Slideshow critique

[Skyman]

I just uploaded this to our video sharing site. let me know what you think!

[ravencrew]

Those pictures were amazing! I really like the waterfall pan at the begining. You might want to try and use a little less pan and zoom, I got dizzy on some of them. Crossfading would have ben great too. Other than that I think it was an excellent video. I really liked the music!:thumbsup:

Chris

[Skyman]

Thanks I also added the water sound effects into the music. I don't know why I didn't think to use a cross zoom transition, probably a hangup from uni days where they drilled into us transitions are to cover mistakes but upon reflection it could have worked here. Interestingly enough my boss didn't like this version, he ended up using a version that had completely static images with no transitions. It is ok but doesn't have anywhere near the impact that this one does.... oh well the boss is always right.

[Oblivion]

I do professional slideshows and have a few tips if you're interested. For starters, much of the music doesn't really fit the pictures. If you really wanted to use this song, I would either skip the first part and start it once the music really picks up or cut the pictures to the music (this takes a bit of work, but it looks infinitely better). Every beat (or two or three, depending on the song) (ON the beat) you would cut from one picture to another (with or without a transition). Generally for nature pictures I would use smoother music, but this could work if the pictures were cut to it. Here's some good slideshow music at a public domain site if you're interested: http://freeplaymusic.com/search/keyword_search.php I especially like the beginning of this song http://freeplaymusic.com/search/keyword_search.php. The site is www.freeplaymusic.com. The first song is Acoustic_and_piano, and the second song is Rainy_day_way.

Now, when editing slideshows, you don't need a whole lot of picture movement. Just enough that you can tell that the picture is moving. I usually alternate between slightly zoomed in and moving out, to slightly zoomed out and moving in. Also, I'm not sure what program you're using (it might not be possible with your program), but when you have a picture transition, try to have the picture movement in sync with the transition. Much of the time in this slideshow it's like: 1. you have a transition 2. we see the pictures sitting there, then 3. the picture starts moving. You want it all to be happening at once so it feels more immersive. The picture should be moving as it transitions into view.

If you ever find yourself wanting to use really up-beat driving music, you should definitely cut it to the beat (with or without transitions), and when the music is driving you can/should have more movement as well.

Also, if you want it to look professional just use cross-fades, and if you feel the need for a perticular transition more dramatic (or if you're using a dramatic song) you can use dip-to-black. Just about anything else looks like you threw it together using Windows Movie Maker (I'm assuming you didn't, lol).

I hope this is helpful
-Oblivion