One of the the truly wonderful things about PhotoStage slideshow software is that it can be used for so many different things. We've had stories in our blog about making stop-motion videos, digital storytelling, making a music video and more. PhotoStage is ideal for preserving memories of all kinds of events, and one of the big events that more and more users are beginning to use PhotoStage for is making a wedding slideshow to share with friends, family, guests and more.
The Daily Wedding Blog recently wrote about creating wedding slideshows with PhotoStage as a digital addition to the traditional framed photo and photo album that couple keeps. Just one of the great things about putting together a slideshow is how easy they are to share, whether you post the finished slideshow to Facebook or burn them to a DVD and send them out with your thank yous. The possibilities are endless and there is no reason to limit yourself. You may only get one wedding album, but there is no reason you can't make multiple wedding slideshows, maybe one for the bridesmaids that also includes pictures from the bachelorette party and another version for the groomsmen. If you're getting married we hope you will use PhotoStage for making wedding slideshows, and for more inspiration and tips on planning a wedding without breaking the bank visit the Daily Wedding Blog.
The true test of a software program is how well it works for the people who install and use it. The number of people downloading and using NCH programs everyday (roughly 3 million downloads every month) suggests our focus on creating powerful, easy and intuitive software is working well for a lot of people out there. And while you have the final word on if a program is right for you, we still appreciate the feedback of reviewers recognizing the work that has gone into making our software programs both powerful and easy-to-use.
Here is a peek into our trophy case, and just a small sample of the award-winning software titles in the NCH Software collection:
WavePad has long been praised by reviewers for its easy and powerful, yet lightweight interface for audio editing.
"In spite of its tiny size, WavePad packs a big audio punch." - CNET
"WavePad has a lot to offer to the amateur audio editor, while still providing enough tools to make it a useful program for more seasoned audio editors." - TopTenReviews
Switch is not only easy to use, it supports more audio formats than the competition, making it a clear winner.
"Switch is just as useful for professionals that need to convert many songs into multiple formats as it is for the average person who knows they want to convert an AAC file to MP3. Switch is able to handle many different audio formats and has the largest selection of output formats of any program we reviewed." - TopTenReviews
VideoPad has quickly become a major player in video editing with upgraded features, putting even more advanced options at your disposal.
"NCH Software's VideoPad Video Editor Professional is a full-featured video-editing tool that is surprisingly easy to use... It's a rare video editor that you can just fire up and start making movies with, but that's what we did with VideoPad." - CNET
PhotoStage lets you bring your digital photos to life and make easy-to-share presentations of every memorable occasion.
"PhotoStage Slideshow Producer shows that slideshow makers don't need to be difficult to use to produce great results." - CNET
"PhotoStage is intuitive and savvy photo slideshow software that enables you to assemble artistic, personalized picture slideshows with total ease." - TopTenReviews
Zulu is the complete DJ software solution for both amateur and professional DJs alike.
"In an extremely competitive field of DJ software, Zulu stands just a bit taller than all of the rest. The intuitive and advanced features of this program, including a user-friendly, simple and straightforward interface, helped it rise to the top of our rankings." - TopTenReviews
Inventoria allows businesses of all sizes to efficiently track all their inventory processes, whether for one small retail outlet, or a chain of stores and warehouses across several locations.
"The versatility of Inventoria is an excellent reason to purchase this product. It offers numerous helpful features such as the ability to add notes and photos to each item in your inventory. In addition, you have the opportunity to allow more users to access the program, which can increase productivity and ultimately enhance your bottom line." - TopTenReviews
As further proof that PhotoStage is the best slideshow software, we can now add a 5 star review from the editors at CNET to its accolades. We strive to make our software easy and intuitive and were thrilled to have the editors comment that "PhotoStage Slideshow Producer shows that slideshow makers don't need to be difficult to use to produce great results," and going on to say:
"We were pleasantly surprised to find that PhotoStage offers a narration feature that let us add our own music to our slideshow; you can even record your own voice, if you have a microphone. The Save step gave us numerous options for saving our newly created slideshow, including saving it as a Flash file, DVD movie, or a data disc, or we could save it to our hard drive or portable device. It took a few seconds to save, but in no time, we were able to play our newly created slideshow back. PhotoStage Slideshow Producer will appeal to users of all skill levels."
