Heather,

Thanks for the great feedback, you are right the name does hide a lot of the goodies. When it comes time that you want to upgrade feel free to send us an email (support@aquasoft.net) with any questions you have or anything that needs clarification, we are more than happy to help.

Hi Rhonda,

This particular software version is for personal use, we do have other versions/the possibility to purchase a commercial license. You can make your own videos, as a small business, etc. but not for example make videos for a client and sell it to them. I hope that clarifies it a bit.

Joe,

Thanks for the positive feedback! Hope you enjoy using the program and you can check out our Youtube channel or blog for more ideas, tips, and tricks.

Romalliv,

I am unsure why the download was so slow yesterday, normally it goes pretty quickly. In any case, there is a help file within the program, manuals on our website, and first steps in the top right corner, which should all help you get up and running with your first slideshow in no time. However you can also make much more than traditional slideshows with the software, combine videos, create animations, our Youtube channel has many resources for inspiration: www.youtube.com/aquasoftnews/

Romalliv,
so...does it work ?

DawkinsDog,

Thanks for the excellent feedback! It is always great to hear from people how they use the program and what they do and don't like. It is indeed a powerful program that goes beyond the traditional one photo after the other. Glad to hear that you were able to make some good shows already.

sawa,

Keep the program (I mean don't deinstall) and send us an email to support@aquasoft.net and we will get everything running.

hardgirl, I asked the same question no one has answered...Im guessing no more than 2 months

hardgirl,

It's yours to keep--forever. There is no expiration date. :)

AquaSoft, Thanks.....

Frank,

When the 'here' link in the Registration info window doesn't work you can use this direct link to register:

http://www.aquasoft.de/link/gotd_diashow8premium8603_en

Ross,

The registration system was behaving a bit strange for previous users yesterday, and unfortunately looping. Please send an email to support@aquasoft.net and we can get you sorted and send you your serial number etc.

Powder_Skier,

That is strange, please send us an email at support@aquasoft.net with what you wrote above so that we can follow up with you and get it resolved even after the promotion has ended.

@AquaSoft,

Thanks, I sent an email at the same time I made the above post.

Powder_Skier,

Great, then I must not have gotten to it yet. :)

John D,

When you send the registration form with your e-mail adress you get the confirmation letter almost immediately.


If you don't see the confirmation letter in your incoming post folder then please check your junk post folder.

If you don't see it there maybe you used an invalid e-mail adress.

Thanks Thomas! I see many helpful answers from you on the board. :)

AquaSoft,

Thanks AquaSoft you're welcome.

I'm happy to help when I can.

Thanks for this great and powerful program and your excellent support here at the board.

I can highly recommend this program.

Hi Jim,

Send us an email with the email address that you used to register, to support@aquasoft.net and we can look up your serial number in our database.

TK,

That is strange that it forced you to uninstall the trial version of a different series for this version. I will have to look into why that may be. However, if you have other full versions, there is absolutely no problem in running them concurrently on your PC. I for example have 8 versions of Premium and Ultimate in different series, 7,8,9 etc. all running on my computer. In fact that is one of the cool advantages is that you can open an older version and current version and drag and drop media or certain elements of your project, from one to the other.

As for the limitations with 4K, in general the Premium version in any series is up to 1080p and from Ultimate onwards the 4K quality is available, among other features, further effects, and tools.

Hi Mike,

Excellent and very detailed feedback! You can be sure I will be copying your message and sharing it throughout the office. It is important and very helpful to understand what comparisons are being drawn between our product and others, what users expect in terms of capabilities, and what they feel may be lacking or in need of improvement.

I will touch upon just two of your many great points, the first of which is the DVD menu. I agree completely that in a professional capacity as well as personal one, DVDs are simply more interesting when you can have a menu, chapters, etc. I am happy to say that both Stages and Ultimate offer DVD menus. You can use one of the many templates as is, or you can edit them and put in your own buttons, arrows, etc. You can even create your own from scratch. Here is a quick video about it SlideShow 9 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dL7EL9gw_58

If I understand correctly with regards to photos and color matching, you are looking for something that for example, could offer a variety of blue hues, so that your video would have a thematic look, is that correct? I can't say that there is a color matching feature, however the image editor is quite powerful in terms of what you can do to adjust a photo and it's colors, shadow, etc. Also, when you want to create something similar on several photos/videos you can create the effects on one, save your edits as a template in the software and then apply it again and again on future projects. The last point that could help with a thematic flow, would be the image effects (the higher versions have a wider selection, but Premium has many) which can be applied to images and in later versions to text as well, these are the equivalent of popular Instagram filters, and then even these pre-made effects can be adjusted to suit your needs.

