Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

My company has been approached by a potential client who wants us to
create a kiosk type of device (to use at conventions, etc.) where a
user can choose their favorite sports moment, re-record their own
voiceover for it (emulating the sports announcer), and then have the
machine spit out a custom DVD that contains the sports moment with
their voiceover on it.

Although there are many additional details related to the project that
I don't feel are necessary to explain, .. what I am inquiring about is
if someone here might know of a DVD authoring application that's easy
enough for a non-technical person to use without too much mental
exertion. The kiosk booth will be manned by an "engineer" of sorts,
but this engineer is apparently going to be a mere non-paid intern with
no technical knowlege as it relates to DVD authoring. So I need to find
a program that has a very easy to use wizard-based type of approach and
that will be easy to demonstrate how to use. Ideally, The program will
need to have the following features:

1) Must be for the PC platform and relatively stable
2) The ability to have animated menus (video clip as the menu
background)
3) Built in graphic / button creation tools
4) The capability to burn and verify the DVD directly through the
program
5) The resulting discs must be compatible with a standard set-top DVD
player

If anyone knows of a program they could reccommend that has all of
these features, and that they think would be well suited for the
project I've described, please let me know. Any advice would be
greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
- yvan

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

<yvan@ideasdesign.com> wrote in message
news:1105017178.522979.15410@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> My company has been approached by a potential client who wants us to
> create a kiosk type of device (to use at conventions, etc.) where a
> user can choose their favorite sports moment, re-record their own
> voiceover for it (emulating the sports announcer), and then have the
> machine spit out a custom DVD that contains the sports moment with
> their voiceover on it.
>
> Although there are many additional details related to the project that
> I don't feel are necessary to explain, .. what I am inquiring about is
> if someone here might know of a DVD authoring application that's easy
> enough for a non-technical person to use without too much mental
> exertion. The kiosk booth will be manned by an "engineer" of sorts,
> but this engineer is apparently going to be a mere non-paid intern with
> no technical knowlege as it relates to DVD authoring. So I need to find
> a program that has a very easy to use wizard-based type of approach and
> that will be easy to demonstrate how to use. Ideally, The program will
> need to have the following features:
>
> 1) Must be for the PC platform and relatively stable
> 2) The ability to have animated menus (video clip as the menu
> background)
> 3) Built in graphic / button creation tools
> 4) The capability to burn and verify the DVD directly through the
> program
> 5) The resulting discs must be compatible with a standard set-top DVD
> player
>
> If anyone knows of a program they could reccommend that has all of
> these features, and that they think would be well suited for the
> project I've described, please let me know. Any advice would be
> greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks!
> - yvan
>

I guess I should look on it as, "Oh how far we've come!"

The first thought I had was "Why a DVD and not a VCD? Will this
be a multi-hour "Sports Moment"? How long would this "user" be
allowed to try to make his "Howard Cosell" moment? If he were
trying to do even a two minute spot, it could take a lot more time
than a "Kiosk type of device" should allow. I doubt you would
want your "user" to spend the time it would take to do a 5 or 10
minute spot, much less a DVD's worth.

Who would need to be able to use the capabilities of # 2 & 3
above? The "mere non-paid intern with no technical knowledge as it
relates to DVD authoring" or your "user"? You would be better off
having a number of pre-made menus for the "user" to select from and
then personalize. Remember though: the more choice for your "user",
the longer the process will take.

Luck;
Ken

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

<yvan@ideasdesign.com> wrote ...
> My company has been approached by a potential client who wants us to
> create a kiosk type of device (to use at conventions, etc.) where a
> user can choose their favorite sports moment, re-record their own
> voiceover for it (emulating the sports announcer), and then have the
> machine spit out a custom DVD that contains the sports moment with
> their voiceover on it.

You may be in over your head. I would investigate sub-contracting
to someone who specializes in kiosk/custom software development.
I don't think that ANY of the commercially available DVD authoring
software is suitable for reliable full-automatic kiosk use.

I'd guess that the most reliable and lowest-cost development would be
a full-custom application written for Linux to take advantage of the
open-source modules available for the various functions.

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

>> Although there are many additional details related to the project
that
>> I don't feel are necessary to explain, ..

I'm not sure what got lost in the translation here. Would someone be
so kind as to answer my question, rather than nit pick my intentionally
vaguely described project? And once again, Linux is not an option.

