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Post by tonyw on Dec 12, 2019 23:02:56 GMT
It's been a while since I made a slideshow with lots of bells, whistles and music but my program of choice has been ProShow Gold . I just learnt that Photodex has supposedly gone out of business and their ProShow Gold and Producer products are no longer supported. If this is indeed the case I'll have to start looking around for alternatives. Any suggestions on slideshow software that can come close to what ProShow Gold would do?
Tony
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Post by cats4jan on Dec 13, 2019 2:38:38 GMT
Don’t know what ProShow can do and I’m not familiar with how Adobe Premiere Elements has changed, but when I was using it years ago, it was pretty impressive. I can only imagine how good it is now. PE and PSE are available as a bundle - often as cheap as $99. There is always the option of a 30 day trial. Worth giving it a try.
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pontiac1940
CE Members
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Open to constructive criticism of photos: Yes
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Post by pontiac1940 on Dec 13, 2019 3:20:46 GMT
Tony:
No real help from me.
I have Adobe Premiere Elements 2018 and it seems very powerful, but other than very basic editing I've not delved into its features. I need to take a class. YouTube vids were not overly helpful at least he ones I viewed.
Good luck
Clive
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Post by Sepiana on Dec 13, 2019 5:09:47 GMT
Tony, I would think Adobe Premiere Pro would be a good alternative (not Adobe Premiere Elements). You can get it through your CC subscription. It will add to your payments but it will be worth the additional cost. Premiere ProFeature summary | Premiere Pro (April 2019 release)NOTE: If you want to download a trial version, you can do it directly from the CC Desktop Application. Scroll down to the "Trials" section. |
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Post by tonyw on Dec 13, 2019 22:26:39 GMT
Thanks for the suggestions. As the old version I have mostly still seems to be working (fingers crossed that the next Windows update doesn't break more of it!) and I have no immediate need I have time to check out some of the alternatives. Sad to see good software that was easy to use die a slow death.
Tony
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Post by Andrei Doubrovski on Dec 14, 2019 5:35:39 GMT
Tony,
About a year ago, I've compared several slide-show apps and have eventually chosen ProShow Gold
because of the best output video quality + the ability to set duration of individual slides.
The second best, for me, was Lightroom -- nearly as good graphic quality, but no individual slide durations.
The other tested apps (including Premiere Elements) outputted much worse video quality.
Everything is IMHO.
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Post by lahazard on Dec 22, 2019 2:50:59 GMT
I am a long time Proshow user. Photodex has indeed gone out of business. Was a member of the Beta group for years. The program is still available for registered owners, but it will no longer be developed or supported. Not the same company, but some of the same developers have gone on to start Photopia. There are two versions, both available by subscription. It is the next generation of what Proshow would have become if Photodex did not shut down. I am currently using the Creator version (most similar to what Proshow Producer was) but will be moving up to the Director version later next year. It includes abilities to create slide styles and transitions from scratch. If you don't like the subscription model that a lot of software is moving to, then you can still use the old Proshow, (at least, as you mention, as long as new OS updates don't break it) or one of the less featured alternatives. Free trials of both versions are available. And former Proshow users get a little bit of a discount for their first year or three month subscription. Again this is NOT the same company, but a completely new one that includes some of the folks who developed Proshow. One can also join the forum without owning the software. You can then ask questions and follow along as the software continues to develop.
It does allow you to import ALL former Proshow effects, slide styles, transitions, templates and existing shows. It will convert all of these to be able to work in Photopia. Jennifer of Choice Slides is providing free (as well as purchasable) tutorials and is willing to help anyone with any questions that come up. You will have to review and make some adjustments, when you import, timings/positioning of slides/cropping, etc., but I was VERY happy with the results I was able to get simply importing my old shows. The cost is 9.95$ a month for Creator and 24.95$ a month for Director. (with a discount if you purchase for a year in advance.) You can use Creator and switch to Director and back again, as your needs evolve. (Just pay the price difference for however long you do so. You can also pause your subscription if you find you don't need to use the program for a period of time.) I am very happy with the new program and it's improvements on Proshow's abilities. I have chosen to subscribe in order to help promote it's future development.
Currently available for Windows, will also be available for Mac.
P.S. Since it is a different company, they no longer have rights to use the Music Library that was included with Proshow. As of December 31st, it is my understanding that Proshow will also no longer have a valid license to use them either. (any existing shows can still use the music. You just can't make NEW shows after December 2019. I could, however, not have that correct.)