We are more than happy to get questions, feel free to drop us a line at support@aquasoft.net I think your feedback and usage details are very helpful, and I would welcome discussing them further with you.

adif,

You'll find all available formats when you go to Wizards and then Export wizard. It's then divided into to two categories 1. BURN which are DVDs/CDs etc and 2. PC which is Mp4, Web M etc

AquaSoft, I'm sorry. this is what I did but and still. in the video formats are only MP4 and webm. nothing else.

adif, the unspoken truth is the special GAOTD build that Aquasoft has made restricts the output file types to MP4 and WEBM types. If you replace the GAOTD DiaShow.exe with the downloadable premium trial DiaShow.exe from the website you get the FULL premium editions range of file formats, still limited to 1920x1080p max resolution but it is better than just those 2! I cannot promise that the trials DiaShow.exe will be activated by the license code Aquasoft provide upon jumping through their registration hoops as I don't feel athletic today.... done enough work sorting out the poor installers and uninstaller and other flaws in todays giveaway. BTW data\info_en.dat and de version files are what prevent the giveaway build from letting you run it in demo mode without activating it. Put it back to activate with giveaway key code if it ever arrives.

It is clear that this giveaway "SlideShow 8 Premium" build is a cut down version of the official SlideShow 8 Premium build on their website which is not in the spirit of giveawayoftheday.com as it should be called light edition!

ame dat,

Yes

Hi Adif,

This version doesn't have any updates--so it can just be ignored. No worrie, whether you turn it off or not, it won't search for updates.

Hi Kestrel,

That is really great to get feedback when people really like the program! Thanks for sharing it with us, as I have mentioned to a few others here, be sure to check out Youtube and our blog for more on the capabilities and inspiration.
Youtube: www.youtube.com/user/AquaSoftNews/
Blog: http://www.aquasoft.net/blog/en/

Hi Sheila,

The tutorials are in German? That must be a glitch that the program isn't accessing the right materials. Deleting won't help as it is something we need to adjust on our end, these things are all linking to somewhere else. You can find all of the same tutorials on our Youtube channel (which is where the program sends you anyway) :) www.youtube.com/aquasoftnews/

AquaSoft, Thank you. I just needed to know if I needed to change or redo something. I can use a translator on the tutorials and I will check the "You Tube" Channel.

adif,

Double click the audio track and then a window opens and you can delete and add as many tracks as you need/want. There is a handy help file in the program and on the top right there is a lightbulb that says first steps, the videos link there go over the basic functions to get you up and running with your projects. :)

Edward,

What ???

I received the serial number directly from Aquasoft quickly once I emailed and explained my problem. They also stated that they've refined the process so everything should go smoothly. Thanks Aquasoft and GOTD..

unkabob,

Yes we modified the process to make it easier this afternoon. I am unfortunately no longer at the office, so can't access the database at the moment. Please send an email to support@aquasoft.net and first thing in the morning tomorrow we will send you the serial number.

adif,

If you look under featured items, there is a link to version 10 with all the details.

Hi SJ,

Thanks! It is always good to hear positive feedback.

Hi Pal,

Happy to hear that you like the program so far! There are a lot of possibilities which may not be apparent at first sight, be sure to check out our Youtube channel and blog for tutorials, inspiration, and tips.
Youtube: www.youtube.com/user/AquaSoftNews/
Blog: http://www.aquasoft.net/blog/en/

