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Best Slideshow Software

Virtual Box

If you guys are still looking at VMWare/Parallels, do try out Virtual Box as someone mentioned .It's from Sun microsystems, it's free and it works great.

If you still have a Windows machine around, or decided to use Virtual Box with Windows, do check out Memories on TV (http://www.codejam.com/). It is one of the best hidden secret as far as slideshow program goes. I tried Photodex demo products before but Memories on TV does fantastic job for the price. And I think it's much easier to use compare.
 
Woe are we

I have used or tried to use about every photo slide show program out there. I'm a recent Windows to Mac refugee. There is no better slide show program out there that Photodex' program, I've used both the gold and pro versions. I'm currently using FotoMagico Pro but it doesn't have half the features ProShow does. I have also tried running ProShow in Parallels and Bootcamp and still get crashes. I have also pleased with Photodex to supply a OS X version to no avail. I am going to buy a Windows 7 Laptop just so I can use this one exceptional program. I would be willing to try VMWare if someone could tell me with relative certainty that it would work. Otherwise maybe we should all band together and plead with Photodex to make a Mac version. I think they could make money in the Apple market. Their product is far superior to anything that Mac has. Sigh
 
Would love to have a MAC version of Proshow Producer

I am a fairly recent convert from PC to MAC. I've loved my experience thus far, except for not having the slideshow capability of Proshow Producer. I've taken a look at various slideshow programs and have tried doing things in iMovie '09, but I miss the layers, key frames, etc that Producer provided.

I am joining the rally cry of having a Producer version for the MAC.

Cheers,
Mary Ellyn

P.S. There was an ad for Photodex when I was reading the initial posts on this forum! I hope they are listening to their market.
 
iMovie 09

I created a recent photo slideshow using iMovie '09, and it seemed to do a reasonable job at it. I mainly wanted it for Ken Burns type efffects, combining with music (multiple tracks), and the ability to export to many different formats to view as Quicktime, DVD on a TV set, etc.

I wanted to explore what iLife could already produce versus investing into something new all together. Except for quality loss when exporting to DVD, it seemed to work well enough. I didn't like needing the photos in iPhoto to import them into iMovie. The files were huge ~ 1.4 GB or so for 130 images, imported at 2000x2000 pixel JPEGs.

The quicktime export options have a significant impact on maintaining image quality from the originals.
 
i think i said something in another related thread about producer and making slideshows - i think FotoMagico and/or FCE and/or Iphoto can produce slideshows that do the trick.

I've used Producer and it is a great product. HOWEVER, is it necessary from a production point of view in terms of overkill and 'dating' a slideshow?

What I mean is: producer is fantastic, easy to use, lots of features, but with most every 'producer' slideshow i've seen, they look like they could be easily outdated in a few years. ie. too many random transitions or cheesy fly in effects that mimic what VHS weddings from the 80s/90s, look like now - cheesy and 'dated'. ie. you know they're from that time period.

Whereas, if one takes a more simply approach to the production which allows any text, video and/or photos to 'speak for themselves', I personally think it has a stronger impact than making pictures looks all fancy with special transitions or flying from corner to corner. Someone mentioned fotomagico not having keyframing, but if this applies to photos, it can't be any easier than in Fotomagico. That said, FM currently does not incorporate video clips (which may have been the discussion point).

If you watched A&E biography, their documentaries are done nice and simple - easy pan and scan across the screen or into view - letting the pictures speak for themselves rather than using technology to do something fancy and imho, taking away from the viewer's mind.

I'm not taking a shot at any one program, but it just seems that ppl are so worried about not being able to use Producer on a mac (which is unfortunate btw), that they forget some of these other programs can do the same thing and have the same profound impact we're looking to achieve for our clients.

I've never had one client say, "Gee, I would you could have used a diamond shaped transition to zoom in a picture."

In the end, I want my clients remembering the slideshow b/c they remember the photos, video and any audio combined together b/c of the memories - not how it looked technologically. I do place great emphasis on ensuring my photos look fantastic as a result of proper editing.

Am I wrong in thinking this? Don't be too focused on technology folks 🙂
 
I miss Pro Show Gold too !

I love Pro Show Gold too. It's the only program I miss since switching to Apple.
I have tried it on my Mac Book Pro with Parallels, but it doesn't seem to work as good as it did on my previous Dell laptop.
It''s very slow and not enjoyable to use. It's not all the fancy transitions, but it's everything else about it ! It just all works smoothly together,
and I also like how you can edit music for your show so nicely. About a year ago, I too called Photodex and asked for a Mac version !
 
