This section looks at a selection of software capable of creating a DVD slide show, though not CD or PC display packages, as output to DVD presents more technical challenges and sometimes requires specialist plug-ins and possibly the use of separate dedicated burning utilities. Packages often include the DVD slideshow creation function as one or two elements within a selection of other utilities so it does pay to match your requirements to the solution - It is very easy to pay for facilities that you will never use.
MySlideShow
After a few program errors that seemed to disappear of their own accord MySlideShow settled down nicely,
and proved to be quite capable. It easily produced a small slide show with music from a .wav file,
and using the (free) mpeg video generator plug-in created an mpeg video file,
however, how you get this to DVD (or CD) is very much left up to you
(they do discretely hint at the use of Nero).
Not a bad product for $24, and I liked the free mpeg and EXIF plug-ins,
and the control over colour saturation. It can also produce HTML galleries.
Worth a look.
Version 6 of this well-featured package has a good range of features,
is easy to use, and it works well, though one minus point is that the DVD video plug-in is not included with the OEM version of the software,
and has to be purchased separately. Version 7 adds more features and is more geared towards full multi-media working. However Version 7 has had mixed reviews, with reports of installation issues and very large downloads for fixes.
Worth shopping around for the version that suits your needs.
This product from Photodex allows you to create simple or complex digital photo slide shows for PC and TV playback.
The options are highly customisable, with a huge number of transition effects, many audio options,
and a variety of output formats. Although Proshow Gold is more expensive than some of the other software available,
it gives plenty of sophistication but still remains easy to use for beginners.
A feature-limited Standard version (Proshow) is also available at a reduced price.
There is also the Photodex Presenter plug-in, which is a free add-on for your web browser which allows you to view ProShow slide shows over the web.
Using Presenter, you can view a show created with ProShow or ProShow Gold in a streaming web format.
This is part of Roxio's extensive stable of products that handle almost every image and media manipulation combination currently possible.
This particular package includes photo slideshow functionality and the ability to write them to DVD, though this is only a small part of its wealth of capabilities.
Amongst other things it has utilities to copy discs, manipulate audio files, create backups and archives, and a label creator for CDs and DVDs. There is also a whole raft of video applications. If you have specific media management requirement rather than the desire for a wide-ranging product do check out Roxio's website, as they have a number of other products that may be a better fit for your needs (ie cheaper!).
A very nice, easy to use package with a number of extras included,
such as a large selection of holiday templates and Photo Explorer for editing images.
One-click photo enhancements which automatically adjust qualities like brightness level and contrast.
Video can be added to slide shows, and it is possible to create video and motion menus.
Usual Ulead quality and reliability at a very reasonable price.
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