Tips & Tricks Needed for Christmas Project

Post your tips & tricks here for creating slide shows with ProShow Producer. This could include suggestions for style and content in addition to working with the software itself
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Tips & Tricks Needed for Christmas Project

Postby Donna77642 » Thu Oct 07, 2010 4:43 pm

Okay, it appears this is a good source for genius brain cells...and that is definitely what I need. I would admit now that I am a newbie, but, I am certain that will be obvious in a matter of seconds. I have ProShow Producer 4.5, PaintShop ProX2, and Windows 7 (32bit). I bought Producer to learn to do many type projects, but, first and foremost, I want to make a slideshow for the Christmas eve bash we throw at our home each year. Because there will be no drinking, the project needs to look pretty good (lol, perhaps I SHOULD serve alcohol, right?).

I want to display the slideshow on our big screen TV; specifically, I would like Christmas scenes (you know, those cottage snow scene types that are so popular because they are so lovely), but I like to dress them up by adding animated Christmas accents to them.... Christmas lights on the trees by the house, candles in the windows, lights on the window shutters, snowmen waving in the yard, lights, lights, everywhere! etc. In order for it to work, the added animations have to be placed in precise points to look real (and good). I used to do this with Powerpoints, and it was awesome, but now I want to do something similar with Producer and using my TV as opposed to my laptop. Can someone PLEASE point me in the right direction to even know if what I am wanting to do is even possible with Producer; and, if so, where do I begin?

I would look for tutorials for help, but I am not even sure what type of tutorial I should even look for because I don't know what I will be using to try to create this project. I am hoping that, after seeing so many unbelieveable demos I have seen on the magic Producer can perform, that this project will be do-able. Not knowing what I needed to buy, I also bought the Style Packs 1-3. I really hope that my granny brain can handle this because it would add so much ambiance to our annual party. I don't mind hard work, but I do recognize that some projects may be over this old granny's head....hopefully not. Can anyone provide tips or tricks for me? Please? I would be forever grateful!

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Re: Tips & Tricks Needed for Christmas Project

Postby cherub » Thu Oct 07, 2010 6:10 pm

Hi Donna, and welcome to the forum and to Producer !

I know exactly what you mean when you say "I used to do this in Powerpoint". I used to do the same kind of things in Powerpoint too. :D
How did you create lights and animated things in Powerpoint? were you using animated gif files and placing them on your slide?
You can do the same in Producer, because Producer supports animated gif files. But, you must understand that the resolution is important, and if your files are too small, you won't be able to use them on a large screen.

You can also purchase some festive video backgrounds, and place your pictures on top of them. It will enrich your show quite a lot.

And, in addition, Photodex is not the only provider of styles. Several of us here also have styles for sale, with very nice graphics. You can look in the section "ProShow Marketplace" in this forum, and you will see our ads.
viewforum.php?f=7
I have several Christmas/Winter styles/templates that may interest you. :D
http://seemonasblog.blogspot.com/2009/1 ... plate.html
and
http://seemonasblog.blogspot.com/2010/1 ... vol-2.html

Good Luck ! :D
Last edited by cherub on Mon Nov 01, 2010 11:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Tips & Tricks Needed for Christmas Project

Postby im42n8 » Thu Oct 07, 2010 6:24 pm

Good luck. If you're new to Producer you've a lot to learn quickly. I'd forget about getting too fancy this year. Concentrate on a nice show. There are things you can get from Digital Juice http://digitaljuice.com) which can help you. Check out their editor toolkits. Choice Backgrounds (http://choicebackgroundsserver.com/) might have something and you can check out the stuff at the Frame Locker (http://theframelocker.com). They'll all have some sort of seasonal stuff appropriate for the Holiday Season.

Check out the 3rd party vendors (visit the Proshow Market on this forum) for styles that could enhance the presentation of your images.

Then, start practicing. If you haven't learned keyframing you'll need to learn that . . . it's a must. Masks will also help to an extent but probably not at this point... hard to say. They're pertnear a requirement for some of the stuff you're wanting to do. Depending on what you know now and what you can pickup in the meantime, you could do some pretty impressive stuff by the time you need it. Modifiers help but you really should have a good understanding of the program before you go about using them for flashing lites (you'll probably want the video stuff from DJ to do that).

Go to my site and check out the masking tutorials (there's some basic stuff and more advanced stuff that can help you learn . . . but it won't be overnight). If you're used to masking, then you will pick it up for ProShow quickly (white conceals, black reveals is the concept they use. Also, an alpha mask makes any color mask act as if it's a white grayscale mask...basically).

Check out some keyframing stuff from Rick Kligman. Jennifer at Choice Backgrounds has some tutorials. Photodex has some as well (some created by Jennifer for them).

