Production_Overview

Here though, is the basic process of creating a slide show with voice over and music.**
 * Just as there are several different types of slide shows (Example Slide shows), there are also several different approaches to take in making them. Should you take the pictures first? Should you write the script first? -- You'll have to decide that on your own :)

1) Develop your idea 2) Take pictures 3) Go through your pictures and choose the ones you want to work with. (If you have time, crop them for composition and adjust the brightness/contrast. Go here if you wish to learn how to do it.) 4) Write your script (referencing the pictures) 5) Record your script 6) Create and save your project file and import your audio and images. 7) Edit the audio (If you've recorded a couple of takes, edit your audio down to semi-final "radio edit.") 8) Add your pictures to the timeline, and adjust the duration of each to correspond with the audio. 9) Add some transitions if you'd like. 10) Add some music and adjust the audio levels so that the music doesn't overpower your voice-over. 11) Export your slide show and upload it to YouTube or other video hosting web site.

**Windows Movie Maker 2**
Tutorial:

Tutorial: To see a YouTube tutorial that is specifically about slideshows, click [|here].

Tutorial: Nicolas Gromik's three part video presentation on **how to create a slideshow with WMM using slides from a PowerPoint Presentation**: Click HERE

Download: http://www.download.com/Windows-Movie-Maker/3640-2194_4-10187903.html

**Apple iMovie**
You can watch the tutorial movie on the page linked below. (Click "Play the movie" on page 2.)

Tutorial:


 * Important Note:** If you have iMovie 08, don't even bother with it. **Click [|here] to download iMovie 6.** Click [|here] to read a review of iMovie 08.

Microsoft Photo Story 3

 * (University of Texas): "Although Windows Movie Maker 2 does not include what is called the ‘Ken Burns Effect” in Macintosh’s iMovie, you can also download (for free) **Photo Story 3 for Windows**. With this simplified program, photographs can be manipulated using panning and zooming effects, which can then be saved as Windows Media Video (wmv) files and imported as video into Windows Movie Maker." This would seem to be an ideal solution for Windows users.
 * [|Download Microsoft Photo Story 3 for Windows (free!)] and "make show-n-tell cool again... Create slideshows using your digital photos. With a single click, you can touch-up, crop, or rotate pictures. It's that easy! Add stunning special effects, soundtracks, and your own voice narration to your photo stories. Then, personalize them with titles and captions."
 * Check out Geoff's brief review of Photo Story 3

Royalty Free Music

 * [|jamendo] On **jamendo**, artists allow everyone to download and share their music. It's **free**, **legal** and **unlimited**. Detailed download instructions [|here].

YouTube Tutorials

 * [|How to upload a video to YouTube] (WebVideoZone)
 * [|Uploading videos to YouTube] (YouTube Help Center)
 * [|How do I upload a video? + video] (YouTube Help Center)
 * [|What video file formats can I upload?] (YouTube Help Center)
 * [|How long/large can my video be?] (YouTube Help Center)

**Web Applications for creating slide shows**
No web application gives you as much flexibility as you have if you use desktop software such as MovieMaker. iMovie, or Photo Story. However, if you are so inclined, here are some web applications you may wish to try.

[|Jumpcut] is a very capable online tool to create videos and video slideshows. It allows registered users to create a video with titles, audio, transitions, and effects. You can upload the pictures from your computer or you can import them from your Flickr or Facebook account. The interface is fast and very easy to use. Jumpcut does not record audio, but it allows you to import pre-recorded audio files. That means that you will need to record your narration with software installed on your computer. The free [|Audacity] would probably be the best choice. A unique feature of Jumpcut is that other users can create remixes of your video slideshows. This feature could be used for pedagogical purposes if, for example, students were to remix each other's slideshows. However, it also means that other people may have access to your images and use them in ways you had not intended. To avoid this, you can make your slideshow private and then email its URL to the people you want to share it with, but then you lose the chance to show your work to the general public and to benefit from their comments. Note that private slideshows can also be made non-remixable. Another interesting feature is that you can re-edit your slideshows even after you have published them. On the other hand, there is no way to download your slideshows to your computer. They can only reside on the Jumpcut site.
 * Jumpcut**


 * Tip:** If you want to have opening or end titles, you may find that adding them to the first and last slides, respectively, does not yield satisfactory results. In that case, you may wish to add black photos at the two ends of the slideshow sequence and superimpose titles on them. To add a black photo, go to the Add Clips tab and select Useful Stuff from the dropdown list. You will see a black tile. Drag it into your movie.

