Mac slideshow software with Mac/PC standalone output

Hi folks,

I'm not having much joy with this query over in the digital imaging forum, any ideas over here?

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Hi All,

I'm after a piece of software that will allow me to create slideshows (with sync'd music) on a Mac that can export a standalone show (not a Quicktime/Flash movie) that can be viewed on both PC and Mac.

I've played with Fotomagico but this appears to export a Mac only standalone, is this correct?

Any recommendations?

Andrew

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So far I've had a look at iMovie and iPhoto as well, and can rule out Powerpoint and am not happy with image quality of Quicktime exports viewed at full screen

AFAIK you're looking at a QT movie Andrew. If your problem with the movie output is purely a quality one (ie it's lower res than a computer screen), then render the movie as a HD1080 movie. While you can't use a HD disk player (unless you can burn BluRay), you can copy the file to a PC or Mac and run it in hi-res.

The only other alternative I know of is ProShow Gold/ProShow Producer, it might be able to do it, but it might be expensive! (I've never used it).

http://www.arizona-software.ch/photopresenter/
Integrates well with Aperture.

Hi Andrew

I use ProShow Gold for 95% of my DVD/PC slideshows, but I think it is PC only. Can you run PC software in some sort of emulation mode on the MAC?

Their website http://www.photodex.com/

ProShow Gold is excellent. Robust, fast and great quality output, and not expensive.

Pictures2exe is another option to look at.

cheers

Sean

Just had a look at Proshow this morning Andrew - looks to be PC only . The one John suggested is only Mac, and Fotomagico is only Mac too. Pics2Exe is PC only.

So, it looks like you're stuck with either Mac or PC slideshow...but not both unless you render it as a movie.

What exactly where you hoping to do?

Thanks for the input folks.

I need a Mac platform application that will allow me to put together large numbers of images (300+) quickly and easily into slideshows synchronised with music (adjusting each image display to the length of the soundtrack etc) with a high-quality image output. The output is the tricky bit as I need to carry these slideshows around to run on a variety of computers, so the show needs to export as a PC and Mac compatible standalone viewer ie the application viewer is included in the exported slideshow. I'll carry the slideshows around on CD and won't be able to install software onto any of the computers, it will have to be self-contained on the CD.

Fotomagico does the export with a standalone viewer, but this standalone only runs on Mac which is no good to me. I've tried Quicktime but am not happy with the image quality so far (I'll have a look at the HD output Nick, but I think I've had a play with this). I'm working on a PowerPC G5 Mac, so this computer isn't portable.

It's possible that I'm missing a trick with using iPhoto/iMovie to export Quicktime, but when I crank up the image quality to maximum options it still looks considerably softer than those that I can view in Aperture. I hope the next version of Aperture will contain a standalone export option as I'm sure that many people must have this requirement. I'll have a look at the PhotoPresenter export, thanks John. I sat through a slideshow at a major event where the photographer had to play a CD soundtrack while manually clicking thru the images, so perhaps I'm not alone...

Hi Andrew,

There isn't a 'killer app' that will do everything you want - they'll all do one or other bit...but not all together .

FM with the HD1080 Qt may be the best you'll get - but the movies are large and PC's can choke on them. Also the framerate tends to be slower than computer monitor refresh rates..which can affect the quality of movements/transitions.

Out of interest, would you be able to install flash on the 'viewer' computers if they didn't have the right version....? And could you run the slideshow in a web browser, or would do you want to use full screen?

Wow, a gap in the market if ever there was one...?

Thanks Nick, I'll have a look at FM QT again. I'll not be doing some of the ridiculous transition/ken burns effects, I just want a nice steady picture and smooth fade with the next slide. That's why I got into stills not video

Will let you know if I'm able to squeeze the image quality up to an acceptable grade...

Thanks again one and all.

A

Hi Andrew - just remembered another program called Soundslides. It has versions for both Windows & Mac & outputs to flash. I've not used it so can't say how good/bad/useful it is - but it might be worth checking out.