If you are outputting to a CD disk (e.g. for VCD or SVCD format) then each CD can contain around 60 minutes of slideshow, so if you set each image to be displayed for 10 seconds then that would equate to 360 pictures per CD.

If you choose a DVD format then you can output a slideshow of around 5 hours (more than 2000 images if each is displayed for ten seconds).

You can add as many music files to play in the background as you like (DVD PixPlay will use as many as required to match the length of the image/video display).

If no chapters are specified then DVD PixPlay will create its own chapter breaks which are evenly distributed at a frequency that depends on the number of images in the show.

• Your images were added from a disk and it is no longer inserted into your drive
• You linked directly to images on a digital camera (rather than acquiring them to your computer) and the camera is not connected
• You have deleted the images or moved them to a new location

If you know the location of the images select Edit > Advanced > Check for Missing Files. You will then be able to specify the new location of all the missing files.

1. Run DVD PixPlay
2. Select File > Open Project, browse to your PPT file and click OK
3. Edit the project further if desired (e.g. add background music using Edit > Slideshow Properties, Music)
4. Click "Burn Disk"

http://www.xequte.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3218

Note:
- This procedure requires the Professional Edition of DVD PixPlay
- You can adjust the import quality under View > Options, Other, Advanced

If you would prefer all effects to be shown go into View > Options, Other and uncheck the "Hide effects that are not enabled for the project"

Note: The project may still appear in your recent projects list until you load/create new projects

• Use the background tracks provided when purchasing DVD PixPlay
• Rip music from music CDs
• Retrieve music from YouTube videos
• Search Google for MP3 downloads

When burning your slideshow to disk (File > Burn Slideshow) choose the option to "Automatically stretch the slideshow to match the background music"

Also:
» How can I easily time certain frames with my background music?
» When I playback the slideshow disk I created, the timing does not match how it was designed

However if you need much more control over your timing you can use the "Sync to Frame" function.

Let's say you have two songs named "Song_A" and "Song_B" and six frames named "Photo_1" to "Photo_6". You want each song to play for three frames.

1. Go into Edit > Slideshow Properties, Music tab.
2. Select Song_A and click "Sync to Frame"
3. Choose "Photo_3" and click OK
» Song_A will now play while Photo_1, Photo_2 and Photo_3 are showing

4. Select Song_B and click "Sync to Frame"
5. Choose "Photo_6" as the "Sync to Frame"
6. Specify "Photo_4" as "Don't change time prior to" (so the display times up to Photo_3 are not changed)
7. Click OK
» Song_B will now play while Photo_4, Photo_5 and Photo_6 are showing

1. Insert the music CD into your CD or DVD drive
2. In DVD PixPlay select Edit > Slideshow Properties, Music tab
3. Click the "Music CD" button
4. Select the desired track and click OK

NOTE: Ensure the music tracks you are ripping are not copyright!

• Choose the "Stretch Slideshow to Background Music" function (available on Step 2 of the Burn Disk Wizard) which will make the slideshow length match that of the background music
• Use a free sound editor, such as MP3Trim or WavePad, to cut the length of your music track and fade it out

The only way is to burn them to a CD, and then rip the CD music to MP3

K-Lite: http://www.free-codecs.com/download/K_Lite_Codec_Pack.htm

Ffdshow: http://sourceforge.net/projects/ffdshow

MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 are natively supported for (PixPlay can output to MPEG-4 but it can't be used within your slideshow).

AVI is a container format, meaning that it a blanket format for many sub-formats. PixPlay supports the standard ones but for others you need to install a driver. Generally the one that trips most people up is MJPEG as this is commonly used on digital cameras (and Windows does not include a driver for it). If you encounter problems with AVI formats you should install a codec pack.

Other formats are automatically converted to a native format as you add them to your project if you have installed the format plug-in.

1. Once you have laid out the video to your requirements in Movie Maker, select File > Save Movie File
2. Choose the output to "My Computer" option
3. On the Movie Settings tab choose the other settings option and specify the format as: DV-AVI
4. Click Next

If you want to add it to a project with other images and/or videos select Edit > Add Images/Videos from the menu, select the folder containing the video, check the box below the thumbnail of it and click the Add button

You can either download a Codec Pack:

www.free-codecs.com/download/K_Lite_Mega_Codec_Pack.htm
or
www.free-codecs.com/Motion_JPEG_Codec_download.htm
 

Or you can convert them to a compatible format within DVD PixPlay:

1. Install the Video Conversion Plug-In
2. Run DVD PixPlay
3. Right-click your AVI file and choose "Convert Video File"

DVD PixPlay Plug-In Page

1. Download and install the SPTD Drivers
2. Restart Windows
3. Run DVD PixPlay
4. Go into View > Options, Other, Advanced and set the DVD Burning Transport to SPTDirect

C:\Program Files\DVD PixPlay\PixPlayLog.txt

Alternatively you can use your preferred burning software to output your DVD PixPlay slideshow to disk.

However almost all PAL players can also play NTSC disks, so if you are unsure which format to use then select NTSC format.

