Any tips on creating slideshows from stills?

[johnwolf]

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I'm making a slideshow with music and about 100 or so stills. The software offers zoom and pan capability. I've never done this before and I'm wondering if there are pan/zoom dos and don'ts, other than the obvious, don't overdo it.

 

I googled, but everything applies to video, where the rule seems to be let the subject do the movement. Appreciate any suggestions on pan/zoom directions, durations, sequencing from slide to slide, etc. Thanks.

 

John

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[Guest stnami]

Break it up into 3-4 individual shows 100 is a massive amount to keep continuity and the audiences' attention. Also best of my work shows don't really work. Limit pans zoom as the shows are about images not tricks

[Riley]

real estate agents use this sort of presentation now too

one i work for also has voice overlays

they are generally quite limited, i think they max out at 20 frames

frame sizes are a bit larger than the usual 800x600, at 1000x750,

this so they can perform their visual gymnastics a bit better

[Guest stnami]

this so they can perform their visual gymnastics a bit better

Sure but Real Estate agents are really successful politicians

[johnwolf]

Break it up into 3-4 individual shows 100 is a massive amount to keep continuity and the audiences' attention. Also best of my work shows don't really work. Limit pans zoom as the shows are about images not tricks

 

Imants, this is a big screen, video-like presentation to a large audience. Six minutes of music is 100 slides at about four seconds each. That seems about right to me. No?

[Overgaard]

I prefer slides to be slides, not moving pictures.

 

I almost always use the Soundslides software for slide presentations online and Apple iDVD for DVD-presentations.

[Guest stnami]

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100 is a huge amount to comprehend, at the end of the show nothing will be remembered or people will ask

"..that image ,you know after the one that looks like, you know the civett like man , or whatever it was.............trailing off"

 

Break it up into sessions ...........I still think "best ofs" are boring as they become disjunctive and all over the place, with no thread nor conceptual vigour to keep the show interesting....... you need suspense. As Aristotle professed a bit of fiction/ entertainment goes a long way with presenting the so called "truth/history"

[Guest carolina]

John I've put together 3 slide shows and have seen over 10 put together by masters. I cannot comment on the zooming. In general - edit ruthlessly, on average 10 sec per image, vary horizontal and vertical images, and tell a visual story(a beginning, middle and end) . I use two projectors and practice timing the slide show- though I suppose the computer will do that for you. Aim to leave them wanting more- ie 3-5 min. Do practice runs with an honest

audience. Hope this helps and good luck. Carolina

[vanhulsenbeek]

 

Break it up into sessions ...........I still think "best ofs" are boring as they become disjunctive and all over the place, with no thread nor conceptual vigour to keep the show interesting....... you need suspense.

 

So right! I have made slide show for many years no and here is some advice (part of it already voiced here):

 

1. Decide if you want 'dissolving wallpaper" or capture attention

2. The sound captures 70% of the attention. You want no sound? You'll get the wallpaper.

If you want sound: devote 70 of your attention to the soundtrack.

3. Modern tricks - pan etc. - have confused slideshow making to no end. Use very sparingly.

4. Kill your darlings: your best may very well disrupt your storyline. I am almost sure they will.

5. Keep it short and snappy: one show - one message.

6. Do not try to make a film: another planet.

7. Do not mix vertical and horizontal. (to be frank, I do not see how you could do that with a beamer).

[wstotler]

100 is a huge amount to comprehend, at the end of the show nothing will be remembered or people will ask Break it up into sessions ...........I still think "best ofs" are boring as they become disjunctive and all over the place, with no thread nor conceptual vigour to keep the show interesting....... you need suspense.

 

Completely agreed. Regarding other posters' information, advice looks good.

 

As a general rule, spend very little time on effects (zoom/pan, etc.) and most of your time on sequencing just the right shots to tell the story. I've found people (Americans, anyway) get "bored" quickly--oversaturation of T.V.--but the right soundtrack underneath the images will help you show fewer images for longer times. (Think: 10 seconds an image with appropriate music/sound underneath as opposed to a sort-of soundtrack and 5 second times with effects.)

