You've just been on holiday, got some great pictures and want to show them off right? Well the budding movie makers amongst you can have a go at creating a simple 'slide show' movie of them with a free piece of software from Microsoft - Photostory 3.
As long as your copy of Windows XP is 'legal' you can download it from here (or click on the image on the left for the Microsoft web site page pictured) . (Validation of your copy of Windows is required).
Just install it, run and you are ready to go
Photostory is easy to use. Evrything is wizard driven.
To get started, all you do is 'import' your images. They can be different sizes.
You can then add captions and a soundtrack if you want.
Photostory has built in transition and motion effects. If you have ever used Windows Movie Maker they will be familiar. Just right click on an image in the 'filmstrip' at the bottom of the screen to explore the options available.
When you've finished putting all together, you then need to save it as a movie.
There are several options available. First choose the main place your movie is going to be used in the list in the top half of the Save your story dialogue box. Essentially you can save it as Windows Movie (wmv) file, or a video (mpeg) file
Be sure to use the 'Settings' button to fine tune your movie's size and frame rate. You can for example make your mpeg file for DVD - but if you want to write it as a 'movie' DVD you will need another software package to prepare it for writing.