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Some Flash tools for building Slide Shows

by Rick Hendershot, Linknet Creative Resource Library

In this article I briefly look at five different programs for creating flash slide shows. All of these applications are inexpensive (less than $100) and all allow the user to create a basic slide show from a series of images stored on the user's local computer. The resulting .swf movie can be uploaded to a web server and very easily integrated into a web page. In the case of SlideRoll, the show is created online. Where noted, a more detailed review of a specific progam is available either within the Linknet Creative Resource Library, or at a non-related site.

Amara Flash Slide Show Builder, www.amarasoftware.com, $29.95
This is a popular easy-to-use application that allows you to have a basic slide show up and running in just a few minutes. Features include a relatively intuitive interface, 10 transition options, ability to add background sound, easily assign URLs to individual images. Limitations include restrictive list of acceptable audio formats, problems including slides not exactly the size of the overall show, and no capability to add control buttons.

FlashSlider 3.0 , www.flashslider.com,
This little program features a very robust tool set. A drag and drop timeline-like workspace makes assembly of your slide show easy and intuitive. The timeline lets you see a pictorial representation of each slide where you can adjust properties individually. Each slide can be assigned its own target hyperlink. You can choose from more than 50 transition effects. Adding background sound is easy , as is adding navigation buttons. You can even choose from five different preloaders. All this program is missing is a simple method of generating titles and captions. Highly recommended.

Slide show created with FlashSlider 3.0
Flash Slider makes a nice looking slide show. Audio/video synchronizing is confusing. I also could not create a version that did not self-start. This is a problem if you include audio — since a lot of people do like audio being auto-started. It would be good if there was a separate audio control.

ImageMatics Personal Edition (PE), www.imagematics.com, $49.95
This program is the "entry level" multimedia creation tool from Imagematics. It has all the features of other similar programs, but includes the capability of adding titles (or "labels") to each slide, and a title page to your show. The sound capabilities are more robust as well. The user can add separate sound tracks to each slide, overlay them on top of a "background" sound track, and then mix the relative volumes of the two tracks. This version does not allow you to add navigation buttons or links from individual slides. You will need to buy the "Web Designer" edition to get those features (see below).

When trying this product you may be confused by the different versions (or product names). Most reviews refer to the more powerful versions of the program that incorporate pan and zoom techniques borrowed from StageTools. This is the "StillMotion Creator" line of products from which were evolved these less expensive, less capable products — ImageMatics PE and WD. See my more extensive review of ImageMatics and StillMotion Creator.

My recommendation: If you need simple titling capability, then you should get this program. But if you want VCR controls, get FlashSlider (previous review). It is less money and easier to use. Here is an excellent review of this product that puts it in the context of other products from ImageMatics (while confusing the two product lines in the review title).

Imagematics Web Designer, www.imagematics.com, $79.95
Take ImageMatics PE and add a series of navigation and web enhancements and you've got ImageMatics Web Designer. These enhancements include links to different URLs from each slide, other actions associated with slides (such as "jump to slide" and "play a swf file"), several styles of VCR controls, preloaders, and navigation menus.

And don't forget to add some serious pan and zoom features (borrowed right from StillMotion Creator), that allow you to turn individual slides into moving pictures (think Ken Burns).

These enhancements turn this product into  a "multi-media authoring tool".  According to the company, files created in Personal Edition are completely compatible with the WD version, so you can start with PE, and upgrade later without losing your old productions.

My recommendation: I like this product. If you want to get beyond basic slide shows, you will need a tool like this. It is well worth the difference in price. This product is reviewed in more detail in ImageMatics and StillMotion Creator.

SlideRoll, www.slideroll.com, online slide show producer, membership based, $3.75/mo.
This is a completely online solution to producing slide shows. You begin by becoming a (free) member. Then to create your slide show you upload a series of images. Now you have an image library. Take images from your library and drag and drop them onto the SlideRoll timeline. Create transitions between your slides, pan and/or zoom individual slides, and add text slides to provide commentary within the slide show.

This service is in beta testing, and has some obvious limitations. For instance, users cannot add sound tracks. It would also be nice if webmasters could host the script on their own sites, and offer a branded version of the service for industry-specific applications (such as real estate tours). The creator of SlideRoll is Geoff Gaudreault, senior web designer at NPR.org. Geoff has reported that he is working on making SlideRoll a more portable package.

Here is a little slide show I created in about ten minutes using SlideRoll's online SlideRoll Creator: Ireland Golf Photos

Rick Hendershot is the founding publisher of The Linknet Marketing Resource Library, and has been dabbling in online video and audio for a number of years.

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