SlideShowPro News

11.30.07 | SlideShowPro for Flash 1.6.8 Released

A new release of SlideShowPro for Flash is now available. This is another small point release that doesn't introduce anything all that new, but does fix a few small issues related to transitions, audio volume, etc. I went ahead and added one new request (since it took all of two seconds to add), and that's a key command (F) to pop SSP into full screen mode. The SWF has to have focus in the browser for it to work, and you still have to press ESC (or click the normal screen button in SSP) to get out, but at least it's there to get it going.

This should be the last release in the 1.6 series before starting work on the next major version, 1.7. I've been talking to a number of SSP users about how 1.6 could be improved, and am rolling as much of that as I can into 1.7. More details on that down the road.

For now, here's the release notes for 1.6.8 if interested.

SlideShowPro for Lightroom FAQs

A number of people have sent emails asking specific questions about the upcoming Lightroom edition of SlideShowPro, including...

Will the Lightroom version support audio/video?

Technically, yes. You will be able to load background audio and video into the Lightroom version, but with one caveat -- Lightroom itself doesn't support audio or video, so there isn't a way (technically) to include those media types as part of a gallery export from Lightroom. You can however manually edit the content Lightroom publishes to include audio or video if you'd like.

If I already own SlideShowPro for Flash, is the Lightroom version free?

No. There is a special "crossgrade" price however, which is explained next.

How much will it be?

A few weeks ago I wrote that there would be "complete" and "incomplete" versions, with the latter designed for people who already own SlideShowPro for Flash. After further consideration, there will just be one version to keep things simpler, but the price you pay depends on what you already own. If you're a new user, SlideShowPro for Lightroom will be $25. If you own SlideShowPro for Flash, you can crossgrade to SlideShowPro for Lightroom for only $10.

Additionally, if you purchase SlideShowPro for Lightroom and then want the Flash version, you can crossgrade to it for only $14. So in the end, the price for purchasing both is the same, regardless of which you purchased first.

Will SlideShowPro for Lightroom work with SlideShowPro Director?

Yes. You can assign an XML File Path to SlideShowPro inside the Lightroom UI, and that content will be used instead of Lightroom's.

Can Lightroom publish more than one album as part of an export?

Unfortunately, no. Because of how Lightroom is architected, all of the images you choose to export for a gallery are flattened into one "filmstrip," which is essentially one album of content. To include more than one album in a gallery, you will need to manually edit/merge the content Lightroom exports. Instructions for that will be included in the product documentation.

Will I be able to use the SWF it creates in a separate HTML document?

Yes. And the process is pretty much the same as using SWFs published from Flash.

Those are the most frequent questions I've received. If these didn't answer yours, feel free to contact us.

11.29.07 | New licensing options for developers

For quite a while now, the single user license agreement for SlideShowPro for Flash (which you've read, right?) has disallowed the embedding of SWFs created with SlideShowPro for Flash inside a proprietary software application for redistribution. It's provoked a fair amount of confusion, so we decided to do something about it. Today we're offering a new OEM license for SlideShowPro for Flash that grants permission to software developers interested in using SWFs as a component of their own software. You can read more about the OEM license here. The license sells for $499, and may be obtained by emailing us.

Additionally, we've also been asked by developers if bulk licensing is available for SlideShowPro Director. So today we're offering a new SlideShowPro Director Developer Pack that includes 20 licenses / keys for Director at a specially discounted price (approx 20% off each license). The pack will generate all 20 keys at once, so anytime you need to install Director on a new domain you simply login and grab a key from your profile page.

Developers can contact us with any questions about these new licensing options.

11.28.07 | SlideShowPro for Lightroom screenshot

Someone sent an email asking to see a screenshot of SlideShowPro for Lightroom. Perhaps they were just curious, or wanted to verify its existence considering it was recently delayed (shouldn't be much longer). Either way, here you go! I think it fits in rather nicely.

11.27.07 | Microsoft to ditch "Click here to activate..." annoyance

Good news for those die-hard Internet Explorer users out there: Microsoft will be removing the "Click here..." dialogs from Internet Explorer, for they have (finally) licensed the plugin technology Eolas sued them over for a few years ago.

