Which iApp, iMovie or iDVD?

oldcodger73 · November 5, 2004 1:58PM

Back in the dim recesses of the last century I did sound slide shows using a 4-track reel-to-reel tape recorder, a 4-in 2-out mixer and a Wollensak sound/slide sync cassette recorder. This setup allowed me to do a narration, seamlessly fade in/fade out alternating tracks of music, and precisely control how long each slide was on the screen.

I?m the process of digitizing some of my nearly 40-year collection of slides. Presently I have two set scanned, one consisting of 31 slides the other 131, and would like to convert them into slide shows.

I would like the finished project to be a DVD that can be shared with family on their home DVD player/TV. It would have a menu to choose which of the two slide shows to view. I would like to use various pieces of music in each show and the transition from one piece to the next should be seamless. And I would like the ability when making the show to vary how long each slide will be on the screen. There won?t be any narration.

So, back to the title of this post: Which iApp should I use, iMovie or iDVD? I haven?t used either before. I have a Dual G5, iApps 4 and also Toast.

Thanks for reading this through and thanks in advance for any suggestions.

tchwojko · November 5, 2004 2:03PM

You'll end up using both.

First you use iMovie to make the slide show. You can adjust how many frames each slide takes, add the music, and set chapter markers (if it makes sense to do that).

Then you use iDVD to set up the DVD menu. You can also store all the scanned photos as a separate entity, if there is enough space left over, so your family & friends can get them into iPhoto, and play with them there too.

If you have other slide shows you want to make, you can put them there as well.

mslifkin · November 5, 2004 3:03PM

I went to the Digital Life Expo in New York in September, and David Pogue was there. I remember he was talking about using iMovie to create slide shows, and how iMovie doesn't do real well with still images. There were two work-arounds, but I don't remember exactly what they were. I know that you can create slide shows directly in iDVD, and you can have multiple slide shows, each with its own button on the DVD Menu. The only issue with iDVD is that there can't be any more than 99 slides in any one show. But that sounds pretty much like what you're looking for. Make sure that you crop your images to a 4 x 3 aspect ratio, otherwise some heads might get cut off! Horizontal images work much better than vertical ones, as they tend to fill the screen. Vertical images will have black bars on the sides; not the end of the world, just something to be aware of. If you want to pick up David's book "iMovie 4 & iDVD: The Missing Manual" (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books)

I'm sure it will explain everything you need to know. I've got several of his books, and they've been a tremendous resource.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Marc

oldcodger73 · November 7, 2004 1:23PM

Thanks for all the suggestions. It's definitely going to be iMovie then. I'll get start next week after I get back from vacation. I'll probably be back with questions from time to time.

ipodandimac · November 7, 2004 2:10PM

Quote:

Originally posted by OldCodger73

Thanks for all the suggestions. It's definitely going to be iMovie then. I'll get start next week after I get back from vacation. I'll probably be back with questions from time to time.

what scanner are you using for your slides? my parents asked me just today what they should get for scanning old slides.

oldcodger73 · November 8, 2004 2:05PM

<<what scanner are you using for your slides?>>

A Nikon CoolScan V. I've really been impressed by the quality of the scans.

neutrino23 · November 8, 2004 11:50PM

There is an issue with using still images in iMovie. For some reason the images will appear pixelated, as if they had been changed to a low resolution.

We had a problem with this. When using the Ken Burns effect things look great while the view is panning then when the view stops the image resolution suddenly drops.

The only work around that I have heard of is to always use the Ken Burns effect. Set it to zoom the smallest amount possible. No zoom will be visible but you will keep a high resolution picture.

Another way to do this, which I haven't tried, is to use GraphicConverter. First convert the the image to the correct DV resolution, I think it is 640x 480. Then duplicate the slide a number of times. Now convert it to a movie. GraphicConverter can do all that. Now import the movie into iMovie. Even if the clip is fairly short you should be able to stretch out the time for that clip quite a lot. Also, you could duplicate it if needed.

This is probably easier than it sounds. Most of this can be automated in GC so it will go quickly once you work it out.

This is discussed from time to time at the iMovie support forum.

iMovie is probably the way you want to go. iDVD can make a slide show but it doesn't give you controls for individual slides like iMovie does.

your_ad_here · November 10, 2004 8:36PM

Felt it best to ask this in an already started thread...

I have a query about imovie 4 which i need help with urgently! I downloaded a couple of movie trailers off of itunes using quicktime pro to use for advertisement for my school's movie theatre. i wanted to stitch the trailers together in imovie, with intertwined info jpgs. However, although widescreen when downloaded, the aspect ratio does not transfer over to imovie, instead stretching it to fit the imovie 'screen'. does anyone know if it's possible to keep the movie in it's original aspect?

Thanks!!

ipodandimac · November 10, 2004 9:37PM

Quote:

Originally posted by your_ad_here

Felt it best to ask this in an already started thread...

I have a query about imovie 4 which i need help with urgently! I downloaded a couple of movie trailers off of itunes using quicktime pro to use for advertisement for my school's movie theatre. i wanted to stitch the trailers together in imovie, with intertwined info jpgs. However, although widescreen when downloaded, the aspect ratio does not transfer over to imovie, instead stretching it to fit the imovie 'screen'. does anyone know if it's possible to keep the movie in it's original aspect?

Thanks!!

not with imovie. use final cut or after effects to fake the widesceen.

your_ad_here · November 10, 2004 11:19PM

wow that sucks. so imovie doesn't do widescreen at all? is there no way to make it widscreen before dumping it in imovie? (i.e. 'adding' the black bars?).

ipodandimac · November 10, 2004 11:26PM

Quote:

Originally posted by your_ad_here

wow that sucks. so imovie doesn't do widescreen at all? is there no way to make it widscreen before dumping it in imovie? (i.e. 'adding' the black bars?).

ya, with after effects or final cut express/pro like i said before. imovie is designed for typical consumers that wanna capture their home movies and piece together decent movies, so 16:9 isnt exactly a top priority for the app. also, final cut express is pretty cheap, so its made for above average consumers that want a little more functionality and capabilities for video editing.

neutrino23 · November 11, 2004 11:31AM

If I understand this correctly, you have QT movies that are widescreen but when you edit them in iMovie they stretch vertically to become standard size video.

The easiest would be to step up to FCE. The alternative, if the clips are not to long, would be as follows.

In QT export the movie as a series of still images.

In GraphicConverter add black (or other color) bars above and below each image thereby changing it to standard aspect ratio. Then change it back to QT.

I've never done this exact step, but I'm pretty sure you could do this with the Convert and Modify command using the Bring to Size function. This would operate on all the images in the folder.

Which iApp, iMovie or iDVD?

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