Slide Shows

In my opinion, slideshows are the best way to present your photos.  they are all in sequence, you can add transitions and special effects in most programs, you can add music (MP3 or Wav files) and you can put them on CD or DVD so they will last much longer than putting them on print paper!

There is no set way to make a slide show since many programs handle them in different ways.  However, I will include some basic concepts that you should be aware of.

A slideshow has to include the photos that you want to show.  They should be in order of appearance.  The program can include two types of special effects:transitions and special effects.  Transitions are the "wipes" from one corner or another, fade-ins and fade-outs and other effects.  The newest special effect is what is called "Pan and Scan" which can be seen in the Ken Burns films where he moved the camera in and out (zoom) and side to side (pan) to give the effect that the objects are moving, when in reality, they are really still pictures!  In most of the new programs (not Picasa 2.1) there is a way to incorporate music into the program. Every program adds music in different ways, however they all seem to incorporate MP3 files , which are compressed versions of regular music files.  If you have an MP3 player, there is usually a program included to "rip" the files from a CD, that is, to convert an individual track into MP3 format (which takes up alot less space).  Roxio EZ Media Creator includes a "ripping" program because Roxio owns Napster and wants you to subscribe to their music service.  There are other "legal" music services where there is a monthly fee (about $5) or a per song fee (from $.79 and up).  Many of you have asked me about this process and I have refused to instruct you on doing something illegal, but almost any teenager knows where and how to get music from the Internet!  Once you've compiled the slideshow (with the music and effects) you can "burn" it on to a CD or (in some cases) on to a DVD.  This will allow the slideshow to last much longer than print photos since paper can bend, yellow or crack, while a CD or DVD can last for years!  Also, if you've made a DVD of a trip or event, you can show it on a regular DVD player that can be viewed on a tv which makes the presentation of your event much easier to show and to view.

Look on the Preserve and Convert pages for examples of simple slideshows.