Slideshow Software

[bmcent1]

Hi All -

I've done weddings for a couple years now and just recently had my first request for a slideshow. It's something I've been thinking of doing for a while but never got around to it until now.

This is for a young couple, and their wedding photos are already finished and some of my favorites ever. For this wedding, I delivered 800 pictures, about 300 are excellent album candidates.

I'm thinking of doing a rapid fire type of presentation, with longer pauses on some of the slides. At times showing 2 or 3 slides at a time and maybe flipping them individually to new images.

I want to try a look similar to some of Chase Jarvis's slideshow/videos.

What software do you recommend? I've found Proshow Gold and Animotion, wondering if there are others I should be looking at.

Where do you find Creative Commons, public domain, or very cheap RF music for backgrounds?

Other than this forum, are there other resources anyone recommends for a crash course intro to this?

Thanks!

 

[Doug MacMillan]

I'm no longer a professional photographer, but I like ProShow. You might want to go ahead and spring for the Producer version. You can come up with some pretty impressive animation once you learn the tricks. For instance, I often use one image that starts zoomed in, then I pan, then I pull back to full, then stop for a second before transitioning to the next photo. This requires four, five or more copies of the same image to achieve.

The only quibble I have is it doesn't have provisions (at least in the Gold version) for multiple soundtracks. I have to put the sountrack together first, then import it. If I make a change, it takes a little more work.

 

[lone_dingo]

Hi All -

I've done weddings for a couple years now and just recently had my first request for a slideshow. It's something I've been thinking of doing for a while but never got around to it until now.

Experimenting on a clients is never a wise move. It's one thing to decide to learn how to make a professional presentation but an entirely different thing to think you can sell your first attempt to a client. It's not rocket science but it's not child's play either.

Very simple dissolves with variable timing and a sound track with over laid guest comments is relatively easy to achieve with simple software like "Photo Story3" from Microsoft. You can either purchase a burner add-on or use freely available stuff to make it into a an MP3.

Proshow is used by a lot of photographers. I use the Presenter version of it sometimes because I can splice movie clips into it but like another posters said, it is lacking some ability in the soundtrack area.

An increasingly popular thing is to not bother doing it yourself but give the whole 256 (15 minutes) or 500 images (205 minutes) to a professional movie editor. In Australia and New Zealand there is a plethora of seriously skilled editors more than capable of making a presentation to rival anything you're likely to get in a promo tape from a band.

I use a fellow in New Zealand who works on zillion dollar movies in his spare time. He does contract editing of TV commercials and rock band promos the rest of the time.

He'd never done a wedding story until I asked him to do one for me. Of course he has some considerable qualifications as a movie editor so a wedding for him is a walk in the park - so to speak... Which was the theme of the first WS he did.

$450 a half hour (or part of) presentation and some of the effects he's designed are pure magic. There must be people in your area who make TV commercials and promo tapes for entertainers?... Ask someone.

When you see a cinema quality creation from a highly qualified professional, you'll quickly realise that while you might be a decent photographer, you don't know a hell of a lot about movie making.

Incidentally... I use a D90 Nikon to record movie segments for inclusion in Wedding Story DVDs. I'm about to move up to a D300s.

--
My Anonymity is an ethical choice.

 

[bross1]

If you work on a Mac, try Fotomagico:

http://boinx.com/fotomagico/overview/

It works really well, is easy to use, allows for lots of control over pan, zoom, etc. (Ken Burns stuff) as well as multiple transition styles, text overlay, and music. I believe in Version 3 that just came out you can use multiple audio tracks, although you still have the most control taking your slideshow to Garage Band and doing your mix there (they include a detailed tutorial on how to do this easily). I never do that as the included audio functions work well enough for what I need it to do.

Also, it will export true HD quality movies as well as standalone movies that don't require the viewer to have the player. These are at the highest quality and look beautiful (and I'm very picky about image quality). Finally it will export other versions for various media including web (Quicktime), iPhone, etc.

Check it out and see if it will work for you.

 

[RJNedimyer]

I also use Proshow and reccomend it [ http://www.photodex.com/ ]. However, the photographic side is the easy part for me obtaining good, appropriate and legal music at a price that allows me a little profit has been difficult to obtain.

Suggestions are welcome!!
--
Ray
RJNedimyer

 

[Lin Evans]

You may want to first find out what type computer the wedding couple have.

