Video Slideshow Creation in iMovie (Ken Burns Effect)

I'm trying to create a slideshow video in iMovie. The process seemed pretty straight forward, and seemed to be going nicely. I got all the images imported into iMovie and added the music to the timeline as I wanted. When I previewed my results though, I was less than pleased.
After viewing the preview, the Ken Burns effect was the exact same zoom/pan for every picture--it wasn't randomizing the effect like it does when you do a slideshow from within iPhoto or Front Row. Any way to get it to randomize the effect? There's just way to many pictures in this compilation (250+) to go through and change it up a bit for each.
At this point, I figured I'd just go with the slideshow export feature in iPhoto since it does randomize the Burns effect. Yeah, that didn't go so hot either. Apparently, you can only add one music track, so I had to find a utility to combine the MP3s we were going to be using. Looked like this was going to work until we played it after the (LONG!) export process. Turns out, the slideshow somehow ended up a whole four minutes shorter than what I had in iMovie. Apparently the default transition speed of 5 seconds does not hold true to iPhoto slideshows. Plus, much to my surprise there is absolutely no fade-out in the music at the end--it just abrubtly stops. Not cool.
There's got to be a way to make that (very cool) Ken Burns effect randomize in iMovies I'd think. Any suggestions?

Although you cannot permanently remove the Ken Burns effect option, you can set your default to having it off.
You need to apply your settings to a particular photo and then the changes should be the new default.
Drag any photo into the timeline. Select 'show photo settings' and deselect KB effect and update that photo.
Close or hide photo settings. Click on something else. If you don't want the photo in your timeline, delete it.
When you open the 'show photo settings' again, your recent changes should be there.
If this process does not work for you, try deleting iMovie's preference file.
With iMovie closed, go to your Home file(YourUserName)/Library/Preferences/com.apple.imovie.plist
Drag this plist file to the trash. iMovie will create a new one when you reopen it.
Reopen iMovie.

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Making slideshow for 1 jpeg, ken burns effect for 60 seconds freezes unit

trying to make a slideshow using 1 jpeg, ken burns effect turned on for 60 seconds in slideshow "settings", sometimes it makes a movie which will fill up the hd, hd space available is 67 gigs, ram is 1 gig, then we will get message saying that the hd is full,only way to boot is to pull the battery out, which bothers me. any suggestions on why this is happening? thanks and have a good weekend.
lee

lee
Is all you're software up-to-date?
At a guess, I suspect that the slideshow is endlessly looping, trying to find a second or subsequent pic. Afterall, a one shot slideshow is unusual. For that kind of slow pan you might have more luck with an app like PhotoToMovie. (http://www.lqgraphics.com).
Regards
TD

Meaningful Slideshow module update, please - Ken Burns effect

Just upgraded to LR 5 from LR 3. I'm floored that there still has never been any sort of meaningful update to the slideshow module.
Assume you want to make a slideshow for a funeral. (That's probably what most people actually do with slideshows anyway).
As it is now, if I want any sort of decent slideshow, I have to do it one photo at a time, in Premiere.
I would like to see some simple automated animations - such as the Ken Burns effect, directly in LR.
My understanding is that this functionality that has been in Aperture for the last few releases. I'm unclear why Adobe would not make at least similar functionality, let alone better.

Link for new feature requests:
http://feedback.photoshop.com/

Ken Burns effect locked?

I have imported images from iphoto to idvd to make a movie.
I have been re-arranging images within idvd to my satisfaction and added music.
All images have the Ken Burns effect which I am trying to remove, but my efforts so far have proved unsuccessful.
I would like to have KB on certain selected images, not on all.
Apple support was unable to help saying that the file could be corrupted.
When I start a new test project, all is well, ie: I have control of adding KB or removing it.
I do not want to start the project again from scratch,so my question is...Can KB be locked?
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
imac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Welcome to the discussion!
Can you clarify a couple things for us, Everton, for it's not exactly clear what you're trying to do, and in which application...
I get the feeling that although you've posted in the iMovie forum, you're not creating an iMovie slideshow, right? You're creating a slideshow in either iDVD or iPhoto, I suspect.
You said you imported photos to iDVD and have re-arranged them there. That can be done in iDVD. It's possible to import photos and create your slideshow there.
But then you said you're trying to remove the Ken Burns Effect from select slides. Trouble is, I don't know of any way to add (or remove) the Ken Burns Effect in a slideshow created in iDVD, and that's where I get confused. The Ken Burns Effect feature isn't part of iDVD. (I may have missed it. If so, please point me in the right direction.)
The slideshows we create in iPhoto, on the other hand, do let us add the Ken Burns Effect to ALL the slides randomly, or add it to individual slides, or a combination of both. (The Settings button of the iPhoto slideshow lets us include it to all the slides.)
After we configure a iPhoto slideshow we can send it to iDVD, where it arrives as a movie. But we can't re-arrange the slides nor edit any features in iDVD — it's not that kind of slideshow. It's a movie.
So, it may be that you're trying to do something in iDVD that just can't be done — edit the Ken Burns Effect configured in an iPhoto slideshow. It may be that your editing should be done in iPhoto BEFORE sending the iPhoto slideshow to iDVD.
It's also possible you've created two different kinds of slideshows in your iDVD project, one created by dragging photos to iDVD, the other created by iPhoto. In that case, the iPhoto slideshow may include the Ken Burns Effect but the iDVD slideshow would not. To modify the Ken Burns Effect features, you have to edit the slideshow in iPhoto and re-import it to iDVD.
When it comes to making slideshows, we have an abundance of riches. iLife perhaps offers us too many ways to make them, which can lead to some confusion.
Karl

