Any solution for high resolution slide show with synchronized sound?

[Pablito]

If anyone has can advise me on this problem, I'd be most grateful. I need to produce a slide show of still images (no panning, tilting, zomming in/out etc) with an audio track timed to the image sequences. I'd like to be able to show some images longer than others with simple disolves between photos. iMovie would seem to be a good choice BUT it seems to lower the resolution of the images to that of a TV. The photos themselves are saved at 1024 pixels wide, which is the resolution of many monitors and higher than that of most projectors. But my experiments in iMovie look fuzzy yet iPhoto slideshows looks sharp and detailed (but I lose a lot of control) The slide show will never be shown on TV, only with a digital projector or on a computer monitor. Is there any way to set iMovie so it works in higher resolution? Other solutions, like SoundSlides, are more for web slideshows (a small window in a browser) I need to use the full monitor. Flash may be what I need but I don't think I can handle the learning curve right now. Ideas? Do Keynote or PowerPoint let you use an audio TRACK?? Thanks for your patience and for what it's worth the photos in the slide show were taken with various rangefinder cameras!

[Finder]

I have used the QuickTime editor in GoLive to do that. The sound track was created in Garage Band.

[literiter]

If you have taken the pictures with film cameras, and perhaps you have, why not use a pair of good old fashioned slide projectors and a slide dissolve, like in the old days. I cannot think of a better way to show slides.

Video projectors cannot compete with slide projectors, in terms of image quality as yet. The best isn't even close. No one does this any more and the images are dazzling.

Just a thought.

[bsdunek]

literiter has the right idea. Try this link on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Sharp-RD-685AV-Dissolve-Slide-Show-Sync-System-Cassette_W0QQitemZ130149838070QQihZ003QQcategoryZ1 5257QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Before computers there were several great units that would run two or more slide projectors - they would fade, flash, change, etc. and do it all to a sound track on tape. As literiter says, there's nothing like slides projected on screens. Digital projectors have a long way to go in this department. Those that I have seen lack range of contrast, saturation, and definition/sharpness. I still like slides, and your audiance will too! :cool:

[victoriapio]

Try a demo version of ProShow Gold if you want to stay digital. If it works you can buy the entire program for $80 or so I think. I have used it extensively for digital slide shows and have never had any problems. It takes a while to get used to using it - my only complaint is that ProShow Gold is not very "intuitive" - but it loves high res images and great soundtracks. You can control the extact time when the slides are shown, soundtrack fade outs, etc.

Very good product for under $100. (I use it on a Dell laptop and a Dell desktop - you can use it on two machines with one license.)

O.C.

[Pablito]

Thanks for the repsonses. I should clarify that I am fully awre of the high quality of the old technology (slide projectors, etc...) but this MUST be digital as I will travel and must project from my Mac powerbook in various venues. Also, the software must be Mac.

[Pablito]

literiter has the right idea. Try this link on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Sharp-RD-685AV-Dissolve-Slide-Show-Sync-System-Cassette_W0QQitemZ130149838070QQihZ003QQcategoryZ1 5257QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Before computers there were several great units that would run two or more slide projectors - they would fade, flash, change, etc. and do it all to a sound track on tape. As literiter says, there's nothing like slides projected on screens. Digital projectors have a long way to go in this department. Those that I have seen lack range of contrast, saturation, and definition/sharpness. I still like slides, and your audiance will too! :cool:

That's quite a machine. However, I need to travel light! Of course you are quite right about the quality of slides, but when you have no choice, then you may as well appreciate the good things about the digital projectors: they are bright, have excellent keystone correction built in and are as sharp in the edges as in the center. No flat-field/ curved field lens choice to worry about, etc...

[mackigator]

I would figure out the resolution of your ultimate projection tool first. Since photos have tons more information than most screens can display/project, knowing specifically how it will play is important. Then I'd use Final Cut Pro (Mac) or Premiere Pro (PC) to output a video file containing both the images and the sound track, giving me a slideshow that is platform independent. Within each program you have total control over timing, length of image, sound, etc as well as control of the output format. You'd have a professional result, but using a timeline based editor for the first time can be daunting.

