Which is the best Photo Slideshow option?

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Which is the best Photo Slideshow option?

I'm currently running an iMac with Tiger (10.4.11) and am after the best quality and most versatile program to compose professional standard photo slideshows (with music & Ken Burns effect) that I can then burn onto DVD for TV screen viewing.

I've been using iPhoto predominantly and also have played around with iDVD, however I am repeatedly having issues with photos "shaking" once the final product is burnt to DVD, then played through a TV.

Is there a product that doesn't restrict the number of photos used (as iDVD does), stops the shaking/shimmering effect on the screen, and makes it easy to add/delete photos, provides Ken Burns ability and allows for easy music editing & incorporation? I'm almost contemplating going to a new iMac with Snow Leopard & then buying Final Cut Studio (excessive) just to overcome this quality issue.

Thanks anyone!

iMac, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Jan 26, 2011 11:23 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

BDAqua

Level 10

241,037 points

Jan 27, 2011 2:00 AM in response to Frank Tank

Hi Frank, and a warm welcome to the forums! 🙂

Not quite clear what you want or need, but I consider iPhoto a 1 on a scale of 3 to 100 for handling pictures.

GraphicConverter gives even more options for slide shows...

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/263

Waiting for more feedback...

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Answer 2

Klaus1

Level 9

52,779 points

Jan 27, 2011 2:20 AM in response to Frank Tank

There are many ways to produce slide shows using iPhoto, iMovie or iDVD and some limit the number of photos you can use (iDVD has a 99 chapter (slide) limitation).

If what you want is what I want, namely to be able to use high resolution photos (even 300 dpi tiff files), to pan and zoom individual photos, use a variety of transitions, to add and edit music or commentary, place text exactly where you want it, and to end up with a DVD that looks good on both your Mac and a TV - in other words end up with and end result that does not look like an old fashioned slide show from a projector - you may be interested in how I do it. You don't have to do it my way, but the following may be food for thought!

Firstly you need proper software to assemble the photos, decide on the duration of each, the transitions you want to use, and how to pan and zoom individual photos where required, and add proper titles. For this I use Photo to Movie. You can read about what it can do on their website:

http://www.lqgraphics.com/software/phototomovie.php

(Other users here use the alternative FotoMagico: http://www.boinx.com/fotomagico/homevspro/ which you may prefer - I have no experience with it.)

Neither of these are freeware, but are worth the investment if you are going to do a lot of slide shows. Read about them in detail, then decide which one you feel is best suited to your needs.

Once you have timed and arranged and manipulated the photos to your liking in Photo to Movie, it exports the file to iMovie 6 as a DV stream. You can add music in Photo to Movie, but I prefer doing this in iMovie where it is easier to edit. You can now further edit the slide show in iMovie just as you would a movie, including adding other video clips, then send it to iDVD 7, or Toast, for burning.

You will be pleasantly surprised at how professional the results can be!

To simply create a slide show in iDVD 8 onwards from images in iPhoto or stored in other places on your hard disk or a connected server, look here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1089

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Answer 3

Frank Tank Author

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Jan 29, 2011 9:03 PM in response to BDAqua

Hey & thanks for your help firstly.

I've had a quick look on the site and to be honest didn't get too much further than the system requirements (OS 10.5 it appears). Looks as though I might have to get up to date (upgrade) before investing further in potential software solutions.

Much appreciated though.

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Answer 4

Frank Tank Author

Level 1

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Jan 29, 2011 9:11 PM in response to Klaus1

Hey Klaus1,

Firstly thanks so much for the solutions offered and the time taken too.

Similar to another reply I've posted, considering the most helpful options suggested all seem to require OS 10.5 as a minimum, and appreciating I will know doubt be needing more space and greater speed capabilities too where I'm looking to head, I'd say a Mac upgrade could be in order before investing into other software solutions.

Will definitely look further into the sites you've suggested though.

Cheers.

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Answer 5

BDAqua

Level 10

241,037 points

Jan 29, 2011 9:21 PM in response to Frank Tank

Frank, to help further...

At the Apple Icon at top left>About this Mac.

Then click on More Info>Hardware and report this upto but not including the Serial#...

Hardware Overview:

Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac7,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.4 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 4 MB
Memory: 6 GB
Bus Speed: 800 MHz
Boot ROM Version: IM71.007A.B03
SMC Version (system): 1.21f4

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Answer 6

Frank Tank Author

Level 1

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Jan 29, 2011 9:45 PM in response to BDAqua

Thanks BDAqua. My Mac info is below fyi:

Model Name: iMac
Model Identifier: iMac4,1
Processor Name: Intel Core Duo
Processor Speed: 1.83 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache (per processor): 2 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 667 MHz
Boot ROM Version: IM41.0055.B08
SMC Version: 1.1f5

Would love to hear some encouraging news if there's an option. From a lot of the discussion I've seen re even upgrading from Tiger to Leopard or Snow Leopard, there appear to be some real concerns with the amount of space needed to effectively run this as well as not being able to use DVD/slideshow projects compiled in Tiger on later OS. Again, would be great to hear different.

Thanks.

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Answer 7

BDAqua

Level 10

241,037 points

Jan 29, 2011 10:29 PM in response to Frank Tank

Sadly, I think this your Mac...

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/stats/imaccd_1.8317.html

Which is already at the 2GB RAM limit.

The only encouraging thing I can offer would be to get an external drive, Firewire preferred, but USB2 will work slower, then clone your Internal drive to the external, then install 10.5/10.
6 to the external, boot from the external by using the Option/alt key at bootup, then see if the fears of file incompatibility are true.

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Answer 8

Frank Tank Author

Level 1

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Jan 29, 2011 11:23 PM in response to BDAqua

You got it in one re the correct Mac model - this is it.

Again, the computer's 6 years old, so I understand I do need to be realistic re it's capabilities and capacity to take me forward from here.

Thanks again and will consider the options.

Cheers.

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Answer 9

Frank Tank Author

Level 1

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Mar 11, 2011 8:16 PM in response to Klaus1

Hey Klaus1,

Having bitten the bullet, I'm back with a much more workable computer (OSX 10.6.6, 8GB RAM, Quad Core2, 2TB Hard Drive).

I tried out the software you suggested (Photo to Movie - version 4.7.3.3) and it certainly has overcome the shaking & shimmering issues I experienced with iPhoto, so thanks for that. For some reason though it seems to only allow exporting to QuickTime, iDVD or YouTube, but not iMovie. Understanding this is perhaps more a question for the software creators, I thought I'd ask anyway.

I'm curious also as to why your preference is to create the slideshow in iMovie rather than through Photo to Movie, then exporting to iDVD, though I haven't yet been able to try the two fully as a comparison.

Thanks again for your assistance.

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