Ken burns effect won't work

hi everyone
i'm trying to export a slideshow into a quicktime movie maintaining the ken burns effect, but the quicktime movie file won't show the effect - even if in the slideshow settings the "automatic ken burns effect" is ticked on (when i watch the slideslow on the screen, before exporting it, the effect is there).
do you have any suggestions?
another question: can you recommend a picture size? the quicktime movie will be, together with a video created qith FCE, on a dvd.
thanks guys in advance

Did you try the other account approach that GLO suggested? That can tell you if it's a system wide issue or just one associated with your particular account.
What you should have is your Receipts folder, other that those two subfolders, are many .pkg files which represent software that has been installed on your Mac. Those packages tell the Software Update and other installers what version is already installed so it can decide if an update is required.
Have you tried using the Share->Send to iDVD menu option to get the slideshow into iDVD?
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto (iPhoto.Library for iPhoto 5 and earlier versions) database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've created an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger or later), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. There are versions that are compatible with iPhoto 5, 6, 7 and 8 libraries and Tiger and Leopard. Just put the application in the Dock and click on it whenever you want to backup the dB file. iPhoto does not have to be closed to run the application, just idle. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.
NOTE: The new rebuild option in iPhoto 09 (v. 8.0.2), Rebuild the iPhoto Library Database from automatic backup" makes this tip obsolete.

Ken Burns Effect question

I am using iPhoto 5.0.4. When I select a number of photos (or even one photo) and select slideshow, I get the Ken Burns effect whether the KBE box is checked or not. How do I defeat the KBE? Sometimes it's great-- but I'd like the option for a plain old slideshow as well!
Is there some preference that I need to enable?
Thanks.

Hi Randolf,
Make sure it is unchecked on the toolbar and under the settings button

Ken Burns effect same in all iMovie 3.slideshow photos

I am working on a slideshow using iMovie 3.0.3. I am using iMovie because I have more than 99 photos, and would like the slideshow divided into chapters for iDVD viewing and navigation, and because I would like to add specific music to each individual chapter or slideshow, but have them play contiguously.
I have created separate albums in iPhoto for each chapter of my slideshow in iMovie. When I import all photos in an album from iPhoto with the Ken Burns effect box turned on and click Apply, each photo is imported, but the panning and zooming is the same on each photo, unlike when playing an iPhoto slideshow where the panning and zooming is automatically randomly applied to the photos in the slideshow. Am I doing something wrong and is there any way to correct this problem without manually setting the pan and zoom of each photo individually? Would a newer version of iMovie correct the problem?
Thanks,
Jennifer
iMac Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Hello Jennifer,
the behaviour of iMovie is quite normal as you will have to create a different setting for each picture in order to have a different effect upon import. up to version 5 (iMovie HD) this remains the same - and i'm quite sure also for iM 6, but haven't upgraded yet.
you have another possibility though: export your slideshow with random KB effects from iPhoto as QT movie and then import to iMovie
hope this helps
viva la mela

IMovie producing scrambled video with ken Burns effect

I was creating a movie with stills from iPhoto. The first 3 photos are using the Ken Burns effect just fine. Anything after that is absolutely unrecognizable. It looks like a scrambled mess of what is on my screen. I can actually see my Dock in the video. This is really strange. It occurs with photos I've edited and with ones I haven't. I have the latest version of Quicktime (7.0.4), iMovie (6.02) and iPhoto (6.0.4) as well as Tiger.
I've never had this problem before. As long as I don't use the Ken Burns effect I'm fine.
eMac Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Hi Appleman1958
Thanks for the advise. I'll give it a try when I get home tonight. Went nuts last night looking for a way
to do it. Didn't want to do them one at a time or delete it and start over. Any idea why the pictures
are not nearly as sharp when I burn to a disc on iDVD. as they are when viewed on iMovie or Aperture?
Thanks Again,
kayaking1

