@browj2

Hi John

I have found an issue with some disc menu templates which may impact on @doane discs playability.

Using the default template indicated in your images if the number of movies creates additional menu pages, the 2nd menu and further menus do not work.

The issue is with the additional menus do not work is caused by the menus .m2ts video files being rendered as Progressive instead of Interlaced. This can be seen when viewed as large icons in the encoding folder with File Explorer as shown below

This also affects VPX and VDL.

Edit: The menus templates I have tested and work correctly, providing you do not move any of the buttons, are:

• Low tides,
• Mountaineers
• Desert
• Sparkle
• Lounge
• Neon lights
• Soft Edges

Added: Moving the buttons can result in the menu highlight being offset when burned to disc, you do not see this in the in program Preview.

John EB

Thanks, guys. Another problem, when I mouse over the timeline, half of the thumbs are blacked out except for the selected one and the next moused over one (see the screen shot)

Storyboard seems to be okay

Now I'm having trouble burning a disk. I have Sony DVD-R 4.7gB disks. I choose the AVCHD 1920x1080 NTST default and all encoding and I get a message about my graphic card needing to be updated because hardware encoding is deactivated?

@doane

HI

You can ignore that 'error' message it means there is no set GPU which can hardware accelerate the encoding of the video. The CPU will do all the processing and encoding, however it will take considerably longer to complete.

However if the computer has an Intel processor with integrated GPU (iGPU) HD 620 or better this should be set as the default in the program settings, Device options tab. as shown below

The Intel iGPU's can hardware accelerate the encoding of the video files which must be Interlaced video which is the BD standard format for AVC encoded video.

Note:

1. Nvidia GPU's that support NVENC cannot hardware accelerate Interlaced video, the video encoding module built into those cards do not support encoding Interlaced video.
    
2. To further help diagnose the issue(s) you are having and give a more specific reply it would help if you put the specification of your computer system including Windows version and program version, see this topic for what is required, quoting the processor and graphics card make/model(s) in full, and also what monitor/screen resolution(s) you are working with if this is a laptop, in your profile signature.
   
   See my signature below as an example.

Tip . . . . Sony DVD-R 4.7gB disks . . . .

If you do not have any, I would suggest you get a couple of DVD-RW, and BD-RE if you intend to create BluRay discs, to do all your initial burns, saves creating coasters and money, and they can be erased for re-used.

My process is to burn and test to rewriteable disc, and if all is OK, you often notice errors on the big screen which you miss on the computer screen requiring correction. I copy the rewritable disc to permanent disk.

I have added some extra comments to my previous comment above here

HTH

John EB

The thumbnail distortion I posted above was caused by me changing my Windows 11, over riding the Properties-Compatibility-Change high DPI settings, setting it to Override - System Enhanced for this Photostory 2026. I did it because the burn screen text and control was really small and hard to read.. it worked, but apparently the main program didn't like it. When I unchecked the High DPI scaling override the graphics of the thumbs returned to normal, so that's fixed. (You might want to mention the scaling problem on that burn screen interface)

I have a Samsung S27A700 4K monitor running at 3840x2160 and I have the Windows 11 system text size set to 175% My Video card is a NVIDIA Gforce GTX1660 6Gb. The only other program I have run into problems with scaling is my old Photoshop CS5 and a few other older programs, where the scaling was so small it was impossible to read. Using the Compatibility scaling override fixed it.

Re your comment above, I have another problem. The Sony DVD-R disk I burned, that I mentioned above, the AVCHD, doesn't play back on my home BlueRay player. I get the main menu screen with the two story lines switchable and it looks great in HD. When I click to play either story it starts with the music playing and the first image, but won't advance to the next photo. I'm using the HD Static-General-Blue Grid menu, if that makes any difference. My burner is a computer HP 24x DVD+RW, etc. 16X SATA model 1260i It won't play back the AVCHD disk, but burned MP4 videos are fine. My home playback is a Sony UBPX700M BlueRay DVD player. Any suggestions?
I updated my signature with system specs below.
PS, I ordered 10 Verbatim 4.7 GB DVD+RW disks, good advice, thank you.

@doane

HI

. . . . the AVCHD, doesn't play back on my home BlueRay player . . . When I click to play either story it starts with the music playing and the first image, but won't advance to the next photo. I'm using the HD Static-General-Blue Grid menu . . . .

Further testing using the Blue Grid template and burning using the Image Recorder:-

1. AVCHD ISO (disc image file), see notes below, has proven to be variable in the results, eg in 2 cases one or more movies were black, and in 1 other case the ISO was unplayable, eventually I was able to get an AVCHD disc ISO that was playable.
    
2. Burning as Blu-ray ISO worked fine every time with no issues.

In theory there should not be a difference between AVCHD and Blu-ray format discs apart from the marginally smaller file sizes and fewer support files on disc.

AVCHD discs are supported by the Sony Sony UBPX700M.

Ensure Photostory Device option is set to the UHD 750 iGPU and its driver is up to date, the current version is 32.0.101.7084 here.

Note:- the playability test were done using PowerDVD 22 on my laptop, I do not have access to a BD player at the moment.

John EB

In File-Settings-Program im not seeing a device option for UHD 750 iGPU? For video mode I have my Nvidia Gforce GTX 1660 chosen. ( the other options are CPU and MS Warp)

Also, my DVD writer is not Bluetooth capable so I can only do AVCHD or make MP4 files and burn them to disk

Tonight I burned three storylines to the DVD+RW disk using the same blue grid menu as before and it played back on my BD player this time. Extremely slow burning, but it worked. Is there anyway to use a custom menu image background or edit an existing one? Also, is there some way to change the menu music or get rid of it or at least decrease the volume? Thanks

@doane

Hi

. . . . DVD writer is not Bluetooth capable . . . .

To clarify, Bluetooth is a format of wireless communication between devices, eg mobile phone/ear buds mouse/computer. Blu-ray is a disc format.

. . . . anyway to use a custom menu image background. . . is there some way to change the menu music or get rid of it or at least decrease the volume . . . .

Yes, to both, referring to the image below

Change the background - enter edit mode (1) and click the indicated options (2 then 3).

Select the backgound you wish to use or one of you own image.

Note:  

1. There would appear to be an issue with using external JPG and PNG image files, the program crashes for me. BMP (Bitmap) files do not crash the program.
    
2. If using your own image, it should be the same aspect ratio (AR) as the disc you are creating eg, for a 16:9 disc I use images 1920 x 1080 px, if they are larger I crop/resize them.

Turn off/change music/sound

Unchecking the option indicate by the yellow arrow turns of the menu sound. To change the menu sound click the button to the right of the check box and select one of the other menu background music files, the furthest button plays the sound/music once it has been added to the menu.

If you want to use your own audio file, it is best to be in WAV or OGG format with a length of between 10 - 30 secs. MP3 files may cause issues with sound artefacts.

Reduce the existing background sound volume

This cannot be done in Photostory,the audio file itself would have to be modified, to a lower volume, in an audio editor.

HTH

John EB

Thanks so much, John, for your excellent help, again! Yes, I meant to type blu-ray, it might have auto “corrected” me, I do know the difference.
I’m wondering if burning to the previous DVD-R with the higher speed was causing the problem or maybe it was that brand? I tried it several times and got the same results, but I’ve never had burn problems with them before. Like you suggested, after getting a good copy on a DVD+RW (very slow 2x) I should be able to copy it over to regular DVD-R disks fairly quickly, right?
I’m not very good on the tech side of things; not sure what you were saying about the UHD750 iGPU related to my video card as maybe being the problem?
Thanks