DVD Question
 

I have a DVD maker on my computer and thought I'd make a DVD for friends and family that have never been to Africa. Put up some pictures and some really cool African music and then got to thinking...how long would the average person sit in front of the t.v. and watch animal pictures? Would it be as boring as the pictures people pull out of their wallets of their grandkids? Anyone make a DVD of their pictures and if so how long did you make it?
Thanks,
Dennis

Like asking how long's a piece of string, Dennis.

Your audience has to be as passionate as you to endure the same length of show as you would. I once returned from three years in wild & remote New Guinea and thought friends would be thrilled by my old-fashioned slideshow (back in the late 60s). I fear they were asleep within 15 minutes.

Then it also depends how good the pics and the presentation are. I could watch hours of Animal Planet without interruption if the product and presentation weren't so much rubbish. We returned from our 2004 safari with about six hours of video shot by one of our group. Another member managed to edit this down to about an hour and a half and that's still much too long for some.

Could you consider a teaser DVD (like a trailer) to test the market before inflicting a long version on friends and family?

John

Hear John above. The DVD needs to be entertaining. Period, end of story. If it is not entertaining, it is booooooring. So, it needs to have variety and "action". If you have nothing but still photos, a slide show, with background music then probably 10-15 minutes is about max length. If you mix still photos with short video clips then you can go much longer, up to say 45 minutes. The motion of video plus the live sound is a needed contrast to still photos. Just still photos with background music is not interesting for very long. You did take some video with your S2 didn't you?

I have made three DVD's of still photos and video clips from my first three safaris (using Proshow). They vary in length from 24 to 46 minutes. And they, I really believe, are enjoyed by family and friends. Because, again, I think they are entertaining. Your photo for you brings many memories and meaning with it. That same photo to me has none of that, it is just a picture of something. For it to interest me it must be exceptional on its own or part of a story line.

regards - tom
ps - just now starting on my fourth DVD from our Sep safari.

I use ProShow as well and put it together with the animal sounds (Sounds of the Jungle, Plain and Bush) available from amazon.com. Like the others, I have found that 20-40 minutes is tops, with the longer shows showing sequences of animal interactions rather than individual frames. For example, a cub playing with its mother's tail and sequencing from one frame to another quickly works pretty well. Another with a leopard carrying a kill up into a tree also seems to stop time. Using ProShow it is possible to mimic the Robert Burns effect so that the images are not static. Another technique (I do this when I lecture medical students) is to throw in a completely unrelated slide; let your imagination and your audience dictate the particular image. Medical students and Residents have a strange sense of humor. Another technique involves using ProShow running in a loop with the images running continuously on a large screen TV while having sundownders. ProShow will do High Definition if you save the file as an "executable file". You then leave it on your laptop and plug the laptop into the TV. It's a wonderful way of finding out who your true friends are.
Regards-Chuck

Vary the timing of slides, vary the types of fades, use the "Robert Burns" effect some (don't go crazy with it), use audio stripped from video of the scene as background for slides, then maybe fade into the actual video. Variety, variety, putting typical snapshots up for 4 seconds then fading to another one for 4 seconds and again will put your audience to sleep in 2 minutes.

regards - tom

Thanks John, Tom and Chuck~ I was just thinking it would be more entertaining for some people to see it on the t.v. with music than viewing them on Kodakgallery-and I did manage to cut my 100+ photos of elephants down to a few, and still have to trim some dog shots. Trying to hit the 15 minute mark, but the music is 18 minutes so will go with that.
Took a few videos, but the only one that came out o.k. is a buffalo stampede so put that in.
Tom I really liked your statement from your trip report <i>&quot;I try to put up photos that are at least a little different in some way, i.e. subject, behavior, people, lighting. &quot;Here is an elephant in the bush, walking away&quot; photos I don't even take.</i> I'm going to try that next time. I have too many pics from all the trips of the elephant walking away category. Would you ever consider going without a camera?

Dennis - I agree, it is more entertaining for people to see your photos on TV DVD rather than Kodakgallery. You're adding music for one thing. And I know some people would simply never bother to go into Kodakgallery. With the DVD you simply give them, or mail to them, a copy. Super easy for them to watch at their leisure. You say 18 minutes of music, I hope of not the same music? I'd have maybe 6 different songs? Also, how long to keep a photo on screen is good question. Unless it is part of an &quot;action&quot; sequence, I'd say 3 or 4 seconds. And vary that some, mostly 4, some 3 some 5. I'd rather have it a bit too short than too long. Put the buffalo stamped in the last half (but not a the very end).