Easy to use wizard-based DVD Authoring software. PC platform. I'll
handle the remaining details, thank you

- yvan

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

I can develop this for you. But your mail got bounced back.


<yvan@ideasdesign.com> wrote in message
news:1105017178.522979.15410@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> My company has been approached by a potential client who wants us to
> create a kiosk type of device (to use at conventions, etc.) where a
> user can choose their favorite sports moment, re-record their own
> voiceover for it (emulating the sports announcer), and then have the
> machine spit out a custom DVD that contains the sports moment with
> their voiceover on it.
>
> Although there are many additional details related to the project that
> I don't feel are necessary to explain, .. what I am inquiring about is
> if someone here might know of a DVD authoring application that's easy
> enough for a non-technical person to use without too much mental
> exertion. The kiosk booth will be manned by an "engineer" of sorts,
> but this engineer is apparently going to be a mere non-paid intern with
> no technical knowlege as it relates to DVD authoring. So I need to find
> a program that has a very easy to use wizard-based type of approach and
> that will be easy to demonstrate how to use. Ideally, The program will
> need to have the following features:
>
> 1) Must be for the PC platform and relatively stable
> 2) The ability to have animated menus (video clip as the menu
> background)
> 3) Built in graphic / button creation tools
> 4) The capability to burn and verify the DVD directly through the
> program
> 5) The resulting discs must be compatible with a standard set-top DVD
> player
>
> If anyone knows of a program they could reccommend that has all of
> these features, and that they think would be well suited for the
> project I've described, please let me know. Any advice would be
> greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks!
> - yvan
>

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

<yvan@ideasdesign.com> wrote in message
news:1105026772.392337.33670@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
>>> Although there are many additional details related to the project
> that
>>> I don't feel are necessary to explain, ..
>
> I'm not sure what got lost in the translation here. Would someone be
> so kind as to answer my question, rather than nit pick my intentionally
> vaguely described project? And once again, Linux is not an option.
>
> Easy to use wizard-based DVD Authoring software. PC platform. I'll
> handle the remaining details, thank you
>
> - yvan
>

Gee, with an attitude like that, I'll just rush out and research the
field for the perfect software for you. Don't worry, just sit back
and wait.

Luck;
Ken

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

<yvan@ideasdesign.com> wrote in message
news:1105017178.522979.15410@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com...
> My company has been approached by a potential client who wants us to
> create a kiosk type of device (to use at conventions, etc.) where a
> user can choose their favorite sports moment, re-record their own
> voiceover for it (emulating the sports announcer), and then have the
> machine spit out a custom DVD that contains the sports moment with
> their voiceover on it.
>
> Although there are many additional details related to the project that
> I don't feel are necessary to explain, .. what I am inquiring about is
> if someone here might know of a DVD authoring application that's easy
> enough for a non-technical person to use without too much mental
> exertion. The kiosk booth will be manned by an "engineer" of sorts,
> but this engineer is apparently going to be a mere non-paid intern with
> no technical knowlege as it relates to DVD authoring. So I need to find
> a program that has a very easy to use wizard-based type of approach and
> that will be easy to demonstrate how to use. Ideally, The program will
> need to have the following features:
>
> 1) Must be for the PC platform and relatively stable
> 2) The ability to have animated menus (video clip as the menu
> background)
> 3) Built in graphic / button creation tools
> 4) The capability to burn and verify the DVD directly through the
> program
> 5) The resulting discs must be compatible with a standard set-top DVD
> player
>
> If anyone knows of a program they could reccommend that has all of
> these features, and that they think would be well suited for the
> project I've described, please let me know. Any advice would be
> greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks!
> - yvan
>

It sounds like you want a program such as Ulead DVD MovieFactory - cost is
low and it leads the user through the steps of creating a DVD or video CD.
It's pretty much a no-brainer. Aside from that there are some considerations
you mentioned, but have misconceptions about.

The first is the idea of this "favorite sports moment". Video footage from
any sport which was derived by taping televised professional football,
baseball, basketball, hockey, etc. are covered by copyright laws. The
company planning this "kiosk" operation may run into some legal troubles if
these discs are sold, even as a novelty item.

The second is that these video segments are going to be pretty stark
considering you will have to do away with the original anouncer which will
also take away the crowd cheers and background noises.

