Using Video Editing Suite to Create Picture Slide Shows

I have been on a quest to find the best way to create photo slide shows to share with family and friends. In the beginning, having absolutely NO idea what I was doing in terms of getting my digital pictures onto VCDs, I searched on the internet and experimented with some trial downloads. After making many coasters, I found Ulead DVD Pictureshow, which allowed me to actually get SOMETHING to play. I thought it was the answer and, at the time, it was better than nothing. Then, I got the newer pictureshow 2 and thought it was better. I think these programs are good for beginners, such as myself, but they are very limited in what you can do and, the reason I'm on the hunt again, I spent hours last night working on a slide show, trying to get the timing PERFECT only to find that, after I'd burned my masterpiece, the timing on my dvd player did not match the timing given in the software preview - so, all of my effort was wasted and to say I was upset was an understatement. I've heard that you can use video editing software for stills as well as analog and digital video. Can anyone give me some suggestions in that regard, in terms of recommended software and the method? I do have some video editing software and have done video capture and very basic cut and merge editing, but that's about it. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!

Thanks!

I use Ulead Video Studio V6 for all my video editing and also for creating slide shows from stills. I have even incorporated a mini slide shows in some movie videos. The good thing about VS is that you can work in timeline mode so that you can accurately time every slide, every transition effect, music, etc that you put in, to the frame (1/30 sec.). I don't know if you really need to control your timing to that level of granularity but it's there if you ever need it.

Good luck with your slide show video.

Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. I actually experimented this weekend and managed to create a slide show using Windows Movie Maker. I was really pleased with my first effort, though not so pleased with the program, the amount of time it took to get the final product, and the file format. Once I had the file created, I then had to convert it to an MPEG. I believe we have Ulead VS v5, but I'm not sure. That or something similar came with our All-in-Wonder. So, thanks for the recommendation - I'll experiment with that next! Thanks!

Invest in a Mac. iMovie, iDVD, iPhoto, iTunes. Easy to use, professional quality, can't go wrong.

Check out MySlideshow at www.anixsoft.com. Very simple to use interface. Here are features as listed on website...

Has a convenient user interface (similar to Windows Explorer) for adding image files to your slide show from your image folders.
Shows selected images and slides in preview and full screen modes.
Shows slides as thumbnails, which makes it easier to change their sequence or sort them.
Allows you to customize various slide show parameters.
Allows you to add and edit the slide Captions.
Allows you to rotate your images to the position you want without an image editor.
Allows you to change the settings either for the whole slide show or for individual slides.
Offers Manual and Automatic slide show modes.
Offers special Start Screen option allowing you to view your photos as Previews or Filmstrip.
Saves slide show projects in special text format that allows you to play and edit them later on.
Has font and color settings for the slide captions.
Has font and color settings for the image information text.
Plays background music during whole slide show from a special play list.
Supports Transition Effects.
Allows you to collect several slide shows into an Album
Creates output slide shows as standalone executable (.exe) files or screen savers.
Generates HTML pages with thumbnails (web galleries) for publishing on the web.