Hard to believe, I know, but the third batch is finished. The catagory breakdown is:

Refreshing Movie Moments --45 new slides, including films scheduled for release this fall and holiday/awards season.

What's My Job?--30 new slides describing the responsibilities of various film crew positions

James Bond Trivia--40 new slides (20 questions and 20 answers) with Bond-themed background artwork

Star Wars Trivia--40 new slides (20 questions and 20 answers) with Imperial-themed background (with a little Easter Egg in the background text artwork)

Movie Music Maestros--20 new slides, each with a film music composer's photo and list of 5 films they've scored. (with a little Easter Egg in the background artwork music notes)

Oscars Vs. Dollars--15 new slides comparing the highest-grossing domestic film to the film that won the most Academy Awards, from 1990 to present.


...for a total of 198 jpegs. Examples of each catagory is here:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/sgood3phraseturner/album?.dir=4383&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos


For anyone who is interested in details about Vol. 2, here's the thead with info:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=444455&page=1&pp=30

I am now burning Vol. 1, 2 & 3 onto a single CD-R, for a total of well over 600 slides.

How do you get your hands on a CD-R of these new jpegs?
The same as always! Paypal to
sgood3 @ comcast . net <--Of course, remove those spaces I've added...

Minimum payment is $3 within US, $5 to Canada, which covers the CD-R, a plastic DVD case, bubble envelope mailer, and postage.

Tips are certainly appreciated, but by no means necessary.



Thanks for your continued interest!

Steven

Looking forward to Volume 3, Steven!

I just used a few of my Volume 1 slides (the "turn off cell phones" and "Don't litter" types) at the beginning of a swim team slide show - the kids and parents went ga-ga over them!

They look great. I have 1 & 2 and can't wait for 3. Just let me know how much and where to send the money

Yes I have been waiting for this since I finished my theater around the 4th of July! Great work Steven.

Looks fantastic! I have PayPal money ready to go. Just say where and when!! :D

Steven, Thanks again for all the hard work. The family loves these. Also I did an outdoor theater last weekend and I had about 10 people come up to me and ask me where I got the pre-show slides. They loved them.

Mark

I'm curious. Which application is being used to view these slides? I have attempted to use Pre-Movie Manager (pmm) but I have been unsuccessful getting it to work. If everyone or someone is using pmm to display the slides, can you post your configuration? Or others what are you using?

I made a slide show with Nero and then added 6 custom intro segments and 11 dolby or DTS short segments. I have 2 random segments of slides play and then one intro and dolby segment ( random) After the movie I have a "thanks for coming segment. I used DVD Maestro to make the DVD and as I said Nero to make the slide show with nice transitions between the slides. I will make more slide segments from version 3 when available and add them to the mix

Thanks Dan I'll give that a try.

Ugh, just when I think I've carved a couple of free days out of my schedule to finish these up...

My teen-aged son was driving back form H.S. orientation day...and three houses form home, a neighbor backed out of her driveway and slammed into the side of his Honda. Everyone is fine, but the Accord is crunched quite a bit on its passanger side.

So, the next couple of days will be repair-themed. I will post an update soon; hopefully by this weekend Vol. 3 will finished. I've completed approx. 170 slides, and am shooting for about 200 - 220 total.

Steven

Ouch!!!!

Hope all is well soon!

Wow
Count me in
Even though I never quite had time to do anything with Set 1 and 2
:(

First post updated to mention that Vol. 3 is ready...

Thanks Steven!

Ok now this is only a suggestion but could the honor system be used and a Torrent file be setup to distribute these. We did that with the DVD demo and it worked great. That way Steven you don't have to spend your nights burning CD's. I would gladly send you 3-5 bucks if I could download the torrent.

I think I can seed it if you like. My torrent client has a auto seeding function. I've never used it but I could try.

Again just a suggestion to get this great product out to us as quickly as possible.

By email this morning, Robert Bott asked why these weren't just zipped up and made available for download somewhere. Here was my reply...

When this started a couple of years ago, having the files available
somewhere for download was discussed. A couple of members offered to host
them, since I don't have the means to make them available for others to
download. I decided I didn't want these floating around in cyberspace for
the whole world to have access to them. Some members wanted to post a
mention of them in other site threads, which I also vetoed. I like the
small clunkiness of this distribution method. Keeping it within the
confines of AVS and only sending them out on disc hopefully will get them
into hands of interested folks who will use and appreciate them...
and keep them under the radar of the masses.

Thanks for your understanding...

Steven

By email this morning, Robert Bott asked why these weren't just zipped up and made available for download somewhere. Here was my reply...

When this started a couple of years ago, having the files available
somewhere for download was discussed. A couple of members offered to host
them, since I don't have the means to make them available for others to
download. I decided I didn't want these floating around in cyberspace for
the whole world to have access to them. Some members wanted to post a
mention of them in other site threads, which I also vetoed. I like the
small clunkiness of this distribution method. Keeping it within the
confines of AVS and only sending them out on disc hopefully will get them
into hands of interested folks who will use and appreciate them...
and keep them under the radar of the masses.

Thanks for your understanding...

Steven

No problem and thanks for the quick reply. I agree with you 100%.

Wow! In the first 24 hours, I've mailed out more than a dozen discs. Not bad for a Saturday afternoon. Thanks for everyone who has contacted me thus far. I appreciate your interest and kind words. I hope you're cool with my decision to make the trivia in specific catagories this time. I considered a romantic comedy catagory, but just couldn't follow through :o ...maybe next time.

I'm hoping for good deals on CD-Rs in tomorrow's Sunday sales ads :D I already have plenty of black, plastic DVD cases and bubble mailing envelopes on hand. . .

Steven,

I hate PayPal because of their stance on gun issues... they're anti-gun which makes me anti-PayPal. That's just me, and I firmly believe and support our 2nd ammendment rights.

As such, any chance you can email me your snail mail address where I can send you some old-fashioned greenbacks for your Disc(s)?

Thanks
Mark

cleantooth@yahoo.com

Mark,

You have mail.

Thanks for your interest.

Steven

I just sent you some $ via PayPal. I truly can't believe you have done this on your own time and are limiting it to this community. Your work is fantastic and you are to be commended. Thank you for all the time you put into this. I don't have my theater finished yet, but this sure does get me excited to get it ready to have Episode III as the first showing come November!!

I truly can't believe you have done this on your own time and are limiting it to this community. Your work is fantastic and you are to be commended. Thank you for all the time you put into this.

My wife has made comments similar to your first sentence...
but, I guess everyone needs a hobby.

Another day, another dozen requests and discs mailed out. I'm grateful for everyone's kind words and interest. I hope you all get some good use out of this latest batch.

I don't have my theater finished yet, but this sure does get me excited to get it ready to have Episode III as the first showing come November!!

I guess you'll be using some of the Star Wars Trivia slides for that event, huh?
Enjoy!

Steven

I guess you'll be using some of the Star Wars Trivia slides for that event, huh?
Enjoy!

You got it!!!

Git mine yesterday - Woo Hoo!!! Thank you Steve!! :D

I recieved mine yesturday. Thanks so much Steven! The DVD is great!

Well, after just a few days of availability, I've made quite a dent in the 100 pack of CD-Rs I picked up last week in anticipation. I'm mailing out about a dozen discs a day, which is great! Keep the requests coming...

Now I'm just waiting for someone to point out the inevitable spelling mistake. I make a lot of these jpeg slides late at night, when my typing skills sometimes let me down. Vol. 1 has a "veiwing" goof. I vaguely rmemeber something screwy with Vol. 2, but I don't recall the details. I'm sure if there is something off in Vol. 3 , some sharp-eyed AVS member will catch it.

Speaking of sharp-eyed, has anyone who has received their Vol. 3 disc translated the phrases written in the Star Wars font in those trivia slides' graphics? Or the tip of the hat to my favorite film composer in the Music Maestro title graphics?

Just bits of geeky silliness I put in those slides; it's not like I can speak Klingon or anything...

Steven

To everyone who has requested a CD-R since Friday: your discs will be in Tuesday's mail.

I had to make a quick trip out of state for a fews days to visit my grandmother, who is 84 and in a nursing home. Her contact with and memory of the outside world gets more hazy by the day, and I needed to spend some time with her while she still remembers me.

My father's health isn't great, either, so I was responsible driving us from TN to MS and back. It's weird to be away from the computer and not check email for three days, as I typically check it hourly. The inbox can really fill up with useless crap in that time.

Anyway, I'm back tonight (after too many hours of interstate driving) and am now caught up...

Anyone else who wants one, let me know.
Steven

Steven,
Your slides are first class and worth so much more than what you have asked for. I thought about doing this myself but yours are just too good!! I still don't get how you are so willing to give so much of your time to support this community in this way.

Thanks again Steven! I know I speak for many to say that your work is greatly appreciated.

Just jumping in to say that several members have asked if they could just snail mail me a few $$$ because, for various reasons, they don't use Paypal.

Yes, you can. PM me and I'll give my mailing address. Just please include a note with your payment; I also sell a bit on eBay and money that shows up with no explanation can get confusing...

Thanks,
Steven

Steven,

What settings do you use when you save the .JPG files from Photoshop to get the correct anamorphic slide?

steve i got some from you before now i want these paypal sent!

I received mine yesterday packed up very nice in a black DVD case. Can't wait to try it out.

Thanks Randy

first i create the jpeg in a 1080x1920 pixel frame & save that file. then open that file within a new 1080x1440 frame. since the top-to-bottom height is the same, i squish the pic left and right to fit in the 4x3 frame, then re-save. make sense?


Steven,

What settings do you use when you save the .JPG files from Photoshop to get the correct anamorphic slide?

Can someome please give a quick run-down on how to take these slides (THANK YOU STEVEN) and put them into something I can play on DVD player? I would also like to add some DTS/DOLBY stuff in there as well.

Thanks

Just wanted to post my sincere thank you to Steven.

I have version's 1, 2 & 3. combined with

pre-movie manager to play the slides, (stand alone version)

tech talker (professional voice over to announce 5 minute warning, movie is about to begin etc...)

folder of movie soundtrack's for the backround music (superman, star-wars, etc...)

hidef trailer's & my custom theater intro makes the experience perfect - actually better than the theater.

Hi Steve,

Payment Sent


thanks

Just wanted to post my sincere thank you to Steven.

