The Official Photodex Guide to ProShow

377 Pages·2008·24.9 MB·English

by  James Karney

THE OFFICIAL
PHOTODEX GUIDE
®
TO PROSHOW
®
James Karney
Course Technology PTR
A part of Cengage Learning
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The Official Photodex Guide to ProShow © 2008 Course Technology, a part of Cengage Learning.
James Karney
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WASP photos courtesy of Texas Woman’s University. Permission to reproduce
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images must be obtained by Texas Woman’s University. Please visit
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All other photography provided by James Karney and TriCoast Photography
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photographers Mike Fulton and Cody Clinton. Permission to reproduce or use
Cover Designer: images other than as part of personal exercise in conjunction with the material in
Mike Tanamachi this book requires the express permission of the photographer.
CD-ROM Producer: Library of Congress Control Number: 2007903972
Brandon Penticuff
ISBN-13: 978-1-59863-408-2 (1-59863-408-9)
Photographers:
ISBN-10: 1-59863-408-9
Cody Clinton, Mike Fulton, James Karney
eISBN-10: 1-59863-693-6
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Printed in the United States of America
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 11 10 09 08
To my youngest daughter, Rhyannon Karney. Her
smiles and hugs brightened many a long day of
writing and working in ProShow. Very patient
throughout the process, she is always a delight.
Foreword
“Why do we take photos?” is a question with a very simple answer, regardless
of the photographer’s subject or level of expertise: “So someone can see them.”
Just as the digital camera replaced film, digital presentation is rapidly becoming
the way our photographs fulfill their purpose. The explosions of digital photog-
raphy and personal computing have collided, producing a powerful revolution in
presentation.
When our team began working on ProShow in early 2000, we knew the market
was evolving past “slide shows” that were merely a series of pictures on a screen.
ProShow presentations are the future of digital media: robust productions with
professional quality and high-resolution output. Our challenge was to create a pro-
gram easy enough for a novice to use, with the features that professionals
demand—and at an affordable price. The challenge is ever expanding, with
increasing user expectations in functionality and complexity.
Watch a professionally produced television commercial closely. The best demon-
strate a polished quality that is both exciting and easy on the eyes. Matching that
kind of flow and feel with a presentation is easier said than done. There are liter-
ally hundreds of tricks that are not immediately apparent to the novice. Timing,
adjustment effects, the composition of images, and the flow of information must
be carefully woven together. That takes skill and the right tools.
ProShow offers the tools. Mastering them requires learning. It isn’t just a matter
of choosing a prefab style in a combo box and clicking “Create Slide Show.” A
quality presentation is more than just images and transitions. This book is an excel-
lent guide to teach not only the basics but also a host of tips and tricks that the
pros use all the time. The first step is to know what you are trying to accomplish.
Once you know that, the techniques presented in this book will help you make
the most of your presentations.
We are very pleased to work with James Karney in bringing this book to you. His
well-paced writing style and clear examples make even the most complex features
of the software easy to follow. A best-selling computer author, educator, and an
experienced professional photographer, he has the experience required to write
The Official Photodex Guide to ProShow.
After learning from this book, many of you will change your approach to the cre-
ative process. Instead of taking photos and then figuring out how to present them,
you’ll start taking photos to use within high-quality presentations. That’s a good
thing, because that’s the future of sharing.
Paul Schmidt
President, Photodex Corporation
Acknowledgments
This is my 24th book project. Like all the others, it would not have made it to
your hands without the support of friends and the skills of a professional support
staff. I am indebted to fellow photographers Mike Fulton and Cody Clinton of
TriCoast Photography for the images we used in most of the exercises. The staff
at the Texas Woman’s University provided pictures from their World War II WASP
archives collection for the shows in the first chapter. Max and Vera Shafiq of
PhotoIdentities provided Web server support and use of their excellent templates
and custom design services for the sections of the book that called for Web host-
ing. ProShow expert Jennifer Weeks (VidQueen in the Sharing section of the
Photodex Web site) shared valuable insights from her long experience with the
program.
The Photodex team provided excellent support during the project. President Paul
Schmidt provided insight into the company’s vision for the project. Amanda
Sahliyeh was an unflagging principle point of contact who (as always) managed
to find just the right person or resource needed to keep the project on track. I’d
also like to thank Leslie, Min, Evan, Brandon, and the entire support team at
Photodex for the exceptional help they provided with this project.
Publisher Stacy Hiquet guided this book through the maze that is the book world,
and Megan Belanger was the original acquisitions editor. Both women are valued
friends for their steady hand and industry insights. The rest of the Cengage
Learning team for this book included project editor Dan Foster, copy editor Brad
Crawford, layout technician Bill Hartman, proofreader Laura Gabler, indexer
Katherine Stimson, and CD producer Brandon Penticuff.
Thanks to all as we end this project and begin on the next. This is an exciting time
to be involved in photography and working with the latest tools and technology.
About the Author
James Karney brings a unique viewpoint to this book developed through his expe-
rience as an award-winning author, professional photographer, and educator. His
work has appeared in PC Magazine,Computer Shopper,Windows Magazine, and
Internet World. His books include Mastering Digital Wedding Photography (named
a Book of the Year by Shutterbug magazine), the Golden-Lee best-seller Upgrade
and Maintain Your PC, Power of CorelDraw!, and the Microsoft Press A+
Certification Training Kit and Readiness Review.
His professional photography experience includes the areas of weddings, photo-
journalism, medicine, and a tour as a U.S. Marine Corps photographer. He devel-
oped and taught the 18-month photography certificate program at South Georgia
Tech and teaches computer technology and graphics at the college level.
He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Photographic School, holds a bachelor’s degree
in communications from Excelsior College, and a Master of Science in computer
