creating a dvd with photos & music

[skhou37]

This is my first time using PE 9 & I am so lost! There is so much information out there that it is overwhelming. All I want to do is create a nice dvd using still photos, add some music & some text (no video clips) throughout. Can someone please help me with the easiest way to do this, maybe point me in the direction of a tutorial or something? I am afraid I am making this more difficult than it should be.
I have to have at least 25 dvd's done by Monday.

Thanks!

[Steve Grisetti]

By Monday?!! Looks like you've got a long weekend ahead for you, skhou! We'll certainly help you all we can -- but I wish we had a little more time to teach you the basics.

In any event, welcome to Muvipix. The answers are all here if you look for them. And, if you're interested, we offer books on doing everything you want to do and more at http://Muvipix.com/pe9.php

In fact, even something as basic as creating a slideshow -- there are at least four different ways to do that in Premiere Elements. And our books show you how to do them all so you can decide.

We've also got lots of free, basic tutorials on our site as well as more advanced tuts for our members.

But to your basic situation:
1) Resize all of your photos to no larger than 1000x750 pixels (72 ppi). This will save you a lot of headaches later.
2) Open a new project and use Get Media/From Files to add all of your photos to your project.
3) Drag your photos from the Project panel to Video 1 on your timeline.
4) Do the same thing to import your music (in WAV format) into your project and onto the Soundtrack timeline. (You may need to hold down the Ctrl button to override the ripple effect so that all of your clips stay in place.)
5) Click Share/To Disc to create your DVD. If you'd like your DVD to have menus, first go to the Disc Menus tab and add menus and scene links.

Those are the basics anyway. If you've got more time and more ambition, you can use keyframing to add pans & zooms over the photos and transitions between them. Or, as I've said, there is more than one way to create slideshows, so you can also use one of the other methods to add pans & zooms or effects automatically if you'd prefer.

And meantime, be sure to check out our free 8-part Basic Training tutorials. They'll help you get familiar with the basics of the program.
http://muvipix.com/products.php?searchp ... 2&btn.y=15

[skhou37]

Thank you! I appreciate your help. I wasn't even thinking of having to resize pictures.

[Chuck Engels]

Hi and Welcome to Muvipix

Everything that Steve said above plus;
If you have Photoshop Elements it might be easier to use for your first slideshow, if not you will be fine with Premiere Elements too it's just a little harder to understand at first.

There are lots of tutorials available here and on other sites, many are free

[momoffduty]

Welcome skhou37 to Muvipix. The tutorials here are wonderful....that is how I learned. If you want a quick slideshow there is a create slideshow feature in PrEl and you can set the time duration & the same transition between all of the photos. Number your photos in the order you want to appear and bring in the folder of photos. I haven't used this feature in a long time and have v3, so maybe someone else here can post the details.

[skhou37]

I do have Photoshop Elements 8 although I have never done slideshows with it, I have used Windows Movie Maker before. I think just all the different options & capabilities of PE9 threw me for a loop. LOL

Thanks again!
Susan

[momoffduty]

Hi Susan, The create slideshow I was referring to is in Premiere Elements. If I remember correctly, the dropdown menu on the property panel has the option or maybe it is under the File menu. I have never used the Photoshop Elements for slideshows since Premiere has more capabilities.

[George Tyndall]

I have never used the Photoshop Elements for slideshows since Premiere has more capabilities.

Very true, but the OP is a beginner who is in a hurry, and for that situation PSE rather than PRE is the way to go, as with PSE he can automatically add P&Z to all the slides and time the slides to the music. It just won't be nearly as elegant as one can do with PRE.

My specialty is slide shows, and I've learned the hard way that, when time is of the essence, it's easiest to begin them in PSE and then "send" them to PRE for fine tuning.

Assuming you have a Windows machine, here is an Adobe TV video on the process:

http://www.adobe.com/go/lrvid2330_pse9_en

[Chuck Engels]

Translation for Beginners:

PSE = Photoshop Elements
PRE = Premiere Elements
P&Z = Pan and Zoom (Ken Burns Effect)

Take it easy on the new people George