I have version's 1, 2 & 3. combined with...tech talker (professional voice over to announce 5 minute warning, movie is about to begin etc...)

Where can we find this?

That tech talker sounds cool. I hope he chimes in with info on how to get it.

A member PM'ed me about how to use my slides in an HTPC set up with the various programs available. Since I don't use an HTPC, I can't really offer him any help. I am hoping one of your who has knowledge with the Pre-Movie Manager program can jump in with some answers. Here's the problem:

When I start pMM from with in MyMovies (in MCE 2005 setup), the pMM window (slideshow) windows opens behind the MCE window. You know how to get around this problem?

Finally (and I hope he's okay with me mentioning this), a member who doesn't use Paypal and wanted to send payment by snail mail, made an even more interesting offer to pass along to me a spindle of CD-Rs that he got a good deal on. I'm a big fan of bartering, so I took him up on his offer. A stack of shiny blank discs will be in my mail soon...and he'll get Vol. 1, 2 & 3 of the slides. This forum is a great place to pass the time because of generous members like this!

Want to post my thanks to Steve as well. The jpegs are very professional looking and greatly complements any home theater setup. Thanks a lot!

Ronnie

Techtalker, the professional home theater voiceover intro's can be found at:

http://www.cinemaronline.com/techtalker.html

My video intro was done by these guys:

http://www.digitalforge.com/

It's in 1920 x 1080p / Divx format, which actually makes it look superior to most of the movies we watch :>


I was thinking about writing a "how to" for using pre-movie manager as it's not very intuitive. Especially for adding the voice over's and multiple directories of your coca-cola jpeg's.




That tech talker sounds cool. I hope he chimes in with info on how to get it.

A member PM'ed me about how to use my slides in an HTPC set up with the various programs available. Since I don't use an HTPC, I can't really offer him any help. I am hoping one of your who has knowledge with the Pre-Movie Manager program can jump in with some answers. Here's the problem:

When I start pMM from with in MyMovies (in MCE 2005 setup), the pMM window (slideshow) windows opens behind the MCE window. You know how to get around this problem?

Finally (and I hope he's okay with me mentioning this), a member who doesn't use Paypal and wanted to send payment by snail mail, made an even more interesting offer to pass along to me a spindle of CD-Rs that he got a good deal on. I'm a big fan of bartering, so I took him up on his offer. A stack of shiny blank discs will be in my mail soon...and he'll get Vol. 1, 2 & 3 of the slides. This forum is a great place to pass the time because of generous members like this!

An interested AVSer, Aubrey Whitley, emailed me this question, but my reply keeps getting bounced back and is not deliverable. I hope you guys don't mind me answering here in the thread; I'm not sure how else he will see it otherwise...
QUESTION:
One question, if I slap this into my jpeg compatible DVD player and display it on a 4:3 TV, will it come out letter boxed?

First, thanks for your interest! Now for your answer: I wouldn't slap this CD-R into your jpeg playback capable DVD player, mainly because each theme set of slides "Trivia", "Movie Moments" ect., is in its own folder, so you wouldn't get a real varied playback experience (unless you want 50 trivia questions, one right after the other, with no other themed slides breaking them up). So, I'm really only providing a data disc; it's up to you to use the jpegs to create your own pre-show intro...the length you want, with the slides you like, and maybe with some background music of your choosing.

As for how they display: if you did just slap the disc I'm sending you into your player, your 4X3 screen would be filled completely with a vertically stretched image, i.e. the round film reel logo would appear oval instead of round. So, whatever video editing software you decide to use to create your pre-show intro needs to be set to output an final MPEG video file that contains a 16x9 flag in it that a DVD player will recognize and therefore know how to display the image. I'm sorry if I can't offer more guidance in this particular matter: I really conceived these slides to display on 16x9 sets and created the artwork accordingly. And since there are many video editing programs out there, each hopefully will have a menu choice that allows you to use these jpeg files in a way that the final project results in jpegs displayed in the proper manner on your screen. If you have specific issues, please feel free to post your question in the AVS thread about these slides: someone I'm sure has encountered a similar problem and will offer a solution. I've been offering the volumes of these slides for a couple of years now, and clever AVSers have used my jpegs in many ways....

Good luck!
Steven

Just wanted to thank steve, my cd has now arrived, only 6 days to Scotland.


CHeers mate, the slides are fantastic!

Steven, thanks for making these available... I just PayPal'd ya!

Steven
I'm Aubrey Whitley. I'm glad you got my Paypal. I'll send you a PM with my email address again. Plus, I'll check my email address in Paypal.

Thanks for answering my question. No problem with not helping with the video editing software. I was just curious if at least take a peek at slides. It sounds like maybe but they will not be pretty.

DOH!

Attention Martin Block and Don Kincaid:

I am officially losing it; I haven't done this before...
Somehow, your Coke slides discs, packed in their mailing envelopes, got put in the stack of eBay items that have been sold, but are waiting for payment to arrive. So, I have now noticed my mistake and both will go out USPS First Class tomorrow monring. My apologies for the goof.

Thanks for your understanding.
Steven

A shameless bump....but with a purpose.

Many of the emails I've received the past few weeks were from folks interested in getting a disc, but having no idea how to go about it. Is there something else that should be added to the first post that would make things more clear? Method of payment, minimum amount to cover packaging & postage, email to use for Paypal or questions--all that is posted.

Suggestions?

Just forwarded payment via paypal. Thanks again Steven, looking forward to seeing what you've done this time around. Todd

Just sent a paypal payment and also look forward to seeing them. Thanks

Paypay sent.

I missed Vol 2 so it will be great to all three on one Cd.

Thanks
Greg

Just received the disk. Thanks for the effort !!

Quick question for those of you who have made you intro disks. What music are you guys using while running these slides. And if it is a instrumental type disk what is your source for the music? Thanks in advance.

Joel

Paypal sent! Anxious to see it.
Jim

Here are some pretty neat wav files that you can use to count down to your show.

Movie Sounds (http://www.drive-inthruwisconsin.com/Sounds.htm)
I use them in mine. My favorite is the " And Now. On With The Show!".

Roberto

Expect a paypal payment from me too!

Simeon

Snail mail payment, and PM sent with address. Waiting for postal service to resume in my area. Thanks Steven!

Ah, yes, mail service to Texas. That could be a while....

Discs are mailed out. Hopefully they will arrive soon.

Thanks,
Steven

Transatlantic delivery in 3 days. Way to go!

Many thanks

Simeon

Guess the mail is back in service, thanks alot Steven. Another great job.

Just a heads up:

I will be on a cruise from Oct. 9th - 16, so I won't be mailing anything out that week, obviously. Anyone who Paypals (wow--that's a verb?) me by Saturday morning will get a disc put in Saturday's mail. Otherwise, I'll get to them on the 17th.

Simeon-- A couple of months ago, I had a Visa payment take 19 days to go from Tennessee to Kentucky (two states that share a border) and had to argue with Visa to refund a late payment fee they tacked on...

so 3 days across the pond is great. I wish my local mail was that quick sometimes.

Well have a good time Steven, everybody needs a break sometime :D

ahhhh, a week in the Cayman Islands, Mexico, Jamaica and Haiti. Just what the doctor ordered!

to the four of you who contacted me during the last week: your discs ship Monday the 17th. thanks for your interest!

steven

Welcome back!

Money is sent. I have to see what all the buzz is about!

Matt

Just sent my money. this should be fun!

Does anyone know of any software (cheap / free) that can make a random DVD segment? I was wondering if I could make an intro DVD that wouldn't always be the same. Maybe a couple different playlists, and intro videos, etc.

Thanks

Thanks Steven. Got them today.

Does anyone know of any software (cheap / free) that can make a random DVD segment? I was wondering if I could make an intro DVD that wouldn't always be the same. Maybe a couple different playlists, and intro videos, etc.

Thanks


Sorry I can't help you with software suggestions. I just make jpegs; a guy has to know his limitations...

I'm sure someone will chime in with some ideas for your project.

Steven

Not that I know of. Only two I know of (although I'm sure there are others) are Scenarist and DVDMaestro. Neither is cheap or readily available for purchase.

I think I found the answer to my own question. There is a program called DVD Lab Pro. dvdlabpro com Their software allows random lists.

I've played around a bit and it does work. So what I'm going to do is create 4-5 different videos of the coke slides. That will allow me to use the questions and the answers and I can mix and match. Then I'll use DVD Lab Pro to randomly select one of the videos as part of the intro.

I can follow that up with a random trailer (from a list of x) and a dolby or dts trailer (from a list).

Then I can end up with it always showing my custom intro (rendered thanks to reaper) with the fox 20th fanfare audio.

So my intro won't always be exactly the same. The best part about DVD Lab Pro is it has a fully functional 30day trial, and if you buy it's $199. I'm sure I can finish my intro in 30 days. So far it was pretty easy to use. I might just buy it for future use.

Steve, I just sent you some money. Thanks. These look great.

Along the same lines as this, how does one take scenes from movies and put them onto aDVD with full DTS etc? I want to make a version of my slide show that shows one of the "freeze frame" slides then cuts to a scene from that movie. Any ideas?

Sam

I just have to say "thank you" again for these slides. They are GREAT!

I second MstrD...the slides are great! :)

Glad everyone is putting them to good use.

As for getting movie clips off of DVDs and adding them to a disc for random playback with slides: this may skate to the topic of ripping commercial DVDs, which I know we shouldn't talk about. So....

how 'bout this weather, huh? ;)

Steven

I think I found the answer to my own question. There is a program called DVD Lab Pro. dvdlabpro com Their software allows random lists.

I've played around a bit and it does work. So what I'm going to do is create 4-5 different videos of the coke slides. That will allow me to use the questions and the answers and I can mix and match. Then I'll use DVD Lab Pro to randomly select one of the videos as part of the intro.

I can follow that up with a random trailer (from a list of x) and a dolby or dts trailer (from a list).

Then I can end up with it always showing my custom intro (rendered thanks to reaper) with the fox 20th fanfare audio.

So my intro won't always be exactly the same. The best part about DVD Lab Pro is it has a fully functional 30day trial, and if you buy it's $199. I'm sure I can finish my intro in 30 days. So far it was pretty easy to use. I might just buy it for future use.


