Slideshow consisting of programmed image sequences using a BluRay player?

Question

I posted this is iPhoto, and the only response suggested I try Keynote. So here goes.
My partner has just moved from slides to digital (using my camera). She has often been asked to show her slides, and now that she has digital photos, it's up to me to make sure she can present them using a HD digital projector driven from a Bluray player. No problem there, except I'd like to take advantage of digital techniques to brighten up the shows, but don't want to go as far as preprogramming them totally. The shows will remain under manual control (press button – next image; press button - next image) while she talks about the images, or simply presents them and let the images themselves do the talking. I hope to add a bit extra, and infuse some of the images with digital magic.
I want to set up a series of images that will be shown in sequence, with a 2-5 second dissolve between images. Those images (all 1920 x 1080) may be pure stills, or there may be some movement (pans, zooms) already programmed, or they may be HD Quicktime movies. However, these "images" will dissolve to the next image only when a button is pressed -- and this could be at any time-point while the image is being displayed. If a particular image reaches its endpoint (finished a pan, for example), the image just sits there waiting for the button to be pressed. For example, a show might go like this:
Image 1 - Still. (Press button for dissolve to next image)
Image 2 - Still with preset zoom-in. (Press button for dissolve to next image, even if zoom not finished)
Image 3 - Still with pan. (Press button for dissolve to next image, even if pan not finished)
Image 4 - Short Quicktime movie. (Press button…)
Image 5 - Still. (Press button…)
Basically, the show will be a sequence of images -- still or in motion -- but the next in sequence comes up only when a button is pressed.
A further complication: I don't trust computers to do a live show. I would rather use a dedicated player, like a Bluray player, to feed the info direct to the projector. Whatever software I use, it has to be able to export the show either as one large file, or a series of files, that I can put onto a disk and be playable by a BluRay player. The file type required will depend on the make and model of the BluRay player used, but I hoping it will be Quicktime H.264 format.
Two questions:
Q1: Is Keynote the software for me, or should I be looking for something else?
Q2: Will I be able to use a BluRay player, or will a laptop be necessary?

Answer 1

Thanks for the reply, Kelly. Am I correct in saying that the methods suggested in your reply require a computer, running either QT or Keynote, to drive the digital projector? Whereas I'd really prefer to use a standalone BluRay player.
Thinking about this a bit more, what I want is to play back a series of DVD-style "chapters" (stills, stills with pans, and video) but in 1920 x 1080 format, and whenever I press "forward" the output jumps to the next chapter and cross-dissolves while doing so. I might have to look into BluRay to see if cross-dissolve (at any time-point) from one chapter to the next is a part of the BluRay specification, or can be authored-in somehow.
Finally, what capabilities does Keynote have that a video-editing program like Final Cut would not have? This slide-show thing is really a precursor to generating HD audio-visuals, and I assume that if Final Cut can be used to generate, from raw footage, a Hollywood-type movie from woe to go, that it would encompass all that Keynote could do. So, if I had Final Cut, would Keynote be of any use to me?