If you are creating your slideshow primarily for Widescreen (16:9) TVs you can enable the relevant option, otherwise use Standard (4:3) format.

Note: CD-RW disks offer better compatibility than CD-R.

Note: For compatibility with DVD Players, you cannot add slideshows to an already burned disk.

1. Create your slideshow as normal but on Step 3 of the "Burn Disk" wizard choose the option to output the project to your hard disk
2. Choose a folder to save your project and click Finish
3. Start your burning software and create a new data disk layout
4. Insert a blank DVD and run your Burning software
5. Choose the "DVD-Video Files" option
6. Click the "Add..."
7. Browse to the folder you specified in 2.
8. Select the two folders VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS and click OK (Screenshot of this in Nero)
9. Start burning

• Change your "Burn Mode" if you are writing a CD
• Ensure you are using disks of a type that your burner supports, e.g. some burners do not support +R or RW formats
• Try burning at a slower speed than "Max"
• Try different disks.  We often hear of problems burning to cheap, unknown brand disks

1. Select File > Burn Slideshow
2. Select PC Format (assuming you intend to play it on another computer) and click Next
3. Specify your PC Slideshow options and click Next
4. Choose the option to save to your hard disk and click Browse
5. Browse to your thumb drive and click OK
6. Click Finish

You will need to insert a new disk and burn your updated slideshow to it (File > Burn Slideshow).  While it may seem wasteful, it is better than creating a disk that many DVD players will not play.

DVD format disks will also playback in all computers with DVD playing software (which is almost all modern computers).

With VCD format disks you will need to use VCD Playing Software (free) or Windows Media Player: Insert the VCD in your CD/DVD drive and browse to the MPEGAV folder on your CD and opening the ".dat" file that it contains.

For best quality when viewing VCD's on your computer use a low resolution, such as 640x480.

Note: For SVCD disks you may need to download a MPEG2 Codec

1. Run DVD PixPlay and open your project
2. Select File > Burn Slideshow Disk
3. Choose the "YouTube" format option and click Next
4. Select the option to save to a file and specify a filename

Once generation completes:

5. Go to the YouTube web site:

www.youtube.com

6. Click the Sign Up option and then follow the steps to become a member
7. Upload your video file from Step 3.

Note: YouTube does not allow video files larger than 100 MB or longer than 10 minutes

Here is a video tutorial outlining the process:

http://www.screencast.com/t/NWJmMzI5M

For VCD formats here is a list of players that support...

• VCD Format
• SVCD Format
• XVCD Format
• XSVCD Format

For widest compatibility it is recommended that you use DVD format on DVD disks or VCD format on CD-RW disks.

If that does not work, search the compatibility list for your DVD Player and check what formats it supports.

If the compatibility report states that your player should support the disk type and format you used then:

• Write the slideshow to disk using your own burning software (in case DVD PixPlay has an incompatibility with your burner)
• Try different types of disks (e.g. DVD+R instead of DVD-R) and different brands (we often hear of problems with no-name DVD disks)
• Under View > Options, Other, Advanced, try changing the DVD audio format

If you are trying to view an SVCD format disk then you may need an MPEG2 codec:

http://www.videohelp.com

• The image is being "Auto-cropped": Select Frame > Frame Properties and disable the "Automatic Cropping" option on the "Remove Borders" tab
• Your TV does not display the full frame of the video: Go into View > Options, Other, Advanced and specify a margin value to add a border area around the frame

Also, ensure that you have not set the highest quality preview option.

Note: If you simply want to make your slideshow match the background music length, enable the "Stretch slideshow to music option"
 

DVD FORMAT SLIDESHOWS

Timing issues with DVD format slideshows are rare, because DVD PixPlay actually builds your entire slideshow before burning it to the disk (meaning that it should display consistently wherever it is viewed).

However you should note that the preview will only give you an approximation of the final result, for an exact display of the slideshow as it will appear on the DVD player, select File > Burn Slideshow and click the "Test" button.  Naturally it is a lot slower to prepare than a preview because it actually builds the entire slideshow, however if you burn a disk directly after showing the Test it will be very quick (as the build step is skipped).
 

PC FORMAT SLIDESHOWS

With PC format you need to specify that overall slideshow timing has priority over individual image display times: On step 3 of the Burn Slideshow wizard, click the "Other Settings" option and ensure you select the option "Start each frame at the designed time"

Timing problems should not occur when playing slideshows disks on most computers.  If you do encounter problems then that means the computer is unable to display your photos fast enough to keep up.

The cause will be a combination of the following:

• You use huge digital camera images (and don't let DVD PixPlay reduce their size when burning)
• You are playing back on a slow computer
• You have very short display times (e.g. less than 2-3 seconds per image)
• You are using motion effects

Generally the problem can be resolved by specifying a longer display time for each of your frames.

Here are some things that may improve quality:

• Specify the highest quality encoding option (using the Alternate encoder) on Step 3 of the "Burn Slideshow" wizard
• Go into View > Options, Advanced and try changing the DVD MPEG Audio Setting as that can affect playback on some players
• It might also help if you minimize your use of transitions and/or motion effects