Do you have photos of holidays, family, sporting events or gardens stored away ? Do you have a creative streak in your body, waiting for a challenge. Do what I did, bring your pictures to life and make a musical video with them. You will surprised how easy it is to do. First you need the free download of Photo Story 3 for Windows, then just follow the instructions below.
Go to start, all programs, click on Photo Story 3 for Windows from the menu.
Welcome you are now ready to start your masterpiece. Good luck !!!!
Step 1 You can now begin a new story, edit a project or play a story.
Select Photos
Browse and select photos from Windows Live Photo Gallery, these can be fixed, cropped, red eye removed and colour adjusted, but this must be done before importing into Photo Story.
Import Photos
Think about your story carefully before you import your pictures, it is much easier if they are in order to start with or you will have to keep moving them so the story can be told. Heaps of fun. !!!!! SAVE your project.
At the start of a project import 2 pictures the same, you can use Effect which will enhance the beginning by fading from one frame to another. You can also change your picture from colour to sepia, black and white, watercolour and there are other changes you can use.
Video sample of Effects.
Import and Arrange Pictures
It is important to remove black borders ( not a good look) and always SAVE your project
You can move your pictures back and forth using the arrows or drag and drop. Delete ones you decide not to use by clicking delete X, these are only deleted from Photo Story and not from the hard drive.
Name your project for example, Rushworth 1920 – 1960. Click to SAVE your project
Add Titles
Add titles and dates if you wish, you can select from a variety of colours, text and size. I have tried different texts but find Lucinda Calligraphy my favourite, 10 or 12 for size. The text can be placed in a number of positions on your picture. Always SAVE
Text samples Old English, Roman, M.T.Bold, Mistral, Lucinda Calligraphy and there are more.
Choose your font, colour and size of script, then click ok.
Bottom, centre, coloured text.
Centre, coloured text.
Customize Motion and Duration
This is a very interesting step of Photo Story, click on Customize Motion. It allows you to set the start and end of a frame. Duration can be set either automatically or you can nominate the number of seconds to display the picture.
If you do not want any panning and zooming Set end position to be the same as the start check box.
In the Start position box, to resize the rectangle, point to a corner of the rectangle and drag to the picture size you are looking to focus on.
When you have done this you can preview to see how the setting you have selected blends into your story.
Clicking the Reset button in the dialogue box discards all changes made to the selected picture on the Motion and Duration tab and Transitions tab.
You will see from the pictures below a focal point can be highlighted, it can be on a person or just something that appeals to you within that frame. It is a lot of trial and error but can make a big difference to the overall finish of your video. Save.
Transitions
Below click on the Transitions box. There are 34 of these, it is worth trying each one as they all give a different effect. You can try fading, flipping, curl, slide and wheel to name a few.
The important thing when working with transitions is not to overdo them, a small number spread out is more effective than too many close together. Spoils the whole effect !!!
If you want Photo Story to determine the number of seconds to display a transition, click the Set transition duration automatically check box. If you want to select your own time for the transition select the Number of seconds to display the transition option, then type or select a time.
Note the number of seconds that the transition displays between two pictures cannot be more than the shorter play time of one of the two pictures. Projects created by using Photo Story 3 for Windows must use a wp3 file, other wise Photo Story will not be able to open the file.
To preview your story with the panning and zooming effects and transitions, click Preview. If you are happy with what you have achieved, remember to Save.
Video of sample Transitions
Narrate your Story
If you are really clever you can use your microphone and narrate your story, I have not tried this, but if you have the setup give it a go, you may be able to show me how, I have done some reading and hope these hints may help.
Configure your microphone to make sure you can record sounds, check microphone and speaker volumes are ok.
Make notes and decide where you want to use them, you can record up to 5 minutes on each picture in any order. If you are unhappy with what you have done, delete the narration and record again, deleting does not alter other changes, such as a transitions.
To begin recording click the picture, click the Record Narration button and then speak into your microphone, when you finish the narration for a picture, click the next picture button, then speak again. To stop narrating a picture, click the Stop Recording button. To preview your story, click Preview. Once again those two words, Save Project.
Select Music
You can select music from your files or use the Create Music available above. You must be very aware of copyright, alright for your own personal use but you cannot use for public viewing. Programs like Soapbox will not allow this.
You need to time your story and the music you decide to use so it will make your story complete. There are programs like Audacity- Lame ( Free downloads) which can help you edit the music, it really is fun. !!! Ha Ha.
There are many create music options to choose from. Classical, Jazz, Funk, Country, Latin, New Age, Pop, Rock, Silence, Soundtrack and World. I am sure you will find something to suit you and your story.
To listen to your music during selection, you need either speakers or microphone, also a lot of time.
Sample Video, music selected from Create Music
Saving your Story
Now you can decide what you would like to do with your story. You can save your story to play back on your computer, send story in an email, Pocket PC or Smart phone with Windows Media Player.
Click which box you wish, type the path and file name for your story or click browse to find a particular folder or to replace an existing story.
Building your Story
Step 1 Building your story. Step 2 Generating sound.
Step 3 Mixing audio. Step 4 Generating video.
Well done !!!! Now all you have to do is view your story. I am sure you still have many more photos and other stories waiting to be told, so keep your camera handy.
Photo Story 3 is a great program which makes you think not only about the photos you take, but how they can be created into wonderful memories to show family and friends.
