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[bjsolem]

I'm looking for a good slideshow app that I could include with any cd's I make of my digital photos.  

I'm thinking of something that is extremely easy to use and could just sit on the disc so I could tell someone to click on it to see the photos if I were to make them a disc.

A thumbnail view and a nice fade transition is all it needs to have as far as features.  It should be able to load from the disc and not need to install on the users' pc.

I use Irfanview and of course there is the XP slideshow builtin, but I'm wondering what others are using that may be a better choice.

Thanks for any suggestions....

[Matt]

There's this program called Media Center that'd work.  I'll try to dig up a link

[bebop]

I've used a program called "My Slideshow" and it works very well, they have a free 30 day trial, it's easy to use...you can have the transitions co-ordinated with the tunes and pics, and can have as many tracks as you want.  I used it to make VCd's to send to  family members.  Another good one is "Power Producer" by Cyberlink... I Hve used this one as well...only drawback is you are limited to the use of a single track unless you edit them together.  Bebop

[bjsolem]

There's this program called Media Center that'd work.  I'll try to dig up a link

I think that I have done a fairly good job of letting it be known on this board how completely sold I am on Media Center.  

I have also done my part to talk it up to as many people as possible.  I'm not sure if I've sold any copies for you though, at least not yet.

I just want to be clear that I am NOT trying to take anything away from MC.  I'm just looking for a little app that I could include on all my photo cd burns so I could fire up a slideshow whenever/wherever I wanted too.

[xen-uno]

Matt must be referring to this...

Media Center

10^-27

[fex]

Try IrfanView. It lets you burn your slideshow on CD and adds the app to view it.

It's easy and free.

http://www.irfanview.com/

[Matt]

I just want to be clear that I am NOT trying to take anything away from MC.

Hehe.  I know that -- you've always been really great around here.

I was just having some fun.

[bjsolem]

Try IrfanView. It lets you burn your slideshow on CD and adds the app to view it.
http://www.irfanview.com/

I didn't know Irfanview could do that.  I'd still rather do all my burning from MC.  

I don't even want to set up a slideshow.  I just want a little app that will show all the pictures in a folder (including subfolders) in a simple slideshow.  

Maybe I'm really looking for something that will auto run a slideshow when inserted in a pc using all the pics on a disc.  Maybe you could just hit esc to get out of it and you could then navigate the disc like normal.

I'm thinking of something Easy Enough For Grandma to Use, that would also leave the files untouched on the disc and available for copying etc.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.  I'm not sure that I've found the answer yet.  It seems to me that I was given a disc that did this a long time ago but I don't know when/where/who etc. anymore......

P.S.  Matt - I knew you were just messing around....

[fex]

Try IrfanView. It lets you burn your slideshow on CD and adds the app to view it.
http://www.irfanview.com/

I don't even want to set up a slideshow.  I just want a little app that will show all the pictures in a folder (including subfolders) in a simple slideshow...

There is a 'cheaper' solution if you use Win XP. Open the CD-R/RW. Copy your images. Click on the left "write files to CD". Win XP will add an app to the CD to show the images as a slideshow. You don't need any additional app for this (including MC...).

[Robert Taylor]

What about something like ProShow Gold - it build VCD and SVCD discs which will play slideshows in your standard domestic DVD player (provided that it support DVD and CD R/RW discs.

It can also create standalone executable slideshows, streaming web shows etc etc.

Can't recall the link right now, try a Google..

[bjsolem]

There is a 'cheaper' solution if you use Win XP. Open the CD-R/RW. Copy your images. Click on the left "write files to CD". Win XP will add an app to the CD to show the images as a slideshow. You don't need any additional app for this (including MC...).

I can definitely handle cheap!  I'll have to take a look at this....
Since the app is already on my drive (??) I should just see if I can find it and add it to my burns as if I was doing it in XP.

I still want to use MC to be able to use the database to determine which pictures to burn in the first place.  Maybe I'll just be able to copy this little app as a last step.......

[DocLotus]

I have used Second Nature Slideshow for over 10 years.

http://www.secondnaturecd.com/2nd/

It is free & very stable.

It has 15 slide effects which can be individually turned on or off.

It is a great screen saver with hot spots for activation.

You can select any image & make it your wallpaper or have the wallpaper change using many methods.

You can add your own text to show up on the top of an image.

Try it, you will like.

[Jaguu]

There are some good programs for that such as
Photo Slide Show Maker
PictureToExe
Digital Photo Slide Show (www.digitalphotoslideshow.com)

The bad thing is that all of these apps cannot make use of MC's tag info. So I asked the question here long time ago: "What can we do with 10'000 images stored in MC?

Certainly, we can print them now, we can run slide shows, we can use them as wallpaper, we can even export them to a web page. But this is not much!