A 30-day trial, and the program isn't crippled at all? That sounds great! Even I can probably stumble through for a month and end up with something usuable! Video editing & DVD authoring are not my forte. Thanks for the tip about this program. I'm sure many others on the site will find this helpful.

Steven

Good my disk yesterday, thanks steven. They look great. Time to get to work on this.

A 30-day trial, and the program isn't crippled at all? That sounds great! Even I can probably stumble through for a month and end up with something usuable! Video editing & DVD authoring are not my forte. Thanks for the tip about this program. I'm sure many others on the site will find this helpful.

Steven

So far it's seems pretty easy to use and they had a lot of tutorial stuff available. I'm still trying to figure out the whole AC3 audio thing, vs MP3 vs. stereo, etc. A lot of their terms (VTS, etc) were all new to me so I'm learning by trial and error.

I was trying to use another program to set up a "movie" of slides. I was actually going to make 6 "movies" with slide transitions, etc. So I divided up all the screen play ones and now I'm trying to put them in some kind of order. It might be better to make 12 movies, and then run 2 random ones back to back. I'm adding in audio to go with slides as background music. I can have multiple audio tracks, so I can add in the "5 minutes" or "10 minutes to go" audio clips I've found.

The whole DVD authoring thing was pretty easy so far. You just pick the movies and then it has like a flow chart thingy for the ordering. One click and it burns the DVD. It should be prety slick when I get done.

definately interested in this great set, just need a few more posts before I can attach an email. I learned so much just reading about other ideas from everyone, hope I can be of assistance in the near future also, I am about half way through my project from ht black hole.

While waiting for my Coca-Cola CD to arrive, I have been playing with DVD-Lab pro. It takes a little reading and practice, but it looks to be a very powerful tool. I am practicing making random slide shows with pictures I already have until the Coke pictures arrive. With a few custom pictures thrown in for good measure, it should make a great pre-show show.
Matt

Just sent payment via PayPal with a "little" extra $$$.

Looking forward to receiving the disc!

Thanks,

Scott

I won't have a chunk of free time to play with this program until Dec. 26th...then it's two weeks off. So, I'm waiting to download my 30-day free trail of the program until then...

If anyone else with experience using this program can chime in with shortcuts & tips, it would help those of us with limited time to get up to speed. Even when people describe programs as being pretty intuitive, I know I'm still going to stumble along for a while...

I Always do a custom 'Pre-Show' disc each time I have a party. Need current Trailers anyway (getting those into good formats is a whole other ball of wax). I wrote a quick program to "shuffle" my pics and re-name for easy insertion into a slide-show dvd making program. Also change up the background music each time. I set up for about 15seconds of each slide.

these coke slides are the best thing around.

these coke slides are the best thing around.

Jim, You're too kind!

I'm not sure they're the "best thing", but like eating at a buffet restaurant, you get a lot for a small price. With three volumes containing several hundred slides, there's something in there for everyone...

unless you're a Pepsi drinker!

For anyone interested who hasn't put in a request yet, contact me (first post of this thread contains all details) and I'll drop a disc in the mail for you. With the holidays coming up, your house guests will get a kick out of any pre-show entertainment you can create using these slides.

And finally, the obligatory....

[Ronco voice] It makes a great gift![/Ronco voice];)

If anyone else with experience using this program can chime in with shortcuts & tips, it would help those of us with limited time to get up to speed. ...

Here is my two cents on DVD-lab.
First, I suggest using the plain Jane DVD-Lab (non-pro version). I will explain why later on.

Run through their quick tutorial. http://www.mediachance.com/dvdlab/Help/quick.htm
In just about 20 minutes, you will learn how to use all the main features to get the job done. You will want to do this before you read on. It will get you familar with the general flow of things in DVD-lab.

The top left of the screen has the main components of the DVD (movies, menus, shows (slideshows), and connections. You have to double click on the menu, show...... you want to get it to be active (show up in the window to the top right).
It took me a little time to understand how to change the connections section. This section is a flow chart of what will happen (for example, maybe you want a THX trailer to play first when the DVD is inserted and then you want to automatically go to a selection menu). You would set that up with the connections section. Your menu and THX "movie" would have to be already created.
It took me a little time to understand how to change the connections section. The individual blocks will be hooked up with lines. I first tried dragging the lines around to change the connections, but the way to do it is to use the "crosshatch" tool towards the upper left corner of the connections window and then drag a line from one block to the other. The old line/connection will disappear and the new line/connection will appear when you are done.

Slide Show:
Since most people here are interested in DVD-lab to show the Coke slides, I will concentrate on this section. Right click on the Show folder and select "add show". Double click on the slide show you want to work on and then use the folder icons to either add a group of pictures or add all the pictures in one folder. The folder icon markings make sense as to which one does what. I originally took the slide shows from all three volumes and grouped them into sections...... all the "movie moments" into one folder, all the trivia in another folder. Later I realized it was easier to brake the slides into subfolders so I could just select all the slides in one folder easily instead of trying to grab some of the slides in one large folder.

Since you probably don't want to watch 100+ trivia slides consecutively, break up the trivia slides into the sub folders. I had trivia folders 1-9 + Star Wars trivia + Bond Trivia. I tried to have about 30-40 slides in one folder as that is about the right amount of slides for one song (assuming you are going to put music to your slides). So my slideshow will show 30 or so movie moments (played to one song) and then switch to 30 or so trivia questions put to one song. I have the slideshow zig-zagging between types of slides for variety. I throw in the "cell phone" or "trash" slide without audio inbetween the larger shows.

Audio:
Speaking of audio, use the "assets" section (bottom left) as a convenient place to put all of the material you are going to need (audio and movies). You don't need to put pictures here as you add those through the slideshow feature. If you want to use waves, they need to be 48KHz sampling. DVD-lab will offer to convert them for you, but one at a time takes a lot of time. You can use Winamp or whatever you like to convert MP3s to 48KHz waves. I wanted to have AC3 audio, so I used ffmpeggui to convert the waves to AC3 two channel audio (Google will turn up ffmpeggui). I also used Audacity (a free wave editor) to trim and fade the waves before I converted them to AC3. You can add your audio to your assets area and then simply drag the AC3 file or WAV file to the audio section underneath the slideshow (after you have double clicked on the slide show you want to work on).

Slideshow length:
While working on a slideshow, you can click on the time tab to set how long you want each slide to be. The total time is shown just below that (set 5 seconds and have 10 slides shows 50 seconds). There is an option nearby to "match slides to audio duration". This kind of works, but it looks like the program rounds to the nearest second. I thought the program would look at the length of the audio you added, divide that by the number of slides, and then make each slide just long enough so your slides finish when your audio does. Not so. Since it rounds to the nearest second (you can put it 5.5 seconds... you can but when you come back it has put it back to a hole number) you may have a couple slides at the end of the slideshow without audio since 0.5 seconds round off error over 30 slides could be 15 seconds.
One very nice timing feature is the "fine adjust" (just down from the time tab). This is handy on Trivia questions. I originally had each trivia slide showing for 6 seconds, but you don't need to see the answer for very long, but it might be nice to see the question for longer. You can individually adjust each slide longer or shorter than the defualt setting. I made the questions display for 8 seconds and the answer display for 4 seconds. If you decide to change the default time... no problem. Your adjusted slides stay where you left them and the "non adjusted" slides change to the default time you just set. That was good thinking.

Movies:
Movies are fairly straight forward. Just drag you video into the movie area (you got the movie area active my double clicking on the movie (move 1, movie 2)) and then drag audio below it like you would for the slideshow. DVD-lab will not accept AVI files, but it will take MPEG (one and two I think) and VOB files as well as the video only formats like .MPV. When you drag MPEG or VOB files in, use the defualt option (it will prompt you) to pull the video and audio apart. You will be left with the individual audio and video files where your original file was. Now you can pull those two files into your asset section and use as you like.

Menus:
Are also straight forward. Make as many menus as you like (don't forget to connect them up in the connections section). Double click on Menu1 .... menu 2... to make it active. Now you can use the text tool to put text in the menu. Use the grid tool and snap to grid tool (icons above the active section that look appropriate) so you can add text and not worry about having to line everything up perfectly. Once you have all the text in, you need to tell DVD-lab what you want to happen when a person selects that text. When "Bond Trivia" is selected you want the DVD to go to the Bond slideshow so simply drag the slideshow number (say slideshow 5 is the bond slides) to the text you created that says "Bond Slides" and your link is in place. If you don't want text to do anything, don't link it.

Compile:
Once you are done, you need to compile to get the VIDEO_TS folder that you use to burn a DVD (the built in burner worked fine for me). In fact, Nero complained about the VIDEO_TS folder DVD-pro created.
You will get errors or warning after you tell it to compile if there are any. Compiling with all the slides can take about an hour.

DVD-lab VS DVD-lab pro:
I had problems with DVD-lab pro. The slideshows would start playing the audio, but the video would stay on the selections menu for about 5 seconds (the length of the first slide). This would happen to slideshows greater than slideshow 5. I spent days trying to figure out the difference between the first few slide shows and the remaining slideshows. After giving up fixing the problem, I tried to work around the problem my making the first slide 1 second.... so my video delay would be one second instead of five. I changed a few slide shows to test this and ALL of the shows started working OK! I narrowed it down to one show that I could change the first show to one second and all would work. Thinking the audio was bad (even though the asset sections showed the AC3 audio was OK) I changed the song. Same problem. Then I changed the timings on all my slides to make them better, my one second fix on that one slide show no longer worked. The problem occured on two different DVD players AND Intervideo WinDVD4. I tried using two different computers (one running Win2000 and one XP) More days of frustration went by and I decided to use the basic version of DVD-lab. It doesn't have the "return to last menu feature" (handy for making pseudo random slides shows), but I was desperate. I had to restart since the saved menus from the pro version didn't import (memory full error). I got it all back together and I had no problems. It also compiled much more quickly than the pro version. There is a inbetween version, but I saw it was based on the pro "engine" so I decided to use the basic version.

My Setup:
First I auto play a "Welcome to Matt's Movie Time Theater" "20th century fox" style video ( http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=538807
)
Then I play the Simpson's THX trailer. I love that one.
Then I go into a menu that welcomes the audience and allows for a "Play all slides" or "selections menu". The selection menu has all 33 different slideshows listed and you can access each one from this menu. Once it plays, the show continues on to the next slideshow and so on. So if you are tired of seeing the beginning of the show, you can skip ahead to the later part of the show you never see.

