Software: Still Photos to DVD ?

Just finished downloading a trial version of ProShow Gold software. My first effort at a “show” of 31 slides came out rather well. Not sure how to change text color on title slides, but the software allows still photos, video clips and audio to be combined, mixed, transitioned, sync’ed and burned to DVD VCD or Video tape.

The transition between or even within each photo is remarkable, and you can pan and zoom each photo. I had a couple of photos in a series, and by zooming and panning, the stills “almost” become a very “lightweight” video movie within themselves.

Has anyone else out there selected any similar kind of software and what are your thoughts? US price downloaded is about $70.00 so it is at the upper end of many DVD packages. Since I have a lot of still photos, as well as videos, being able to combine them seems like a worthwhile purchase. I know there are some cheaper packages, but they don’t have the same features. Being able to insert slides along with videos (like from our horse shows) is a big plus.

There are a few packages even more expensive, but I have tried a couple and learning curve is pretty steep. Would like to hear of packages you might be using and your opinions if you are using something to convert still photos over so they can be watched on TV.

Thanks for any feedback. Happy New Year - soon!