Getting Photos to stay on the screen

sunstone wrote on 7/5/2020, 6:37 AM

HI All

Very much a newbie to this.

I've currently got the demo version of Photostory and im trying to create a leavers video slideshow for a nearby school.

As part of the sequence, i am trying to get images of the children to fade in one after the other and for them to stay on the screen.

To achieve the right affect I've found placing a photo on its own track works fine. However photostory is limited to 8 tracks. (is it possible to add more tracks??) When you've got over 20 children my technique soon reaches its limits especially when other tracks are in use for audio and other elements too.

As expected if I put all the photos on the same track, then then of course each photo will fade in but then fade out again when the next photo arrives in the timeline. Ideally, I want each to photo to remain on the screen up until each child is visible before moving onto the next sequence.

I ought to explain that these photos have been shrunk so as to fit onto an area of the screen where each child can be visible altogether.

My only other option given my limited Photostory knowledge is to maybe group 3 or 4 children together in 1 photo and use the spare tracks for each 'group' but I'd much rather have each child's photo appear one after the other and stay on the screen.

Is there a correct way to do this?

Again I'm a newbie to this so theres quite possibly something glaringly obvious that Im missing here.

Any help and advice would be most appreciated.

Cheers

Steve

Comments

johnebaker wrote on 7/5/2020, 7:31 AM

@sunstone

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Photostory has only 8 tracks, although it is possible to get this up to 14 tracks, however the method does not fit what you are trying to do and the number of tracks you need.

IMHO you would be better off using Movie Edit Pro, which is more versatile, and can have up to 200 tracks if you buy the Plus or Premium version - see the comparison chart here.

Trial versions have limitations - track limitations, exported video can be only 3 mins long and not all the effects, functions and features are available.

HTH

John EB
Forum Moderator

sunstone wrote on 7/5/2020, 7:37 AM

Thanks for your prompt feedback.

I'll check it out. Im assuming that Movie Edit Pro can do photo slideshows too ?

Thanks again

Steve

emmrecs wrote on 7/5/2020, 8:16 AM

@sunstone

Im assuming that Movie Edit Pro can do photo slideshows too ?

Yes, it can! It even includes a Slideshow Maker Wizard, though this may not be entirely suitable for what you are wanting to do.

Jeff

sunstone wrote on 7/5/2020, 8:49 AM

@sunstone

Im assuming that Movie Edit Pro can do photo slideshows too ?

Yes, it can! It even includes a Slideshow Maker Wizard, though this may not be entirely suitable for what you are wanting to do.

Jeff

Brill, Thankyou. Its just downloading now :)

browj2 wrote on 7/5/2020, 10:51 AM

@sunstone

Hi Steve,

Make sure to get Plus or Premium, not basic, which would be worse than PhotoStory. Premium is currently on sale for less than Plus, so go for Premium.

I presume that you are trying to build the equivalent of a video wall. This requires a lot of calculation to first get the correct size and then the location of each image as it comes in. However, Walter has made this much easier with his tutorial and the included pdf file, in German.

As well, if you will need to repeat this for, say, another class or series of photos, you can save it as a collage and reuse it in the same or another project. There is a lot to learn.

John CB

sunstone wrote on 7/13/2020, 1:35 PM

@sunstone

Hi Steve,

Make sure to get Plus or Premium, not basic, which would be worse than PhotoStory. Premium is currently on sale for less than Plus, so go for Premium.

I presume that you are trying to build the equivalent of a video wall. This requires a lot of calculation to first get the correct size and then the location of each image as it comes in. However, Walter has made this much easier with his tutorial and the included pdf file, in German.

As well, if you will need to repeat this for, say, another class or series of photos, you can save it as a collage and reuse it in the same or another project. There is a lot to learn.

John CB

Thanks for this info. I did opt for Movie Edit Pro Plus. think I jumped in alittle too quick and missed the fact that Premium was going for a better a price. Doh!

May I ask another question?

I've managed to build some of what I need, however Im stuck ( a little) on what I thought would be the easy bit.

Each child has four images representing their different ages, starting at the baby stage to current year to show their changes over the years. its also a kind of 'Guess who' sequence where their current picture is revealed last with their name. What tools can I use to make each grouping 4 photos interesting ?.

With 80 photos Im not looking to manually customise the movement of each. Is there a way I can essentially create a different (or different enough) mini slideshow for each set of 4 photos but making them interesting to view. I dont mind if transition / slideshow effects are repeated.

I thought the slideshow wizard was the answer where I expected to select 4 images, apply the settings from the slideshow wizard to each group of 4 photos. However it doesnt appear to work this way??!

Any help would be most appreciated.

Steve