At the heart of everything, what I want to do the most is to bring great stories to life. I'm primarily a writer, so that usually has to do with the techniques of prose on the page, of which I'm pretty comfortable with already. But, in the past year or two, as a result of getting involved in amateur voice-acting (I'm now a moderator of the forum I participate in, VoiceActingAlliance), as a lot of voice-actors there also put together their own media to voice, I've discovered many resources that could bring a story from simple text to a full blown multimedia production. I had sound effects to mix anything from a walk in the park to an epic battle of giant robots, and voice actors with professional-grade talent who I had at hand to recruit to make characters all that more real to the audience. Even better, I even had a few composers I could collaborate with to make a totally immersive, original work you could listen to. Really, what more could you ask for?
However...I have always been a visual person. While you can do a lot with just sound alone, characters and stories don't really feel complete to me unless you can really "see" them. In writing, these come in the form of prose descriptions, whereas for multimedia, pictures are a necessity. There are people in my online community with the artistic talent, patience, time, and resources to actually make full motion animations, buuuuuut...let's just say that I lack enough of each category for that to really be feasible for me, haha.
I had a project in mind that when I first learned enough to take a crack at these productions myself, I wanted to try to bring to the screen. It wasn't my own; it was an online webcomic called No Rest for the Wicked, as of yet unpublished and unfinished, that I saw a lot of potential in to be a lot more than simply a webcomic. It was presented in a way that I could see it practically coming alive in a cinematic form in my head. The art in the webcomic was characteristically stylistic and pleasing to the eye -- couldn't there be some way to present those same images in a way that allows that cinematic nature to be evident, and to combine it with all those resources I had to make something that was barely a few steps away from being like an actual "motion picture". And so I thought, "...Why not?!"
I was remembering from photo slideshows I'd seen, how they had different panning and zooming effects along with transitions, and I thought, perhaps if I could do the same for the images from the webcomic, that would simulate the panning and zooming techniques used in actual animated features usually with a lower budget to be able to make the most out of a single image, as well as to establish action shots with fast shifts and flashes.
After all, I already had the images in front of me -- it was a matter of how to have them displayed to make them come alive. It sounded like a very interesting endeavor indeed, and really played to my general life creed of "make the most possible out of the least amount possible". That said, how would I do it?
I started to research on what programs I could use to do this. I got recommendations of the widely-used programs that could do everything under the sun -- but when I looked at the licenses for those programs, it made me bang my head on my desk. I can't afford $500+ for a program license! I could probably better use that money to upgrade my computer equipment so that I could even USE such complex programs without crashing my hard drive after an hour of working with it. I wondered, did you really need to pay that much to have a slideshow program with customizable transitions and effects? Surely there was something else that people simply hadn't bothered to look into that would serve just as well?
After some careful searching, I came across the NCH Software programs, one of which was PhotoStage Slideshow Producer. I thought, sure, sounds like what could work. Seemed pretty simple in both structure and interface (it was a tiny download, I was amazed what functions you could pack into a few megabytes), straightforward, yet flexible. Downloading the trial version, but being the skeptic I have always been about good deals (why hadn't anyone heard of it before if it was so useful?), I wondered how much I'd be able to tell from a trial program that usually only lasted long enough for me to use it once or twice at most.
However, I found that PhotoStage let me use it for well beyond its suggested trial period, even keeping ALL of its features except for some file formats that weren't crucial to the functionality of the program. I have a lot of respect therefore for programs that will in fact trust that if you find you really like the program, eventually you'll support the programmers and publishers by paying for a shiny license for it that shows that you are in fact legit without having a swimming pool of money in your backyard.
And eventually, that's exactly what happened. I was actually well into working on the project, having done several clips already that I showed my staff as I'd been well into getting in the lines and mixing all the stuff together, and finding a special on licenses going on, I thought it was the right time to get one -- and I knew already, having been able to actually DO something with it, that I was getting my money's worth.
Here's a few of the test clips I've done so far of the production so far, from various parts of the webcomic (some of the voices and music are just placeholders and will be different in the finished production):
This test clip shows a more cinematic setting-establishing scene, where the panning and zooming is put to full use. Source reference: Ch 2, pg 1-3
This test clip has more narration, but I made little illustrative panels come to life by erasing out various objects and phrases, having them fade or pop back into view depending on the context. Source reference: Ch 1, pg 1
This test clip shows the control of comedic timing between the visuals and dialogue. Source reference: Ch 1, pg 12
This test clip integrates a lot of the things above, using both panning, zooming, and fades at various speeds for a comedic, almost cartoon-like effect. Source reference: Ch 2, pg 42-43
I'm still working away on the production and it's not anywhere near finished, but I'm getting there! (See, again, why I don't like programs with ticking fuses, because my working pace in general is tortoise slow) If you're curious as to more detailed progress info, here's my production blog, and there's a few additional test clips up at my Youtube production channel, Videocaptor Productions. (Tomoyo Ichijouji is my online alias, a little more unique than my real life name, haha)
I'm not sure at this point what future projects I'll use PhotoStage for next, but I've been pointing others at my community who want to do comic dubs like mine to PhotoStage as an easy, elegant way to bring some motion to the images to go with the voices and sound. It seems like the ones who've tried it liked it, so who knows? Considering nobody else in my forum seemed to know about it before I started mentioning it to people, maybe it'll start catching on. In the end, for me, it's all about making the most of what you've got. PhotoStage was definitely one of the programs that let me do that, so I'm sure I'll continue using it for creative purposes in the future.
