video clip. It would give
probably very bad results when applied to video clips, so MM2 doesn't accept
a custom profile with this codec specified.
On the other hand, all standard profiles in PhotoStory specify the
media9-imageV2 codec and if you specify another one (using the media encoder
profiles editor) then Photostry will also not accept it.
 
Hi
I am not surprised: this codec is optimized to render a series of photos
(incuding transitions, zoom, pan, ... ) into a video clip. It would give
probably very bad results when applied to video clips, so MM2 doesn't
accept
a custom profile with this codec specified.
Click to expand...

But what if I want to only include pictures on the story board? If you ask
why not using photostory then, then I'll say because moviemaker has more
options, like sound control etc...

Daniel
 
I do not agree with you about your last statement. If you want to make a
slideshow out of a series of still images PhotoStory is absolutely superior
if compared with MovieMaker. Of course PS3 has only limited options for
adding music to the show, but there are several elegant solutions to that
problem:
- make your slideshow in PS3, import the WMV file(s) in MM2 and add the
audio track there
- make an audiotrack with a program like for instance "Audacity", import it
into PS3 and match the slideshow with the music (or work the other way around)
I did both thing for different projects in the past and with excellent
results I might add. Just one example I put on the internet recently, go to:


Just try Photostory, it is very easy to use and it is absolutely high Q !!!
 
Hi,

BTW: I used, and still use PS3 a lot... And love it...

Having said that, I have to disagree with your answer: if you import a PS3
wmv in mm2, modify stuff like adding title, music, etc., then once you save
it it will be re-encoded with one of the other encoder, you'll loose the
quality and the size of the output will be much bigger. I've done that many
times too, and that's the reason I've asked this question. It would be
really nice if I could select the same codec as PS3 used to finalize my
ps3/mm2 combo.

Again, I'm using ps3 and love it, but I wish it had a few more features...
Like (better) titles, and fade in and out from music tracks... also be able
to make global changes, right now I just wrote a few scripts to explode the
ps3 file, modify the xml, and recab everything...

Daniel


Thanks for the answer, but I don't agree with your statement either.
 
Hi again,
I think that there is slight misunderstanding and we all agree on a lot of
things:
- we all like Photostory a lot
- small things would even make it better (for instance I would like simply
to be able to import an extra picture at a choosen place on the time-line
instead of at the end of a 100+ slideshow, or also duplicate a picture
'in-line')
- the PS3 codec cannot be used in MM2 encoder profiles (it doesn't work the
other way around either, only here the editor doesn't protest, the newly
created profile can be placed in the appropriate 1033-folder, only it will
not show up as one of the possible choices in the drop-own menu!) so that's
the end of the line there

The only point I wanted to make is that Photostory is so good that I don't
mind going through lot of efforts to work around a few of its shortcomings:
titles can be prepared in advance on the pictures using Paint Shop Pro or
Photoshop Elements, the background music arranged before or afterwards with
Audacity ...

Some of these things have been applied in making the little clip I mentioned
earlier
Here more than 50 % of the work was done in Paint Shop Pro, with PhotoStory
knitting everything nicely together at the end.

But one thing struck me in your reply: the fact that MM2 produces much
larger file sizes. I never took notice of that before so I did this little
test:
- the slide-show mentioned above was rendered in PS3 with profile 4 for PC
(1024 x 768) and takes appr. 11,1 MB
- I imported this file in MM2 and without changing anything rendered it with
the profile for PAL video (720 x 576) and it now takes appr. 15,8 MB
So the file is indeed some 50 % larger, although its screen dimension (in
pixels) is only half of the other one!!!
I was very surpriised and I see no reason for this result; maybe PapaJohn
would be able to comment on this ???
 
My rule of thumb is that a Photo Story file is only about 10% the size of a
comparable WMV movie file from Movie Maker. Sometimes the size of the audio
part of the story file is larger than the video part.

Photo Story pans and zooms images to give a great looking result... but the
movements are always linear. It's far easier for a computer to render things
to a screen in high quality when things move in a straight line than it is
to display at the same high quality when each frame has images that vary in
movements all over the place.

It's simliar to the file size savings you see in a JPG image which can
define a batch of pixels all the same color in a file size so much less than
a BMP that defines them one pixel at a time.

Because linear movements are not what movies are about, the image codec used
in Photo Story doesn't work in Movie Maker, and the movie codecs used by
Movie Maker don't work in a Photo Story profile. You can make profiles and
try them, but they won't work.
 
Thank you for this comment which explains very clearly why the MM2 output
file will always be a little larger than the corresponding PS3 file.
 
PapaJohn said:
Because linear movements are not what movies are about, the image codec
used in Photo Story doesn't work in Movie Maker, and the movie codecs used
by Movie Maker don't work in a Photo Story profile. You can make profiles
and try them, but they won't work.
Click to expand...

Hi, I agree with the beginning of your explanation, but I think the reason
the image codec does not work in MM2 is simply because they decided that is
was not a good idea to make it work since, as you explain, it would do a
very poor job on movies, I knew that and I agree with this too. But what
I'm saying, is that in some cases, when you only use pictures as input, the
image codec would make a better job, than other 'movie' codecs, and mm2
would allow more customizations than ps3.
Again I think both are great products, I'm just saying that it would be nice
if MS would allow the image codec to be selected, maybe in advanced more or
aomething like that. Then the combinations of the 2 products would be even
greater. You both admit than you use other applications to enhance your ps3,
and so do I, allowing image codecs in mm2 would not require this, or let's
say not always...

Daniel
 
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