The third thing is you will need to have these segments pre-transcoded for
faster write to disc operations, and also have the raw footage for doing the
voice overs. Which will entail the "user" navigating around the system to
add elements together on these discs. I don't think even MovieFactory allows
voice over on the MPEG-2 files during playback. I could be wrong.

The fourth thing is the motion menu segments should be prepared ahead of
time for faster write to disc operations. If any part of this process is raw
video data the transcode times even for very good encoders on very fast
computers can be at least 2 or 3 to 1 in time, if not greater.

The fifth thiing is what about the label for these discs? Is it going to
match the particular video segment chosen by the user, or will it be a
"one-size-fits-all" label? Also, what about the container for the disc? Now
you're getting into the area of asking the question of just how many of
these things do you want to give away? Because you are certainly headed for
trouble if you are selling them at these conventions. Professional sports
team logos are trademarked and copyrighted as well, and the industry WILL
investigate even the smallest infraction.

I once owned a sign business and upon the request of a company created a
sign for their nightclub with lettering just like the "Toys R Us" lettering
with the color scheme in the exact same colors. The bar was in the little
mid-western town of Bloomington, Indiana USA and you would think that this
would have been far enough from the sight of the "Toys R Us" company as to
not attract attention. That sign was ordered by "Toys R Us" to taken down
only 3 weeks after it was placed on the building!! Their lawyers threatened
to level a very large lawsuit against both our company's - my sign business
and the nightclub!!! The backward R and the color scheme are both
copyrighted and trademarked. Don't be fooled into thinking no one is looking
at what you are doing.

The last thing is the fact that you want the final disc to be compatible
with standard set-top DVD players. The only way to ensure even near total
compatibility with all the varying players out there is to have them stamped
at a professional production house. No matter what you do there are going to
be players that will reject your discs, especially if you just go out and
buy the very cheapest one's on the shelf at the local outlet. Compatibility
with set-top players has more to do with the brand of the disc than with the
player when it comes to some of the older players out there. New players
will play just about anything you throw at them. It is still better to get
the best brand discs like Maxell for the widest compatibility. Again how
much of this stuff do you want to give away?

I'm not trying to put your idea down. In the right scenerio it may work,
like if you were affiliated with the Miami Dolphins and they were doing this
to raise money for the Tsunami victims. If you aren't affiliated with
professional sports in any way then I wouldn't risk it. I live in Daytona
Beach and even though I have amateur footage of the Daytona 500 I cannot
include any of this footage in video advertising for my company without
completely blurring out any readable logos, etc from the cars on the track
because it is an infringement on NASCAR, which is just down the street.

Do you have the time and the know-how to do blur tracking in all this
footage you plan to use, and will doing that spoil the whole appeal for the
guy who is doing the voice over? I think you don't have the expetise to do
all that. And I don't think the potential customer will want it if it is
done.

--
Larry Johnson
Digital Video Solutions
webmaster@digitalvideosolutions.com
http://www.digitalvideosolutions.com
877-227-6281 Toll Free Sales Assistance
386-672-1941 Customer Service
386-672-1907 Technical Support
386-676-1515 Fax

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

Thank you Larry. I never meant to come across seeming rude in one of
my earlier responses. I just didn't feel it was necessary to explain
every detail of how I'd planned to approach this project, in the
interest of getting an answer to the one outstanding question that I
had.

To clarify, . .the term "kiosk" might have been somewhat misleading, as
this will not be a box that is intended to have all aspects of the dvd
production being automated (even though that's be ideal). It will be
manned by an individual, who will control the scene selection /
previewing, the audio recording sessions, and the DVD production.

Also, all potential copyright considerations have been thoroughly
researched and relayed to the client, .. and they have already taken
the necessary steps to secure the content (they are a high-profile
sports radio station with all the right connections.)

Sports moments will be no more 2 mins in length, and when recording the
voicever, we intend to play appropriately selected background crowd
noises to retain the needed sense of ambience.

2 PCS will be used: One to serve as the user interface for selecting
and previewing the video clips, and for recording voiceovers, .. and
the 2nd PC for the dvd authoring and burning. Both will be networked
together, so that recorded WAV files can be quickly and easily
transferred from one machine to the other.