The Templates that Steven Good provides are great. I photoshopped my theater name into a few and put some other custom info in.

I hope this helps others playing with DVD-lab.

Matt

mtucker--

you get a cookie! very nice of you to share all of that helpful information! i'm looking forward to some down time after Christmas to get to work on a project like this!

thanks again!
steven good

mtucker -

Have you tried any of the "random lists" ? Or is that only available in the pro version? I haven't made a final DVD yet but what I'm doing is setting up 2-3 random lists. Each list picks a random "movie" of slides. So you get 3 random slide shows all automatically. Then it plays the intros, etc. I'm not sure if I'm going to use the built in slideshows or if I'll use a different software package to make a slideshow "movie" and then just attach it in DVD Lab Pro.

All I did was create the list, add it to the connections, add the slideshows to the list, then connect multiple lists. So I have 6 slides shows on each of lists A, B, C. That way things are pretty random. So far in my tests it works pretty well. I also set up the "menu" button to pick another from the same random list and the chapters buttons skip to the next one. It can then go back to another menu at the end, which has all the movies available to be picked.

Well I just sent my money in for the slides. I'll be doing my own DVD. I envision a DVD that starts with the Tex EX THX intro (my favorite) and goes into the slides, random if possible, with no menus. Just a straight autoplaying disc with movie orchestra music in the background. I have some nice ones on DVD-audio that are in DD5.1, but it might be easier to just import 2 channel.

Have you tried any of the "random lists" ?

I did try using the random list and counter list feature in the PRO version.
First I was going to just use the random feature to play all the slideshows randomly, but since there was a chance of having the same show play twice within a few mintues I also added the counter lists.

I believe I wound up doing something similar to what you describe MstrD. The attached picture shows the list section from the PRO version. The general flow was:
1. Choose a random number (random menu) from 1 through 3.
2. Goto that menu and do nothing (the menu was zero time length).
3. Got to the counter list that was connected to that paticular menu. The counter list contained all the slideshows I had arranged by me. So list 1 had all the slides in order. List 2 had all the slides in reverse order and List 3 had all the slides in a jumbled up order. That way you would't see the slideshows played in the exact same order too often since there were three different combinations.

The dummy menus from step 2 were used so I could use the "return to last menu" feature of the PRO version. Since the counter lists advance each time you return to it, I was looking for an easy way to return to the counter list after a slideshow was played. The return to last menu feature was put after each slide. That way the counter list would keep incrementing if you came from there. If you chose a single slideshow from the menu that contained links to all, it would return to that menu.

Of course I abondoned all that when I went to the standard version.
So the show starts at the same place every time, but if you go to the selection menu you can start wherever you want and the show will continually loop.

Matt

Ah, computer problems...

My power supply died this week, taking my AMD processor and at least one stick of memory with it. The motherboard and hard drive seem to have survived, but the system will in the shop for a several days to get parts replaced.

So, to the nice AVS member a.k.a. Whizzo Consulting who asked for a disc earlier this week, there will be a delay getting your disc burned and mailed to you. Sorry!

Somehow, my external backup hard drive's backup program settings has been reset and was only backing up my C drive partition (with operating system, ect), not the other parittion with all my HT-related stuff (like Coke Slide jpegs).

UGH!

All is not lost, but the slide jpegs are impossible to get to currently. The obsolete PC I'm typing on now is creaking along, but it's just not the same...

I'll update again soon when I'm able to start burning again.

Steven

Well, after much trial and tribulation...my PC is back up and running. To the four of you who have waited so patiently these past several days for your disc, they all ship tomorrow. Anyone else who is interested, contact me. All details in first post of the thread.

Steven

I'm in.

I just sent a paypal payment

thanks Steven, looking forward to receiving it.

Sent $$ via paypal. :)

Steven,

Sent you money via Paypal today. Thanks for all your time and effort.

Anyone using a Mac to make the DVD. I am thinking I can put something together with iMovie, and iDVD. Anyone else do this yet?

Thanks,

Tam

Steven,

Sent you money via Paypal today. Thanks for all your time and effort.

Anyone using a Mac to make the DVD. I am thinking I can put something together with iMovie, and iDVD. Anyone else do this yet?

Thanks,

Tam
Done. Used the movie theater theme in iDVD, imported several 720p HD trailers, mixed in with Steven's slides, placed music in the background, and you get a decent looking movie intro! It's no Bitstream Cert intro, but I think it's the best "home-made" type you can get for next to nothing (cost of Steven's slides which is already next to nothing, and a DVD).

Seems I've sent a blank CD-R to at least one of you. So sorry. I just grabbed a disc from the wrong stack, put it in a case and mailed it out. Holiday distractions, I guess...

Anyone else receive a blank disc? Email or PM me and I'll get another (with files actually burned on it!) out promptly.

Steven

Steve.

I received mine today, looked at a few of the slides and they look great!

Thanks

Tom

Just got mine today as well. Thank you, and they look spectacular!

My disc arrived today and 'stunning' is the only word I can think of to describe it. This will go very far towards enhancing the effect that guests are in a real theater. Thank you for a "Good" job, Mr. Great (or is that backwards? ;-)

Thanks FlyNAVY.

Can't wait for mine to arrive.

Tam

Thanks Steven, My wife is a huge Coke fan so she will love these. Hope they arrive for Christmas, keeping my fingers crossed. You have paypal $$$.

Everyone who has ordered a disc has one on the way via USPS 1st Class. Hope you enjoy showing them off during the holidays!

Just sent payment. Thanks for all your time and effort Steve!! Guess you are getting to know the postal system pretty well by now.

Steven,

You are the best! Thanks for the priority shipping! You went way above and beyond on this one.

(oh yeah...and the slides are great too!)

Barry

Steven,

You are the best! Thanks for the priority shipping! You went way above and beyond on this one.

(oh yeah...and the slides are great too!)

Barry

No need to thank me--you paid the extra $$ for the express shipping. Hope your LOTR marathon goes well this weekend!

Steven

Still waiting on mine. :)

Cheers!

Still waiting on mine. :)

Cheers!


Well....Canada does take a bit more time...

This is absolutely wonderful. I've been researching AVS Forums for A/V core equipment information for years but now that I stumbled into the "Theater Room Items & Accessories" forum (while looking for popcorn machine opinions), I see an entirely new world awaiting me! PayPal sent, and I'm eagerly awaiting the disk.

Thank you for such great idea, Steven!

schwazche

Just stumbled on this and am quite interested. However, I'm not sure how to use this in conjunction with my DVD changer? Is this best used from a htpc or a separate single disc dvd player that is loaded with this disc full time?

Thanks

This disc is a ton of great JPG slides, you would need to create a slide show using a video studio software. Then you would be able to load it up on your DVD player.

Steven,

got mine a couple weeks ago. made a great intro of your slides backed with some John Williams theme songs. tested it for my wife's girls night. they thought it was very cool....which didn't hurt my standing with the wife! thanks for everything!!!

sdspga

Just stumbled on this and am quite interested. However, I'm not sure how to use this in conjunction with my DVD changer? Is this best used from a htpc or a separate single disc dvd player that is loaded with this disc full time?

Thanks

I think there are AVS members using all of those methods and more:

--disc loaded into a seperate 2nd dvd player, then cueing up this disc, and the feature film on the other player, them switching inputs when necessary

--in a multi-disc changer with the intro disc playing, then rotating to the next (feature) disc when ready

--creating a intro on a hard drive in an htpc and playing back that way...

i'm sure you can figure out a method that works for you, based on the equipment you own, and your cleverness.

As an aside, my letter carrier says that First Class and Priority Mail are equally fast as they both (for the most part) follow the exact same transport system. So he says to save your money on postage.

Then again, my letter carrier wears shorts in 50 degree weather (we're in Chicago)

Then again, my letter carrier wears shorts in 50 degree weather (we're in Chicago)
50 degrees isn't that bad

Wait--I wear shorts in 50 degree weather, too. Sounds like my kind of mailman! When he gets cold, he puts on more clothes. Seems sensible...

I usually mail discs USPS 1st class. The express mail thing was for a member that needed his disc pronto for a weekend get-together. And he made his request on Thursday, if I remember correctly. So, speed was essential.

If anyone needs a disc to start 2006 off with a bang, contact me.

50 degrees isn't that bad

First, if we were in Ketchikan, maybe. IMHO, 50 degrees in Chicago isn't the weather for shorts. But hey, what do I know? Perhaps that gives this guy extra credulity.

Second and, I think most importantly, he doesn't have the knees for it.
:eek:

BTW, I sent in an order for a disc.

I sent you a payment through paypal. Even included a christmas bonus. Can u please send me a copy of your disc. Happy holidays!

I sent you a payment through paypal. Even included a christmas bonus. Can u please send me a copy of your disc. Happy holidays!

If you're Howard, and you Paypal'ed on the 29th, then your disc has shipped. Have a great 2006!

Hee hee--

Yesterday, I received a Paypal from a wife's account with a confused note that made me giggle:

Hi, I have no clue what this is, I just know my DH asked me to send you $5.00.

While replying that the disc was shipping that day, I took the time to explain what her husband has asked her to put in an order for. She replied with something along the lines of:

NNOOOOOOOO! ...sigh... (followed by some remarks about a recently-accquired popcorn machine).

The tone seemed to be a mostly-joking one, but still not quite bitten by the HT bug, as her husband seems to be...;)


The lesson here, folks, is to 'fess up: if you're gonna ask your wife to Paypal some $$, then clue her in what its for. Don't make me spill the beans. :) Making my wife mad is a full-time job; I can't be upsetting your wives, too...

Just checking in to make sure everyone expecting to receive discs has actaully received them by now. Especially those discs crossing the border into Canada ;)

If anyone else is interested, all info is in first post of thread!

I recently replaced my CD burner in my PC, as my old one wasn't always recognizing when a disc was in the tray. Guess I put too many miles on it... :D
Anyway, the new one is quieter even though it seems to burna bit faster.

