Nero ShowTime 3 User Manual

Nero ShowTime Manual

Nero AG

The Nero ShowTime manual and all its contents are protected by copyright and are the property of Nero AG. All rights reserved. This manual contains material that is protected by internationally valid copyright. No part of this manual may be reproduced, transmitted or transcribed without the express written permission of Nero AG.

Nero AG rejects any claims that transcend the clauses of the guarantee rights. Nero AG does not undertake any liability for the correctness of the content of the Nero ShowTime manual. The contents of the software supplied, as well as of the Nero ShowTime manual, may be changed without prior warning.

For versions with 2 channel DTS decoding:

DTS is a registered trademark of DTS, Inc. and DTS 2.0 + Digital Out is a trademark of DTS, Inc.

For versions with 5.1 channel DTS decoding:

DTS and DTS Digital Surround are registered trademarks of DTS, Inc.

All trade names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. The trademarks mentioned here are named for information purposes only.

General information

Contents

1 General information 5

1.1 About the manual 5

1.2 About Nero ShowTime 5

1.3 Versions of Nero ShowTime 5

2 Technical information 7

2.1 System requirements 7

2.2 Formats supported 7

3 Launching the program 8

3.1 Launching Nero ShowTime via Nero StartSmart 8

3.2 Launching Nero ShowTime directly 8

4 Program interface 9

4.1 Playback window 9

4.2 Control panel 10

4.3 Extended area 11

5 Options window 12

5.1 General 12

5.1.1 OSD setting 12

5.1.2 Keyboard and mouse 13

5.1.3 Capturing a frame 14

5.1.4 Configuring the toolbar 14

5.1.5 Tooltip settings 15

5.2 Disc playback 16

5.2.1 Bookmarks editor 17

5.2.2 Parental control 17

5.3 Video 19

5.3.1 Video mode 20

5.3.2 Video quality 20

5.3.3 Nero Digital settings 21

5.3.4 Film effects 21

5.3.5 Enhance video 21

5.3.6 Multimonitor support 22

5.4 Audio 22

5.5 External subtitles 22

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General information

5.6 DNC 23

5.7 Skin browser 23

6 Playback 24

6.1 Playing discs from the drive 24

6.2 Play from Folder 24

6.3 Playing a media file 25

6.4 Playlists from media files 25

6.4.1 Playlist window 25

6.4.2 Creating and saving a playlist 27

6.4.3 Playing a playlist 27

6.4.4 Editing a playlist 28

6.5 Playing media 29

6.6 Using Internet services 29

7 Control during playback 31

7.1 Toolbar 31

7.2 Context menu 32

8 Key combinations 33 9 List of figures 35 10 Glossary 36 11 Index 38 12 Contact 40

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General information

1 General information

1.1 About the manual

This manual is intended for all users who want to learn how to use Nero ShowTime. It is therefore structured according to operations and provides step-by-step instructions for what you want to do.

In order to make best use of this manual, please note the following conventions:

Symbol Meaning

Indicates warnings, preconditions or instructions that have to be

1. Start …

Æ Î

Chapter

[…]

followed strictly.

Indicates additional information or advice.

A number at the beginning of a line indicates a request for action. Carry out these actions in the order specified.

Indicates an intermediate result. Indicates a result. Indicates text passages or buttons that appear in the program

interface. They are shown in bold print. Indicates references to other chapters. They are executed as

links and are shown in red and underlined. Indicates keyboard shortcuts for entering commands.

1.2 About Nero ShowTime

Nero ShowTime allows you to play back all digital recordings (movies, TV programs, home videos, DVD format) with excellent picture and sound quality. Nero ShowTime features a reminder function for each disc inserted and allows you to create screenshots of the video being shown during playback. Nero ShowTime supports the formats DVD-Video (also from a hard drive), VCD, SVCD, miniDVD, Nero Digital™, MPEG-1/-2/-4 as well as AVI - in both PAL and NTSC. The playback window can be scaled down or viewed in full-screen mode. The audio output of Nero ShowTime supports Dolby S/PDIF for digital sound.

