Around this time every year I start to field a bunch of emails from readers who are looking for advice on how to quickly create audio slideshow videos for end-of-year events. Here are five options that I like for making audio slideshow videos. This list is arranged according to my preference for the quickest way to create an audio slideshow video. I don’t think you can go wrong with any of these, but as you read below, there are some small things that I like or don’t about each the move them up or down this list for the purpose of making audio slideshow videos.
Sharalike
Sharalike is a free video creation tool that I’ve been using for the last four years. It can be used in your web browser, as an iOS app, or as an Android app. All three versions let you bulk upload/ import a collection of pictures then drag and drop those pictures into the sequence in which you want them to appear. Once you’ve arranged your images you can add music from Sharalike’s library of free, royalty-free music. Sharalike will then create the video for you. I’ve successfully uploaded as many as 45 pictures at once to Sharalike to make a video. The only downside to Sharalike is that you can’t download your video, you have to watch it online.
Adobe Spark
Adobe Spark Video is designed for making audio slideshows. You can download your finished video as an MP4 and or share it online. There is a nice library of free, royalty-free music that you can use. And you can mix some of your existing video clips into your audio slideshow video. The downside to Adobe Spark is that you can’t do a bulk upload of images and have those images instantly rendered as individual slides. You have to manually place each image on each slide. Fortunately, you can import a folder from Google Drive, Google Photos, and Dropbox.
WeVideo and iMovie
For the purpose of making an audio slideshow video, I consider WeVideo and iMovie to be equals (both have many more uses than making simple audio slideshow videos). If I’m using a Chromebook or a Windows computer, WeVideo is my choice. If I’m using a Mac or an iPad, iMovie is my choice. Both services will let you add pictures in bulk, both have a good selection of templates to follow, and both will provide options for adding free, royalty-free music to your audio slideshow video.
Photo Slideshow for Google Slides + Audio + Autoplay
This solution is a bit clunky, but it works.
There is a Google Slides called Photo Slideshow that you can use to import a Google Drive folder full of images and have each image added to its own slide. After you have imported all of your pictures you will need to make sure that they appear on the slides without being off center or cropped in weird ways.
Once your Google Slides are arranged you can add audio to your slideshow in one of two manners. If your G Suite domain has the new audio option in your Insert menu, that’s the way to go. Otherwise, use the method I have outlined in this video. After adding your music set your slideshow to automatically advance (see screenshot below for directions).