Photographer,
I used to be a regular reader at the Aquasoft.de forum for practically a decade because of my own general interest in slideshows.
However the usual flow of topics/threads made me think that they never managed to get one product polished or properly working before they put the next version on the market.
Terrific work and support had been given over the years by loyal members of that forum, and Aquasoft were practically relying on these beta field-testers throughout.
For a long, long time the mood with their trusted testers was that a proper slideshow and video implementation did not belong together.
So Aquasoft literally missing years of building up expert know-how, and when they finally got round to it, produced stuff which looked good? on short-length demos but not in real-life shows.
The arch mistake they made was to add countless numbers of overdone transitions, which none of their supporters even asked for, but imho altogether failed in putting one single product on the market where output was non-jerky, simply pleasurable to watch and easy enough to create. Disparity with sound after a certain length of show was a common complaint, images not rendered though in the show, and so on.
Even the use of which codec to use for what type of show was never adequately answered, simply because they never even implemented or supported the use of high-grade codec.
The numbers of supporters to that forum (run by Aquasoft) has shrunk in the last 2 - 3 years to an insignificant number.
The demo on YT on their latest high-end slideshow product Aquasoft Stages 10 Slideshow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6n9HkTWbhA
would not make me recommend buying an upgraded version.
Those who feel happy with todays' freebie should enjoy using it but as you never get them to commit themselves to what specification of hardware you need for successful working, because their only and standard recommendation is updating graphics card driver and plenty of free space on harddisk.

Photographer,

"This is not a slideshow maker. It is simply a program to make videos out of photos and videos with plenty of transition options... video meant to burn to CD/DVD/BR. A pretty deprecated workflow. Most people do not use that kind of media any more. I need to create slideshow sharable on the web... The animated GIF option was the main reason I was interested..."

FWIW, a slideshow is just a series of stills shown one after another -- they're called slideshows because you used to put a bunch of slides in a slide projector, which would advance to the next slide when you clicked the wired remote.

For many people the easiest way to take a picture is using their cell phone. Since most cell phones have limited storage, the easiest way for them to store those pictures is in the cloud. Since their photos are already on some company's servers, the easiest way to do a slideshow is using that service's built-in tools. It's both common & popular because it's so easy, but it's not the only nor the best way to do it, plus you're limited to the basic tools the service has to offer. That said, if this sort of thing works for you & you're happy with it, go for it. :)

Today most monitors &/or screens are between 1080p & 4k. 720p will fill the screen, but stills don't have video's constant motion to distract viewers, so they will see the lower quality from the lower rez -- unless it's something like a How-To where that doesn't matter, use 1080p [or higher]. Locally one option is a collection of stills played with a media player or Blu-Ray player -- online that means 1080p [or better] streaming video, or if you don't want/need higher quality motion FX, a series of web pages -- off-line hand off the video on USB sticks or Blu-Ray discs. Animated GIFs are for smaller avatars & such -- not only do you lose your color range, but it's too inefficient a format when it comes to file sizes.

mike,

A video is a series of photos for that matter. a Correct naming of this product would be a video maker, like Microsoft's own that does pretty much the same basic functions. I didn't need yet another video maker, I adobe premiere, along other paid software. I actually read the specs on their website that claimed to offer a variety of output options, including animated GIF, which has its own niche.
I regret wasting my time on reading, installing and running this program just to find that it does not do what it promises.
I hope my review helps some people and save their time

Photographer: Not sure what your definition of home entertainment is, but I am sure that a computer screen is not at the center of my home or that of any of my friends and relatives.

To say that "Most people do not use that kind of media anymore" is to seriously under-estimate the appeal of the DVD slideshow, something which because it is composed frame-by-frame, image-by-image, is more often that not a darn sight better than video footage that, no matter how well edited, isn't ever going to reach a cinematic standard *unless* the work has been undertaken by a pro.

I've had more than a decade's experience of making slideshows and though I could equally as well switch to full time video, I haven't done so because slideshows are visually and aurally superior -- or can be, if done right.

Friends who recently returned from a trip around Australia sent us a DVD of their home-made slideshow. We watched it in our lounge, on the big screen TV. It was cinematic -- Ken Burns Effect et al -- and we were able to sit back and relax and have a drink and enjoy the experience far, far more than viewing something on a computer monitor.

As to today's giveaway, I haven't posted a review because a slideshow project takes time and effort, neither of which were available to me today. However: I have DL'd this and registered it -- took all of 5 minutes for the entire process -- and will embark on a 'proper' project next week.

