I can't decide whether or not to do this.

[Apiphobic]

Last year I started playing around and making slideshows on the computer for dd and her civil air patrol squadron and for family members. It took a lot of time, but I just figured it was because I was still learning the process. I had fun picking songs to "match" pictures or themes and enjoyed watching others' responses to the finished product.

 

After a few of these, dh asked if I would help him with a slideshow for a retirement ceremony, and I said, "Sure, why not?" It turned out to be a nightmare of a project. I got about 900 pictures to sort through and had to figure out which ones to put in a 10-15 minute slideshow. I didn't have to scan any of them in, which was a relief, but I did end up cropping the majority of them. For some reason, the ones that had been scanned in weren't the size of the photo. They were the full 8x10 scans, so I cropped to the picture size. Then I cropped some even more because a lot of pictures are too far away to see the people clearly or they have distracting backgrounds or foregrounds.

 

Normally these retirement ceremony photo slideshows are set to two or three favorite songs of the retiree, and I'd been told that his favorite songs were from Barbra Streisand, Simon & Garfunkel, and Peter, Paul and Mary. I was familiar with the first two, but not the last group. So I searched the songs and lyrics trying to find songs to fit the slideshow.

 

Anyway, I spent I don't know how many hours on it, trying to get the songs lined up *just* right, deciding which pictures to use and which ones not to use because the retiree was a pretty important person in his field and, while some good-natured ribbing is okay at some functions, I didn't think it would be appropriate at his retirement dinner. So I was pulling my hair out trying to organize it chronologically or thematically, adjusting this and tweaking that because I tend to notice every little detail and want it to be perfect. I loved it and I hated it, and didn't know if I ever wanted to do THAT again ... BUT it ended up getting terrific responses. Dh teased me that it was a good thing we were moving shortly afterwards or I would've been asked to do a ton of retirement slideshows. And, at least at that squadron, it seemed like every time you turned around there was another retirement ceremony!

 

I was glad I did it because dh had a lot of respect for him and genuinely admired him, so I was happy to be able to give him and his wife something they could take with them to remember all the years, all the people, and all the places they'd been.

 

So we get here, and it's been 8 months since I've worked on a slideshow. Dh's induction ceremony is coming up and he was asked for some pictures and a song to use at the ceremony. I pull some pictures and we discuss song choices. Then I figure, well, I could put together a quickie slideshow because we were only allowed 10-20 pictures and one song. I put it together and then I start hoping that they'll use it at the ceremony because I really like how the words fit perfectly on some of those pictures. And I know if someone else does it, it just won't be ... right. (Btw, there are two pictures in his slideshow that drive me nuts every time I see it, but I tell myself they're minor glitches and to just let it go.)

 

Dh takes it in to the meeting and suggests I do slideshows for the other inductees, too. Heck, he even recommends I do one for a retirement ceremony coming up soon! (I knew he was going to suggest I do slideshows for the other inductees, but the retirement ceremony was a surprise.)

 

See, he thinks I could make money doing this. And he's gently trying to push me into a little business on the side. On the one hand, I think I'd love it. But, on the other hand, I also know how many hours I can spend on a project like this and how I can drive myself nuts wanting to get this or that part exactly right. And I don't know if that's a good idea right now. I already feel like I need more time for other things, and if I started doing something like this how much time is that going to take away from homeschooling and my other responsibilities?

 

And here I am, attaching the farewell slideshow, because I'm proud of it but also because I'm wondering if you think this could be something people would want. I would've attached one of the slideshows I made for dd and her civil air patrol squadron, but I have permission to use this one. I have to check on the others.

 

This is a long slideshow; it's 22 minutes. I've watched it again and remembered the frustration I had trying to line up certain pictures to certain lyrics -- the eagle, for one. Anyway, please watch it and let me know if this seems like a memento people would like when they reach a milestone, like college graduation, a 25th, 30th, or 40th wedding anniversary, or retirement. Hmm, that reminds me of my parents' anniversary. I guess that's when I started working on slideshows. But I didn't have any music to that one. The music is really my favorite part!

 

It starts out pretty quiet, because the songs are older.

 

Farewell slideshow

 

P.S. I need to explain one section of the slideshow that's put to Magic Carpet Ride.

There was a walking competition and some of his troops started dropping out. So he started running up ahead and asking girls to cheer them on to keep them motivated. I just thought the song would fit. :)

 

Thanks!

Edited January 28, 2009 by Apiphobic

[happi duck]

Be sure to research music copyrights. Getting permission to use songs might be difficult or make your product too expensive. Great slideshow! HTH

[Colleen]

A few random thoughts:

 

1) Who on earth has 900 pictures of oneself?:tongue_smilie:

 

2) You seriously hadn't heard of Peter, Paul, and Mary?

 

3) After watching that, I wanna go on base and hang around the BX (or PX, as the case may be) just to be around some guys in uniform.;)

 

(Okay, okay...I'm getting to some useful points here any minute...)

 

4) I wouldn't have the slightest clue ~ not even one, teeny, tiny inkling ~ of how to put something like that together, so I'm way impressed. I've seen slideshows like this at weddings and what-not and I always think it's such a terrific idea. And then I wish I could do it. And then I pinch myself and remember that my obsessive-compulsive tendencies would cause me to invest way too many hours of my life matching photos of, say, me being an air show groupie with the strains of Van Halen's "Dreams" in the background.

 

5) Having said all that, I have no doubt there's a market for it, but I also think there are a lot of people ~ people unlike myself ~ these days who can put things like this together. Which isn't to say you aren't talented. You are! The slideshow was awesome (okay, I skipped a few minutes here and there because I was starting to feel like I knew Gomez way too well:D).

