Some beginning with pre7 questions

[CuriousMark]

I posted these earlier at the bottom of thread on another subject in the beginners folder above. I am reposting them here for better exposure.


The first time I opened premier elements (pre7) and went to get some media as an experiment, it noticed that Photoshop elements (PsE6) was installed and offered to modify the (organizer?, stacks?, forgot the word) to be compatible with version 7. I said no, fearing that I might mess up the PsE6 installation. I now wonder if that was a mistake, and if so is there a way to reverse that choice? The offer dialog did not explain the consequences, and I didn't take the time to research, just plugged along.
Encoding time was over 10 hours. I presume that was due to using pans and zooms on the photos along with random transitions. The photos were all at 4 megapixel resolution which could have an impact and I was using 6000 for bit rate, but still could have fit the shows using 8. Was I wrong to assume that the lower bitrate would be faster? Does skipping some of the more artsy transitions and more sparing use of pans and zooms help? I have since learned that pre doesn't like really large sized photos and see that many people resize them, so that is probably the answer here. Please correct me if wrong about that.
Some of the MP3 music I added, which plays fine in iTunes, and sounded good when I previewed the slide show in Pse6, had some dropouts in the final DVD. Other MP3 music was fine. All the tracks I personnally ripped from DVD were fine, some that I got as part of a DJtools package or from Amazon, had the dropouts. Any advice, other than make a test DVD and replace bad music with better tracks?

Any suggestions are welcome and I thank you in advance for the advice.

[ATR]

At the onset, let me make “it perfectly clear” that I am not an “Organizer” oriented person. But, with that in mind, here is some reading material that may make things clearer?????

Common Catalog Issues When You Upgrade To Photoshop Elements 6.0”
http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb402592&sliceId=1

Common Catalog Issues When You Upgrade To Photoshop Elements 7.0”
http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb404990&sliceId=2

Now for bitrate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bit_rate#Video_.28MPEG2.29

With your project on the Timeline and DVD in drive tray, I am assuming that you are going Share/Disk/Burn to: Disc. If so, I draw your attention to the Quality area of that Burn Dialog.
If you have “Fit Contents To Available Space” checked, then you will see “Space Require…..MB (Bitrate…..Mbps). If your project has not exceeded the capacity of the disc, then the Bitrate will automatically be set at the max (Highest Quality) = 8 Mbps. If your project exceeds the capacity of the disc, then the program automatically tries to fit the project. In doing so, the Bitrate is lowered. The lower the Bitrate (the more the compression needed) the lower the quality of the end product. Now, if you decide instead to go with the “Fit Content To Available Space” unchecked, you will have the opportunity to adjust the Bitrate yourself. You cannot increase the Bitrate above 8 Mbps, and you surely do not want to lower it unless you are forced to. So, I would advise you to leave the “Fit Content To Available Space” checked. UNLESS….if you get a DATA RATE error message, the usual fix is manually to lower the Bitrate (as little as possible) to get rid of the error and still have good quality. So, where did you come up with that 6000 Bitrate figure that you introduced in this mix? Try to keep to 60 to 90 minutes per standard DVD and, if you cannot, consider Double Layer DVD.

A quick look up suggests that with a 4 MP camera your images probably have pixel dimensions = 2464 x 1632 pixels. Standard DVD-VIDEO is standard DVD-VIDEO with its frame size of 720 x 480 frame size (NTSC). So, downsizing by the program can definitely be an issue. General rule is “pixel dimensions” should not exceed 1000 x 750 pixels. (A few oversized photos is one thing, but a lot spells Trouble.)
http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.3bb8822c

I have to think about your music issues. Have you tried converting the problem ones from MP3 to WAV? Any protection issues involved? Some times purchased items can create problems. Also check out the fine print in the music sale.


That is it for now.

ATR

[CuriousMark]

Thank you ATR, your help is invaluable. I will look at those links after replying but hopefully they will tell me whether I should have "updated" the organizer or not.

So, where did you come up with that 6000 Bitrate figure that you introduced in this mix? Try to keep to 60 to 90 minutes per standard DVD and, if you cannot, consider Double Layer DVD.
Faulty memory. I am used to seeing bitrates in kbps from communications tools. I meant 6Mbps. I presume the encoder is fastest with the least compression, I am now using 8 and it is a little fast. I defragged, and that made even more difference. That teaches me for not keep up with computer maintenance!

A quick look up suggests that with a 4 MP camera your images probably have pixel dimensions = 2464 x 1632 pixels. Standard DVD-VIDEO is standard DVD-VIDEO with its frame size of 720 x 480 frame size (NTSC). So, downsizing by the program can definitely be an issue. General rule is “pixel dimensions” should not exceed 1000 x 750 pixels. (A few oversized photos is one thing, but a lot spells Trouble.)
http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.3bb8822c
Thanks. The program must be working from the original pixel size to generate each frame and downrezzing over and over again if that is the case. I will definitely use folders of downrezzed photos to cut the rendering time. Thanks for the tip.

I have to think about your music issues. Have you tried converting the problem ones from MP3 to WAV? Any protection issues involved? Some times purchased items can create problems. Also check out the fine print in the music sale.
I can try converting to WAV and using that. Before I do so I will try smaller first, perhaps the problem was caused by the excessive photo resolutions I used on my first cut. All files were DRM free, I just know the provenance of what I ripped myself better than anything from Amazon or other sources.

With my hard drive defragged and a batch of new photos to add, i should be trying this project again in the next couple of days or over the weekend. I will post back with my results.

Thanks again for the help and support.