Ken Burns Effects Don't Work in iMovie HD (I've Tried Everything)

Version:
OS X 10.4.10
iMovie 6
*Hardware 1:*
PowerMac G4 Dual 500 Mhz, 1GB RAM, Internal 40GB HDD and Internal 320 GB HDD
*Hardware 2:*
PowerBook G4 500 Mhz, 512MB RAM, Internal 20 GB HDD
Problem:
This problem occurs on both of my G4 Macs. In iMovie HD, I imported a JPEG from iPhoto with Ken Burns Effects on. The still photo appeared properly in the Clip Viewer initially, but appeared as a black screen in the iMovie Monitor. Once the imported photo with the Ken Burns Effects completed rendering, the clip in the Clip Viewer turned white and appeared as a white screen in the iMovie Monitor. I have tried almost everything I read about in these forums in search of a resolution.
*Resolutions that Failed:*
1. The photo is definitely a .jpg
2. Tried importing the actual .jpg file as well as importing from iPhoto.
3. QuickTime and all other Software updates have been applied and are running on the most current release.
4. Repaired disk permissions.
5. Created, saved and manipulated the iMovie file in the standard Movie Folder on my main internal hard drive. (i.e. – I'm not saving to an external HDD)
6. Created, saved and manipulated the iMovie file in the standard Movie Folder on my secondary internal hard drive. (i.e. – I'm not saving to an external HDD)
7. Deleted the 'mac.imovie.plist' file and created a new one.
8. Attempted to do apply the effects logged on as a different user.
9. Saved file, restarted machine and reopened numerous times but the problem persists.
10. Tried a lower resolution photo and the problem persists.
11. Attempted to import all the photos I planned to use, added transitions to all of the clips and rendered completely. Saved the file, restarted the machine and reopened the file with no change to the blank clips.
12. The iMovie trash emptying issue did nothing to help.
*Additional Notes:*
1. The problem is confined to the Ken Burns Effects in iMovie. I am able to work with true video clips without incident.
2. Ken Burns Effects operate properly in iPhoto 6 using the slideshow functionality.
3. I would use iPhoto, but it seems like it would be easier to line up specific sections of an audio track with certain Ken Burns Effects in iMovie. (i.e. – a crescendo at the 16 second mark of the audio track coincides with the end of a 'zoom' on a photo, transition from second 16-17 second mark, new photo at the 17 second mark and pan left to right from 17 second mark to the 25 second mark.) Point is that it lines up precisely with the markers on the audio track, which seems far easier to do in iMovie than iPhoto.
4. Please help me, I'm going nuts troubleshooting this bug! I can't find any resolution that works.
Thanks in advance for the help.
Message was edited by: Charlie Brown Jr.

Hmmm. You seem to have tried, without success, most if not all of the methods of resolving a Ken Burns black screen issue.
Some thoughts that have occurred to me:
1. Perhaps your G4 500mhz Mac is not fast enough. I think that the minimum spec for iLife '06 is 733mhz. Might have nothing to do with this problem, but I just mention it.
2. Are the sizes of your images too large, as can happen with some of these new high def cameras? iMovie has trouble working with very large images.
3. Do you have any 3rd pary plug-ins, particularly in Quick Time, that could be causing a conflict?
4. Do you have enough disk space for the project to operate?
5. Have you done a recent Quick Time update? Some users have reported a problem with that.
6. From your post, it appears that you have continuously worked within the same iMovie file that exhibits the Ken Burns problem. If this is true, try creating a new iMovie project and experimenting with a few clips to see if the problem persists in the new project.
Ken Burns issues can be very frustrating. I think that you will need to keep trying things until something works. Wish I could be more help, but perhaps some of the tech experts on this forum will have some workable suggestions.
There is an application called Photo to Movie that reputedly has a far better Ken Burns type of effect. If you can't resolve your problem, you might try downloading that app. I believe that it offers a demo download.
Good luck.

Always same ken burns effect in imovie HD 6?

Hi,
When creating a slideshow in iPhoto, the app appropriately randomizes the speed and direction of the Ken Burns Effect that it applies to the various pics. When adding photos to iMovie '08, it does the same (as far as I can tell).
But when adding a bunch of photos in iMovie HD 6, it seems to just apply the same exact effect to every photo. Boring. Am I missing something, or is there some clever way to tell it to mix it up a bit? Or am I left to manually go into each photo to adjust the Ken Burns magic? Not something I'd want to do to a couple hundred pictures. Thanks.