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WayneS
Established Forum Member
Posts: 476 
Open to constructive criticism of photos: Yes
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Post by WayneS on Jan 4, 2020 2:56:36 GMT
This is not a nice way to start the New Year! I started with Pro Show Gold a few years ago, and upgraded to Producer, which was great. I upgraded my computer a year ago, and haven't done any shows in that time, reading the above information, I went into a couple of them, but unable to open and view, without the pxsetup file, so tried downloading it, but it won't work.
Does this mean I will be unable to see any of these presentations again?
Any suggestions or help is appreciated
Thx
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Post by tonyw on Jan 7, 2020 21:11:01 GMT
I got the official email email today confirming the demise of Proshow and Photodex. Here’s the opening statement: You can read the rest of the details here www.photodex.com/shutdown.htmlTony |
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Post by lahazard on Jan 13, 2020 2:30:05 GMT
This is not a nice way to start the New Year! I started with Pro Show Gold a few years ago, and upgraded to Producer, which was great. I upgraded my computer a year ago, and haven't done any shows in that time, reading the above information, I went into a couple of them, but unable to open and view, without the pxsetup file, so tried downloading it, but it won't work. Does this mean I will be unable to see any of these presentations again? Any suggestions or help is appreciated Thx WayneS, Did you download the versions you have a license for? If not, do you know how to get the download links for older versions? If you did get the right versions downloaded, and they no longer work, you only have to the end of the month to ask for help. I think Joshua is going to be checking til the end of the month, so you might want to send him an email explaining the problems. He is also available on the Photopia Forum. You do not need to be using Photopia to sign up there. The only other thing I am aware of is to buy the recent version. Problem with that is you only have to the end of the month, and then all support will cease. And you will not be able to download it again after everything shuts down at the end of January. While Photopia is on it's way to be a very nice replacement to Proshow, it is not the same company as Photodex. Some of the developers got together when it was determined that Photodex was closing it's doors, and decided to come up with a new program incorporating many things they were not able to develop for Proshow. You can import old Proshow projects into Photopia, but not the reverse. It's a completely new program, built from the ground up, with some backward compatibility with Proshow. You can download a free trial and see if it accepts your older shows. If you decide it is worth the investment, and don't mind a subscription plan, you can get it for 9.99 (USD) a month. (There are two versions available. The Director version is more expensive. There is a page on the website that will explain the differences between the Creator Version and the Director Version.) It also will allow you to pay for the months you actually use it, pause the subscription, and start it back if you need it again. So if you only need to use it for two months, you can use it, pause it, and then not have to pay the monthly amount until you decide to use it again. I know the subscription approach is not to everyone's liking, but if you want something that will give you the features of Proshow, and more, Photopia is the only program I know that will do that. (If anyone knows of another program that is at least up to the level of Proshow, please share.) Louis P.S. You can also import any slide styles and other effects from Proshow into Photopia. Not just completed shows. P.P.S. You can also read through old forum posts, on the Photopia site, to get a clearer picture of the problems some other users of Proshow are running into. All updates are free, even if you are on a free trial. So it might be worth taking a look. |
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WayneS
Established Forum Member
Posts: 476
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Post by WayneS on Jan 13, 2020 3:05:50 GMT
Thanks Louis, I will check some of these suggestions out.
I appreciate your help
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Post by sandyae on Jul 5, 2020 2:25:48 GMT
I purchased ProShow Gold and the ProShow upgrade to Producer 9 a couple years ago. I still have my emailed license keys for both. I downloaded the software so I don't have it on media. I'm switching from a Win 7 32bit to A Win 10 64bit PC and was planning to re-install Producer (9) onto the new one. To my shock I discovered Photodex is no longer in business. I did some Googling and got some info that existing customers with license keys can still download the final versions of the software. I tried the link provided but it was the closing announcement not a download link. Is there still a link I can use?
If not, other than the new company started by ex-Photodex employees which charges a monthly subscription fee is there any other software out there I can import my existing shows into? I don't do these shows for a living so I don't use the software often- all my existing shows were created for family funerals I'm sad to say and never got around to making copies for everyone as I had promised. I tried making additional copies on old my PC (slow as molasses) but they bomb an hour or so into the process and I have to try 5 burns to get 1 that will play on the TV. Would appreciate any help.
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Post by sandyae on Jul 5, 2020 16:29:10 GMT
UPDATE- Problem resolved. Found web-site that had ProShow Gold and Producer download on their own server: download.cnet.com It was the free trial version but I had my license keys in my archived email and when I entered my name, phone, and license key the software accepted it. I assume the now registered version is the full version- I haven't tried it yet but it appears to be. It installed on my new Win 10 64 bit PC with no error messages- but I did have to restart my PC afterwards. Naturally when I clicked "check for updates" I got an error message because the photodex.com server no longer exists.
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