This page will introduce the slideshow options in todisc (' tovid disc ') introduced in tovid 0.32.
Sorry, this page is yet to be written as a proper article - any volunteers?
In the meantime here are some excerpts from the manpage:
Slideshows
You can also use todisc to make slideshows.
This can either be a single slideshow, or multiple slideshows on the same menu. (for SVCD only single slideshow is supported). Remember to use -slides rather than -files for passing in the images. Images can be any filetype that imagemagick supports: for example JPEG, PNG, GIF, TGA BMP etc. For a single slideshow do not use -titles: use -menu-title to set the slideshow title.
For a single slideshow the default is an animated menu that transitions from slide to slide. The default transition type is ’crossfade’, which fades each slide into the next and loops back to the first slide at the end. If instead you use -static, then a static ’polaroid stack’ menu of all the slides is created, with a single button for navigating with the enter key. You may have to experiment to find out which DVD remote button advances the slides, on my player it is different for DVD and SVCD. Try the ’next chapter’ (skip ?) button and the play or enter buttons.
If you want to limit the number of slides in the menu to a subset of all files entered with -slides, then use -menu-slide-total INT. Be sure to use a long enough audio file for -bgaudio or set -menu-length so the menu is long enough to support the slides plus transitions.
You can also put multiple slideshows on one menu. To do this, use -slides IMAGES for each slideshow desired. You can even mix videos with slideshows by using -files -slides -titles multiple times.
Example of a single slideshow with an animated menu with transitions:
$ todisc -menu-title "Autumn in Toronto" -slides images/*.jpg \ -menu-slide-total 20 -slide-transition crossfade -bgaudio slideshow.wav \ -out myslideshow
Example of multiple slideshows on one menu:
$ todisc -menu-title "Autumn in Toronto" \ -slides photos/september/*.jpg \ -slides photos/october/*.jpg \ -slides photos/november/*.jpg \ -tile3x1 -rotate -5 5 -5 -align center \ -bgaudio background.wav \ -out myslideshow
Example of mixed videos and slideshows:
$ todisc -menu-title "Autumn in Toronto" \ -files fall_fair.mov \ -slides photos/september/*.jpg \ -files harvest.mpg \ -slides photos/october/*.jpg \ -titles "Fall Fair" "September" "Harvest" "October" \ -background autumn.png \ -bgaudio bg.mp3 \ -out myslideshow
See the other slideshow options in the Slideshow options' section of the manpage.
Slideshow options
-slides IMAGES Use -slides IMAGES to pass in images for a slideshow. The default is to make an animated menu of the slides, moving from one slide to the next. If you use -static, a ’polaroid stack’ montage is created. This composites the slides onto the background in ’random’ locations with random rotations. -slides IMAGES can be used multiple times if you wish to make a menu with multiple slideshows (DVD only). You can also make a menu of mixed videos and slideshows by using -slides IMAGES, and -files VIDEOS multiple times. For such a menu, the number of -titles needs to match the number of -files passed in plus the number of slideshows. (Each time you use -slides counts as one title.) To use a transition between the slides, use -slide-transition crossfade|fade. See -slide-transition -menu-slide-total
-menu-slide-total INT Use INT number of the slides that were passed in with -slides to make the animated or static slide menu. The length of the menu is determined by 1) -menu-length NUM if given, and by 2) the length of the audio from -bgaudio. For submenu slideshows, it is determined by 1) -submenu-length NUM if given, and by 2) the length of the audio from -submenu-audio FILE(S).
-submenu-slide-total INT This option is the same as -menu-slide-total except that it is for submenu slideshows.
-slide-transition crossfade|fade [crossfade] The type of fade transition between slides in a animated slide menu. Be sure the menu length is long enough to support the 1 second transitions between the slides. The length is determined by 1) the length of the -bgaudio AUDIO 2) the length given with -menu-length NUM. For submenu slideshows, it is determined by 1) -submenu-length NUM if given, and by 2) the length of the audio from -submenu-audio FILE(S). The ’crossfade’ transition fades from one slide to another. The ’fade’ transition fades in and out from and to black. If you don’t use this option, the default is to use a ’crossfade’ transition. See -menu-slide-total , -bgaudio , -menu-length , -submenu-length, and -submenu-audio.
-slideshow-menu-thumbs FILES Use the FILES instead of the 1st image in each slideshow as the thumb that shows on the menu. This option is for multiple slideshows or mixed slideshow/video menus only.
-slides-to-bin FILES FILES will be resized to 640x480 using a ’box’ filter - this is called ’binning’. It will reduce the ’signal to noise’ ratio for the image in the animated slide menu. Use this if you get some unwanted effects for certain images, such as pixels shifting in what should be a static image. See also -slides-to-blur and -slide-border
-slides-to-blur FILES FILES will be blurred a small amount - which will help on slides that still have noise even after ’binning’ with -slides-to-bin. The default blur is 0x0.2 - you can increase this with -slide-blur ARG. See also -slides-to-bin and -slide-border.
-slide-blur VALUE or LIST of VALUES [0x0.2] The argument to use for blurring files. It will be passed to imagemagick: convert -blur ARG. The format of the arg is {radius}x{sigma} and the default is 0x0.2. Using values between 0x0.1 and 0x0.9 is probably the best range. Use a single value for all, or a list to have a different blur for each file passed with -slides-to-blur. You must pass in -files-to-blur FILES to use this option. Blurring can help with video ’noise’ problems. See also -slides-to-bin and -slide-border
-slide-border WIDTH [100] Pad the slides with a border for the animated slide menu. The default without using an argument is 100. Using this option can also solve some noise/ringing effects if used alone or in conjunction with ’binning’ (-slides-to-bin) or blurring (-slides-to-blur).
-slide-frame WIDTH [12] Frame the slides for the animated slideshow menu. The default width with no argument is 12. See also -slide-frame-color
-slide-frame-color | -slide-frame-colour The color of the slide frame if passing -slide-frame. The default if you don’t use this option is a color-safe white: rgb(235,235,235).
-showcase-slideshow If doing multiple slideshows or mixed videos and slideshow(s), then use the animated slideshow as a showcase video. It will be composed of slides from each slideshow in the menu. The thumb for each slideshow button will be static. If you used with a mixed menu of videos and slideshows, then the video thumbs WILL be ani‐ mated, so you may wish to use -static or -textmenu with the option in that case.
-background-slideshow If doing multiple slideshows or mixed videos and slideshow(s), then use the animated slideshow as a background video. See -showcase-slideshow for additional details.
-no-confirm-backup todisc is alpha software, so for your protection todisc prompts you to back up your files first. It is unlikely that todisc will destroy or overwrite your photos, but as with any largely untested software you should back up first. If you have already backed up and do not want to be prompted every time, use this option.
-use-dvd-slideshow CONFIG (FILE) If you pass this option without an argument, todisc will use the dvd-slideshow program to create the animated slide menu, assuming you have this program installed. The optional argument is the dvd-slideshow configuration file - if you don’t use this argument todisc will create it for you. If you want to use the ’Ken Burns effect’ - then the configuration file argument is required. Note: the configuration file will override many of the above options for slideshows.