FAQ's

Q) What's the difference between the trial version and the full version?

A) Trial version is limited to 30 slides and has a 1 minute water mark on all slideshows. Apart from that the software is identical.

Q) Do i instantly get the full version after buying online?

A) Yes, after purchasing an email will be sent to you straight away. The mail contains a text key which you enter when first starting up the program (select registration). Note: when registering the key you will need to be connected to the internet. After validation you will the have the full version.

Q) Does PhotoVidShow work on Vista?

A) Yes, version 2.16.4 and onwards is Vista 32 bit compatible. Version 2.16.7 and onwards is also Vista 64bit compatible. Version 2.17.1 and onwards is Windows 7 compatible. All versions work with XP (with service pack 2 or 3 )

Q) I have an older version of PhotoVidShow can i freely upgrade

A) Yes. Version 3.1.4 is our latest version and can be installed from here

http://www.photo-dvd-slideshow.co.uk/install/3.1.4/photovidshow301004.exe

Q) My machine crashed and i need to re-install PhotoVidShow

A) See above question about about re-installing PhotoVidShow.

If you have lost your license key, please email support@photovidshow.com (from you registered email address is best) and we will re-send the key to you.

Q) The license key sent to my email does not seem to unlock the program?

A) There are normally two common problems when this occurs, either a the key has not been entered correctly or the computers firewall is blocking internet access for PhotoVidshow. PhotoVidShow needs internet access in order to check the key with our server.

When entering the code it is best to cut and paste it in to prevent errors. If entering it manually it is worth remembering all 0's in the license key are the number zero and not the letter 'O'

'If you are entering the key correctly and the firewall is not blocking PhotoVidShow, or you are unable to change this, please email support@photovidshow.com for further instructions.

Q) PhotoVidShow does not seem to accept my video file, or i get an error when importing it.

A) The most common problem when PhotoVIdShow does not accept a video file is that the computer is missing a DirectShow codec to decode the video format.

We recommend downloading and installing ffdshow which is a free download and contains DirectShow codecs for the most common video formats including mpeg4. See our Extras section about downloading video codecs

Click to download video codec packs

Q) Can i create a slideshow with just a CD burner that will play on TV?

A) Yes, PhotoVidShow can create two types of CD's that will play on a normal DVD player. These are know as Video CD (VCD) and Super Video CD (SVCD). Please make sure you DVD player will accept VCD or SVCD, most modern players will although some older DVD players do not accept SVCD. SVCD gives better quality output than VCD and VCD has quality like VHS and works better with video rather than photos. Also worth noting that you can not create a SVCD/VCD on a DVD disk and if you're lucky enough to already own a DVD burner, then DVD output is always the best option to use in terms of quality and compatibility.

Q) Do i need to do anything to my pictures before using PhotoVidShow?

A) No, PhotoVidShow can import jpg's, bmp's images etc. Note: please store your images on your hard drive before importing in PhotoVidShow rather than straight from your digital camera. When importing, PhotoVidShow only stores a link to the images rather than copying them.

Q) I can't seem to work out how to import more than one image at a time

A) There are many to import multiple images in one go. First run PhotoVidShow then:-

Select 'Start' from your desktop and select something like MyPictures, which will then bring up an Explore window. drag and drop individual pictures onto the storyboard from the explore window or even drag and drop a directory containing pictures.

Similarly, you can bring up an Explore window, right click on 'Start' and select 'Explore', then navigate to the folder containing your pictures and drag and drop accordingly.

It might be worth just using the the 'Add images/videos' button in PhotoVidShow, you can then navigate to your photos and select and open them but not drag and drop. If you wish to select multiple items either left click and hold whilst rubber banding a whole selection of pictures or hold down the shift/control button and click on individual pictures. Once you've selected your pictures you want, just select the 'Open' button. To highlight all the files in a folder just select control+a

Q) I always get a 'Error when burning' message when burning a DVD

A) The problem may be a software issue, in the blank media being used or something wrong with the burner hardware.

The following is recommended if this occurs:-

- Make sure you have the latest version of PhotoVidShow. Version 2.17.1 and onwards includes a DVD burner video utility tool.

- Once your project has been encoded into a DVD image on your harddrive (which would of happened if you have got to the burn stage) then you could try using the DVD burner utility tool which can be started by either running it from from the 'Start bar or by selecting 'Tools -> Launch DVD video burner' from PhotoVidShow. Once run simply select your project from the list and select burn.

- If still having problems in the final burn wizard window in PhotoVidShow try ticking the 'use nero drivers' if this option is available (it may not be available if the nero drivers are not installed on your computer or if you do not have administrator rights, see below)

- If sill having problems there may be issues with PhotoVidShow not having enough computer rights to burn to a DVD (this only applies to windows Vista). Try running PhotoVidShow or the DVD Video burner tool in Administrator mode. This can be done by locating the application in Computer/Local disk(C:)/Program Files/PhotoVidShow. Right click over 'PhotoVidShow' or 'DVD video burner' application and select 'Run as administrator'.

- If still getting problems it may be worth trying different blank media, i.e. some double layer media DVD disks may not work with PhotoVidShow although most if not all -R/+R and RW disks should work.

- If you are still getting problems you may want to investigate further that your DVD burner hardware is working correctly. I.e. try to create a normal data DVD with software provided with the hardware.

Also other DVD burning software tool may be able to burn DVD video format (e.g. nero), i. e. using the output VIDEO_TS folder as source located at Documents/PhotoVidShow/Authored/'project name'

Failing all this you may have got a message about a 'log.txt' file located at My Documents/PhotoVidShow which has been produced on failure to burn a DVD, if you could email this file to support@photovidshow.com we shall investigate further.

