Slideshow program?

Musiclover wrote on 3/5/2012, 12:13 AM

I have been a user of Vegas for music creation for years. However for photo/video slideshow creation, I have always used Roxio, which is a pretty versatile tool but very slow and crashes often. Can anyone tell me, is one of Sone/Vegas product a better slideshow making tool? Which one would you recommend, Sony/Vegas or something else?

My reqs are
-be able to handle 200-400 photos plus a few small video clips
-be able to add multiple (2-4) tracks of music, fade in/out,
-able to easily arrange, change slide order
-on the fly some simple photo editing(w/o affecting the original image
- all other standard features like choice of transitions, variable timings, pan/zoom etc etc

Thanks so much!

Comments

chulaivet1966 wrote on 3/5/2012, 10:06 AM

Well....I'm not an expert with Movie Studio (9.0b) by any stretch but I would think you should be able to do all that you note above.

I'd recommend trying a Movie Studio demo as there is a learning curve depending on your experience with this type of program.
I'm still learning and discovering the depth on this program (Movie Studio 9.0b).

If I'm missing something others will chime in I"m sure.

Carry on...

Jack S wrote on 3/5/2012, 10:18 AM

Hi Musiclover
VMS HD Platinum 11 can certainly do this. I suggest you download the trial version and have a play. There is an excellent Slideshow Creator option that lets you choose the clips, what order they will appear in and a variety of transitions or multiples of transitions. I use this regularly to greate a photo gallery at the end of every one of my projects. When you get used to it you can tweak the slideshow after it's been inserted on the timeline. There are, of course, many filters you can apply to individual elements or to the whole timeline. When you get to grips with keyframe animation there are loads of things you can do to tailor the slideshow to exactly what you require. You can also insert multiple music tracks (although I think the maximum number of total tracks is limited to 10). The Slideshow Creator is one of the many superb features of VMS HD Platinum 11. Have Fun.

altarvic wrote on 3/5/2012, 12:58 PM

Try MoviEZ HD

Editguy43 wrote on 3/5/2012, 3:38 PM

Photodex http://www.photodex.com/proshow has a great product for slideshows they have 3 levels of software, web based, Gold, and Producer.
I have the Producer and for elaberate slideshows it is great. They have a demo version of each so yoy can try it out.

I also have Muvee Reveal http://www.muvee.com/en/ ( moviEZ HD is sony's version) it also works quite well.

VMS is OK with simple slideshows but for more movement and cool layers then the others mentioned are better.

altarvic wrote on 3/6/2012, 11:05 AM

Also take a look at MAGIX Photo Story

Musiclover wrote on 3/9/2012, 1:10 AM

Hello all,

I see some good suggestions here! Thanks so much.

I am going to look into MoviEZ ( which looks similar to Muvee Reaveal), Photodex and also the Magix High Class.

Cheers!

Musiclover wrote on 3/9/2012, 11:33 AM

Hi,

The top ten review says Proshow Gold does not have AVI and mp4 outputs.
http://photo-slideshow-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

Roxio allows me to save the slideshow in .avi or 'dmsm' (may be a proprietary format). The advantage I see with .avi format is that I can import it into other slideshow softwares and make changes.

Do not know much about the need for mp4.

What is your take on these?

Steve Grisetti wrote on 3/9/2012, 3:50 PM

What do you plan to do with the slideshow when it's done?

Show it on a DVD or BluRay? Share it online? Show it on a iPod/iPad or smartphone?

There are optimal file formats and codecs for each of these. How you plan to deliver it and where you plan to display it can determine which output options are most essential.

Musiclover wrote on 3/20/2012, 2:44 AM

Hi Steve,

Sorry I did not make it clear - my question about avi format was directed to Editguy who recommneded Proshow. However let me answer your question- I usually end up making a DVD, blueray may be next. The reason I like to save the slideshow in avi format is that I find that many times I take an existing slideshow and then make changes to it to come up with a new one. When I use Roxio, it can output in avi or in their proprietary dmsm format. I have in the past taken the slideshow from Roxio in avi and then used other software like photoshop to make changes. So coming back to my question, my concern about Proshow was, if it is true that it does not have avi output, then I loose the flexibility of portability to some other slide show program. Right?

Steve Grisetti wrote on 3/20/2012, 7:52 AM

I don't know enough about ProShow and the codecs it uses in its outputs to answer. Sorry.

Chienworks wrote on 3/20/2012, 7:58 AM

Note that AVI capability is pretty much meaningless and worthless. There are about 18,392 different kinds of AVI files and no guarantee that any program's version(s) are compatible with any other program. Saying that a program can open and save AVI is pretty much exactly the same as saying "this program can open and save video files".

You need to find out which kind of AVI and what codecs are being used in order to determine compatibility.