Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with slideshow

These photos, let me show you them

Lyn Never — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:32:19 -0800

Can anyone recommend a simple PC slideshow application for a friend? Most of the other slideshow questions I could find had various levels of additional difficulty, but really I just need to find a simple 'ware-free slideshow program for PC for a funeral this weekend. Doesn't need to be free (though reasonable is good), no internet features (no internet will be available at display time), no music, no text, just a series of digital photos displayed on a laptop hooked to a projector.

I don't believe PowerPoint is an option, but if anyone can vouch for Open Office's Impress as a viable alternative for this use, I can get that installed for her.

Flickr Photostream help.

trbrts — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:21:39 -0800

Is there anyway to embed a Flickr Photostream or slideshow on a web page and have it display title and captions for the photos? I've got a Flickr Slideshow of my PhotoStream embedded on a webpage. When viewing the slideshow I'd like the Title and and Description to appear with the photo. Is there a way to do this.

Thanks in advance.

Slideshow like a pro!

milkdropcoronet — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 11:06:50 -0800

Multimedia Journalism Filter: How do you make a New York Times-style photo slideshow? Is there an easy way to make photo essays? I like the simplicity of the NYT slideshows (see example here): they keep it simple with just a photo and a short caption against a black background.

I've Googled a few programs but many of them don't have the storytelling aspect that the NYT design does (clear navigation options, the ability to add text/narrative). Photo programs like iPhoto or Flickr don't have the caption option (that I've seen). And of course a free program is preferred. I'm no web whiz, so minimal technical know-how also preferred (i.e. no plug-ins or coding please)

If anyone's had success making narrative photo essays (image + text) let me know what programs you recommend! Many thanks.

PS The NYT has a "Teaching and Learning About Journalism" education section online, but I couldn't find any technical/production information.

music suggestions needed

lanita333 — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 06:13:08 -0800

I desperately need music suggestions for a slide show featuring the Pacific Northwest. It can be anything-- vocals, instrumental etc. Please help.

What tools are there for synchronizing photos to audio by time in a slideshow?

friedapplepie — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:59:15 -0800

What tools are there for synchronizing photos to audio by time in a slideshow? I have a set of digital photos taken manually, at about a photo each second but not quite. I have audio recorded at the same time, and I'd like to be able to match the photos up to the audio by time. What's the best way to do this? Mac tools are preferred, but I'd love to hear all suggestions. Thanks!

Looking to up my presentation skills in NYC

kenzi23 — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:04:30 -0800

I'm looking for a job doing presentation graphics (in law firms, possibly financial firms); this is about 30% of my current job at a law firm. I'm one of very few "experts" at my firm which isn't very technologically advanced in this area, so I'm afraid that my skills won't cut it in the outside world. I need advice on how to upgrade my skills. I want to upgrade my skills so that I can show a better portfolio and talk about those skills with more confidence.

I'm pretty strong in all the Microsoft Office products and how they integrate, especially in Powerpoint and Visio. I also am quite skilled and experienced in Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.

Since we don't really use Powerpoint to its full potential at my current job, I want to learn more advanced skills, and I feel like I need to improve my Excel skills to integrate better with Powerpoint. From the job listings I have seen, I think I should learn Flash, but what else is essential for a presentations job?

I'm in NYC so if you have any recommendations for places to get the kind of training I need, I would love to hear them.

How to post cleanly one slide in a WP post?

bru — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 07:50:00 -0800

Is there a way to show single slides in WordPress without losing definition? I have been working on an online presentation with text and graphs on .ppt (just to be seen on computer screens).
I just want to be able to post a slide as an image in my WordPress blog so I can add text underneath if necessary.
I had tried before .ppt to .pdf to .jpg and I thought it looked good but obviously my test was not detailed enough: now with colored lines and 12pt text on the slide, I lose definition, colors are bleeding, artifacts everywhere.. the horror... the horror!

With slideshare, I have only 2 choices: small screen or full screen, with no option to display each slide separately.

Am I overlooking something basic or is there a solution I don't know about?
Note: I am not a coder but I can have something installed if necessary.

