# slideshow software



## Jim556 (Jul 18, 2011)

Does anyone know a working s/w package which handles HD / high quality digital photos when creating a slideshow with transitions, etc. I have tried a few but they can't maintain the pristine resolution of the original photo.


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## Big Mike (Jul 18, 2011)

Is it the software that can't handle the large files...or is it your hardware? (or maybe both)

My slideshow software of choice is ProShow Gold, but I'll use Lightroom for just a simple slideshow.


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## The_Traveler (Jul 18, 2011)

Your resolution is limited by projector resolution so no matter how 'pristine' your images may be, they end up being pushed through the projector.


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## Jim556 (Jul 18, 2011)

Well I don't know about my hardware.    When I download my pics from my NIKON D7000 their resolution using is fine.  But when I import them into any movie type software to drag th down onto a timeline to make a slideshow they lose resolution quite markedly.


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## Jim556 (Jul 18, 2011)

Well re projector.  I am talking about making up a slideshow on my pc and viewing it there.


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## The_Traveler (Jul 18, 2011)

yes, and that is because any software re-sizes pictures so they can be managed and displayed.
If, for example, your monitor is 1024 x 768, the picture which is 4,928 x 3,264 must be re-sized to be displayed on the monitor.
The proper way to do this for best results is to re-size and resharpen the images yourself and not leave it for the slide show software to do it arbitrarily.

If you don't understand what I am saying, you need to do some reading about the basic issues of digital photography and re-sizing images.


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## Jim556 (Jul 18, 2011)

Thanks for your comments.   Yeah I am not sure I understand what you are saying.   All I want to do is download (or import) my pics into a package where I can make up a slideshow with transitions etc.  I am unsure how to resize them and what to reside them to.


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## The_Traveler (Jul 18, 2011)

You have two options: 1) allow software to do it and get a not optimum result or 2) learn enough to re-size them yourself.


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## Jim556 (Jul 18, 2011)

So I have to resize all my pics before importing them into the slideshow or movie making package?


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## The_Traveler (Jul 18, 2011)

Since you are unfamiliar with digital photography, you are probably using a non-calibrated monitor and your pictures are probably unedited. 
My guess is that any good software, like ProPhoto Gold, would provide a result that would be good enough.


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## Jim556 (Jul 18, 2011)

Thanks again for your help.  You are right I am unsure how to get to an end point on this slideshow photo quality/resoltion.   I downsized one of my pics from 4928 x 3264 to 50% of this.  When I then opened this pic in my software (which is Power Director) the resolution was worse - I guess by the 50%.  So that doesnt work for me.   Basically when I download the pics from my camera they are totally high res and pristine on my monitor - no problems at all.  Its when I load them into any movie making or slideshow software (and i have tried quite a few) this resolution is comprimised severely.  Thanks again


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## The_Traveler (Jul 18, 2011)

Jim,

You aren't doing anything by downsizing to 50% because the resulting image is still much too large for the screen and so your software is re-sizing it to the screen size.

There is no trick that will allow you to get what you expect, just learning how to do it right.

The honest answer is that you are getting bad results because you don't know what you are doing.
You don't know enough for any of us to walk you through it.

Either start reading about re-sizing images and get someone to help you with it.


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## Jim556 (Jul 18, 2011)

Look thanks for answering my queries.  I appreciate you taking the time to read my topics and help me.  In the end you haven't actually told me anything - I have read 2 very long and detailed articles about resizing photos but neither of them mentioned my issue - when you say I dont know what I am doing - I will explain it to you again. 
1.  i download photos from my Nikon to my PC using ViewNX 2 - the software that came with the camera.
2.  Those photos look fantastic on my screen - high resolution - no problem
3.  I want to make a "movie" or "slideshow" that I can have as a file and then run this through my projector (1080HD) from a pc which is dedicated to that projector.
4.  No matter what slideshow or movie package I use, when I import my photos to that package and process them down onto a time line and add transitions, etc I lose the high resolution on my photos and they become chunky.
5  If you cannot give me (as you say - a rank amatuer who knows nothing) an answer as to why that is happening and how I can solve that issue, then I guess we are finished our discussion and hopefully someone else might be able to help me on this forum.

Your reply initially was
If, for example, your monitor is 1024 x 768, the picture which is 4,928 x 3,264 must be re-sized to be displayed on the monitor.
The proper way to do this for best results is to re-size and resharpen the images yourself and not leave it for the slide show software to do it arbitrarily"

My monitor resolution is 1900 x 1200 and all my pics display pristine on my monitor - no problem whatsoever here.
I do not need to re-sharpen my images - they are fine before I use them in the slideshow software.  Re - size - WHY?


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## The_Traveler (Jul 19, 2011)

Jim,

I've told you what I think is happening and how you could avoid it. The slideshow resizing  app is not doing a good job.

For you to understand the issue, I would have to write - and you would have to understand - a long explanation of pixels, aspect ratios, digital images, monitors  and what might be happening. 

That already exists in books and other places on the web and it is your responsibility to educate yourself.


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## MarkF48 (Jul 19, 2011)

I'm a ProShow Gold user. I generally resize images to be imported to ProShow, but more so to decrease the file size, rather than image size. Image quality/resolution in a show has been more than adequate for my purposes, but may depend on settings that were used when it rendered and converted to a specific output file type.

I found the following link in a search and it comes from a ProShow forum site which discusses image and file sizing ...
ProShow Enthusiasts


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## Big Mike (Jul 19, 2011)

> 4. No matter what slideshow or movie package I use, when I import my photos to that package and process them down onto a time line and add transitions, etc I lose the high resolution on my photos and they become chunky.


