Build a photo slideshow with transitions and music

How long should a photo stay on screen? Long enough to read, short enough that the next one arrives before attention drifts. In DepCut a photo is a clip on the main track, so you set that length with the same tools you use for video.

Load and order the photos

1. Create a project and open Aspect ratio. Choose Square for a feed post or Widescreen for YouTube.
2. Open Media and press Upload. Select all the photos at once. Each one lands on the main track after the one before it.
3. To change the order, select a photo, open Move in the right panel and press and drag the shuttle bar. The photo steps one slot along the main track at a time.
4. To change how long a photo holds, select it, open Trim and drag Trim end. A photo has no source length to run out of, so it stretches as far as you want. Give the strongest pictures the longest holds.

Add a slow push-in

Stills feel flat when nothing moves. A drift toward the subject fixes that.

1. Select a photo and open Framing.
2. With the playhead on the photo's first frame, click the diamond, Add a key at the playhead.
3. Move the playhead to the photo's last frame and add a second key.
4. On that second key, raise Scale a little. The picture drifts forward for as long as it is on screen.

Use a similar Scale on every photo so the motion feels consistent from one picture to the next.

Add transitions

1. Press Esc to deselect, then click the round button on the cut between two photos (it is hidden while a neighboring photo is selected). Its tooltip reads Add a transition, and it opens the Transitions tab for that cut.
2. Click a tile such as Cross fade or Dip to black. You can also drag a tile from the tab onto any cut. The tab needs at least one clip on the main track.
3. Click the round button on the cut again. The Transitions tab shows a Duration slider (0.1 to 2 seconds) above the tiles; double-click the button to expand it on the timeline and drag its left edge.

The tab groups the styles under headings (Fade, Zoom, Push, Whip, Wipe, Shape, Flash, Glitch). Pick one family and stay with it.

Add the music

Open the AI Gen tile on the left panel and switch to Audio, then Music.

• Sample library. Scroll below the generator. Press the play circle on a track to audition it, then click + to add it at the playhead.
• Generate music. Describe the mood, choose Instrumental for a bed without vocals, and press Generate music. Generation spends account credits.
• Your own track. Upload an audio file from the Media tab. It lands at the playhead.

Put the playhead at 0 before adding, so the music starts with the first photo.

Finish the ending

Select the music clip and open Fade out in the right panel to bring the sound down at the end. To fade the picture and the sound together, open Details and raise Fade out under Video. The project fade covers pictures, titles, captions and the mix.

Press ⌘E, choose Best · 1080p and press Export video. The finished slideshow appears under Exports in the Media tab.

Next step

Choose your best photos, open DepCut and build the sequence.