The software is designed to be a general purpose (albiet aimed at the consumer level) video editing tool. While it can easily (ok, it's matter of perspective) create a slide show like you describe, it can also do lots, lots more - hence possibly your feeling of being overwhelemed.

There's lots of training stuff available for Vegas Video (the big brother to Vegas Movie Studio), I've not seen as much/any for the little brother (perhaps this is a market that could be explored by someone). In fact there's some really great tools avalable for Vegas Video that make creating slide shows, well, not a snap but a click (tools that can't be done with VMS - at least not in the same fashion - because it's much more limited).

Hang in there. Spend some time playing with the software and reading the manual (not just the quick start book) - you'll get there. The learning curve with Vegas, regardless of big brother or little, is pretty quick.

Plus, there's lots of folks here on the forum(s) that can help out with specific questions that you may encounter on your journey.

To help you along, you can use the explorer tab to see your individual JPEG files - those files can be dragged onto the timeline individually or as a group and you can apply transitions (fades, wipes, etc.) to those pictures simply by cliking one picture and dragging it so that it overlaps another - this creates a default fade transition; you can select other transitions via the appropriate tab and simply drag them onto the overlap area. Hope this helps you get you started on your grand adventure.

--Scott

Thanks Randy. I just check you web page and unfortunately, I was not able to view the demo. I do have Real Audio installed.

I guess I have a lot of learning to do with this software. I did not want to quit on it prior to getting the scoop.

Many Thanks!

Lou

Wow Scott, you're on it.

I am, or at least I think I am very proficient when it comes to learning new software. I figured there was learning curve but I did not know how big of a curve.

My current plans are to tinker with it for a couple of hours in the evenings until I feel comfortable in putting my first production together.

Many thanks for the starter tips,

Lou

My $.02 for what it's worth. I find Movie Studio an excellent tool for video. At this price point, nothing else I've looked at can touch it. And it even does a pretty good job at slide shows -- if the slide show is small and only an incidental part of the video. But if you are wanting to make mainly slide shows, Movie Studio falls short. I spent a lot - a lot - of time looking at slide show creation tools from other companies. The best one I found was ProShow Gold from Photodex. It focuses on slideshows and will allow you to embed video - kind of the opposite of MS.

One of the things it can do, and do very easily, is to pan and zoom in on an image and then apply those pan and zoom settings from that image to the next image. Even Microsoft's FREE Photo Story can do that. MS can't, at least not easily. You have to get out a pencil and paper and write down the settings from one image and then edit the next image's settings by typing them back in.

ProShow also understands EXIF, which MS does not, so if you want to add, for example, the image's date to your picture you simply enter that as a field on the image. MS requires you to view the EXIF with another application then enter that value as a text overlay. Tedious.

And MS is very unfriendly when it comes to transitions. There are shortcuts that allow you to create transitions easily but modifying them and applying those changes to all of the transitions isn't so easy. ProShow Gold allows you to enter a textual value for the transition length and type for each slide either separately or as a group.

When you're all done, ProShow has several exporting options, one of which is DVD.

In short, ProShow is targeted at slide shows while MS is excellent for video. I don't own ProShow so don't take this as a commercial for the product but I would encourage you to check it out if you are going to be focusing on slide shows. You can download a 15 day eval and see for yourself.

The frustrating thing is, so little would have to be done to MS to make it a great slideshow tool. Vegas Video has the necessary features, but I, for one, am not going to spend $500 to make slide shows. In my opinion, Sony has misjudged the market here. I doubt that many pro's are making slide shows and I don't think many consumer types - like me - are going to pony up $500 to do so. Hopefully they'll rectify this in a future release but they have to be careful to not cut into their Vegas market so I'm not counting on it.

"One of the things it can do, and do very easily, is to pan and zoom in on an image and then apply those pan and zoom settings from that image to the next image. Even Microsoft's FREE Photo Story can do that. MS can't, at least not easily. You have to get out a pencil and paper and write down the settings from one image and then edit the next image's settings by typing them back in."

You can open the pan/crop window, and look for the word "Preset" towards the top left of the screen. Highlight the word "(Untitled)", type in a name for your pan/crop preset, then click on the little floppy disk "save" icon. You can then apply that same pan/crop setting to the next clip (or any other clip in any other Movie Stuido project) by choosing that named preset from the list. Not perfect, but better than a pencil and paper.

That said, I'd agree that if all you truly want to do is make slide shows, then you may want to look elsewhere. But, chances are, you'll get hooked on doing more than slide shows!

Thanks for the 411.

I guess the bottom line is the same with any other software. I have to get myself engulfed in it to really get proficient. The CSR at Comp USA ranted and raved over it so I took is word for it. It also fit my budget.

Briggins: you’re right. I don’t think I it's worth spending $500 to make a slide show.

Gogiants: Since I know myself very well, one thing is for sure, I will get hooked on this hobby and perhaps, I’ll end up editing video as well. Thanks for the tip. I’ve jotted it down and plan to mess around with it this evening.

Great Board!!!!

Thanks everyone

On page 41 of the Quick Start Manual is all the information you need to get scanned pictures or pictures from a digital camera into the computer. After that the process for stills is like the process for video.
I have edited a 53 page manual for using VMS and if you would like to have one emailed to you let me know.
Ken

kdhodge@nc.rr.com

Sure Ken, I'll take a copy. Thanks for the offer!

briggins1@yahoo.com

Bruce

dirtyomlet, Bill, I have tried to reply to your request but something is wrong withe your address. Each time I get the reply that you can't be found and I am usint the Reply mode so I don't know where the problem lies.

Ken

Chect out Ulead's products. You can get a trial Ulead DVD Factory.
That software will create slideshows with minimum efforts.

Here is my two cents worth also ( or it may just be .005 CAD ;-) ).

So far, most of the work that I have done for other people is putting slide shows together from pictures and slides. It takes longer to do the actual scanning then it does to put the slide show together in MS.

The largest slide show to date is just over 500 35mm slides. And as was mentioned in an earlier post, you can save your own presets and re-use them as needed. Presets are not just limited to Pan and Scan/Zoom either. They have a multitude of uses.

I really love having the 3 video tracks as well. It allows me to easily shuffle pictures and slides around as I am putting the slide show together. And with the multiple audio tracks, I can add music to one track, voice overs on another and so on.

Well, maybe that is my .008 CAD cents worth...
Al