U.S. Study Institute on Journalism and Media

University of Florida | 6 - 10 July 2009

Audio Slideshows with Soundslides

Soundslides Workshop

Soundslides is an inexpensive program that runs equally well on Mac and Windows. You can download the free demo version and pay for it later, if you decide to continue using it.

Before you begin:

Tips:

  1. Name and save the project folder carefully.
  2. "Custom" option: Choose the width and height of the slideshow based on the size of your photos.
  3. Don't forget to save AND export the Soundslides.
  4. The publish_to_web folder must be uploaded to the Web in its entirety.
  5. KEEP THE PROJECT FOLDER in case you need to make changes to the slideshow later.
  6. In general, 5 seconds of audio = 1 photo. So, 60 seconds = at least 12 photos. 2 min. 30 sec. (150 sec.) = at least 30 photos.

See the Soundslides Forums for tips, help, and examples.

Soundslides uses the Flash player, which is a Web browser plug-in that most Internet users already have. In other words, most people will not need to download anyhting to view your slideshow on the Web.

For more tips about audio slideshows, see these posts in the Reporter’s Guide to Multimedia Proficiency:

My Favorite Soundslides Examples

Tutorials for Soundslides

Soundslides does not produce video files, and you cannot import video into Soundslides. It is a simple tool that builds simple audio slideshows. That's all.