DVD Slideshows

In this section, we examine how to work with DVD slideshows in iDVD. DVD slideshows are a nice way to enhance a DVD production; they enable you to add digital pictures to a DVD project that also has video in it. Or, you could make a DVD project that's nothing more than a slideshow.

You may recall from Chapter 12, "Using iPhoto," that you can export a slide show created in iPhoto directly to iDVDincluding the slide duration and background music. However, slideshows exported from iPhoto need to be added to the top level of the DVD project, so if you want to add a slideshow to a submenu you may have to create the slideshow in iDVD. (But don't worrythat's not difficult!)

Using iDVD to create a slideshow is as simple as using other parts of the program; it's a simple matter of dragging your files directly into the iDVD window. After adding your pictures to the slideshow in your DVD project, you can make a number of adjustments if you like.

Task: Creating a Slideshow

Before you can create a slideshow, you must open a new iDVD project or reopen a DVD project that you've been working on that you'd like to add a slideshow to.

1. Open your DVD project.

2. Click the Slideshow button at the bottom of the main iDVD window to create a slideshow.

   

   To customize the name of your slideshow, click the My Slideshow label. (We'll discuss how to customize the thumbnail image of the button and change it from the image of slides that appears a bit later on.)

   
   

3. To get into the slideshow editing window, double-click on the My Slideshow button that appears on your main DVD screen.

When you double-click the My Slideshow icon, the slideshow editing window opens. From there, you can add slides and make adjustments to your slideshow (see Figure 19.18).

Figure 19.18. The slideshow editing window.

Task: Adding Slides

Adding slides to an iDVD slideshow is as easy as dragging and dropping the files into the iDVD window. You can drag files in from the desktop, or you can drag images from your iPhoto library from the Photos tab. (Remember to open the Photos tab, you need to click the Customize button at the bottom of the iDVD main window.) You can also use the File, Import, Image option.

In order for iPhoto and iDVD to integrate, you'll need to be using iPhoto version 2 or later. Also, you must have opened that version of iPhoto at least once for your photo library to be encoded in a format that iDVD can work with.

1. Open your iDVD project and click on the Slideshow button in the main iDVD window to reveal the Slideshow editing window shown above in Figure 19.18.

2. If you are importing photos from your iPhoto Library, open the iPhoto tab. If you are importing photos from somewhere else on your hard drive, position a Finder window with the picture files you want to import to the left of the iDVD window.

3. Click on one of the desired image files, and while holding the mouse button down, drag the file into the Slideshow window (see Figure 19.19).

   Figure 19.19. Importing or dragging Slideshow picture files into iDVD.

   

You can also drag multiple files at once into the Slideshow window. To accomplish this, place the mouse pointer near one of the file icons, click and hold the mouse button down, and drag upward and over all the icons you want to select. Then click directly on one of the selected icons and you can drag them all over at once.

The slides appear and can be repositioned and adjusted according to your taste, as we'll see in just a little while.

Slideshow Options

The Slideshow window has a variety of options that you can use to adjust both the order of slides and how the slides behave.

Display Arrows During Slideshow

The Display Arrows During Slideshow option causes arrows to be displayed on your slideshow screens, as shown in Figure 19.20, that are a reminder that there are previous or remaining slides.

Figure 19.20. Display arrows in a iDVD preview. They represent how a person can use the arrow keys on his DVD remote to go through slides.

Adding Picture Files to DVD-ROM

When you add a slideshow to you DVD project, the images are encoded as part of the DVD. If someone wanted to work with one of the images as a file to print or send in an email, she wouldn't be able to do this. However, the Add to DVD-ROM option enables you to add the individual slides to your DVD as graphics filesa nice option for enabling people to watch the slideshow on television, as well as being able to put the DVD in their computer to have the pictures files available.

When you burn your final DVD with this option checked, the slides in your slideshow are converted into a series of individual files. They're saved on the DVD disc along with the normal DVD project and are accessible by any computer with a DVD-ROM drive. We'll talk more about DVD-ROM content in Chapter 20, "Creating DVDs with iDVD."

Setting Slide Duration

The Slide Duration option enables you to set the time that a slide displays on a screen (see Figure 19.21).

Figure 19.21. The Slide Duration pop-up menu controls how long a slide appears.

The Manual setting basically means that the user presses the right or left arrow on her DVD remote control to advance to the next slide or go back to a previous slide. But if you want a slideshow to run on its own, you can adjust the duration. To adjust the duration of a slide, simply click the Slide Duration pop-up menu and choose a duration.

Thumbnail Size

The Thumbnail option determines the size that the mini-preview of each slide appears in the slideshow window in iDVD.

There are two options for thumbnail size. The Large setting works better to see a preview of the individual slides, whereas the Small setting works better when you need to see more slides in the window at a time, such as when you're adjusting the order of slides.

The Thumbnail setting only affects the slideshow window that you see while you are working in iDVDit has nothing to do with the slideshow on the finished DVD.

Audio

The Audio option enables you to add a sound file to a slideshow. It works the same as adding audio to a menu as we discussed earlier in the chapteryou simply drag a file into the well. To delete, drag the audio file from the Audio well out of the iDVD window.

Under Slide Duration, the Fit to Audio option is available only after you've added background music to your slideshow, as we will discuss shortly. Also, once you've added an Audio file, the default setting becomes Fit to Audio and the Manual option is no longer available.

Working with Slides

One of the most common tasks you'll undertake when working with slideshows is rearranging slides so that they appear in a different order. It's really easy to do this and can be fun to play around with as you develop your slideshow. Remember, at any time, you can click on the Preview button at the bottom of the iDVD window to preview your slideshow. Just remember that to get back out of the preview mode, you have to either close the miniature remote control by clicking Enter or click the Preview button to return to editing mode.

Task: Rearranging Slides

Rearranging slides is as simple as clicking and dragging:

1. Click on a slide, and while holding the mouse button down, begin to move the slide toward the position you want it to be in (see Figure 19.22). As you move the slide, its new position will be outlined in black.

   Figure 19.22. Moving the first slide to a new position in the slideshow window.

   

2. Put your slide into position and let go of the mouse button.

The slide snaps into position and you can continue to make adjustments to your slideshow or add new slides.

Task: Changing the Slideshow Icon Image

One of the nice things about the way that iDVD enables you to customize DVD menus is apparent when you're working with slideshows in a theme that supports video buttons . After you've added slides to your slideshow, the image on the button that leads to your slideshow can be changed to display one of the slides.

1. After adding slides to your slideshow, come back to the menu containing the button that leads to your slideshow and click it once (see Figure 19.23).

   Figure 19.23. Clicking on the button that leads to a slideshow gives you a slider that enables you to choose pictures.

   

   

   To come back to the menu that leads to your slide show, click the button labeled Return, which displays a bent arrow, at the lower right of the slideshow editing window.

   
   

2. Move the slider to choose the picture you want to appear on the DVD button (see Figure 19.24).

   Figure 19.24. No more boring generic icons: The DVD button for the slideshow with a new image in place. Great!

   

3. Click somewhere on the menu screen outside the button you have selected to deselect it.

Remember, iDVD also allows you to customize buttons representing folders, or submenus, in a similar way.