Has anyone ever tried Photo To Movie. It looks to be a pretty feature packed slideshow package.
http://www.lqgraphics.com/software/phototomovie.php
http://www.lqgraphics.com/software/phototomovie.php
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Best Slideshow Software
- Thread starter pacatak
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Hey guys I'm new to the site. I'm trying to make a DVD of a graduation slideshow with photos and MP3's for background music on my Macbook Pro. Found this thread, but things may have changed since it was started (ex: I don't think I have iDVD?).
Anyways, what's the best way to do this on my Mac?
Sorry if I didn't search around enough-- I'm in a hurry to get this done before the weekend.
Anyways, what's the best way to do this on my Mac?
Sorry if I didn't search around enough-- I'm in a hurry to get this done before the weekend.
I'm in a similar position to most of the posters (except I didn't come from Windows). It just seems the Slide Show programs are poorly conceived or executed. I'm a professional AV producer and it's just a shame this sort of software is so sadly lacking.
Fotomagico looks good but fails on a number of points. It's previewing - where the audio is not synced with the sound - is a deal breaker for me. Select a slide midway through the show and the sounds starts from the beginning.
FCPE is good but the output quality is poor when using keyframe motion with overlapping transitions. Very jumpy and distracting. iMovie and iPhoto are probably fine for showing a few snaps to relatives but they're not Pro level tools.
I have Aperture and must say my quick look at the advanced slide show features look promising. The movie exports don't appear to suffer the same jerkiness which afflicts FCPE - perhaps a reflection of the higher res pic being used directly from the Aperture library. FWIW Aperture Ken Burns Effect interface is quite similar to Fotomagico and I always thought that was FM's most elegant feature. It still has limited audio (one 'main' track per show and then secondary tracks attached to slides) but I must say I'm getting pretty excited. I'd rate it above FotoMagico ($149) and at $199 you get a very competent photo management application to boot.
I've downloaded a few others but they look a bit 'low level' for my needs but I'll take a look anyway.
If all else fails I'll take a look at the newly offered Premier from Adobe. As much as I'm not a huge fan of Adobe, if it works I'll buy it.
Fotomagico looks good but fails on a number of points. It's previewing - where the audio is not synced with the sound - is a deal breaker for me. Select a slide midway through the show and the sounds starts from the beginning.
FCPE is good but the output quality is poor when using keyframe motion with overlapping transitions. Very jumpy and distracting. iMovie and iPhoto are probably fine for showing a few snaps to relatives but they're not Pro level tools.
I have Aperture and must say my quick look at the advanced slide show features look promising. The movie exports don't appear to suffer the same jerkiness which afflicts FCPE - perhaps a reflection of the higher res pic being used directly from the Aperture library. FWIW Aperture Ken Burns Effect interface is quite similar to Fotomagico and I always thought that was FM's most elegant feature. It still has limited audio (one 'main' track per show and then secondary tracks attached to slides) but I must say I'm getting pretty excited. I'd rate it above FotoMagico ($149) and at $199 you get a very competent photo management application to boot.
I've downloaded a few others but they look a bit 'low level' for my needs but I'll take a look anyway.
If all else fails I'll take a look at the newly offered Premier from Adobe. As much as I'm not a huge fan of Adobe, if it works I'll buy it.
Took a look at Picture to Movie tonight. At first glance it looks like a real clunky, ugly interface but if you can get past that it actually does a really good job. It's not that the functionality is lacking in any way or that the interface doesn't work, it's just not 'Cocoa pretty'.
Has some excellent features like multiple keyframes, multiple audio tracks and even multiple, overlap-able title tracks.
Export has decent options for minimising flickering. It features a true timeline where images can simply be moved along the timeline to increase or decrease transitions and can be dragged to extend time shown.
Even after just a few minutes I like this way more than Fotomagico. OK, it's written in QT which means the interface will always be a bit of a kludge but the functionality is way better than Fotomagico if you take the time to try it. At $49 it's hard to beat.
