Free Photo Slideshow software

[glenpinn]

hi everyone, i am after a decent free photo slideshow maker that has the following features.

- 720p mp4 output
- add audio
- ability to add descriptive text to each photo
- not bothered about number of transitions offered
- ability to create a title image to place at the start of the slideshow describing the title of the slideshow.
- possiblity to add text images between photos (this is not a definate requirement)

i have been using DVD Slideshow GUI but it has some silly bugs in it, and when i add a transparent frame at the start to add a text title to it, i have to use an external image creating program, which is a pain in the butt, i want a program they can do it within the actual interface.

any suggestions will be appreciated.

cheers

[racer-x]

Just do your slideshows in a video editor. That's what I've done for years. I would output at 1080p as final file size isn't much larger than 720p.

If you don't have a video editor, there are free ones you can use like Aviutl.

[glenpinn]

hi, the editing/encoding software i mostly use is Video Redo, and it does not do slideshows, and nor do any of the other open source apps i use (handbrake, Xmedia Recode and AviDemux)

the program i am after has to have those features i mentioned above.

[racer-x]

the program i am after has to have those features i mentioned above.

...And the program I recommended well exceeds your needs. Realistically, what you ask can probably be done in Windows Movie Maker. I don't know that for sure because I never used it however.......

[glenpinn]

...And the program I recommended well exceeds your needs. Realistically, what you ask can probably be done in Windows Movie Maker. I don't know that for sure because I never used it however.......

sadly it wont work, i get an error saying a d3dx9_43.dll file missing on my system ???

the first time i opened it, i got the missing dll error, but the program opened on my screen with 3 different boxes, so i closed them, but all i get now is what appears to be a blank preview screen.

EDIT: ok just downloaded Windows live movie maker, and it does what i need it to do.

cheers

[NoBuddy]

Just download DirectX End-User Runtimes. You even need this if you have DirectX10 or 11.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8109

[glenpinn]

Just download DirectX End-User Runtimes. You even need this if you have DirectX10 or 11.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8109

i have windows 8, i thought it already had that DirectX Runtime.

anyway, just output a 720p mp4 slideshow using live movie maker , added a title at the start, a credit to the end, and i can add text to each photo if i need to, so its all good.

[racer-x]

Just out of curiosity as I have never used it, how would you rate the quality of Windows Movie Maker on a scale of 1-10 for your slideshow?

[glenpinn]

Just out of curiosity as I have never used it, how would you rate the quality of Windows Movie Maker on a scale of 1-10 for your slideshow?

hi, well only did one slideshow so far using different quality photos from a few websites showing a Camping beach we are going to in the philippines in april.

the photos varied between 600x400 and 1600x900 roughly, and all varying quality as they were saved from websites.

the only thing to be careful of is if you have photos shot in 3x2 mode (as many cameras now do) or you have cropped your photos at a 3x2 ratio for printing at say 6x4 size, when you output the slideshow to 16x9 widescreen mode, this program will display the photos at their full width (without side bars) and because 3x2 ratio photos are not quite the same ratio as 16x9, it will chop a bit off the top and bottom of your photos to display them at full 16x9 size on the screen.

the other program i was using took my 3x2 ratio photos and made them fit the 16x9 frame, so it output the slideshow with a small black bar either side to fill the 16x9 width.

i rate it 8/10 for features for slideshows
i rate it 10/10 for price
i rate it 8/10 for ease of use

and as i said, quality of the output slideshow will depend entirely on your photo quality and their resolution.

if your photos are above 1600x900 resolution, and they are of decent quality, your slideshow will look amazing in 720p or 1080p mp4.

as far as output formats go, well there are plenty, but mostly aimed at the lower end of the scale.

the one thing that i was surprised to find is that it does not have an output option for 1280x720 mp4 at say 10.0Mbps for video, and this is a very serious omission in my opinion, however it does have an output to "computer" of 854x480 mp4 @ 5.5Mbps (for video) and a full HD 1920x1080 mp4 @ 24.0Mbps (for video)

the Slideshow that i created was saved at 1280x720 for Android, which is in an mp4 container @ 1.8Mbps which is perfectly fine for photos, so thats what i will be using in future, but i would never use it for video, that 1.8Mbps is not good for 720p video.

i might have a play with this program using a 1080/50p avchd file from my camera and see what it is like for editing and adding transitions and titles etc and output that to 1080/50p mp4.

certainly will be interesting, as i am not sure what encoding engine this program uses to convert avchd video (mts) into the mp4 container.

anyway, here is the slideshow that i did already, nothing special, i dont bother with silly transitions (just adds more time to the video) and this one is just for showing members in the TripAdvisor website about this Island Camping Adventure place in The Philippines because not many people know a lot about it or its location.

https://vimeo.com/88034172