1.3 Versions of Nero ShowTime

Different versions of Nero ShowTime are available:

Nero ShowTime Retail



Nero ShowTime Essentials



Nero ShowTime Essentials CE



Nero ShowTime Retail and Nero ShowTime Essentials provide the full functionality. If the DVD-Video plug-in is not installed, Nero ShowTime Essentials CE will have the fol-

lowing functionality restrictions in comparison with the full version:

Digital AC3, LPCM, MPEG-1/-2 and

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General information

 

  

It is not possible to play back from the drive (see Playing discs from the drive) Only the playlist (media files) can be used as a playback source (see Playlists from media

)

files

No read character functionality (see e.g. Bookmarks editor) No parental control (see Parental control) It is not possible to change perspective

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Technical information

2 Technical information

2.1 System requirements

Nero ShowTime is installed together with the Nero Suite and the system requirements are the same. Refer to the QuickStart Guide for detailed information on system requirements. The following additional requirements also apply:

Microsoft® DirectX® 9.0c (or higher) must be installed on your operating system.



You can download and install the latest version of DirectX from the

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx via the Internet.

Plus:

Optional:

DVD drive for playing DVD-Video



16-bit Windows® compatible sound card and speakers



Multichannel/Dolby® Digital 5.1 channel decoding plug-in (Dolby® Digital



5.1 sound system for audio playback in 5.1 channel) DVD-Video plug-in for DVD-Video functions and encoding in Dolby® Digi-



tal 2 channel sound. (The DVD-Video plug-in is already included in the retail version.)

Installation of the latest WHQL-certified device drivers is recommended. WHQL stands for Windows Hardware Quality Labs and means that the device driver certified by Microsoft compatible with Microsoft

2.2 Formats supported

Nero ShowTime supports playback of the following formats or technologies:

Audio formats Video formats TV formats Disc formats

 Nero Digital™

Audio

 Nero Surround  DAT  Dolby Digi-

tal/Dolby Surround

 LPCM  MPEG-1  S/PDIF output

for digital sound

 MPEG-2  WMA

 Nero Digital™

Video

 MPEG-1  MPEG-2  MPEG-4  ASF  AVI  DV  DVD-MS  H.264/AVC  MOV  Windows mov-

ies

 WMV

Windows® and the relevant hardware.

 16:9 Wide-

Screen

 NTSC and

PAL

 DVD-Video

(from disc and hard drive)

 VCD

2.0/SVCD

 DVD+VR/-VR  miniDVD

(DVD files on CD)

 HD DVD

Copy protection mechanisms



WMA (DRM)

 WMV (DRM)  CPRM

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Launching the program

3 Launching the program

3.1 Launching Nero ShowTime via Nero StartSmart

To launch Nero ShowTime via Nero StartSmart, proceed as follows:

1. Click on the Nero StartSmart icon.

Æ The Nero StartSmart window will open.

2. Click on the arrow button on the left side of the window.

Æ The extended area will open.

3. Select the Nero ShowTime entry from the Applications selection list.

Æ The Nero ShowTime window will open.

Î You have successfully launched Nero ShowTime via Nero StartSmart.

3.2 Launching Nero ShowTime directly

To launch Nero ShowTime directly, proceed as follows:

1. If you are using the Windows-XP Start menu, click on the menu Start > All Programs > Nero

7 (Premium) > Play > Nero ShowTime. If you are using the traditional Start menu, click on the menu Start > Programs > Nero 7 (Premium) > Play > Nero ShowTime.

Æ The Nero ShowTime window will open.

Î You have successfully launched Nero ShowTime.

Fig. 1: Nero StartSmart

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Program interface

4 Program interface

The Nero ShowTime program interface is the starting point for all actions that you perform using Nero ShowTime.

The program interface consists of a playback window containing the status bar and the control panel with the playback, settings and information areas.