Q) Can PhotoVidShow handle DivX/mpeg4 avi files.

A) Yes, assuming appropriate codec's are installed (see Extras page). This also includes other video formats like DV or videos with Dolby Digital 5.1 (AC-3) sound. Note: it is best to use the trial version of the software to make sure it is 100% compatible with any of your video files.

Q) Can PhotoVidShow output mpeg or wmv files so i can use them on another application?

A) Yes, but only mpeg files. When you author the disk, PhotoVidShow creates mpeg2 video files for each slideshow (with .mpg extension). These can be found in the PhotoVidShow temp directory normally Documents\photovidshow\temp. Copy these files after authoring to the required folder.

When authoring if you don't want to burn to a disk simply select 'encode only the current project' option. PhotoVidShow will then create a VIDEO_TS directory with VOB files as well as the original mpeg2 files. The VIDEO_TS directory is simply a DVD file structure which is useful if you wish to burn at a later date.

Q) Is there a way to pause between slides on playback?

A) The simple answer is use play/pause button on your remote control. Some people prefer to have next and previous buttons typically seen in DVD extras where you can often have a galley of the actors in a film for example. PhotoVidShow does not produce DVD's like this for various reasons. e.g. such slideshows can't have background music, pan/zoom etc.

Q) I've created a VCD or SVCD and i'm stuck in the menu when i play on my DVD player.

A) VCD and SVCD works differently to DVD. On a DVD typically you use the up/down/left/right enter buttons to navigate through the menus. VCD and SVCD do not support these, so navigation is done by selecting numbers. If your remote does not have numbers there will always be another way to navigate through the menu. (i.e. else the DVD player would not recognize the disk in the first place). In such cases please refer to the manual for your DVD player.

Q) Why can't PhotoVidShow import some of my wma files.

A) If you are having trouble with importing wma files it may be that the wma files have protection from copying. You can check by right clicking on a wma file and selecting properties. If you look under the License tab it may say something like 'Protected Content'. We can not import protected wma files and would be illegal if we did. If this is the case, either try ripping without protection (if possible), or find a un protected version of the music file. Also there are ways to re-record the wma file via the sound card.

Q) Can i have a video as my background in a menu?

A) Yes, just select a video file as your background image in the DVD theme menu option. Although you may only see the first frame when editing, on final output this will be a video. Note: the length is set to the 'menu repeat duration' in the menu theme menu.

Q) Is there a maximum number of slides in the full version?

A) There is a maximum of 400 slides per slideshow, but as you can have many slideshows, you are only limited to space on the disk for total slides. Typically a 1000+ slide DVD is possible. Note: Only 99 menus are allowed, although you would rarely need more than 3.

NOTE: If creating a larget project file say more than 400+ slides, it may be worth shutting down all other applications to make full use of the system memory.

Q) How can i make my overlay text move with the slide when i'm panning and zooming?

A) Double click on the slide with the overlay text on it, this brings up the decoration window. Select the text in the preview window, such that a dotted line is around it. Then tick the 'Pan/zoom with background'' option on the left panel. Note: un-ticking this will cause the opposite effect of the text not moving when pan and zooming is applied.

Q) My CD drive is not recognized or i always have problems when burning.

For authoring SVCD/VCD cd's you could also try the free application burnatonce.

http://www.burnatonce.com

download 0.99.5 version install and run it

When the App is running select 'File' and 'Load New Image'

Then select the .cue file PhotoVidShow has generated in My Documents/PhotoVidShow/Authored/'project name'

Then select the 'Write' button (making sure the correct device is selected for writing)

Q) My hard drive is crunching away like mad and encoding has come down to a crawl.

A) Please make sure PhotoVidShow has plenty of hard drive space. DVD authoring eats through disk space. Remember a DVD alone holds 4.7gig, so combined with temporary video and audio files which PhotoVidShow needs, you can see why a lot of disk space is required.

Q) What does 'reduce output to safe region' mean?

A) Basically most TV's do not show the complete picture on a DVD. i.e. around 10% on the outer edges on a typical 4:3 picture is not shown. So simply, if you want to be able to view ALL of your picture then select this option (i.e. it reduces the size of the picture by about 10%). To get a guarantee no black border around the pictures and if you are not worried about losing a few pixels around the outer edge, then don't select this option.

Q) I am experiencing the blue screen of death when i select the burn button.

A) We have had a reported case that Roxio Easy CD creator 7 can conflict with PhotoVidShow, although we can not reproduce ourselves. If you do get this problem it may be worth uninstalling Roxio Easy CD Creator 7

Q) The editor caption and general layout of PhotoVidShow seems to be wrong and the burn icon is covered up at the top.

A) Version 3.1.4 and onwards fixes this problem. If you wish to use and older version, you will probably find that you have selected your graphics card to do 120 DPI (i.e. large font). For windows XP, if you go to your control panel and select Display, then Settings, then Advanced, you may find under a tab in your graphics card window a DPI setting. This must be set to the normal 96 DPI for older versions of PhotoVidShow editor to work correctly. For Windows 7 and Vista select Control panel, Appearance and Personalization, Display, and select smaller (100%) font. You may have to log off and then back on again.

Q) Why do my pictures in the preview window have lower resolution then when i normally view them (even when i full screen the window)?

A) We try to provide the preview window to represent the final output resolution as much as possible. i.e. DVD output does not have high enough resolution to hold a 5 mega pixel image for example, so we don't wish to mislead the user when adding text for example in the editor and later on find out (after burn time) that it comes out as just a blur on the TV.

If you are experiencing problems not identified on this list make sure you are running the latest version. Run PhotoVidShow and select 'Update' from the 'Help' menu.

PhotoVidShow, create a DVD slideshow from photos and videos

FAQ's

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