If I had any complaint it would be that it only supports single image track and sometimes having extra tracks is handy. Wouldn't stop me buying it though as that's a rarely used feature.
Has some excellent features like multiple keyframes, multiple audio tracks and even multiple, overlap-able title tracks.
Export has decent options for minimising flickering. It features a true timeline where images can simply be moved along the timeline to increase or decrease transitions and can be dragged to extend time shown.
Even after just a few minutes I like this way more than Fotomagico. OK, it's written in QT which means the interface will always be a bit of a kludge but the functionality is way better than Fotomagico if you take the time to try it. At $49 it's hard to beat.
If I had any complaint it would be that it only supports single image track and sometimes having extra tracks is handy. Wouldn't stop me buying it though as that's a rarely used feature.
True Random Slideshows
OK - I am begging* begging* I tell you for* what would seem to me* ( ok I'm not a developer by any means )
* but it seems* like a simple idea* -
*** I am begging for a photo slideshow* program that* is* truly* random .
* I can select* random in iPhoto** and yes it randomizes on the first sort, but when it loops back ( repeats )
* one gets the same* order of pictures* of the initial random sort.
** I would like for* a* slideshow program to* re-randomize* every time the program** re-loops.
** Is that really hard to do ?* Is that why I can't find the feature in any* slideshow program or
** am I among the rarity with this request* ?
** OK - while I am in* dream mode* -* it would be fantastic if I could advance the real random
* notion a notch further.*** iTunes allows one to make* Playlists.** I can list* a photo album and then
* a* video and then a photo album** another photo album* and another video* etc.****
* iTunes will then play* these** one after another.*** Ok that's good.* I'm grateful for that.
** But* wow* it would be* fabulous if* a* program* could** go through* such a* list** randomly !
** It would randomly select an album from the list to start* off with and then display the pictures
* within that album randomly, and then it would randomly pick* the next album from the playlist* and display the
* pictures from that album randomly.** And* WHEN I PLAY THAT* PLAYLIST OF ALBUMS AGAIN
* IT WOULD GIVE ME A WHOLE NEW RANDOM ASSORTMENT OF* FILES FROM THE PLAYLIST AND
** RANDOM PICTURES FROM EACH FILE OR ALBUM* - and not just a repetition of what had played before.
WHAT A CONCEPT !
* The slideshow program would* pick* one of the items* from the list randomly and then pick
* the next* item randomly** until the list was exhausted* ( and hopefully not* re-running a* program once picked ).
* Naturally once an album is randomly selected - the pictures within that album would also be presented in a
* randomized order.*
** When I select* shuffle** in the iTunes playlist*** the whole playlist freezes* after the first* album* or selection is played.
I realize it might be difficult to* select and randomize from an assortment of* photo albums and movies.
** I would be happy just for the program to be able to* randomly select** just from a group of* photo albums* listed in a playlist
** or select* randomly from a* group of just movies in a playlist.**
** I have a apple cinema monitor set up* to* view* photos and it plays* throughout the day,
*** but it sure is tiresome to see the same* order of photos* time after time.**
** Slideshow programs come with so many bells and whistles and those are nice
* and we appreciate all the work and creativity involved - but in the end it's all a bit
*tedious if the presentation* is always** same-same* without any* true* random spontaneity.
** I mean don't developers* get tired of* seeing the same pictures in the same order* every time ?
OK - I am begging* begging* I tell you for* what would seem to me* ( ok I'm not a developer by any means )
* but it seems* like a simple idea* -
*** I am begging for a photo slideshow* program that* is* truly* random .
* I can select* random in iPhoto** and yes it randomizes on the first sort, but when it loops back ( repeats )
* one gets the same* order of pictures* of the initial random sort.
