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ProShowProducer vs. PE2 Slideshow

Standard, Gold & Producer. Talk with our experts about this great slideshow creating software.

ProShowProducer vs. PE2 Slideshow

Postby Doreen L. » Sat Apr 14, 2007 10:14 pm

I did a little (well not really. It took me longer than I expected) test comparing Pro Show Producer and PE2 slideshows.

For the PSP (which is basically the same as PSG as far as quality) show, I imported 6mp photos directly from my files, created a show and exported to a webshow using the Photodex presenter. I also exported as a avi, inported to Windows Movie Maker and created a wmv.

For the PE2 show, I resized the same photos to 1000x666 resolution, created a show and exported to 'movie'. I imported to Windows Movie Maker and created a wmv. Here's my results:

http://www.tworiversailing.com/PSP

(Don't pay any attention to the video that has a grey screen. I don't know why it's still there and I'm still figuring out how to get rid of it)

The PSP show is 4.2mb and the wmvs are 2.93 mb (the closest I could get). The PSP show using their presenter is obviously better and quality also shows when burning a DVD (using their DVD or your own DVD authoring program. I don't know why PSP wmv created in WMM is so bad - the avi I imported looked great. I tried some of the other export options in PSP and found they're not very good (maybe I'm doing something wrong). You don't have options on resolution size on exporting to wmv. You do on Quicktime and mpeg2, etc. I also had problems when trying to export in widescreen mode.

Also, creating a slideshow in PSP was much faster than PE2. And PSP has keyframing and layering (PSG doesn't). I wouldn't pay $250 for PSP but upgrading from PSG is $100 for me because I've had PSG for two years. I'm still debating but I'm becoming more and more tempted.
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Postby ed » Sun Apr 15, 2007 8:59 am

The PSP's quality is much better. If You do a lot of slideshows you should upgrade. I have Gold, but don't really use it enough to warrent rhe upgrade.
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Postby Bob D » Sun Apr 15, 2007 10:26 am

Doreen,

Looking at the top 2 slideshows, where PSP is on the left and PE2 is on the right, I like the PE2 better. The PSP on the left has some issues when panning where there is jitteryness or jaggyness (if these are really words) for some portions of the picture.

I actually love this debate, because I think that PSG or PSP is actually easier to crank out some nice looking and quick slideshows. But I looked at this when PSG 3.0 came out and found that PSG (trial version) would inexplicably stop and close out during some of my editing. So with my machine this product didn't work out too well. But when I was able to test the output via DVD to my TV I wasn't as impressed with the quality as I am with PE2.

These are just my opinions.

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Postby Doreen L. » Sun Apr 15, 2007 12:51 pm

I agree that the PSP show exported to WMM and wmv on the left is pretty bad. However, I found the PSP to producer better quality than PE2 to DVD. I'm wondering if you had it set to high quality when you burned a DVD using PSP.

As far as running PSP and PSG on my computer, they've both have been very stable. It's so weird that some programs run fine on some computers and run into problems on others.
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Postby Bob D » Sun Apr 15, 2007 2:27 pm

Actually, I only tried the PSG 3.0 trial version. I don't have PSP. But you are right. For some, things work fine and for others they don't. I get great results with PE2 so that is why I stick with it.

The other thing I wasn't thrilled about with PSG was they have constant updates/patches and the steps you had to go through to get them installed. Of course, on the other end of the spectrum we have Adobe, who won't create an update/patch ever - almost!

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Postby digitalexplr » Thu Jun 07, 2007 9:53 am

For slide shows nothing beats Proshow Producer. I've earned some pretty good commissions using Proshow Gold. When they offered me the special upgrade to Producer I took it and I extremely happy I did. The added features have more than paid for themselves.

For video editing I go with PE3, Ulead's MediaPro, or Video Studio.

Just a matter of picking the right tool for the job. Sometimes a combination of tools works best.
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Re: ProShowProducer vs. PE2 Slideshow

Postby VernonRobinson » Wed Oct 10, 2007 8:15 am

Doreen L. wrote:I did a little (well not really. It took me longer than I expected) test comparing Pro Show Producer and PE2 slideshows.

