How can I convert photos to video?

[Zelda Veeblefetzer]

Hi,

My sister is a frequent poster on this board and she recommended I ask here for a little help.

I'd like to convert my photos to video so that they have the extension .avi when they are done. I have a very specific use for them that way but can't seem to find something that does it quickly, easily, efficiently, and free!

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Zelda

 

[DragonSlyr]

If you have access to a PC running Windows XP, Microsoft has a free program called Movie Maker. It is very basic but it will do what your asking.

 

[bostran1]

And if you have a mac iPhoto and imovie will do it.

 

[Zelda Veeblefetzer]

I tried making one with that, but it won't allow me to save it as an .avi
I don't know if I'm just using it wrong. I've never used the program before.

For what I'm using the final video for, it has to be movie.avi not movie.wmv

Thanks for the suggestion though.

Any other ideas?

Zelda

 

[Zelda Veeblefetzer]

No mac, it's a PC. I would love a mac, though. I know they're much better for working with images.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Pictures2Exe

MemoriesOnTV

 

[Zelda Veeblefetzer]

Mark! Thank you!! Those both look very promising! We'll check them both out today.

My sister said this forum was great for getting help... she was right!

Zelda

 

[MarkBarbieri]

Pictures2Exe is more focused on creating slideshows that you can run on your computer. The advantage with that is that you get a much better looking picture than you can on a DVD. You get the best quality if you build an exe file rather than an avi file.

MemoriesOnTV is designed for building video. It has better effects, like panning and zooming.

 

[DragonSlyr]

When you go to save the movie in Windows Movie Maker, you have to check more options then select DV-AVI. The file will then be saved as a .avi instead of .wmv

Here is a link to a tutorial
http://www.atomiclearning.com/movielib/mm2_059_saveotherx.mov

 

[Groucho]

No mac, it's a PC. I would love a mac, though. I know they're much better for working with images.

Not true. A computer is a computer. Photoshop on a PC is just as capable as on a Mac, and a Windows PC has vastly more software available for it for any task. There is nothing intrinsic about a hardware platform to make it any better at editing photos than any other. Besides, the money you save can be spent on a better camera or lenses.

Anyway, you may need to know a little more about AVI. AVI itself is not a video format, it's a container format - an AVI file can contain video in many different formats (or codecs), and very few things (even most PCs) can play every kind of video than an AVI can contain.

If you're trying to use a DVD player than plays Divx files, then you have several choices, but you're probably looking for something that'll create AVIs containing some form of mpeg4, usually Divx or Xvid, those are pretty much the "standard" for such things.

 

[barrie]

That would be my sis - thanks guys for helping her out!

 

[bostran1]

Not true. A computer is a computer. Photoshop on a PC is just as capable as on a Mac, and a Windows PC has vastly more software available for it for any task. There is nothing intrinsic about a hardware platform to make it any better at editing photos than any other. Besides, the money you save can be spent on a better camera or lenses.

True, there are a ton more programs for everything you would ever want to do for the Windows platform. Doesn't mean they're easy to use or work seemlessly with Windows though.

Each platform has its benefits and its downsides. Having used Apples early in my life to switching to Windwos through high school until a couple years of college, Windows wasn't hacking it for me. But yeah, you can edit photos, make movies, listen to music, surf the net the same on both systems. Especially since the industry standard programs run on both Windows and OS X (I'm thinking Microsoft Office, Adobe's Creative Suite, instant messenging, web browsers)

Well, I don't know what the point of this was other than to agree with Groucho but from the point of a happy Apple user. Besides, I love my MacBook's small size, sexy keyboard, and iSight camera!

 

[dpuck1998]

You can use a free program from microsoft called "photostory" it roxs!


http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/photostory/default.mspx

 

[Zelda Veeblefetzer]

We finally figured out how to use windows movie maker and make it compatable with the program we were working with! Thanks so much for all your ideas and suggestions. I'm hanging on to those links you all gave me. I'd like to do more with them as well.

dpuck1998 -- I think my boss has photostory on her computer. I've been wanting to download it to mine. It is a really cool program.

Thanks Barrie, for hooking me up! See you in August!!!

 

[boBQuincy]

I use ProShow Gold. It has a large number of effects and transitions, even multiple layers per slide.
If the output is DVD the resolution suffers, only 720 x 480. PS Gold will also output to HD-DVD at either 720p or 1080p. Be prepared for *big* files! Once HD burners and players come down in price this will be a good option.

PS Gold will also make a exe file, similar to Pictures2Exe with very high resolution but any fancy pans and slow zooms are not likely to run smoothly except with a very powerful processor and video card.