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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 ).
    dvd_04_01_add_slideshow1.jpg

    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.
    dvd_04_02_add_slideshow.jpg

    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.

To set the slideshow icon:

  1. 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.)
  2. Drag the Thumbnail slider to choose one of the slideshow's photos ( Figure 4.3 ).
    dvd_04_03_slideshow_slider.jpg

    Figure 4.3 The Thumbnail slider lets you pick a photo to use as the button's icon.

  3. Click outside the icon to deselect it and apply the change.

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.

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 ).
    dvd_04_06_sldeshw_editr.jpg

    Figure 4.6 The Slideshow editor contains the options you need to control your slideshow.

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 ).
    dvd_04_07_slide_duration.jpg

    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.

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.
    dvd_04_08_transition_style.jpg

    Figure 4.8 Click the Transition pop-up menu to choose an effect that plays each time the slide advances.

    For transitions that can operate in different directions, such as Cube, click a directional arrow to the right of the pop-up menu.

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 ).
    dvd_04_09_title_comments.jpg

    Figure 4.9 Click to type a title and comment for the slide.

To apply miscellaneous settings:

  1. Click the Settings button to display the Settings dialog ( Figure 4.10 ).
    dvd_04_10_slideshow_setings.jpg

    Figure 4.10 The Settings dialog provides a few miscellaneous options.

  2. 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 ).
      dvd_04_11_direction_arrows.jpg

      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.

To preview the slideshow:

  1. 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:

  1. Select one or more photos in the Slideshow editor.
  2. Press Delete, or choose Delete from the Edit menu.

To exit the Slideshow editor:

  1. Click the Return button to go back to the menu.

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:

  1. Double-click a slideshow to enter the Slideshow editor (if it's not already open).
  2. Drag one or more image files from the Media pane or the Finder to the Slideshow editor ( Figure 4.14 ).
    dvd_04_14_add_mre_photo.jpg

    Figure 4.14 Add one or more photos from the Media pane by dragging them to the Slideshow editor.

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 ).
    dvd_04_15_rearnge_phto.jpg

    Figure 4.15 Drag one or more photos to a new location in the Slideshow editor to rearrange them.

Adding Background Audio

Just as audio can play in the background of a menu, slideshows can include audio, too.

To add background audio:

  1. Double-click a slideshow to enter the Slideshow editor (if it's not already open).
  2. 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.
    dvd_04_18_add_audio.jpg

    Figure 4.17 Drag one or more songs from the Media pane to the Audio well to add background audio.

    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.

To set the audio volume:

  • Drag the Slideshow volume slider to control how loud or soft your background music plays ( Figure 4.18 ).
    dvd_04_19_audio_volume.jpg

    Figure 4.18 iDVD assumes you want softer music behind your slideshow, and sets the Slideshow volume slider to half the maximum volume.

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.

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