 

Think stark, modern presentation--not baroque--but with real pacing, a narrative, and some mystery/reveals.

 

Thanks,

Will

[adan]

Generally speaking, the "Ken Burns effect" (pan-and-zoom) is best reserved for incorporating stills into a project that is MOSTLY live-motion video - so the still images don't "freeze" the flow and look like the projector broke. Remember, Ken Burns himself was making movies, not slide shows. Don't make the audience sea-sick.

 

If the pictures themselves are what you want to show, keep to a simple consistent time and dissolve rate, especially if it is your first attempt. The tempo of the music can be a good guide for pacing the images overall, so that the images change on the beat - but let's say start at around 5 seconds each and then adjust to suit the tempo you are actually working with.

 

A half-second dissolve is a good place to start, and consider tweaking from there if the dissolves seem too slow or too sharp for the overall mood. But if your audience is there to see your pictures, forcing them to look at a lot of double-exposures (long slow dissolves) won't be fun.

 

If your goal is the whole experience rather than each individual photograph, (i.e the "show" is your work of art, not the pictures themselves) then the pace can be faster and/or more varied, and the effects and dissolves can play a bigger role.

 

As to sound - IF you are doing a project with major sound editing - music plus voice-overs plus live sound, then yes, as Van said, 70% of the time can and should go into the sound. Good sound is a whole speciality in itself. And sloppy sound (bad transitions, wind noise, unintended changes in volume from track to track) can wreck the experience.

 

That is not as true if you're just doing a simple, single-tune, single-track musical background - but you DO need to make sure (as I mentioned above) that your slide pacing and the musical tempo support one another. Which can be a challenge (and an enjoyable one) in itself. It can be a real kick the first time you play it back and those dissolves just NAIL the musical downbeats!

 

Once you have done 10 or so shows on the KISS principle (Keep It Simple, Stupid!) - THEN you'll be able to start adding some of the doodads based on experience - more complex sound, more complex effects.

[johnwolf]

Thanks, everyone. Really appreciate your suggestions.

 

After playing with the software for a few days, I agree the focus should not be effects, but building the story and emotion through the music, sequencing, and timing. I don't like the panning effect much. An occasional short zoom with sustained musical notes looks very nice. But I agree less is more re effects. Simple, short fade transitions look best. Thanks again.

 

John

[jbstitt]

I know there are professionals out there who have done a fantastic job and have more experience than I do but as an advanced amateur I have put together several very effective slide shows using Windows Movie Maker. You have transitions and ablilty to sync slides with the music passages. Religiously, I mean extensively, edit your selected photos prior to bringing them into Movie Maker.

 

A neat trick I learned if you want text some places is to duplicate the edited photo and put text on one and then on what will be the second of the two in the show put your text. Place right after the first on the story board and use a fade transition so the text appears to just come onto the screen. You can do the same with zooming. Play with it first. Don't fall for too many fancy transitions. They distract from the message. I use either Fade or no transitions most of the time.

 

I learned about Movie Maker from the people in my company who use it to produce promotional videos. It works quite well. And it comes with Windows (something good about Windows!). Maybe not the fanciest but it does work and is easy to use for slide shows.

[wda]

Lightroom has a simple slide show compiling facility.

 

Aim for a smooth flow of colour, tone, information. Only SHOCK if absolutely justified and then allow time to recover audience composure before the end of the show.

 

If you think your timing is right - halve it and try again. Always leave the audience wanting more.

[wparsonsgisnet]

On the Mac, the iPhoto app has a slideshow that lets you add music. I have used this for showing photos to prospects, even using the default music.

 

If you're on that platform, the app is a piece of cake -- which will come as no surprise to Mac users. I used it in minutes with zero previous information. I suspect that you can adapt the changes to specific times. Worth looking at, or maybe there's a monster here that can clue us in quickly.