I've has a couple of messages asking if there would ever be a Vol. 4. I hadn't really given it much thought; there are already over 600 slides contained in Vols. 1 - 3. With the Adobe templates included on the disc, one could always crank out some "Movie Moment" slides with more recent big-screen releases, to keep the slideshow fresh and current. But otherwise, I just don't know. If I did, it would probably be similar to Vol. 3 and have trivia questions covering specific film genres or series. If there is a Vol. 4, it wouldn't appear until April or May, when I have some blocks of free time to work it.

Wow this all sounds great Steven! I think I'm on the hook here :) Funny but I too stumbled upon this while crusing the HT accessories forum checking out popcorn machine info. (bought one from Costco!) :)

Forgive me for asking a rather rudimentary question here about actually using the files. As I can tell, I will need to take your images/files and convert them to a slideshow for use on my DVD player. I can do this and will be using Windows Movie Maker and then ripping to VCD using Sonic's "My DVD" software.

So do I just create the slide show, add some music to run in the background and that's it? Any suggestions or ideas to enhance the experience?

Thanks! :)

Wow this all sounds great Steven! I think I'm on the hook here :) Funny but I too stumbled upon this while crusing the HT accessories forum checking out popcorn machine info. (bought one from Costco!) :)

Forgive me for asking a rather rudimentary question here about actually using the files. As I can tell, I will need to take your images/files and convert them to a slideshow for use on my DVD player. I can do this and will be using Windows Movie Maker and then ripping to VCD using Sonic's "My DVD" software.

So do I just create the slide show, add some music to run in the background and that's it? Any suggestions or ideas to enhance the experience?

Thanks! :)

That's it. However, if you read through the thread, you'll find suggestions for other video software to use to make a pre-show intro, the type of music some members used for background music, ect. Lots of great infom in the thread. I just supply the raw materials; use them however you can to create an intro!

Good luck!
Steven

Thanks Steven and I'll give the whole thread a good read when the discs show up. That was me who sent you the order via Paypal today. Thanks for the speedy confirmation and I really look forward to this little project. Thanks! :)

Steven,

Add me to the list... I can't wait to add these to the HT setup. Maybe in time for the Super Bowl Party....thanks for making these available... I just PayPal'd ya!

Steven,

Add me to the list... I can't wait to add these to the HT setup. Maybe in time for the Super Bowl Party....thanks for making these available... I just PayPal'd ya!

Great minds think alike, evidently. Several other members have also mentioned Super Bowl parties when ordering the disc. I hope your intros impress your guests.

With two weeks until the big game, there's plenty of time to order the slides and create an intro for your home theater. So, anyone who needs one, contact me (see first post in the thread).

Looking forward to the two championship games tomorrow!

Steven

Just sent Paypal. I can't wait to check these out on the big screen. thanks.

thad.

Got it Steven. Very nicely done images. Thanks! Can't wait to burn them into a slide show and see it on the "big screen" :)

Steven. The slides are a hit. Thanks for the quick delivery and the great jpegs.

Just received my copy.

Great job!

Just sent PayPal, Thanks in advance Steven, I can't wait!

I also just sent you payment by PayPal..

Thanks..

Robert

Discs are in the mail for everyone who has ordered this past week. Now...the race is on to create your intros in time for your Superbowl get-togethers. Good luck!

Steven

I was surprised to find the Vol. 2 thread returned to the first page, while this more recent and more informative Vol. 3 thread elsewhere.

I guess the half-dozen AVSers who have requested discs this past week got the info from the Vol. 2 thread... hmmm.

Imagine their surpsrise when they actually receive more slides that they were reading about! A Vol. 3 unknown to them...

With a big summer of sequels coming, I'm considering another round of slides, to add some newer titles in the rotation. Anyone up for them?

Steven

Yes, new slides are always appreciated.

I made a slide show with Nero and then added 6 custom intro segments and 11 dolby or DTS short segments. I have 2 random segments of slides play and then one intro and dolby segment ( random) After the movie I have a "thanks for coming segment. I used DVD Maestro to make the DVD and as I said Nero to make the slide show with nice transitions between the slides. I will make more slide segments from version 3 when available and add them to the mix
Dan, I probably missed something, just saw this thread... So you took Steven's jpegs and made a slide show from them?

Just FYI, in Maestro you can import jpegs directly with a set length (under preferences). So you could presumably skip the nero step. I'd like to see your work and random command sequences. Sounds cool.

Scott

Steven, a Vol 4 sounds great ;-)

Quick question here.. You're sending out CD-Rs that we then need to turn into DVDs? Do I have that right? If so, why don't you just send the DVD? I'd gladly pay a dollar or two more. This looks like a great idea btw!

Edit: Nevermind, I see now that this is just a collection of jpegs from which to build from. I'll be sending paypal shortly!

oops... just saw your last line indicating that you answered your own question. yes, i just supply the raw materials. the rest is up to you.

Steven,

Got my disc today. Fantastic slides. Thanks again.

I remember begging years ago but is there any chance you could make the DVD out of these? I remember you considering such a prospect. I do not have the equipment nor the understanding to do it but would love something like this to pop on before the movie. Are there legal reasons you haven't done this? I would pay ~10 for one. It looks like the idea has lost steam. I might try to have my brother put one together for me if you aren't able to do this but I thought I would drop in and see where the idea had gone to.

"Fellow AVSer, thank you for this wonderful service. If there is any chance you would be willing to send this in DVD format I would gladly send another $7. Otherwise, thank you for getting me this far!" (You have PayPal)

Well, oddly enough, I have been giving this more thought lately. It comes down to having a few days of uninterupted time to devote to it. And if I do decide to do this, I will certainly let anyone interested here know about it....

I appreciate your kind words and continued interest.

Steven

I'm interested in these as well. Send you a paypal payment right now:)

My copy of the CD came in the mail today, These slides are great. I think they look better than the preshow stuff they show at my local theater. The only downside is that I spent the last 3 hours at my PC converting them to a DVD and now my wife is miffed that I was ignoring her.

Greg

Trust me, I did a lot more than 3 hours of ignoring my wife when I made them...

But, then Olympics and figure skating season rolls around, and she ignores me for a while then.

Steven:

Got mine today.......they look great....now just have to get some time to play with them and cut some Dvd's:)

I have had one AVs'er who has contacted me to say that all of the jpegs on his CD-R have weird horizonal lines in them when displayed on his computer. I have never heard from anyone else--and I've mailed out hundreds of these jpegs out on disc--about some sort of anomoly in the files.

I have of course offered to mail out another disc to replace the buggy one. He wanted me to email him enough jpegs to create a pre-show by this Friday. However, sending more that two at a time make the email choke (dont' know if its' my end or his end).


Anyone else experienced this? If so, please chime in..., but I'm finding nothing wonky on my PC...

I went through a good % of them and had no problems. Might be an issue with his computer.

I got my disk from you 2 days ago (THANKS!). No issues whatsoever with the images. Created an mpg last night. Once I create a few more I'll burn a DVD. They look great!!

Thanks again Steven.

Steven, when I get home tonight, I will try to send you some examples.

Just ordered mine today, so now I have to start looking for some music to add when I make the dvd. I can't wait to get started and see how they look. I also bought the CeRT intro, so I should be all set for now. Looks like it will take a while to go through all the slides just to pick out the ones I like. Thanks for offering these cd's, Steven.

Looks like it will take a while to go through all the slides just to pick out the ones I like. .

Don't forget, I've included the Adobe files you can use as templates to make slides of your favorite films. For example, I'm not much of a horror fan, but I'm sure more than one AVS'er has used the templates to add some scary titles to the collection I've supplied. They're Adobe PhotoDeluxe files, but PhotoShop opens them, too (at least up to 4.0--haven't tested with more recent PS versions).

And finally, I'd like to say a public thanks to everyone who has added a few $ extra for the effort. :) I appreciate it. We just got the acceptance letter for our son to attend Northwestern University next fall. We're poor Tennesseans..and @ $47K a year, even with the generous scholarship they awarded him, Northwestern will be getting a lot of our $. So, I'll need to continue to be creative in order to fund my DVD habit (the first step is admitting you have a problem). ;)

Steven - I'm really interested in this as well. A question though, if the Jpgs are already on a CD-R and considering most DVD players now will "slide show" jpgs on a CD-R anyway...why can't we just use the CD-R you supply instead of copying them over to a DVD? Sorry if this was already asked/answered as I must have missed it in the thread. Thanks for the info.

Edited to add:

Oops, on my second run through of the thread, I saw where you sorta addressed my question on the second page.

So, the only issue really is how the DVD player will pick up the folders that the slide jpgs are housed in? IOW, I could just copy the CD-R onto another CD-R with the folders removed and my DVD player would slide-show them? (I realize that the there'd be no sound, and there could be some "stretching" of the image, etc). Again, thanks for the info.

I'm not steven but to chime in that would work but you would probably want to arrange them in a specific order and reburn the disc. That way of doing it you wouldn't be able to include background music or any animation.

I'm not steven but to chime in that would work but you would probably want to arrange them in a specific order and reburn the disc. That way of doing it you wouldn't be able to include background music or any animation.

That's true. I just don't have a DVD burner, and I'm trying to figure out a way to make this work with just a CD burner.

I could easily solve the background music issue by switching my receiver to something else (maybe one of those digital music channels on cable).

By animation, I'm assuming you're referring to different kinds of dissolves from slide to slide? My DVD player has some of those built-in, so I still think this would work.

Thanks for the reply!

Yeah it will work then. If you player will do the animation effects then that's pretty much it. I know some users have inserted small theater intro's. I belive one has an AVI posted in this thread that includes an animated intro with his slides.

I just received the DVD and Steven has them all filed first by volume then by slide type in the order or Q then A where it applies.

So all you would have to do is order them how you wanted and it sounds like it would work for you.

You might also check into DVD Burners....You can get a good one for $40 off newegg.com and they are easy to install. I think mine was that price and was a CD-ROM/CD-BURNER/DVD-BURNER all in one.

Thanks, RLU.

Steven - Paypal has been sent. Thanks!

Thanks for jumping in RLU and answering questions. We're watching golfball-sized hail out our windows right now and under a tornado warning for the next several hours, so I haven't been online much this afternoon.

However, I used my last CD-R this morning and for IrmoGamecoq's disc, I'm burning files to a DVD-R, if he's okay with that.

