DVD picture slideshow?

Question

Hi. I am trying to create a picture slideshow with DVD menu that I can burn on a DVD and play it on my DVD player which reads JPEG files.

I am NOT trying to make a movie file from the image files. By that I mean I want to be able to go back and forth from picture to picture.
In other words I want to control how long each image displays on TV and go to next one when I want to. I could just use Picture Story but the only control I have is to pause the movie or to rewind.

I have downloaded and tried three software from the web, including Microsoft Photo Story. They are all nice for making slideshows with nice transition effects and background music but they make a movie or movies from a set of images.

Is anyone aware of any software on the web that will help me make a DVD picture CD with a menu that does not convert images into a movie.

For example, like any DVD movie with a main menu allowing me to select a album to look at. Has anyone done this before? Thanks.

Answer 1

I guess the prior contributor didn't read your question carefully. :)

OK, so you don't want a fancy slideshow with transitions and stuff. All you want is a DVD or picture CD where you can have full control of your pictures so you can skip to the next at the press of a button.

I haven't done this but it's just a thought... Most CD burning programs can create a standard VCD where you can drag and drop JPEG files into it and it creates tracks. I believe this is what you need. You won't have audio but you will probably just get a picture slideshow where it will just play one image and when you click the skip button, *I think, it will go to the next one.

Take a look a NERO and create a Video CD project and just drag and drop JPEGs into it.

Worth a try...

There is another software called DVD Architect by Sony and I think that's overkill for this but it allows you to create a script for the DVD which I believe can control a lot more stuff. But like I said, it would be overkill and you would have to learn how to do DVD scripting.

Answer 2

In response to Gabrielle's reply, you still might be able to watch the slideshow even if it was burned on a cd instead of a dvd. That's what I did with Nero software and it worked fine on three different dvd players. I think I will try the Windows Movie Maker for my daughter's 1st year slideshow.

Answer 3

If you want to create a simple slideshow save the thumbnail file from your windows folder when you create your DVD folders for another windows computer viewer using the built in window Picture and Fax viewer. If you plan to view the photos on a DVD player then most DVD players support JPG and Kodak photos and automatically run a slideshow of your photos. there are also slideshow programs that will create transitions and effects in the photos and also allow for a music or voice soundtrack. Just look for slideshow programs with Yahoo search. Good luck!
PS one such program that doesn't make a movie is called Pictures to exe. Try the link below.

Answer 4

I don't know of anything that will let you download for free to do something like this. I myself perfer Adobe photoshop elements, this program is easy to use but pricey.