The Lonesome Road

My first priority after settling down was to pick up a laptop. I wanted to try a Mac this time around. So, Anshul (who already is a member of the Apple tribe) and I (still a Windows dude) sat and broke our heads on what system I should buy. Though I was leaning towards the Apple, inertia won out and I bought a Windows based laptop.

To be very honest though, I’m not unhappy with my system. To a large extent, XP Home and Pro are the best Microsoft OS. Though there is one thing - the ‘free’ software that the Windows systems provide are beaten hands down by the ‘free’ software on the Mac.

I’ll just talk about one of them here - cos this entire article was inspired by it. Anshul and I are avid photographers - nutty, in fact. The only time we come close to an argument is when there are two of us and one camera. And both of us have a huge collection of photographs taken with all past and present cams. When I went over to see some of his new pics, he fired up an application called iPhoto. And I was lost. Of course, the bulk of that magic was thanks to the Ken Burns Effect. It somehow made the photos come alive for me in a way I had never experienced before. So, when I came home and started my usual photo app and played a slide show - well for want of a better word - it sucked.

So, firing up ye old Google, I decided to find a Windows equivalent. And to my surprise - I did. It’s an application by Microsoft called Photo Story 3. So, full of hope I downloaded and ran the application. So this is how it works.

a) Choose the folder and the photos you want in the slide show.
b) Choose the music
c) Select from some minor details.
d) Save the project (Makes a 30Mb file for 36 photos with a 4:43 minute classical piece)
e) Play project in Windows Media Player.

Whew! I thought after doing all this the result would be good. Man was I disappointed! The photos were blurry (I take photos with a 5.0 MP camera at almost max res) and when it started to zoom, my photos began to look like the shoddy photos that a mobile camera produces. As you can imagine - I turned off the video.

Now, for those of you who have not used iPhoto - here’s the primer.
a) Go to the album (iPhoto does this automatically)
b) Click the Play Slidehow button
c) Enjoy!

Come on - is it that tough to create a viewer which provides a good Ken Burns Effect? Anyway, I have now shifted my picture viewer to Picasa 2. Though it does not provide the one effect I want, the other features that it does make it worth my while. And who knows, someday there migh even be a Ken burns plugin for Picasa.

Until next time - keep clicking!
PS : New (well not so new) photos up on my Flick Page.