Pro Show Producer Review

Create Stunning, Professional, Easy-To-Make Slideshows in Minutes!

Pro Show Producer Review - If you regularly shoot large batches of images for say a portrait shoot, event or wedding photography contract, you probably have some experience of making up slideshows for yourself or your clients.

Animoto

Over the past few years, many companies have sprung up with all singing, all dancing slideshow software. Features that promise the world but deliver very little. One of my particular favourites though is Animoto, an ingenious online slideshow maker. It is so simple to use my 7 year old son could make a professional looking slideshow in minutes!

Not only is it simple to use but the interface is very clever indeed. It gives you slide transitions matching the beat of the music. Animoto is a site I have used many times in the past and will use no doubt in the future. The only drawback with Animoto is the cost. You either pay up front for a year or pay per slideshow with additional costs for upgrading your shows to a higher resolution and downloading them.

Pro Show Gold

One other piece of software that I have used for over 6 years is Pro Show Gold from Photodex. This is another favourite for many professional photographers as you have complete control over many aspects of the slideshow. It has been consistently upgraded over the years.

Now, Photodex also make a professional version of this software called Pro Show Producer. I have always held off upgrading because I was pretty happy with Pro Show Gold. However, because I have owned Pro Show Gold (retail $69.95) for over 2 years, I was entitled to upgrade to Pro Show Producer for just $100 as opposed to the full price of $249.95. Deal!

So what is so good about Pro Show Producer?

For one, it can be as complex or as simple as you like. You can use the wizard to create amazing slideshows in minutes using all the included templates and transitions. When I first created a slideshow using this method I was reminded of the Animoto style so I was very happy!

You can use images, video clips and text for your shows. This makes it a real multimedia experience for your clients and family. You can output the your final slideshow to just about any format you can think of:

One huge bonus with Pro Show Producer is that you can also upload your slideshow directly to your online video sharing account. This is all from within the software itself. Places such as YouTube, Facebook and Vimeo plus you get a free hosting account at Photodex. This is where you can store all your shows in one place to share with friends, family and clients!

Here is a quick sample show that I made in less than 10 minutes once I had selected all the files using the wizard (best watched in 720p):

…and here is a selection of wedding photography stills and clips created to show potential clients when I first got Pro Show Producer:

So much more

Of course, this is just the start, I have barely scratched the surface with what this software can do. It is a lot of fun and I look forward to learning more as I go. The software comes with a lot of ready-to-go transitions and templates but once installed, you can download a load more freebies from the main site. When you get bored of those, there are many sets of specialised templates for portraits, weddings, commercial shoots and so on. I have just bought the "grunge" pack of templates for $20 and look forward to having a play.

I wish I had upgraded to this years ago and I think it is well worth the full asking price. However, if you have had Pro Show Gold for more than two years, you really should think about taking them up on their offer of $100 (£60) to upgrade!

Pro Show Producer will give your entire portfolio, regardless of what you shoot, that professional, competitive edge. I personally will be creating a new masterpiece over the next few weeks to reside on my homepage at www.nickstubbs.com.