Photo Story 3 by Microsoft
Click here for an example of what you can do with it.
Click here to see the Requirements
Proceed to download the program by clicking Photo Story.
The requirements are:
Windows XP Service Pack 2 (270 megabytes)
Windows Multimedia Player 10 (20 megabytes)
Direct X 9.0c (5 megabytes or so)
Here are the links for the 2 downloads. Even a new computer will need Direct X 9.0c. Most new computers will come with Multimedia Player 10. Click on the download and install it on your computer.
When these are downloaded and installed proceed to the Microsoft Website by clicking Photo Story
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How to begin the story
Click Start
Click Programs
Click Photo Story 3
Click on the circle for Begin a Story. 
Click next. 
Next - How to import pictures
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How to import pictures
Click on Import Pictures. 
A file browser window will come up. 
You will need to navigate to your pictures and select them.
Hold down the control key on the keyboard to select multiple pictures. You can also click and drag a selecting box around multiple pictures.
Click 
when you selected all the pictures you want. You can always go back and add more pictures if you want.
Some of your pictures may have black behind them or empty space. Click Remove Black Borders to get rid of empty space. 
At this point you will be asked what you want to do with all the black borders in your pictures. I suggest you click "Yes to All." 
Click
There are 5 buttons you can use to further edit your pictures. They are:
This button will let you crop pictures, make pictures black and white, auto fix problems with contrast and much more.
Click this button once to auto adjust colors.
Click this button once to auto fix red eyes.
Use these two buttons to rotate your pictures left or right.
When editing pictures click 
to go the next picture.
Click when you are done importing pictures.
Next - How to add titles to your pictures
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How to add title to your pictures
You can type your title in this box. 
You can these buttons 
to change the position and style of the titles.
Use this button to move to the next picture.
Click when you are done adding titles. Typically you only add a title to the first picture.
How to narrate and customize motion
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How to customize motion and narrate
You should customize motion first and then narrate.
Here is an example of what customizing motion can do:
We will start with Customizing Motion
Click on 
Click on "Start and End Motion." 
You start with a picture that might look like this: 
Notice the small 
squares at the corners and middles. You can click on the squares and resize the beginning and end of the picture. You do this by clicking and dragging.
Click and drag the Start Position and End Position.
Set the amount of time you want to look at the picture. You can do this automatically or manually. 
Click 
when you are happy with the picture.
How to narrate
Decide what you are going to say during the narration.
You can give yourself notes in this box if you desire. 
Click 
to setup your microphone. This will adjust the recording volume for you.
Click 
to begin recording.
Click 
to end your recording.
If you don't like your recording click 
to delete your recording and start over.
You can click 
and see what your video looks like.
Click when you are done.
How to create music - that's right create music of your own
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How to create music - that's right create music of your own
Photo Story 3 allows you to create music of varying tempos and types to place in your video. You can still have narration with music. The music will play in the background as the narration plays. If you have your own music you can click 
and import music that way. We are going to focus on Creating Music. Creating music a fun and creative way of creating your own beat.
Click 
to begin.
The next screen will look like this: 
You will need to make several choices as to what music you want to create. I will explain the buttons and then you need to decide what kind of music you want.
You can choose the type of music you want.
You can choose the style. There are many styles.
Bands and Moods will let you further create different styles of music.
Tempo and Intensity will let you make some subtle changes as well.
When you have made you creative choice click 
to preview the music. If you don't like the music make some more changes until you do.
Click when you are done with music.
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How to save your story
Photo Story 3 will let you save your movie in several different formats. I am only going to show 3 different ways. You can click on each way to learn how to save in that format.
Save for playing on your computer
Click 
to begin the process.
Look at the 
box. It is important that you note where the file is being saved. If you don't like the name or location of the file Click on Browse and change it.
Click 
to select the settings you want.
Look at this box: 
If you click on the down arrow you can look at all the possible settings.
I suggest you use "Profile for computers - 2." This will run the best on a wide variety of computers.
Click when you have selected your profile
Click to begin saving the file.
At this point you are done. You can 
view your story or create another story. Good Job, your project looks great and I would like to nominate you for your first Golden Globe Award.
Save for creating a VCD (This is a CD that will play on a DVD Player)
Creating a VCD is nice because many people have CD Writers. A VCD will run on most DVD players and are inexpensive to make. Here are the directions.
Click to begin the process.
Look at the box. It is important that you note where the file is being saved. If you don't like the name or location of the file Click on Browse and change it.
Click to select the settings you want. The screen will look like this: 
.
You need to click on the down arrow and select: 
Click when you have selected your profile
Click to begin saving the file.
At this point you are done. You can .
You will need to find the file you created and burn it on a CD. Since there are so many CD Writers I am not going to give directions on burning to a CD.
Save for creating a DVD
This part will take you through creating a DVD.
Click to begin the process.
Look at the box. It is important that you note where the file is being saved. If you don't like the name or location of the file Click on Browse and change it.
Click to select the settings you want. The screen will look like this:
You need to click on the down arrow and select: 
Click when you have selected your profile
Click to begin saving the file.
At this point you are done. You can .
You will need to find the file you created and burn it on a DVD. Since there are so many DVD Writers I am not going to give directions on burning to a DVD.