When previewing the sports moments, windows media files will be used.
When recording audio voicevers, DV format video clips will be used
which have the audio tracks replaced with crowd noises. When building
the DVD, .. pre-created project files will be readily on hand, .. each
of which will contain the specific already-endcoded MPEG2 files (video
only), as well as the pre-created animated menu background.

I am certainly fully capable of taking on the project, though I would
not be the least bit reluctant to outsource it if was able to find the
right candidate for it. By the way "Nap" (not sure what you're name
is) -- you can email me at ideasdesignINC (dot com) - just add the inc
to the previous address you tried to email me at.

One again, -- thank you for your thoughtful and informative response
Cheers,
- yvan

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

yvan@ideasdesign.com wrote:
> Thank you Larry. I never meant to come across seeming rude in one of
> my earlier responses. I just didn't feel it was necessary to explain
> every detail of how I'd planned to approach this project, in the
> interest of getting an answer to the one outstanding question that I
> had.
>
> To clarify, . .the term "kiosk" might have been somewhat misleading,
as
> this will not be a box that is intended to have all aspects of the
dvd
> production being automated (even though that's be ideal). It will be
> manned by an individual, who will control the scene selection /
> previewing, the audio recording sessions, and the DVD production.
>
> Also, all potential copyright considerations have been thoroughly
> researched and relayed to the client, .. and they have already taken
> the necessary steps to secure the content (they are a high-profile
> sports radio station with all the right connections.)
>
> Sports moments will be no more 2 mins in length, and when recording
the
> voicever, we intend to play appropriately selected background crowd
> noises to retain the needed sense of ambience.
>
> 2 PCS will be used: One to serve as the user interface for selecting
> and previewing the video clips, and for recording voiceovers, .. and
> the 2nd PC for the dvd authoring and burning. Both will be networked
> together, so that recorded WAV files can be quickly and easily
> transferred from one machine to the other.
>
> When previewing the sports moments, windows media files will be used.
> When recording audio voicevers, DV format video clips will be used
> which have the audio tracks replaced with crowd noises. When
building
> the DVD, .. pre-created project files will be readily on hand, ..
each
> of which will contain the specific already-endcoded MPEG2 files
(video
> only), as well as the pre-created animated menu background.
>
> I am certainly fully capable of taking on the project, though I would
> not be the least bit reluctant to outsource it if was able to find
the
> right candidate for it. By the way "Nap" (not sure what you're name
> is) -- you can email me at ideasdesignINC (dot com) - just add the
inc
> to the previous address you tried to email me at.
>
> One again, -- thank you for your thoughtful and informative response

> Cheers,
> - yvan

Ok, without making any suggestions on methodology, copyright
infringements etc
any of the brand name products will do more or less what you want.

Look at Ulead, Pinnacle, Adobe, Sony (multimedia.sony.com). You should
be able to download a demo of each. There is also shareware software
around.

There is a little learning to be done but from your description you
will simply be reburning the same project after having replaced the
voice track.

As to playing a disk back in any DVD player - NO - I have not found any
burning software the will guarentee a DVD or video CD will play in ANY
player.

Good luck with your endevour.

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

On a sunny day (Thu, 6 Jan 2005 07:38:11 -0800) it happened "Richard Crowley"
<rcrowley7@xprt.net> wrote in <10tqmr4k28h9425@corp.supernews.com>:

><yvan@ideasdesign.com> wrote ...
>> My company has been approached by a potential client who wants us to
>> create a kiosk type of device (to use at conventions, etc.) where a
>> user can choose their favorite sports moment, re-record their own
>> voiceover for it (emulating the sports announcer), and then have the
>> machine spit out a custom DVD that contains the sports moment with
>> their voiceover on it.
>
>You may be in over your head. I would investigate sub-contracting
>to someone who specializes in kiosk/custom software development.
>I don't think that ANY of the commercially available DVD authoring
>software is suitable for reliable full-automatic kiosk use.
>
>I'd guess that the most reliable and lowest-cost development would be
>a full-custom application written for Linux to take advantage of the
>open-source modules available for the various functions.
Agreed, I can do that in Linux, even add a some nice buttons, display
on a normal TV (no PC in sight, just a TV with a microphone and buttons).
User will still have to wait for processing time and burning...
I am not volunteering, probably at other end of the world...

