Slideshow Program

[wanderlust4ever]

Can anybody please tell me the best program for making slideshows from your pictures etc etc. Was using Proshow Gold before i got a Mac..
Cheers.

[mackindergarten]

Hi!

I use iPhoto's built-in slideshow feature. Does everything I need. Simple and elegant.

You can even start a slideshow directly from Finder. Highlight the desired pictures, command-click on them, hold down option and select Slideshow ... Items

/Rupert

[iJordo]

for windows I would vote for Photo Story 3..... but for OS X iPhoto is the absolute easiest way to make a professional slideshow, either that or try Apple Keynote.. it has some unbelievable transitions to work with...

[Grimace]

If you want something web based (like a slideshow embedded in your web site) - check out SlideShow Pro. Cheap, powerful, customizable and flash (harder to copy images). It comes in versions for Flash or Lightroom.

[ChrisBrightwell]

Motion Pictures HD (http://www.roxio.com/enu/products/motionpictures/overview.html)

[ChrisA]

If you want something web based...

iWeb can make web based slide shows.

[Wayward]

FotoMagico (http://www.boinx.com/fotomagico/overview/)

[M2DVD]

We make many slideshows using iphoto (http://www.apple.com/ilife/iphoto/), imovie (http://www.apple.com/ilife/imovie/) as well as photo to movie (http://www.lqgraphics.com/software/phototomovie.php). We've just used (and are very happy with fotomagico (http://www.boinx.com/fotomagico/overview/)).

What I'd like to know is where these people get these beautiful themed slideshows that seem to have pictures matted and imbedded into moving landscapes and such. I know the pics had to be dragged and dropped into zones (because they are commercially done and reproduced quickly for funeral homes and such). But what what software are they using?

The tribute slideshow I watched yesterday at one of the leading funeral homes in the city was awesome. It seemed the photographs hovered, panned and slightly rotated against a moving background (of falling water, sky, etc).

Is there a program available to do this?

[art gardiner]

I second SSP for web based, or even creating a CD/DVD portfolio. Another to consider would be Sound Slides.

Art

[pprior]

We make many slideshows using iphoto (http://www.apple.com/ilife/iphoto/), imovie (http://www.apple.com/ilife/imovie/) as well as photo to movie (http://www.lqgraphics.com/software/phototomovie.php). We've just used (and are very happy with fotomagico (http://www.boinx.com/fotomagico/overview/)).

What I'd like to know is where these people get these beautiful themed slideshows that seem to have pictures matted and imbedded into moving landscapes and such. I know the pics had to be dragged and dropped into zones (because they are commercially done and reproduced quickly for funeral homes and such). But what what software are they using?

The tribute slideshow I watched yesterday at one of the leading funeral homes in the city was awesome. It seemed the photographs hovered, panned and slightly rotated against a moving background (of falling water, sky, etc).

Is there a program available to do this?


this is my question as well - I see some awesome stuff out there and I know it's not all hard coded using vegas or FC. iphoto is too lame and fotomagico and photo to movie etc are ok for ken burns stuff, but not what I'm looking for.

(i know this is an old thread, but I've been doing slideshows for 5-6 years and still am looking for that one magic product).

[mattw126]

One of my freelancer friends swears by ShowIt (http://www.showitfast.com/products.php?op=web). I just DL'd the trial, which watermarks. I have a good Epson projector I use for reception slideshows made in FCP in advance. I make it the client's responsibility to procure a screen which means I'll have to get one for what I would like to do, which is... After shooting everything leading up to the reception, I want an assistant to make a quick slideshow presenting the images for the guests to see, and getting them excited about ordering prints (by having the relevant info present). I guess it's worked very well for David Jay.

[pprior]

Just checked it out, looks like it sells on quick and easy setup, but the demo played is pretty straightforward image pans, which is nothing you can't already do in iphoto.

Probably a great tool for the wedding or event photographer if it's as quick as it claims, but I'm looking for more flexibility.

