Slideshow Creator

rkl122 wrote on 8/10/2014, 9:22 PM

Hello. I've got a beginner's situation here.

I'm trying my first slideshow in SMS12 (plat suite). I used the Slideshow Creator to gather a bunch of jpgs from various hard drive folders. Then created the slideshow. Knowing that I'd want to reorder the events in a later session, I checked that when I opened the Slideshow Creator again, the media and functionality are still there. But after reopening the project, this is not the case. The photos are in the project media window, but the slideshow creator comes up blank, and there doesn't seem to be a way to copy from the former to the latter's "Add Pictures" window. Is there a way to accomplish that without having to scout out everything again from the hard drive?

If not, how.does one reorder events on the timeline such that everything ripples properly? I've tried with auto ripple toggled both on or off, but neither mode seems to accommodate simply sliding an event from its current position to a new position in between two other events.

I see that I can do a cut, move cursor, then paste insert, but that causes the audio track (which I've already created) to split and "unripple" if you will. If cut/paste insert is the best way, to do what I want, how to limit activity to only the video track? (Understood I could delete the audio and put it back when the video is fixed, but seems like there ought to be an even simpler way.)

A corollary question: once the video events are ordered as I want, is there an automatic way to stretch or compact the track to a fixed length, eg. the length of the audio, with each event (ie. slide) the same length, as there is in the Slideshow Creator? EDIT - think I found one answer to this last: group all events stretch then ungroup. But can I do this and still preserve the transition & event group that was originally created by the slideshow creator?

I'm hoping I'm overlooking something simple. Thx for any help, -Ron

Comments

rkl122 wrote on 8/13/2014, 5:21 PM

For searchers, I'll respond to my own post.

1. Can't get media from the project media window into the slideshow creator. (Even though there's no exposed scripting engine in SMS (not pro), I suspect it's there, with Slideshow Creator being a hard-wired script.)
2. To slide an event with accompanying ripple, right drag it and choose "shuffle" from the popup. No need to cut and paste, and no need to toggle auto-ripple.
3. Read up on auto-ripple vs. post edit ripple.
4. Group all events in a single video track, press Ctrl, trim a single event, and all will stretch proportionally, including transitions.
5. BTW, enabling Expand Track Layers helps envision things. In particular it shows event-transition pairs created by the Slideshow Creator (or any other way). Their grouping is not undone by grouping all events, stretching, and ungrouping. In fact, I don't see any way to ungroup a transition from its event, even though it can be edited, changed, or converted to a cut.

Jillian wrote on 8/17/2014, 2:33 PM

Hi,

I didn't respond to your post since I've never used Slideshow Creator and had no experience with what commands might or might not work there.

Anyway, I'm glad you found the shuffle command buried about as deeply as Sony could manage. Since re-ordering events on the timeline is probably the most commonly used procedure in editing, it is only natural that Sony would want to make it as inconvenient as possible.

If you want to move an event (photo) a small distance on your timeline, shuffle works beautifully. However, if you want to move something a long distance, I find it easier to cut, then Ctrl-Alt-V paste where you want to place the event.

Keep us informed with what else you discover about the Slideshow Creator.

rkl122 wrote on 8/18/2014, 10:33 AM

....I'm glad you found the shuffle command buried about as deeply as Sony could manage. Since re-ordering events on the timeline is probably the most commonly used procedure in editing, it is only natural that Sony would want to make it as inconvenient as possible....

Heh. Thx, my sentiment precisely (to the extent a noob is permitted to harbor such sentiment ;) ) Took me a lot of searching to ferret out that tidbit.

Based on a single project where I tried the Slideshow Creator, I'd simply advise to be aware that if you're concerned about ordering the video events efficiently, try to do it when you can in the Add Media window, because once the "script" is complete, you can only resort to conventional means on the timeline. I'd suggest that the Creator is a good didactic tool, because you can set it to add random effects to each slide, and that gives a one-shot quick and varied assortment of effects to examine. You can see how they work before editing/replacing using normal timeline techniques.

BTW, I'm getting a big kick out of the animation in the pan/zoom tool. How come Ken Burns gets so much notoriety for these effects when anyone can do it? Oh wait - maybe I gotta apply the "Sony Shuffle" to the implied order of development in that last sentence. ;) -Ron

Jack S wrote on 8/19/2014, 12:03 PM

Hi.
I can't understand what all the fuss is about. I use the slideshow creator on all my DVD and Blu-Ray projects to create a slideshow for the 'Extra Content' button on the menu.
The way I make sure that all images are placed correctly on the timeline is to name the images sequentially before I pull them in via the 'Add Pictures' option in the slideshow creator. You can do this easily using Windows' own batch renaming options. I didn't know about the 'Shuffle' command so it's a good job I've never had to use it.
I invariably always use the 'Fades with Pan and Zoom' (Ken Burns) effect and have set it as my default using the 'Use as Defaults' button. I can then tweak individual image pan/crop setting if required.
In the old days I had to create slideshows manually. The creator tool is one of the many very useful tools in MSP13's arsenal.