Professional Slideshows and movie transfer to DVD

[fargoman]

I am starting a small home based business offering slideshow services, and am wondering what software others are using to make the most professional looking quality. I currently have been using Roxio, and it just doesn't do what I need. For instance when you create the main menu and add music it loops every 15 seconds or so and I cannot get around that, seems like it works then once burned defaults back to 15 seconds.

I've searched the forums and see most people like Memories, and Ulead, but want someones opinion who does this for money now and what their best experiences have been. Thanks for your help in advance, I would like to keep the budget around $100-200 since I'm also pumping money in for top of the line scanners and video editing hardware.

[Curt]

I make "video montage" DVDs for clients using a HP 5500c auto feed scanner and Adobe Premiere 6.5. You can make title screen templates, put in background music, import the photos to Premiere using a "defaut clip size", and select a default transition. After doing a few, the process moves along pretty well. There is a bit of a learning curve, but if *anyone* could do it, everyone *would* do it, and it wouldn't be much of a business opportunity.

I bought two cheap (~$100) video packages, and was disappointed with them. If you're going to do this as a business, spend a few extra $$ up front, and call it an investment. You'll save yourself a lot of frustration and upgrading. Good luck!

Curt

[alenhard]

Fargoman you are on a long road. Good luck buddy. I would suggest downloading a lot of trial programs from Adobe, Ulead, Vegas, etc. and seeing what you like. In this business it takes money to make money. You can't be cheap and expect to attract customers. You also need to read A LOT and make sure you know how to do anything your customers ask.