Hi,
In your math you forgot to allow for the framerate? maybe?
Jim Intel i7-2600@3.4Gz Geforce 560ti-1GB Graphic accelerator, windows 7 Premium 12GB memory

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30 fps Thanks,
Bill in Texas

PD-12, PD-14 and PD15 is installed on this iMAC computer under BootCamp, and PD's are running great:
DxDiag Info:
System Information
------------------
Operating System: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Apple Inc.
System Model: iMac11,2
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 CPU 550 @ 3.20GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.2GHz
Memory: 4096MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 4022MB RAM
Page File: 2031MB used, 6010MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: 144 DPI (150 percent)
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
DxDiag Version: 6.01.7601.17514 32bit Unicode

PD-12 PowerDirector Ultra: 12.0.3403.0

PD-14 PowerDirector Ultra: 14.0.1728.0
SR numbers: VDE14

PD-15 Power Director Ultra
15.0.1725.0

Also forgot to mentioned this occurred in PD-10 as well. Thanks,
Bill in Texas

PD-12, PD-14 and PD15 is installed on this iMAC computer under BootCamp, and PD's are running great:
DxDiag Info:
System Information
------------------
Operating System: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Apple Inc.
System Model: iMac11,2
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 CPU 550 @ 3.20GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.2GHz
Memory: 4096MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 4022MB RAM
Page File: 2031MB used, 6010MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: 144 DPI (150 percent)
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
DxDiag Version: 6.01.7601.17514 32bit Unicode

PD-12 PowerDirector Ultra: 12.0.3403.0

PD-14 PowerDirector Ultra: 14.0.1728.0
SR numbers: VDE14

PD-15 Power Director Ultra
15.0.1725.0

Here is a screen shot of the properties of one of the slideshow videos. Thanks,
Bill in Texas

PD-12, PD-14 and PD15 is installed on this iMAC computer under BootCamp, and PD's are running great:
DxDiag Info:
System Information
------------------
Operating System: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Apple Inc.
System Model: iMac11,2
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 CPU 550 @ 3.20GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.2GHz
Memory: 4096MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 4022MB RAM
Page File: 2031MB used, 6010MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: 144 DPI (150 percent)
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
DxDiag Version: 6.01.7601.17514 32bit Unicode

PD-12 PowerDirector Ultra: 12.0.3403.0

PD-14 PowerDirector Ultra: 14.0.1728.0
SR numbers: VDE14

PD-15 Power Director Ultra
15.0.1725.0

Quote: Here is a screen shot of the properties of one of the slideshow videos.

I gather you are using magic movie? How much music did you add and what settings did you use for the length of the video. Perhaps a screen shot of the Magic Movie dialog would be helpful?

I have never usd that. For me it is just as easy to do a regular production.
]
Efit: Can't even spell the important words! .
.
BoilerPlate: To posters who ask for help -- it is nice to thank the volunteers who try to answer your questions !
Anything I post unless stated with a reference is my personal opinion.

I do not think your math is wrong.

I think you got the duration of the images wrong.

300 images / 60 seconds = 5 minutes.

I think you have the duration of each image or most of the images at 1 second.

The way to be sure the duration is the same for all images is the select the first image, hold Shift Key, click the last image. Set the duration (on top of timeline) to 00;00;05;00 Seconds. (hh;mm;ss;ff) hh=hours, mm=minutes, ss=seconds, ff=frames

When you click OK, the timeline will fill up with the longer length images.

Then your math would be correct.
300 images times 5 seconds = 1500 seconds.

1500 seconds / 60 seconds per minute = 25 minutes.
Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

Here are the screen shoots from start to almost making the slideshow video, results of video is seen on
Final Results of Slideshow Producing 272 Photos w-5sec length for each photo.png Thanks,
Bill in Texas

PD-12, PD-14 and PD15 is installed on this iMAC computer under BootCamp, and PD's are running great:
DxDiag Info:
System Information
------------------
Operating System: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Apple Inc.
System Model: iMac11,2
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 CPU 550 @ 3.20GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.2GHz
Memory: 4096MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 4022MB RAM
Page File: 2031MB used, 6010MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: 144 DPI (150 percent)
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
DxDiag Version: 6.01.7601.17514 32bit Unicode