If they use a PC, then you have many options. If you only want a lower resolution slideshow on DVD, then you also have many options. On the other hand, if they want a high resolution, high quality slideshow to play on their computer and they use a MacIntosh, then you really have only one choice.

PicturesToExe can output native MacIntosh executable code to deliver a superb high resolution slideshow on a MacIntosh computer which has an Intel Processor (most new ones do) and which has OS 10.4 or better. The other presentation slideshow software mentioned can not do this.

You can output either Windows executable code in full resolution, MacIntosh native executable code in full resolution, 1080p or higher resolution MP4 for display on large screen TV or full executable code to display on large screen HD TV via HDMI cable from appropriate laptop, etc., DVD at PAL or NTSC resolution, direct output to Youtube, Vimeo, etc., to iPod or iPhone.... Lots of choices...

Download free trial at:

http://www.wnsoft.com

Lin

 

[gaussian blur]

PicturesToExe can output native MacIntosh executable code to deliver a superb high resolution slideshow on a MacIntosh computer which has an Intel Processor (most new ones do) and which has OS 10.4 or better. The other presentation slideshow software mentioned can not do this.

First off, all new Macs for the past 3 years have had Intel processors. Second, PicturesToExe does not output Mac executable code, according to the website and user guide. The only executable code it outputs is .exe for Windows.

It does output h.264 video which can be played on Mac or PC as well as other platforms (oddly, they even list Playstation 3 in the user guide). Having a platform neutral format is a very good thing and there is no requirement that the Mac have an Intel processor to play h.264. It's strange that they don't think that Macs can play .avi files though.

 

[Lin Evans]

Sorry my friend, but you really don't know quite as much about this as you presume to.

I co-authored the Unofficial User Guide for PTE and I "do" know what I'm talking about!

If you do a bit more checking, you will find the errors of your assumptions. If you would like me to post a slideshow for you in native MacIntosh executable code made with PTE I will be glad to do so.

Email me at:

[email protected] and I will be glad to post a show for you.

Everyone who has a MacIntosh does not have a system which was manufactured in the past three years so it's still necessary to inform potential MacIntosh users that PTE only outputs code for the Intel based MacIntosh with OSX 10.4 or higher.

Best regards,

Lin

PicturesToExe can output native MacIntosh executable code to deliver a superb high resolution slideshow on a MacIntosh computer which has an Intel Processor (most new ones do) and which has OS 10.4 or better. The other presentation slideshow software mentioned can not do this.

First off, all new Macs for the past 3 years have had Intel processors. Second, PicturesToExe does not output Mac executable code, according to the website and user guide. The only executable code it outputs is .exe for Windows.

It does output h.264 video which can be played on Mac or PC as well as other platforms (oddly, they even list Playstation 3 in the user guide). Having a platform neutral format is a very good thing and there is no requirement that the Mac have an Intel processor to play h.264. It's strange that they don't think that Macs can play .avi files though.

 

[gaussian blur]

Sorry my friend, but you really don't know quite as much about this as you presume to.

I co-authored the Unofficial User Guide for PTE and I "do" know what I'm talking about!

I'm going by what's in the user guides and feature list posted at their website, and if you co-authored the guide, then I'm going by what you wrote.

http://www.wnsoft.com/apr/help/5.6/PicturesToExe_User_Guide_v560.pdf

On page 66, it lists the video options and the only reference to Macs is the first choice, HD Video for PC and Mac. At the bottom of the selections there's a choice for an Executable File. On page 79, it states that the app creates EXE files. EXE files are Windows executables, not Mac. There's nothing about Mac executable files, and that would be the obvious place to put it.

On page 9, the guide explicitly states, "You can't run EXE file with a slide show on MacOS, but you can burn a DVD-Video disc in PicturesToExe Deluxe and add EXE fies of the slide shows. Thus, the DVD-disc will play with highest quality on a PC (as an EXE file) and as a DVD-Video on Mac computer." Nothing about Mac executables there either.

From page 12 of the Unofficial User Guide which you co-authored:
http://www.wnsoft.com/apr/PicturesToExe_v50_UserManual_en.pdf

"The Create Slideshow and Create Slideshow As options allow you to create an executable file (.exe file) when you have completed your PTE project. These options will create an “.exe” file which will run on computers having a “Windows” operating system without a copy of the PTE program being present."

Looks like Windows only. In fact, there's nothing about native Mac executables anywhere in that document.