** I would like for* a* slideshow program to* re-randomize* every time the program** re-loops.
** Is that really hard to do ?* Is that why I can't find the feature in any* slideshow program or
** am I among the rarity with this request* ?
** OK - while I am in* dream mode* -* it would be fantastic if I could advance the real random
* notion a notch further.*** iTunes allows one to make* Playlists.** I can list* a photo album and then
* a* video and then a photo album** another photo album* and another video* etc.****
* iTunes will then play* these** one after another.*** Ok that's good.* I'm grateful for that.
** But* wow* it would be* fabulous if* a* program* could** go through* such a* list** randomly !
** It would randomly select an album from the list to start* off with and then display the pictures
* within that album randomly, and then it would randomly pick* the next album from the playlist* and display the
* pictures from that album randomly.** And* WHEN I PLAY THAT* PLAYLIST OF ALBUMS AGAIN
* IT WOULD GIVE ME A WHOLE NEW RANDOM ASSORTMENT OF* FILES FROM THE PLAYLIST AND
** RANDOM PICTURES FROM EACH FILE OR ALBUM* - and not just a repetition of what had played before.
WHAT A CONCEPT !
* The slideshow program would* pick* one of the items* from the list randomly and then pick
* the next* item randomly** until the list was exhausted* ( and hopefully not* re-running a* program once picked ).
* Naturally once an album is randomly selected - the pictures within that album would also be presented in a
* randomized order.*
** When I select* shuffle** in the iTunes playlist*** the whole playlist freezes* after the first* album* or selection is played.
I realize it might be difficult to* select and randomize from an assortment of* photo albums and movies.
** I would be happy just for the program to be able to* randomly select** just from a group of* photo albums* listed in a playlist
** or select* randomly from a* group of just movies in a playlist.**
** I have a apple cinema monitor set up* to* view* photos and it plays* throughout the day,
*** but it sure is tiresome to see the same* order of photos* time after time.**
** Slideshow programs come with so many bells and whistles and those are nice
* and we appreciate all the work and creativity involved - but in the end it's all a bit
*tedious if the presentation* is always** same-same* without any* true* random spontaneity.
** I mean don't developers* get tired of* seeing the same pictures in the same order* every time ?
Slideshow Software
As a retired pro, I am in awe of the presentations I have seen on Pictures2Exe, which at the moment is only available to be mastered on a Windows platform. It is SO professional with multiple image layers and audio, together with all the image gimmicks you could ever wish for. I have been advised they are about to release a Mac Version this fall!! Watch this space.
As a retired pro, I am in awe of the presentations I have seen on Pictures2Exe, which at the moment is only available to be mastered on a Windows platform. It is SO professional with multiple image layers and audio, together with all the image gimmicks you could ever wish for. I have been advised they are about to release a Mac Version this fall!! Watch this space.
Second PicturesToEXE
Hi everyone. I'm new to MacRumors, and new to the Mac. I agree with Harriflex about PicturesToEXE. It's a great application, and the results are very professional. It's easy to work with, and is intuitive to me, especially when it comes to timing dissolves with music and annotations.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure it's available in a Mac OS X format. The recent changes they've made allow for a stand-alone executable to be created for the Mac OS X environment, but it isn't clear to me (don't have the upgraded version) that the app can RUN in Mac OS X. Also, the reason I'm looking for suitable alternatives and currently am playing with iMovie - PicturesToEXE still doesn't appear to do video. I've used in the past by playing video clips, and starting the executable immediately afterward, but it's awkward, and the app used to play the video clip needed to be closed first. Kinda clumsy. Too bad, because I agree that it's a great program. Might be worth it to run in a virtual environment for someone using a Mac who only works with stills.
Hi everyone. I'm new to MacRumors, and new to the Mac. I agree with Harriflex about PicturesToEXE. It's a great application, and the results are very professional. It's easy to work with, and is intuitive to me, especially when it comes to timing dissolves with music and annotations.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure it's available in a Mac OS X format. The recent changes they've made allow for a stand-alone executable to be created for the Mac OS X environment, but it isn't clear to me (don't have the upgraded version) that the app can RUN in Mac OS X. Also, the reason I'm looking for suitable alternatives and currently am playing with iMovie - PicturesToEXE still doesn't appear to do video. I've used in the past by playing video clips, and starting the executable immediately afterward, but it's awkward, and the app used to play the video clip needed to be closed first. Kinda clumsy. Too bad, because I agree that it's a great program. Might be worth it to run in a virtual environment for someone using a Mac who only works with stills.
