Creating SlideshowsFrom Digital Images

Ken HaleySIRs Area 2 Computers & Technology Group

January 18, 2007

Outline

• Simple Slideshows– Windows Explorer– Screen Saver

• Create a Slideshow in Photoshop Elements– Build a Collection– Add Special Effects

• Video clips• Pan, zoom, music, captions and titles

• Output Slideshow for Computer or TV

Simple Slideshow UsingWindows Explorer

• Open WindowsExplorer.

• Select images or anentire folder.

• Click on “View as aslide show.”

• If Windows does notoffer “View as a slideshow” when you select afolder, open the folder andselect some or all images.

Simple Slideshow UsingWindows Explorer

• Advantages– Simple– Loops endlessly– Simple play/pause and

step controls

• Disadvantages– Order is alphabetical

by file name– Will include rejected or

unedited images– Doesn’t rotate image,

even if rotated in PSE– No transitions

Conclusion: Good for a quick preview.

Use a Slideshow as aScreen Saver

• Go to Control Panel/Display/ScreenSaver Tab.

• Select “My PicturesSlideshow”.

• Under Settings,browse to desiredfolder.

• Select other options.

Use a “Premium” Slideshowas a Screen Saver

(WinXP Media Edition only)

• Go to Control Panel/Display/ScreenSaver Tab.

• Select “My PicturesPremium”.

• Under Settings,browse to desiredfolder.

• Can select custom list of images.• Select other options.

Screen Saver OptionsMy Pictures Slideshow

• Advantages– Will look in subfolders– Can select image size

• Disadvantages– Images not always

rotated correctly– Transitions slow, but

can be turned off

My Pictures Premium• Advantages

– Can custom selectimages (250 max.)

• Disadvantages– Images are always 60%

of screen size– Transitions slow—and

cannot be turned off.– Available only in

WinXP Media Edition

Using Photoshop Elements toCreate Slideshows

• Start in Photoshop Elements Organizer.– Assign tags to images.– Weed out/delete poor images.

• Consider deleting from hard drive at same time.– Edit keepers.

• Under Windows menu, check “OrganizeBin” to display list of Tabs and Collections.

Define a Collection

• Select Collections tab.• New/New Collection• Name your collection.• You can define a

Collection Group if youplan to create severalrelated collections.– Then define the collections within that group.– Cannot combine collections into groups after

they are created.

Select Images for Collection

• Display desired images in Organizer byselecting a Tag.

• Select images for the collection, then clickthe Collection Tab and drag Collection Tagover one image to add all selected imagesto the collection.– Continue to select other images for collection.

• Images in the Collection will initially be inthe order selected.

Organize Your Collection• On the Collection Tab, select your collection to

display images selected.• Move thumbnails of images into desired order.

– Adjust size of thumbnails usingslider to let you see most ofthe slideshow.

– Bring images of a similar subjecttogether, even if taken on different days.

– Put images in order that will introduce a new locationor event.

• Don’t slavishly adhere to chronological order.– Can drag and drop groups of slides.– Can delete images from collection (not necessarily

from the catalogue or hard disk) at this stage.

Videos in a Slide Show• Many compact cameras take decent quality videos.

– Some events are clearly better captured in video than as a stillimage.

• Some cameras capture video in Quick Time (MOV)format—an Apple product that will work in PSElementsOrganizer but cannotbe included in a slide show.– You get this error message

if you try.

• To be included in a slide show, videos must be convertedfrom .MOV to .AVI format.

• After conversion, add AVI file to collection.

Presentation includes a short video showingthat the video format can capture someevents far better than a still exposure.

SIRs1 China B1076

Converting Video Format

• Download RAD Video Tools (free) from:http://www.radgametools.com/bnkdown.htm

• Open RAD Video Tools.– Select file to convert.– Click Convert a file.– Ignore other buttons.

Converting Video Files

• Give output file aname (can use thesame since suffixwill be different).

• Make sure outputtype is .AVI

• Convert Video andConvert Audio should both be checked.

• Click Convert

Converting Video Files

• Select a Video Compression method.– Many choices which

yield wildly differentresults. Try them to seewhat works best foryour video.

– I used default qualitysetting.

• Click OK, and wait.