Not-so-subliminal messages on a computer near you?

cameradv — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 09:26:07 -0800

Can anyone recommend a Windows XP screensaver that is (1) easily deployable across an organization (2) serves pictures or text from a central data store, either a URL or a networked folder, that's preferably free? We're a non-profit organization with a few hundred PCs running Windows XP on a Novell network. We'd like to have a "status screen" of some type running on all the PCs, so when they go to the screensaver, it displays text from a central source. I've debated Flash and other fancy players, but I think just serving images is good enough ... the slide show transitions will be attention getting, and the screens displaying information can be generated by any number of programs that make BMP or JPGs.

There are a zillion slide-show screensavers. My current best candidate is Endless Slideshow Screensaver .. but I'm game for additional ideas or sources. This seems like it maybe a bit over-kill for our needs.

Surely, this is a problem solved about 10,000 times already. Just not by our local IT department.

Easy, clean slideshow generator for Flickr + Wordpress?

kmel — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:28:15 -0800

Is there an instant slideshow generator for Flickr albums that a) I can use in Wordpress, b) doesn't make slideshows with black backgrounds, like Flickr's own slideshows and c) is cleaner-looking than Pictobrowser? Pictobrowser is near perfect, actually, except the pixel font bugs me.

I need a locked slideshow!

ddaavviidd — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:04:15 -0800

I need a mac software solution for this: photo slide show on external monitor (a projector) while the computer is locked Here's the deal: My brother is soon getting married, and he asked his techie younger brother to help him. He'd like to project photos shot earlier during the ceremony, and add some throughout the night. I have an 17" imac with a dvi out, but I'd use the dva-to-vga adaptor because it's a relatively old projector (with native XGA output). I'd like to find (1) a good slide show software that would allow me to stop, add photos, and restart, and that can be set to play on external monitor, and (2) a way to lock the computer while the slide show is live. I don't mind paying for good softwares (up to $50-60?).

I don't think iPhoto or Picasa could do (1), and I'm afraid full-screen Quick Look would be interrupted as soon as I try to lock the computer (or click anywhere for that matter).
Am I missing something obvious?

I'll be looking at the moon...

wafaa — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:13:25 -0800

I need the best recording of "I'll Be Seeing You" that you can recommend. I'm doing my Mom's memorial service slideshow and want to include this song. Nothing too upbeat, just smooth and mellow.

How do I make a song longer?

Flakypastry — Mon, 18 May 2009 09:44:07 -0800

Looping within a song for a slideshow? I am using an instrumental piece for a slideshow that is not long enough to fill the show. How do I loop the song internally to stretch it to the length I need? I am putting together a series of slide shows in PrShow Gold for my daughter's High School Music Department. The Seniors slideshow is about 8 minutes long - the instrumental piece (suggested by tylerfulltilt in this question) I think would loop nicely if I could figure out a way to cut a portion inside the song and then paste it within the piece to make it longer.

I downloaded Audacity - is that the way to go here? If so, does anyone know of a good tutorial that would help me learn how to do this?

Alternatively, will this song be way too long at 8 minutes? The slideshow is a series of baby and then Senior photos, so there's no real breaking point within the show to change songs.

Any ideas out there? Thank you!

Please, help me post a video that's currently too large. I'm a Mac user.

Toto_tot — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 09:44:32 -0800

How do I get a too large video on line? A friend of mine passed away and I created a slide show tribute that I would love to post on-line. I created it with Photo to Movie and have it rendered as an MPEG-4 which is 140 ish Megs. It is also 11:30 Minutes. When I rendered it in Quicktime it was more that 2G.

I have the typical Mac software at my disposal.
I have a place to host it where it needs to be 100 Megs or less.
Is there a way for me to use iMovie or some such to dip the quality a bit? It will only play on people's home computers.

Alternatively, is there a different place to host it? Create a website maybe?
I can put some money into this...

Thanks SO much.

What song should I use?

Alec Loudenback — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:24:50 -0800

I need a sentimental/moving song for a slideshow about senior varsity basketball players that will be leaving. It's a ~five minute slideshow that has pictures of the senior (Boys) basketball players that will be graduating this year. There are about 10 pictures of the guys growing up from when they were very young to today.

I've been put in charge of it by the booster club (both my parents are members) and am told by them to include music.