In summary, all I'm saying is please, don't assume that just because you don't care for something, it's therefore obsolescent. it isn't. In terms of sheer cinematic power, Ken Burns's original 'Civil War' series for US television remains one of the most eminently watchable -- again, and again -- documentary productions ever undertaken. . . and yes: it's a slideshow. (And available on DVD.)

MikeR,
DVD output by PAL standard is not in HD format.
A classic digital slideshow is one where the narrator/presenter can speak over or stop the show at any point using the slideshow player as stop/go control.
At the time Aquasoft version XP was to my knowledge for price , value and handling almost the gold standard of such a slide show. If you download and watch the demo show from YT with a critical and compare that Aquasoft promo video with any old video taken by a standard DSLR it gives you the creeps. I would expect my countrymen from beautiful Potsdam not to commission a promotional video to the local school kids, though I expect they would turn out something better.
Fancy transitions do nothing to good quality photos, smooth alpha-blending is the thing. No kidding, but Adobe LR produces non-fancy but better quality slideshows in video format with less resolution.
One of the frequently voiced problems was that Aquasoft could not handle full scale photos but recommended to resize to output format.
So yes indeed, a slideshow using single still frames turned into videos can be a very mediocre compromise compared to the quality of the original photo.
Would anybody expect brilliant quality from the Matroska codec?
For free is for free and as such OK

Gurnley,

Thanks for the positive feedback, I believe my favorite line was "it didn't freeze/crash/dummy-spit during the entire process despite my numerous "wonder what this button does?" mouse-clicks all over the place. " :) Glad to hear that you were able to get it up and running quickly. You can also check out our Youtube channel to get more ideas, www.youtube.com/aquasoftnews/

Spam Sorenson: Today's developer maintains a very useful 'Help' archive covering both current and previous editions of this software. You're not restricted to Chrome viewer or any other kind of viewer and in any event, the sheer size of the User Manual -- 192 A4 pages for this particular version -- is obviously best offered as a PDF . . . which is exactly what the developer is doing. Simply go here:

http://www.aquasoft.net/en/help/manuals

scroll down to Slideshow 8, and there's the manual.

I appreciate, sometimes with a simple program, online help is all that's needed, but this isn't a simple program, hence all kudos to the developer for providing a User Manual that's as comprehensive yet as easy to use as any I've come across.

Spam Sorenson,

"Not having experienced the use of this - or having an immediate need, I wonder what the learning curve is."

If it helps at all, generally with a NLE type app I've found the hardest parts are figuring out how stuff like their pan & zoom or things like particle FX actually work [not how they're supposed to work], by rendering a bunch of small tests, usually with lower rez stills &/or video so it didn't take long to render. That's something I usually spend ~4 hours or so on. Whilst I usually pick up tricks & shortcuts along the way, once i have an idea of what's possible, I concentrate on the basics, dragging or placing stills/clips, seeing how to change things like duration, checking out the photo-type filters to get an idea if they're worth using or if I'm better off doing that somewhere else. I'll spend about 3-4 hours on that.

After that it's always been fairly easy going, because I've got a decent idea of what the software's capable of, what it's best [& worst] at, & don't waste time because I play to its strengths, avoiding getting hung up on how to do something that just doesn't work, or work well at all in that app. Yes the time spent up front is a drudge, but *to me* it's always been the lesser of evils compared to a fully rendered project that I have to scrap & start over.

"and synchronizing the introduction of the AV to the voice is a very tedious process. with many moving parts animation a single slide in PPT can take me 3 days. Adjusting the AV visibility times... start after element 1 ends, start 3.5 seconds after..."

Yes... It is often easier dragging things along a timeline, but tedious is a very apt word. A pro editor will try to use the keyboard as much as possible with the goal of making it [as possible] a production line sort of thing. A pro will also tend to avoid time consuming stuff, or very high levels of precision when they can get away without. In fact, that's often how pros will guess something was done by an amateur.

"I will be using it in about a month - If I can figure it out, and if it is easier than PPT. "

I have no idea what your project is, so of course can't say anything for sure... I can say SlideShow 8 Premium doesn't seem hard at all, but if price is no object you might want to check out Vegas -- they do have a trial. Vegas is generally judged the easiest, most intuitive app to learn editing on or with, & it is quite capable.

