How to make a Tournament DVD?

KKbluff · #1 04-09-2005, 12:49 AM

I was thinking of buying one of those dvds that display time remaining, chip value, blind level etc when one of my friends said that i could make my own with a minimal effort. If i can actually make my own tourney dvd does anyone have any advice on how to actually do this???
all responces appreciated. thanks in advance!

TwinTowers · #2 04-09-2005, 01:27 AM

There are actually two donation ware programs that do a great job of doing exatly what you've mentioned. One is called the tournament director http://www.thetournamentdirector.net/. Ive used it since last summer and its great. The other is http://drneau.com/

Dr.Neau's is more complicated and complex, but it keeps track of season Player of the Year type of points. The first one is easy to use and is what I would recommend.

smoore · #3 04-09-2005, 01:37 AM

I'm curious about the DVD too. I hate hauling my $1500 laptop around to be an egg timer [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] Not everyone has a computer but they all have DVD players. If you made your own you could put music on it for the audio track.

DerryABU · #4 04-09-2005, 09:49 AM

I'd also be interested if anyone knows how to do this,I don't own a laptop so I run our monthly tourney with an electronic egg timer and a note pad with the blind schedule.
If I could make a DVD I could run it off my PS2 and the large screen T.V. in our clubhouse.
Someone in computing must be able to help here,c'mon computer nerds help us out. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

pie taster · #5 04-09-2005, 10:09 AM

There's another option called the Poker Genie.

This timer is pretty portable and has a lot of cool features like automatic calculations of blind schedules and chip counts.

I got one for x-mas but have never used because I like the Dr. Neau's software because it tracks player rankings and such. If you want to buy my poker genie (never used) I'd be willing to sell it $50 (Don't tell my dad!).

I don't like the DVD option, I don't see how it could really be that flexible.

Mojo Tooth · #6 04-09-2005, 02:12 PM

Well, it's an interesting and creative idea. I hadn't thought of it. I went straight from using a kitchen timer and a list of blind levels to using a computer program.

Making a DVD (or a VCD, there's no reason for you to need THAT much space) isn't particularly difficult. Just get a hold of some video authoring software. You usually get a home version of such software if you buy a modern video card for your computer. Other than that you can check out Best Buy or whatever. Pinnacle Studio for instance.

The thing is, the software to make the DVD/VCD is not free. The software to do the actual timing on your computer is free, or at least, is donationware. Seems like going the DVD route is spendier, unless you already have the software on hand.

Although I would imagine you could get hold of some demo software or something.

smoore · #7 04-09-2005, 02:35 PM

Hm, I know a guy who has the authoring software and a DVD burner but how would I make the track? Flash or something?

re: flexibility... there's so much space on a DVD that you could easily make all of your different tournaments and probably have multiple soundtracks too.

Mojo Tooth · #8 04-09-2005, 03:10 PM

Actually, doing a live screen-capture from a program like tourney director might be the simplest thing to do.

Set up your tourney in tourney director, start the capture, then start the tourney timer. Capture the vid output from the whole tourney. At the end you'll get a big honkin' AVI which you can burn to VCD with Nero or whatever.