The song I think is the best is "Your Hand in Mine" by Explosions in the Sky. I like that song because of the sentimental and hopeful emotions that it evokes, regardless of the fact that there are no words.

However, my mom is, and always has been, adamantly opposed to instrumental, non-vocal music. Her suggestions are the following:

Time of My Life - David Cook
No Such Thing - John Mayer
My Wish -Rascal Flatts
Graduation - Vitamin C

There's a few reasons why I don't like the suggestion of those songs:

1) Timing. I was so into "Your Hand in Mine" that I already edited it to be an appropriate length, and that is much easier to do with an instrumental than a vocal song [I think]. And her suggestion to this problem is to play one and a half songs, which I think sounds very unprofessional. I am getting paid to do the slideshow because I am good at what I do, and I take pride in my work.

2)Some of them are really cheesy - Vitamin C? Please.

3) I really don't think you need words to convey the emotions. My mom thinks so. She doesn't have a graduating senior (I am, but didn't play on the team this past year, though I did previous years) and I think that if she was feeling the emotion of seeing her boy growing up through pictures to the big (ex)basketball player that he was today, she wouldn't need words to tell her what she is feeling. (I am not on the slideshow).

I guess what I am looking for is suggestions as to what all of you think. If you prefer the instrumental "Your Hand in Mine," or one of her suggestions, or another.

Please don't make me use "Graduation" MeFi!

Sharing photo slideshows

maxg94 — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 08:07:05 -0800

What are some ways to share a photo slideshow with music with friends? I used Comcast's photoshow but they are discontinuing it. I created a show with Photostudio Expressions already. The show saves as a .slw file or an .exe file. But then how do I share them? Is there a free website those can be uploaded and then notify others? I would also like privacy settings.

I know you can upload pics to photo sites, but I wanted to be able to have special transitions, music, text etc. This makes places like Flickr not helpful.

Idiot requires simple DVD slideshow help

Beautiful Screaming Lady — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 15:49:45 -0800

DVD authoring for a genuine simpleton. I have three photographs, as jpgs. I want to create a DVD of these photographs playable on any standard consumer DVD player (not a computer), but not as a slideshow. I'd like the DVD to have a menu, where each menu item goes to a photo. When a photo is selected from the menu, it will be displayed forever until someone tells it to stop or the electricity supply runs out. I don't want a normal slideshow where one photo leads to the next and then goes back to the start, I want each photo to be independent and only selectable from the menu. I have no control over the player that'll be used to show the DVD, so I can't rely on it being a fancy professional piece of kit made out of gold and diamonds. I don't have a DVD player, and have never had one, this is all unknown territory for me. Is it as simple as burning the jpgs onto a CD/DVD as data? Do normal standard budget DVD players read jpg data??

I have the photos, Vista Home Premium, Windows Movie Maker, Windows DVD Maker, Ulead MovieFactory, blank CDs/DVDs, the internet, some cardboard, scotch tape, AA batteries, a bunch of empty toilet roll tubes and some uncooked rice. Assume I am simple. Please tell me what to do. Thank you.

Simple web slide show

zainsubani — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 06:19:23 -0800

I have been asked to set up a slide show on a web site belonging to a friend. The specifications for the slide show are similar to, but less stringent, than those listed in this AskMeFi post

Captions are not needed
The images need not be linkable to a user-defined URL.
No need for a mouseover pause.
No need for a fade effect.

A simple, embeddable slide show utility that simply reads its list of image files from a directory on a web server and displays them in a horizontal scroll would do the trick. We'd like to avoid the need to edit HTML or Javascript code every time the contents of the slide show change. Not picky about technology; DHTML, Javascript, or Flash would be just ducky. A free script is, of course, to be preferred.

Any thoughts?

Thanks...

Auto funky slideshow

jaimev — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 08:49:37 -0800

Are there any standalone image to slideshow apps (Mac or Windows) that can autonomously generate videos in the Animoto style? Here's an example of what they can generate. I like the style, and how easily it can be produced. But their services costs $30/year to make anything greater than 30 seconds, and an extra $5/video to be able to download DVD quality results.

Flash gallery?

BoldStepDesign — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 11:13:35 -0800

I'm looking for a Free Flash gallery with admin panel, something similar to SlideshowPro (http://slideshowpro.net/). Know of anything?