The dialog was especially troublesome for Flash content, for as many SlideShowPro users know, the only way around it was to embed SWFs using Javascript, which wasn't easy for beginner web developers. But with this update, behavior will essentially return to how the browser behaved before.

Good news for Flash users everywhere.

11.26.07 | SlideShowPro Director hosting now live!

Brad and I are pleased to announce that web hosting for SlideShowPro Director is now up, running, and available! Head on over to the SlideShowPro Director Hosting page for more information about pricing, features, and other details. There's also a new FAQ on hosting that should answer most common questions, but you can also drop us an email with your query.

If you've always been curious how SlideShowPro Director works, or have never been able to install the downloadable version, now's your chance to see what Director has to offer. Subscribe now for 6, 12 or 24 months, or try before you buy with a 14-day free trial. We firmly believe that once you use Director to manage your content and publish imagery for your slideshows, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it!

SlideShowPro for Lightroom delayed

In beta testing last week, we discovered a small but notable issue with the SlideShowPro for Lightroom gallery that requires extra time to investigate, so the launch will be delayed a few days. More will be posted here soon.

11.21.07 | Thanksgiving holiday

Tomorrow is that grand American holiday known as Thanksgiving, so we'll be "on vacation" for the next couple of business days, plus the weekend. If you post an entry in the forums, or send us an email during that time, please be patient. We'll be sporadically answering questions and providing support whenever time allows (which we don't expect to be that often). Then we'll be back in full force on Monday. Happy holidays!

11.16.07 | Announcing SlideShowPro Director Hosting

I hinted earlier at something "else" coming on Monday, November 26th, and here it is: Director hosting!

Beginning the 26th, everyone will be able to use SlideShowPro Director to manage their slideshow content. You'll get your own subdomain (you.slideshowpro.com), unlimited storage, unlimited bandwidth, and the peace of mind knowing your SlideShowPro Director installation will always be up to date with the latest version, securely backed up, and constantly watched over.

Hosting will be affordable, purchasable in chunks of time (6 months, 1 year, 2 years), and completely automatic. Your space will be setup automatically after your subscription, so you'll be able to login and immediately get to work. We'll also be offering a 14-day free trial so everyone can kick the tires. We expect the service to be popular with those who'd rather not install server-side software, or those who simply have better things to do.

For those using Director on their own web servers, don't worry. The hosted version of Director will be nearly identical to the downloadable version, with the only differences being an extra utility or two in the hosted version for managing access, etc. So whether you purchase Director and install it on your own box, or one of ours, you're getting the same application.

More details will be announced on the 26th.

Director 1.1.6 now available

Another bug-fix update (full changelog) for Director is now available. The main fixes in this release put an end to issues with avatar uploads, how content was ordered after it was uploaded and a particularly nasty bug that caused several things to break when using a language other than english.

SlideShowPro for Lightroom release date

Last night Adobe released version 1.3 of Adobe Lightroom, which we were beta testing as part of our SlideShowPro for Lightroom development. Now that 1.3 is "final" and available, we'll be spending the next few days kicking the gallery around to ensure everything still works, then eat some turkey and drink copious amounts of red sauce to round out the week (it's Thanksgiving next week, for those not in the US). After all that, SlideShowPro for Lightroom 1.0 will be released on Monday, November 26th. Pricing and other details concerning the differences between the Flash/Lightroom versions will be explained then.

But that's not all. Something else is being released on the 26th as well. More details a little later today.

New, free PHP XML Builder

By popular request, we've added a new free script to the Extras page for those who need a quick, painless way to compile an XML file -- dynamically -- by reading the contents of a directory. The free PHP script can be linked to from SlideShowPro for Flash, and builds all the requisite markup for both slideshow imagery and video, plus thumbnails you've created, and returns it to SlideShowPro for loading. Then the next time you need to update your slideshow, you simply upload new images and the script takes care of the rest.

Full instructions can be found in the download. Script requires PHP 4 or 5, and works on web servers running Apache or Windows. Hit the extras page for the download link if interested.

