AUDIO VISUAL EVENING
A very enthusiastic audience viewed a range of Audio-Visuals by club members and others, demonstrating a range of styles from travelogue to high-energy and narrative.
During the tutorial session we looked at the two front-running programs used to create audio-visuals; PicturesToExe and ProShow Gold. The former is the program that originally created this genre and retains many loyal users. APS members can obtain a free club license to use it by emailing me. For an extra £10 fee the facility to create DVDs from within the program can be added (NB past users will be interested to see that the popular facility to advance the slideshow on a mouse click has been re-introduced in the latest version 5.5 of PicturesToExe).
Although superficially similar, ProShow Gold (PSG) is much more sophisticated at all levels without being overly complex to learn. Much more functionality is available from within the program and does not rely on external image and sound editing or file management. This all comes at a price of course and it costs £45 for initial registration and updates for one year. Subsequent updates are £30 per year. I have standardised on ProShow but both programs are available for trial download.
One area in which PicturesToExe (PTE) excels is the smoothness of fades, zooms and pans. ProShow will address this area in a future release.
The creation of a simple slideshow was demonstrated using ProShow Gold, including, titles, transitions, zooms, pans, music and sound effects. The finished show is saved as a project in case future edits are required and then output is typically generated as a single .EXE file or a DVD video but there are many other options available. The sophistication of PSG becomes apparent when you dig deeper and discover the many short-cuts and labour-saving features available.
Having viewed some typical sequences we discussed the benefits of keeping the show simple, limiting the length to around 6 minutes (certainly no more than 10) and changing the pace to suit the images and soundtrack.
In particular I was asked to include the link to an interesting AV on the Assekrem region of Algeria. It can be found on the Beechbrook Cottage site which contains hundreds of downloadable AVs. At the time of writing it is at the bottom of page one.
AUDIO CAPTURE AND EDITING
The most common form of soundtrack is provided by music, although the spoken word and sound effects can add much to a show. Whatever the source, audio must be saved on the hard disk before it can be used. Music CD tracks for example must be copied (or 'ripped') to the hard disk, typically in the popular MP3 format. This can be done from within ProShow Gold or by means of Windows Media Player (only version 10 onwards).
Audio editing offers the opportunity to tailor the length of music tracks, combine sounds and create a soundscape for the pictures. Editing for length and volume can be done from within PSG but more complex audio editing can be done with the free program Audacity. A demonstration of this covered the editing and combination of various sounds and just hinted at the power of this free open-source application. Again, the result can be saved as a project in case future edits are required and also as a finished audio file for incorporation in an AV. If output in the popular MP3 format is required, a free LAME MP3 encoder must also be downloaded - see the Audacity site for details.
Audacity is also a recorder and can capture any sound that can be heard through the PC. Care needs to be taken to monitor the volume during recording to maximise quality. On the question of the legality of recordings, by virtue of membership of APS you are affiliated to the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain (PAGB) and therefore eligible to purchase a license from the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society (MCPS). For less than £8 per year you can purchase an MCPS license which entitles you to record and play any commercial music for club or public viewing in a non-profit making situation. More details here.
FURTHER TUITION
Don't hesitate to contact me with any questions on the above, or for tuition on audiovisuals, audio, or any Photoshop-related skills. My spam-protected contact details are on the main APS website under Contact Us.
Cheers, Steve Brabner.