In addition to a LMS and a CD version of a course we needed to create a DVD video from Articulate output. Many of the students do not have access to the LMS or to an individual computer so we want to use a regular DVD player (720 x 480 resolution) to show the course to employee groups on TV's ranging from HD to non-HD and from ~ 36" to 46". When we did the conversion from the published Articulate Presenter to video format the text (published as Arial 12 point) in the Transcript area is very 'fuzzy' and hard to read.
Has anyone discovered a solution to create clearly visible text when creating video versions of Articulate presentations?
I think the fuzzy text may be a compatibility issue. You mentioned you were playing the DVD in a DVD player, correct? You can publish a presentation onto a DVD, but you may not be able to play a presentation on a standalone DVD player on a TV. We only support viewing a DVD on a DVD-ROM drive on a computer that meets the system requirements for viewing published output. Have you tried playing the DVD through a computer hooked up to the TV, by any chance?
Peter is correct. Playback from a computer would be your best bet. If you have to go to the DVD-Video format (Hollywood movie type DVD) instead of a DVD-ROM, then my comments below may help.
Text on DVD-Video is always tricky. The problem is due to video interlacing which is how TV works. One row of pixels is drawn on the screen and then a row is skipped before the next line is drawn. Once all alternating rows have been drawn on the screen, the process repeats filling in the rows that were not drawn the first time. This happens very quickly (i.e.) usually 60 times per second, but for that split second, one row pixels is missing. Imagine if the top of the "T" is only one pixel tall. Gone for a split-second and then back again.
There are other factors involved such as MPEG compression, resolution, and DVD player/TV output quality, but those are typically beyond control. Suffice it to say, the text will loo better on some systems than others.
Here are a few tips:
* Keep you fonts as large as possible. 14 pt. is the smallest I recommend.
* Use Sans Serif fonts if at all possible.
* Text shadows or 1-pixel vertical motion blurs can help smooth "blinking" text, but you'd have the experiment to optimize the effect. It may seem counter-intuitive, but I've used these techniques a lot.
* Try to keep your colors range between 16 and 235. Saturated colors can add to the blurring.
* Start of with the best video source possible for encoding. Uncompressed video is best, but that may not be possible.
* The quality of video encoders can vary significantly. Use the best video encoder available. If more than one encoder is available, run some quality tests.
* Keep the bit rate as high as possible.
* Use Constant Bit Rate (CBR ) if you have enough space on the disc.
Thank you both for all your help! I've commented on both posts individually below.
Note that the main reason for including the transcript/notes text in addtion to using a voiceover was to ensure 508 compliance for hearing impaired students. We are considering two alternative methods of accomodation workarounds to allow hearing impaired access to the transcript/notes when viewing a standalone DVD version: Redo the video capture to exclude the transcript/notes sidebar and 1) offer Articulate Storyboard in a hardcopy printed version to any students who require it; or 2) add-in the notes text as subtitles that track the voiceover- note this also has the benefit of making the Slide view larger and more readable on a TV too.
Peter, I realize that my requirement for standalone DVD to TV is not within Presenter's system requirements and isn't supported.... but hoped for a work around to provide the content to groups of students who only have a standalone DVD with 720 x 480 resolution and don't have access to the LMS, individual e-learning via personal laptop or desktop computer, or who can't display output from a computer to either projection equipment or HDTV. We have created a video version for those sites that do have the computer to projection or HDTV option.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Ron, excellent discussion of the applicable technical issues that we might control. We've thought of some of them but you included a few that were new to me...i"ll pass that along to our e-graphics editor that did the original conversion to video. .
Here are a few tips:
* Keep you fonts as large as possible. 14 pt. is the smallest I recommend. -
JY-we considered this but one reason to have the transcript and voiceover together was 508 compliance. If we increase the font size then most of the slides require transcript scolling and then we need to make multiple fade-in; fade-out versions of each slide to show the transcript as the voiceover goes on. The slide text at 36 pt + works fine.
* Use Sans Serif fonts if at all possible.
JY-Did that; but good to always consider in the future.
* Text shadows or 1-pixel vertical motion blurs can help smooth "blinking" text, but you'd have the experiment to optimize the effect. It may seem counter-intuitive, but I've used these techniques a lot.
* Try to keep your colors range between 16 and 235. Saturated colors can add to the blurring.
* Start of with the best video source possible for encoding. Uncompressed video is best, but that may not be possible.
* The quality of video encoders can vary significantly. Use the best video encoder available. If more than one encoder is available, run some quality tests.
* Keep the bit rate as high as possible.
