Burning still images onto DVD-R

[Spearmint Rhino]

OK, let's say I want to burn a fuckload of images onto a DVD-R so that I can put them in a machine, press 'play' and they'll scroll through in sequence, at intervals of say 5 or 10 seconds, without me needing to touch the controls.

Any recommended software (preferably free, although I've already got Photoshop if that's any use), any tips, and dos and don'ts?

And roughly how many pics - or, alternately, how many hours' worth of scrolling images - can you burn onto one disc?

[Ant van Oviedo]

Burning still images onto DVD-R

I would suggest Nero - it's simple to use and has always got the job done for me. I have always used a CD-R disc for storing batches of photos, and you can get 150-200 on one of those, so I imagine that on a DVD-R disc you can fit a shitload on.

[My Name Is Ian]

Burning still images onto DVD-R

I use Deepburner, which is free and seems pretty reliable. For free image manipulation software, I'd suggest GIMP, though you kind of need to be slightly geeky to properly install it:

http://www.gimp.org/

An average DVD will take about 4 and half gigabytes of data. Even if your pictures are quite high definition, it will be loads and loads and loads.

[My Name Is Ian]

Burning still images onto DVD-R

Actually, I've just downloaded the latest version, and it's much easier than it used to be.

[Spearmint Rhino]

Burning still images onto DVD-R

So is there a trick to getting them to 'play' on a regular DVD player, and setting the speed at which they scroll? (Or does that become beautifully clear when I install Nero or Gimp?)

[Ant van Oviedo]

Burning still images onto DVD-R

No, on Nero, I don't have to set any particualr speed or format, and they always play with no problems on my (otherwise quite fussy) DVD player. As if by magic, as you might say.

[Spearmint Rhino]

Burning still images onto DVD-R

A guy I know who does this sort of thing professionally (he takes wedding photos and gives them to the couple on a DVD) has just recommended Windows Moviemaker, which comes pre-installed on my computer and is supposedly very easy to use.

Anyone had any problems with this, apart from the usual anti-Microsoft bitching?

[Stumpy Pepys]

Burning still images onto DVD-R

I'm no expert, but I think whether you can do a DVD slideshow (from still images) is a function of your DVD player. Otherwise you'll need some software.

Windows Movie Maker is pretty basic but it's okay (and free). Video editing does take up memory and processing power. Otherwise, I'm sure there are free programs out there that will do the job.