Converted Video Files• A 5 second video of

7.1 Meg converted to filesof from 4 to 135 Meg.

• Quality was best forintermediate-sizedfiles.

• 3 conversions failedcompletely.

• You only need to find onegood conversion.– Indeo Video 5.10 worked

best for this video.

Video Conversion

0

5

10

15

20

25

Orig

inal

file

Full

Fram

e (u

ncom

pres

sed)

Cin

epak

Cod

ec b

y R

adiu

s

Inde

o vi

deo

5.10

Mic

roso

ft V

ideo

1

Inte

l Ind

eo V

ideo

4.5

Inte

l Ind

eo V

ideo

3.2

Inte

l 4:2

:0 V

ideo

V2.

50

Mic

roso

ft H

.261

Vid

eo C

odec

Mic

roso

ft R

LE

Meg

abyt

e

135

Failed

Presentation includes a short video showing aneffective video after conversion to avi format.

SIRs2 China B1238a

Create the Slide Show

• In Organizer, click the Create button.• In the

pop-upwindow,selectSlide Show.

• Slide ShowEditor opens.

Set Slide Show Preferences

• A preferences screenallows setting timingtransitions and otherchoices for entire show.

• Most can be changedfor individual imageslater.

• To repeat sound-track, select here.

Slide Show Editor

• Slide Show Editor is the workspace fordeveloping the slide show. You can…– Rearrange and edit all images and transitions.– Set timing of images and transitions.– Add titles, audio captions or background

music.– Set up pan and zoom elements.– Output a polished slide show for use on a

computer or TV.

Slide Show Editor

Slide Show Editor

• Right-hand side of work area providescontext-sensitive options.– Click on the image and editing options appear.– Click on a transition and all 24 transitions and

timing options appear.– Click on a thumbnail of an image and pan/zoom

options appear.– Click on a caption and formatting options appear.

Add Pan and Zoom

• There are two ways to use Pan and Zoom.– On most images to add a bit of motion.– On selected images to tell a story.

• Can use on all images byselecting on Slide ShowPreferences screen.– The following video compares

a static slide show with Panand Zoom on all images.

– Can control motion on individual images.

Presentation includes a brief slideshowcomparing a show with conventional still

images to a similar show using very slightzoom on all images.

SIRs3 Pan-Zoom Compare

Pan and Zoom for Effect-1

• Zooming in can dramatize a detail thatmight be overlooked.

• Zooming out can put a feature inperspective, adding scale that might nototherwise be clear.

• Panning allows a closer look at details ofan image.– Works for landscapes, buildings, and

groups of people.• All effects require a good quality image.

Presentation includes a slideshow that showshow zoom and pan can help tell a story andthus enhance the effectiveness of the show.

SIRs4 Pan Zoom story

Pan and Zoom for Effect-2• Select image and “Enable Pan & Zoom.”• I prefer to show the image briefly as a still, then

zoom/pan, and finish with a short still.– Click the green frame and adjust

starting frame, then transfer startframe to end (no zoom).

– Adjust time this version of imageis shown

• 2 sec. is good for initial image.– Click “Add Another Pan & Zoom…”

• A new linked version of same image is inserted with samestart frame as previous image’s end frame.

Pan and Zoom for Effect-3

• On 2nd image, adjust red end frame for zoomor pan.– Adjust time for a smooth zoom.– Check effectiveness of zoom using

preview.– Final result will be smoother than in preview.

• Add another linked image with identical start andend frames and a short display time.

• No transitions are used between parts of alinked zoom/pan.

Captions

• Three kinds of captions are available– Titles, which introduce the slide show or a

section of the show.– Written captions which appear on individual

images.– Audio captions which play when an image is

shown.• Best to add these in the Collection Organizer mode.• If added later, audio is not saved with the image

Audio Captions-1

• Connect a microphone to the computer.• In Organizer, either double click image or “Show

Properties” for the image to be captioned.• Click the speaker icon:• Select an existing audio file or

click the red Record button.• After recording, click the Stop

button, save the audio file andclose the window.

• Thumbnail now shows audio symbol.

Presentation includes a briefslideshow that compares an audio

caption with a written caption.