For the PSP (which is basically the same as PSG as far as quality) show, I imported 6mp photos directly from my files, created a show and exported to a webshow using the Photodex presenter. I also exported as a avi, inported to Windows Movie Maker and created a wmv.

For the PE2 show, I resized the same photos to 1000x666 resolution, created a show and exported to 'movie'. I imported to Windows Movie Maker and created a wmv. Here's my results:


Doreen and other ProShow Users,
Thanks for taking the time to do this. I keep looking for a tool that will minimize my time involvement, but still look like someone took a bit more time than it actually did :-D . I don't have a lot of time, so I need it to be well spent as I work on my projects. So a tool like PSP looks promising. I looked at the example links you provided. As mentioned, it does seem that the Pro-Show WMV has a bit of shimmer to it. Does this show in the actual DVD? The PE2 version does not show this flicker. Does PSP have flicker removal similar to PE2? Also, it seems that the show using the Photodex tool is not working.

I see that you down rezzed the PE slides as recommended. Is this step unnecessary in PSP? I think of the kids swim team with over 100 kids. There could easily be over 600 8 megapixel photos in the show along with some video.

Key framing. Seems that key framing unlocks the power of PSP and PE2. How difficult is the keyframing relative to PE2? I find myself doing mostly stills with some video. I think PSP might be a good tool, but trying to assess the learning curve.

Does PSP allow you to synchronize your slides to the music, similar to the unnumbered markers in PE. I see in PE4 there is supposed to be "beat detection". It would be interesting to see how that works.

From looking at the PSP commercial, it seems that they use a sceneline interface rather than a timeline interface. Is this true? If so, how does that affect your keyframing, multi-layer work? I would guess that there is a timeline, but that they are hiding it to keep from scaring potential customers.

Finally, I went to the PSP website and saw their demo. It looks wonderful. But in reality, how difficult and time consuming would it be to create some of the effects. Looks like most of the effects are multi-layered, key framed, and rely heavily on a skilled operator. My concern woud be that most people (myself included), would look at the demo and say wow this is great. I will buy this product so I can produce these great shows. Only to find that the show was created by professionals and as the warning says "these are trained professionals ... do not try this at home :eek: My initial reaction is that creating that type of production would take about the same amount of time in PSP as it does in PE. What is your opinion? I love the presentation, but am concernend about the learning curve and ultimately the time involved.


I was reading the differences and it looks like PSP is preferable to PSG. PSP seems to be closer to PE's capability, but with a lot of ease of use features built in. Do you concur?

In your estimation what strengths does PE possess over PSP?

The $250 price tag seems a bit stiff, I wonder is it possbile to purchase a license from someone who has it as shelf ware, or does not plan on upgrading.
I plan on trying the 15 day trial. But I need to do it when I have some time to spend. 15 days goes by pretty fast.

Sorry for the long post, and I appreciate any insight.

Thanks,
-Vernon
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Re: ProShowProducer vs. PE2 Slideshow

Postby momoffduty » Wed Oct 10, 2007 9:35 am

Thanks for posting the comparison. Saw their demo last month and was wondering about PSP. Always looking for slideshow ideas. I have some of the same questions as Vernon. Does PSP have themes? (Like PE4)
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Re: ProShowProducer vs. PE2 Slideshow

Postby Doreen L. » Wed Oct 10, 2007 5:14 pm

If you're doing a lot of slide shows, I would definitely go for PSG. PSP is great (the customer loyality price made it worth it). You can pan and zoom, etc. in PSG plus now you can also do layers. There's a ton of transitions and I love the animated text affects. The biggest plus is you don't have to resize your pictures.

