It is only a matter of time before Austin, Texas-based Photodex Corp.’s new ProShow Producer software gains richly deserved acclaim as the best digital photo slide-show maker on the planet.
More people are creating such shows using modules built in to multipurpose software like Microsoft Corp.’s PowerPoint, Adobe Systems Inc.’s Acrobat and moviemaking packages from Sonic Systems Inc., Ulead Systems Inc., Magix AG, Nero Inc., New Tech InfoSystems Inc. and others.
By contrast to software that includes slidemaking along with other features, Photodex has a laser focus on just making video slide shows.
The result is a tool that outdoes a horde of far bigger competitors.
The idea is to take a stack of still images and turn them into the equivalent of a PBS documentary. It’s called the Ken Burns effect and describes the moviemaker’s signature use of special camera setups called animation stands to zoom in and out, pan, fade, dissolve, rotate and explode still shots to make action movies out of boring stills.
Beyond animating a stack of images, an animation stand producer adds voice-over narration and theme music along with text overlays to supply title and credits as well as to supplement the storytelling inside the show.
Far more than mere photography is involved as an auteur employs special effects to change colors of images, tweak brightness and contrast and fade one scene into another.
Photodex offers three different programs to put these powers in the hands of newcomers and professionals.
The basic stuff is in a $29.95 package called ProShow. A lot more gets added in the $69.95 ProShow Gold and now a $399 version called ProShow Producer has arrived. (For Windows only, Photodex.com.) Producer is geared toward pros but the stiff tariff can be worth it for those of us who spent thousands of dollars on ink and chemical photo gear back when we couldn’t afford it.
The excitement starts with a basic interface that separates Photodex software from other players. The program is built around a system that opens each slide in a separate workbox that displays the image on one side and then a series of tools alongside to handle such details as cropping, panning, tweaking and titling.
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The collection of images for a show are stored in a simulated image tray in the upper left of the screen, and shows are put together by dragging individual shots onto a timeline running across the bottom of the display, using thumbnails of each picture.
When an image is selected in the timeline it appears in a display area in the upper right quadrant of the screen, thereby letting the creator watch changes made in real time.
In addition to image editing, there are tools for creating a soundtrack and for captions, titles and other text.
As one moves up the three programs, more powers are added to the basic interface. By the time one reaches the pricey Producer, the toolbox is a force to reckon with. All three versions can be downloaded for a limited trial period.
The entry-level offering, plain ProShow, seems rudimentary when compared with its mates, yet it still outdoes much of the competition. In fact, if one cares to invest the effort, it is possible to achieve much of what the higher-cost software does just using ProShow.
For example, by making numerous copies of a single slide and then making gradual changes in each copy, it is possible to create all of the motion and much of the pizazz of the costlier versions.
But ProShow Gold, the next version, adds tools that automate many of the steps taken one by one in the basic version. Of particular interest in the Gold version is automated zoom-in and zoom-out that makes it possible to quickly produce animated renditions of the show.
Once one’s appetite is whetted by ProShow Gold, serious desire sets in for an upgrade to Producer because it adds powers and tools that one didn’t even know were available.
For example, the Producer version adds a system of overlays that lets an author create stunning animations by creating smaller animations that gradually come to life atop the main screen.
Each overlay has a setting for opacity, starting with invisible and gradually becoming darker and more defined. Opacity can be used to make stuff appear and disappear on the main screen over whatever slide is showing.
The result is all kinds of magic like picture-in-picture, text effects like sweeping clocks and turning calendars, as well as little shows that play out at the bottom of the screen like house ads on Fox TV.
You need to know about Photodex if you’ve got a digital camera. You need to know about it as well if you just think you may get a digital camera.
One doesn’t even need to be a photographer to get bitten by the ProShow bug. With ProShow you can tear a bunch of pictures out of magazines or Web sites and work visual magic that is downright addicting.
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Binary beat readers can participate in the column at chicagotribune.com/askjim, or e-mail [email protected]. Snail-mail him in Room 400, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611.