Photo Story 3
From Shifted Learning
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The fastest solution to throwing together a little slideshow.
A few prerequisites. Photo Story 3 is Windows XP/Vista only. (Here's more than you want to know about requirements.) It's a free download from Microsoft that doesn't come pre-installed. Download it here. If you don't have Windows Media Player 10 or greater, you will be asked to install that first. All these toys are free and easily downloadable.
Microsoft has a GREAT Frequently Asked Questions site that addresses the particulars of using Photo Story 3.
Begin a new story. Click Next.
Import pictures you have already stored on your machine.
I'm simply selecting a few of the default pictures that come in Windows XP for this project.
Notice the timeline. You can change the order of the pictures in your slideshow just by clicking and dragging them in whatever order. There are some basic photo editing features here. Nothing dramatic.
If you want to add text to a slide, go for it. You can change up fonts, colors and position with the buttons above the text box. The drop down menu below the image allows you to set transitions for the image in your show.
Interested in adding narration? If you have a microphone, you can click the red Record button to narrate each picture. Use the text box below the controls to script your audio. The Customize Motion button allows you to add interesting transitional effects to your image.
Photo Story puts a default Pan and Zoom effect on each slide. With Customize Motion, you can change these settings and control the duration of your slide.
Music? Sure. Select Music. You can adjust the volume a bit if you simply want background audio.
Almost done! Click Preview and let's check things out. If you need to make any adjustments, click back.
This screen can get a little technical. You most likely want the defaults of "Save your story for playback on your computer". You'll give it a name, click next, and it will go through a short process of rendering your movie. (Mashing together the images, text, audio, and effects.)
Finally, you can View Your Story. Be sure to Save Project. If you want to edit this project again and resave it, you'll need to open the Project, not the final story.