Wow, Proshow Producer must be pretty amazing given the responses in this thread! I'm still a heavy PC user (I like both platforms), but haven't used it. I'll need to check it out. My favorite to date and I'm surprised it's only gotten mentioned once so far is FotoMagico. It doesn't have the keyframing and some of the advanced effects Proshow Producer does towards the video side of things, but it has some tricks of it's own and is a very slick app. Totally "mac like" and just fun to use. I've put together a few different slide shows for critical (tech savvy) audiences and have always gotten compliments.

I think for the mac it's really the best overall slideshow composition app.
 
computerfun said:
I love Pro Show Gold too. It's the only program I miss since switching to Apple.
I have tried it on my Mac Book Pro with Parallels, but it doesn't seem to work as good as it did on my previous Dell laptop.
It''s very slow and not enjoyable to use. It's not all the fancy transitions, but it's everything else about it ! It just all works smoothly together,
and I also like how you can edit music for your show so nicely. About a year ago, I too called Photodex and asked for a Mac version !
Click to expand...

to confirm, i emailed photodex and got a quick response saying they don't have 1 in development and she provided me a link showing me how to use VM with a windows install.

in the end, i don't want winblows on my mac so oh well.
 
You make very valid points about many slideshows getting carried away with special effects and transitions. But it is overly simplistic to think that just because many may misuse a tool (like ProShow or any other) that the tool is to blame. On the contrary, a tool only allows those using it to express themselves more or less easily.

I wouldn't blame MS Word for some of the abysmal writing I've seen, and I won't blame ProShow for some of the over-the-top slideshows users might come up with.

It's a fantastic tool, without apparent equal in the Windows world.



Keebler said:
i think i said something in another related thread about producer and making slideshows - i think FotoMagico and/or FCE and/or Iphoto can produce slideshows that do the trick.

I've used Producer and it is a great product. HOWEVER, is it necessary from a production point of view in terms of overkill and 'dating' a slideshow?

What I mean is: producer is fantastic, easy to use, lots of features, but with most every 'producer' slideshow i've seen, they look like they could be easily outdated in a few years. ie. too many random transitions or cheesy fly in effects that mimic what VHS weddings from the 80s/90s, look like now - cheesy and 'dated'. ie. you know they're from that time period.

Whereas, if one takes a more simply approach to the production which allows any text, video and/or photos to 'speak for themselves', I personally think it has a stronger impact than making pictures looks all fancy with special transitions or flying from corner to corner. Someone mentioned fotomagico not having keyframing, but if this applies to photos, it can't be any easier than in Fotomagico. That said, FM currently does not incorporate video clips (which may have been the discussion point).

If you watched A&E biography, their documentaries are done nice and simple - easy pan and scan across the screen or into view - letting the pictures speak for themselves rather than using technology to do something fancy and imho, taking away from the viewer's mind.

I'm not taking a shot at any one program, but it just seems that ppl are so worried about not being able to use Producer on a mac (which is unfortunate btw), that they forget some of these other programs can do the same thing and have the same profound impact we're looking to achieve for our clients.

I've never had one client say, "Gee, I would you could have used a diamond shaped transition to zoom in a picture."

In the end, I want my clients remembering the slideshow b/c they remember the photos, video and any audio combined together b/c of the memories - not how it looked technologically. I do place great emphasis on ensuring my photos look fantastic as a result of proper editing.

Am I wrong in thinking this? Don't be too focused on technology folks 🙂
Click to expand...
 
For school, i use keynote.

it has a theme for everything and you can download more themes from iworkcommunity,com and other sites
 
Mac Slideshows

I've used iMovie, iPhoto, and Keynote on the mac to create slide shows. I tend to use only the simplest, nonapparent transitions, but I do like slow Ken Burns effects. Many programs can make a slide show, but rendering high resolution photos with a KB effect is hard to do. iPhoto works, but you have the worry that you cannot save your work or back it up. You can only hope iPhoto keeps track of your hours of work (which it sometimes doesn't). Plus, it loses resolution. Keynote works well, maintains photo resolution, and you can make quicktime movies, Acrobat files, etc to view. You can make a Ken Burns effect using animation, but it is tedious and not as pretty as a simple iPhoto (there's a lag that I can't get rid of). I haven't used iMovie since it was reinvented, maybe that would be an answer. I'm a long time Mac user, but agree there is need for a better dedicated slide show program for high resolution photo presentation.
 
