ProShow Producer

[Autumn]

I am preparing a series of short slideshows to show to our Photographic Society and am having difficulty with the colour.

Although I am using ProShow Producer, I think any software would be the same.

I made the show on my desktop with the screen calibrated and it looks OK. I then burnt it to a DVD, still not bad, but when I play it on the TV the quality is not good, but neither is the colour and we have to adjust the TV settings to increase the saturation/vibrancy. (This is just an aside, as I will prepare and burn the DVD at 1024x768 pixels, specifically for use on a PC).

The problem is greater for me when I play the DVD on my new laptop which has not been calibrated, because the images look totally washed out. I was going to try to alter my laptop (may be even calibrate it with my Spyder2), but when I look at the stock images supplied with it and that I have used as a desktop slideshow (about 6) they are fantastic and the colours are so dynamic and rich, I don't feel I should alter it.

When I play the DVD through say Windows Media, on my desktop, the colours are as in the slideshow and the quality doesn't appear to have altered much.

I have just compared the screen colours of my two computers by using Stephen's HDR image. On the PC it looks more vibrant (perhaps a little oversaturated) but on my laptop it does not look so vibrant, but still looks good.

If I use the DVD made and prepared on my desktop, at the Club and either show it through my laptop (or the Club's laptop as this has been calibrated with the Club's projector) I feel the images will project "Washed Out."

If my desktop computer is saturating the images too much, will this make the DVD shown on other media pale?

Should I try putting my desktop monitor back to factory settings and see how it compares with the laptop?

Should I start all over again and adjust the images and make the slideshow on the laptop, hoping that when I take it to the Club there wont be as much difference between the colours.

People have uploaded their slideshows onto the Club's laptop, but they have made them on their own computers. Often they too look a bit washed out.

Any ideas anyone?

[Patrick]

Originally Posted by Autumn

I am preparing a series of short slideshows to show to our Photographic Society and am having difficulty with the colour.

Although I am using ProShow Producer, I think any software would be the same.

I made the show on my desktop with the screen calibrated and it looks OK. I then burnt it to a DVD, still not bad, but when I play it on the TV the quality is not good, but neither is the colour and we have to adjust the TV settings to increase the saturation/vibrancy. (This is just an aside, as I will prepare and burn the DVD at 1024x768 pixels, specifically for use on a PC).

The problem is greater for me when I play the DVD on my new laptop which has not been calibrated, because the images look totally washed out. I was going to try to alter my laptop (may be even calibrate it with my Spyder2), but when I look at the stock images supplied with it and that I have used as a desktop slideshow (about 6) they are fantastic and the colours are so dynamic and rich, I don't feel I should alter it.

When I play the DVD through say Windows Media, on my desktop, the colours are as in the slideshow and the quality doesn't appear to have altered much.

I have just compared the screen colours of my two computers by using Stephen's HDR image. On the PC it looks more vibrant (perhaps a little oversaturated) but on my laptop it does not look so vibrant, but still looks good.

If I use the DVD made and prepared on my desktop, at the Club and either show it through my laptop (or the Club's laptop as this has been calibrated with the Club's projector) I feel the images will project "Washed Out."

If my desktop computer is saturating the images too much, will this make the DVD shown on other media pale?

Should I try putting my desktop monitor back to factory settings and see how it compares with the laptop?

Should I start all over again and adjust the images and make the slideshow on the laptop, hoping that when I take it to the Club there wont be as much difference between the colours.

People have uploaded their slideshows onto the Club's laptop, but they have made them on their own computers. Often they too look a bit washed out.

Any ideas anyone?

I don't know anything about pro-show, but I can recommend PicturesToExe. Standard www.wnsoft.com
There is a De-Lux but I have never felt the need to go for that.
I do the club projected images for our annual exhibition with PictureTo Exe, you can add special effects fading, spiralling, zooming, any number of things, also you can add sound to your show.
I have had no quality problems, It saves as a file that will then run on any computer as a show without the PictureToExe software, and its cheap once purchased can be upgraded with each new version without charge, for life.

You can run a basic slide show on your computer in Bridge or even Explorer without special software. Lightroom you can make a show with music.

Patrick

[Autumn]

Thanks Patrick. I do have P2E, but at the time when I bought it - I know it comes with an upgrade, DVD's couldn't be burned through the program. That is why I went down the ProShow route.

As I say I think my problem would be the same with any software (but I will give P2E a try), I think it is a profiling issue, and really wanted advice on how to handle it.

[Patrick]

Originally Posted by Autumn

Thanks Patrick. I do have P2E, but at the time when I bought it - I know it comes with an upgrade, DVD's couldn't be burned through the program. That is why I went down the ProShow route.

As I say I think my problem would be the same with any software (but I will give P2E a try), I think it is a profiling issue, and really wanted advice on how to handle it.

Have you converted the images to sRGB this may be your problem.
I find resizing images for slide shows is easiest through Photoshop using "Save for the Web & Devices" this converts to sRGB and sizes the image to dpi of choice.
As to burning to DVD I always feel its better to use something like Nero or similar stand alone burning program.

Patrick

[Ian]

You should calibrate your laptop anyway, regardless, really. If you are connecting your laptop to a projector, that will need calibrating separately (if possible) as it will have a different display profile to your laptop screen.

Ian

[Autumn]

Originally Posted by Ian

You should calibrate your laptop anyway, regardless, really. If you are connecting your laptop to a projector, that will need calibrating separately (if possible) as it will have a different display profile to your laptop screen.

Ian

Thanks Ian, I was going to recalibrate my desktop, so I will do them both atst and see how they compare.