Family Tree (#1) - REVISED 9min

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Family Tree (#1) - REVISED 9min

Postby lindonalta » Thu Apr 15, 2010 10:58 am

This show is about my Family's History. I love, love old photographs that my Mom & Dad had and just had to use them (including a picture of his actual Album cover that I altered).
I'm still learning, reading, and watching other shows and playing around with different things. I feel a little intimidated to post a show after I've seen absolutely fantastic shows that people have done (especially in Producer- wow!!)
Anyhow, my main concern is my captions and if there is enough time to read - there is to me cause I'm familiar - so just want some input from outside eyes.

Constructive criticism always welcomed!! No objectionable material.

Apr. 19 - REVISED SHOW: http://www.photodex.com/sharing/viewsho ... 8891&alb=0

Thanks - Linda
Last edited by lindonalta on Tue May 04, 2010 6:15 pm, edited 4 times in total.

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Re: Family Tree (Chapter 1) - 9min

Postby becky_calif » Thu Apr 15, 2010 3:33 pm

Linda,

Family history shows are some of my favorites to watch, I find old photos very interesting. I think you've got a
great start on your project. I really like your music.

If you're concentrating on captions at this point, I would play around with various fonts, my old standard seems to be papyrus. I'd also experiment with different colors of font, something that blended with your background a bit smoother.

In these type shows we want to pass on to the viewer as much of the history of the family we know and still end up with a slide that flows. I will be anxious to see what you come up with and I am certain your family will treasure this project.
Becky
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Re: Family Tree (Chapter 1) - 9min

Postby lindonalta » Fri Apr 16, 2010 9:44 am

Thanks Becky - I will look at other fonts as suggested.
I was playing around with color of font i.e. black was too hard to read on some black/white photo and other colors just didnt seem to fit.
I was hoping for more comments on good and bad things about the show from viewers - cause I was thinking that maybe I have too many slide styles - makes ya feel that its ALL bad when no one comments.
I have trouble with portrait pics as they just seem "lonely" by themselves on one slide (no captions).

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Re: Family Tree (Chapter 1) - 9min

Postby becky_calif » Fri Apr 16, 2010 10:13 am

Linda, How does something like this appeal to you?

Phillip Perry Simmons
May 16, 1868
Simcoe County, Ontario


I think you can convey the historical facts with less words and still get the point across. You could also use different colored font when you're writing on a photograph as opposed to your background.

You can get opinions from 100 different people and get the same amount of different opinions. It comes down
to what serves your purpose and what appeals to you is how I look at it.

FOR ME, I'd like to see a photo showing in the opening slide of the family photo album. I agree your photos seem "lonely"..what about a simple frame around them, or cutting frames in your background and having the photos on the bottom layer.

I really think you have some interesting photos, some of them however look washed out, not enough contrast which can be corrected in producer and kind of perk them up.

I was distracted by the different unfinished edging on your photos. I liked various group shots and how you had the individuals photos showcased. I didn't think you used too many slide styles at all.

I'd love to see how this project progresses.

Thanks for sharing,

Becky
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Re: Family Tree (Chapter 1) - 9min

Postby anitaemile » Fri Apr 16, 2010 10:33 am

Hi Linda
I don't comment on shows that often, but I read you really were hoping for some more reactions. I liked how you took parts of the image out , vignetted it and had them move over the background image from where the part was taken. The fonts : You could apply a dropshadow , or even an outline, to have them stand out. I noticed you were a bit random with applying borders and corners around your images. There were you do apply borders, I would not zoom those so you only see the vertical sides of the image, but have these images placed with borders showing nicely and symmetrical. You don't have to use the images one by one and keep them all straight, but you could also have one move in ( instead of fading in) from the side and have them sit at an angle, and continue with another portrait image that angles just a bit more and rest on top of the other image. I would stay away from too many different kind of borders, but apply just one kind , or a few, and play more with placing the images on your screen. Have some overlap a bit, angled etc. Those that are portrait sized, I would try to keep those to one side, instead of in the center, and I would not zoom these so that the horizontal borders disappear. If you want to apply a zoom, you could have the image angle a bit at the same time.
These are just a few suggestions I throw in. I really believe a show is a personal thing and what I like might be something someone else hates, and v.v. , so if you don't like any of these suggestions, don't feel offended.

Just have fun

Anita http://www.outsidethebox.name

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Re: Family Tree (Chapter 1) - 9min

Postby ChrissyC » Fri Apr 16, 2010 12:57 pm

Hi Linda, I really enjoy watching wedding shows and family history shows, you have some fantastic family pictures to work with.....For me, I don't like much movement, I like a show that let's me really have a good look at the pictures without having to follow it as it moves all over the screen.....so for me you have just a little bit of to much movement..every single slide doesn't have to have movement......I also agree with cutting down the amount to read on each slide..if you have a slide that is moving AND text to read, my eyes start to cross (chuckle) you have a fantastic story to tell, let your photos be still while people read, just my opinion....
Here is a link to my family show I made for my Mom...it's good to watch as many shows as you can to get different idea's..thats what I did and still do..I get really good ideas from all the shows posted here and everyone is good about telling how they made a slide if you ask them...
keep tweaking your show, it's a good start and with a bit of tweaking it's going to be a treasure....
http://www.photodex.com/sharing/viewsho ... 9991&alb=0
take care :)
Chrissy

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Re: Family Tree (Chapter 1) - 9min

Postby lindonalta » Fri Apr 16, 2010 3:50 pm

Thank you all for taking the time to comment - I really appreciate it.