Go to the Members Created files and download the Forum book created by a number of us members. While it was developed for v3.2 of ProShow, it still has quite a bit of applicability to today's version.

When you do your show, make sure you don't try to use every transition and/or style you bought. That's sure to overload the viewer. Also, you should note that many of those styles from Photodex are generally NOT oriented to home-style presentations (IMHO) . . . more for marketing (read that as more Wow! than utility). So, you may have to play with them a bit to make sure that the image isn't lost in the effect (often they don't give enough time to the display of the image). That doesn't mean people don't use them there, it's just that it is very easy to use them in a way that's not going to help the audience enjoy the image (but they will see the effect).

Careful planning of what you're trying to do means using a few transitions effectively and judicious use of effects (either style or transition). Too much of a good thing is the same as too little, effectively. If you're going to rely on special effects, people will be wondering what the next effect is going to be vs paying attention to your images (unless that is what you intend). The attention span of people tends to wander after about 10min or so unless you reset their visual experience. But resetting that visual aspect too many times will cause confusion and/or fatigue if you overuse the effects.

If it's all about effects tho, anything is game. There's a lot you can do. If you have done the same in Powerpoint, then you're a step ahead of many people and it's just a matter of figuring out how to do it in PSP. Pretty much everything you did in PP you should be able to do in PSP. You'll have to build some of the effects tho. And the 3rd party stuff can help make that happen as well.

Good luck!

Dale
Last edited by im42n8 on Thu Oct 07, 2010 6:51 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Tips & Tricks Needed for Christmas Project -- thank you!

Postby Donna77642 » Thu Oct 07, 2010 6:38 pm

My goodness! I hit a gold mine of info and suggestions! THANK YOU, MONA and DALE! I am always amazed at how generous and sharing people are on the Internet, and you two are no exception! I am going to save your posts and investigate every suggestion. I cannot thank you enough for such insightful, thorough, and valuable comments. I will definitely review everything you said carefully and refer back to it often.

I will let you know after Chrismtas what I was able to pull off. I have bought styles, etc. from Jennifer of ChoiceBackgrounds....LOVE that site and her -- AWESOME! I am eagerly anticipating buying some Christmas lights from her, which she expects to have out by the end of October.

Thanks again for sharing your expertise and talent with me! And time, which, as the years go by ever more quickly, is the greatest gift anyone can share!

God bless!

Donna in Texas

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Re: Tips & Tricks Needed for Christmas Project

Postby drury » Thu Dec 02, 2010 2:16 pm

Hi Donna, I have posted a Xmas Show - 4min 36sec - and in spite of Dale's warnings to you my show has umpteen transitions, but all in keeping with my Xmas theme. Hope you like it - let us know when you post your show. Cheers, Derek

PS Link - http://www.photodex.com/share/drury/mw779mg4

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Re: Tips & Tricks Needed for Christmas Project

Postby osharr » Thu Dec 02, 2010 3:55 pm

Derek ,
I watched your christmas show and it was nice . The only issues that I heard were a lot of pops and crackles on the first song on my system . Not sure if their on the show or just my computer . Also the transititon between songs was very abrupt .
Ollie
If it ain't broke , don't fix it !

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Re: Tips & Tricks Needed for Christmas Project

Postby Donna77642 » Thu Dec 02, 2010 4:22 pm

Dale: I really appreciate all your ideas, links, and input! It is priceless! :D I decided I could not possibly learn how to use Producer (the way I want to use it) in time for this Christmas, so I am "going in the Window instead of the front door" and using several progams together to get my ani-snow on Christmas scenes in time for my big screen TV this year. I used three programs (not sure if I am supposed to mention them) and they worked fine...at least they did what I want anyway, even if not as professional looking as Producer. Again, THANK YOU so very much for your input. I am going to print it out and refer to it often.

Derek: I loved your Christmas presentation! :D Thanks for sharing. It would be so wonderful to share one someday, but I am hooked on my own music collection rather than buying alternative music selections, so I guess I will have to just stick to showing family at home (and play it for my own enjoyment). I thought you did a great job on the slideshow! I watched the whole thing and was impressed. It was very festive and enjoyable and I was hooked from the beginning. Two questions: (1) is that Jennifer's Christmas frame (I bought that) -- isn't it nice?!!! (2) I must have the colored balls animation (transition) -- is that one of Jennifer's? Do you know it's name? I loved it! Thanks for sharing!

Everyone is so kind and generous to share their talents!

