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MAGIX Photo Story on DVD MX Deluxe

Direct from Magix
£69.99 for direct download

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Some photo collections are still stored in a kind of box that is referred to as the hard disk in your computer.  Instead of just storing these photos in your computer, you could use the computer to display your images to interested parties using a software package such as PhotoStory.  This product provides you with tools to turn your photos into slideshows that incorporate various effects.

To give the product its full title of PhotoStory on DVD MX Deluxe, this software package has been developed by MAGIC and is now up to version 11.  MAGIC has bundled a couple of its other titles with this product.  These are MAGIX Photo Manager 10 and Mufin Player 2.5.  Installation of all three products is straightforward although the main title will require the entry of a 30-character serial code when you first run the product. 

When firing up PhotoStory, an overlaid menu window will appear giving you the options to create a new project or slideshow plus open an existing project.  When creating a slideshow you have the choice of starting from scratch using a wizard-led approach or use a movie template that gives you a series of place-holders into which you can place your images.  There is also an introductory video with an informative commentary that covers the Media Pool, Storyboard / Time line, Editing, Adding Effects and Burning slideshows.

See also: Graphic software

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Slideshows can be created in either widescreen or standard display mode.  You can also select a title for your project plus choose from a down-drop pick list for the chosen media.  These options consist of DVD, DVD DL, Blu-ray and AVCHD.  Content, including photos, video clips and music tracks, can be selected from a variety of sources on an individually or folder basis and stored in the Media Pool where it can be accessed for any project under construction.  You can also import photos direct from your digital camera.

Transferring content from the Media Pool to the Storyboard section is straightforward using drag & drop and this will then give you the opportunity to carry out basic manipulation and editing features.  You can move items around to get a better flow to the slideshow.  Specific images can be rotated in 90 degree increments.  Appropriate titles can be added as can fades that occur between slides.  There is also an option to edit photos using the MAGIX Photo Designer software which forms part of this Deluxe offering.

Once you have completed your editing you can select from a range of style templates.  Amongst those on offer are Chill-out, 2D to stereo 3D, 70s party, Beach Holiday, Carnival, Love Story, Music Clip and Silent movie.  It’s more than likely that you will need to edit the supplied opening title and closing screen as the text could well be in German (MAGIX being a German company that forgot to make the alterations itself).

You can accept a default soundtrack or add your owned choice of music or record a commentary.  MAGIC Music Editor 3, like Photo Designer, is included for working on your choice of soundtrack.  The actual creation of your slideshow is generally quick and you can take advantage of features such as face recognition which makes a reasonable stab at keeping faces in view during certain operations. 

Various choices of menu types are available for inclusion with your project which can be saved to your hard drive with a desktop link or burned to optical media.  In either case, this is not a particular quick operation.  You can also upload your project to YouTube, Flickr or Facebook for presentation to a wider audience.  A variety of export options are available and these include saving as video or 3D video plus saving for a mobile device or as a Media Player and being sent by email.

Overall this deluxe version of PhotoStory manages the tricky act of combining ease of use for the novice while providing more powerful features that will be welcomed by the more experienced users.  Priced at £69.99, PhotoStory on DVD MX Deluxe requires a minimum of a 1.83 GHz processor with 512MB of RAM, 1GB of hard disk space running Windows XP and later.

http://www.magix.com/gb/photostory-on-cd-dvd/