Mac Software Review: Photo to Movie 4.0

Photo to Movie
Mac software review






LQ Graphics’ Photo to Movie, which is available for Mac and Windows platforms, lets users create slideshows easily. More specially, it allows users to pan and zoom a single photo image within itself. You can import multiple photo images and apply transition effects between them. (Photo to Movie 4.0 supports 11 transition effects.) Panning and zooming within the photo… Right, it’s the Ken Burns Effect.

iPhoto supports the Ken Burns Effect. But you have no control over how the photo is panned or zoomed under iPhoto. So if you want more control over the movements of individual photos, you may find Photo to Movie useful.

The Ken Burns Effect is widely used by movie editors. News magazine programs like 60 Minutes, Date Line and Inside Edition often use the Ken Burns Effect. If the episode involves an old event, chances that the Kens Burns Effect is used are very high. If there is no video to show, then they prefer to put a photo in motion with the Ken Burns Effect.

Back to Photo to Movie, its use is surprisingly is easy. You can just drag and drop photo images onto the media track. Photo to Movie even allows you to import audio files. (It supports AIFF, MP3, MP4…). Finally, you can export your project as a QuickTime movie. Or you can pass it to iMovie, IDVD, Toast and so forth.






Merits

  • Multiple frames within a single photo
  • Fade-in/fade-out effects on audio clips


  • Demerits

  • Cannot set a duration for the entire movie
  • Not control for title shadow
  • No snapping for center alignment
  • Long encoding time
  • No multi-pass encoding




  • Photo to Movie



    Screenshot 1
    Photo to Movie



    Screenshot 2





  • Developer: LQ Graphics, Inc. (lqgraphics.com)
  • Latest version: Photo to Movie 4.0.8 for Mac OS (Universal), Photot to Movie 3.5.2 for Windows XP
  • Prices: US$49.95
  • MacHouse recommendation: It’s a nice application but has room for some improvements. We would give it a Buy-it! recommendation if the price were $29.95.



    Click on the button to play a sample QuickTime slideshow. VTC



    Photo to Movie is a product of LQ Graphics, Inc.
    The photo images used in the sample slideshow come from Webshots.





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