Because each catagory is in its own folder, they may not play back correctly if you just put the CD-R in a DVD player. Also, if they did play, you would probably see 50 trivia questions and answers in a row, followed by all the classic movie moment slides, ect. And if your player has a random function, that would jumble the trivia up and you couldn't display the appropriate answers with their questions...

So, get the files from the disc to your PC, choose the jpegs you want to use, arrange in the order you want, the reburn to disc format that works for you.

I hope to get to the office supply store tomorrow pick up more CD-Rs.

IrmoGamecoq: I second the suggestion to pick up a cheap DVD burner. Single-layer versions can be had for less than $40 with rebates at Officemax, ect.

Thanks for everyone's continued interest!

Keeping my head down,
Steven

Will these work on my dvd player? Just curious.

No. This is a CD rom. You need to burn these to a DVD. I used Nero and DVD Shrink. Mine turned out quite cool! I added background music and used selected slides to makle a 15 minute preshow. My friends LOVE it!

How much are these costing now? May like to order.

How do you get your hands on a CD-R of these new jpegs?
The same as always! Paypal to
sgood3 @ comcast . net <--Of course, remove those spaces I've added...

Minimum payment is $3 within US, $5 to Canada, which covers the CD-R, a black plastic DVD case, bubble envelope mailer, and postage.

Tips are certainly appreciated, but by no means necessary.



Steven
There's your answer!

What do I do to get an order in?

After I receive the email from Paypal indicating that you have made the payment, I will mail out the disc to you.

Just sent you some pay pal...Thanks for all your hard work. And a couple of other things:

-I feel your pain on both your son driving and the college issue. My son is HS Freshman and doing well in a small private HS which means he will likely get into a nice college (that of course means a nice price). He gets his license in November so.... :eek:

-I feel your pain on the weather! I work on the Catastrophe Team of a major insurance company and all I do is travel where there is a disaster. I'd say I would be heading your way, but found out I have to go back to New Orleans for a while.


Lastly to those with no DVD writer, I recently purchased one from New Egg for less then $40 shipped. My first test of it were the demo DVD's from the other thread and it worked great. I now plan on using these JPGs to create an intro AND learn about such stuff. IMHO, this is a great way to learn about making DVD's without the pressure of trying to make a wedding or b-day DVD for your kids. And in the end you will have a cool, custom into of your very own!!! Just dive in and fun! Worse that can happen is you ruin a few blank DVD's that are just penny's now!

Steven,

How did your neighborhood fair in this awful weather? Those tornados were all around you!

My neighborhood is okay, just a bit rattled. My sister's home is 1 block from the Goodlettsville, TN area that was directly hit. She's okay, but a neighbor suffered a heart attack, and parametics couldn't get to him easily because of downed trees and telephone pole & lines in the road. Oh, and parts of houses and the nearby boat factory that was demolished...

Her area may be without power for a week, as whole electrical system for that area of town was wrecked.

Tough week for our state. Two days of tornados in the past week.

Steven

I feel your pain. We got hit pretty bad on March 12th. Destoryed an entire subdivision about 3 miles from my house.

I'm caught up on burning and mailing out CD-Rs to everyone who has requested on these past few days. Finally saw a good price on CD-Rs in a Sunday paper ad.

If anyone else is interested, email me.

Just wanted to thank Steven for my Screen Play CD which I received in the mail yesterday. I burned a new sequenced version from his copy today and will be demoing it tonight in the HT.

Thanks, Steven!

Steve paypal has been sent with some extra to see if you can expedite mine.

Steve paypal has been sent with some extra to see if you can expedite mine.

It's in the mail...with everyone's tax forms, clogging up the mail system...

STeve-

Sent paypal with a little extra. Anyway you would be willing to send it pririority mail?

Thanks in advance

I wanted the CD-R bad too but felt that Steven deserved to keep the extra money that I sent him so I didn't request Priority Mail. To my delight, the package arrived in just two days. Steven mailed it (First Class) on Tuesday and I received it today (Thursday) in San Diego. Heck.. had he mailed it Priority Mail it probably would have taken an extra day! :)

Mark

I wanted the CD-R bad too but felt that Steven deserved to keep the extra money that I sent him so I didn't request Priority Mail. To my delight, the package arrived in just two days. Steven mailed it (First Class) on Tuesday and I received it today (Thursday) in San Diego. Heck.. had he mailed it Priority Mail it probably would have taken an extra day! :)

Mark


MArk-

I am with you. I almost didn't ask for priority mail. In fact I feel bad for doing it.

I wanted the CD-R bad too but felt that Steven deserved to keep the extra money that I sent him so I didn't request Priority Mail. To my delight, the package arrived in just two days. Steven mailed it (First Class) on Tuesday and I received it today (Thursday) in San Diego. Heck.. had he mailed it Priority Mail it probably would have taken an extra day! :)

Mark


MArk-

I am with you. I almost didn't ask for priority mail. In fact I feel bad for doing it. I just don't know how to revise my post.

Whoops! I'm slammed with a loooong 4-day work weekend and am just now getting to read the above posts. I did get to the post office early this morning to get discs in the mail, but since I just saw your Priority request above, your disc only went USPS 1st Class, as all the rest of them did. Also, there was nothing metioned in the special "note" section of the Paypal email, so I didn't realize you expected some faster mailing method...

Sorry.

Steven

Whoops! I'm slammed with a loooong 4-day work weekend and am just now getting to read the above posts. I did get to the post office early this morning to get discs in the mail, but since I just saw your Priority request above, your disc only went USPS 1st Class, as all the rest of them did. Also, there was nothing metioned in the special "note" section of the Paypal email, so I didn't realize you expected some faster mailing method...

Sorry.

Steven


Steven-

I am glad you did send in 1st class. After I posted that request, I had second thoughts. I rather you have the extra cash for youir efforts.

Thanks

Steven, I just sent you a paypal payment yesterday as well.

Everyone who has requested a disc...they're on the way.

I'm looking ahead at my planner and I think I'll have at least a week of free time at the end of May. I will either make a 4th batch of slides, or possibly tackle actual slide shows, using classic music pieces (in the public domain & that have been used in feature films). I think I am comfortable enough with Nero's features to make a DVD that will allow you to program a few slide shows, then play a intro. If I choose music pieces of five minutes or less, you can program you DVD player to play one or more of them, depending on how many total minutes of slides you want to be shown, then jump ahead to the intro chapter. We'll see how it goes...

Steven

I burned my first Coca-Cola Screen Play slide show to DVD today. I'm a Mac nut so I used iPhoto to catalog all of the slides and set up my desired slideshow, complete with background music. I then sent it to iDVD where I picked a really cool animated movie marque as the DVD's main menu page. Just a couple of minutes setting that up and I sent it to the SuperDrive (DVD burner). iDVD did the rest. Works like a charm! With the DVD player set to stretch mode the slides pretty much fill the screen. (In fact, I think they would fill the screen had I not accidently left "scale to fit TV safe area" turned on in iDVD. I've already turned that off for the next burn.)

FWIW, I ended up using some John Williams' soundtracks as my background music during the slideshow. His "Greatest Hits: 1969-1999" CD is fantastic. All of the great soundtracks... Star Wars, ET, Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Arc, Close Encounters of 3K, etc.

This was my "test" burn. I have already ordered the TechTalker sounds and I plan to use some of the home theater intros from that. My plan is to output the Coca-Cola slide show from iPhoto again, only this time, I'll output it into iMovie HD. In iMovie HD I can add chapter marks. My plan is to have the complete slideshow be chapter one, followed by a Dolby Digital intro as chapter two, followed by a couple of coming attractions clips as chapters three and four, followed by the TechTalker home theater intro as chapter 5. Then I send it all over to iDVD. If the popcorn and sodas are ready before the slideshow is finished, a press of the chapter skip button will end the slideshow early and take me straight to the next chapters.

Of course, the feature presentation will already be queued up (on pause) in the 2nd DVD player. I've set up a macro in my remote control to switch from one DVD player to the other and automatically start playing the main feature.

Fun stuff! We may never go to the "real" movies again! (Not that we went all that often anymore anyway.)

Mark

I just made up a new version of the coke slide preview this weekend as well. I will be having my entire tennis team over tomorrow night. They were unknowingly being "caught on tape" (actually I took pictures) during our match last week. About every 10th to 12th slide in the new DVD, one of these pics appears. They are going to be surprised!

Pam,

What a great idea! I assume you put those photos in the Refreshing Movie Moment slides and changed the movie name?

Mark

Nope - I took the lazy way out this time and just put in the pics (although I thought about it!). NEXT time, however...

PamW

I have also done custom trivia slides for birthday or anniversary parties and custom slide shows full of pictures as part of the pre-show.

Has anyone else experienced this using the slides in Theatertek? The slides display fine in any windows application, but when using Theatertek, the reds become blue.

The only way I've been able to make them work is to create a slideshow on a DVD and play that, then they display correctly. I've attached samples below.

Anybody have any ideas???

Has anyone else experienced this using the slides in Theatertek? The slides display fine in any windows application, but when using Theatertek, the reds become blue.

The only way I've been able to make them work is to create a slideshow on a DVD and play that, then they display correctly. I've attached samples below.

Anybody have any ideas???

Well, I'm certainly stumped. I've never heard ot this happening before. I'm not familiar with the Theatertek program. Is there something in the program that handles colors differently, depending on the extension type of picture file it is--jpeg, bmp, tiff, ect?? That's just a stab in the dark...

As for the above-mentioned craftiness--well done!

Steven

No Theatertek displays other jpeg's correctly. I don't have a clue what's going on with these.

A strange thing...

A couple of days ago, I was contacted by a member asking where his disc was. I took his information, looked through my Paypal history and found no record of his payment. He then looked though his Paypal history and also found no record of making payment. He has since paid and I've mailed out a disc. Neither of us are sure what happened, and I've never had anything wonky occur with my Paypal account. The member may have just mis-remembered and thought he had paid, but didn't actually get around to it... but we just don't know.

So, really I'm just checking in to see if anyone thinks they've been waiting an unusually long time to receive their disc. If so, let me know. I almost always get discs into the mail within 24 hours of receiving payment. They all ship USPS 1st class, so they shoud arrive a few days later. Other than the info in the Paypal history, I don't keep emails or AVS private messages, so once the disc is in the mail, I don't have address info, ect. on hand. So, if you have a concern, email me your name & mailing address, and I'll do so research...

