Got Slide Show? How To Keep Your Family Awake.

We make slides shows with photos from iPhoto. But we don’t use iPhoto. It’s a bit too pedestrian.

Our shows have audio, slides, effects, text and display with broadcast quality on a DVD. How? FotoMagico.

Jack and I take thousands of digital photos each year. Yes, they’re in iPhoto and that’s fine.

When it comes to making a show-and-tell with our photos, we dig a little deeper—beyond iPhoto.

Not that there’s anything wrong with making shows in iPhoto, iMovie, iTunes, GarageBand, and iDVD. They’re great.

With a bit of patience, near broadcast quality mixes of digital photos and movies can be developed using the iLife suite.

One of my favorite applications for those extras that make a presentation more than special is Bonix’s FotoMagico.

Of all the slide show applications available on the Mac, FotoMagico is more Mac-like while adding near-professional level tools and precision.

FotoMagico is instantly familiar. Tools on the right. Timeline for photos and audio on the bottom. Photo in the middle.

What you’re after is a slide show with pizaz; a perfect mix of sound and motion and visual images.

I know what you’re thinking. “Wait a minute, Carol. Did you say motion?” Yes. FotoMagico’s claim to fame is precision of motion.

That’s motion and in making static digital photos move on the screen. iMovie does that. iPhoto does it automatically.

Neither makes digital photos move the way you’ll see them move in FotoMagico.

Integration with iPhoto, iTunes, and Aperture is just a click away, so all your digital photos are drag and drop to the timeline.

Click on any two photos and set the transitions. FotoMagico shines with a professional level of precision for transitions.

Cut, fade, dissolve, twirl, swirl, push, pull, drop, cube, slice, dice, all with split second control between slides.

Panning and zooming controls are like you’ve never seen in iPhoto or iMovie. Zoom in, pan across. Slowly, ultra slowly, incredibly fast.

The tool section on the right of the screen is a svelt combination of simple, elegant, and extra precise controls.

Under Images Control, you can select Albums from iPhoto. Drag and drop to the timeline. Under Audio, there’s a similar list of Playlists from iTunes. Select, drag and drop, then position in the timeline.

The real fun begins with Options. Here you can select appropriate transitions and durations, and apply both pan and zoom and special motions to each image.

FotoMagico creates near broadcast quality title/text on the slides—complete with various Fonts, Colors, alignment, opacity, and—get ready—motion for each.

Motion on text isn’t the only motion feature. Adding motion to slides via zoom and pan is easy. Even easier are the controls to add rotation.

Just move the rotation dial left or right (precision to 1/10th of a degree) to rotate a digital photo, then add zoom or pan. It’s remarkably easy.

For the truly professional minded slide show enthusiast, there’s time-code capability for the audio tracks.

If iLife’s suite of applications leaves you wanting a little more, then FotoMagico is a good place to start.

Features are galore—title safe areas on screen, multiple output sizes, including High Definition.

Shortcomings? A few. An application of this caliber needs multiple audio tracks—at least two, and probably four.

Yes, you can do audio in GarageBand and bring it into FotoMagico to lay over the slides, but having that simple part built-in is a good touch.

Matching slide transitions to audio timecode in the timeline would be another feature to attract those who want TV quality output.

For near professional work, FotoMagico does more for slides and shows using your digital photos than any other Mac application, and competes favorably with PhotoToMovie.

We’re in the holiday season and that means more photos, more digital photos, and more—gulp—slide shows. Do something to make your audience appreciate your shows.

FotoMagico is a good place to start.

Question: Do you make slide shows using your Mac and digital photos? What application—iPhoto, iMovie, or something else? What and why? What do others think of your productions?