APRIL 2004 MAXIMUMPC 85
Reviews
We do have some quibbles.
We’d like to see a timeline as well
as the ability to fine-tune the
synchronization of transitions
and/or pans with the audio track.
Part of the Ken Burns magic is the
precise timing of audio and photo
transitions. With MemoriesOnTV,
it’s hit or miss. The package
should also support more than a
single audio stream at a time; this
way you could mix a narrative
track or sound effects with music.
(At press time, we received a
beta version of MemoriesOnTV
2.1, which includes a timeline,
improved video encoding, and a
number of other improvements.)
Another boon would be a way
to fast forward through album
previews. As it is, if you change
one transition located at the
end of a five minute slide show,
you have to watch the entire
presentation just to see that
particular change. Finally, we
think there should be more special
effects. While the present options,
which include water and smoke
effects, are well done, there simply
aren’t enough to, say, use a different
effect for each transition in a show,
if that were your preference.
Of the three apps reviewed here,
MemoriesOnTV 2.0 is our favorite.
There’s room for improvement, but
if you want to use sophisticated
techniques to control the
presentation of your digital images,
it can’t be beat.PhotoStory on CD & DVD
Of the three software developers in
this brouhaha, Magix employs the
most people, and it shows in the
polished and feature-rich PhotoStory
on CD & DVD.
For starters, the application
bundles basic image-editing
capabilities that let you retouch
photos or adjust a high-resolution
picture so it won’t shimmer on
some televisions. And of the
three packages evaluated here,
PhotoStory gives you the most
control over syncing your photos
with audio tracks. 3D-Album and
MemoriesOnTV neglect this area,
but it’s incredibly important if you
want to adjust the pace of your
presentation to faster- or slower-
paced music.
We also like having the ability
to use two audio tracks in a slide
show. This way, you can run a
song and then add a track with
narration over it. PhotoStory can
even remove hissing or humming
from audio tracks.
PhotoStory’s biggest weakness
is that it doesn’t let you choose
where the camera motion starts
when you’re choreographingpans and/or zooms. Because
PhotoStory handles these motions
automatically, you can’t, say, start
with a tight shot of a person’s face
and gradually zoom out. Also, like
MemoriesOnTV, there aren’t enough
transition effects to choose from.
If you can do without the
Ken Burns Effect, you’ll probably
be happiest with PhotoStory. In
addition to its excellent audio
controls, it also gives you the
greatest control over exporting
video. Using the Ligos’ GoMotion
encoder, you can adjust video andaudio bitrates. And a plethora of
video-quality dials allows you to
finesse a presentation’s appearance
to your liking. We compared output
from MemoriesOnTV with PhotoStory
and found that, while the former
looked pretty good, PhotoStory ’ s
video looked sharper.
If we had our druthers, we’d
merge MemoriesOnTV with PhotoStory
to get the best of both worlds:
excellent controls over zooming and
panning, and robust audio features.PhotoStory
on CD &
DVD offers
powerful and
precise control
over audio,
and even lets
you run two
tracks at a
time.By precisely controlling the panning
of our images in MemoriesOnTV ,
we were able to create the kind
of heart-tugging moments PBS
documentary producer Ken Burns
has made famous.Fantastic Ken Burns Effect and amazing ease of use.THE CIVIL WARGODS & GENERALS
Handling of audio needs to be improved, and
more transitions would be welcome.
$50, http://www.picturetotv.comMAXIMUMPC VERDICT 8
Excellent audio capabilities and MPEG encoder.300MM F/2.8300MM F/5.6
Doesn’t let you control panning or zooming.$40, http://www.magix.comMAXIMUMPC VERDICT 8
Albatron K8X800 Pro II
Albatron K8X800 Pro II