Taming the Wizard

[BarbaraC Profile Private messageWebsite]

Special effects are used to emphasize, decorate, and keep the audience alert, but when using the Wizard, things can easily get overdone. By editing styles and creating more focused themes, we can tame the Wizard. For example, in the "Themed" style category is one called "Love and Hearts Single" where a heart slides away from a heart frame in which our photo zooms. What if we'd like to have this effect only for starting off a series where pictures come and go within the heart frame and without any zooming? It's simple to do:

1. Apply the style to a photo.
2. Remove the top layer (revealing heart).
3. Set the zoom of both the photo border and the photo layers to 100% zoom.
4. Save the revised style as something like "Love and Hearts Single - No Motion." (Make sure you save it in the "Themed" category so it's easy to find again.)

We can even create various versions, changing the colors, changing the motion, or perhaps adding another small graphic on top.

Now that we have a nice collection of heart styles, we can pick out only them plus suitable transitions to create our own "Valentine" theme. Choosing it in the Wizard will result in a show that remains consistent and that is likely to require less fiddling than if we'd simply rolled the dice.

Create your own wizardry!

Barbara

[tdew Profile Private message]

Thanks Barbara, that's something that I wanted to look at when I get the chance. The little bit I've played with the wizard brought a crazy number of transitions into a show. I think the key would be to create a category of only a few favorites and use that.

[BarbaraC Profile Private messageWebsite]

My own Wizard play brought about the fear that too many people might be lured into creating over-the-top shows. It's certainly easy enough to do because it's easy to get impressed with all those special effects. But like vitamin A, a modicum is good, but a whole lot is poison. So I got thinking about it, and came up with the method above, which certainly isn't the only possibility. Something I've been considering is using one of my periodic dull days to re-categorize things so they make more sense to me and can, therefore, be pulled together into themes more easily.

Barbara

[charlie4031 Profile Private messageWebsiteYIM]

Thanks Barbara for the tip. I share the same sentiment with regards to the temptation of being lured by the many special effects especially now with a ton of slide styles and transitions available at our disposal. The wizard is a good tool but I feel that it really needs to be toned down and refined to avoid too many distracting effects.

- Charlie

[BarbaraC Profile Private messageWebsite]

The Wizard is wonderful for beginners, but only up to a point because, even with the Wizard, adjustments have to be made to timing, slide position, and transition. Once a beginner learns to do these things, the concern is that perhaps the learning will slow way down. ProShow is powerful software, and to not continue to learn ever better ways of doing things and to not develop one's own unique look would be unfortunate. The Wizard is wonderful tool, but it has that darker side of discouraging people from moving up and beyond it.

And when it comes to all that whizzing around all over the screen? Puh-leeze!

Probably everyone should let it fly, allowing the Wizard to do all kinds of circus tricks so they can get some of it out of their systems, but after that, it's time to start toning things down and get on with the show.

Barbara

[silverfox Profile Private message]

Barbara,
On the plus side, Wizards offer a new marketing opportunity for all with the creative talents in developing complete Wizard Theme Sets, (as you already have).

SFox

[BarbaraC Profile Private messageWebsite]

Yes, the Wizard does supply a whole new road to go down, but I've already begun to wonder if it'll soon cause me to overload my brain circuits and trip a breaker.

Barbara

[silverfox Profile Private message]

That's not all bad ............ and could be fun!

[Pauline Collins Profile Private message]

Thank you so much Barbara. I feel a lot better now as after having a Stroke in July I found that I had forgotten all I had learned over 3 years so thought the Wizard would be a godsent. Found it a bit racy and I had to do a lot of adjusting, but slowly getting there and I agree it does tend to take the personal touch away and of course could retard the "learning of basics"
Cheers Pauline Thanks also for all your help in the past.

[BarbaraC Profile Private messageWebsite]

Pauline, I'm so sorry to hear about what happened to you. Please use ProShow as therapy, a way of having fun while regaining all those skills you temporarily lost--emphasis on temporary. I'm rooting for you just as I'm sure everyone else is too.

Three cheers to you plus an extra for good luck!

Barbara

[Pauline Collins Profile Private message]

Thank you so much Barbara for your words of encoragement. You are so kind. I have managed to waffle through 3 slideshows and find that I am improving all the time.
Cheers Pauline