I also use PSP or PSG if I'm going to have slides plus video. I do my slides in PSP and then export them as an avi and then into PE2 (I'm not sure if PSG has the avi export). As a matter of fact, that's what I did with the Junior Sweeps video.

http://muvipix.com/cpg/displayimage.php ... 0004&pos=0

Keyframing in PSP is different from keyframing in PE. I find it a little more difficult than PE but it just takes getting use to. I would download the trial of PSG and see how you like it.
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Re: ProShowProducer vs. PE2 Slideshow

Postby VernonRobinson » Thu Oct 11, 2007 7:49 pm

Thanks for the response. When I get a block of time I will give it a try. I noticed you said try ProShow Gold and not ProShow Producer. Do you feel that Producer is not a good value at $250?

Thanks,
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Re: ProShowProducer vs. PE2 Slideshow

Postby Doreen L. » Fri Oct 12, 2007 9:04 am

I think that PSG has enough features for most people. If you do a lot of slide shows and you want the added features then I would consider PSP. Keep in mind that for each year you have PSG, you get $50 off PSP, so my upgrade to PSP was a lot cheaper.
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Re: ProShowProducer vs. PE2 Slideshow

Postby VernonRobinson » Fri Oct 12, 2007 2:10 pm

Doreen L. wrote:I think that PSG has enough features for most people. If you do a lot of slide shows and you want the added features then I would consider PSP. Keep in mind that for each year you have PSG, you get $50 off PSP, so my upgrade to PSP was a lot cheaper.


Doreen,
What was it about PSP that made you want to upgrade from PSG?

Thanks,
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Re: ProShowProducer vs. PE2 Slideshow

Postby Ron » Fri Oct 12, 2007 2:29 pm

I don't mean to steal Doreen's thunder, but for me it was the export to AVI feature (PSG does not).

I too took advantage of the PSG long time user discount and purchased. The Proshow line is, by far, the best quality slideshow creator out there (MO). I once created a collage of a few years of images (1500 or so) in mere minutes; added some music, output to DVD and it's a nice slideshow to just put up in the background with family/friends sittin' around - random Pan & Zoom (random transitions if you prefer), and I don't believe I've ever encountered any errors in all of the slideshows I've produced. It's also what I use to quickly create the product previews here at muvipix. PSP apparently has "layer" ability that I don't quite understand (yet), but I guess it's one of the main features of the upgrade. The executables it creates can go monitor fullscreen on the fly and the resolution/quality is pristine every single time. If you're into slideshows (even slideshows w/video), it's well worth the money.

My 2 pennies :)
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Re: ProShowProducer vs. PE2 Slideshow

Postby Doreen L. » Fri Oct 12, 2007 2:39 pm

You couldn't do layers in my older version of PSG, so I wanted to upgrade to the latest addition (which now has that feature). The price of PSP for previous customers was too good to pass up. As Ron said, if you do a lot of slide shows, PSP or PSG is the way to go. I really like the option to just change pictures without having to think about resizing. You can crop and do basic photo correction right in the program as well.
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Re: ProShowProducer vs. PE2 Slideshow

Postby VernonRobinson » Fri Oct 12, 2007 6:50 pm

Ron wrote:I don't mean to steal Doreen's thunder, but for me it was the export to AVI feature (PSG does not).

I too took advantage of the PSG long time user discount and purchased. The Proshow line is, by far, the best quality slideshow creator out there (MO). I once created a collage of a few years of images (1500 or so) in mere minutes; added some music, output to DVD and it's a nice slideshow to just put up in the background with family/friends sittin' around - random Pan & Zoom (random transitions if you prefer), and I don't believe I've ever encountered any errors in all of the slideshows I've produced. It's also what I use to quickly create the product previews here at muvipix. PSP apparently has "layer" ability that I don't quite understand (yet), but I guess it's one of the main features of the upgrade. The executables it creates can go monitor fullscreen on the fly and the resolution/quality is pristine every single time. If you're into slideshows (even slideshows w/video), it's well worth the money.

My 2 pennies :)


Ron/Doreen,
Thanks for the feedback. Have you taken a look at the current commercial running on the Photodex site for Producer? How hard would it be to recreate the slide show based on your knowledge of the product? They have another one showing advanced motion effects (key framing). Just wanted your input on the learning curve involved. Thanks to both of you.

Regards,
-Vernon
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