Turning Pictures Into A Slideshow.

Without your mentioning the "teeny-tiny detail" of what computer operating system you use, I have no choice but to assume you have exactly what I have.

Thus my recommendation of iPhoto. It came with recent Macs, and does what you want with a very easy to learn interface.

Picasa
http://picasa.google.com/intl/en-GB/

One of the best free programs and easy to use.

The simplest is microsoft movie maker. You supply the photos and music.

Wouldn't a DVD be more compatible? In which case, use the free Windows DVD Maker.

dahkota wrote:
The simplest is microsoft movie maker. You supply the photos and music.

X2. I have made 12 "movies" from 12 different trips we have taken. I sorted the pics, added music, even combined some video in with the pics, and they all fit on a flash drive. You can save the movie in various formats depending on how you want to share them.

If you have MS Office you already have Power Point. It makes an excellent slide program and you can add music.

dahkota wrote:
The simplest is microsoft movie maker. You supply the photos and music.

That is what I use on occasion. Pop in a CD or, I think a microphone also, not sure, and have music or voice with your pictures.

dbbls wrote:
If you have MS Office you already have Power Point. It makes an excellent slide program and you can add music.

Holy smokes, thanks for jogging this old man's memory. My company used Powerpoint presentations before I retired 8 years ago.

Start with #4 and work backwards. What is the software in your TV that does a slide show? The program producing the show needs to be compatible with that.

I don't know what that product is, because I don't have a TV that does slide shows. I suspect those that do, don't all do it the same way. I've encountered the capability in DVD and BluRay players, and they don't handle slide shows the same way. It is mostly a matter of cycling through a batch of image files, but there is no consistency in how they handle directory structures and use naming conventions, nor what image file formats and variations are OK.

If a TV that does slide shows does it the same way, then all you need to make a slide show might be your file manager, e.g. Windows Explorer, and an understanding of just what the TV wants.

I've put together slide shows with Powerpoint (and predecessors), as video files with MovieMaker, and in Elements and Lightroom. But these all need a computer to play them back. I've assembled video slide shows into DVD-video packaging, but this still needs a DVD player for playback, my TV can't do it alone.

If the TV does MP4, Movie Maker is a great choice. If your TV can use an SD or USB device, then tose are great choices, verses a CD/DVD, unless you have a DVD/Bluray/HT which will play the video as well.

Find out what your systems are capable of. They may not play a Powerpoint presentation.