Multi-Media project with old photos

March 23, 2007 6:23 AM

I have recently been given old photographs of my family and would like to do a multimedia presentation of them adding music, fades, effects etc. What is the best software to use to make this project possible. I would like to share it over the net also maybe make dvd's out of it. I am presently using a pc but am not averse to doing it with a Mac.
posted by aisleofview to media & arts (20 comments total)

If you can get on a Mac, iLife really does make this kind of thing a snap. The hype is true.
posted by chrismear at 6:38 AM on March 23, 2007

Boinx Fotomagico does all this pretty easily. It's all kinds of awesome.

$49.
posted by unixrat at 6:38 AM on March 23, 2007

Apple iMovie has the transition effects you want, you can overlay music, and it provides various outputs, from a web-sized QuickTime movie to iDVD to make a set-top playable DVD.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 6:40 AM on March 23, 2007

It needs to playback easily on both platforms ideally without any additional software as most of the family and relatives would not be very computer saavy
posted by aisleofview at 6:41 AM on March 23, 2007

Most people I know who do this use PowerPoint. (*shudders) Well, it works and you probably already have a copy on your PC.
posted by caddis at 6:46 AM on March 23, 2007

MemoriesOnTV (PC) has worked for me for the last few years, and even though I've got a Mac, I don't think iLife does as good a job.

I did see a third party Mac app that looked interesting, but the name escapes me.

One piece of advice - if you're doing a lot of panning and zooming, try to make it go a little slower - it really increases the impact of the slideshow.
posted by Nodecam at 6:59 AM on March 23, 2007

I've used Microsoft Photo Story to do this, and I like it for ease of use. The only problem I remember having with it is that you can only add one piece of music, so if you want a bunch of songs you have to string them together into one file with a separate program first.
posted by MsMolly at 7:01 AM on March 23, 2007

It needs to playback easily on both platforms ideally without any additional software as most of the family and relatives would not be very computer saavy

If you send a DVD and your family members have computers with DVD players, a DVD will usually play on insertion on both platforms.

If any of your family use iTunes, they already have the software needed to play QuickTime media, if you sent a web-sized file or posted your movie on the web.

The DVD option is "safest" as most modern computers have DVD playback capability.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 7:01 AM on March 23, 2007

Since you expressed concern about this, iMovie makes Quicktime movies that play on Macs and Windows or you can even make a DVD for those who don't want to watch it on the computer.
posted by advicepig at 7:06 AM on March 23, 2007

Windows Movie Maker will do it. It comes bundled with XP so you probably already have it, and it's a very easy drag and drop operation that takes about 5 minutes to master.
posted by fire&wings at 7:22 AM on March 23, 2007

Keep in mind that different versions of the Windows Media Player format do not play consistently on the Apple platform.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 7:30 AM on March 23, 2007

I did something like this for our wedding reception and used Muvee Autoproducer. It's sort of a "generate me a movie based on this skin with this folder of pictures" kind of thing which may or may not be what you're looking for. You can generate a movie file or burn it to a DVD. It was fairly painless to work with and some of the themes looked nice.

That being said I'd definitely second iLife for a better "look" to it, if not for ease of use.
posted by genial at 7:38 AM on March 23, 2007

I made a slideshow of photos with background music for a friend's wedding a few years ago using iMovie and iDVD. It was my first attempt at any such project, and after a bit of fiddling it came out great. It played easily in a DVD player with a nice menu, had cool transition effects, and just looked really well put together. My friend and her family raved about it for months!
posted by geeky at 8:28 AM on March 23, 2007

Seriously, never believe the hype about how amazing Apple Computers are but believe the hype in how incredibly easy their iSoftware is to use!

If it's ease of use and speed you are looking (along with a foolproof way of making something look decent) you can't really go wrong. If you are looking for ultimate control they wouldn't suit though.
posted by twistedonion at 9:08 AM on March 23, 2007

Just finished such a project and I want to chime in for proshow producer or proshow gold. This is exactly what it is designed to do and it does it damn well with little fuss. I'm a graphic designer and was going to do the lot in after effects for maximum control but someone recommended proshow. Saved huge amounts of time. Creates DVDs, allows for extensive customization of the DVDs. Also does vcd, etc. Has basic built-in tools for photo touchups, tons of filters (if you're into that sort of thing) excellent motion, zoom, pan and fade features. Accepts most music files. Ok damn, now I look like sales agent. I better get a cut.
posted by Smegoid at 10:00 AM on March 23, 2007

I've enjoyed working with Roxio PhotoSuite for this very purpose -- taking photos from a trip or visit with family, making a slideshow with transitions incorporating music and putting it on a DVD for distribution.
posted by indigo4963 at 11:31 AM on March 23, 2007

the combination of iPhoto and iMovie is what you're looking for. It makes doing this sort of thing ridiculously simple and fun.
posted by sid at 11:46 AM on March 23, 2007

Windows Movie Maker (comes with XP) would probably be more than enough. It might be too simple, but you wouldn't have to buy any new software....
posted by messylissa at 12:08 PM on March 23, 2007

I did this for my wife's 50th anniversary party about a month ago. I scanned a ton of old photos, slides, and got contributions from everyone that could send me digital files. I used iPhoto to organize the pictures, and make a slide show of about 800 pictures. Still in iPhoto, I added the music, and tweaked the ken burnsian effects for the transitions. I then exported the hour long slideshow to a movie file, and brought it into iDVD, where I added titles and menus and made the films loop when they were done.

It was super easy to do: the hardest part was waiting for the rendering. I made a regular format version, and a widescreen version on the same dvd (2 slideshows in iPhoto), and it was shown on a widesceen hdtv. I was expecting it to play in the background, but it turned out to be something of a party stopper, in that everyone stood around watching and talking about the pictures until it was time for some more food or another drink. I burned enough DVDs for people to take, and it was a huge hit all around.

Good luck with the project, it looked big at the start, but it was worth it.
posted by Read at 2:10 PM on March 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

Actually, that should read my wife's parent's 50th anniversary party. We haven't been married that long yet.....
posted by Read at 2:19 PM on March 23, 2007