If you do a bit more checking, you will find the errors of your assumptions. If you would like me to post a slideshow for you in native MacIntosh executable code made with PTE I will be glad to do so.

Kindly post a link or give specific steps how a user can output a native Mac executable file and explain why those steps are not outlined in the user guide.

 

[Lin Evans]

As I stated, email me and I will post an email link to a native MacIntosh executable slideshow created with PicturesToExe.

Everything which is possible is not always documented in user guides (whether "official or unofficial") which can't be updated as quickly as new features are added. To understand what is possible, and all features available, you need to educate yourself by going to the PTE forum where you can learn much more.

Is it of more benefit to you to argue on a public forum and quote pages to me with which I am intimately familiar than learn what is possible? Perhaps you might simply ask rather than contradict and correct me. As I told you, I do know what I'm talking about or I would not have made the post.

I have told you it is possible to output a slideshow in native MacIntosh executable code and have given you my email address to write for a link. That offer is still open. I have already offered to show you how it is done. This is not the place to discuss the details, but rather a place to disseminate information about features which is precisely what I did.

My email address once again is:

[email protected]

Best regards,

Lin

I'm going by what's in the user guides and feature list posted at their website, and if you co-authored the guide, then I'm going by what you wrote.

http://www.wnsoft.com/apr/help/5.6/PicturesToExe_User_Guide_v560.pdf

On page 66, it lists the video options and the only reference to Macs is the first choice, HD Video for PC and Mac. At the bottom of the selections there's a choice for an Executable File. On page 79, it states that the app creates EXE files. EXE files are Windows executables, not Mac. There's nothing about Mac executable files, and that would be the obvious place to put it.

On page 9, the guide explicitly states, "You can't run EXE file with a slide show on MacOS, but you can burn a DVD-Video disc in PicturesToExe Deluxe and add EXE fies of the slide shows. Thus, the DVD-disc will play with highest quality on a PC (as an EXE file) and as a DVD-Video on Mac computer." Nothing about Mac executables there either.

From page 12 of the Unofficial User Guide which you co-authored:
http://www.wnsoft.com/apr/PicturesToExe_v50_UserManual_en.pdf

"The Create Slideshow and Create Slideshow As options allow you to create an executable file (.exe file) when you have completed your PTE project. These options will create an “.exe” file which will run on computers having a “Windows” operating system without a copy of the PTE program being present."

Looks like Windows only. In fact, there's nothing about native Mac executables anywhere in that document.

If you do a bit more checking, you will find the errors of your assumptions. If you would like me to post a slideshow for you in native MacIntosh executable code made with PTE I will be glad to do so.

Kindly post a link or give specific steps how a user can output a native Mac executable file and explain why those steps are not outlined in the user guide.

 

[gaussian blur]

As I stated, email me and I will post an email link to a native MacIntosh executable slideshow created with PicturesToExe.

Everything which is possible is not always documented in user guides (whether "official or unofficial") which can't be updated as quickly as new features are added. To understand what is possible, and all features available, you need to educate yourself by going to the PTE forum where you can learn much more.

Thanks for suggesting that I check the forum, as it clearly proves what I said was absolutely correct . Creating Mac native slide shows is only possible in a future version of the app which is available to beta testers. The version that's currently available at their website does not create Mac native code.

In any event, I don't see why they don't release a viewer app and just output data files. It would be a whole lot simpler. That is essentially all the Mac application is anyway

 

[Lin Evans]

If you were not so intent on being "correct" rather than learning something, you would discover that the "future" version is available to all registered users as a fully functioning beta version right now.

All users of PTE are "beta testers" The version which creates Mac native code is "absolutely" available right now and being used by numerous MacIntosh owners.

Perhaps rather than try to second guess developers who "do" know what they are doing, you might learn a bit more before having egg on your face?

Maybe the developers could use your expertise - I'm not certain how they have managed without "instant web experts" LOL....

Best regards,

Lin

Thanks for suggesting that I check the forum, as it clearly proves what I said was absolutely correct . Creating Mac native slide shows is only possible in a future version of the app which is available to beta testers. The version that's currently available at their website does not create Mac native code.

In any event, I don't see why they don't release a viewer app and just output data files. It would be a whole lot simpler. That is essentially all the Mac application is anyway

 

[lone_dingo]

If you were not so intent on being "correct" rather than learning something, you would discover that the "future" version is available to all registered users as a fully functioning beta version right now.