Steven

Received my slides a few days ago and am really enjoying them Thanks Steven... Im looking fwd to your next release....

Techtalker, the professional home theater voiceover intro's can be found at:

http://www.cinemaronline.com/techtalker.html

My video intro was done by these guys:

http://www.digitalforge.com/

It's in 1920 x 1080p / Divx format, which actually makes it look superior to most of the movies we watch :>


I was thinking about writing a "how to" for using pre-movie manager as it's not very intuitive. Especially for adding the voice over's and multiple directories of your coca-cola jpeg's.


I have a similar setup as you. ML/DVDLobby/PMM2
I havent purchased the tech talker package but was wondering if you ever found the time to create that how to document.

Can anyone shed any light on why the member below is having trouble getting the slide files to display correctly? I'm not computer-savvy enough to be of help, and I'm not familiar with the TheaterTek program...


Has anyone else experienced this using the slides in Theatertek? The slides display fine in any windows application, but when using Theatertek, the reds become blue.

The only way I've been able to make them work is to create a slideshow on a DVD and play that, then they display correctly. I've attached samples below.

Anybody have any ideas???

I'm not sure where else to post this, and since most people are using these slides to make an intro, maybe this will help out some people.

I came across a couple of videos that I'm incorporating into my Coke slides. The first one is the Loews "Don't forget to watch the movie" with the Muppets. If anyone knows of a better quality video, please pass it on!

http://www.stfunoob.com/movies/Muppets%20Loews%20Theater%20Promo.qt

The second video is a 10min intro from Drive In theaters. I'm guessing from the 50's. All the standard stuff, ads for concession stands, keep your lights off, count down every minute. I burned a DVD and played it on my projection screen. It's a good picture, considering the vintage of the sources.

http://www.archive.org/details/SwampAssDriveInIntermission10MinuteCountdownClock

I hope it helps out some people. I'm trying to create a bunch of intros (to be randomly played), some with Coka slides, some from Harry Potter Scene It/James Bond Scene It DVDs, dolby/THX intros, and my custom video intro for my theater.

Enjoy!

Just sent paypal payment for your great Coca-Cola jpeg slides.
Thanks, looking forward to these very much.

Got my CD this week. Just had a chance to look through it. GREAT JOB Steven! I can see you have spent a lot of time putting this together. Thanks for your work and dedication and for making this available to all of us here.

david

Glad you like them, David!

These look amazing! I just sent paypalled you the $$$ for them! I can't wait to try them out at my first outdoor movie showing!!!! :)

I love the idea of an outdoor movie showing! I wish the suburb I live in didn't have so much light polution. My back yard is a blue-green glow at night from the jumbotron screen across the parkway at the Grand Ole Opry House. It's never truly dark anymore, so my space isn't ideal for firing up a projector and enjoying a movie under the stars. What stars? I can hardly see any stars...

I hope your outdoor viewing is a big hit! Enjoy the slides!

Some recent email I've received has asked if the "turn off cell phones", "quiet please", "dispose of trash" ect. slides are included in Vol. 3. Well, since Vols. 1, 2, & 3 are all included on one CD-R, there are plenty of these slides on the disc. However, I didn't specifically make new slides in these themes for Vol. 3, so they're all in the Vol. 1 & 2 folders. Still 600+ total slides should be more than enough for anyone's project.

Another question--and I don't mind answering emailed questions, especially sometimes answers are buried in all these pages of posts--is if these are indivivual JPEGS. I inferred that they wanted to know if these were ready-made slide shows, or just individual jpeg files. Yes, they're individual files. I only provide the raw materials. You have to use them to make a pre-show with the content, background music and runtime that suits you.

Any other questions, just ask!

Got mine a few weeks ago and have them up and running now in an XBMC slide show script. Good stuff! Thanks for the service on these good looking slides!

Hey Steven,
This sounds great. Just left a "thanks" at PayPal.
:)

Hi,

Apparently I'm a little late to the game in discovering this, but it sounds great Steven. Is anyone here creating video slideshows from the jpegs and can recommend a decent freeware application to do it?

Hi,

Apparently I'm a little late to the game in discovering this, but it sounds great Steven. Is anyone here creating video slideshows from the jpegs and can recommend a decent freeware application to do it?

Windows XP has the Windows Movie Maker program included and it can do the trick. It can export the finished project (with crossfades between slides, and background music, ect.) as a WMV file. If you burn your DVD using Nero, I believe it will transcode the WMV file to MPEG2 DVD-Video compliant file, so that your DVD player can read it. I've used this method and it worked.

I'm sure others who are more tech savvy than I am will chime in with better software suggestions, but for something that's probably already on your PC's hard drive, check out Windows Movie Maker...

What kind of software would I need to rip thes vop files so that I cam make a SVCD disk? Yeh I know I have a real old dvd player.

It's just a disk full of jpegs...Windows Movie Maker will let you take the ones you want and create a video slide show then make your SVCD from that.

Everyone who has asked for a disc through 7-9-06... your discs have shipped out.

I hope you enjoy making your pre-show intros with them! Report back here in the thead when you've finished your projects and let us know how they turned out. And if you get stuck along the way, just ask for help. So many AVSers have used these jpegs, there aren't many issues that we haven't heard and offered suggestions to solve.

I recieved mine, thanks Steven! Now to find some time for the project :)

Not sure if anyone is interested in displaying these on their HTPC but I've created a simple application that will do just that. Randomly picks from the available images (while keeping trivia question/answer slides together), displays fullscreen with an audio track playing.

I'm using this as part of my HT intro integrated with Meedio and have it set up so that any mouse/key click closes it instantly (so there is no pre-set time it will run for). Pretty simple, but if anyone is interested I can share it.

And thanks again to Steven for his great work -- I have been enjoying these slides for quite some time now. :)

WOW! That sounds great! If I was clever enough to use an HTPC, that would certainly do the trick! Nice work, and very kind of you to offer to share it. I'm sure you'll hear from some members about your program.

CoolC...

Thanks for sharing! I'd like to incorporate your app into my system. Post your app or download link and we'll give it a try.

Regards,

Steve,

I was wondering what font you used for the trivia questions? I did not see it in my Photoshop list. I am attempting to make up some more trivia with the templates. Where could I get the font?

Wayne

Steve,

I was wondering what font you used for the trivia questions? I did not see it in my Photoshop list. I am attempting to make up some more trivia with the templates. Where could I get the font?

Wayne

Jester Regular is what I used. Note that I used PhotoDeluxe 2.0 to make these slides. Ancient, I know. I actually have Photoshop 7.0, but it's over my head. PhotoDeluxe 2.0 is simple enough that even I can use it.... and it does what I need, but not much more.

Ok, here's my first attempt at a basic slideshow app for displaying Steven's slides on my HTPC.

There are two EXE files included here, ConfigureSplash and TheaterSplash.

ConfigureSplash is a simple UI for setting up what folder contains your slides, what audio file to play, and how much of a delay between slides.

TheaterSplash is the main executable that you can set up to run with Meedio, MainLobby, myHTPC or whatever front-end you are using. This is essentially the canvas upon which you can paint your movie trivia nirvana. :)

So, the basic way to use this is to load up ConfigureSplash, browse for the folder where your slides are stored (it will include subdirectories, so you can have it pick from all of the various Volumes that Steven has come up with if you pick the parent-level folder). Specify a delay in ms for switching slides, and browse for an audio file (currently only WAV file support) to loop into the slideshow. Hit the Save button and close ConfigureSplash.

Now just start TheaterSplash either manually, or as part of your HTPC front-end (I hooked mine into the PlayMEE plug-in for Meedio so that it plays the trivia automatically before the main feature).

If you click a mouse button or hit any key it will immediately close. Otherwise, it loops endlessly, picking random slides from your collection. And yes, it does keep the question and answer slides together. :)

Please note that this currently is only targeted for 1280x720 resolution. I will be working on an update to allow you to configure the resolution. I'm also hoping to add in MP3 and AC3 file support, and perhaps some basic slide transitions. For now this is just a simple way to get movie trivia going on an HTPC in a random way (without having to tweak DVD authoring software to build a pseudo-random show).

Also, this does require the .NET Framework v2.0, so download that if you don't have it already.

Finally, please PM me if you have questions/comments as I don't intend to hijack this thread. I'm just posting this here because it may be of interest to people who purchase Steven's slides. This application does not include any slides -- you have to provide all of the content yourself. My recommendation....purchase all of the trivia volumes from Steven and support his excellent work.

Hope somebody finds this useful. Steven thanks again for the trivia slides and keep up the good work!

Cheers,
Jason

Thanks for the kind words, Jason. I don't see this as a hijack in any way--your efforts complement my slides well. I'm sure many will find your program very useful! Keep posting in here, by all means. Answering questions here can only be helpful.

Steven

Just saw this for the first time. Awesome stuff!

Any way you can do a Pepsi one. :D

Pepsi.... too sweet for me. I just couldn't fake it. Better to let someone who actually likes Pepsi to create a slide collection.

Pepsi.... too sweet for me. I just couldn't fake it. Better to let someone who actually likes Pepsi to create a slide collection.
Funny, that is what I say about Coke. :)

Again very nice work. I may still have to get this from you even with the Coke logo.

Funny, that is what I say about Coke. :)

Again very nice work. I may still have to get this from you even with the Coke logo.

Hee hee...;)

Here's an updated version of TheaterSplash to display slides on your HTPC. This one eliminates the initial delay in loading so that your first slide appears instantly. Also, added support for MP3 files (you can loop a WAV or MP3 file). This should run at any resolution as well (it will just stretch to fill your screen).


Ok, here's my first attempt at a basic slideshow app for displaying Steven's slides on my HTPC.

There are two EXE files included here, ConfigureSplash and TheaterSplash.

ConfigureSplash is a simple UI for setting up what folder contains your slides, what audio file to play, and how much of a delay between slides.

TheaterSplash is the main executable that you can set up to run with Meedio, MainLobby, myHTPC or whatever front-end you are using. This is essentially the canvas upon which you can paint your movie trivia nirvana. :)

So, the basic way to use this is to load up ConfigureSplash, browse for the folder where your slides are stored (it will include subdirectories, so you can have it pick from all of the various Volumes that Steven has come up with if you pick the parent-level folder). Specify a delay in ms for switching slides, and browse for an audio file (currently only WAV file support) to loop into the slideshow. Hit the Save button and close ConfigureSplash.

