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General discussion

Poll: Do you make slideshows on DVDs for friends and family?

Aug 26, 2011 9:58AM PDT

Do you make slideshows on DVDs for friends and family?

-- Yes. (What software do you use?)
-- Occasionally. (What software do you use?)
-- No. (Why not?)
-- I would, but I don't know how.

Discussion is locked

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Sometimes
Aug 26, 2011 11:42AM PDT

I do sometimes - I used to use Apple's iDVD, it was the easiest and most fun to use - but I can't find it on my new Lion Mac, so I've been using Windows DVD Maker lately, it works really well.

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No, I Don't Make Slideshows on DVDs
Aug 26, 2011 12:28PM PDT

I don't make them b/c I'm not interested in doing so & no one I know has asked me to. Regards, Dave

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Slideshow DVD software
Aug 26, 2011 12:52PM PDT

Roxio was easy to use, especially converting older wmv slide shows into DVD compatible shows with menus. For quick slide shows use smilebox and save to my hard drive then burn a DVD.

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slideshows on dvd
Aug 26, 2011 3:59PM PDT

I use irfanview in combination with nero and I use the right dvd. It always works perfectly.

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I Use a Mac with Apple's Built-in I-DVD Software
Aug 26, 2011 8:41PM PDT

Have the same problem with some family members' old (ancient) DVD players not able to play my DVD "movies".

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Do I make slideshows ??
Aug 26, 2011 10:38PM PDT

I make them all the time. I use Windows Movie Maker and they work great complete with background music. This weeks question refers to using Nero Burnexpress and some folks have problems. Why pay for software that is available free from Microsoft....

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DVD Slideshows
Aug 26, 2011 11:45PM PDT
I use Proshow Producer by Photodex to create slideshows, Imageburn (?) to burn DVDs and Lightscribe to label DVDs. No problems after 5 years and many DVD slideshows that are sent to family and friends.
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slideshows.
Aug 27, 2011 12:43AM PDT

Nope. Never have. No need to.

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Yes
Aug 27, 2011 1:27AM PDT

I have done several but more and more they are shared on-line.
I start from Photoshop Elements (where my photos and videos are) and end up using Nero to make the DVD.
--Larry

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Picture DVD's
Aug 27, 2011 1:47AM PDT

I use Proshow Gold. Very good software and excellent US based support. Call their 800 number and a US citizen answers the phone and knows just what stupid mistake you made. I usually burn two different DVD's after each vacation, two or three times a year. Program has lots of great features, well worth the money.

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No. No friends, no useful family.
Aug 27, 2011 9:01PM PDT

Having no friends, I can't make slideshows for them. The only family I know who has a computer isn't bright enough to run a slideshow DVD.
I would have done them for the parents (mine and my lovely wife's) but they aren't alive any more. It would have been a very nice thing to do for them, but there's little point now. Memorabelia for the kiddies isn't going to work, either, for similar reasons.
I suppose I could do it just for me, or for the wife, but we have access to all our images anyway, so there's no point in wasting the time, effort and CDs.
Besides, when I was first teaching myself how to do things like this - and backups to CDs and other stuff - the discs were quite unreliable and coasters were common. Maybe it was the software, maybe both. I just got bored with moving recording media.
Anyway, I'm convinced the era of silvery discs is over. Like floppies, they are going to hang around for a few years, but the period of innovation is gone. There won't be any terabyte discs. There won't even be 100 GB discs. It is not just that Hollywood and the music industry legal support won't allow them, or will make using them and even buying them as difficult as possible, it is that we're up against the limitation of physics. SSD's can use single protein molecules to store data, CDs rely on light. We might eventually use UV lasers, but not very high frequency ones. They take more power, and erode materials more rapidly, as well as posing a danger to the users. Using low frequency, soft UV limits the rate of data transfer and the amount of little dots the laser can read and write.
Throw in the constant harping from the buggy-whip manufacturers , the film and music industry, and innovation on silver discs isn't going to be a priority.
Blu-ray was obsolete before the first disc was ever made.
My local storage is up to a dozen terabytes. At 50 GB per disc, that's a couple of hundred discs for a full backup. If nothing goes wrong. More if there are coasters. I can't see me sitting still long enough to bother with that sort of waste. Not when I can just buy more hard drives for a couple of quid and leave the backing up to the machine will I go to work. BD's are *useless* for backups. They are as obsolete as floppies.
Now, if only we could get a truly fast, permanent, reliable and capacious SSD.
Data crystals, anyone?
h Happy

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You Really Need A Course on DVD Burning !!
Aug 28, 2011 3:48PM PDT

DVD is not for everybody except "specialists" who are familar with DVDs through friends who show them the hows... For anyone who buy a DVD software and try to start out on his own, chances are that he will get frustrated with the software and the crummy jargon filled menus intimidates so easily! Sure it starts out looking so simple until you click a few more and you will find yourselves in cyberquicksand! So many DVDs wasted useless becuase you chose everyting wrong at the menus.. No wonder they are selling DVD blanks at a dime each...

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Look at those Jumbo DVD packages???
Aug 28, 2011 3:51PM PDT

Look at them... 200 DVDs for only $20 or something .. The reason is that most will discard most of them becaue the software doesnt always work ...

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DVDs are easily infected with viruses or malwares!!
Aug 28, 2011 3:54PM PDT

Here is the reasoning... DVDs are very slow to read and write which makes it slow for your anti virus to scan to make sure it is safe to use... Chances are that your antivirus software skip scanning because it is tying up its abilites to keep your computer scanned for health. Hard drives read and write 100 times or more faster than DVDs... so hard drives are easier to scan for viruses and malwares than DVDs.. I dont touch DVDs they are filthy1!

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maker slideshows on DVDs - Photo DVD Maker
Sep 6, 2011 1:10PM PDT
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Windows Movie Maker and Nero7 ultra
Sep 7, 2011 3:17AM PDT

When someone in my family goes on a trip they go crazy on the picture taking.
I am the chosen one who gets to touch the pictures up, put together a slideshow and then make 10 or so copies of the DVD for the group.
Windows Movie Maker works great for making the slide show because you have a big choice of transitions, effects, titles, add music and set the duration between pictures.
Once I get the 1st DVD burned, I use Nero7 to make the other copies.
I am sure there are other ways to do it, but this works the best for me,