Our 2008 Travels

[RonBoyd]

The past five years has been very exhausting for us -- there have been many personal tragedies -- and I have fallen very far behind. Now, I am back. Here is a YouTube video of what Brenda and I did in 2008. It is 2,800 pictures in 9 minutes and 30 seconds -- that's 12 pictures a second so it goes pretty quickly. (I will get to 2009 shortly and so on.) Anyway, this is why we bought a Roadtrek.

The Adventures of Ron & Brenda - 2008

[bbbamI]

Wowza!

My favorite pic is #1526....

Thanks for sharing.

[omni550]

Too fast for me!

omni

[RonBoyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bbbamI My favorite pic is #1526....

<smile>

[RonBoyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by omni550 Too fast for me!

As was the year itself, IIRC.

(Actually, in this age of impatience, 9 minutes is a lifetime.)

[Sarah in SC]

Ooh, neat! Tell us how you did the video please! I'd like to try something similar, albeit fewer pics and more slowly, perhaps!
Glad you are back and hope things are going better.

[RonBoyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC Ooh, neat! Tell us how you did the video please! I'd like to try something similar, albeit fewer pics and more slowly, perhaps!

I used two programs: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Proshow Producer. While Lightroom isn't all that expensive (and more than worth it), Proshow is a bit high -- I have had it for years so my cost is now quite low -- but does deliver great value if you want to put your photographs into a slide show/video form. (I believe, the much more reasonable "Proshow Gold" can also produce this type of show.)

Anyway, my inspiration for this came from Tim Grey. He did it with Lightroom and a Pro version of Quicktime. (I have his full tutorial if you PM me.)

I am not sure about a slower overall pace since that kinda ruins the effect (as well as what I said earlier about boredom). However, I now believe pausing on select images would greatly improve the feeling -- particularly those images of individuals or of well-known landmarks. I will try that on the following year's version.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC Glad you are back and hope things are going better.

Thank you. Yeah, things have been pretty quiet for a year now (knock on wood) and the mind has accepted reality... somewhat.

[Sarah in SC]

I will try to tinker with a selection of mine from our month in Peru, although I don't have any of your "fancy" software, I think I can do a poor man's version with some free stuff I have. I do love the idea of the photos telling the story in order like you have it.

[RonBoyd]

I agree, it can be done on the cheap (read free). All you need is 1) a program to "process" the jpegs (cropping and such) the way you want them (plenty free programs can do that), 2) a program to put them together into a slideshow (again, plenty of free ones), and 3) a program to convert the slideshow into a video (WMV, AVI, etc). #2 and #3 could easily be the same program. Except for Lightroom, that's how I would do it if I didn't already have the programs.

A month is a much more realistic bite to chew on... and could go at a much more leisurely pace in the same time constraint.

[Sarah in SC]

Cool--I might tinker with it this week. Although I took 2800 pictures in just that month! And I'm looking forward to your 2009 and beyond videos!

[HFWR]

Windoze comes with Microsoft Movie Maker (at least XP and Vista...).

[Bestwifeever]

What a nice compilation--looks like a happy year. I love the music with the video too!

So sorry to hear about the personal sorrows since then, Ron.

[RonBoyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HFWR Windoze comes with Microsoft Movie Maker (at least XP and Vista...).

Yes, that is one of the free choices available. I forget, however, if you can create transitions to 6-12 per second.

Another good choice (for those with a few extra bucks) is Pictures2Exe. I can remember when this was my favorite program for this type of project. And I still have a current copy that I look at once in awhile. Outstanding program in any event.

[HFWR]

Don't remember all the particulars, but I bought a bundle from Pinnacle that included a USB-digitizer and some software for capturing from composite sources. Wasn't terribly expensive; I'm thinking <$100...

[HFWR]

Sample movie made with MS Moviemaker...


Edit: apparently uploading a video is non-trivial...

Edit some more: gave up on uploading. Try youtube...

[HFWR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RonBoyd Yes, that is one of the free choices available. I forget, however, if you can create transitions to 6-12 per second. Another good choice (for those with a few extra bucks) is Pictures2Exe. I can remember when this was my favorite program for this type of project. And I still have a current copy that I look at once in awhile. Outstanding program in any event.

You can change the default duration of photos and transitions under TOOLS > OPTIONS > ADVANCED. The lowest setting for transitions seems to be 0.25s.

[RonBoyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HFWR The lowest setting for transitions seems to be 0.25s.

That's 4 per second, right?

BTW, another thing that is important in these type of programs is the result of the Civil War. Well.. at least as far as Ken Burns is concerned. While looking at a video, a stationary image is not that interesting in most cases and particularly so if ALL the images are a flat 2-dimensional image. Action is required in a video.

How is "Moviemaker" at the "Ken Burns effect"? Or, for that matter, the ability to combine individual images with actual video? Titles and Captioning are another issue of great importance in Slide Shows, also.

There is a website that people use to submit their "Proshow" slideshows for peer review. I have forgotten where -- it was another causality of the last four-five years -- I will find it and get back. Anyway, these are "knock your socks off" slideshows and entertaining even without the educational purpose.

[HFWR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RonBoyd That's 4 per second, right? BTW, another thing that is important in these type of programs is the result of the Civil War. Well.. at least as far as Ken Burns is concerned. While looking at a video, a stationary image is not that interesting in most cases and particularly so if ALL the images are a flat 2-dimensional image. Action is required in a video. How is "Moviemaker" at the "Ken Burns effect"? Or, for that matter, the ability to combine individual images with actual video? Titles and Captioning are another issue of great importance in Slide Shows, also. There is a website that people use to submit their "Proshow" slideshows for peer review. I have forgotten where -- it was another causality of the last four-five years -- I will find it and get back. Anyway, these are "knock your socks off" slideshows and entertaining even without the educational purpose.

I don't see an option for simulating a camera moving, ala Ken Burns. There are video effects, transitions, titles/captions, and of course, sound, but any text overlay would have to be done by editing the pic itself. Interspersing stills and video should be easy, as you drag the files onto the timeline in whatever order you choose.

Definitely not pro grade, but it is "free"!

The software that came with the Pinnacle bundle will even do blue/green screen. Not at home right now, so can't discuss other features.

[RonBoyd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HFWR Definitely not pro grade, but it is "free"!

Free is good and I am fully in support of that category of software. It will "get you by" and that's as good as it needs to be in most cases.

But for us OCD types... never mind.

[imoldernu]

Thanks...
nice
Did many start/stops so it was lots more than 9 minutes. Busy, busy year. Recognized some of the places, others had to look up.
Friend has a Roadtrek... comfy living without driving a semi...
Our camp is just a few miles from rte66 in Illinois.
Good lookin' family.