* Use Constant Bit Rate (CBR ) if you have enough space on the disc
JY-I'm not the graphics editor; but I'll pass these 6 tips along to him in case they were not considered.
5 Replies
Hey John, welcome to Heroes!
I think the fuzzy text may be a compatibility issue. You mentioned you were playing the DVD in a DVD player, correct? You can publish a presentation onto a DVD, but you may not be able to play a presentation on a standalone DVD player on a TV. We only support viewing a DVD on a DVD-ROM drive on a computer that meets the system requirements for viewing published output. Have you tried playing the DVD through a computer hooked up to the TV, by any chance?
Hi John,
Peter is correct. Playback from a computer would be your best bet. If you have to go to the DVD-Video format (Hollywood movie type DVD) instead of a DVD-ROM, then my comments below may help.
Text on DVD-Video is always tricky. The problem is due to video interlacing which is how TV works. One row of pixels is drawn on the screen and then a row is skipped before the next line is drawn. Once all alternating rows have been drawn on the screen, the process repeats filling in the rows that were not drawn the first time. This happens very quickly (i.e.) usually 60 times per second, but for that split second, one row pixels is missing. Imagine if the top of the "T" is only one pixel tall. Gone for a split-second and then back again.
There are other factors involved such as MPEG compression, resolution, and DVD player/TV output quality, but those are typically beyond control. Suffice it to say, the text will loo better on some systems than others.
Here are a few tips:
* Keep you fonts as large as possible. 14 pt. is the smallest I recommend.
* Use Sans Serif fonts if at all possible.
* Text shadows or 1-pixel vertical motion blurs can help smooth "blinking" text, but you'd have the experiment to optimize the effect. It may seem counter-intuitive, but I've used these techniques a lot.
* Try to keep your colors range between 16 and 235. Saturated colors can add to the blurring.
* Start of with the best video source possible for encoding. Uncompressed video is best, but that may not be possible.
* The quality of video encoders can vary significantly. Use the best video encoder available. If more than one encoder is available, run some quality tests.
* Keep the bit rate as high as possible.
* Use Constant Bit Rate (CBR ) if you have enough space on the disc.
Good luck,
-Ron
Great tips, Ron. Thanks for jumping in!
No problem. Finally something I might know a little more about than most everyone else here : )
Peter; Ron;
Thank you both for all your help! I've commented on both posts individually below.
Note that the main reason for including the transcript/notes text in addtion to using a voiceover was to ensure 508 compliance for hearing impaired students. We are considering two alternative methods of accomodation workarounds to allow hearing impaired access to the transcript/notes when viewing a standalone DVD version: Redo the video capture to exclude the transcript/notes sidebar and 1) offer Articulate Storyboard in a hardcopy printed version to any students who require it; or 2) add-in the notes text as subtitles that track the voiceover- note this also has the benefit of making the Slide view larger and more readable on a TV too.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Peter, I realize that my requirement for standalone DVD to TV is not within Presenter's system requirements and isn't supported.... but hoped for a work around to provide the content to groups of students who only have a standalone DVD with 720 x 480 resolution and don't have access to the LMS, individual e-learning via personal laptop or desktop computer, or who can't display output from a computer to either projection equipment or HDTV. We have created a video version for those sites that do have the computer to projection or HDTV option.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Ron, excellent discussion of the applicable technical issues that we might control. We've thought of some of them but you included a few that were new to me...i"ll pass that along to our e-graphics editor that did the original conversion to video. .
Here are a few tips:
* Keep you fonts as large as possible. 14 pt. is the smallest I recommend. -
JY-we considered this but one reason to have the transcript and voiceover together was 508 compliance. If we increase the font size then most of the slides require transcript scolling and then we need to make multiple fade-in; fade-out versions of each slide to show the transcript as the voiceover goes on. The slide text at 36 pt + works fine.
* Use Sans Serif fonts if at all possible.
JY-Did that; but good to always consider in the future.
* Text shadows or 1-pixel vertical motion blurs can help smooth "blinking" text, but you'd have the experiment to optimize the effect. It may seem counter-intuitive, but I've used these techniques a lot.
* Try to keep your colors range between 16 and 235. Saturated colors can add to the blurring.
* Start of with the best video source possible for encoding. Uncompressed video is best, but that may not be possible.
* The quality of video encoders can vary significantly. Use the best video encoder available. If more than one encoder is available, run some quality tests.
* Keep the bit rate as high as possible.
* Use Constant Bit Rate (CBR ) if you have enough space on the disc
JY-I'm not the graphics editor; but I'll pass these 6 tips along to him in case they were not considered.
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