All users of PTE are "beta testers" The version which creates Mac native code is "absolutely" available right now and being used by numerous MacIntosh owners.

Perhaps rather than try to second guess developers who "do" know what they are doing, you might learn a bit more before having egg on your face?

Maybe the developers could use your expertise - I'm not certain how they have managed without "instant web experts" LOL....

Best regards,

Lin

I often wonder about this forum. Is it for Pros or is it for idiots?

Wouldn't you think someone seriously checking out an app. might notice a similarity in a name? LOL. No they don't.

Give up Lin. He'd probably complain he had the switch his Mac on to use it when he couldn't follow the instructions on booting it. The rest of us appreciate your effort, BTW.
--
My Anonymity is an ethical choice.

 

[gaussian blur]

If you were not so intent on being "correct" rather than learning something, you would discover that the "future" version is available to all registered users as a fully functioning beta version right now.

Except that you said to download the trial version from their web site and that version does not create a native Mac app. You didn't say that it requires digging into the forums to find the link to the beta version that does. There's nothing on their web site that would suggest native Mac support is coming or to even look for a beta version.

Why not just say that the current version doesn't do it and the next version will? It's obviously not under NDA since I found the link and I didn't even need to register to download it. It does create a Mac application, although I must say the way they wrote it is a bit strange.

 

[Lin Evans]

Multiple times I offered you the opportunity of emailing me for details and a sample, but you elected instead to argue and debate. You could have saved yourself lots of effort had you really wanted the information by simply doing so. You would have had all pertinent information yesterday and could have "corrected" whatever you disliked about my post here with valid details rather than adopting the condescending tone you decided to use.

Their website is as they wish it to be. All details are available there, including information about a future full MacIntosh version of PTE for anyone truly interested, and all questions are answered via the PTE forum by both forum participants and developers who monitor and participate in open forum discussions.

You have no way of knowing "how they wrote it" so why make statements about it being "strange?" Rather than assuming the role of "expert" on both the MacIntosh and programming, why not simply ask for more information and use the email address I provided for more details? It would have been far too easy.....

Best regards,

Lin

If you were not so intent on being "correct" rather than learning something, you would discover that the "future" version is available to all registered users as a fully functioning beta version right now.

Except that you said to download the trial version from their web site and that version does not create a native Mac app. You didn't say that it requires digging into the forums to find the link to the beta version that does. There's nothing on their web site that would suggest native Mac support is coming or to even look for a beta version.

Why not just say that the current version doesn't do it and the next version will? It's obviously not under NDA since I found the link and I didn't even need to register to download it. It does create a Mac application, although I must say the way they wrote it is a bit strange.

 

[carl english]

I must come in here simply to say, Lin is one of the most helpful members of these forums and If I wanted to know anything about PTE he's the guy I would turn to.
Why not take up his generous offer and make email contact.

regards
Carl

 

[gaussian blur]

Multiple times I offered you the opportunity of emailing me for details and a sample, but you elected instead to argue and debate.

You could have just said "it's in the next version" and helped not just me, but all prospective users. The version that supports it is not the version on the main page.

I don't see why someone needs to email you to find out that a particular feature exists or why it's so secret. Mac support is a good thing and I'd think both WnSoft and you would want to publicize that it's coming, not make people jump through hoops to find out about it.

You have no way of knowing "how they wrote it" so why make statements about it being "strange?" Rather than assuming the role of "expert" on both the MacIntosh and programming, why not simply ask for more information and use the email address I provided for more details? It would have been far too easy.....

As someone who has been developing Mac software for a very long time, I can easily determine quite a bit about what they did or didn't do.

 

[lone_dingo]

As someone who has been developing Mac software for a very long time, I can easily determine quite a bit about what they did or didn't do.

Well there you go...

You answered your own problems... Well some of them at least. Only a few sessions on the couch will have any hope of solving the worst one.

Stop doing a bash up on helpful posters .

If you don't, the forum is likely to degrade into the free-for-all Usenet has become and the "real" experts like Lin will leave and the place will be stuck with clueless people looking for arguments instead of solutions.

Go write your own code if you are so smart.

Produce your own program and let us PC guys have a really good laugh for a change. All we have so far is envy for the patience of Job* Lin has shown with you. If only we all had such tolerance.

• http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=job &version=31;

--
My Anonymity is an ethical choice.