Fotomagico
Aside from the fact that Fotomagico is not able to do everything you would like it to, the app also crashes unexpectedly and very often which makes you lose all your work. Do NOT purchase it, it is not worth the money at all. I am still waiting for another Mac slideshow program to come up.
Aside from the fact that Fotomagico is not able to do everything you would like it to, the app also crashes unexpectedly and very often which makes you lose all your work. Do NOT purchase it, it is not worth the money at all. I am still waiting for another Mac slideshow program to come up.
glad to see this thread is still alive.....
I think I was the 3rd person to join this thread. It's interesting to see that this thread still has interest. That tells me that there's still not a perfect solution for our issues here. The last post commented on Fotomagico. I've had the same issue... as I'm loading pictures into the program, it crashes. Very frustrating. I was about an hour into it this last time and it did it. So I'm done with that program. Has anyone discovered any new programs for slideshow to dvd recently? If so, please post. Until then... I will continue my search. Thanks!
I think I was the 3rd person to join this thread. It's interesting to see that this thread still has interest. That tells me that there's still not a perfect solution for our issues here. The last post commented on Fotomagico. I've had the same issue... as I'm loading pictures into the program, it crashes. Very frustrating. I was about an hour into it this last time and it did it. So I'm done with that program. Has anyone discovered any new programs for slideshow to dvd recently? If so, please post. Until then... I will continue my search. Thanks!
My workaround - "presently"
I now have been using Macs for over 17 months and am "very" satisfied with their products. I professionally build slideshows and was using first Proshow Producer and then later Wnsoft's PicturestoExe and would say their software is excellent and I enjoyed using it immensely when using PCs. (I preferred Wnsoft over Producer because of the superior high quality output) I have been following Wnsoft intensely but only a month or 2 ago Igor mentioned now that they are much further behind on a Mac stand alone version which is disappointing. I have during this time been using Fotomagico Pro and for almost a year and it has been very good and an HD presentation played on an HD TV is stunningly beautiful and pin sharp. Even playing a DVD made from the same presentation is very good but should mention it is being played on a DVD player that up converts it to 1080P. (This is a hint how to make very good DVDs) While Fotomagico Pro is an excellent product it is lacking specific features for my work. When using Proshow Producer and PicturesToExe I layered texts and stills with videos and these features I really miss. As a work around I was able to build clips with layering in Mac's Keynote and then save it as an HD file and then drop that file into my Fotomagico presentation which worked excellently but was a lot of extra work. I should mention I briefly tried Final Cut Express but I just found it very difficult and time consuming. I also have used iMovie 9-11 to build HD clips and then drop that HD clip into Fotomagico Pro and that also worked excellently. I am quite excited about the completely newly written Final Cut Pro X software coming out in June 2011 and think this will return me to a software with all the features and more than I even had with Proshow Producer and Wnsoft. I have written to Fotomagico several times with the request for layering but they aren't currently pursuing that direction. I would say for me that Fotomagico Pro is excellent software for building basic slideshows with out layering. note: I did find a work around with Fotomagic where I could put an image into the "text" area allowing 2 layers.
Well this has been my experience till now with slideshow software with PC and Mac.