It's hard to pass on photos especially the first time you actually see the animal. So I do sympathize with all of the rear-side walking away shots. And I have to confess that I can not pass up a great lighting shot of a male lion. Even though the world doesn't need another male lion portrait even if they are yawning :-) Now, would I go on safari without a camera? Very tough question. Yes, I would if that were my absolutely only option. But it's like, should I find myself arrived at JNB with my camera(s) missing, the next business hour I'd be at a local camera store getting replacements.

regards - tom

Tom~yes 5-6 different songs and singers, Microsoft DVD Maker doesn't let you change times for each pic, so settled on 3 sec each, next up was 5, seemed too long. Next time I'm taking the camera but will try your method, I really don't need another elephant pic unless one is standing on it's head!
Thanks for the advice, appreciate it!

Ok, think you've a good shot at it. Lets us know how it is received by friends and family.

FWIW, I put in one whale of a lot of time into making my safari DVDs. At least two hours of work for every minute that plays on the DVD. Maybe I'm just slow, but more likely is that I enjoy doing it :)

regards - tom

I think you'll hit on the right formula with all that advice, Dennis.

I personally don't go in for DVDs of my shots, but experience long past tells me what will hold people's attention even if they are lukewarm about your favourite topic.

My wife uses a slideslow program which gives her great flexibility in making DVDs for our wedding clients (and others)...with different individual image durations, panning and zooming and various transitions, and smooth audio background capability. Go to www.wnsoft.com and look for PicturesToExe. Apparently designed by photographers, not software gurus.

John

&quot;slideshow&quot;, of course :)

John

Well the first &quot;take&quot; was a wash. The only one's interest that didn't fade was the dogs...she was enthralled, even I got bored. I'll have to try another program as the MS one doesn't have the ability to change transitions between pics.

Dennis - Thanks for your feedback. What was the reaction to your buffalo video scene? At least you can be honest about it. Most people can never see/realize such about their work/photography. (And their friends won't tell them).

I'm afraid that unless your still photos are exceptional and varied, they will put people to sleep after a few minutes. ESPECIALLY if you do not vary the timing, fades and music. My DVDs are more than half video clips. Short, high impact scenes. Like I said, variety, entertaining.

Try it again and let us know the formula that works.

regards - tom

If you have Microsoft Movie Maker it will allow you to change the time of each individual slide and to change the transistion between slides and to add effects to the slide itself. I learned the hard way to add your music last. After you have made your movie you use MS DVD maker to burn the DVD.

Good luck.

<b>Update:</b> Made quite a few samples, and all seemed quite boring, then found Windows Movie Maker on my computer and it had the transitions and effects that bobcaat mentioned, and that helped a bit, but watching 15-20 minutes of anyone's pictures can be boring so I timed the DVD to last long enough to play one 3 and 1/2 minute song and included 1 or 2 pics of most of the animals and birds that we saw. It was just enough to hold some peoples attention compared to my first tries where we all couldn't wait for it to end. Anyway satisfied enough to send it out for Christmas to friends and family who have never been to Africa.
Thanks for all your help and advice!

Glad you found a satisfactory solution, Dennis. It is really difficult, I can assure you.

As much as I hate to say it (but I think most serious photographers will agree), very very few people <i>comparatively</i> are interested in viewing others' photographs. They'll view a few politely, and rave over the really good ones, but interest quickly wanes. Otherwise, coffee table books full of brilliant wildlife images would sell much better than they do.

People would rather read Wilbur Smith's words than look at Daryl Balfour's photos (maybe because of the sexy human element in the former). I've participated in photography forums, where the prime interest is the images, and sports forums...and tellingly, no matter how good the action images in the latter, the threads with the most views overwhelmingly are those with the words, the gossip, the chitchat, the information. Pictures fall by the wayside. They're only an important <i>minor</i> element.

John

Thanks for your follow up Dennis. Glad you got something to work.

Three minutes or so of photos, huh. I think people really miss the sound/noise of the place. Silent photos convey only half of the feel. That is why video clips with sound works pretty good. IF the clips are short (average less than one minute) and high impact/action. You know, like a mock ele charge on your vehicle, or close up of a leopard munching impala in a tree, or lion cubs romping about. But having said that, I prefer to take photos, there is something magical about freezing time with a photo.

regards - tom