Hi Ross,

Please see the troubleshooting post below, it has instructions for previous customers. :)

AquaSoft

Just goes around and around and never gets to the reg code.
Please try it yourself!

Hi Raymond,

You can export in both WebM or MP4 formats, both should work for what you need.

Hi Byron,

No need to uninstall previous versions, just please see the troubleshooting post below for instructions on how to register as an owner of a previous version of the software.

Hi Jon,

You can export in both WebM or MP4 formats, both should work for what you need.

It would be nice to get a reply from AquaSoft as they seem to be replying to other questions posted after mine?

Hi Jon,

Is the comment above not visible? Strange.. I will copy and past it here just in case.

"Hi Jon,

You can export in both WebM or MP4 formats, both should work for what you need."

AquaSoft, Spent about half an hour trying unsuccessfully to register this software. I'm exhausted. Will try later. This company should be running Homeland Security with all of the hoops they put you through with the registration/activation.

AquaSoft,
Using the above changed my forgotten password; unfortunately, it is not accepted in my attempt to get the registration codes.
Unfortunately, have spent about 40 min in this somewhat fruitless pursuit. Any help would be appreciated.

Hi Jim,

Please see the answer below, it's a bit circular when you are a previous customer unfortunately. But once you know what to do it is not too bad. :)

Hi Tata,

We took the feedback we have gotten in the past 2 hours or so about the process and updated it to make it a bit easier. Let me re-cap to make sure that I understood. You have a previous version, you forgot your password so you went ahead and reset it. Then you received a new password from us and it is now not working, is that correct? At what point in the process is it stalling?

Here is the registration page again, please go there and try to log in, we have made changes where you should see your serial number right away. http://www.aquasoft.de/link/gotd_diashow8premium8603_en

If that doesn't help please send me an email at support@aquasoft.net and I am more than happy to get you up and running with the program. I appreciate the effort you've put in (40 minutes), it is usually a 5 minute process, so sorry about that.

AquaSoft,
Thank you for taking the time to reply to me.
I have informed your support by e-mail of the outcome.

Hi Michael,

That is strange, can't tell why it would be working for some people and others not! In any case here is the link to register: http://www.aquasoft.de/link/gotd_diashow8premium8603_en

If you have a previous version of the software please see the troubleshooting above.

Michael Nesteroff,

Please close the program and start it again, and you'll get the Registration info window.

Click on the word 'here' only once in the Registration info window.

Then the Registration form window opens up in your browser.

Hi VPGoldenboy,

That is strange, can't tell why it would be working for some people and others not! In any case here is the link to register: http://www.aquasoft.de/link/gotd_diashow8premium8603_en

VPGoldenboy,

Click on the word 'here' only once in the Registration info window.

Then the Registration form window opens up in your browser.

Hi Kevin,

We are glad that you like it. Be sure to check out our Youtube channel for tutorials www.youtube.com/user/AquaSoftNews/ and our blog for project ideas as well as tips and tricks: http://www.aquasoft.net/blog/en/

Best,
AquaSoft

Hi Susan,

That is strange, can't tell why it would be working for some people and others not! In any case here is the link to register: http://www.aquasoft.de/link/gotd_diashow8premium8603_en

AquaSoft,
I get this message: "Your e-mail address is already registered for this promotion!" In spite of that I keep getting the "Click here to register" going around in circles. I can't run the program. I don't know what I'm supposed to do.

Hi Jim,

Yes, when you are already a customer then you need to log in rather than register.

If you have a previous version of the software:
You do not need to re-register as you already have an AquaSoft account. On the registration page there is a prompt that says “Click here to login” follow that link to login and then you will get a message that says something along the lines of "Successful registration!". *This is not actually logging you in, but rather saving you from the process of registration and confirming your email. Last stop is to actually log in here: http://www.aquasoft.net/en/account/login and there you can find your new serial number as well as previous serial numbers.

Hi tongal,

Audio commentary is available in all of the Ultimate versions of our software. But we do have a freeware version of the software SlideShow for Youtube, if you only intend to post to social media (Facebook and Youtube) and it does have a 15 min time limit. That also allows for audio commentary, you can download it here: http://www.aquasoft.net/en/slideshow/youtube

Guy,

We are working on this for the current versions of the software. Thanks for the feedback!