A new tool to create slideshows and comment on them has recently become available. It is called VoiceThread. You can find it [|here]. With this tool you create the slideshow online by uploading the pictures and then recording the audio. It has many convenient features: for example, it automatically adjusts the duration of each picture to correspond to that of your narration; it allows you to draw on the pictures; and other users can leave comments in either written or spoken form. The main advantage of using this tool is is ease of use. The main drawback is that the slideshow only exists on the VoiceThread website. If that goes out of business, you lose all your work. Note that if you allow users to leave audio comments, such comments will be appended to a specific slide and played along with it. That is perfect if you are trying to facilitate asynchronus conversations on one picture at a time. However, if your slideshow depends on a linear narrative you will find this feature inconvenient because it breaks the flow of your narration.
 * VoiceThread**

[|BubbleShare] allows users to create online photo albums. These photo albums do not look like videos (and they are not), and there is no way to add transition effects, but they can be accompanied by audio narration. Registration is free. You can use the service without even registering, but you still need to input your name and email address. Moreover, managing more than one album without registering is not very practical. You can control access to your albums by making then completely private, public, viewable only by other users to whom you sent an Internet link, viewable only by other users you designated as friends, or viewable only by other users you designated as friends and to whom you sent an Internet link. The link to a video can also be put on a blog or MySpace profile. You can add text captions and cartoon type text bubbles to each picture. Other tools allow you to decorate the pictures by superimposing drawn images of things such as lips, a heart, a padlock, and a snowflake. There is no way to upload prerecorded sound. In theory, you can add audio and even video annotation to each slide by recording them live. Sergio was unable to make this function work and a look at the Bugs forum showed that it is a recurrent problem. Still, it may work for you. At the moment, the albums remain on the server for a year. At the end of this period, authors renew them for another year at no cost. Viewers can download a zipped copy of any albums they have access to. They can also leave written comments if the author allows it (the default setting). If you can live with the lack of transitions and, above all, you can make the audio work, you could use this service to create basic narrated slideshows.
 * BubbleShare**

You can find this tool [|here]. To use it you must already have a presentation created with PowerPoint, OpenOffice Impress, or Keynote. You must also have an audio file (with your sound track or voiceover) in mp3 format that has been uploaded to a podcasting service or any server accessible from the web. To create this audio file you would need software such as [|Audacity] (free download for both PC and Mac) or Garageband (Mac only; part of the iLife suite). After registering on the Slideshare site, you can upload the presentation to Slideshare and create a "Slidecast" by linking it with your sound track. You do this by typing or pasting the URL of your audio file into the Slideshare interface. The interface also allows you to synchronize the slides with the audio in any way you like. The drawback of this tool is that it requires you to upload the audio to a different server. If that server is down, your slideshow will not play. Note that if you use Keynote, you will have to save your presentation as a PDF file before uploading it.
 * SlideShare**

Audio Editing
Using audio editing software is not strictly necessary, but it will both make your work easier and improve the quality of your narrated slide show. For example, if there is a sudden noise while you are recording, or you cough, etc., you do not have to re-record everything. You can just cut out the problematic section and replace it. Re-recording a short section is much easier than re-recording the whole thing. You can also perform many other tricks such as combining multiple tracks or amplifying a word that came out too quiet. There is a piece of free software that can do all these things and more. It is called Audacity and is available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

Instructions on how to download and install Audacity are[| here].

You do not have to record with Audacity to be able to edit. You can record with another application or a digital recorder and then open the file with Audacity. Audacity can open WAV, AIFF, AU, MP3, and OGG VORBIS files. However, it often makes sense to record your narration directly with Audacity. If you like, you can then open any WAV, AIFF, AU, MP3, and OGG VORBIS music files you have and combine them with your narration. (Please make sure that it is Creative Commons music or other music that it would be legal for you to use, of course).

You can find excellent tutorials that show you how to use Audacity [|here]. They are designed for Podcasters but they are fine for your purpose as well.