Rather than buying and learning a video editor, consider hiring it out if this is a one time project. Provide the editor with your scanned images at a good resolution along with your music selections. Write out the places you want something special to happen, and agree to have a rough draft deilvered that you can take notes on. Then get the finished project delivered as a video file for play on a computer and on DVD - then on the road you have an emergency backup for showing the slideshow in less than perfect conditions (no working projector or computer). In fact, if you're traveling by car, I'd go a step further and lug around a TV with built in DVD just in case, hoping that I'd never need it.

I'd guess you could find someone to do this for a few hundred dollars if you shop around. Key to keeping the price low is keeping the editing uncomplicated.

I'm suprised IMovie didn't get you some kind of usable result, though. Perhaps you should play around with it more; I haven't used it enough to comment further. How long is your finished project going to be?

[Pablito]

I'm suprised IMovie didn't get you some kind of usable result, though. Perhaps you should play around with it more; I haven't used it enough to comment further. How long is your finished project going to be?

iMovie projects are in various video formats only, I assume the same is true for the various FinalCut programs from what my video editor freinds tell me.
I appreciate the help from everyone however the criteria are listed in the original post - I'm not interested in hiring someone to do it or using actual film slides. If you know software that can do what I need please let me know!! thanks

[jlw]

Thanks for the repsonses. I should clarify that I am fully awre of the high quality of the old technology (slide projectors, etc...) but this MUST be digital as I will travel and must project from my Mac powerbook in various venues. Also, the software must be Mac.

What you need, my friend, is an application called PhotoToMovie, from LQ Graphics; here's the link:

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

This will let you set your slide show for any reasonable screen size you want, sequence your slides, sync the sound, and add titles and transitions if needed. (It also has a clear but powerful interface for doing zoom and motion effects, if you ever need to step up to that.)

It uses a straightforward timeline interface much like iMovie's, so it won't take you long to learn -- and unlike iMovie, it uses 'subpixel interpolation' so your finished show retains much more of the image quality of your original files.

("Subpixel interpolation" means that it doesn't just knock down the size of your images on import -- it scales them from the original data frame-by-frame, so for example if you use a zoom-in effect, the image doesn't lose sharpness as you zoom in.)

You can play back your presentation in full-screen mode straight from within the application, or export it as a QuickTime file and use QuickTime Player in its full-screen mode to present it.

It costs $50, but you can download and try it first to make sure you like the way it works before you have to pay. (Shows you make with the unlicensed version will have a stamp across them.)

I've used this product for a lot of presentations, and have found that you can slop something together very quickly with it yet get impressively professional-looking results.

[mackigator]

All digital formats will require you to make some compromise with regards to resolution and convert to a "video" signal in order to project the image. You cannot display a still photo using any digital tool without altering it to put it into the format of the display device, be it TV, laptop sceen, LCD projector, or hand puppet and flash light.

A video editor is just a tool for accomplishing this. Stand alone slideshow programs do the same thing but are more limited in the hope that it will make them easier to use, a la iMovie.

Since your on a Mac, you might try Quicktime Pro. You can take your photos and put them on the timeline with a separate audio track and it's pretty cheap. Editing controls are primitive - basically cut and paste - but it'll spit out your video file at whatever format/resolution you need. http://www.apple.com/quicktime/tutorials/slideshow.html

Good luck! PhotoToMovie looks worth checking out as well - thanks for that one jlw.

[Pablito]

Thanks jlw, that sounds like exactly what i need.
Thanks also mackigator, QTPro sounds also like it may work!

[Joe Brugger]

Pablito: How did this project turn out, and what did you use? My dentist (he has a fairly heavy university teaching load) was singing the praises of Keynote for the Mac today. I use ProShow, but I've seen his presentations and Keynote looks very flexible.

http://www.apple.com/iwork/keynote/

[rogue_designer]

QT Pro, or oddly, Flash has better raster handling than it used to as well. But your file size is going to bloat, so keep in mind final output.

[Pherdinand]

Keynote can export to shockwave flash. DOn't know at the moment, what are the oiptions for the soundtrack, but you can put in sound, for sure.

[Pherdinand]

ah uh. I am a bit late :))

[Joe Brugger]

Though it would be nice to learn what route Pablito took and what his experiences were....

[robert blu]

Having the same need as Pablito I'm just curious if any new software for video projection, similar to Pro Show Gold but working on a Mac (withiut having to install XP!).
regards

robert

[emraphoto]

two possible routes...

imovie to assemble slide show. edit and paste sound together in audacity and then export it as a suitable file. import to imovie and sync up with slide show.

soundlside software.