It should come as no surprise to anyone that the use of video-sharing sites is on the rise, which is why we are working on making it as easy as possible to share your finished video projects from our video software, including VideoPad video editor and PhotoStage. Most recently we added direct uploading to Facebook and Flickr in addition to YouTube to the export options in VideoPad. All you have to do is set up your account information the first time, and VideoPad will do the rest. By automating the uploading process, we allow you to post more videos online.
But are there any other video-sharing sites that should be added? You tell us. We want to make sure that our software is as easy to use as possible. Post a comment to this post and we’ll take your suggestions to the developers. Thanks for the feedback!
I recently stumbled across another great use for PhotoStage Slideshow Software, combining sequential still photos into a stop motion video animation. That is exactly what a class of students did in the Napa Valley in a CyberMill Technology Center summer program as reported on by Howard Yune of the Napa Valley Register.
CyberMill is a Napa Valley nonprofit technology center, affiliated with the national Computers for Youth nonprofit organization. The CFY Network is committed to improving the home learning environment of low-income families by providing home computers and educational resources, helping students learn the technology skills they need to compete and thrive in the 21st Century. In this particular summer program Yune explains that
"For nearly four hours a day over five days, children at the animation camp work through all the phases of building a short video. Digital point-and-shoot cameras snap numerous photos — as many as 465 for each short — of box-size backdrops built by the children themselves, guided by scripts based on poems of their creation or choosing.
Instructors also guide students in using Photostage software to merge the stills into short movies, adding electronic titles and recording dialogue in an audio studio set inside a walk-in closet."
We were excited to learn about this project of making stop motion animated shorts with PhotoStage and applaud the programs of the CyberMill Technology Center for bringing technology to those who might not have as much exposure to this important piece of our world today, while keeping it fun at the same time.
PhotoStage photo slideshow software is an excellent and easy way to take your photos and create stunning movies of your cherished memories and events. You don't have to take our word for it: TopTenReviews just awarded PhotoStage the Gold award, proclaiming it the best slideshow software. They describe PhotoStage Slideshow Producer as "intuitive and savvy photo slideshow software that enables you to assemble artistic, personalized picture slideshows with total ease," going on to say:
"PhotoStage really does an outstanding job of bridging the gap between ease of use and multifaceted functionality. The photo slideshow application delivers a well-supplied feature set that is easy to utilize, and we were able to create an entire slideshow without any difficulty. Furthermore, we loved how clean and sophisticated the user interface is; it seems more akin to a sleek graphic design tool than a basic slideshow maker. Such a seamless melding between ease of use and an advanced appearance and feature set makes the photo slideshow software a viable option for both casual and tech-savvy users." – TopTenReviews
Read the complete review of PhotoStage slideshow software on the TopTenReviews website. Or download a copy of the software today and get started making photo slideshows right away. As TopTenReviews pointed out, the "easy drag-and-drop functionality make the software simple to use and it delivers high-definition output quality," so you won't regret having this application on hand for turning your digital photos into stunning movie slideshows to share with family and friends.
See how easy it is to bring your digital photos to life and share your favorite memories with family and friends with PhotoStage slideshow creation software. Our recently finished PhotoStage video tutorial walks you through the process so you can see how easy it is to combine images, video clips, music and narration into a truly memorable slideshow movie.
Download PhotoStage slideshow software today to start making your own custom multimedia presentation to share with friends and family and preserve your memories.
Prism Video Converter If you've ever had trouble opening a video file, you need Prism. Prism will let you quickly convert any troublesome video files into a more manageable format. With more formats supported than any other video converter, you'll be hard pressed to come across a video file that Prism can't handle.
