Digital Photographer's Software Guide - Bertemes - Net

Chapter 27 ■ Slide Show Creation 309
MAGIX Xtreme PhotoStory on CD & DVD 6
Vendor: MAGIX
Purpose: Turns digital images into slide shows with a soundtrack, for TV display
Description
MAGIX Xtreme PhotoStory on CD & DVD 6 lets you turn digital images into a slide
show, complete with a soundtrack, for burning to disk and displaying on all types of
monitors, including 16:9 widescreen TVs.
The software puts a collection of images together as a slide show almost instantly, but
you have to add text, fades, and zooms in the appropriate places. Beyond that, it offers
a wide range of features, with editing functions that include auto-exposure/color, redeye
correction, and white balance. A key feature is the capacity to add a recorded commentary
synchronized to the pictures.
Dozens of special effects are inevitable in good slide show software and PhotoStory does
not disappoint in this department, with dozens of transitions, including a 3D page
turner, morphing, and picture-in-picture effects. It can simulate video camera movements
with zooms and pans. Neither does it lack “fun elements” like speech bubbles
and cartoons. Output is to CD or DVD, or to the MAGIX Online Album, a free
Website for online slide shows and streaming videos. It creates CDs with SCSI or IDE
CD-R(W) burners and DVDs with DVD+/-R(W) burners.
Comments
One line of the vendor’s advertising reads: “Never have boring slide show evenings ever
again!” The problem is that unless the photographs are so good they speak for themselves,
no one will ever create an interesting slide show without considerable effort.
Transitions require a sense of timing; soundtracks a sense of theater. However, if you are
a good photographer with a flair for drama and time on your hands, MAGIX Xtreme
PhotoStory on CD & DVD 6 is a great product. Latest features include the ability to
enhance portrait pictures with creative effects, use animated Web graphics as decorative
elements, and add Flash movies to HTML Websites.
Version: MAGIX Xtreme PhotoStory on CD & DVD 6 (2008)
OS: Windows 2000, XP, and Vista
RAM: 256MB
Supported file formats: JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, and PSD
Price level: Download approx. $20, box approx. $25
Address: MAGIX AG, Friedrichstraße 200, 10117 Berlin, Germany
www.site.magix.net