The team I have shot this year asked me to put together a slideshow CD they can present to the players. I can easily do this through MS Powerpoint, but I don't want to exclude customers who don't have the program. I realize the parents will need to install some type of program to run the slideshow.
Does anyone have any suggestions for software that does this? Here are the details I'm looking for:
- Produce about a 5 or 6 minute show, using about 90 images;
- The ability to set music from the school band to the slideshow;
- Most important: the ability to "lock-out" the images so the parents can not take the CD to Ritz and print off whatever images they want;
- PC and Mac compatable (not sure if this can be done without using a Mac).
Seems simple? Has anyone done this without the help of a 3rd party?
Chris I've used Pro Show Gold in the past. I don't know if you could do 90 images in 5-6 minutes though. Seems awful fast. Conservatively if you allowed 3 seconds per image you are at 4.5 minutes and now you have to figure in how you want the image to appear and the transitions which also eat up more time. The software will allow you to do what you are asking but I think you need to plan a little more viewing time per image.
Chris I thought it was pretty easy. Just like anything is takes planning and consistency. You don't want a 4 second pause between one image and 15 seconds on another. Before I usually set a final print, I'll play it over several times to make sure it's ok and I'll let someone else look at it. One thing you should evaluate is the time you have to do this. It may not be worth your time if they are giving you a week. CD's Ive made in the past usually involve between 10-20 hours to do depending on what I wanted it to do plus how many copies I had to make and the printing on the CD and cases.
Pro Show Gold or Producer. Will output to just about any format you can imagine, from blu-ray to flash. Easy to set timings and even has an auto fit slides to music length. Lots of different transitions and even slide movements (random or you control). Can be as simple or complex as you want. I normally output to DVD in the widescreen aspect as most folks have 16x9 TV's now, but if your audience does not, you can create a 4x3 aspect DVD or you could even do both with little extra work. There are numerous other programs out there and you'll find some threads in other forums here, especially the post processing and printing one. I think you can even do it with Windows Movie Maker, which I think is free, but much less powerful.
I agree that Proshow Gold is the way to go. It's very easy to use, a lot of click and drag. I've done many slideshows and 3 seconds per image is a really nice pace - people comment on how perfect that timing is. You might want more time if you put captions on the image - people need time to read them. Proshow really protects your images- it's difficult to copy the DVD. One thing you'll need to research is music copyright issues if you plan to sell the slideshow. And finally, you don't need an effect (zoom in or out, ie - Ken Burns effect) on every slide! It just makes people dizzy and takes away from the quality of your images. Start with great images, keep the transitions simple, minimize the use of effects and you'll end up with a winning slideshow.
I've used Proshow as well. One of the cheaper versions. Have done 2 shows for my sons high school baseball team. Finding the music is the hard part. The program is able to fit the music to the pictures and so some of the work is done for you. Then just twick it a little. Takes alittle time to get used to but the end product is worth it. Good luck, and hope the parents appreciate your hard work. Rick
Yeah, for windows, Pro Show Gold is the way to go. Will work on just about any system, windows, mac, dvd players, bluray, etc. On my mac I use iMovie and iDVD along with Toast to create slideshows.
i use idvd too on my mac. i just made one this year for senior night. it worked flawlessley. i can play it on any laptop, windows or mac, blu ray, dvd player, etc...it has the ken burns effect, and i can use any music from itunes, or better yet, i did a custom track using garage band. This allowed me to put six songs together with a pleasing transitition between each song. Or, if i had thought of it before, i could have inserted fun unexpected things in throughout. i didn't think about this until after though. the kids would have liked that. for instance, on a shot of the cheerleaders that i got while they were goofing off one day of them holding hands and all jumping in the air, i could have inserted a small part of the song 'jump' by van halen. Mac is very user friendly to windows, but windows is not nice to mac's.
ShirleyP wrote:
I agree that Proshow Gold is the way to go. It's very easy to use, a lot of click and drag. I've done many slideshows and 3 seconds per image is a really nice pace - people comment on how perfect that timing is. You might want more time if you put captions on the image - people need time to read them. Proshow really protects your images- it's difficult to copy the DVD. One thing you'll need to research is music copyright issues if you plan to sell the slideshow. And finally, you don't need an effect (zoom in or out, ie - Ken Burns effect) on every slide! It just makes people dizzy and takes away from the quality of your images. Start with great images, keep the transitions simple, minimize the use of effects and you'll end up with a winning slideshow....Show more →
+1 (or +another) on Proshow Gold
and all of Shirley's tips are spot on... 3 seconds per picture is the default I start with, add a second if there are several people in the shot. Use 0.5 seconds for the fade transition.
