Still photos in PRE 12 and output to HD DVD for TV

Question

Hi,
I was using Final Cut Express 4 HD on my old iMac but bought a new late 2013 iMac and learned that FCE will not run on Mavericks (and if you install it you will destroy your OS X plugin manager without any chance to repair it)!
Ok FC Pro X is far way to expensive for me right now, as I just use the app to build nicer photo slide shows. iMove has just a single track and therefore I'm already on the limits. Ok this is where PRE 12 comes into the game and so far I love what I see in the editor. But when it comes to exporting and sharing my work for Full HD TV I'm more than disappointed.
Here is what I use. I exported all my images with 1920x1080 pixels as JPG, max quality with 72dpi and they are looking great on my iMac.
When I import the stills into PRE they are OK when I see them in the editor. I switched off the still optimization feature and set the highest quality to render the preview.
When looking at the clip on my iMac in the editor is ok so far, but at full screen the images are unsharp, blurry and have ghosting and artefacts. Well I could live with that when it would only be the preview but exporting the video a DVD with Full HD the result is as the preview, images are unsharp, blurry showing artefacts and ghosting. And I can't make it better by manipulating the settiings in the DVD dialog. Maybe I'm doing it wrong!?
The only way to make my photos in the video looking tack sharp and brilliant as they are is when I use MPEG format with Full HD settings and look at the video with quick time.
Why don't I get the same result when burning the video on DVD? Any hints?
In regards to the DVD quality I had no problems with FCE 4 HD! And the images (still photos) are the same footage I used to compare the output!
Secondly I just use the PRE 12 trial version, hope that this is not the reason? The annoying "always on" banner saying that it is a trial version is already something I dislike, but what I experience and makes it even worse is that PRE 12 is crashing again and again on different steps I take, sometimes when I change a setting, sometimes when I scrub, sometimes when selecting a fade, sometimes when importing footage and other step....
With all this the disappointing quality on DVD's and the many crashes I can't find a lot of arguments right now to make the trial a full version?!
Cheers and many thanks for help!
Happy New Year!
Yogie

Answer 1

Yogi
First, I want you to assure that you are not bothered by pile ups of preview files, conformed audio, and conformed video files. If these files are in the default location, please check wherever they may be in Premiere Elements 12 Mac (I am strictly an Elements Windows user)....
Adobe Premiere Elements Preview Files Folder....preview files
Media Cache Folder (cfa and pek files)....conformed audio
Media Cache (.mcdb files)....conformed video
Check Edit Menu/Preferences/Scratch Disks to assure that all the scratch disk categories are directed to a hard drive save location with adequate free space to accept them.
Now for the project itself...set the Premiere Elements 12 project preset manually, using
File Menu/New/Project
PAL
DSLR
1080p
DSLR 1080p25
Before you close out of there, make sure that you have a check mark next to "Force Selected Project Setting on This Project". Then, when you enter the Premiere Elements workspace, import your source media into the project with Add Media/Files and Folders/Project Assets.
Render the Timeline and then decide if the image quality is impoved. You might explore applying a very small Sharpen effect to the images. Have the others taken you through the drill of evaluating your computer video card and its driver version?
ATR
Let us determine what we have at this stage and then we can decide if any improvement on the path to PAL DVD-VIDEO Widescreen on DVD disc.
Thank you.
ATR