4. Slideshows
Most of this book centers on video and all of the wonderful things you can do with it. But your digital lifestyle probably includes a lot of still photos, too (either taken with a digital still camera or your camcorder, or scanned from paper originals).
In addition to providing a venue for your movies, iDVD can build slideshows from your photos, including transitions and audio, which can be played back on DVD players.
Creating a Slideshow
The ingredients for a successful slideshow are photos, photos, and more photos (with perhaps a dash of audio thrown in, which I'll address later in the chapter).
To create a slideshow:
- Click the Add button and choose Add Slideshow, or choose Add Slideshow from the Project menu (or press Command-L). A new empty slideshow appears in the menu (
Figure 4.1
).
Figure 4.1 When you create an empty slideshow, it appears as a new button in the menu.
- Drag two or more pictures from the Media pane or the Finder to the main window (if you drag only one, then the photo is used as the background image). A new slideshow titled "My Slideshow" is created containing those pictures.
- Drag an iPhoto album from the Media pane to the main window (
Figure 4.2
). The slideshow that is created takes the name of the album.
Figure 4.2 Drag an iPhoto album from the Media pane to the menu to create a slideshow containing all of the album's pictures.
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To set the slideshow icon:
- Click a slideshow to select it. A Thumb-nail slider appears. If the Inspector is visible, the slider is located in the Button Info window. (This feature works only in themes where buttons include icons.)
- Drag the Thumbnail slider to choose one of the slideshow's photos (
Figure 4.3
).
Figure 4.3 The Thumbnail slider lets you pick a photo to use as the button's icon.
- Click outside the icon to deselect it and apply the change.
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To delete a slideshow:
- If you want to remove a slideshow, click its button in the main window and press Delete or choose Delete from the Edit menu.
Tips
- iDVD now has the capability to include movies in a slideshow. Simply drag one to the Slideshow Editor (see the next page).
- You can also drag photos or albums directly from the iPhoto application to iDVD's menu to create a new slideshow. That applies to folders containing images in the Finder, too.
- Use the left or right arrow key to view the slideshow icon photos one by one, or if you don't want to drag the slider with the mouse.
- If you want a slideshow to start as soon as you insert a DVD into a player, switch to the Map view and drag your photos to the AutoPlay well (
Figure 4.4
). Double-clicking the well with photos added brings up the AutoPlay Slideshow editor, which features the same options described throughout the rest of this chapter.
Figure 4.4 When you add photos to the AutoPlay well, the slideshow begins when the disc starts playing.
- To ensure that your photos display correctly in iDVD, crop them first in iPhoto. Select the photo and click the Edit button to enter Edit mode, then click the Crop button. Choose 4 x 3 (DVD) from the Constrain pop-up menu (
Figure 4.5
). If your project is widescreen, choose 16 x 9 (HD). Move or resize the selection box so that the image appears as you'd like it to, then click the Apply button. When you bring it into iDVD, it will have the proper size ratio.
Figure 4.5 Crop photos in iPhoto to the 4 x 3 (DVD) constraint before importing them into iDVD.
- An iDVD slideshow displays its photos as static images. If you want to add some movement to them, use the Ken Burns Effect in iMovie or iPhoto and create a movie that contains just the photos you'd use in a slideshow. Then, import that movie file as a regular movie. (It's not actually a slideshow in iDVD's eyes, but you get the same overall effect.)
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Setting Slideshow Options
Now that you've created a slideshow, use the Slideshow editor to change several settings that pertain to how long each photo appears, whether the slideshow repeats, and more.
To enter the Slideshow editor:
- Double-click a slideshow in the menu (or in the Map view) to bring up the Slideshow editor (
Figure 4.6
).
Figure 4.6 The Slideshow editor contains the options you need to control your slideshow.
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To set the slide duration:
- Choose a time from the Slide Duration pop-up menu to specify how long each photo remains onscreen before loading the next one (
Figure 4.7
).
Figure 4.7 The Slide Duration pop-up menu controls how long a photo appears onscreen before advancing.
If you've included background audio in your slideshow (see "Adding Background Audio," later in this chapter), you can also choose Fit To Audio, which divides the total audio playing time by the number of photos to come up with an equal display time for each photo (for example, a slideshow of five photos that contains 60 seconds of audio would display each picture for 12 seconds).
The last option, Manual, requires the viewer to advance the frames using the DVD player's controls. Manual is not available if you add background audio.
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To set the transition style:
- Choose a transition type from the Transition pop-up menu (
Figure 4.8
). As with transitions between menus (see Chapter 1), this setting applies only when you're advancing to the next slide; if you switch to the previous image, no transition occurs.
For transitions that can operate in different directions, such as Cube, click a directional arrow to the right of the pop-up menu.
Figure 4.8 Click the Transition pop-up menu to choose an effect that plays each time the slide advances.
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To edit titles and comments:
- iDVD copies each photo's title and comments from iPhoto. If you plan to make these visible, click the title or comment area below a photo and type your title and comments (
Figure 4.9
).
