Soundslides
Presentation by Kristina Courtnage Bowman (kriscb@u.washington.edu)
About Soundslides
Soundslides is a Flash-based system that combines a folder of photos with an audio track. Before you open Soundslides you should have a folder on your computer with all the photos you want to use in jpg format and an mp3. Soundslides will automatically resize photos larger than 680 pixels wide. If you want more control while resizing the image you can resize the photos in Photoshop to a width of 680 pixels and a resolution of 72. You might also want to create a title slide in Photoshop.
Types of sound
- Ambient sound: establishes a sense of location. When recording ambient sound get at least 30-second clips. Exps: market sounds, park sounds, nightclub sounds, office sounds, restaurant, sporting event, beach
- Natural sounds: mark the action in the story and move the story forward.
- Voiceovers: help weave story together
A note about copyright: While music tracks can set the tone of the story, it’s important to make sure you have the right to use someone else’s copyrighted works. One popular site is Creative Commons, where creators make their music available under a license that allows you to use the music with attribution. There may be restrictions on how you may use the music so check each individual license carefully. Other sites that use Creative Commons licenses are Wikimedia Commons and Archive.org.
Soundslides tutorial
1. Open Soundslides and select new project. Soundslides will prompt you to select the folder that contains your photos and your mp3 file. Select these files, hit OK and voila! Soundslides combines your pictures and music to create an audio slideshow.
2. Change the order of photos: If you number your photos before you load them, Soundslides will order your photos for you. If you haven’t numbered your photos, you can move them around in the Slides tab.
3. To change the length of time a slide is shown, drag the edge of the slide on the timeline.
4. Remember to save your changes regularly.
5. Add captions to your slides to provide information about someone pictured in the slide or someone who is talking under “Slide info.”
6. Under “Template” > “Display” check “Show captions by default.”
7. Under “Project info” add a headline and credits.
8. “Save” and “Test” your show.
9. To create the files you need to publish your slideshow to the web click “Export.” You will need all the files in the “publish_to_web” folder to publish your slideshow.
How to publish your slideshow on the UW Dante server using FTP
1. Activate your UW Dante account by following these instructions: http://www.washington.edu/computing/web/publishing/students.html#activate_pub
2. From the start menu open UWick Applications > Secure FTP.
3. Click on Quick Connect
4. For host name type: dante.u.washington.edu; for user name type your UWNetID; hit Connect
5. You will be prompted to enter your password and click OK.
6. Drag the “Publish_to_web” files from the left screen into the right “public_html” folder.
7. Open your slideshow by going to http://students.washington.edu/uwnetid/publish_to_web. You might also want to change the name of your “publish_to_web” folder to something descriptive.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you’re using your own PC or Mac you need to do the following:
1. You must have FTP software (Fetch, Fubu, etc) on your computer. You can download what you need, for free, by going here:
http://www.washington.edu/itconnect/security/tools/
2. Then you activate your FTP software to connect to “Homer.”
Supraprint 