Bill
I now have been using Macs for over 17 months and am "very" satisfied with their products. I professionally build slideshows and was using first Proshow Producer and then later Wnsoft's PicturestoExe and would say their software is excellent and I enjoyed using it immensely when using PCs. (I preferred Wnsoft over Producer because of the superior high quality output) I have been following Wnsoft intensely but only a month or 2 ago Igor mentioned now that they are much further behind on a Mac stand alone version which is disappointing. I have during this time been using Fotomagico Pro and for almost a year and it has been very good and an HD presentation played on an HD TV is stunningly beautiful and pin sharp. Even playing a DVD made from the same presentation is very good but should mention it is being played on a DVD player that up converts it to 1080P. (This is a hint how to make very good DVDs) While Fotomagico Pro is an excellent product it is lacking specific features for my work. When using Proshow Producer and PicturesToExe I layered texts and stills with videos and these features I really miss. As a work around I was able to build clips with layering in Mac's Keynote and then save it as an HD file and then drop that file into my Fotomagico presentation which worked excellently but was a lot of extra work. I should mention I briefly tried Final Cut Express but I just found it very difficult and time consuming. I also have used iMovie 9-11 to build HD clips and then drop that HD clip into Fotomagico Pro and that also worked excellently. I am quite excited about the completely newly written Final Cut Pro X software coming out in June 2011 and think this will return me to a software with all the features and more than I even had with Proshow Producer and Wnsoft. I have written to Fotomagico several times with the request for layering but they aren't currently pursuing that direction. I would say for me that Fotomagico Pro is excellent software for building basic slideshows with out layering. note: I did find a work around with Fotomagic where I could put an image into the "text" area allowing 2 layers.
Well this has been my experience till now with slideshow software with PC and Mac.
Bill
Slideshow Software and Keynote
When I first watched a Pict2Exe AV show I was stunned by its professional possibilities, even to joining their Camera Club in order to explore more from their members. However my enthusiasm soon disappeared as I discovered that the software will only master on a PC (which as a complete convert to Macs I will no longer touch!) When I wrote to Igor (the head of Wnsoft P2x) I was assured 3 times that the Mac version would soon be released!
In the meanwhile I struggled on with Keynote and mastered some impressive presentations - but how complex and slow! Firstly, I had to assemble music sequences in Final Cut inserting the QTime movie, which worked fine. However I also discovered that Keynote does not scale Jpegs very well and therefore had to batch file change images as PDF's, which also resolved the image quality.
I remain amazed though, with the millions of photographers out there, that Apple/Boinx Foto etc, have still not recognised the potential market for Professional Slide Show Presentations!
Our creativity is being frustrated by the availability, but hey, am I expecting too much for the pound in my pocket. At least I discovered the secret that is the MAC!!
When I first watched a Pict2Exe AV show I was stunned by its professional possibilities, even to joining their Camera Club in order to explore more from their members. However my enthusiasm soon disappeared as I discovered that the software will only master on a PC (which as a complete convert to Macs I will no longer touch!) When I wrote to Igor (the head of Wnsoft P2x) I was assured 3 times that the Mac version would soon be released!
In the meanwhile I struggled on with Keynote and mastered some impressive presentations - but how complex and slow! Firstly, I had to assemble music sequences in Final Cut inserting the QTime movie, which worked fine. However I also discovered that Keynote does not scale Jpegs very well and therefore had to batch file change images as PDF's, which also resolved the image quality.
I remain amazed though, with the millions of photographers out there, that Apple/Boinx Foto etc, have still not recognised the potential market for Professional Slide Show Presentations!
Our creativity is being frustrated by the availability, but hey, am I expecting too much for the pound in my pocket. At least I discovered the secret that is the MAC!!
Proshow Web
Photodex did release Proshow Web that is web-based and supports both PC & Mac
http://web.photodex.com/
Photodex did release Proshow Web that is web-based and supports both PC & Mac
http://web.photodex.com/
Slideshow Software and Keynote
I appreciate the info for the Web (only) software, which is sadly of no use. The best Software by far, from my own investigations (as a retired Broadcast TV Pro) remains "Pictures2exe" which again regrettably is ONLY for mastering on Windows. Having suffered years of frustration in using M/soft I am now totally an AppleMac convert and would never dream of even installing or corrupting my treasured MacBook. So for the forsee-able future it would seem, I will have to make do with Keynote with QT via Final Cut!