.. ehm? iM is an editor.. any video imported can be edited.. so, if you create your 1.5h slideshow in iPhoto, for sure, you can split that beast into as many parts as you need.. clips are not 'solid'.
set playhead at wanted position, press simultanously the keys Apple-T.. as spliT ... presto! two clips, allowing inserting a video, another still, whatever..
Of course, I hadn't thought that far ahead but that should work just fine. Thanks!
Sort of limits my creativity and options ...
.. hm.. a machine generated, 'randomly' done KB is no 'creativity', imho; doing it manually is my understanding of 'options' ..
I've got to disagree on this one. IMHO, applying Ken Burns to a couple hundred photos is exactly what the Mac should be doing for me. Of course, I will need to go and tweak some here and there, but if I was forced to do every one manually, then I think that would be a weakness in the app. Having it take care of lighter fare like that frees time to make more important creative decisions around duration, color, audio, video, etc. Your tips should have me on the way to doing that, so thanks again.

Remove ken burns effect from photos in iMovie HD

I am trying to burn iphotos slideshows to DVD like I used to do before newer versions stopped supporting iDVD. I was advised on this board to use iMovie HD and it seems to be working and I am pleased with the integration with iDVD. But when I used the ken burns effect on some of my slides I got a shimmering effect. So I tried to get rid of it. In iMovie HD, you are supposed to slect the media tab and click on "show Photo settings" This gives you a window where you can adjust the Kne Burns setting or uncheck the box. When I uncheck the box, nothing happens. Whther I press "update" or not, the effect is still there. This is a 1000-slide project. I hope I don't have to start over.
Thanks for any help.

Thanks for the response, butt.. this is iMovieHD (or version 6). There is no crop or fit tool in this version (as far as I can tell). There is a "crop" choice in the Edit pulldown menu, but I think that's for clips. And this verison doesn't give you boxes for the Ken Burns effect. These things are in later versions of iMOvie, but those versions don't integrate as well with iDVD which is most important to me.

Not happy with slideshows / Ken Burns effects / lesser quality in iDVD

I am a new iPhoto user, having created my first slideshow of old photos to play at my mother's 80th birthday party this week. The whole process of arranging photos, testing visual effects and adding music went swimmingly! BUT (!!!!) I am hugely disappointed now that I've rendered the show through iDVD.
-- The Ken Burns effects keep changing! Once a slideshow was created and the Burns effects seemed perfect, I sent that show to iDVD. But viewing the project once burned to DVD, I see that the cropping, zooming, etc. are all different. Is there a way to "save" a show and maintain the effects?
-- Moreover, the crystal clear image sharpness and clean edges seen when viewing a slideshow in iPhoto are "dumbed down" once the show is sent to and rendered in iDVD. Even at the "quality" setting, moving effects look raggedy-edged. This really makes me unhappy.
Any thoughts or ideas to share on this? Thanks.....

SixPack:
Welcome to the Apple Discussions. As TD pointed out, making a QT movie file of a slideshow involves rendering which is then encoded once again in iDVD. IMO, the best image quality for a slideshow is obtained when you create the slideshow entirely within iDVD. Of course there's no KB effect.
If you create the show in iMovie you can get around the double encoding by closing iMovie once the slideshow is finished. Then open the iMovie project file/package (Option-click on the project file and select Show Package Contents option), find the iDVD folder and drag the .mov file in it into the open iDVD window. This will let iDVD do the rendering of the various transitions and special effects and provide a better final product.
You must remember that iDVD's final resolution is only 640 x 480.
Do you Twango?
TIP: For insurance against the iPhoto database corruption that many users have experienced I recommend making a backup copy of the Library6.iPhoto database file and keep it current. If problems crop up where iPhoto suddenly can't see any photos or thinks there are no photos in the library, replacing the working Library6.iPhoto file with the backup will often get the library back. By keeping it current I mean backup after each import and/or any serious editing or work on books, slideshows, calendars, cards, etc. That insures that if a problem pops up and you do need to replace the database file, you'll retain all those efforts. It doesn't take long to make the backup and it's good insurance.
I've written an Automator workflow application (requires Tiger), iPhoto dB File Backup, that will copy the selected Library6.iPhoto file from your iPhoto Library folder to the Pictures folder, replacing any previous version of it. You can download it at Toad's Cellar. Be sure to read the Read Me pdf file.

