OT: DVD Authoring for slide show

[Roger Mills]

We've just been to Australia, where we took hundreds of digital photos.

SWMBO wants them putting on a DVD, to provide slide shows viewable on a TV. Because there are a lot of them, they need sub-dividing into categories, with some sort of menu to select the category to be viewed.

I'm not quite sure how to achieve this, and would appreciate some advice. I've looked at Windows DVD Maker which enables you to create a DVD with a mixture of video clips and slide show - but as far as I can see, you can only have *one* slide show per DVD, and I need to have several!

Can anyone suggest any (preferably free!) authoring software which would enable me to achieve the desired result? I'm running W7 Professional, BTW.

TIA.

[Toby]

Some DVD players will play jpg files directly, and also show the folder structure on the disk, so you may be able to just divide them amongst folders and burn them to a DVD as normal data.

[Dave Liquorice]

Check out Windows Movie Maker, I used this to create a "slide show" of still images of my late father to play at the pub after his funeral. Had a sound track, captions, and transitions between each slide (slow mix only). Saved as a "movie" rather than a "slide show" then I think Movie Maker called DVD Maker to actually author and burn the DVD.

[Roger Mills]

Thanks. I've already tried that, and can't make it work very well with my (fairly cheap!) Toshiba DVD player. Pictures are very slow to load, and although all the folders show up, it can only find pictures in the first 3 or 4 of them for some unknown reason.

[Owain]

Perhaps

[HappyHunter]

've used the above software in the past. If I remember correctly, you end up being able to pick the category from the main DVD menu. You can download a free trial. Haven't used it recently mind you.

Cheers

[Gary]

've used the above software in the past. If I remember correctly, you end up being able to pick the category from the main DVD menu. You can download a free trial. Haven't used it recently mind you.

Cheers Ulead is good and you can get a free 30 day trial with full functionality

[stuart noble]

This might be useful

much like hard work for me though

[Andy Burns]

Got be be something better than a 2003 recommendation that has caveats, how about

[stuart noble]

>>> Too much like hard work for me though

Yep, that looks much better.

[Lobster]

Having been down this road myself can I suggest an alternative strategy? Get yourself a media player instead... it's one of these gadgets you don't know you need until you've tried one (like an SDS drill!?).

I have a Western Digital Live Player

, which lets me view *any* audiovisual material stored on my PC elsewhere in the house. The PC hard disk contains every digital photo I've ever taken; includes all my e-music (for transferring to iPod etc), together with video material (eg internet downloads). Providing the PC is switched on (which it is, until bedtime) I can access all and any of this material at will, without even shifting butt from sofa.

PC needs no server software running; you can easily compile bespoke slideshows as you want to; it plays music through the surround-sound system; happily streams missing episodes of 'Dexter' downloaded by bittorrent. Mine is hooked up to a wired ethernet port near the TV but it does have wifi too (don't know how effective that would be for video). Also has a USB port to hook up a pen-drive or portable HD unit if preferred.

There are lots of these gizmos available, for more and less money, but I can't fault mine really.

Just a thought...! David

[stuart noble]

Yeah, I've got the WD mini player. Brilliant little gadget.

Oh no! I was happy when the wife got killed off. Now we just need his sister and those two fat Cubans to get whacked. I really lost interest after series 2.

[Lobster]

I think the etiquette is to shout out "SPOILER ALERT" before dropping something like that! No harm done here though as I've now seen the whole of that series - thanks WD - but not a word about the next one please...!

David

[dxmm]

When what wife got killed off??? Where are the Spoiler Warnings???

UUUGH!!!!!

Daniel