I appreciate the info for the Web (only) software, which is sadly of no use. The best Software by far, from my own investigations (as a retired Broadcast TV Pro) remains "Pictures2exe" which again regrettably is ONLY for mastering on Windows. Having suffered years of frustration in using M/soft I am now totally an AppleMac convert and would never dream of even installing or corrupting my treasured MacBook. So for the forsee-able future it would seem, I will have to make do with Keynote with QT via Final Cut!
New info --weird synchronicity
Aim in the av industry and starting a business doing video slideshows. Tried pulp motion, it's output is kind of crappy in my opinion. Poured over this two year long thread and got caught up. Inswitched to Mac from pc. There is a huge hole in the market, which is weird because Mac is supposed to be so great for us arty people....keynote you can put video on the master background layer by the way, that is a layer feature....
Anyway, everyone loved Proshow old, and I saw their web software. Meh. Well after reading this thread for two hours on a job on site, who walks into the room for our event but an Apple Software Systems Engineer. Unbelievable. So I went over and cornered him, asking about this whole situation with presentation software etc.
Here is what learned: (and sorry if everyone knows this already but I didn't....)
There are no venues for regular end users to talk to systems engineers about apple products. For them to take suggestions one must be a developer, fill out paperwork etc. Then you get access to tons of private forums and code and sit downs with engineers.
Apple does not charge licensing fees for third party product developers.
The guy listened to my plea about Proshow and the lacking presentation packages on the whole. This was his advice:
it is all about $$$$ and as such the end user has a surprising amount of power. If enough people write the developer that they want a Mac version, the developer almost always will go to apple. The key is...enough people to change that companies bottom line on sales.
So maybe Proshow doesn't have a big enou audience? Or no one got a petition together?
Anyhow good luck out there. I am still looking too.....
Aim in the av industry and starting a business doing video slideshows. Tried pulp motion, it's output is kind of crappy in my opinion. Poured over this two year long thread and got caught up. Inswitched to Mac from pc. There is a huge hole in the market, which is weird because Mac is supposed to be so great for us arty people....keynote you can put video on the master background layer by the way, that is a layer feature....
Anyway, everyone loved Proshow old, and I saw their web software. Meh. Well after reading this thread for two hours on a job on site, who walks into the room for our event but an Apple Software Systems Engineer. Unbelievable. So I went over and cornered him, asking about this whole situation with presentation software etc.
Here is what learned: (and sorry if everyone knows this already but I didn't....)
There are no venues for regular end users to talk to systems engineers about apple products. For them to take suggestions one must be a developer, fill out paperwork etc. Then you get access to tons of private forums and code and sit downs with engineers.
Apple does not charge licensing fees for third party product developers.
The guy listened to my plea about Proshow and the lacking presentation packages on the whole. This was his advice:
it is all about $$$$ and as such the end user has a surprising amount of power. If enough people write the developer that they want a Mac version, the developer almost always will go to apple. The key is...enough people to change that companies bottom line on sales.
So maybe Proshow doesn't have a big enou audience? Or no one got a petition together?
Anyhow good luck out there. I am still looking too.....
Slideshow Software
All the more reason then to lobby Igor Kokarev the head of WnSoft, developers of the amazing "Pictures2exe" Professional Slide show software. Sadly after years of frustration with M/S Win I just cant bring myself to install Win on my precious Mac. With the amazing development with Apps I just don't understand why Keynote is not more advanced?
All the more reason then to lobby Igor Kokarev the head of WnSoft, developers of the amazing "Pictures2exe" Professional Slide show software. Sadly after years of frustration with M/S Win I just cant bring myself to install Win on my precious Mac. With the amazing development with Apps I just don't understand why Keynote is not more advanced?
