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11:49 pm

August 16, 2012

I am assuming that these are two entirely different programs? Would you tell me the main difference between them? I would like to put together some movies with photos from past travels. I’ve watched your videos on MS “Movie Maker” and MS “Photo Story 3”. Is Picasa MM limited in what you can do? Thanks in advance.
Yes, the terminology is certainly confusing, but you’re correct Picasa’s Movie Maker is a completely different animal from Windows Movie Maker. The big difference is that Windows Movie Maker can include video clips. Picasa’s movie maker is just for combining pictures and one piece of music into a movie.
So, if you’re just using pictures, you can use Picasa. BUT, you may want to consider Photo Story. What Photo Story can do that Picasa cannot is use multiple pieces of music (and compose its own) and add narration. Photo Story is a bit more work than Picasa, I would not recommend it for movies with more than 40-50 pictures.
One thing Picasa has that’s cool is the ability to time your pictures so they fit within the playing of a song. That is SO easy, just select all your pictures – click the Movie Maker icon, add a music track and click the option for Fit Photos into Audio. SOO easy.
Here’s the video for how to create a movie with Picasa
9:46 am

August 16, 2012

3:09 pm

I have been making “Ken Burns” type slide shows since about 2005. It is a wonderful hobby and so fun to watch a slide show of a trips you took a few years ago. I suggest you look at ProShowGold ($70) by Photodex. It takes slides and video clips and you can add audio. You can also make your slides move, add text with many different fonts. I used Gold when I started but now I use Pro Show Producer. You can review the program at http://www.photodex.com. The Picasa and MS programs are good but the ProShow programs are very flexible. You can download a trail version.
I have posted some of my travel slideshows on Photodex and if you seriously consider the software I’d be happy to share the link with you.
What ever software you select I’m sure you will enjoy yourself and have fun!
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