PC, video out, mplayer or xine, dvdwizard, rec, interface via serial port,
some PIC micro to accept buttons, or even via par port....
Select a scene (button), press start (button), speak in mike (uses 'rec'),
Confirm or cancel (buttons) so someone can try again, mp2enc, multimux,
ffmpeg, tcmplex-panteltje, dvdwizard, dvdauthor, mkisofs, dvdimagecmp,
and eject to lauch the ready DVD towards the user ;-)

Add a webcam and make a selectable menu button where user can see himself
later on DVD, proably plenty of space anyways.
Sourcefiles in mpeg2 can fit on a normal harddisk, no mpeg2 recode
needed.
Any takers?
hehe

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

On a sunny day (6 Jan 2005 07:52:52 -0800) it happened yvan@ideasdesign.com
wrote in <1105026772.392337.33670@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com>:

>>> Although there are many additional details related to the project
>that
>>> I don't feel are necessary to explain, ..
>
>I'm not sure what got lost in the translation here. Would someone be
>so kind as to answer my question, rather than nit pick my intentionally
>vaguely described project? And once again, Linux is not an option.
>
>Easy to use wizard-based DVD Authoring software. PC platform. I'll
>handle the remaining details, thank you
>
If you say 'linux' is not an option you very likely will not be able to
handle the remaining details.
If you are the Yvan I know, then I am sooo right.

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

yvan wrote:

> To clarify, . .the term "kiosk" might have been somewhat misleading,
as
> this will not be a box that is intended to have all aspects of the
dvd
> production being automated (even though that's be ideal). It will be
> manned by an individual, who will control the scene selection /
> previewing, the audio recording sessions, and the DVD production.

That is a very different environment than the traditional
definition of a "kiosk" where the end-user drives (like an
ATM machine, for example)

If you have a human operator (who can have some minimal
training, presumably), then indeed a simple commercial
product running on a standard platform (MSwin or Mac,
etc.) sounds like the logical choice.

I have had success only with ~high-end Adobe Encore,
so I'll leave it to others to suggest reliable simple
and/or inexpensive DVD authoring application suggestions.
I'd kinda be interested in that myself.

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

(Steve mumbled to himself)
Why oh why can't DVD Studio Pro be that easy?
hehe

On 1/6/05 3:48 PM, in article
1105044541.aa36f2c70bcbe70db933e64ebd907dbb@teranews, "Jan Panteltje"
<pNaonStpealmtje@yahoo.com> wrote:

> On a sunny day (Thu, 6 Jan 2005 07:38:11 -0800) it happened "Richard Crowley"
> <rcrowley7@xprt.net> wrote in <10tqmr4k28h9425@corp.supernews.com>:
>
>> <yvan@ideasdesign.com> wrote ...
>>> My company has been approached by a potential client who wants us to
>>> create a kiosk type of device (to use at conventions, etc.) where a
>>> user can choose their favorite sports moment, re-record their own
>>> voiceover for it (emulating the sports announcer), and then have the
>>> machine spit out a custom DVD that contains the sports moment with
>>> their voiceover on it.
>>
>> You may be in over your head. I would investigate sub-contracting
>> to someone who specializes in kiosk/custom software development.
>> I don't think that ANY of the commercially available DVD authoring
>> software is suitable for reliable full-automatic kiosk use.
>>
>> I'd guess that the most reliable and lowest-cost development would be
>> a full-custom application written for Linux to take advantage of the
>> open-source modules available for the various functions.
> Agreed, I can do that in Linux, even add a some nice buttons, display
> on a normal TV (no PC in sight, just a TV with a microphone and buttons).
> User will still have to wait for processing time and burning...
> I am not volunteering, probably at other end of the world...
>
> PC, video out, mplayer or xine, dvdwizard, rec, interface via serial port,
> some PIC micro to accept buttons, or even via par port....
> Select a scene (button), press start (button), speak in mike (uses 'rec'),
> Confirm or cancel (buttons) so someone can try again, mp2enc, multimux,
> ffmpeg, tcmplex-panteltje, dvdwizard, dvdauthor, mkisofs, dvdimagecmp,
> and eject to lauch the ready DVD towards the user ;-)
>
> Add a webcam and make a selectable menu button where user can see himself
> later on DVD, proably plenty of space anyways.
> Sourcefiles in mpeg2 can fit on a normal harddisk, no mpeg2 recode
> needed.
> Any takers?
> hehe
>
>