Baffled by Ten Dollar Technology!

rokusan — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 13:56:49 -0800

Anyone know how to change the order of photos displayed on a Kodak Easyshare digital picture frame? I picked up Kodak EasyShare picture frame (S510) from a remainders bin because I figured my grandmother would like it, once I set it up with many photos in advance.

It's a very barebones model, no slick wifi or internet sharing, which I thought would be good in this case: there's no way in hell she'll manage with an SD memory card, but if I can set it up and show her the on/off, we should be good to go.

I've been through all the configuration menus. I can change transitions, timing, orientation, and all sorts of things. I've even read the manual, which is hard for me since I'm a guy. This is not addressed, though. I've Googled and failed, too.

I can't even figure out what order it is using, or I could manipulate the files to be in the "right" sequence. It's not random, since it's the same every time. It's not filename. It's not file date. I thought for a while it was file SIZE (weird I know, but the largest two are first) but nope, no pattern I can find after that.

Does anyone who have one of these know? I'll take good guesses, too. I'm stymied.

Free app to create Flash slideshow - is it possible?

nomad73 — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:12:25 -0800

How can I create an extremely simple flash slideshow of still photographs that I can embed on my web site ... for free? I'd like to have a looping slideshow of still images that dissolve into each other on my home page. I don't want there to be any navigation buttons over the image, no thumbnails, etc. I've tried Slideshowzilla but I'd rather not drop $50 for a robust app when i just need one single simple bit of it. I know nothing about Flash and next to nothing about HTML. Are there any free/open source apps out there that fit this bill?

Converting a PPTX into a DOCX

desjardins — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 08:58:46 -0800

How do I convert a PowerPoint presentation to a Word document? (Office 2007 on Windows XP) I have a 63-slide PPT that my boss has decreed should really be a Word document. It's going to be inserted into yet another Word document as a chapter of a big honking manual. I can extract some of the text by saving it as an Outline/RTF, but that doesn't extract the text within text boxes, and I have to reformat all of the text anyway. The most frustrating thing is that there are screenshots on almost every slide, and the only way I've been able to do this is in the past is to cut and paste every one of them.

IIRC, Office 2003 used to be able to do this conversion (albeit sloppily). Unfortunately, I don't have access to it. How can I go about this? The end result needs to be accessible to and editable by people who are not, shall we say, technologically adept.

Please suggest a Japanese song for a going away party video.

Vorteks — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 19:17:51 -0800

Please suggest Japanese songs to use for a video-of-photos at a going away party. 送別会の写真ビデオで使うための日本語の曲を進めてください。 I'm putting together a video slideshow of pictures (similar to what Animoto produces) for a going away party for a Japanese friend. Can someone suggest a good song to use in the background? Ideally the song should be in Japanese and have a "what good times we had" or "what good friends we are" or "you are special" sort of message to it, but not be too sad (X Japan's "Forever Love" is out).

Songs I've used for this purpose in the past include "Best Friend" by Kiroro, and "世界に一つだけの花" by SMAP. Also "Sakura Sakura"... something. I can't remember the actual name of the song. :-) Anyway, now I need more! Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

Simple good looking slideshow

signal — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:56:52 -0800

Need software to make a good looking slideshow with effort and time approaching zero. I need to slap together about 200 photographs into a slideshow presentation. This is a dumb job I'm stuck doing. It has to look professional but I don't want to spend more than say 60 minutes doing it.
I need:

- Simple but nice transitions, hopefully pan-and-zoom.
- To be able to see the names of the files while I'm editing this so I can insert white-on-black text slides at the appropriate places.
- To have a logo visible at all times in a corner.
- To output to a video file or something dead simple for the client to run in a loop

I'm on Vista. Thanks in advance for taking some of the annoying out of a dumb task.

An easy to use presentation remote for Windows.

clearly — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 18:25:15 -0800

Is there a good remote control to scan through images in a windows image slideshow? I am thinking of a product along the lines of the remote that came with my macbook that works with Front Row.

My dad is giving a presentation in a couple weeks, and would like to be able to use a remote to navigate through the images in a windows slideshow viewed on a digital projector.

He is using Windows XP.

The best solution would be very easy to implement, cheap, and reliable.