SIRs5 Audio Caption

Thoughts on Audio Captions

• Can personalize the show, but…real-time narration for friends/family mightbe better.

• Audio captions can archive your memories,in case they fade.

• Don’t talk too long – the image stayson-screen until the caption is completed.

• A longer soundtrack, that plays whileimages are changing, can be added later.

Captions for Images

• Captions that show while the image is on-screen help define locations, events, etc.– Captions can be distracting.– Use when helpful, but don’t repeat endlessly.

• In Slide Show Editor, click “Add Text.”– Double click caption or use

Edit Text button to change text.– Select font type, size,

color and drop shadow.

Presentation includes a slideshow thatcompares various types of written captions on

the images.

SIRs6 Slide Captions

Titles

• Start with a blank slide, then “Add Text” to createopening title and section titles.– A title showing the location of a group of images

avoids the need to label each image with its location.– Be creative with fonts and color.

• Identify a “Title” image that typifies the story youare telling—then use it as a background for youropening titles.– Use several slides to create complex titles.– Copy text to a following slide to make a seamless

transition.

Add Music or Commentary

• Click “Add Media/Audio from Folder” orclick bar below storyboard.– Select music track. Remember it will be

repeated for the duration of show.• You can “rip” a cut from a

CD using MusicmatchRecorder or similar.– Select desired track.– Click “Start Copy.”– Default save in My Music.

Add Commentary

• Record comments using microphone andWindows Sound Recorder.– Found under Start/All Programs

/Accessories/Entertainment.– Limited editing is available.– Can record blank file by not using a

microphone.– Save sound clip.

Controlling Soundtrack

• Add sound clip into show, then drag todesired position relative to images.

• Previous clip will fade out just beforestarting new clip.

• Images will change while clip is playing.• A blank clip allows sound from video to be

heard clearly.

Presentation includes a slideshow that shows howopening titles and music can enhance a show.

SIRs7 China Titles

Output Formats for theFinished Slide Show

For ComputerWMVFrom 160x120 to 1024x768

PDFFrom 640x480 to 1600x1200

For TelevisionVideo CD (VCD)

352x240

DVD (NTSC)720x480

Final Output

• Can write output to a file on disk.• Can burn a VCD using PSElements.

– Can add several files to burn on same CD.• Burning a DVD:

– If you have Adobe Premier Elements, you aretaken there automatically to select optionsand templates for the DVD before burning.

– Alternatively, you can write to a file, then useyour computer’s DVD authoring software toburn that file to the DVD.

Evaluation of Output Qualityfor Showing on a Computer

AC*FBC-13.1Pdf 800 x 600

ACFBC13.1Pdf 1024 x 768

ACFBB15.7Pdf 1280 x 960

AAAAB72.7Wmv 1024 x 768

ACFBA17.6Pdf 1600 x 1200

AAAAC+60.8Wmv 800 x 600

Crop-ping

VideoZoomandPan

Tran-sitions

ImageSharp-ness**

FileSize,

Meg***File Format

* After conversion to .avi. Pdf does not support Quicktime format.** Computer screen resolution set at 1600 x 1200.*** File is a 1 minute 50 second slide show.

Evaluation of Output Qualityfor Showing on Television

• Conventional TV resolution is about 560x420.– Video CD uses only half of available resolution.– DVD gets the best image possible on conventional TV.

• Latest HDTV resolution is about 1920x1080.– Current generation DVD will look similar on HD or conventional TV.– HD DVD burners are rare, and software to use them not yet available.– In a few years, you may be able to reburn today’s slideshow with

greater resolution to use on an HDTV.

CAAAC42.2DVD 720 x 480

CAAAD20.0VCD 352 x 240

Crop-ping

VideoZoomandPan

Tran-sitions

ImageSharp-ness

FileSize,MegFile Format

Images Are Cropped on TVDue to Overscanning

DVD Menu Created inPremier Elements

Final Impressions of SlideShow Options

• Use a slide show screen saver to enjoyyour favorite images every day.

• Output quality on a computer screen canbe excellent—use it regularly at highestavailable resolution.

• Video CDs have mediocre picture quality—showing on a computer screen is better.

• DVD picture quality is good, not great. Usewhen you want a show for a larger group.