Chris' Choice Software - Photo Story 3

I am starting a series on programs that I find cool. Cool by its very nature is subjective so for each program I will list what I think is cool about it and how you could use it in your classroom.

My first choice is Microsoft's Photo Story 3, you can find it here.

Photo Story 3 is a free program that allows you to create slide shows with your digital pictures and add various visual effects, commentary and music. If you want to make a video like Ken Burns then this is the program to do it.

I downloaded the program a couple of months ago, intending to try it out, I never got around to it until last week. I was at an event where pictures were taken, they were not great pictures, so instead of just posting them as a slide show on a blog, I decided to use photo story to make a video. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy and fun it was to create a movie from my pictures.

Here is how it worked for me.

I imported my pictures and put them into my timeline. I did have an issue here; the pictures were taken at the largest resolution and the file sizes were HUGE. So, I went back and changed the resolution to a more modest size 800 x 600, only because I wanted a smaller file size and it was to be posted on a blog. PS3 worked well with the larger files, albeit a little slow, but I needed something smaller.

After I imported the pictures I arranged them in the order I wanted them displayed, edited them for contrast, color, and red eye reduction, added motion and transitions, and then added a sound track. You can choose from music on your hard drive or have the program create a sound track. Here is where I have a small issue, while soundtrack creation is cool and customizable, the end result still sounds a little computer sounding and generic.

Once everything was the way I liked it, I added opening and closing titles and chose a format to publish it in. PS3 went to work and my movie was finished.

I had a great deal of fun with it and am looking forward to using it more often.

Here are a few ideas on how to use it in your classroom:

1. Have your students collect pictures and tell a story with them (a video collage) - add narration and music.
2. Pick a topic and have your students take pictures and make a movie that tells the complete story.
3. Watch a Ken Burns special and discuss with your students how he uses pictures to tell his stories. Next, have your students use the same methods.
4. Break your class into groups and give them all the same pictures and have them create a video. Have a showing of all projects and then report on how different and/or similar each video was.

Photo Story 3 What's Cool

• It is easy to use. Just import your pictures, add music, export and voila you're done.
• It is powerful. you can edit and change things to your hearts content.
• It is free. Yep it is!
• It is fun. Revitalize old pictures and tell a compelling story.

Tell me what you think. Are you using PS3 and is it working for you? Are you using another piece of software that you like? What are your choices for useful educational software? Do you have a fun story of using PS3 in your classroom?

Matrix Ingenuity will be offering training on using Photo Story 3.
If you are interested in taking a class please contact me at training@matrixingenuity.com or check out our website at http://www.matrixingenuity.com/ for upcoming training dates.

PS. if you want to see my video it is here.