Success .... almost ..... kinda !

A while back I decided to put the pics from the NY/Paris holiday into a slide show so I could burn it onto a DVD. I had done this with the photos from Egypt but wanted to do something a bit different this time around.

There are some very good slideshow programs out there but I wanted to do something other than just have one photo after another … after another….after another, and I eventually decided to have a play around with PowerPoint.

The result? Perfect!

Doing it with PowerPoint meant that I could add in multiple pics into the one frame, time the background music properly and basically just be creative with it rather than just one pic after another.

The hitch ? There is nothing out there that will successfully convert a PowerPoint presentation into a format that will play on anything other than a computer. Note that I said ‘successfully’ convert it …. There are plenty of programs out there that do the job but they don’t preserve the timings and transitions.

I’ve been playing around with this for over 18 months now and recently I had a brainwave (it does happen occasionally) ……. A little while back I bought a DVD Recorder/VCR combo and I figured that if I could hook the PC up to the DVD recorder I should be able to record it as if I was recording a TV show.

After a LOT of mucking about ….and a LOT of phone calls I worked out that I will not be able to get it to run properly through the DVD recorder but I can very successfully get it to run directly through the TV.

The problem now ? Figuring out how to hook the TV up to the DVD recorder at the same time so that I can record it onto a disc ….. Argh !

The TV has so many AV points on the back of it that you just about need a Uni degree to figure anything out – it actually took me a couple of weeks to get it all hooked up when I first bought it and usually I can get an AV set up all wired and ready in no time.

So, it’s nearly there …. If anyone out there in cyberspace reads this and happens to be a whiz with audio visual type stuff and can offer some advice – for Christ’s sake get in touch!!! :-)

Things I have learnt from this -

1/ Most people who work in the computer / audio visual retail industry know absolutely nothing about the products they sell - except how to try to get you to buy things you don't need.

2/ Most people don't really listen to a word you say and speak to you like you are an idiot - when you probably know more than they do.

3/ Your chances of speaking to someone who is actually an adult is almost nil - I have had wine older than most of the people I spoke to asking for assistance/advice.

4/ If you have low blood pressure try speaking to the staff at Harvey Norman - I can assure you your blood pressure will go up in no time.


P.S - Paris pics on the way soon!!