One way to do this (but tedious) would be to first create the slide show as you want it in the forward direction. I would then render this slide show in the proper file format. I would then start a new project and drop down all the slides, but this time in reverse order. Once all the slides have been inserted into the time line you can then change the speed to make it play faster (this works for videos). You may also be able to adjust the duration of each image. Once you are finished you can render this as a file. Finally, start a new project and insert both rendered files into the timeline for your final production.

This is a tedious process because you could have over 100 pictures in a slideshow.

Edit.
For the reversed section you can produce the pics in the opposite direction as the original and then change the speed of that clip later. That may be better than what I suggested previously. Q9300 2.5 GHz
4 GB Ram
Nvidia 9800 GT

Hi Cindy,

Again a 2 part process suggestion.

I don't know what format you produce to but I'm sure you will be able to reverse a copy of the the produced slideshow with 3rd party utilities.

I have a tedious way for 720p mpgs with little loss of quality. I know Dafydd has a short video on seemyworldonvideo in reverse.

Then import the reversed clip into your PD project, increase the speed and produce (if necessary more than once) to get the compression you want.

EDIT:
My original post is on the subject is here.

http://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/3463.page


Cheers
Adrian Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. (see below)
Confucius
AMD Phenom IIX6 1055T, win10, 5 internal drives, 7 usb drives, struggling power supply.

James and Adrian -

Thank you for your suggestions. Good ideas and I plan on trying them today.

Adrian . . . I watched your traffic video in reverse on dafydd's web site. It was pretty cool! You mentioned in your post some 3rd party software. Is it available to download for free? I also read your post on how you reversed the video - sounds a little over my "pay level" - is it really difficult?

Thanks,
Cindy

Hi Cindy,

Both virtualdub :-
http://www.virtualdub.org/

and Avisynth2.5
http://avisynth.org/mediawiki/Main_Page

are opensource.

There's also lots of tutorials on youtube for different ways to do it, with differing methods. The main issue for me with HD was the 16:9 aspect ratio not being handled easily hence the conversion to Divx avi. The best way will depend on your file format etc.

It seems complicated but actually it isn't really - I think we get too used to clicking on one button and it should all happen.

PM me if you want any more detail.

Cheers
Adrian Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. (see below)
Confucius
AMD Phenom IIX6 1055T, win10, 5 internal drives, 7 usb drives, struggling power supply.

Hi Cindy -
I tried the virual dub method Adrian suggested and it was a bit over my head too!

I also took your advice, Adrian, about youtube. That worked for me.

I went to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGE6pe-1s-I
which shows you how and gives the websites to download the little bits of software you need. There is an English version of the Time Reversal software, but it doesn't seem to do the job somehow (dunno why) - stick to the French one.

Thanks for the tip Adrian - all I need now is a reason to reverse a video!!!

Cheers -
Tony

Tread gently and you'll hear the daisies grow...

Thanks for the youtube link! That looks more up my alley! Unfortunately, I got this project thrown in my lap and I'm under the gun to finish it today so I just put the pics in reverse order and increased the speed of the music. Slideshows in reverse don't look as good as video, but I think they will get the effect.

I do have another question for someone . . . In a previous post on both this thread and a thread I had on transitions, it was mentioned several times to "produce (or save to a file)" the project in parts and bring it into a master project. My question is . . . . which is the best type of file to produce? Could someone give me a little "primer" and an example of when its best to save files to an .avi, .mpeg1, .mpeg2, divx, etc? Advantages? Disadvantages?

Thanks,
Cindy

Hi Cindy,

I think it depends on what final format you want and the type of video you are using. I typically shoot in HD at high settings with my new camera. When I produce a chapter for a larger project I encode using the blue ray format to preserve as much quality as possible. Normally I select BD preset and then check the custom bit rate settings and set the bit rate to match my source material. I may be a bit overkill, but I have 1TB of hard drive space to play with.

For AVI files I've imported with my old Hi8 camera I normally encoded in MPEG2 HQ to save space. I didn't notice much drop off in visual quality. Q9300 2.5 GHz
4 GB Ram
Nvidia 9800 GT

Thanks James,

I don't have a HD camera yet. Right now I'm just importing old analog film and regular digital tape. I just wasn't sure whether I should save them to .avi or .mpeg2 because there was a big difference in file size. I'm starting to get a little low on hard drive space, but I will be getting a new computer with a 1T hard drive soon!

I'm still a little confused about bit rate and how that affects the quality of the finished product . . . can you explain?

Thanks for the info!
Cindy

Tony wrote:

I went to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGE6pe-1s-I
which shows you how and gives the websites to download the little bits of software you need.

Tony,
Thanks for posting that. I downloaded the little Video Time Reversal program, then checked out if the reversed files it created would indeed load and edit in PD7, and much to my surprise it worked great.
Thanks Tony. Good on ya' mate! Click here PDtoots for a collection of PowerDirector Tutorials and Tips