Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

"Time Out" - and how to set the "time out settings" individually for each slide?
How to add sound or music (audio) to a slide show
How to add several audio files to play after each other throughout the slide show
Why not just use a crack?
I cannot seem to get the program to burn on CD. What should I do?
How do I add text to a slide?
What is the story about ShowMaker?
How to time a voice over slide show with auto advance?
Timing/using precise timing between audio and slides?

If you have another question please email support at mail@dmagic.dk
Please, try first to consult the manual and if you have a question about a feature you would like, check out the feature list first on the front page.

"Time Out" - and how to set the "time out settings" individually for each slide?

By using "time out", you can make the slide show 'auto-advance' to the next slide after a predetermined amount of time.
By default, the "time out setting" set for the project is used for each slide.

You can find these settings in the window "Project Settings" (select the menu "Project -> Edit Settings", then select the "Replayer" tab).
In this tab, you can adjust the main time out settings for the project.
If you want some other setting for a single slide, then you select the slide and use the menu "Thumbnail -> Settings" to change them. (Pro. version feature only.)
In the window click the [More>>] button, then override any setting for which you want to have a different value.
If you want to revert to the value from the project's settings, then click one of the "Inherit" checkboxes to set the check again.

How to add sound or music (audio) to a slide show

To add audio (wave file .WAV, or midi music .MID or MP3 audio .MP3) you follow the same procedure as when adding images to the slide show.

1. Locate the file via the tree and Files tab
2. Via e.g. drag & drop, drag the thumbnail from the Files tab to the slide show. The audio files you add in front of an e.g. image slide will play while that slide is visible.

Or alternatively:
1. On an e.g. image slide select the menu "Thumbnail -> Settings"
2. In the window, click the [Add Audio] button
3. Select one or more audio files and click [Ok]
4. When you close the Settings window additional thumbnails will be added representing the audio, in front of the image slide's thumbnail

Note: You can add more than one audio file to a slide show. E.g. add spoken narration by adding a small wave in front of each slide. The "Auto Advance" settings, in the Settings window, can help control how the slide should wait/not wait for the audio to finish, etc.
Note: If a slide show only contains audio and no visible slides, a small bar is shown displaying the current audio file's name while playing.

How to add several audio files to play after each other throughout the slide show

If you add more than one audio file in a row and set the auto advance settings correct you have created a play list with audio that will play one after the other throughout the slideshow or until another audio is reached later in the slide show.

To set the auto advance settings correctly:
1. Select the menu "Project -> Edit Settings".
2. Select the "Replayer" tab.
3. Remove the check in "Wait for audio to finish".

See "How to add sound or music (audio) to a slide show".
Note: In the professional version you can also set "Wait for audio to finish" individually for each slide.

Why not just use a crack?

Using a crack without paying the fee is like theft! The thieves are cheating the creator out of his or her dues.
No one ever said there was a right to use the fruit of other people's work without permission. How would you feel if you invented something useful and people just used it?
No one has a right to make copies of someone's music or software or any other intellectual property without permission of the copyright holder and it is illegal.

I cannot seem to get the program to burn on CD. What should I do?

You also need a CD-ROM burning program. I use "Nero Burning Rom", but there are many others and there should be one with your hardware.
When you have generated the slideshow and the files are output somewhere on your hard disk, you should start your CD-ROM burning software: The procedure for using it depends on the software you have. The files you have to burn onto the CD are the ones in the folder you specified as "Destination" when you output the slideshow in ShowMaker.

Note: In the Output window you should select "CD-ROM" as destination. Then a tab called "CD-ROM" shows up.

How do I add text to a slide?

First, convert the slide to a complex slide (which can hold text). You do this by e.g. right-clicking the slide, then select "Transform to Complex Slide".
You can then right-click and select "Edit Contents" and add a text via the menu "Functions -> Add Object -> Text". Then, when you click somewhere on the slide a text object is added. To edit the text, first make sure the text object is selected (e.g. click it) then text select "Object -> Edit Properties".
Tip: You can also add text automatically using the Auto Text feature.

What is the story about ShowMaker?

The idea for ShowMaker was born while multimedia was still in it early stages back in '95. The first version was very different from that of today and was only meant to be used by professional multimedia production companies and advertising companies. Since then, there have been about 17 new releases, most of them with many new features and improvements.

Until 2001, I had a full time job as a system developer in a large company, designing and implementing large business applications. I was doing ShowMaker as a side business on my own. In 2001, I decided to start my own business, mainly to have the possibility to use even more time on ShowMaker.

Right now, I am aiming on making it the best product for making digital photos into professional looking photo albums and for all-round handling of digital images. Due to ShowMaker's history the product have evolved in a way different from many other similar products and offers much more flexibility and a transparent way of using your images, and it has some very advanced features behind the scenes to manage 'configuration'. Or in other words ShowMaker has the potential to evolve virtually unlimited, and that's why many users trying out ShowMaker finds that they can do much more with configuration than with any other product and the way the whole thing is handled allows for a more professional way of working.

I will continue to make new improvements and new versions and promote ShowMaker every way I can imagine and I hope this translates into you enjoying using the product. I do not think I have to be a large company to do this. When being just me, I do not have to take into account anything else than making the best possible product and my focus is much more concentrated and steady than it could be if I worked in a temporary project group in a larger company. In addition, customers can talk directly to me and have their problems solved much faster than with a larger company and I think many people like this.

Let us make some great slide shows together with ShowMaker!

How to time a voice over slide show with auto advance?

If you want to make a slide show with narration on each slide you can do this by simply putting the audio for each slide in front the slide (the audio will be represented by audio thumbnails in the project window). If at the same time you want the slide show to step on, on it's own, go to the menu "Project -> Edit Settings" and select the tab "Replayer" and set "Auto advance to next slide" to enabled. Make sure that "Wait for audio to finish" is also checked. Then specify the amount of time you want the slide to be visible as a minimum.

Note: In the pro. version, these settings can also be set individually for each slide via "Thumbnail -> Settings" - "Flow", click [More >>].

Timing/using precise timing between audio and slides?

The replayer is designed to be able to time audio and slides together, however because of different speed on different hardware, please note this important setting: "Include transition time", set in the Edit Project Settings window. (Default is off).

If this flag is on it means that the time a slide is visible is inclusive the transition time. If off then the transition time is not included in the time a slide is visible. Because a transition may complete in different time depending on e.g. the speed of the computer you will get different timing on different computers if "Include transition time" is off.

If you have very delicate timing between slides and audio, you should set the flag to on. The replayer then adds the time used to start the audio from the time the slides is visible. This in effect will mean that you cannot calculate how long a slide show will last precisely, but at least you can be relative sure the audio on each slide series, will end at the same point each time on different computers. Or put in other words if the computer is very slow to start playing a huge audio file then that slide will be visible longer so the time from the music stops to the end of the time out on the slide is always equal.