I appreciate hearing other's slideshow experiences, but with all due respect, those suggesting things like keynote or iphoto or even FCE have apparently never actually used ProShow Gold or Producer. Those other programs are great at what they are primarily designed to do, and they can do slideshows of a sort in a pinch, but it is apples and oranges. I've used all those programs in a search for a Mac based replacement for Producer, and they simply can't begin to do slideshows anywhere near as well as Proshow.

Having said that, ProShow can't begin to do video editing like FCE, nor photo management like iphoto, nor presentations like keynote. But none of them come close to ProShow when it comes to slideshows.

I just wish we had a comparable product on the Mac platform.
 
It's not quite ProShow but it's pretty cool

There's a Mac specific software made by a
company called Aquafadas. The name of this
slideshow software is Pulpmotion and Pulpmotion
Advanced. The software uses preset themes that
photos, video and music can be dragged and dropped
into for really nice motion visuals. It's not quite as
dynamic as ProShow but it's pretty cool and very
user friendly. It's also designed to work well
in the iLife ecosystem drag and dropping from or
exporting to other iLife wares. They have a trial download
here http://www.aquafadas.com/en/pulpmotion/advanced/

I have used software as simple as Windows Movie Maker
or iLife slideshow software to set photos to music
with basic transitions. Adobe Premiere for complex
motions and Ken Burns like camera moves. In Adobe Premiere
it looked really cool but was very labor intensive to
set up. I wanted something that brought some motion
graphics without the time consuming set up. Something
that does all the motion and visual prodution for you
insted of having to create it from scratch. Pulpmotions
theme presets do just that while allowing some tweaks
to the presets.

When you create these shows as either a semi-pro or
professionally many times your audience will say "that
looks like it was professionally done". What's the difference
between an amateur vs a pro? The production looks like something
you would see on TV commercials or shows produced by a
large or well known studio. It's a slick and refined production
with captivating graphics, music, fx and editting. Of course we've all
seen visually stunning productions that don't really move us
because the story is flat.

The real challenge is to use the software tool to help you tell the most captivating story possible. If you're a tech loving videographer who loves this stuff, such as I, you have to fight the urge to use all the bells and whistles in the software to bedazzle your audience visually at the expense of telling a good story.
 
iMovie alternatives

any latest developments out there?

I am trying to make a simple slideshow on my mac but without any luck.

I tried imovie but it's getting veryyyy slowwww when i try to rearange anything or cut and paste any photos in alternative order. I used to work with memories on TV on my PC and i still have it via vmware running.

Any other good programs and simple outthere?

PS: i also tried final cut but this program is for professionals i can not do anything fast there and i also tried picasa but the options are limited and not that good.

tnx
 
Slideshow software

I still haven't been able to find any slideshow software that I have been happy with for a MAC that is user friendly and simple yet still offers plenty of customization. There is a software program for windows that I absolutely love.
It's called ProShow Producer. This software is amazing! It does cost $249.95 but is well worth it if you do this kind of thing alot. There is also a scaled down version of the software called ProShow Gold for around $70.00. You can take a look at the differences between the two packages. You can do alot with masking and keyframes by purchasing the $250 version. It may seem a little pricey but you get a full year of updates for free and it is a very powerful software program that is in my opion easy to use. I also was overwhelmed with Final Cut. So maybe this is an option.
Here is the website, there will be samples of shows people have created for you to look at.
Also........ You get someone on the phone who speaks clear English for tech support!
http://www.photodex.com
Good Luck!
 
Try Photo Presenter

Photo Presenter it´s a good alternative to create slideshows in Mac and it has a lot of effects you can choose.
At least is the best I found, i´m trying fotomagico never hear about it
Good luck
 
Is this thread full of merges or is it just my ADD confusing me 😱 😕

Anyway, I agree with the general sentiment that despite the amazing capabilities of iPhoto, iMovie, the built-in slide show screen saver, etc., there is not a lot of choice for slide show apps. I used a few different solutions in the past but have settled on FotoMagico for now.
 
FotoMagico Now; Hopefully ProShow Gold or Producer later...

Great thread and it's my reason for joining this forum - thanks! Unless anyone has an update, it seems that getting FotoMagico 3.0 within the next few weeks will give me at least a passable solution, and if ProShow Gold or Producer ever gets ported (I'd guess this is more likely with Snow Leopard than with earlier OS X versions), I'll re-visit ProShow.

