Stills on a timeline for DVD

Geoff Jak · April 11th, 2011, 05:27 PM

hi...I have to produce a DVD with a big pack of stills for a friends funeral on Friday. I need a fast solution. I am scanning the pics now at 300 dpi so I can zoom and sometimes rotate.

Whats a fast but nice looking (I know thats a personal thing but tell me anyway) transition set to use. NewBlue Fx perhaps?

Any advice on speeding up the process and making it look good would be appreciated.
Thx

Jeff Harper · April 11th, 2011, 06:13 PM

I use a plug in, Ultimate S that does zillions of things, including making relatively instand photo montages. It will fit the photos to the length of the music or vice versa, customize the transitions as you wish, and do it all in 5 minutes of clicking tops, then you just get in an tweak it a bit. But you have to figure it out, and unless your really quick, the whole deal might take a chunk of a day, if you have lots of photos.

Edward's plug in for Vegas named Excalibur will do the same thing and is very popular also.

Edward has mentioned a special photo montage program out there that sounds really great, but I forget the name of it, and as I recall it was expesnive, but seemed amazing.

The advantage of Excalibur for you would be that Edward is around a lot and can help walk you through it right here, if needed. I'm not speaking for Ed, but he's very helpful so it's a safe bet he could/would help you get started.

Ultimate S may or may not be as popular, I've been using it a few years, but I rarely see it mentioned anymore, and there support is good, but not as quick as Ed, since he's around here already.

Geoff Jak · April 11th, 2011, 06:17 PM

Well done Jeff. thx for the prompt reply. Sounds good. I'll have a look at Ultimate S. Right now I am still scanning pics so will deal with that soon. cheers

Jeff Harper · April 11th, 2011, 07:31 PM

It just occurred to me that Edward might be tied up at NAB. But I believe Excalibur, and possibly Ultimate S have fully functioning trial versions! I'm almost certain Excalibur does, not so sure about Ultimate S, it's been awhile. Edward would certainly suggest to try it, use it, and if you don't want to buy it, just uninstall it later.

Geoff Jak · April 11th, 2011, 07:38 PM

wow thats good news Jeff. I'll check out Excalibur. Thx

Jeff Harper · April 11th, 2011, 07:38 PM

Good luck!

Edward Troxel · April 12th, 2011, 08:40 AM

Jeff, yes I'm at NAB! Was a long day yesterday.

The montage specific script you're thinking of is Montage Magic - www.jetdv.com/mm

Excalibur can be found here: www.jetdv.com/excalibur

Ultimate S and the other Vasst tools can be found here: Sony Vegas Pro training, plug-ins, camcorder and video production tutorials - VASST

Jeff Harper · April 12th, 2011, 08:44 AM

Edward, have a blast! Montage Magic is only $50, I thought it was much more, my mistake. I might give it a go!

Geoff Jak · April 13th, 2011, 06:27 AM

Thanks you both Jeff and Ed.

I've had a look at Excalibar adnam exited about the prospects... and now I need a tutorial to get to where I want to go.Here's the deal - 63 still images (jpeg) so at the head I will have a title, then disolve between the pics. Zooming in on the last frame would be a bonus. How can I do this seamlessly in Excalibar.
Thx

Jeff Harper · April 13th, 2011, 06:32 AM

I'm sure someone will come along to help. As we know, Ed's away, but at some point he might pipe in. I've never used it, so sorry!

Geoff Jak · April 13th, 2011, 06:43 AM

No worries Jeff. Im searching the net for tutes soon...after dinner here:)

Edward Troxel · April 13th, 2011, 08:47 AM

Here's what I typically do: Drop all the images on the timeline, use Excalibur to adjust lengths of the images if needed (I usually just add them to the timeline at the correct length), and then use Excalibur to determine the length of the crossfades between the images. I used to use the Video Scrapbook tool in Excalibur to randomly add Pans and Zooms but now I use Montage Magic for that.Then I'm basically done! Of course, you'll want to then add your title at the beginning and any other changes you want made.

Gregory Barringer · April 13th, 2011, 02:56 PM

Ultimate S lite, quick & easy.

Don Bloom · April 13th, 2011, 03:53 PM

I once did a montage with 250 stills. Most had to be scanned. What a PITA! BUT!!!!!!! I used Excalibur Scrapebook (Montage Magic wasn't out then) and within a very short period of time had it just the way I wanted.
Gotta love scripting and anything Edward does is first class and works as advertised.

Geoff Jak · April 28th, 2011, 04:55 AM

The funeral is over and the video was shown at the ceremony.

I was running out of time and found the easiest way for me to get the job done was to simply use the disolve tools in Vegas 9. It was a synch. I am yet to use Excalibar but will now the heat is off. I'm sure the zoom capabilities will be a bonus along with other well laid out tools by Ed.

Just a thanks to all for your advice. Now there is another question coming up in another thread related to this.

April 11th, 2011, 05:27 PM	#1
Geoff Jak Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Perth Australia Posts: 121	Stills on a timeline for DVD - heaps of stills hi...I have to produce a DVD with a big pack of stills for a friends funeral on Friday. I need a fast solution. I am scanning the pics now at 300 dpi so I can zoom and sometimes rotate. Whats a fast but nice looking (I know thats a personal thing but tell me anyway) transition set to use. NewBlue Fx perhaps? Any advice on speeding up the process and making it look good would be appreciated. Thx

April 11th, 2011, 06:13 PM	#2
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	Re: Stills on a timeline for DVD - heaps of stills I use a plug in, Ultimate S that does zillions of things, including making relatively instand photo montages. It will fit the photos to the length of the music or vice versa, customize the transitions as you wish, and do it all in 5 minutes of clicking tops, then you just get in an tweak it a bit. But you have to figure it out, and unless your really quick, the whole deal might take a chunk of a day, if you have lots of photos. Edward's plug in for Vegas named Excalibur will do the same thing and is very popular also. Edward has mentioned a special photo montage program out there that sounds really great, but I forget the name of it, and as I recall it was expesnive, but seemed amazing. The advantage of Excalibur for you would be that Edward is around a lot and can help walk you through it right here, if needed. I'm not speaking for Ed, but he's very helpful so it's a safe bet he could/would help you get started. Ultimate S may or may not be as popular, I've been using it a few years, but I rarely see it mentioned anymore, and there support is good, but not as quick as Ed, since he's around here already. __________________ "The horror of what I saw on the timeline cannot be described."