I think it is because no one realizes exactly what this industry is. Since PowerPoint was invented, presentations are looked at as a "regular guy" market and it is not specialized for the professional. Since PowerPoint owns the market, Keynote is competing with that. Keynote should be halfway between that and final cut pro, which is sort of what Proshow gold is I think. But developers frankly don't ask us, or really really study this market. I think their target market is pretty low end, and I don't mean that to be insulting. And trying to compete with PowerPoint is like beating up the kid in the playground who wears leg braces and a retainer and calling yourself a tough guy. I wish Keynote was as great and slick in it's engine as it is cosmetically with it's cool, shallow transitions....
Slideshow software
Having read this whole topic I thought I would bounce this back to the top to see if in the intervening 6 months there has been anything earth shattering happen in the land of Mac slideshow software.
I have recently bought an iMac as my old Dell -(not old in years just didn't work) lost 3 and half hours work on a slideshow in you guessed it ProShow gold.
The camera club I belong to has a competition each year for those producing Avs from that years photos and I have in the past put forward some good short (60 images) slide shows only this year the Dell decided it was a no go.
I really really want to get back into doing this again but not sure I want to spend $300 to do this
Any ideas?
Thanks
Having read this whole topic I thought I would bounce this back to the top to see if in the intervening 6 months there has been anything earth shattering happen in the land of Mac slideshow software.
I have recently bought an iMac as my old Dell -(not old in years just didn't work) lost 3 and half hours work on a slideshow in you guessed it ProShow gold.
The camera club I belong to has a competition each year for those producing Avs from that years photos and I have in the past put forward some good short (60 images) slide shows only this year the Dell decided it was a no go.
I really really want to get back into doing this again but not sure I want to spend $300 to do this
Any ideas?
Thanks
Slideshow Software other than the brilliant Pic2exe
In my frustration of not having a more Professional Slideshow software (similar to Pictures 2 Exe for Win ) I have attempted to make Keynote work together with Final Cut. Whilst it is not the easiest way around, you get there in the end, developing QT for more ambitious sequences, within the presentation.
That said I was delighted to discover the iTouch "Keynote Presentation" remote control, it was brilliant and made for a very professional presentation!
Why oh why hasn't Apple paid more attention to developing an advanced Slideshow Presentation similar to P2Exe? After all, we loyal Mac users were won over by the brilliance of the graphics template and reliability of an Apple Mac - don't we deserve a bigger bite of the big Apple?!
In my frustration of not having a more Professional Slideshow software (similar to Pictures 2 Exe for Win
) I have attempted to make Keynote work together with Final Cut. Whilst it is not the easiest way around, you get there in the end, developing QT for more ambitious sequences, within the presentation.That said I was delighted to discover the iTouch "Keynote Presentation" remote control, it was brilliant and made for a very professional presentation!
Why oh why hasn't Apple paid more attention to developing an advanced Slideshow Presentation similar to P2Exe? After all, we loyal Mac users were won over by the brilliance of the graphics template and reliability of an Apple Mac - don't we deserve a bigger bite of the big Apple?!
not a bad option...
GlassOwl, I just read your post and I'm happy the thread is still alive but a little sad that we still don't have anything quite like ProShow Gold. I have found a alternative that seems to work pretty good. It's not hard to use, pretty simple actually, it's a program made by Apple called "Keynote". I believe it's part of iWork?? Could be wrong...but I'm pretty sure it is. Any way, it's basically powerpoint but Apple style. What I like about it are the transitions seem to work great. It also has some nice text effects. You can pan/zoom as well. What I don't like it that you don't have the audio flexibility that you have in some other programs. But you can pick whatever song you like...you have to control the length of it...because your slideshow will play until the track is done. So you may need to trim the audio file a bit. You can do that easily in iTunes. Give it a shot. Demo it. You'll create your slideshow then export it as a quicktime movie. I was pleasantly surprised by the results. Still no hi-def though. Also, there are some websites that offer slideshow building. You actually build the slideshow through the website. I have not personally tried it... but I've seen some and they are hi-def and very nice. Try keynote now that you're a Mac guy...You may like it.