Sadly, I can't just wait for Photodex to act and I won't install Win 7 on any current machine (I just converted to Mac last year). However, I did phone them to make it known that I'd love to have their software and when they mentioned using Windows, I also told them that I wouldn't be doing that. All the guy said was that they couldn't say if anything was in development or not and I merely asked that my message/desires be passed along to someone who might care... if there are others here wanting ProShow 'Whatever' on OS X, I'll wager that it wouldn't hurt to let Photodex Customer Service know: 1-800-37-PHOTO (1-800-377-4686) - squeaky wheel and all that!
 
Apature3

it looks like some one may have been listening. While I have not tried it, apature 3 from apple is advertised as having " advanced slide show capabilities" with video and pictures. From what I have seen on the apple website, it looks to be the best option out there on a mac. If anyone has tried it, let us know.
 
BrettA's post

Brett, I liked your post a lot. I'm glad that so many people have kept this thread going. It shows that there's a great need for photo/slideshow type programs. Especially with the use of primarily digital camera's these days and people moving away from your standard 35mm slr's. Like you, I was once a windows user. And I truly have nothing against windows. What happened to me was that I started to get into photography and photo editing and the pc I was using at the time, got to the point to where I out grew it. Even some of my ProShow slideshows were freezing my system and shutting down was a must. So I thought, you know what, I'm going to try a Mac. I can tell you that I will never switch back. In those 5 years, I have truly never had a problem. Now maybe I'm lucky but...I'm not going to push my luck either! Lol...Anyway, I would be real surprised to see Photodex actually build compatible software for a Mac. I just don't think they're a big enough company to go out and hire an Apple software engineer. I could be wrong...But you rarely ever see smaller software companies write cross platform programs. I wish a lot of them did though. I even heard a rumor that Adobe is considering to stop writing software for Mac's. That would suck! I really hope that's not true. With that, I have gotten used to Fotomagico 3 and I like it a lot. It's gotten a lot better since I used my first version. It's still not ProShow Gold, but it handles larger slideshows better. I truly never have an issue with it. And I know a big part of that is my Mac. But still, I'm enjoying it thoroughly. My girlfriend and I are both photographers and both use Canon's. Mine is a EOS 5D Mark II. The slides through Fotomagico 3 look very good. I'm actually surprised how good they look. In fact, I think Fotomagico does a better job with handling high quality photo's then Proshow. Sometimes with ProShow I would have a problem with high res shots. It seemed to make them grainy sometimes. I don't get that at all with Fotomagico 3. So I'm enjoying that programs consistency. Especially when I'm laying out a big slideshow.
Again, thanks for keeping the thread alive! Enjoy Fotomagico. Once you work with it a bunch, you'll love it.
 
Looking for something like Adobe Presenter 7 & MS PowerPoint

I'm a new Mac user as well.

on the PC I've used PowerPoint with the Adobe Presenter 7 plugin. Google uses exactly the same program for some of its learning / teaching content.

I mix a lot of images and video content on my slideshows, and MS PP + Presenter 7 gets the job done, and can be published to the web or CD. It can also run automatically or allow the user to advance the slides. But the shell / player is too big.

What I'd like to find is a player similar to the shell / players on SlideShare.com. Something for the mac that allows me to add video, voice over, and images - like PP + Presenter 7 - and gives users the ability to manually advance the slides.
 
Thoughts on slideshows

I too am new to Mac since last August and have also been building slide shows for my clients for the past 4 to 5 years but then on PCs. Late last summer I replaced my 2 year old Lenova (great laptop) with the 15" MacBook Pro since I found I couldn't play my Canon Mark II HD videos on the Lenova with out studdering and my office high end custom built PC also couldn't play them. Immediately the Mac system was greatly received but the only problem I knew I was going to eventually in counter was replacing Proshow Producer which I knew if going all Mac. Between the time I purchased the MacBook Pro in August and December, when I decided to replace the office custom built PC, I also tested Wnsofts PTE, which currently only runs on PCs, and I found it to produce extremely high image quality. Great software company!! Then in December I replaced the desktop with a MacPro and had no high end software to produce high end slide shows although I made one for a client with iLife9 Keynote and it came out quite well but lacked many features I needed. Last week I was asked to build a memorial service DVD for a client and decided to try FotoMagico Pro and was quite pleased with the quality but again missing some of the features, like key framing and layers, which I used in Proshow Producer. Wnsoft's version last fall enabled one to actually build a Mac EXE presentation on a PC to run on Macs. The results were astounding and currently it is reported they are building a stand alone version for the Mac system so till then I will be using FotoMagico. In all fairness FotoMagico Pro is fine software and produced very good images in the slide show from the Canon Mark II but when Wnsoft finalizes their software for Macs I surely will be returning to them.
 
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