That may or may not actually be the case.  Sometimes, digital images look 'chunky' when they are viewed at an odd zoom level.  As explained above,  your photos come from the camera at a size of 4,928 x 3,264 (or whatever).  That is obviously bigger than your screen resolution of 1900 x 1200.  So if you are seeing the whole image...the (display) zoom level is not at 100%.  It might be 50%, or 25% etc.  

What I think Lew is saying, is that you should use your photo software (not slideshow software) to resize you images before you drag them into a slideshow.  For example, since your screen is 1900 x 1200, you won't need any more size than that...so resize your images to be smaller than that, and save-as, so you have smaller copies.  You can also set the JPEG compression (quality) down a few notches to further reduce the file size, making it easier on your computer.  

So by resizing your photo before dragging them into the slideshow program, you are not asking the slideshow software to resize the images for you.


And going back to the images looking 'chunky'.  As I mentioned, you may be viewing your images at 50% or 25% zoom.  But some programs can't handle other zoom levels very well.  So while 25% zoom may look fine, 33% may look jagged or chunky.  It's not that the images isn't 'high quality' anymore...it's just a limitation of the software used to view the image.  
And further to that, when you drag an image into the slideshow, it may use an odd zoom level...but it may also use a 'preview' of the image, that isn't the full quality of the actual photo.  So for example, maybe you drag a bunch of photos into the slideshow, but the software maybe doesn't use the 'full size' of the photos...while you are making the slide show.  This would be to make it easier on the computer & software.  But when you are done, you may have to 'create' the slideshow....at which point, the software will utilize the full resolution of the images (it may take a while).  

So if this is part of your issue, I'd suggest that you don't judge the quality of the images in the slideshow...until you have finished and 'created' the slideshow.  It may turn out better than it looks in the 'preview' while you are making the show.  
But still, resize them first.


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## Jim556 (Jul 19, 2011)

Thanks Mark.  Have had a look at that.  I am checking out Lightshow now and that seems to retain the desired resolution after compiling pics into the slideshow format.  It seems that when using movie/ video making software that for some reason when you pull pics down onto a timeline they lose resolution markedly.


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## Jim556 (Jul 19, 2011)

Thanks Mike.  Your explanation makes perfect sense and I will try that.   I think Lightshow will be ok for me although it doesn't have a timeline set up which I prefer when making up a slideshow as you have total control over everything from time of each slide and transition, zoom effects, text entry, etc etc.  I am sure Lightshow has all this too.  Will have to find out.


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## MarkF48 (Jul 19, 2011)

I'm not familiar with Lightshow. Have you tried ProShow Gold, it does have a free download to try it out. Not expensive to purchase either. One of the best software purchases I've ever made.
ProShow Gold - Fast and Fun HD Slideshows - Photodex


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## Jim556 (Jul 20, 2011)

Thanks for everyone's help. I have resized my photos down as you all recommended to use them in movie software.  I had to reduce them 75% though to obtain a smooth image on the timeline of the movie software.  The resolution count went from around 4200 (horizontal) to 1500.  Any less reduction than 75% produces a chunky image.


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## MarkF48 (Jul 20, 2011)

Jim,
If you want to try some software for resizing images, this one works pretty slick and can do alot more than just resize....
FastStone Photo Resizer - Powerful Image Converter/Resizer


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## Jim556 (Jul 20, 2011)

Thanks again Mark.  Will have a look.
By the way I tried Pro ? Gold.  Yeah very good. Does it all for you.  The only thing I have to work out is this.
I do my slideshow through a HD projector (home theatre set up).  I use Media Centre for storing and running all pics videos recorded tv dvds etc.  I do all my processing on one pc which is networked to another server pc which is dedicated to the projector.  I couldn't seem to get the Pro ? Gold movie/ slideshow I made up to run through media centre.


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## The_Traveler (Jul 20, 2011)

Don't run it directly.
Burn a dvd or a web show and run that on the server.


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## Jim556 (Jul 21, 2011)

I am still struggling somewhat with resizing images.  I know how to reside but today when I resized images from 4292 width down to various sizes lowest being 1200, I was still getting blurred chunky images on a timeline.  Pretty damn frustrating.


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## PeterNord (Jul 24, 2011)

Hello Jim,

WnSoft PicturesToExe doesn't resize pictures that you add to your slideshow. This software uses original pictures (and even video). So only your monitor limits quality of final picture. 

Of course, if you produce DVD or HD video file or video for YouTube, size of picture will be limited by these formats (720x480 for DVD or1920x1080 for YouTube). 

But when you create your slideshow as an executable file (EXE), PicturesToExe simply includes your original image files as is. And when you watch this show, an executable file renders slides on the fly on a monitor using harware acceleration of your video card. 

Newest PicturesToExe 7.0 Beta can mix video clips and still picture together. Also you can turn on an unsharp mask option for more sharpness of picture.

http://www.wnsoft.com/picturestoexe/#view


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## Jim556 (Jul 24, 2011)

Thanks a lot Peter.  That is an excellent program and yes you are right, perfect for my needs as I can freely run it on my system without having to download the software to every pc.
If this is the only thing I ever get from this forum its been worth it.
Thanks again.


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## johnboosted (Nov 28, 2011)

Hey Jim,  

From reading this post I would also recommend checking out  muvee ( Movie making in just 3 steps! ) If you want a program that is between Windows Movie Maker and Final cut pro, muvee  reveal x is the program to get. It has all the music to clip editing features that Final cut pro has, but makes it so much more easy to figure out. It also has really great filters and effects that are so simple looking that somone can easy tell what program you are using (like WMM) anyways I would download the free trial and check it out. Oh it also has a tool that allows you to upload right to youtube which is handy for sharing!     Hope that helps!   cheers.


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