I use the pan and zoom Ken Burns effect, but use it only to end up maybe 20-25% tighter onto your key area of interest.
DVD is the best format... playable on PC, Mac, and TV.
I take it a step further and use ProShow Gold to burn a 1080P Blu-Ray version onto regular DVDR... plays back great in HD with a PS3. But only 10-20% of the people will have a BD player... 99.44% will have a DVD player.
If you have a Mac, you can use iPhoto or iMovie to make a slideshow with almost no effort. When you save it on a DVD, through iDVD, it can be played in any DVD player or computer, even a PC. The DVD format will give your viewers the most viewing flexibility.
Thanks for all the tips. They are looking to order 42 DVD's. Any idea what a fair price is for that size an order? I want to deliver the DVD in a jewel case with artwork on the CD sleeve and front of the DVD.
Pricinig is always hard. Depends on what your audience can afford and what they expect to pay for something like that. I'd say, somewhere between $10 to $20 per disk, depending on how much time you have to put into making it.
Also, iTunes offers some royalty free sports themed music for very reasonable prices. Just search on "royalty free". It's quick, painless and you can import them right into your ProShow movie in case your school music is not long enough or your want some variety.
And I'll echo what Clarence said. I too burn blu-ray HD slideshows to regular DVDs (a lot less costly than blu-ray media) and play them on my PS3. Not everyone has that ability yet, but those that do will appreciate the difference.
There is a learning curve and a little bit of art/magic that goes into making a good DVD. Like making a poster... you can sink hours and hours into it, but once you get the process, it's not so bad.
But it's even easier to do a bad job. I've seen some parent's slideshows... "A" for effort, it's the thought that counts.
One tip for pricing... set a Team price package deal. These DVDs get copied/shared as soon as someone gets their hands on the first one. So IMHO you're much better to advertise "20 DVDs for only $10 each" instead of selling a single DVD for $20.
I also include the 720-pixel web-sized photos in a folder on the same DVD... too small to print, but great for Facebook and family websites, plus watermarked with my URL for parents who want to order prints.
Clarence is right on pricing and my information was an attempt to set the price for the team's package of 42 disks. Somewhere between $400 to $800 for the 6 minute video burned and printed for 42 disks is something that I could probably charge in my area. You can provide extras at minimal cost, say $10 per DVD and then you will get some parents who will want an extra copy for the grandparents, etc. Yes, they could just copy them, but not everyone knows how and some would rather just pay you $10 for an extra copy. If you go to the event where it is shown, bring some copies with you ready for sale.
I know you've had lots of input, but I've been using Pro Show Gold for years and taken a couple of classes at a local school. If you live in the So. Cal area, there's an adult education program called Tri-Community in West Covina. Here's their link:
They have Pro Show and Producer classes from beginning to advanced with different emphasises. Carol Hoy is their top instructor, but they have a couple of other good ones she trained. She became so good at it, that she was asked by the PSG people to show them its full capabilities of their program. It's pretty nice to have someone walk you through the basics and time saving tips.
+1 for ProShow Gold. I think you can actually trial it for free for 30 days. I use that & Sony Vegas -- which is really good for combining video & photos into a nice production. Some advice:
1) Your photos should not display for less than 3.5 seconds each. I'd shoot for 4-5 seconds per photo -- more if you are fading in & out or crossfading.
2) Limit your effects & transitions. However, the one effect I use on almost every photo is the "Ken Burns Effect / also called pan -zoom -crop" If you do it right, you can use it on every photo and it will not be distracting.
3) Use good quality DVDs. I use Taiyo Yuden DVDs and have never had one fail. I get them from www.supermediastore.com. I use the DVD-R, 8x speed disks. The model is TYG02. You can also buy some nice plastic cases on that site to put the DVDs in. I get the DVDs that have a white label built in so you can print on them. Don't use the sticker labels.
4) Don't expect to be able to import songs from iTunes into the software. I don't think it will work due to the iTunes store digital rights protections.
5) I'd plan for a minimum of 15-20 hours to do this project. Thus charging $200-$400 or more is approrpriate, depending on what your time is worth to you.
4) Don't expect to be able to import songs from iTunes into the software. I don't think it will work due to the iTunes store digital rights protections.
Actually, No, it works quite well. Apple dropped DRM from its iTunes store about a year ago. They sell royalty free music and it is a snap to import them into ProShow.