April 11th, 2011, 06:17 PM	#3
Geoff Jak Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Perth Australia Posts: 121	Re: Stills on a timeline for DVD - heaps of stills Well done Jeff. thx for the prompt reply. Sounds good. I'll have a look at Ultimate S. Right now I am still scanning pics so will deal with that soon. cheers

April 11th, 2011, 07:31 PM	#4
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	Re: Stills on a timeline for DVD - heaps of stills It just occurred to me that Edward might be tied up at NAB. But I believe Excalibur, and possibly Ultimate S have fully functioning trial versions! I'm almost certain Excalibur does, not so sure about Ultimate S, it's been awhile. Edward would certainly suggest to try it, use it, and if you don't want to buy it, just uninstall it later. __________________ "The horror of what I saw on the timeline cannot be described."

April 11th, 2011, 07:38 PM	#5
Geoff Jak Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Perth Australia Posts: 121	Re: Stills on a timeline for DVD - heaps of stills wow thats good news Jeff. I'll check out Excalibur. Thx

April 12th, 2011, 08:40 AM	#7
Edward Troxel Sponsor: JET DV Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 7,953	Re: Stills on a timeline for DVD - heaps of stills Jeff, yes I'm at NAB! Was a long day yesterday. The montage specific script you're thinking of is Montage Magic - www.jetdv.com/mm Excalibur can be found here: www.jetdv.com/excalibur Ultimate S and the other Vasst tools can be found here: Sony Vegas Pro training, plug-ins, camcorder and video production tutorials - VASST __________________ Edward Troxel [SCVU] JETDV Scripts/Scripting Tutorials/Excalibur/Montage Magic/Newsletters

April 12th, 2011, 08:44 AM	#8
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	Re: Stills on a timeline for DVD - heaps of stills Edward, have a blast! Montage Magic is only $50, I thought it was much more, my mistake. I might give it a go! __________________ "The horror of what I saw on the timeline cannot be described."

April 13th, 2011, 06:27 AM	#9
Geoff Jak Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Perth Australia Posts: 121	Re: Stills on a timeline for DVD - heaps of stills Thanks you both Jeff and Ed. I've had a look at Excalibar adnam exited about the prospects... and now I need a tutorial to get to where I want to go.Here's the deal - 63 still images (jpeg) so at the head I will have a title, then disolve between the pics. Zooming in on the last frame would be a bonus. How can I do this seamlessly in Excalibar. Thx

April 13th, 2011, 06:32 AM	#10
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	Re: Stills on a timeline for DVD - heaps of stills I'm sure someone will come along to help. As we know, Ed's away, but at some point he might pipe in. I've never used it, so sorry! __________________ "The horror of what I saw on the timeline cannot be described."

April 13th, 2011, 06:43 AM	#11
Geoff Jak Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Perth Australia Posts: 121	Re: Stills on a timeline for DVD - heaps of stills No worries Jeff. Im searching the net for tutes soon...after dinner here:)

April 13th, 2011, 08:47 AM	#12
Edward Troxel Sponsor: JET DV Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Southern Illinois Posts: 7,953	Re: Stills on a timeline for DVD - heaps of stills Here's what I typically do: Drop all the images on the timeline, use Excalibur to adjust lengths of the images if needed (I usually just add them to the timeline at the correct length), and then use Excalibur to determine the length of the crossfades between the images. I used to use the Video Scrapbook tool in Excalibur to randomly add Pans and Zooms but now I use Montage Magic for that.Then I'm basically done! Of course, you'll want to then add your title at the beginning and any other changes you want made. __________________ Edward Troxel [SCVU] JETDV Scripts/Scripting Tutorials/Excalibur/Montage Magic/Newsletters

April 13th, 2011, 02:56 PM	#13
Gregory Barringer Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Pittsburgh, PA. Posts: 57	Re: Stills on a timeline for DVD - heaps of stills Ultimate S lite, quick & easy.

April 13th, 2011, 03:53 PM	#14
Don Bloom Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 6,609	Re: Stills on a timeline for DVD - heaps of stills I once did a montage with 250 stills. Most had to be scanned. What a PITA! BUT!!!!!!! I used Excalibur Scrapebook (Montage Magic wasn't out then) and within a very short period of time had it just the way I wanted. Gotta love scripting and anything Edward does is first class and works as advertised. __________________ What do I know? I'm just a video-O-grafer. Don

April 28th, 2011, 04:55 AM	#15
Geoff Jak Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Perth Australia Posts: 121	Re: Stills on a timeline for DVD - heaps of stills The funeral is over and the video was shown at the ceremony. I was running out of time and found the easiest way for me to get the job done was to simply use the disolve tools in Vegas 9. It was a synch. I am yet to use Excalibar but will now the heat is off. I'm sure the zoom capabilities will be a bonus along with other well laid out tools by Ed. Just a thanks to all for your advice. Now there is another question coming up in another thread related to this.