technology from Nova Southeastern University.
Contents
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
Chapter 1
A World of Sight, Sound, and Motion 1
Formal Introductions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Organization: ProShow’s Trilogy of Slides, Shows, and Projects. . . . . 4
Creating Your First Show. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Adding Images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Adding a Caption. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Adding a Soundtrack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Previewing the Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
On with the Show(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Comparing the Two Versions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
The Title Slide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
The Four Pilots. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
The Welding Shop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
The Flying Flag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Up Next. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Chapter 2
Sight: The Realm of Images 17
A Slide Is More Than Just a Picture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Creating the Title Slide and Adding a Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Adding the Background Image. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Exploring the Slide Options Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Adjusting and Cropping the Foreground Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Framing, Layers, and the Elements of Design. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Image Sizing and Placement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Fine-Tuning the Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Adding the Trailer Slide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
viii The Official Photodex Guide to ProShow
Customizing the ProShow User Interface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Closer Inspection Using the Timing Indicator and Track Bar . . . 31
Developing the Primary Content: Variations on a Theme. . . . . . . . . 33
Converting to Black and White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Adding a Custom Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Workflow, Adding More Slides, and Adjusting Defaults. . . . . . . 36
Setting Timing and Selecting Transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Adjusting Intervals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Working with Transitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Total Timing Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Up Next. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Chapter 3
Frames, Motion, and the Layered Look 43
The Slide as a Stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Framing Images: A Working Demonstration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Setting the Stage, Defining the Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Setting a Title and the Aspect Ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Adding a Show Thumbnail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Determining the Correct Safe Zone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Scaling Images within the Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Determining the Proper Output Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Working with Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Adding Content and Adjusting Layers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Positioning Layers Precisely within the Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Adding and Ordering New Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Adjusting Size and Rotation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Getting Things Moving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Beginnings and Ends: Motion Effects Demystified . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Working with the Motion Effects Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Putting It All Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Two Slides, Two Backgrounds, Eight Layers, and a
Disappearing Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Matching Motion Speed Between Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Who Says We Have to Start at the Beginning? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Up Next. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Contents ix
Chapter 4
Adding and Editing Soundtracks 77
Working with Audio Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Adding, Positioning, and Removing Audio Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Simple Audio Synchronizing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Going Interactive: Advanced Sound Controls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Mastering the Audio Trimmer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Scaling and Positioning the Waveform. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Setting the Start and End Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Adjusting Fade In and Fade Out Intervals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Editing Soundtracks Using the Timeline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Adjusting Offsets, Fades, and Volume Using the Timeline
Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Creating a Crossfade Effect with the Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Recording Slide Timings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Menu-Based Volume, Fade, and Offset Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Adding Audio Tracks from a CD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Adding Soundtracks and Voice-Overs to Individual Slides. . . . . . . . 92
Up Next. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Chapter 5
Caption Fundamentals: More Than
Just a Way with Words 95
A Special Type of Layer, with Its Own Special Effects . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Blending Text and Motion in the Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
ProShow’s Common Caption Toolkit and a Bit of Typography . . . 101
Selecting and Sizing Fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
All Fonts Are Not Created Equal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Adding Another Slide and Caption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Making Captions Move Using Text Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Alignment and Anchor Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
“Automatic” Captions—the Power of Macros. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Inserting Special Characters into a Slide with Macros . . . . . . . 113
Show Captions, Globalization, and the Art of Invisibility . . . . . . . 116
Adding a Global Caption. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
All Captions Are Not Created Equal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Modifying Caption Behavior Using the Caption List Options . 120