For example: I've got an idea for a soccer video right now with background video over which I will have falling images rotated away from the viewer, like a waterfall. I've seen similar things on the sports shows many times, but to do it by hand in FC would take forever. I'm just surprised there isn't a consumer way to do this.

[mattw126]

A woman came into the studio last week with a memorial slideshow for her daughter (car accident) that was produced by the local funeral home. The mother was not pleased with the instrumentals they used, she gave me a CD of her daughter's favorite songs and asked me to apply which tracks I thought would work on the video, and make copies. All the transitions they used were cross dissolves, with a little video of waterfalls thrown in here and there, nothing special. I captured it with DVDXPro, and took care of the rest in FCP.

Ironically though, about 2 weeks prior to her coming in, I started interviewing (with the Snowball USB condenser mic - works pretty damn good) family members for a tribute DVD I'm producing for my mom who passed last year from cancer (I'm up late scanning more images right now). I'm using FCP adding some of my dad's home videos, the voiceovers, special effects, etc. What I'm doing for my mom is going to be a labor-of-love, time intensive, one-off. The ShowIt program, I'm going to try, I think will be ideal for weddings. However, I would love to find out what software the funeral home mentioned in M2DVD's post is using as well.

What I'd like to know is where these people get these beautiful themed slideshows that seem to have pictures matted and imbedded into moving landscapes and such. I know the pics had to be dragged and dropped into zones (because they are commercially done and reproduced quickly for funeral homes and such). But what what software are they using?


M2DVD, could you do me a favor and give them a call and try to find out? If you don't want to or think they'll decline to say, do me a favor and post their phone # for me, I think I can get it out of them. Thanks.

[pprior]

Just a follow-up, I ended up buying Pulpmotion Advanced to add to my trick bag of editing software. It's got some neat features and is pretty easy to use and -incredibly- fast rendering output. A lot of the "book" type presets are not for me, but I was able to use some of their themes with good results, incorportating them into a FCE project mixed with video.

It's fairly expensive, but it allows more effects than any other software I've demoed.

Anyone else checking this topic might want to check them out.

www.aquafadas.com

[Wingnut330]

Just a follow-up, I ended up buying Pulpmotion Advanced to add to my trick bag of editing software. It's got some neat features and is pretty easy to use and -incredibly- fast rendering output. A lot of the "book" type presets are not for me, but I was able to use some of their themes with good results, incorportating them into a FCE project mixed with video.

It's fairly expensive, but it allows more effects than any other software I've demoed.

Anyone else checking this topic might want to check them out.

www.aquafadas.com

Did you also try Fotomagico? I'm curious if you tried both and settled on PM or if you just went with PM.

[pprior]

Yes, I tried both.

[Wingnut330]

Yes, I tried both.

Cool - I'm going to give it a try. I had ProShow Gold for the PC and I really liked it. Unfortunately they don't make a Mac version so I have been looking around for a replacement. V2 of PM looks pretty solid and the interface is similar to the ProShow interface.

I have made some fun slideshows in iMovie, but I would like something with a little more zing. PM V2 may be the winner! Thanks for the update.

[TLogan]

Hi Everyone,
This is a little more specific. I've looked at the programs descriptions from this page, but what Im after is a program to create slideshows that I can then email to clients. So they will open the Attachment and somehow get a slideshow with their images that i created to open On their computer.

I'm sure some of the apps can do it, but it's hard to tell which ones from the descriptions..
Has anybody tried an app that could do this already? if so could you please tell me which one?

thank you very much for any help.

[SnowLeopard2008]

Use iPhoto and export as a movie?

[TLogan]

Use iPhoto and export as a movie?

Hi thanks that is a good suggestion but it ends up as a very large file for a smallish movie.. So a bit hard to email as well.
More after a slideshow perhaps flash would work?

[TLogan]

Hi thanks that is a good suggestion but it ends up as a very large file for a smallish movie.. So a bit hard to email as well.
More after a slideshow perhaps flash would work?