Now just start TheaterSplash either manually, or as part of your HTPC front-end (I hooked mine into the PlayMEE plug-in for Meedio so that it plays the trivia automatically before the main feature).

If you click a mouse button or hit any key it will immediately close. Otherwise, it loops endlessly, picking random slides from your collection. And yes, it does keep the question and answer slides together. :)

Please note that this currently is only targeted for 1280x720 resolution. I will be working on an update to allow you to configure the resolution. I'm also hoping to add in MP3 and AC3 file support, and perhaps some basic slide transitions. For now this is just a simple way to get movie trivia going on an HTPC in a random way (without having to tweak DVD authoring software to build a pseudo-random show).

Also, this does require the .NET Framework v2.0, so download that if you don't have it already.

Finally, please PM me if you have questions/comments as I don't intend to hijack this thread. I'm just posting this here because it may be of interest to people who purchase Steven's slides. This application does not include any slides -- you have to provide all of the content yourself. My recommendation....purchase all of the trivia volumes from Steven and support his excellent work.

Hope somebody finds this useful. Steven thanks again for the trivia slides and keep up the good work!

Cheers,
Jason

Wow, that a quick update, with a lot of useful additions! Nice work & thanks for sharing!

Steven

This sounds like a cool disk. I am living in China, and wondered if there was a way to download rather than have it mailed. Having people pay to download (like the GetGray calibration disk) would also make distribution easier and faster for you.

-Mark

I have chosen not to make the files available for download, for reason explained in various posts scattered throughout this thread.

Steven

Hi there,

Sounds like a fantastic collection you have here. I am hoping to integrate this into the HTPC I am building for my bedroom. Just wondered, what would be the cost of shipping the CD of all 3 volumes to the UK?

Thanks for your time,

Mike

Steven,

Hey I'm new to the forum but happened to cross your thread. What a wonderful product I just sent my thanks via Paypal... Keep up the great work... this is going to be great in my HT. Joe :D

It's just a disk full of jpegs...Windows Movie Maker will let you take the ones you want and create a video slide show then make your SVCD from that.

Sounds like the easiest way to do it. Have to give it a try. Always forget it is even part of XP.

Hi there,

Sounds like a fantastic collection you have here. I am hoping to integrate this into the HTPC I am building for my bedroom. Just wondered, what would be the cost of shipping the CD of all 3 volumes to the UK?

Thanks for your time,

Mike

Good question. That probably depends on how fast you want to receive it. Airmail Letter Post is $3.35 for 4 ounces of weight, so $5.00 US would just cover the disc, case, padded envelope and postage. Any above and beyond that is certainly appreciated but by no means necesary.

Thanks for your interest!


ON A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT NOTE:

The last person who lives in Canada that I sent a disc to hasn't received it yet, after a two-week wait. (Of course, I will send another ASAP.) I don't know what the typical delivery to Canada should be. So, if any other members north of the border who ordered the disc can chime in and tell me how long it took after I sent the email telling that the disc had shipped. Well... that would be helpful! :)

Steven

Paypalled you the money including a little extra for your effort. Thanks for your time and effort.

Got them in the mail today. They look good, but why so much Coca-Cola and red. Do you really like coke as much as we do here in Texas ? :D :D

Great work, although the red is overpowering at times !!
My wife and kid love it. . .


Thanks,

Ivan

I just paypal the money I will let you know how long it takes for me to get it in Canada.

They look good, but why so much Coca-Cola and red. Do you really like coke as much as we do here in Texas ? :D :D

Great work, although the red is overpowering at times !!



Well, Coke's primary colors are red, white and black. Black and white slide backgrounds just don't do it for me (although some of my sides do have those colors as the primary background color). I think as blue is connected to the Pepsi brand, red is linked to Coke. So, red it is...

Only today saw the thread the thread for the first time, these look fantastic! I just paypalled you. :)

Got it...Thanks... looks like you put a lot of effort into it. Pleases the WAF... :D

Got the disk the other day, THANKS! I haven't had a chance to play or look at it yet. Hope to have some time this weekend.

Any of you have any good music to play in conjuction with the slides????

Got the disc over the weekend, this is AWESOME. I made a few different fifteen minute slideshows in Windows Movie Maker, ran each slide for fifteen seconds and just did a simple fade from one to the next with a "Now for our feature presentation" slide I made at the end. I run a random slideshow in theatertek prior to a virtual drive load so everything is nice and seamless. I got a lot of excitement from friends who came over for a movie this weekend. The slides were definitely a hit.

As for music, I didn't spend a lot of time looking for lounge or elevator versions of popular movie songs. In a pinch I found Ravel's Bolero worked really well if you pull the volume down a bit. I'm sure a lot of Mancini stuff would fit as well.

For anyone interested, here is an Xbox XBMC script I put together to display these Screen-Play slides and triva. It requires a fairly recent XBMC build for the API call. It is my first (crude) script so be gentle, and feed me any requests/improvements/etc.

The built-in XBMC slideshow on random won’t keep the trivia Q&A slides together, and on non-random it gets boring to watch the same category for 30+ slides. This script randomly grabs groups of 4 from each category and will always show the trivia answer after the question (assuming they follow the naming of ____A.jpg (question) and ____B.jpg (answer) like how they are on the disks when shipped).

Use:
Just copy all files in their directories and subdirectories to your Xbox. The script will recurse through whatever folder you point to. Edit the script to point to your picture root directory (default = “F:\\Pictures\\Slideshow”)

Optional: Edit script setting for duration to show slides and number of slides to group together per category (default = 8 seconds and groups of 4)

It will end after all slides are shown … or hit “BACK” then “A” to stop the script at any time.

Programs? Scripts? I'm amazed! Confused...but amazed! Fortunately, my wife and I dropped our son off yesterday for his freshman year at Georgia Tech. That's right, he'll be a computer science major, so someday I'll ask him to explain XBMC , ect.!


Thanks for sharing your efforts!

Steven

Is this still offered?

Thanks!!!

Is this still offered?

Thanks!!!

Yes, still available (otherwise I would have locked the thread). All ordering & Paypal info in first post of thread.

Steven

Steven.. Thanks for the CDs... They are nice... Good fast shipping!! Much appreciated!

Has anyone here used any Mac apps to turn these into a slideshow, perhaps with a VIDEO_TS output to add to a DVD?

Mine arrived in the mail yesterday. Thanks Steven, Great Job!

Will be spending this weekend tweaking TheaterTek on my HTPC to play some random slides before starting the DVD.

So much fun to be had! :D

Hi Steve,

I've sent you some thanks to Paypal!
Have a great day, Warren

Everyone who has requested discs---they're in the mail. Anyone else who wants one, see all details in first post of this thread...

And a plug for that other thread--the intro voice-over disc. I received mine and it is a terrific project. I'm looking forward to sitting down at the PC and using these phrases to punch up an intro disc project for my own home theater "The Good Theater". If you haven't been following that thread, I encourage you to find it. Good stuff...

Hey, I paypalled you like 4 bucks about a month ago and still haven't received anything? the name was don L. Miller or donald L miller or something like that. I'll probably just PM you my email because it won't let me post it here till i have 5 posts it says. Thanks for all your terrific work here, by the way.

nevermind, i just checked my paypal history and there was some sort of error. I'll resend it

EDIT: I just resent the money.

Got it this time... and your disc has shipped. As has everyone else who has requested a disc these past few days. Thanks for your continued interest!

STeven-

Do you have any passion of the christ slides?

Thanks

STeven-

Do you have any passion of the christ slides?

Thanks

I do not, nor do I have plans to add any in the future.

Of course, anyone who had my disc also has my template and can make any additional slides they wish...

For anyone interested, here is an Xbox XBMC script I put together to display these Screen-Play slides and triva. It requires a fairly recent XBMC build for the API call. It is my first (crude) script so be gentle, and feed me any requests/improvements/etc.

The built-in XBMC slideshow on random won’t keep the trivia Q&A slides together, and on non-random it gets boring to watch the same category for 30+ slides. This script randomly grabs groups of 4 from each category and will always show the trivia answer after the question (assuming they follow the naming of ____A.jpg (question) and ____B.jpg (answer) like how they are on the disks when shipped).

Use:
Just copy all files in their directories and subdirectories to your Xbox. The script will recurse through whatever folder you point to. Edit the script to point to your picture root directory (default = “F:\\Pictures\\Slideshow”)

Optional: Edit script setting for duration to show slides and number of slides to group together per category (default = 8 seconds and groups of 4)

It will end after all slides are shown … or hit “BACK” then “A” to stop the script at any time.

dude, I just wanna say this loaded up and worked like CHAMP!! I am super new to thi XBMC thing and had it working first shot.

I am have trouble making it pic less than 4 slides at a time. Do I edit this line


def mixandmatch(old_list):
num_sets = 4


and change 4 to 2? I did that and it still grabs 4 slides.

Is there anyway to reduce the time of the black screen? not a huge deal on either item, just trying to tweak.

anyone running XBMC, this is such a neat item to have, might as well add it. always a cool option and with this a random slideshow is literally a click away.

BIG THANKS to you and Steven!!!


ny

Thanks ny_in_tx. Not to hijack the thread with script tech-support ... but I *think* I remember the script treating trivia 2 Q&A slides as a single "set". Therefore num_sets = 4 should show 8 slides (if trivia) or 4 regular slides. num_sets = 2 should show 4 trivia or 2 regular. Message me if it looks like it is doing different. (I am away from my Xbox to experiment right now)

Hijack all you guys want to....my slides aren't much good without programs to display them!

Steven

What program is everyone using to convert the cd to dvd? What is the best one to add music and to be able to control the time of each slide? So what is a good slideshow program?

What program is everyone using to convert the cd to dvd? What is the best one to add music and to be able to control the time of each slide? So what is a good slideshow program?


I started out with making the slide show on Windows Movie Maker that comes with Windows XP. What a waste of time that was. Some slides came out reversed, some were upside down, some didn't show at all. Just black spaces for the time I had the slide set to show. :mad:
I then used Nero 7 Ultra Version. I made the slide show, added music, added a few video clips, and burned it to DVD. Worked out great. :)