Switch Audio Converter There are a lot of different audio file formats out there, and a lot of places you might want to keep your favorite music, from CDs and iPods to your computer or online, just to name a few. Make sure you always have the right format for every song and every application with the Switch Audio Converter.
FastFox Typing Expander Ever find yourself typing the same things over and over? FastFox can be a huge helping hand at home or at work. Use keyboard shortcuts to expand to anything you commonly write, and save time inserting signatures in email, filling out online forms, and writing long responses to customer questions.
Debut Video Capture Whether you want to transfer the video from a camcorder to your computer, are trying to record a video from your webcam, or even recording your screen, Debut is your single software solution for capturing video.
Express Burn Disc Burning Software Burn pictures, home movies, resumes, portfolios, or back up your files to CDs, DVDs and even Blue-Ray discs in a variety of file formats with Express Burn. Simply drag, drop and burn.
PhotoStage Slideshow Creator Bring your digital photos to life and share your favorite memories with family and friends. Tell a compelling story, display your best images, or show off your proudest moments. PhotoStage lets you combine images, video clips, music and narration in a fun and dynamic fashion.
WavePad Audio Editor No list would be complete without one of our all-time favorites: WavePad. WavePad is the perfect application for any audio project in the sound studio or at home. The easy-to-use interface will have you up and running quickly with all the powerful tools you need at your fingertips.
It’s the holiday season again, which means it’s time for family, food and photos. What should one do with the boundless amounts of photographs taken at this time of year? You should share them – and this year instead of making a resolution to send out a custom scrapbook to each family member (a goal most of us can never keep), I’m going to create a custom slideshow to send to the whole family.
It’s quick and simple with PhotoStage Slideshow Software. You can easily combine pictures with video clips and add sound or narration for a more festive slideshow. What better way to show off baby’s first Christmas than to give a play-by-play with sequence shots or add your favorite holiday tunes and videos? If you’re anything like me, you print your photos and stack them in a dusty box in some remote location, where no will actually see them – this year I’m going to make a captivating visual experience with them instead.
PhotoStage comes equipped with an array of transition effects so you can make every slideshow a unique event to be shared. You can edit your photos from right within the program, giving you complete control of the outcome.
My favorite part is being able to share my slideshows on my iPhone so I can look at them on-the-go! Making video slideshows really is worlds better than leaving holiday photos in a dusty box to never be seen again.
Bart Bryars recently purchased PhotoStage Slideshow Software and put together his first video. The opening number for their musical, Joey, is a take on everything New York City.
"It turned out so good and has had such a positive response, I thought I'd send it to you so you could see what's possible for a first time novice like me, who has no training whatsoever in video arts or production. We don't even have a camcorder. The action parts were shot on a regular Sony digital camera that happens to have a basic recording feature.
Thank you so much for your product. Very simple and easy to use."
– Bart Bryars
As we've mentioned in the past we strive to make all of our software easy to use. So it is great to not only hear that we are doing a good job, but to see the results as well. We really enjoyed watching the musical number they put together with the help of PhotoStage Slideshow Creator and wanted to share it with all of you fine readers:
We hope you enjoy their video too. Maybe it will inspire you to put together your own musical video montage after seeing what couple of beginners were able to do.
Vividly recreate and preserve your memories with a multimedia slideshow you’ll be proud to share with friends and family with PhotoStage slideshow creator software.
There’s no better tool than PhotoStage for showcasing your favorite photographs, images and video clips. PhotoStage brings your pictures, images and video to life and lets you share your favorite memories with family and friends in an interesting and portable way. Creating a slideshow from your digital photos has never been easier.
How making a slideshow can enhance the way we preserve memories
When I was younger, I loved pulling out the photo albums my mom kept in the living room. There, in the cellophane-wrapped pages, printed on Polaroids and semi-gloss photo paper, was the evidence of our lives. I recognized the old house the pictures were taken in, and could see the resemblance of my parents’ faces in their younger form. I remembered old toys and costumes, and sometimes saw old friends. Everyone was always smiling, and it was the perfect reminder that I had grown from love. These photos made appearances at my graduations and my wedding, sometimes eliciting a round of laughter, and always reminding us of the paths leading us to that day.
As we learn to integrate our lives with a digital existence, the sensation of flipping through the sticky pages of a photo album will become a rare occurrence. But that doesn’t mean that the visceral experience will disappear; there will still be the unpredictable nature of seeing photos anew, in which memories arise and emotions are conjured up. I have realized that the pictures I take almost never make it to the pages of a photo album. They have different lives than the photos my parents took. They remain in chronological order on my camera, or stored on discs, hard drives, and SD cards. I almost never print them out.