Follow up if anyone is after this I found a great app here
http://www.aquafadas.com/en/pulpmotion/
it will email the pics and a stand alone player to anyone

[oblomow]

For showing photo's on the Internet, jalbum is very nice. Can be customized, had a slideshow option. And is free ( however the author wouldn't mind getting paid ).

[pprior]

Follow up if anyone is after this I found a great app here
http://www.aquafadas.com/en/pulpmotion/
it will email the pics and a stand alone player to anyone

LOL, that's the program I recommended above. It does what you want.

[hotoru]

Hi Everyone,
This is a little more specific. I've looked at the programs descriptions from this page, but what Im after is a program to create slideshows that I can then email to clients. So they will open the Attachment and somehow get a slideshow with their images that i created to open On their computer.....

Seems like YouTube would be the easiest, though not the most professional.
Slideshow for Mac (http://www.apimac.com/slideshow/)seems to export to mac and windows as stand alone files. I have not tried.

[ajpl]

I spent some considerable time trying to find a good SS programme for the Mac a few weeks back and they all seem a bit undernourished/simplistic/unprofessional shall we say. Fotomagico was what I ended up using but the timeline markers were next to useless as they weren't even on the timeline and I had to use an separate audioeditor to get them positioned at a specific timing point and then were no good anyway. Fotomagico also would drift off cue points at random as well and would need rejigging to hit cues. Not sure why Markers are missing or so useless in SS progs as they are about the most basic tool for such a programme to my mind.
Even Soundslides on the Mac is inferior to the PC version as it has a much smaller maximum window, which makes it near unusable when using a lot of images.
Using a PC/Parallels/Bootcamp... seems to be the best solution it seems for making professional slideshows.

[hotoru]

I spent some considerable time trying to find a good SS programme for the Mac a few weeks back and they all seem a bit undernourished/simplistic/unprofessional shall we say. Fotomagico was what I ended up using but the timeline markers were next to useless.......<snip>...
Using a PC/Parallels/Bootcamp... seems to be the best solution it seems for making professional slideshows.
Based upon my experience so far, I agree. On the PC I used ProShow (http://www.photodex.com/). This was not without bugs. But, is much more powerful than that I have seen for OSX. Perhaps Fotomagico will evolve into a more robust product. I have not tried making a photo show with iMovie (http://www.appleology.com/2007/08/08/imovie-08-makes-custom-slideshow-production-easy/).

[sarge]

If you want something web based (like a slideshow embedded in your web site) - check out SlideShow Pro. Cheap, powerful, customizable and flash (harder to copy images). It comes in versions for Flash or Lightroom.

I'm considering getting Slideshow Pro myself. I have CS3 but do not have lightroom...yet. Wondering if I should get the Slideshow Pro plugin for Flash or just go whole hog and get the lightroom version. Anybody have an opinion on that?

[Keebler]

I took a look at PulpMotion. I've yet to dload the demo. It looks very similar to Fotomagico in a strong way. For a second, I thought Boinx was the creator :)

It looks like a solid piece of sw, but a few thoughts I'm wondering:
1. does the iphoto themes allow us to resize photographs within the frames? or change the frame size? I dropped some photos in real quick and the frames on the book theme cut off some pictures, but I'll be honest - I didn't check if you could resize the frames or choose a larger frame. I know you can re-order the pictures to fit other frames, but a large number of my clients like to have their pictures in a specific order.
If this is possible, then Iphoto might be easier (and cheaper) although $129 for the advanced version isn't that bad at all.

2. Creatively wise: I ask all of us slideshow creators out there: when is creativity too much? I think it's great we can pan pictures, zip them around, move things in and out, have different themes etc.., but does it take away from the photos 'speaking for themselves'? Do clients care if a slideshow is all fancy dancy? I just finished one and the clients were blown away. It was for the husband's 50-something birthday and he was in tears, absolutely blown away by the photographs and memories. Only the ending had something slightly fancy using the iphoto book theme to close it out.