GlassOwl, I just read your post and I'm happy the thread is still alive but a little sad that we still don't have anything quite like ProShow Gold. I have found a alternative that seems to work pretty good. It's not hard to use, pretty simple actually, it's a program made by Apple called "Keynote". I believe it's part of iWork?? Could be wrong...but I'm pretty sure it is. Any way, it's basically powerpoint but Apple style. What I like about it are the transitions seem to work great. It also has some nice text effects. You can pan/zoom as well. What I don't like it that you don't have the audio flexibility that you have in some other programs. But you can pick whatever song you like...you have to control the length of it...because your slideshow will play until the track is done. So you may need to trim the audio file a bit. You can do that easily in iTunes. Give it a shot. Demo it. You'll create your slideshow then export it as a quicktime movie. I was pleasantly surprised by the results. Still no hi-def though. Also, there are some websites that offer slideshow building. You actually build the slideshow through the website. I have not personally tried it... but I've seen some and they are hi-def and very nice. Try keynote now that you're a Mac guy...You may like it.
Animoto
So as I mentioned, there are some online programs that offer slideshow production. I looked at the Animoto one... it looks like it does the job nicely. But it is a pay service. So you subscribe to it yearly. With a piece of software, you buy it once and go from there. Online production is an option. I looked at the new version of Fotomagico and it's worth a look.
So as I mentioned, there are some online programs that offer slideshow production. I looked at the Animoto one... it looks like it does the job nicely. But it is a pay service. So you subscribe to it yearly. With a piece of software, you buy it once and go from there. Online production is an option. I looked at the new version of Fotomagico and it's worth a look.
That's a great question! lol I sent them an email and the only response was:
"The option for Mac is to install Windows and use it in Parallels or bootcamp".
It's too bad they don't, but you know what, I caved!
I was holding out for a Mac version, but finally decided to try it on Windows. I have a Mac Pro with windows on it for something else so I figure, why not! Try the demo.
Wow. I drank the kool-aid and it's some fine tasting drink!!!
ProShow Producer is fantastic. The options almost seem limitless in terms of what one can do. Tons of transitions, tons of templates and with the ability to turn off certain features, the number of possible templates is hard to calculate - lots is the key!
I've always kept my slideshows simple enough so that the photos speak rather than cheesy transitions etc... I feel that ProShow Producer is going to allow me to keep doing that, but also in a more efficient manner by saving templates. Once i save these templates, it's easy enough to change a few features so that each slideshow is truly different for my clients.
The options to export a .mov work well and fast enough. The program uses all cores on my mac pro without asking it too. I import into FCX for some different outputs and needs.
The user interface is easy to understand and works well. I still don't like the help feature - it's just a crappy Windows feature overall imho. I find the help sections of Mac programs so much easier to search.
What I also like about ProShow is something that I love about the Mac world - a strong and knowledgeable user base. There are websites dedicated to this program and there are options for downloading more templates and transitions etc..
But right off the hop, the bang for the buck is there.
I've done 2 slideshows this week. It took a bit of time to learn the software and work my way through it for the 1st one, but once i saved it as a template after finishing, it was much, much faster as I loaded the photos for the 2nd one and changed a few features.
So far, this looks to be one of the smartest decisions I've made for my business.
Yes, I'd still prefer a Mac version for a number of reasons, but for now, this version is 'gold' har har
Cheers,
Keebler
Photo DVD Burner...
This software appears to be for Windows only. We are Mac users here. But thanks for your post.
This software appears to be for Windows only. We are Mac users here. But thanks for your post.
Best Slideshow software
I use both Wondershare's Fantashow and Xilisoft's Photo Slide Show Maker. The Xilisoft's software is on sale at Mac App store for $9.99.
I use both Wondershare's Fantashow and Xilisoft's Photo Slide Show Maker. The Xilisoft's software is on sale at Mac App store for $9.99.