We cannot select image playlists and send them to a wallpaper cycler nor to a screensaver app, nor can we make an exe file to burn on a cd, or create an autorun cd with some fancy slideshow and music background - all nice things you can do with Digital Photo Slide Show.

I proposed those features to Matt and JimH several times, but they seem deaf about that, or just moved my wishes somewhere at the bottom of their priority list.

[JimH]

I proposed those features to Matt and JimH several times, but they seem deaf about that, or just moved my wishes somewhere at the bottom of their priority list.

We just have our own set of priorities.  They may not match yours.

[DocLotus]

Yes;

I recall that when they first added images to MC they said something about making it one of the best image management programs out there but it falls far short of programs such as ACDSee, Thumbs+ & others.

Jack of all types but master of some ?

However, when it comes to music, MC rules

[JimH]

Doc,
Can you be specific about what you think MC lacks?

Jim

[Jaguu]

Doc,
Can you be specific about what you think MC lacks?

Jim

To me, only above mentioned features, so that we can make better use of the time investment we make to tag and organize our images in MC + more options to display image titles.

As I said before, there is no way to make use of the tag infos for images outside of MC.

Otherwise MC  image management meets my needs! And I use it as my primary image management tool!

[DocLotus]

Hi Jim;

Thanks for not taking it the wrong way.  Not trying to be negative or anything, just saying it as I see it.

It's a little hard to state exactly, but ACDSee is just a lot easier to use.

Some of the things I really like about ACDSee are...

* The database building is totally automatic.  The user does not have to import anything, simply put the mouse on the folder & the images are automatically added to the database.

* Adding new images to an existing folder are automatically added to the database with no intervention required by the user.

* Thumbnails can be of any infinite size which is very nice as I can make them fit in exactly the space I allow in the right side of the screen.  Also, the thumbnail border can be of any infinite size.  I also have complete control over what data shows up on the thumbnails such as image size, file size, file name, file date, etc.  I can also control the height to width ratio of thumbnails plus many more things.

* Printing images in ACDSee are wonderful.  The selection of options & print choices are very good.  Besides picking paper size & orientation, the user can choose how to print... Thumbnails, Fit to page, Position on page, Specify size, Number of columns, Number of rows, Add Header, Add footer, Add caption to printed image, and many other choices.  The amazing thing is all this is done with a simple right mouse click then select Print.  All of this is on the older v 5.0.  For 6.0, ACDSee added many more print choices but I do not yet have it.

* Image viewing in ACDsee is much faster then in MC.

* Slideshow is very easy, Ctrl S or right mouse click & select Slideshow.  You can select all images in a folder of only selected ones to appear in the slideshow.

* The number one thing that originally sold me on ACDsee (way back in v 2) was how it interacts with any file manager.  If I am in Explorer, PowerDesk 5, or any image window such as a Windows folder view, I can double click on any image & it will instantly appear full screen.  This is where ACDSee really shines... if I press the Escape key I am taken right back to the file manager, however, if I press the Enter key ACDSee loads with the image so I can edit it. Very slick indeed.

* When you double click on an image ACDSee uses a separate but well integrated image program that allows you to do some amazing things with viewing an image.  It is also lightning fast.

* ACDSee is also one of the only image managers that will directly view some very obscure image formats such as the one used by Second Nature *.SNX images.

* Any editor can be added to the ACDSee Activities menu & the right click menu.  I have added Adobe Photoshop to the right click menu.  This is simply a wonderful thing as Photoshop then appears to be an extension of ACDSee.

* I can scan an image very easily from a TWAIN icon which I added to ACDsee.  Any TWAIN device such as a scanner is automatically added to ACDSee when the scanner is installed.  Again, similar to Photoshop, the scanner appears as an extension of ACDSee & makes ACDSee the heart of all of my image management.

* ACDSee has a lot of image specific plug-ins available, some free & some for sale.  This again makes ACDSee the heart of all of my imagining management.

* ACDSee is the MC of imaging... very powerful with a lot of different looks, different layouts, different front ends.  There are at lease three default looks that can be set; it can be configured as a basic very simple looking layout called Classic (taken from the v 2.1 classic ACDsee).  Even though the look may be simple, all the power is still there as the menus have all the commands present.  There are two other looks each more complex.  You can also customize the look as virtually all items can be selectively turned on or off so everybody can have ACDSee just the way they want it.  I know we had talked about doing something similar to MC a while back & would really love to see that happen in MC 11.

* Batch renaming is very slick & extremely fast & easy; is all done with the right mouse click.

* Similar to MC, ACDSee Options are very powerful except it is all for image management rather then for music.

