Slideshow software

Walter Yund , Nov 30, 2009; 11:47 a.m.

What should be easy has become incredibly complex. I am looking for video/slideshow software that will allow me to:
1. Use randomized Ken Burns effects for each photo, like iPhoto or Microsoft PhotoStory, where I don't have to specify where to pan or zoom--the software just picks random directions to pan and zoom in.
2. Play music (this is the easy part)
3. Export in 1080p or similar high definition.

Does such an animal exist for a Windows system (Vista)??? I've downloaded and tried a half a dozen programs, but still can't find one I like.

Thanks for your help.

Walter

Responses

Homer Arment , Nov 30, 2009; 12:00 p.m.

My favorite among the slide show programs for PC computers is ProShow Gold. I don't know about the random Ken Burns effects but I think it will export to 1080p. They do have a trial version that you can download and take for a test spin.

Graham Line , Nov 30, 2009; 07:04 p.m.

ProShow is very flexible and they offer a demo download you can try out, I believe. I don't believe it has random actions, though. All your moves have to be plotted, but it's an easy program to learn. Also look at the demo shows on their site for an idea of the capabilities.

Ryan Buck , Dec 01, 2009; 09:07 a.m.

ProShow Producer is even better than ProShow Gold, it has "styles" that they release from time to time that really give your images some pizaz while they are on screen. And both products, Gold and Producer has randomize so you can go crazy with your show with just a single click. The only issue here is they have about 200 transitions, and in my opinion only about 40 are worth using, so once you pick randomize, you have to go through and get rid of the heart swipes and spinning stars transitions.

Mike Taylor , Dec 29, 2009; 06:07 p.m.

I have found just what you are looking for. I am using a browser-based service called Animoto . It is simply awesome.
Animoto takes your slides into a story board, let's you insert and select portions of video clips, add text, pick or upload your music soundtrack, and it creates jaw-dropping videos from it all.
It uses artificial intelligence to replace a video editor/director, and animates your pictures, synchronizing them to the sound track, and presenting you with a dazzling display.
The AI engine does a superb job of identifying key parts of each photo and it weaves the transitions around the key features. Frank Lloyd Wright buildings disappear in a geometric array, flowers fly into the screen with a swirl of pictures, the pans and zooms it selects makes you think that is how you wanted to do it anyway.
I made a bunch of movies from my vacation snapshots with Animoto, and they are on the Digital Slide Show Blog . There are a couple of 4-minute screen-grab videos that show all I have to do to make a movie, and the resulting movie is posted there, too. You can see the sort of results you get with almost no work.
I put some more that I am happy with on this photo slide show page .
The movies are in MPEG-4 format and you can get HQ versions to burn onto DVD. I use MovieMaker which works fine. Macs have their own dvd maker but don't seem to have problems with mpegs.

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