ENTS, Steve, I posted winter scene photos I shot on December 31 2009 as a 2:30 video slide show on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeAQyS61YBc Making these video slide shows isn't really hard but it is a multistep process.
You can use either vertical format or horizontal format photos. The horizontal format works better generally because the vertical format doesn't match the shape of the vertical frame. When used vertical photos are letterboxed with blank areas added to each side of the photo to fill the video frame. In addition the photos are shrunk more to make them fit into the frame. The photos can be edited to the size and format you want prior to using them in the video slide show. In mine I resized and cropped everything to 640x480 prior to importing them into the video program. Any photo editing program can be used to do this, or you can simply import the original photos into the video project. A useful, full featured, free photo editing program is Irfanview http://www.irfanview.net/ (PC program) For editing I used the built in Windows Movie Maker that comes with Windows XP, Vista, or WIN7. For Mac people iMovie is probably even better. The program is pretty straight forward. You import the files you want to include into the editing page, then drag them to the timeline in the order you want. The length of time is set at a default of 8 seconds for each still, but can be adjusted individually. The program allows you to add Titles, Credits, overlays and so forth to the basic slide show. There also are transitions that can be used between each frame as you desire. There are special effects including various, fades, pans, tilts, and zooms - think of the Ken Burns effects you have seen. If you are using pans or some of these other effects then larger photos might be appropriate. Sound can simply added to the sound layer on the timeline as you desire. You ca add narration recorded from a recorder, from you webcam, add nature sounds you have collected (it is best to store them as .wav files) or add music. Music is pervasive throughout television programs , but whether to have it or not is your choice. YouTube frowns on using music owned or recorded by someone else - something about intellectual and property rights.... I made the music used in my latest slideshow using a free program called Microsoft Music Producer (PC Platform). There is a longer discussion of this on the Google site at: http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/c5e8d4f9742dc834/f36869951069f7d8?hl=en&lnk=gst&q=music+producer#f36869951069f7d8 Microsoft Music Producer (Windows platform - runs fine on Vista and XP) http://www.musicmachines.net/faqmp.htm This site is a download link and a patch for the program first released in 1996. It is a midi file generator. it makes midi music clips in various styles. There are default settings for several dozen music styles, along with options to change instruments, tempo, key, length, personality, and shape of the music. it is in effect elevator music-like but looking through he thousands of combinations there are several that could be appropriate for a short nature video or slide show. This is free. You can choose the length of the music piece generated, with or without intros and closings. It is unfortunate that Microsoft Music Producer only will produce .mid file (Don't save anything in its proprietary own format, choose the .mid format instead. Why it is a annoyance is because the .mid file generated by MMP must be converted to something usable by the video editing program. Fortunately there is another FREE program called Jet Audio http://www.jetaudio.com/download/ that can do the conversion. Download the Basic program - it is the only one free, but it does what you need. Use this program to convert the .mid file to a .wav file. Then the sound file can be imported into the Microsoft Movie Maker and then dragged to the sound timeline. For Mac platforms Gary Beluzo recommends I am creating my own music (guitar, keyboards, strings, etc) with Apple's GARAGEBAND software which is a multitrack digital studio replete with hundreds of instrument "voices" to be played, overdubbed, and mixed. I don't know anything about it. When I have all the slides, effects, transitions, titles, credits, and audio how I want it, then I click the Publish Movie button. I choose to have playback optimized for playing on "This Computer" click next, give it a name and wait for it to be compiled. The finished movie can then be uploaded to YouTube or Vimeo or other video hosting site. These are located at YouTube http://www.youtube.com and Vimeo http://www.vimeo.com. The process sounds complicated, but really it is not. I have just included a comprehensive list. It is a logical step by step process that will become automatic after a video slide show or video movie or two are produced. Ed Frank Ed- Very nice! I'm going to have to give this method a shot---what program do you use to assemble the photos and audio? - Steve http://nature-web-network.blogspot.com/ http://primalforests.ning.com/ http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=profile&id=709156957 -- Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en To unsubscribe send email to [email protected]
