ProShow Gold is a fairly affordable software for producing a professional slideshow that photographers use for a variety of purposes. Proshow is a PC based software to make a great dvd/cd slide show that can be played on a standard dvd player on a television or on a PC.
To get ready to make a show, you will need a set of jpeg photos and a source of music/sound. The photos can be any size as PSG will size the photos as it renders the slide show. We have found that it is handy to size the photos down if we are making a very large show as we do for our wedding clients. The sound can be almost any format but it will not work with a Itunes MP4 file. So any MP3 or even your CDs can be a source for your show. Legal software is always advisable for a professional product.
Open proshow and browse to the folder of photos and select all that you want and drag them to the blue slide panel that you see below. If you have a MP3 file you can drag it to the audio line, you will see it load and the graphics of the sound below the slides.
Proshow is another one of those software that work on a database type system. This means that when you save the project it doesn’t really save all the pictures and sound together. What is saving is the reference to those files where they exist on your computer. Once you render the show it is furnished and you can not edit it anymore, but now it can be moved intact.
It is easy to start a slideshow in PSG. I like to save it into my production folder for a job. It is handy to put all your filers together before you start – jpegs and sound file. You can however collect your files after you have browsed to different folders and locations to find them.
This the screen that follows the Collect Show Files. you can see how it has listed the photos and Jpeg files to be put together
Once you have the files collected you can move the project from place to place and it will find all the necessary files.
Now you can start working on the show, Proshow has lots of built in transitions but be careful too many weird transitions can make your show look trashy. Double click the button between the photos at the bottom and you can select one of these nifty transitions.
Movement can really add interest to your show to get to the movement menu, you just click on the the slide at the bottom of the page. Experiment with this, you can mix it up with moving the beginning position off the canvas and have it slide in as it zooms to the final view. The zoom function can bring the viewers attention.
Make a title slide, or a series of slide using Photoshop and different layers that will be saved as you turn the layers on and off. This effect will give a sense of animation as you build your title. Try it out. You will be required to make a custom title slide to complete the show. Lets include your logo on the show to develop your brand.
Review your general show options.
Now let’s look at the output options. If you know you want to play on a computer and produce the sharpest looking show on screen and with a digital projector then you will want to pic the PC executable system. These will be the size thatthey will fit a standard CD. If you want to make a show that will play on a tv and a regular DVD player then you will want to pick the DVD options. We will neet to do some testing to see which type of dvd (dvd-r or dvd+r) will give us the most compatability.
Each system will have a set of options to review go through the option and test your show when you are finnished render both an executable and a dvd show on seperate disks.
After we select the DVD option we seee this screen. If you click the customize menu, you will be able to add your custom title slide
Browse to your title page image and keep working until you get the title slide to look the way you want it. Learn to use the help menu to answer your questions. Click the little blue question mark and look for answers.
After you finnish editing the show you will select the dvd option for output. From the menu you see below you will create your DVD. This system actually turns your slideshow into a video.
Proshow will render your show. After you have made a DVD take it home and see if it plays on your TV.
Jerry,
Thanks for sharing your learned info. with me. The section on layers guided me a bit further into using that function better.
I will keep you posted on anything I figure out as well.
Thanks again,
Greg Sorell
I’m trying to get my pro show converted so that I may post it on my blog. Wondering if you had any info that could help me on this. I tried to upload to youtube and then post but it won’t upload any of the files. Thanks!!!
Colby Heineman
Hi there, came across your blog in search for blog templates. Very informative site, just wanted to add to this feed that we have been using proshow for a while now and I agree, it is a great program. Some quirks we had to work through but that is quite common now adays.
ProShow producer has a built in function for uploading to youtube. As for putting the shows on a blog or website, I have not succeeded with great satisfaction. The quality of the flash show is not great and our blu domain site does not recognize it. When I finish working this out I will write back!
Browse member ’empirical’ on photodex.com to view some sample shows.
Cheers,
Angela DeSalvo
Empirical Photographic Arts
You have some great work, I am flattered that you would find jerrycentral interesting.
I was hoping you might have an answer for Colby Heineman’s question. I am also trying to upload a show from Proshow to WordPress and not having much luck at it. Help!
Lynne
I am very pleased with ProShow Producer . The output to TV, digital projecter, and computer screen is extremely sharp when the show is rendered as a PC executable. However I find the quality poor when rendered as a DVD. My TV is a 50 inch 1080p HD TV and the slideshow is perfectly sharp , that is, until I use the DVD version. Then, I ‘m sad to say, I have poor VHS like quality. Is there a way to produce decent DVD shows or are my standards too high ?
At the present time, I render the shows as a PC Executable to a USB flash drive which I use in any available laptop giving me top notch excellent resolution. However I can’t be giving flash drives to all my friends.
Thanks,
john
Nice, thorough article. I agree, ProShow is a great program.
A couple answers for previous commenters:
1. Always use high quality DVD-R disks, and check each one all the way to the end after burning. Sony DVD-Rs usually work well for me, but you may find a few bad disks in any pack from any manufacturer.
2. For WordPress, you will need to save your show’s Flash files at the root of your site, then install the “FLV Embed” plugin. You will add a custom field to your page, then add a WordPress shortcode to your page like: [flv:http://yoursite.com/yourshow.flv 480 360] I have tried other plugins, and this is the only one that worked.
I just discovered proshow and love it. I agree with the poor DVD quality, but I will try with a different make of dvd and hope things will improve!
For my blog I use the vimeo option. Their HD video embedding is great. I you make a lot of videos you might need to upgrade to their paid account, because there is a weekly uplouad limit, but to me it’s been worth it…
One of the nicest things a ProShow person can discover is the ProShowEnthusiasts forum. Without it and its huge collection of helpful people, I might still be stuck back in 2007. I suggest anyone here who hasn’t yet stumbled across this forum should seek it out posthaste.
Barbara (from over at ProShowThink.wordpress.com)