If you have a Mac, iPhoto makes slideshows quickly and easily. I helped cover a charity golf tournament this weekend, and the person coordinating things was able to dump hundreds of photos onto a laptop, quickly review and select the photos to be used (maybe 50 pictures), and have a slideshow playing by the time the final group was finishing the course -- all told probably less than 20 minutes.
One very nice feature is the inclusion of an option for the "Ken Burns Effect" (yes, they asked permission first) of panning and zooming stills to add emphasis and a dynamic element, though I didn't see if you can control it or if it's randomly applied ...
IrfanView (a great free viewer/editor) can make slideshows, though I've never tried it out myself.
Looks like Proshow Producer as they are doing lots of layers and keyframes.
@-> John: Upgrade to Proshow Producer. Yup it's quite a few bucks, but will take you from the little league of slideshow software to the bigs. Layers and Keyframe editing is a world of difference. Transitions (area between slides...sweeps, fades, curtains) is a thing of the past.
Understand that I know very little about slideshows... but here is an experiment I did a day ago with PS Producer. //pollarddigital.smugmug.com/gallery/7465911_3YEha#565433395_AXhP8 a little rough in a couple places but I was just testing some of the new effects from the style pack.
ED: Oh, this was sized for my Zune, the 720p version is 548M.
Please try new version 7.0 of PicturesToExe Deluxe. Now it's possible to add video clips into slideshow and mix photos and video together. You can apply Pan/Zoom effects, 3D transformations to video clips. Instant preview of slideshow (even with video clips).
New version also includes unsharp mask (for sharpness) in real time (first slideshow software which has this feature).
Beta version 7.0 (with these new features) available here:
picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?/topic/13029-picturestoexe-deluxe-70-beta/
Previous version 6.5:
wnsoft.com/picturestoexe/#view
Wondershare Slideshow Builder Deluxe is the suitable photo slideshow maker you can rely on if you’re looking to make simple, good-looking picture slideshow. With additional features, quick and useful help support and results that are more professional and more ways to share its photo slideshow, Wondershare DVD Slideshow Builder Deluxe would be a nice choice to reckon with.
I\'ve used Wondershare and Smartshow to create mine. I would advise Smartshow to those who are looking for 3D effects, such as image animations and transitions, and good speed.
See the samples here:
smartshow-software.com/slideshows.php