Themes / Ken Burns effects don't render, Transitions and Video FX do render

Topic pretty much says it all. I'm working on some family vacation videos, and thought it might be nice to apply some travel themes to some sections of the video.
The red "rendering" bar that's supposed to crawl along the bottom as it's rendering, and then disappear when done, is dark red, and never fills with the bright red indicating that it's actually rendering the clip.
iMovie's at the latest version (6.0.3), and I've tried this with a number of projects, with no luck. Transitions and video effects work like a peach, so it's just something with themes and the ken burns effect on pictures.
I've deleted the imovie.plist, and repaired permissions.
I should also note, the preview, when dropping clips onto the drop zone(s), display's properly. As does the ken burns effect when setting up it's duration. It's when you apply the settings, and it drops the clip onto the timeline to start rendering it, that's where we hit a snag.
This is on the internal drive, Mac Extended (Journaled) format, there's about 40GB free space. I've emptied both the system, and iMovie trash. I've tried deleting the FontCollections folder.
I'm just rambling off suggestions I've tried from the various threads I've been gleaning in hopes of finding a solution to this.
When I started these projects, I chose DV Widescreen, as everything I film with my DV camcorder (Panasonic PVGS59) is set to widescreen.
I've even tried manually splitting the clips, so that the part(s) I want "themed" are only as long as the theme duration, hoping maybe it was choking on a longer clip (say around 1 to 2 minutes), when all it needed for the theme was about 4-10 seconds. Exact same thing, dark red "rendering" bar, but no bright red bar showing how the rendering is progressing.
I've dug through about 32 pages so far, still going and not finding anything that's actually helping. It seems though my issue is quite similar to others', it's unique as nothing that's worked for others is working for me.

Hi, Nice to be here, despite the problems!
Last night I reinstalled iMovie from the recovery disk and even manually deleted all plugins and prefs beforehand. It didn't make any difference in either my account or a new user account I set up. I repaired all the disk permissions again and also once again deleted the iMovie plist, all to no avail.
I had a software update flagged on Monday night (which I downloaded), the problem has only been since then. The other software flagged for download included a battery update and a SuerpDrive firmware update. The SuperDrive update seems to fail to operate. It would try to run it on startup but would advise that the program could find a device to update? Strange. I deleted the .pkg and also the program from nmy startup items.
So, with the version of iMovie rolled back to the original one off the recovery disk, I would have hoped that it would have started to work, which it hasn't! I subsequently searched for software updates and added a couple, one at a time to see if that would help (restarting every time). That didn't work either!
What on earth is there left to do, despite a full reinstall of Mac OSX?!
I wonder if this is an emerging problem following the latest seemingly recent software update for iMovie?
Sara

Imovie will not render photos with ken burns effect

I have started to produce a video and have tried to import photos from both iphotos and straight from desktop however when i do this the red bar showing the state of rendering does not move. The photo will not render and therfor i am unable to use the ken burns effect. Could anyone please give me any idea of what i am doing wrong.
Thanks.

Hi
What file type is Your photos eg .tiff, .pict or .jpg ?
What size are they eg 1Mb, 10Mb or 100Mb ?
How much free space is there on Your internal (start-up) hard disc ?
Ps When ready - Don't use Share/Export to iDVD from within iMovie. Just drop Your movie icon
(with a Star on it) into iDVD theme window.
OR - Your movie project in iMovie will be harmed and You'll have to re-do it ! ! AND
the DVD disc will be severely pixelated - extreme low quality Ds
Yours Bengt W

IMovie 6.0.3 won't render Ken burns effects or Themes

I'm working in iMovie 6.0.3. Whenever I try to apply a Ken Burns effect or a theme, the red "render" bar completes, but then I just end up with a frames of empty black the same length as whatever I had tried to put there.
I tried deleting the com.apple.imovie file in the Preferences.
I used the disk utility to restore permissions.
I emptied my caches.
I've restarted my computer.
Do anyone have any suggestions of what I could try?
Thanks!

Just saw this June thread - I have iMovie 6.0.4 and am having this exact problem. I can't believe that there aren't more threads about it. This is the first video I've done since upgrading to OS 10.5 and iLife 7 and then importing the old iMovie 6.0.4 for obvious reasons.
I filled the timeline with photos, set them to the music, then previewed Ken Burns Effect and it looks great. But when I tried to update using KBE and all I get is a BLACK clip that acts like a blank in my timeline. If I apply KBE directly to a photo in the photo tray the same thing happens. KBE is completely unavailable to me!
Let's keep this thread going until we find a solution. It's not the version. Thanks!

Video Slideshow Creation in iMovie (Ken Burns Effect)

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