Making a Photo & Music memorial DVD

Question

Level 1

4 points

Making a Photo & Music memorial DVD

Hi all,
Can I get your input on the best option. As graduation gift, my friend wants me to compile photos & a few songs (like a slide show)onto a DVD for others to view. As the DVD plays the songs will play in background. Should I use imovie or idvd to do this project?

Thanks
Web dude

Mac Mini, G4 AGP Graphite tower, PowerMac 8600/300, Mac OS X (10.4.11), Mac User 13 years strong

Posted on Apr 10, 2008 12:55 PM

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Answer 1

PT

Level 7

20,894 points

Apr 10, 2008 1:20 PM in response to Web dude

iDVD has a slideshow option which makes it very easy to quickly throw together a slideshow. However the options are a bit limited so you don't get a whole lot of control over it, but it still might be good enough for your use. Give it a try and then play the slideshow in preview mode and see how it looks. It is easy because you just dump in all the photos, pick a transition type between photos, and add music.
iMovie will allow you to almost infinitely customize the slide show any way you want including things you can not do in iDVD like have some slides show longer than others. But with all that flexibility comes a lot more work on your part. So you have to manually add transitions between each pair of photos, set up times to display, etc. So more work.
I believe iPhoto now has some sort of slideshow function that can be exported to iMovie/iDVD, but I don't have any experience with it. You might want to check it out and see how it compares to iDVD's slideshow function.
Best of luck,

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Answer 2

J Keller

Level 4

2,750 points

Apr 10, 2008 8:39 PM in response to Web dude

Good ideas from Patrick. Think about using iPhoto. The iPhoto interface is pretty friendly, and the capabilities are between iDVD and iMovie. Since most of my slideshows are straightforward, I like to use iPhoto because it is easy to organize my pictures (import into iPhoto; drag them to a new Album, and move them into the desired order). After you click the slideshow button, you can set a default duration (I use 5 seconds), and transition (tough to beat a gentle crossfade), and then adjust individual slides if desired (longer for group photo; perhaps shorter for a picture of Fido). You can't get fancy with music crossfades or precise photo/music timing, but I don't need that very often (add music by setting up a playlist in iTunes and add to your slideshow in iPhoto). I'll create my titles in Photoshop Elements and import jpgs into iPhoto just like a photo (PSE gives me lots of control over your title slides).

To go to iDVD, use Share/Export in iPhoto and send to full quality Quicktime. You can check the resulting Quicktime movie to make sure it works like you want, then drag it onto the iDVD menu area (not a drop zone). Use a nice photo for the iDVD menu background and you'll have a very nice-looking final product.

If you do a search for slideshows here and in iMovie, you'll get more suggestions as well.
John

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Answer 3

jmanfre

Level 1

10 points

Apr 13, 2008 4:27 AM in response to J Keller

Jumping in here. That's exactly what I did and it came out great...plays on my DVD player fine. Only problem is I can't get the DVD to play on my macbook that I made the DVD with. Any suggestions?

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Answer 4

Web dude Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 13, 2008 8:24 AM in response to jmanfre

Thanks guys,
Very helpful info indeed. I can make a temporary playlist for each slide show I create and delete later. After creating the DVD slide show, it should be able play back on almost any DVD Player correct?

Thanks again,
Web dude

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Answer 5

J Keller

Level 4

2,750 points

Apr 13, 2008 9:20 AM in response to Web dude

Yup, it often happens that way. For your presentation, be sure to check out the setup and make sure that DVD player works with your disk, and bring a backup disc.

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