Figure 4.9 Click to type a title and comment for the slide.
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To apply miscellaneous settings:
- Click the Settings button to display the Settings dialog (
Figure 4.10
).
Figure 4.10 The Settings dialog provides a few miscellaneous options.
- Enable or disable the following options:
- Loop slideshow makes the show repeat once it reaches the last photo. Your viewers will need to return to the menu using their player's controls.
- Display navigation arrows shows a pair of arrows onscreen that indicate more photos are available before and after the current one (
Figure 4.11
).
Figure 4.11 The navigation arrows that appear are strictly visual aids. Clicking them serves only to make your index finger sore.
These arrows are just decoration; they aren't buttons that can be clicked to advance the slideshow.
- Add image files to DVD-ROM includes copies of the image files on the disc so that anyone with a computer can access them (see "Adding DVD-ROM Data" in Chapter 1).
- Show titles and comments displays the photos' text in the Slideshow editor and during the slideshow.
- Duck audio while playing movies reduces the volume of background music. If your slideshow contains a movie file, the last option reduces the volume of background music so it doesn't compete with the audio from the movie.
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To preview the slideshow:
- With the Slideshow editor open, click the Preview button. You can also go back to the menu, preview the project from there, and then click the slideshow's icon, but previewing from within the Slideshow editor is easier.
To remove photos from a slideshow:
- Select one or more photos in the Slideshow editor.
- Press Delete, or choose Delete from the Edit menu.
To exit the Slideshow editor:
- Click the Return button to go back to the menu.
Tips
- You can choose to always include high-resolution slideshow photos on the DVDROM portion of your disc. Open iDVD's preferences, click the Slideshow icon, and enable Always add original slideshow photos to DVD-ROM contents.
- Does a thick black band appear around your photos when you preview the slide-show? iDVD shrinks the images to fit within the TV Safe Area. To turn off this feature (if you're going to view the DVD on a computer, for example), open iDVD's preferences and click the Slideshow icon. Then, disable the option marked Always scale slides to TV Safe Area (
Figure 4.12
).
Figure 4.12 Images are usually scaled to fit within the TV Safe Area, but you can turn off this option. Compare this example with the same slide on the previous page.
- Click the list style buttons at the upper-right corner of the Slideshow editor to switch between viewing just thumbnails of your images and viewing them in a list with filenames and comments displayed (
Figure 4.13
).
Figure 4.13 Photos can be viewed in a list, too.
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Adding Photos
I never seem to hit upon the right combination of photos when I create a slideshow—there's always one (or two, or twenty) more that really must go in. iDVD has a limit of 9,801 photos—but it's hard to really call that a limit.
To add photos to the slideshow:
- Double-click a slideshow to enter the Slideshow editor (if it's not already open).
- Drag one or more image files from the Media pane or the Finder to the Slideshow editor (
Figure 4.14
).
Figure 4.14 Add one or more photos from the Media pane by dragging them to the Slideshow editor.
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To rearrange photos:
- Drag one or more images to a new location within the Slideshow editor. The other images are re-ordered to accommodate the change (
Figure 4.15
).
Figure 4.15 Drag one or more photos to a new location in the Slideshow editor to rearrange them.
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Tips
- Don't drag new photos to the slideshow's icon in the menu—they'll change the icon, but won't be added to the slide-show. (See "Using Motion" in Chapter 2.) Make sure you're adding them to the Slideshow editor.
- Rearranging the order of the photos changes the preview icon for your slide-show in the menu (
Figure 4.16
). For example, if the icon is photo number 2 and you move another picture into the number 2 position in the Slideshow editor, the latter photo appears as the icon when you return to the menu.
Figure 4.16 The slideshow icon is based on the photo positions within the slideshow. If you've chosen the photo in the number 2 position as the icon (left), and then move a different photo to that position, the new photo becomes the icon (right).
- You can add multiple copies of the same photo to a slideshow, in the event that you want an image to repeat later.
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Adding Background Audio
Just as audio can play in the background of a menu, slideshows can include audio, too.
To add background audio:
- Double-click a slideshow to enter the Slideshow editor (if it's not already open).
- Drag one or more audio files, or an iTunes playlist, from the Media pane to the Audio well (
Figure 4.17
). You can also drag audio files from the Finder.
When you add audio to the well, the Slide Duration pop-up menu automatically switches to Fit To Audio, which divides the total audio playing time by the number of photos to come up with an equal display time for each photo.
Figure 4.17 Drag one or more songs from the Media pane to the Audio well to add background audio.
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To set the audio volume:
- Drag the Slideshow volume slider to control how loud or soft your background music plays (
Figure 4.18
).
Figure 4.18 iDVD assumes you want softer music behind your slideshow, and sets the Slideshow volume slider to half the maximum volume.
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To remove background audio:
- In the Slideshow editor, drag the music file out of the Audio well. A gray speaker icon indicates that no audio is set.