A minimized version of the control panel is also available. You can use the button to switch between the normal and minimized views. The minimized version of the control panel does not contain all buttons.

4.1 Playback window

The movie is shown and played in the Nero ShowTime playback window. The following buttons are available in the status bar:

Minimizes Nero ShowTime in the taskbar. Changes between full-screen and normal view. [Z]

Fig. 2: Program interface

Fig. 3: Minimized view of control panel

Exits Nero ShowTime.

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Program interface

4.2 Control panel

The control panel allows you to select a file or a video to play, to open options, to adjust the volume and to view information on the file you have just played.

Nero ShowTime allows you to play back both discs (e.g. Video-DVD or Audio CD) and media files from the hard drive. The configuration options are not enabled for every playback form, but are sometimes grayed out and cannot be used.

The following configuration options are available:

Playback area Jog shuttle

Rewinds and fast forwards within the track. The further the wheel moves in one direction, the faster it winds.

Opens selection of the playback source. This is where you can select the media file or a playlist that is to be played back. [O]

Information area

Settings area

Starts playback. [Enter] Jumps to the previous chapter or to the previous media file. [P] Jumps to the next chapter or to the next media file. [N] Interrupts playback, then continues it after a second click. [Space]

Finishes playback. [S] Ejects the disc. [J] Navigates smoothly (no chapter boundaries). Selects a rewind speed. [B] Selects a fast forward speed. [F] Adjusts the volume. Move the slider up to increase the volume. Move the slider down

to reduce the volume Switches to mute/loud. [Q]

Selects the chapter. Move the slider up to select the next chapter. Move the slider

down to select a previous chapter.

Among other things, displays the activated function, title, current chapter, and running time.

If you double-click on the runtime, the Seek to time dialog box will open. You can select a specific runtime here. [Ctrl+G]

Displays the subtitle language, drive, regional code, language, angle, and the audio settings.

Jumps back one intra code picture, approximately 10 frames. [Ctrl+B]

Jumps one frame forwards. [T] Jumps to the next bookmark. [G]

Adds a bookmark. [M]

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Program interface

4.3 Extended area

You can open an extended area on the control panel. This contains advanced selection and configuration options.

Opens the Options menu. [Ctrl+C] Shows the Help file. [F1] Minimizes Nero ShowTime in the taskbar. Exits Nero ShowTime . Displays the minimized view of the control panel. Opens selection of the existing menu or the playlist. [L] Changes between full-screen and normal view. [Z]

Fig. 5: Program interface – Extended area

The following operating elements are available in the extended area:

Opens/closes the extended area.

Allows you to jump to chapters immediately when playing back VCDs and Audio CDs.

Opens subtitle selection. [U] Changes language. [H] Repeats a chapter, a title or everything. [Ctrl+R]

Repeats a section or stops repeating. [R] Depending on the format, first set two markers between which the

chapter or title is repeated using this button. Changes the perspective insofar as the movie provides different

camera settings for individual scenes. [A] Changes channels in a karaoke DVD.

This option is only available if a karaoke DVD is inserted. [K] Activates/deactivates the enlargement tool (digital zoom). [D] Creates a screenshot and saves it to the specified folder (see

Capturing a frame). [C]

This function is only available if hardware acceleration is disabled.

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Options window

5 Options window

The Options window provides various options for customizing the appearance of the Nero ShowTime interface and for performing settings according to your requirements. You can

open the window with the pending on the entry that is selected in the navigation tree, a different screen area is displayed.

button. It consists of a navigation tree and a screen area. De-

5.1 General

The General area contains general configuration options. The following configuration options are available:

Always on top Enable all cur-

rently disabled "Never show me again" messages

5.1.1 OSD setting

The area General > OSD setting contains configuration options for the on-screen display. The on-screen display indicates the current procedure in the playback window such as "Play" or "Volume increased" for instance.

Fig. 4: Options window

Nero ShowTime remains in the foreground even if other programs are started.

Re-enables all dialog boxes that you had disabled with the "Do not show this message again" check box.

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