But that doesn’t mean my photos are stowed away, rarely to be seen. If anything, there are more opportunities to share photos than ever. Between portable devices, mobile phones, online photo sites, and social media, photos have a new life. The slideshow, once a good excuse to take a nap while your uncle narrated slides of his latest motor home trip, is now a creative and highly engaging experience and is the ultimate way to share memories. Creating a slideshow today means taking advantage of technology to engage with our photos, and to reflect on our lives in ways we never have before.
With graduations coming up, and as we head into the height of the wedding season, now may be the perfect time to reminisce or put together a meaningful slideshow full of family memories. Here are a few tips for putting together your slideshow, and for amazing your friends and family:
Get a slideshow program. Putting together a slideshow should be intuitive, especially when dealing with hundreds of photos. Photostage slideshow creator is easy to use, it handles multiple media formats, and you'll end up with a quality slideshow worthy of any special event.
Gather your media. That’s right, I said media. Don’t limit yourself to digital pictures--scan in those old prints you have too. Then, look for video clips, but keep them short. Don’t worry if your videos aren’t in digital format, those can be converted if you use Golden Videos VHS to PC converter to convert home movies to digital format, and edit them down with VideoPad video editor. Don’t forget the music either. Choose music with special meaning; either songs that make you smile, or bring a tear to your eye.
Organize your media. Once your photos, video clips, and audio are on the slideshow timeline, move them around so you can see how they relate to each other. Group similar pictures or find themes that match the music, and use blank slides filled with text to help break up the different sections. Or, try telling a compelling story either by recording narration or inserting captions along the way.
Embellish. Adding transitions between the slides makes watching the slideshow easy on the eyes. Combine transitions with image effects to add visual interest to your slides. Don’t be afraid to experiment! Anything you apply can be undone, and your original media is safe and sound in its original form.
Save for the correct medium. How will you be displaying your slideshow? Will you be posting it online, or projecting it to a room full of graduates? Be careful that you don’t save for YouTube if you plan on watching the slideshow on a wide screen TV. The resulting images won’t have the quality you desire.
Share! No matter the complexity of the slideshow, the effort you put in will show through. Enjoy!
It's that time of year again, when everyone makes their new year's resolutions. And as we all look forward to the new year and start planning for how we would like to see things go there is a surprisingly consolidated list of resolutions that the majority of people make. While searching on-line here is one Top Ten List of New Year's Resolutions that many of you may find yourself on:
Spend More Time with Family and Friends
Fit in Fitness
Tame the Bulge
Quit Smoking
Enjoy Life More
Quit Drinking
Get Out of Debt
Learn Something New
Help Others
Get Organized
My personal resolution is getting to the gym more which fits right in there with number two on that list, and I'm sure that plenty of you are with me on that. Sadly none of our software will help me make that particular goal happen, but we do have software that can help with some of the items on the list. Take a look at some the software programs that you might enjoy whether or not they are related to your resolution: Get Organized Sort through all of your photos and home movies and turn them in to memorable presentations with either PhotoStage Slideshow Software or VideoPad Video Editor. Your memories do deserve a life outside of a dusty shoebox, so turn them into something worth watching. Then use Disketch Label Maker to create CD and DVD labels and covers for all of your mixed CDs and home movies. Help Others Are you bursting with enough information to start your own podcast or tutorial series? Record yourself with RecordPad or capture video of yourself or your computer screen with Debut Video Recorder, and then share your knowledge with the world using BroadWave Audio Streamer or BroadCam Video Streamer. Enjoy Life More and Spend Time with Family and Friends One great idea would be to have more parities, and with Zulu DJ Software you can be the disc jockey for a guaranteed playlist with all your favorites. NCH Software 2010 Resolutions As always we have lots of things in the works but I would say the most exciting are plans to develop a healthy library of apps for the iPhone and Droid. Currently the top five programs that we are working on for Android and iPhone platforms are Express Dictate, WavePad Audio Editor, RecordPad Sound Recorder, PitchPerfect Guitar Tuner, and TempoPerfect Metronome Software.
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One of the the truly wonderful things about PhotoStage slideshow software is that it can be used for so many different things. We've had stories in our blog about making stop-motion videos, digital storytelling, making a music video and more. PhotoStage is ideal for preserving memories of all kinds of events, and one of the big events that more and more users are beginning to use PhotoStage for is making a wedding slideshow to share with friends, family, guests and more.
I recently stumbled across another great use for 