PD-12 PowerDirector Ultra: 12.0.3403.0

PD-14 PowerDirector Ultra: 14.0.1728.0
SR numbers: VDE14

PD-15 Power Director Ultra
15.0.1725.0

more screen shots Thanks,
Bill in Texas

PD-12, PD-14 and PD15 is installed on this iMAC computer under BootCamp, and PD's are running great:
DxDiag Info:
System Information
------------------
Operating System: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Apple Inc.
System Model: iMac11,2
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 CPU 550 @ 3.20GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.2GHz
Memory: 4096MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 4022MB RAM
Page File: 2031MB used, 6010MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: 144 DPI (150 percent)
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
DxDiag Version: 6.01.7601.17514 32bit Unicode

PD-12 PowerDirector Ultra: 12.0.3403.0

PD-14 PowerDirector Ultra: 14.0.1728.0
SR numbers: VDE14

PD-15 Power Director Ultra
15.0.1725.0

this may help even more Thanks,
Bill in Texas

PD-12, PD-14 and PD15 is installed on this iMAC computer under BootCamp, and PD's are running great:
DxDiag Info:
System Information
------------------
Operating System: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Apple Inc.
System Model: iMac11,2
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 CPU 550 @ 3.20GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.2GHz
Memory: 4096MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 4022MB RAM
Page File: 2031MB used, 6010MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: 144 DPI (150 percent)
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
DxDiag Version: 6.01.7601.17514 32bit Unicode

PD-12 PowerDirector Ultra: 12.0.3403.0

PD-14 PowerDirector Ultra: 14.0.1728.0
SR numbers: VDE14

PD-15 Power Director Ultra
15.0.1725.0

Quote: I set the scene I wish to use, select the audio and set the music to the photos, then produce.

Quote: I gather you are using magic movie?

Bill -

Your Maths is good. Carl's Maths is good. The only thing you've neglected to factor in is that you're using PD's slideshow templates. PD has its own "Maths" and will completely ignore any calculations you think you've made! Steve was on the right track

Whatever durations you've set in the timeline will be totally overlooked by the template.

Added to that, you're selecting music to apply. That complicates the duration & which images are used, depending on which option you choose - Fit photos to music or vice versa.

Now - if you put your 300 photos in the timeline, all set to 5 seconds duration, applied the transitions and produced the video... it would be 25 minutes long. i.e. no use of "Slideshow Creator".

Using 100 photos and no music, here are the total durations you can expect. Obviously, templates like Montage & Cell which display multiple images at once will be shorter... and templates that contain extra bits, like Balloon & Frozen Space will take longer.



Cheers - Tony


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Good math? I guess a matter of perception, the canned slideshows have transitions, so...

I believe what PD does for normal slideshow templates is use a fixed 6 second pic and 2 second transition. Yes, regardless of any user settings, these are canned templates. So for any template that simply has a single pic and a transition, (normal, motion, highlight) you get

(100pics * 6 seconds) - (99 transitions * 2 seconds) - 1 second fade transition on last pic = 401 seconds if you are using dropped frame timecode (as evident by your ";" vs ":")

All the other templates support multiple overlay and variable number of pics per 6 second hold so you end up with what process CL canned, still good math I'm sure. Many minor improvements suggested for years which would be major improvements for users, my pet rock accepts suggestions too.

OP pics show use of "cell" template which by default can have up to 10 pics on a single 6 second hold so one should never expect 5x300 for a finished duration, it has to be significantly less.

Jeff

Apologize for taking so long to respond back, but had to leave the computer for a while and go to the hockey rink to do a live feed video, it's a cool place... Now I am totally refreshed and looking over all of the responses, I am going to try and resolve my issues but first, "What a great bunch of dedicated members we have here in the forum."

Just want to say a big Thanks to All of you who have posted their Findings, Questions & Opinions!" Seriously.

I read and re-read my post and answers, but kept asking myself what is wrong with slideshow templates? So I started all over again, but this time I clicked on the "Customize" button and selected to have maximum of 1 photo per slide. Then continued on with process. Slideshow was still showing more than 1 photo per slide and it still had a very short video. (By the way no music was selected in this trial test.)

