Crop to Fit Monitor

Todd-Nebel wrote on 9/9/2024, 8:33 AM

Hello, I bought Photostory Deluxe 2024 and I'm using it to make a 4 hour slideshow of 1680 high school class pictures. Some of the photos after export have heads and parts of bodies cutout of the picture. I see where there is an option on each individual slide to use "Crop to fit monitor" and this corrects the problem BUT, is there any global setting so that I don't have to "crop to fit" 1680 photos individually?

Comments

browj2 wrote on 9/9/2024, 1:52 PM

@Todd-Nebel

Hi,

What is the resolution/aspect ratio of your project?

It should be the same as for export.

On the startup screen, if there is an option to "Crop photos to fill frame" - uncheck this before starting. In my version 20.0.1.62, which is now quite old, checking or unchecking this has no effect. I expect that it does in more recent versions.

When you import a photo/video clip, it will normally fill the screen at least in one direction. So, if you have a portrait mode photo in a normal landscape (16:9) project, the photo will fill the screen from top to bottom with black on each side. If you apply "Crop to fit monitor" the image will be zoomed in/cropped so that there are no black bars, but the top and bottom of your image will be cut off. Do not use this anywhere unless you do it yourself where you want to, to avoid cutting off body parts.

Since you already have this problem, you either have to go along and find them and remove the Size/Position effect so that you get the normal size back, or select all, right-click, Effects Settings, Reset (Alt+Shift+C). The first one selected has to have some effects or the Reset command will not be available. Warning, in this case, all effects will be reset so if you have other effects, they will be gone.

Or you can go along the timeline and everywhere that you see a problem, fix it.

In any event, it is messy.

As for the duration, no one is going to watch 4 hours of photos. According to my calculations, 4 hours = 14400 seconds / 1680 = 8.57 seconds duration per photo. Unless there is a lot to see in a photo or some narration/description about the photo, 8.5 seconds is far too long. Watch the first 2 minutes yourself. Bored?

I suggest 3 seconds view time per photo. If you have transitions, this 3 seconds does not include the time for the photo. I don't recommend transitions unless they are carefully done, and about a half second long - nothing fancy.

Even with 3 seconds per photo, the duration will be 84 minutes. Still too long. Do some (a lot of) culling.

BTW, for making a reasonable quality video/slide show, allow for about 2 to 3 hours of your time per minute of final product. Dumping 1680 photos on the timeline, adding some music and exporting will most likely give you a poor product.

A relative had someone do up a DVD with a slideshow of all photos taken at her wedding. The result was 2 hours with no logic to the sequencing, many bad photos, close duplicates, some sideways, some upside down, music that clipped, basically unwatchable.

Less is more.

Todd-Nebel wrote on 9/9/2024, 2:39 PM

Thanks. This is for a 45th high school reunion at a bar and we have a Open Bar for 4 hours so that's why the length. :) It's more to serve as background music/video distraction for the reunion. Yea, I was just hoping there was a global button but I guess there isn't.

browj2 wrote on 9/9/2024, 9:19 PM

@Todd-Nebel

Hi,

As I said, use the reset. Put a Size/Position effect on the first image as the first image or the one to be right-clicked has to have an effect. Ctrl+A to select all. Right-click on the first image, Effects Settings, Reset (Alt+Shift+C). This should remove all effects from everything.

John CB

Bol wrote on 9/10/2024, 4:33 AM

@Todd-Nebel

Hello Todd,

.....Some photos after export have heads and body parts cut out of the photo.....

This is because you have set all the photos to 16:9 with Fill Image (Shift+A). The solution could be to select all the photos with Ctrl+A and then turn off (undo) the fill image with Shift+A. This way all other Effects settings used remain untouched. But the photos that were not taken as 16:9 will have a black bar on the sides.

You can then edit these photos as you see fit with the Size/Position effect.

Good luck,
Rob