I want to create a CD-R containing 100 jpegs and three songs. I want
the music to play one song after the other while playing through the
slideshow of 100 jpegs.
EZ CD Creator 5 Platinum will allow me to burn the jpegs and only one
song which plays half way through the slideshow, but I want to play
three songs.
Which software are you personally familiar with which will allow me to
do this, and how do I accomplish it?

---

Request for Question Clarification by easterangel-ga on 20 Mar 2003 16:04 PST

Hi! I have not used a software like this but have done presentations
on similar ones. We could investigate the software products available
out there from reputable companies, giving you their features. Then we
could list them here. Would the list be acceptable as an answer even
if we don't have personal experiece with any of these products? Just
let me know. :)

---

Clarification of Question by bearsmoore-ga on 20 Mar 2003 20:22 PST

I want to copy some pictures of my grandson to CD disc, then add music
and play the CD on my DVD player hooked to my television. I have "No
Problem" getting the photos to a disc...........then I can even add
"One" song, BUT I want to add "Multiple" songs.........that is the
problem!  It will only allow me to use one song.  I have the
capability to copy 90 pictures to a disc and I want to play more than
one song to cover the slide show. Also once I get the pictures on
disc, with the one song allowance, then it will not play on my DVD
player.  WHY ?  I have tried EZ CD Creator, Ulead and others......I
can not accomplish my task. Can you HELP??
 
I am using a PC with WIN XP Home.
 
I would be eternally grateful if you can email me back with a
solution.

I have used a program called PicturesToExe (Pic2Exe) in the past for a
project with 2 songs and about 100 pictures without a problem.  It is
a very nice package, and I don't think adding more songs or pictures
will present any problems what-so-ever.  Half of the pictures I used
were low-res (640x480) and the other half were higher resolution
(1024x768).

You can get a 30-day trial version of the program from www.wnsoft.com
and if you like it, can buy the program cheaply.  It is $24 for a
Personal License, $30 for a Business License, and $59 for an Advanced
Business License.

It will compile the collection into either 1 screensaver file, or into
an executable (.exe) file that can be distributed to others to run on
their computers without having to purchase anything additionally.

You can also specify fades from one picture to the next, place your
own background screen, have songs start at specific times to coincide
with the dispalying of a picture, etc.

Although the program is cheap, it is very powerful.  Plus, the author
maintains a local forum on his website that allows users to discuss
techniques, tips, problems, etc., with each other.  And, best of all,
the author works very hard to keep everyone happy with their purchase.
 He supports his product better than many large commercial companies.

Combine the three songs to create one (1) longer song. Just splice
them together with your favorite wav or mp3 editor (
http://www.goldwave.com/ http://www.mp3waveditor.com/ ).

I use Firehand Lightning from Firehand Technologies at:

http://www.firehand.com/

It allows you to organise your pictures as thumbnails so it is very
easy to get the sequence running smoothly. Among other things you can:

"Create highly-compressed single-file photo collections containing any
number of sequenced pictures (video clips too!)

Attach audio annotations to the photos in your photo collection files,
as well as free-form text captions, and searchable keywords!

Enhance your photo collections with background imagery or tiling, a
multi-track audio score, embedded fonts, styled frames, a title page,
and fast-loading embedded thumbnail previews! "

It's very easy to learn and creates a professional looking product.

I suggest this freeware solution:
PhotoCDBrowser 2.95 for Win9x/NT4/ME/Win2k/XP (610 kb) 
http://www.photocdbrowser.com/
PhotoCDBrowser is program for creation and viewing of archives in
TIFF, JPEG, PCX, TGA, EPS formats. PhotoCDBrowser was created as
AutoRun for CD-archives, therefore does not require installation and
deinstallation. The program shows photos at full screen always.
Zooming: smooth, 1:1, fit to screen. Image rotation through 90 and 5
degrees. There is navigation through folders and drives. Transition
effects are supported. Background music in MP3 format. Several types
of comment to photo are available: embedded in file, from a textual
file, from descript.ion files, from a sound file. Global comment and
comments to folders, slideshow scripts are avalable too. Macros and
tags in comments are available. Slideshow modes: simple, recurrent, by
scripts. Thumbnails mode is released also. The date and time of
shooting of digital cameras is displayed. Shooting info are readed
from followings camera vendors: Agfa, Canon, Casio, Epson, Fujifilm,
Hewlett-Packard, JVC, Kodak, Konica, Kyocera, Leica, Minolta, Nikon,
Olympus, Ricoh, Toshiba, Sony, Yashica. All commands have hotkeys
which can be redefined. Language of the interface is completely
determined by contents of textual files (*.lang.txt), which can be
edited or can be added. The program works under Windows 95, 98, NT4,
2000, ME, XP. Detailed help is provided.

I would strongly suggest that you go out to a local computer shop,
personally I would recomend fry's electronics, or their online store
Outpost.com and buy a DVD-Burner.  I have had great success with a
program called Photo to Movie on a Macintosh creating beautiful
slideshows.

The dvd burner usually doesn't come with software.  I would recomend
something from Roxio, or Pinnacle.  they have good dvd making
capabilities.

The drives are down to under $200 now, so they will get nothing but
faster and cheaper in the future.  with the right drive, and the right
media, you can get about 1 disc every 6 minutes if you burn them
correctly.