11.14.07 | How times change

When I first started working on SlideShowPro about three years ago, I had no idea I'd still be working on it today. Or for that matter, subsequently quitting my full time day job as a Creative Director at Turner (specifically the Super Deluxe video comedy site) to work exclusively on SlideShowPro (and related products). I always thought it would be a fun side project to experiment with, and maybe a few people would use it. Well, times have certainly changed, and as a result there will be a small, but symbolic name change.

If someone asked me 2 years ago what "SlideShowPro" was, I would have replied, "a Flash photo gallery and slideshow component." Which, as you may have noticed, is how I'm using the name in the first paragraph. But today that doesn't hold true anymore. "SlideShowPro" is much more than that. It's rapidly becoming a publishing platform, mainly because of the work Brad and I have been putting into SlideShowPro Director. "SlideShowPro" is also a collection of exporting utilities for Photoshop and iPhoto, not to mention the Adobe Lightroom web engine that'll be released in the coming weeks. Today the name is spread across multiple products and has outgrown its original definition.

So with that, what some people (especially older users) may associate with "SlideShowPro" will be changing to "SlideShowPro for Flash." It's a small change, but a very notable one, for it frees the brand "SlideShowPro" from being just a Flash component for expanded use in all kinds of things. It'll also help clarify how our products work, for new users will be able to choose from "SlideShowPro for Flash" or "SlideShowPro for Lightroom," and instantly understand which version they require.

There will be small tweaks here and there to the site, as well as all the documentation, to incorporate the updated name. May feel a little weird (it's taken me some time to get used to it), but going forward it's the best thing to do.

11.13.07 | SlideShowPro 1.6.7 released

Wasn't planning on releasing a new update so quickly after the last one (which came out only 4 days ago) but one of my favorite old bugs from the early days of 1.6 crawled back in, so I had to push this out quickly. The bug I'm referring to is the nasty little piece of unformatted text that would appear in the Content Area if Media Player Appearance was set to "Hidden." Rather unsightly. Version 1.6.7 fixes that.

While I was working on the media player I found a couple of other little things that needed updating, so I was able to get those in as well. You can read the full version history here.

11.09.07 | SlideShowPro 1.6.6 released

Another day, another update. This release adds a parameter to control whether smoothing is applied to videos when they're scaled by SlideShowPro. Named "Video Smoothing," it's turned on by default, and only affects videos that are scaled by "Content Scale." In other words, if your video doesn't require scaling, or you have Content Scale set to "None," no smoothing is applied. If otherwise, smoothing is used. This will make the quality of downscaled videos better.

Also updated the Customization Guide's parameter list to include this new parameter, as well as the ActionScript Help panel.

11.08.07 | ahsi

ahsi, which is short for Abstract Hair Studio's Inc., is using SlideShowPro on their business site to showcase their portfolio of work as well as product photography. The site begins with a clever interactive element, and you engage the site menu by double clicking anywhere on the page (for near zero Fitts's law). Click on "Works", and SlideShowPro is there loading split frame images along with an external navigation, caption, and image counter all custom made by the developer. Great photos, nice presentation.

11.07.07 | SlideShowPro 1.6.5 released

Just a small patch to fix a mouse tracking issue that caused the media player to not show/hide at the correct time when Content Frame Padding was set to a higher value than 0. Hardly something that would affect most users, so most can skip this release. But if you use video or audio in your slideshow and are applying padding to your content, this one is for you.

Login your account center profile to grab the latest version.

11.06.07 | Director 1.1.5

A bug-fix release for Director is now available, fixing several minor issues along with a bug that caused emails sent from Director to fail on some servers. For a full list of the changes, visit the Director version history.

11.01.07 | SlideShowPro 1.6.4 Released

The latest and greatest version of SlideShowPro is now available for download in the Account Center. This is a point release that fixes a few issues that popped up since the latest point release (including most notably) a content scaling fix when using inline captions, and the ability to playback audio when the media player is hidden. You can read more about this release in the forum's version history thread.

Flash Player 9 for Leopard updated. Director uploads work again.

Yay! Adobe has come through with an update to Flash Player 9 for OS X 10.5 (Leopard) that fixes the upload breakage in SlideShowPro Director. So if you're using 10.5 and Director, head on over here to grab the latest version.