Started back over again, this time going even slower and looking at every option and asking, "What would happen IF?". I finally found the the culprit which then lead to producing the video in the correct length.

I could believe how simple it was to fix the issue. Do you really want know the fix? It is in the Slideshow Designer area, after one changes the 'Maximum number of photos per slide' to any other number other than 10, just simply press the "REMIX"[u] option.

Pressing the Remix button to generate a new version of the slideshow, with less than 10 down to 1 photo per slide you selected.

See attached png files, highlighted in red where to look for findings. Now it is 1:23AM CST and I am going to bed and get ready for more hockey videography this weekend in Grapevine, TX. Thanks,
Bill in Texas

PD-12, PD-14 and PD15 is installed on this iMAC computer under BootCamp, and PD's are running great:
DxDiag Info:
System Information
------------------
Operating System: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Apple Inc.
System Model: iMac11,2
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 CPU 550 @ 3.20GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.2GHz
Memory: 4096MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 4022MB RAM
Page File: 2031MB used, 6010MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: 144 DPI (150 percent)
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
DxDiag Version: 6.01.7601.17514 32bit Unicode

PD-12 PowerDirector Ultra: 12.0.3403.0

PD-14 PowerDirector Ultra: 14.0.1728.0
SR numbers: VDE14

PD-15 Power Director Ultra
15.0.1725.0

Well, I just had to run my own analysis's of the slideshow issues.
CONCLUSION: Ynotfish and I both nearly have the same results. Used the word NEARLY just in case I made a calculation error somewhere...

I know one can only 1 photo in the CELL and CAMERA, but would it not be great to have the option of using the same photo for either 2 thru 10 photos per slide, thereby creating the same effects as the other options create? This would then allow one to extended the time duration with the same effects for each photo.

I just don't like not being able to see at least all of the photos in full size regardless of other customizations going on in the same slide. Sure use different photos in the customization, but use all of the photos. In other words, if one has 50 photos and use a customization options, then instead of having maybe less than 20 slides containing all of the 50 photos, one could have 50 slides - with each slide containing one main photo plus the customization used. Just an idea...





Thanks,
Bill in Texas

PD-12, PD-14 and PD15 is installed on this iMAC computer under BootCamp, and PD's are running great:
DxDiag Info:
System Information
------------------
Operating System: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Apple Inc.
System Model: iMac11,2
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 CPU 550 @ 3.20GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.2GHz
Memory: 4096MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 4022MB RAM
Page File: 2031MB used, 6010MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: 144 DPI (150 percent)
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
DxDiag Version: 6.01.7601.17514 32bit Unicode

PD-12 PowerDirector Ultra: 12.0.3403.0

PD-14 PowerDirector Ultra: 14.0.1728.0
SR numbers: VDE14

PD-15 Power Director Ultra
15.0.1725.0

Quote: Good math? I guess a matter of perception, the canned slideshows have transitions, so...

Just being friendly, Jeff.

Any "calculation" based on the slideshow templates is, at best, a rough approximation.
In the "Normal" slideshow, for example, whilst there is a sequence it's not mechanically applied. Image + Transition is ~5 seconds, but varies. Transition durations vary from ~14 - 31 frames. Exact total duration (therefore) is unpredictable. It's all approximate.

Anyway, the point is, once a template is chosen the "Math" is out of your hands.

So Bill - NEARLY is about the best that can be done.

Cheers - Tony
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Tony, for "Normal" slideshow my results are summarized below:

25 images, 101 seconds created in PD, (25*6) - (24*2) -1= 101 seconds
40 images, 161 seconds created in PD, (40*6) - (39*2) -1 = 161 seconds
100 images, 401 seconds created in PD, (100*6) - (99*2) -1 = 401 seconds
104 images 417 seconds created in PD, (104*6) - ( 103*2) -1 = 417 seconds
153 images, 613 seconds created in PD, (153*6) - (152*2) -1 = 613 seconds
201 images, 805 seconds created in PD, (201*6) - (200*2) -1 = 805 seconds

For everyone of the "Normal" slideshow created above with various pic counts PD produced video time matches what I said. Yep Tony, you got me, an unpredictable processes, I guess it must be my installation, should I reinstall PD?