* ACDSee will also pay music & videos pretty well but there is no way it will ever replace MC as it is above all an image management program.

* I don't see MC & ACDSee as competitors but rather as complementary to each other... MC the music king & ACDSee the image king.

* There are so many neat things about ACDSee that the only true way one can really appreciate the power of the program is to use it over a long time frame.  Every time I think I can't do something in ACDSee I later find it can be very easily done (once I know how).

Well Jim, I hope this helps & I look forward to your thoughts on this subject as image management is as important to me as is music

[bjsolem]

Doc,
Can you be specific about what you think MC lacks?
Jim

To me, only above mentioned features, so that we can make better use of the time investment we make to tag and organize our images in MC + more options to display image titles.

As I said before, there is no way to make use of the tag infos for images outside of MC.

If I can expand on this a little....

I spend a lot of time getting all my pics organized in MC.  It's great to know that I can get to all of them and that I don't have to try and remember what photo album pics are in anymore!!

Burning is, for me, the most important action to take after they are organized.  MC does this superbly.

Printing is neccessary to have, but I don't do it myself.  I copy the pics I want to a memory card and get them printed on photo paper, $.20 each, can't beat it.  The new printing wizard is great as far as I can tell and a welcome addition to MC 10!

I love to be able to create slide shows, but I can only run them from my pc within MC.  Can't use the MC db to put my pics together and then 'burn a slideshow'.  This would be a nice addition to MC.

I have not yet used the FTP process to send pics to a server.  I am working on doing this soon.  I assume they look like JimH's many webpages with pictures of his truck and various other deserted areas in the middle of nowhere.  I like the thumbnail page, the fullsize pics and the titles.   Very nice feature of MC, if I understand it correctly.

MC does a nice job of emailing pics from within the app.  I like being able to adjust the size for each email.  Very nice feature of MC.

So it seems that 'Exporting Slideshows' is a key missing photo feature of MC.  Maybe others have more that they would like to be able to 'DO' with their pics from within MC.  I thought that I would have additonal suggestions, but I can't come up with any right now.....

[JimH]

Doc,
Thanks for the list.  We'll take a closer look at this, but a couple of comments:

* The database building is totally automatic.  The user does not have to import anything, simply put the mouse on the folder & the images are automatically added to the database.

In Explorer, you can right click on a directory and do MC/ Import.

* Slideshow is very easy, Ctrl S or right mouse click & select Slideshow.  You can select all images in a folder of only selected ones to appear in the slideshow.

Same in MC, except you press the Play button or hit Enter or double click.

* I can scan an image very easily from a TWAIN icon which I added to ACDsee.  Any TWAIN device such as a scanner is automatically added to ACDSee when the scanner is installed.  Again, similar to Photoshop, the scanner appears as an extension of ACDSee & makes ACDSee the heart of all of my image management.

This is under Acquire Images in MC.

[DocLotus]

Hi Jim;

"In Explorer, you can right click on a directory and do MC/ Import."

Don't even have to do that in ACDsee... just point the mouse to it. The database makes itself... very slick indeed. Is always up to date, no importing needed.


"This is under Acquire Images in MC."

Can we have an icon for this ?  Did not see one.

[JimH]

"This is under Acquire Images in MC."  Can we have an icon for this ?  Did not see one.

Click on the Camera icon in the Action Window.  Then select the scanner.

[kwake]

Hi,

I use PhotoJam by Shockwave. It allows you to chain mp3s, add word bubbles and clip art non-destructively to pics, and has some cool transition effects.

You can publish to VCD, standalone EXE or HTML with a few clicks of the mouse.

Extremely easy to use, and fun.

Regards,
Kwake

[DocLotus]

Jim;

I started another thread...

Some Thoughts on MC as an Imaging Manager

Hope you don't mind

[shAf]

Doc,
Can you be specific about what you think MC lacks?

I don't know about MC10, but I couldn't find where I could designate with MC9.1 a specific monitor for the playback ... as if, the primary monitor would provide my thumbs display and GUI, but wanting to send the SS, and normalize image size, to my TV.

I chose instead to install my Thumbs+ license on my HTPC, and use it for managing my camera images.

cheerios  

[JimH]

I couldn't find where I could designate with MC9.1 a specific monitor for the playback ... as if, the primary monitor would provide my thumbs display and GUI, but wanting to send the SS, and normalize image size, to my TV.

That can be done with 10.0.  Try searching for Jaguu's posts.

[Jaguu]

As far as I remember it was already possible with MC9.1, but it is a little complicated to handle, but it worked. You would have to define different zones and have separate on displays for each zone. You need a graphic card supporting twin mode.

Also, if you have a graphic card supporting twin mode, you can do what you want.

There is a past post of mine that describes in detail how to set it up.