I conducted an experiment today which turned out well. I decided my in-laws and my parents would enjoy a collection of family photos, and music that my son and I had recorded at various times during the year.
I pulled up the Windows DVD Maker under Vista, identified which photos I wanted to arrange in a slide show and then pulled in music that I'd recorded earlier this year for the First Tracks songwriting contest, along with with my recording of Calico Jack, a song written by two of my online friends. You can listen to these recordings online here. Then I asked my oldest son to contribute music that he'd recorded with his trio in the last couple of months.
In about two hours, I'd assembled the entire thing, a slide show with background music. The program has a useful preview feature, so I was able to weed out pictures with issues. Next, I burned the DVD. My in-laws were visiting, so I played the DVD for them after dinner. It provided an excellent way to share my travels and family pictures, not to mention the music. I've already burned another copy and printed out a jewel box cover to bring to my parents this weekend.
This technology stuff is pretty cool when it works!
Here's a couple of pictures that I used for the menu:
Chinaman's Hat on Oahu, Hawaii
Carousel in front of Hotel de Ville, Paris, France
Happy holidays to all of my readers.