I personally keep my slideshows nice and easy. I time the music as well as I can, but for transitions, it's nice cross dissolves into photos that pan and scan. I think there's a fine line b/n allowing the pics to speak for themselves and letting the viewer remember the pics as their memories provide versus having animation have an impact on the photos. I think too much movement and animation takes the viewers' focus slightly away from the point of the photograph.

The other issue I have with too much animation etc.. is that it 'dates' the slideshow. ie. look at weddings done on VHS back in the mid-80s to late 90s - look at how cheesy and awful some of that animation was/is. And think, back then, it looked great. Fast forward to now then into the future - how awful will too much animation look in a few years? cheesy? dated? or ok?

Please realize I'm speaking about consumer slideshows and not corporate requirements, which I know can vary.

Any thoughts? Also please understand that i'm not saying anyone is doing a bad job of using too much animation. I'm asking the above questions with my opinions b/c I'd like to hear what others have to say. Maybe i'm wrong in my thinking. I'm always trying to better what I offer.

Cheers,
Keebler

[sarge]

2. Creatively wise: I ask all of us slideshow creators out there: when is creativity too much? I think it's great we can pan pictures, zip them around, move things in and out, have different themes etc.., but does it take away from the photos 'speaking for themselves'?

I emphatically agree w/you on that point. The audience I am building my site for are not other media outlets or their customers. I am trying to differentiate my images from the millions of others in the daily churn and to me that means giving them a little more breathing space - the whole less is more approach.
On the other hand, I do want to include titles, format, and date information using specific fonts from my library.

[danielautos]

I am assisting a photographer who is shooting a sweet 16. she wants to feed me images throughout the night to slideshow on flat screens set up at the club. i am guessing i need a slideshow program that allows me to select a folder of images, which i can then continuously feed the images to and will be added to the slideshow as they come in. two questions: 1) can anyone recommend a good program for this and 2) how do i multitask without it showing on the main screens? for example, if the slideshow is running, how do i add images without the screens showing what i am doing.. is there a program that allows you to do background work without the slideshow being interrupted?

thanks,
daniel

[wheelhot]

Hmm, I don't think there is a software that allows you to add photos as the slideshow is running. I tried using iMovie, and eventhough it works great, since it allows more fine tuning of the ken burns effect, I still able to live with iPhoto though.

[SLC Flyfishing]

I've gotten fantastic results using plain old iMovie! No need for anything else here.

SLC

[hotoru]

....for example, if the slideshow is running, how do i add images without the screens showing what i am doing.. is there a program that allows you to do background work without the slideshow being interrupted?.....daniel

Image capture allows you to set custom settings for each camera. You could set the Memory Card reader settings to "Download To:" Auto Import or another directory then set "Automatic Task:" to "Build Slideshow". Works for me testing on my iPhone but might cause temporary interruption of the slideshow. Another thought would be to set screensaver to show slideshow pictures from a folder then use a second computer to load pictures into that folder over a network.
Good Luck,
Hotoru

[danielautos]

i had thought about the 2nd computer, but i wasnt sure how i could get the two computers to share a folder. im not tooooo familiar with setting up a network in a location such as a venue for a sweet 16 party. i had thought about having the two computers access an external drive and using one computer to do the mechanics such as importing, etc and the other doing the slideshowing from the mutually shared folder.

any thoughts? thanksss..

[hotoru]

This problem is harder that I would have thought. I made an automator workflow that
--Get Finder Items (select target picture folder)
--Get Folder Contents
--New Quicktime Slideshow
--Open Finder Items

Then you could save as workflow and add
--Run Workflow
as the last command to make it loop. Then you could select your computers "Drop Box" as the target picture folder then drag photos into the drop box from another computer on the network.

My problem is that quicktime does not automatically start the slideshow movie when launched. You have to press the space bar. I have found add on automator scripts that will allow you to insert a keypress into automator. But, as I am just testing I do not want to pay the $12 required to buy the script. Also, I suspect there would be a better way to accomplish.
Hotoru