Becky: Its the "historian" in me that wants to convey historical facts to my family - I will attempt to cut down my historical facts and leave that in my geneology program. I had a hard time to decide whether to leave the picture edges as "original" including "handwriting in ink" and I opted to do so but... now that I look at it again... I agree too many different.

Anita: Its funny how you can look at your show 20 times and not notice things that "fresh eyes" do. Agree... borders inconsistant and too many different. I really didn't realize how often my horizontal borders disappear cause of zooming until you pointed it out. Had my attempts to burn to a DVD been successful (hair pulling experience to date even using ISO image) I probably would have noticed. Some of my "corners" where actually stuck on the photo and I didnt want to forceably remove in case I damaged photo - so I just left it. I certainly wish I was more experienced in photo editing programs to "insert my own corners" cause in this show I would have used corners alot. Thanks for the other suggestions about angles, etc. - will give these changes a try.

Chrissy: I got to about 6 min into your show and stalled out. What I did see I loved it. Loved the small banner that you used and the frames. You had a lot of portrait pics and with the proper frame and your banner/border (dont know what to call it) your pics did not look "lonely". I will try again to watch it. I loved other things in it - magnifying glass - the 3 girl pictures scrolling horizontally - are you in "producer?" Once I get thro your show I might be asking "how the heck did you do that".

Thanks again.... back to to the drawing board .. and after watching Chrissy show, think I may just go back to the standard black background.

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Re: Family Tree (Chapter 1) - 9min

Postby BarbaraC » Sun Apr 18, 2010 11:43 am

I absolutely had to watch this show because I love anything to do with genealogy, and like you I adore old photos. I had to see your collection of them.

Loved the album cover and the background, but like Chrissy, I'd prefer just a tad less movement. One thing I noticed was that the captions come in very close to when the pictures show up, then they go back out very close to when the pictures fade out. This means there's little time to view the photos themselves without distraction. You might consider bringing in the caption as you are currently doing, fading it back out, and then allowing more time for people to just sit back and enjoy the photo. I think that, in many of the cases, it's not so much that there are too many captions but that there's too little time without the caption allowed per photo.

Old photos, though, do have a charm to them that nothing new can approach. It's like a tiny moment way back in time captured in a bottle.

Barbara
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Re: Family Tree (#1) - REVISED 9min

Postby lindonalta » Mon Apr 19, 2010 2:38 pm

Thanks Barbara for your suggestion regarding captions. I have made some major changes to my show and posted a new link above - I did go back to black background because I have so many captions and less confusing/cluttered then (I think). Thanks for watching and commenting - much appreciated.
Chapter #2 is in progress...

Linda

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Re: Family Tree (#1) - REVISED 9min

Postby BarbaraC » Mon Apr 19, 2010 2:57 pm

Linda, I didn't watch it all the way through again, wanting only to see how the black background looked. I think you were right to use it. The captions show up a lot better, and the contrast with the photos is excellent. Sometimes there's just nothing better than default black.

Barbara
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Re: Family Tree (#1) - REVISED 9min

Postby ChrissyC » Mon Apr 19, 2010 3:01 pm

Hi Linda, I also watched to see what the black background did for the show and I think it looks very good, clean and simple, which make the best shows, in my opinion....it's looking good!! keep going! and keep posting us as you go so we can see all your chapters....
take care,
Chrissy

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Re: Family Tree (#1) - REVISED 9min

Postby becky_calif » Mon Apr 19, 2010 5:26 pm

Wow!, That's what I call progress...your show is really coming together! Your family is going to love love love your show.
Becky
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Re: Family Tree (#1) - REVISED 9min

Postby visimp » Tue Apr 20, 2010 12:31 pm

I saw your first show but felt I had nothing more to add. I like your revision. I actually liked the background you had but I can see where the black makes the old photos pop. I also am not a fan of lots of movement so this time I found your show easier to watch, I thought you have created interest with presentation and placements. I like your use of the same photo as background and use of vignettes. I like your frame, it is right for the pictures.

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Re: Family Tree (#1) - REVISED 9min

Postby lindonalta » Tue Apr 20, 2010 12:57 pm

Thanks Lynn for taking the time to view the Revised show and comment. I also liked my old background but it was competing with the captions and the black/white photos in this show, I think. I will use it in another show perhaps.

Linda

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