FotoMagico: Why You DO Need a Slideshow Application

[Vincent Ferrari]

<p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/at/auto/1225107596.usr18053.jpg" border="1" /></p><p>Let's face it, guys.&nbsp; Ken Burns ruined it for the rest of us.&nbsp; The days of doing a quick slideshow of photos and then dazzling your audience with some hokey transitions and some cute sound effects are long gone.&nbsp; In a time where we're pushing digital cameras to new heights, shouldn't our photo slideshows grow with them? That's where Fotomagico comes in. <MORE /></p><p><a href="http://boinx.com/fotomagico/overview/">Fotomagico</a>, for the most part, looks like your standard run of the mill video-editing application.&nbsp; What it does very nicely, however, is give you a ton of control over how your slideshow plays, the transitions, and the panning and zooming of your photos.&nbsp; Along the bottom, you see each individual photo with an icon between the duration where you can change the transition, the transition's entry and exit point, delay, etc.</p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/at/auto/1225547243.usr18053.jpg" border="1" /><em></em></p><p><em>Figure 1: The transitions control panel in Fotomagico.</em></p><p>The nicest part of the Fotomagico transitions are that they aren't hokey when you use them.&nbsp; They actually look really nice.&nbsp; They're smooth, well done, and don't take away from the photos underneath.</p><p>Of course, no slideshow would be complete without music, and Fotomagico makes it easy to add music to your slideshows by dragging audio files onto your time line.&nbsp; The one thing it's lacking is the ability to fade it in and out, but you can match the photo durations to the music file you add, and it will spread the photos and transitions out evenly over the course of the song; a nice feature that saves a ton of manual work during slideshow creation.</p><p>And, finally what good would a slideshow be if you had to leave it on your computer?&nbsp; That's where Fotomagico really shines.&nbsp; Whether or not you plunk down for the pro version, Fotomagico offers oodles of export options.&nbsp; Everything from H.264 files (including HD in the Pro version) to YouTube to AppleTV / iPod / iPhone, and even an option to create a playerless screensaver for Mac OS X family members who just can't get enough pictures of your kids and cats!&nbsp; The differences are laid out clearly on the site, but essentially, the Pro version offers you a bunch more customization of the same formats for exporting.</p><p>Fotomagico is an essential application if you like making high-quality photo slide shows.&nbsp; I definitely recommend you grab a copy of the demo and try it out and see for yourself. Fotomagico is available in Pro ($129) and Express ($49) versions (<a href="http://boinx.com/fotomagico/expressvspro/">the differences are explained here</a>) from <a href="http://boinx.com/fotomagico/overview/">Boinx Software</a>.&nbsp; There are also trial versions available, and a discount for buying a family-pack of two licenses.</p><p>I've been using this one for a really long time and think no one who loves taking and sharing photographs should be without it.</p><p><em>Vincent Ferrari is an Apple fan, videoblogger, blogger, writer, and all-around geek from the Bronx.&nbsp; He works in the IT Department of a cellular phone company that shall not be named, and lives in a very comfortable apartment with his lovely wife, two lovely cats, three Macs, two iPhones, and God-knows-how-many iPods of varying age.</em></p>

[Jason Dunn]

Looks like a cool app! ProShow Gold (http://www.photodex.com/) on the PC is similar.

[azcurt]

I am an officer in the Tucson Macintosh Users Group and use FotoMagico frequently. I presented a live demo at one of our meetings a couple of months ago - actually made a short slideshow with music during the demo. The learning curve is simple - a really nice presentation can be made on your first try. Very well designed, intuitive interface. It's no wonder Boinx received an Apple design award for this. I just completed a presentation based on the architecture of Antoni Gaudi and am very pleased with the results. I couldn't have done this without FotoMagico. Highly recommended!

[doogald]

I guess my big question would be is this so much better than iPhoto that it is worth spending that much money?

[Vincent Ferrari]

As far as comparing it to iPhoto, it's really about export options and formats, and the amount of control you have over panning, zooming, and transitions. It's really not meant for the casual user, honestly. It's easy enough, just not practical.

[mwfielder]

Just bought a Macbook Pro, and I will soon be making a video for my son's football team. What I did last year was take Windows Movie Maker, and bring in photos, a few video clips, and splice in songs and voice overs. Put all the transitions in, etc.... Here's the actual video: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3870579352248705010 .

If you take the time to watch it, you'll see that it is not real smooth, nor a high quality---probably all from the PC I created it on and WMM. I wanted to do a cleaner version this year, and maybe with a little more wow factor.

So, being real new to the Mac world, what do I use? Is this an iPhoto or iMovie thing, or should I get a program like the one reviewed here?

[Vincent Ferrari]

I would definitely recommend giving Fotomagico a go. I think it's exactly what you're looking for quality-wise and you'll be very happy with the results. They do have a free trial on the site so you should be able to get a good feel for how it'll work for you.

Let me know what you think! Come back here and share your thoughts when you try it!

[Joe Johaneman]

I take a lot of pictures, and I can see a lot of uses for this. Thanks for the review, Vincent. I'm definitely going to look into FotoMagico.

[EvilOne]

Thanks for the review. I have been looking for something to replace my MemoriesOnTV application on my PC and think that this may actually be it!

[mwfielder]

How would this compare to Final Cut Express?

[Vincent Ferrari]

How would this compare to Final Cut Express?

Fotomagico is only for making slideshows, whereas Final Cut Express is all about editing videos. You can use Final Cut Express to do photo slideshows, but you can't do the reverse and use Fotomagico to edit video.

Hope that clarified things somewhat!

[AkJoseph]

How would this compare to Final Cut Express?

FCE and FCPro are for editing the video, i.e. light, color, massaging the sound, and then production. FotoMagico is not for editing the video. It is for assembling it and looking great! There is a huge difference. Tweak your photos in iPhoto. iMovie may also tweak color/sound in a video. But FotoMagico is easy, relatively inexpensive and loads of fun. Plus it will export to a self-playing doc that is full resolution.

This weekend my wife and I produced a performance art piece we did two weeks ago with over 30 people at the Anchorage Museum called 50 Voices (in YT just search my YT account, iTeachiPad). Fun!

As to sound, FM3.0 which I just bought and used this weekend for the first time, does something called "ducking". That is where it takes your music or other sound tracks and ducks them behind the track of your choice for that slide or slides. So, if you have a song/tune background and want to voice over just parts you can duck the music behind your voice - lowering the music. Perfect. You have total control of how much to duck, and control the decline/return with faster or slower to bounce back.

iTunes, folders, Garage Band, Apeture, other programs just integrate so easily! It was my first FotoMagico try. It was great. And GarageBand had some handy sounds to import for greatest ease. I now have the movie on iPad, YouTube and in self player formats! All from in FotoMagico. It is elegant, smooth, and heaps of notices when you try to do something less useful - but allows you full control. That's my 2¢ and a bit more. Cheers!