My point was simple, good math is a matter of perception since the canned slideshows have transitions, so...
one can not simply take picture count multiplied by duration to yield some reasonable time estimate for slideshow as OP questioned.

Jeff

If the final slideshow length is 'of the essence' then I would produce and then use the result in a second project where you can specify the exact overall time that you want it to run using the Power Tools/Video Speed settings.

Cheeky! I don't think a reinstall is necessary, Jeff.

Thanks for keeping me on my toes. My statement about approximations of total slideshow duration is wrong.

In the testing I did, no normal slideshow followed a regular pattern like the averages you've listed. Image + Transition ranged from <4 seconds to > 5 seconds. So, what's unpredictable is what occurs within the slideshow (because the transitions are random). You're right though. It must work on averages so the total duration is calculable.

In any case, we have agreement about not being able to simply take picture count multiplied by duration to yield some reasonable time estimate for slideshow, which is really all Bill needed to know.

Cheers - Tony

Visit PDtoots. PowerDirector Tutorials, tips, free resources & more. Subscribe!
Full linked Tutorial Catalog PDtoots happily supports fellow PowerDirector users!

Quote: If the final slideshow length is 'of the essence' then I would produce and then use the result in a second project where you can specify the exact overall time that you want it to run using the Power Tools/Video Speed settings.

Sometimes it's nice to know what's under the hood so you know if it may work for your video vision. You can't really modify the picture to transition ratio, yes you can produce and change speed but the picture time to transition time will always stay the same. Too me it's too biased towards transition times and that's what several complaints in the forum over the years are about, the video is too fast. That's why some of these canned templates are of little value, nice concept, CL just built in poor controls behind the scene for users to really take advantage of. CL putting in a little more time thinking about the deployment would greatly enhance user experience in my opinion. If you have 10 pics in a "cell" template it hardly makes sense to run at the same 6 second duration as a single image slide.

Quote: So, what's unpredictable is what occurs within the slideshow (because the transitions are random). You're right though. It must work on averages so the total duration is calculable.

Quite the law of transition averages that works from 24-200 random transitions. I find it inconceivable that things "average" out so well. Maybe it is more that the overall time duration of transitions are fixed (2 seconds) but what CL decides to program within the 160+ transition time scale varies. One transition could immediately affect the adjoining transition clips and another transition could postpone the effect for several frames. The transition still took 2 seconds of time from my video duration to do the transition. So, if one is looking at the produced video, one may get a different perception as to pic time vs transition times but the simple math holds.

Jeff

I've tried to follow your calculations and tables about slideshow length and stuff...
But:
To put it simple:
I've got 14 (fourteen) Images to Show.
I want each Image to be shown for 7 seconds (transitions included), making it a slideshow of (14*7=) 98 seconds, or 1 Minute 38 seconds.
I Highlight the 7 Images, choose the button "Slideshow" and follow the menu:
Style = "Motion".
Background Music = xyz.MP3 (total Duration 3:44)
Slideshow preferences: fit Music to photos. Sequence = Timeline order, don't detect faces. (ok).
Music preferences: Music mark out trimmed to 1:38:03 (no way to put it on 1:38:00 - no editable Digits), no fade in, yes fade out. (ok).
Next. (PD renders something). Preview: The Overall length is: 00:55:05 seconds. (which makes about 4 seconds per Foto).

Next try. (previous).
Music preferences: unchanged
Slideshow preferences: Fit Fotos to Music (!)
Next. (another Rendering) Preview: The Overall length NOW is: 1:38:03 (perfect!)
BUT:
The Images are again not shown for 7 seconds, but for 4 (FOUR) seconds.
So, after 56 seconds the slideshow restarts with Foto #1, being at Foto #11, when the 1:38:03 are reached.

And that is UNUSEABLE.
That makes NO SENSE.
I want the Fotos to be shown for 7 seconds each, I've placed text items into the timeline according to their respective Position, and These are now no longer Fitting to the Fotos.

And:
There is NO WAY to Stretch the Duration of the slideshow to the appropriate length, as it would be possible with a 'normal' Video Clip.

What a pity!
Michael.