 

6) The $64 million dollar question, as you implied, is whether or not you really want to invest your time like this. If you really enjoy it, that's cool. But as a fellow detail-oriented person, I know I'd get wa-a-a-a-y too wrapped up in the minutiae and feel bad about taking time away from other areas of life.

 

7) I was going to mention copyright, but happi duck beat me to it.

 

8) I'm done.:)

[Apiphobic]

Be sure to research music copyrights. Getting permission to use songs might be difficult or make your product too expensive. Great slideshow! HTH

 

Okay, thanks!

 

A few random thoughts:

 

1) Who on earth has 900 pictures of oneself?:tongue_smilie:

They weren't all of himself. There were a lot of scenery pics, too. I think I used one of his/hers, but towards the end of the slideshow I put some of mine in there. They were leaving the state and he's a big wilderness fan, so I wanted to give them a piece of the countryside to take with them.

 

2) You seriously hadn't heard of Peter, Paul, and Mary?

I'd heard of them, but I didn't know their songs.

 

3) After watching that, I wanna go on base and hang around the BX (or PX, as the case may be) just to be around some guys in uniform.;)

Ummm, Kitsap?

 

(Okay, okay...I'm getting to some useful points here any minute...)

 

4) I wouldn't have the slightest clue ~ not even one, teeny, tiny inkling ~ of how to put something like that together, so I'm way impressed. I've seen slideshows like this at weddings and what-not and I always think it's such a terrific idea. And then I wish I could do it. And then I pinch myself and remember that my obsessive-compulsive tendencies would cause me to invest way too many hours of my life matching photos of, say, me being an air show groupie with the strains of Van Halen's "Dreams" in the background.

That's funny, I used that song for dd's color guard competition slideshow!

 

5) Having said all that, I have no doubt there's a market for it, but I also think there are a lot of people ~ people unlike myself ~ these days who can put things like this together. Which isn't to say you aren't talented. You are! The slideshow was awesome (okay, I skipped a few minutes here and there because I was starting to feel like I knew Gomez way too well:D).

Now, see, the anal-retentive, obsessive-compulsive me wouldn't have wanted to miss a thing while watching a slideshow. And, just in case you didn't catch it, that's not his real name. I just substituted that because of their halloween costumes.

 

6) The $64 million dollar question, as you implied, is whether or not you really want to invest your time like this. If you really enjoy it, that's cool. But as a fellow detail-oriented person, I know I'd get wa-a-a-a-y too wrapped up in the minutiae and feel bad about taking time away from other areas of life.

Yep, that is the question.

 

7) I was going to mention copyright, but happi duck beat me to it.

That is what will probably put the kibosh on this dream of mine.

 

8) I'm done.:)

Thank you for sharing all your thoughts. I've enjoyed reading this!

[valkett]

Your slide show looked great! Congrats! I do a lot of these... the copyright thing is on thing that is holding me back from doing this professionally. They are always well received. They're great for everything from military retirement ceremonies (dh & I have done several of those) to memorials at funeral services to family retrospectives (I do one at the end of every year) to sports teams. My son is a senior this year and I put together one of the seniors' past four years of play (they are the first graduating class of the school) and each senior received a dvd at senior night.

 

I've found that one to two songs lengths is perfect - especially during official events.

 

Currently, I use final cut express, itunes and idvd to make my dvds.

 

I wish you a lot of luck. They are very time consuming and you'll find that the more you do, the more you learn, the more advanced techniques you want to try (which also takes longer). They're also a lot of fun to make.

 

In addition to the copyright, the other thing I've figured out is that people are not necessarily going to be willing (or able) to pay what your time is worth on this type of project.

 

Feel free to email me if you'd like. Not sure how much help I can be - sounds like you already have a good feel for things. My email is

 

vkettner @ me.com

 

Best of luck!!

Val

[Apiphobic]

Your slide show looked great! Congrats! I do a lot of these... the copyright thing is on thing that is holding me back from doing this professionally. They are always well received. They're great for everything from military retirement ceremonies (dh & I have done several of those) to memorials at funeral services to family retrospectives (I do one at the end of every year) to sports teams. My son is a senior this year and I put together one of the seniors' past four years of play (they are the first graduating class of the school) and each senior received a dvd at senior night.

Addicting, aren't they? :D

 

I've found that one to two songs lengths is perfect - especially during official events.

This slideshow was played at the retirement dinner, not the retirement ceremony so it was more relaxed. I also went back and forth trying to decide who was the intended audience, the retiree and his family or everybody at the dinner. I focused on the retiree and his family, so that's why I let it get so long. I wanted them to be able to watch it again and relive their memories. But I tried to entertain the audience, too, with some of the song choices. I usually don't like to play the whole song clip. Different songs add personality and emotion to the pictures.

 

I do wonder if I'd get a little bored doing these over and over. I've noticed that I've used several songs in more than one slideshow. Just wondered if it'd get redundant for me soon.

 

It was fun to use the cadets' favorite songs on the slideshow for my dd's civil air patrol squadron. Not that I liked every song, but I was glad to see them dancing to it.

Currently, I use final cut express, itunes and idvd to make my dvds.

 

I wish you a lot of luck. They are very time consuming and you'll find that the more you do, the more you learn, the more advanced techniques you want to try (which also takes longer). They're also a lot of fun to make.

 

In addition to the copyright, the other thing I've figured out is that people are not necessarily going to be willing (or able) to pay what your time is worth on this type of project.

Thank you for all of this info. It's been very helpful!

 

Feel free to email me if you'd like. Not sure how much help I can be - sounds like you already have a good feel for things. My email is

 

vkettner @ me.com

 

Best of luck!!

Val

 

Thank you! :thumbup: