15-Minute Reviews :: Wondershare iPhone Slideshow v1.0.0
Hello all and welcome to another 15-Minute Review! Today’s application is Wondershare iPhone Slideshow version 1.0.0 by Wondershare Software – An application to convert your photos or videos into an MP4-compatible slideshow.
Software Description
As Giveaway of the Day states:
“Wondershare iPhone Slideshow is a new and cool way to make photo and video slideshow movies for playback on iPhone. What’s the big deal? You’re thinking. Wait until you check out built-in dazzling effects and powerful video editing. And the program’s simplified three-step workflow enables you to make show-n-tell custom movies for enjoying on the go!”
Quick Pros
- Interface is easy to get started and easy to follow
- Isn’t just limited to iPhone
- 91 different transition settings
- 22 different movement effects
- Ability to edit photo or video with various effects
- You can add music or other audio tracks with the slideshow
- Speed seems mediocre
Quick Cons
- Could have had the sound record functionality for photos as well as video
- All audio could deal with volume settings since it is possible to layer audio
- Got an error when trying to access files from a network source
- Wouldn’t accept two AVI files even though plays back fine on system
- Won’t handle inserting mp4 videos
- Can not browse timeline while preview occuring
Expansion
With the current popularity of the iPhone and the current market, there is bound to be a lot of applications trying to meet up with the people who have the liquid assets to purchase an iPhone, which is truly a sound marketing idea. Concidering the longevity of the iPod, it is a gamble that definitely worth it to many developers.
iPhone Slideshow offers a new way to build slideshows for your MP4-enabled devices. The application’s interface is very easy to get going and understand. Along the top are the buttons to add photos and videos (Photo&Video); Add background music to give mood to your slideshow (Music); The button for starting the processing of the files into a final MP4 (Maker) as well as the File and Help menu. In the middle of the screen is an iPhone on its side; This is where you can do all your previewing. Finally, along the bottom is a timeline-like area which contains the photos/videos and the transitions displayed between each and also displays the added background music as well. I found it was very quick to add new media, rearrange, alter the movement effects and transition effects; Interface feels very professional.
I was rather surprised to see so many transitional effects. I counted 91 total; There is a lot of variety here for building your slideshow how you like it. I was surprised to not see the multi-image ones similar to the ones found in Wondershare Photo Story Platinum though granted, we are talking small screens as well. There are also 22 different movement effects you can add to the images themselves to give a static image (or even a video) some life while it is being displayed.
Another handy feature is the editing functionality. For photos, you can crop; Add text, clipart or frames; Adjust brightness and contrast as well as convert to black and white or negative format. For videos, you can add an audio file to the video or even record your own (choosing whether to mute the original file’s audio), as well as adjusting brightness, contrast and color. One thing I do feel might have been overlooked is the benefit of adding the sound recording to the images as well; This could be a good way to narrate a slideshow of images, also including the capability to move around the slides after the audio is done as since it would be linked to the slide. While you can add an audio track on the entire slideshow, but this would be more complex in my opinion.
When I did finally get converting after messing with all the settings (And dealing with two AVIs that wouldn’t play nice; See below) I started the build. The ‘Maker’ page doesn’t have a lot of settings, but you can choose resolution and audio sample rate (Could deal with more settings). The conversion wasn’t hard to get started and could be something you set to run and walk away or do something else for; The speed wasn’t great – It took 5 minutes and 22 seconds to build 28 images and one video (transitions on each but no motion effects) to build the mp4, which ended at a bit under 26MB. I would hope with newer versions, that the speed does increase. I couldn’t imagine my wedding galleries with this.
I did have a few issues with this application however, but seeing that iPhone Slideshow is in its infancy, these bugs are likely to work themselves out with time. The first bug was network support; When I attempted to add any files from my network share, I was greeted kindly by the error ‘Can not copy files from your mobile memorizer directly. Please copy them to your hard drive first.’ – Odd message indeed. I would have expected this coming from a USB drive or a player itself, but not for networking.
I also had an issue with two of my common testing AVI files I use from being allowed to be used; I got the error ‘Failed to add file:
Another small quirk is the lack of control while previewing. You can’t even scroll the timeline at the bottom to see where you’re at, and it doesn’t auto-follow. I would have hoped to see (and even stop) to make an adjustment to my slideshow. It would be nice to be able to start from a specific slide as well rather than from the very beginning.
Final Verdict
While this application does have its bugs, it does show a lot of promise, seeing it is the first numerical release. There are a lot of good features here and would be a good application to keep an eye on. While the application does say iPhone, it would support many MP4-based devices as well besides just the iPhone. For free, if you have a use for this application, it is definitely a good one to take a look at and play with. As for paying $29.95, I don’t know if I feel that the application is mature enough for this price quite yet, though one day it may be. Add a few features, and it could become a useful presentation system for business people as well.
Posted by BladedThoth on Monday, August 13, 2007