Donna in Texas

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Re: Tips & Tricks Needed for Christmas Project

Postby mizdoc » Fri Dec 03, 2010 1:08 pm

Don't forget you can now use animated gif's in 4.5, just as you probably used them in PowerPoint.
I ran up a little video Christmas card using the Joy of Xmas album from the members files here, and added an animated Santa creeping across the screen, and some snow. Simple, but fun... and you can find all kinds of animated gif's on the internet. The temptation is to get carried away and add too many. :P

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqBKM5chrmo

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Re: Tips & Tricks Needed for Christmas Project

Postby Donna77642 » Fri Dec 03, 2010 1:22 pm

MizDoc: THANK YOU! I did not know you could do that! Geez, I will need a tutorial to figure out how to do it, but THANKS so much for letting me know it is possible! I saw your demo and appreciate your taking the time to post me the link! I continue to amazed by the generous nature of people on the internet! Merry Christmas!

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Re: Tips & Tricks Needed for Christmas Project

Postby mizdoc » Fri Dec 03, 2010 2:51 pm

Donna77642 wrote:MizDoc: THANK YOU! I did not know you could do that! Geez, I will need a tutorial to figure out how to do it, but THANKS so much for letting me know it is possible! I saw your demo and appreciate your taking the time to post me the link! I continue to amazed by the generous nature of people on the internet! Merry Christmas!


And a Merry Christmas to you too....I've learned a lot from this forum too. So happy to pass along a little I've learned. That's what its all about, isn't it? Just be sure not to make the animated gif's too big, resize them in the Layers Tab. To make them move across the screen, go to the Effects Tab and position the first and last position of the gif, e.g. with my Santa, I dragged him to the far left for the start and the far right for the end. So when played, he seems to be tiptoeing across the screen. Just play with it and have fun; that's how you learn.
Have fun....

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Re: Tips & Tricks Needed for Christmas Project

Postby dickmr » Fri Dec 03, 2010 9:09 pm

Hi. I've been playing and learning PSP since summer. It is great. Also, if you can screen capture your Powerpoint shows you can import that as a layer in PSP also. In my linked vid, that is how the merry/merry was made...in ppt.
Also, the last scene with the typing was done with a program I learned about in this forum....do a search for 'typewriter 2.0' and should find this program which will make an avi of your typed words and you can supply the background image (such as the kid looking up the chimney). Also, if you can make transparent images in your Paint Shop Pro, you can make two images such as the one with Santa and the Reindeer. Just put the transparent on..i.e. santa/reindeer in front of a full background image and zoom in on santa. Do one scene at a time, and have fun!

http://www.vimeo.com/17393353

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Re: Tips & Tricks Needed for Christmas Project

Postby AMD » Fri Dec 03, 2010 10:35 pm

Dickmr,

Your little Christmas show was absolutely delightful! It would certainly be a special joy for children, I would think. Very cute show with some novel animations.

Ann

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Re: Tips & Tricks Needed for Christmas Project

Postby Donna77642 » Sat Dec 04, 2010 2:31 am

dickmr:
I loved looking at your presentation! Great job! It is especially exciting to see your good use of added animations because I am anxious to learn how to do that. Thanks so much for sharing!

mizdoc:
Once again, I am in your debt for your info about animated gifs, layers, and how to get the gifs to move across the screen. I am going to save this web page of posts so I can go over everyone's suggestions when I have more time. I am a teacher's aide, and, with taking care of elderly parents, I have so little free time, but I wanted to buy all this software while I had at least some money...once I retire, who knows what I will be able to afford. So, right now, I am collecting software, goodies from Jennifer at Choice Backgrounds (love that site!), CaptionsAlive Pro, and whatever gifs and backgrounds I can collect...so, when I retire, I will be ready to have fun.

Thanks again to everyone for being so gracious to share your experiences with me! :D

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Re: Tips & Tricks Needed for Christmas Project

Postby im42n8 » Sat Dec 11, 2010 6:10 am

Donna,

You might also want to check out Mona (http://seemonasblog.blogspot.com/). She has some nice Christmas stuff too that might interest you. While I've got a lot of stuff to use too, none is oriented toward any season or event.

Glad you're having fun! It's easy to go overboard with things when you're first learning something new. That's not a bad thing . . . it helps you learn, and it's exciting. In time tho, you'll finesse the shows. That's the hard part. But, the fun part is getting there.

Have fun! And Happy Holidays!

Dale
What's New: Tools for ProShow: v11.42a Access ProShow capabilities Photodex doesn't provide (For PSG & PSP).
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Re: Tips & Tricks Needed for Christmas Project

Postby Donna77642 » Sun Dec 12, 2010 10:18 pm

Dale, thank you so much for the input. Also, thank you for directing me to Mona's web pages. I have marked them for future reference and to note where I can make some purchases later. I am so excited about learning how to use Producer...and use it effectively...but, most important, to be able to use it creatively to have fun! I am grateful to have access to "brains" like you and others in this forum.

Merry Christmas!

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