Documentation - SMILE - Slideshow Maker In Linux Environement

## Summary

1. Introduction
   - SMILE presentation
   - Histoire of SMILE
2. Installation
   - Under GNU/Linux
     - Dependances
     - Packages by distribution
     - Launching from sources
   - Under MacOS X
3. Startup
   - First start
   - General organization of the interface
   - Important tips
     - Selecting a color
     - Selecting a value
     - Floating toolbox
     - Taking a snapshot
     - Showing a grid
4. Using
   - Projets management
     - Creating a projet
     - Saving a projet
     - Opening a projet
   - Creating a slideshow
     - Image management with the timeline
       - Adding slides
       - Ranking slides
       - REmoving slides
       - Editing a slide
       - Preview
       - Expert timeline
     - Transitions
     - Soundtrack
     - Management of the slides' movement
       - Form of the slide (cube, flag, ...)
       - Moving slides
       - Movement in the slideshow - Begin-End - Expert timeline
       - Applying the same mouvement to several slide - Copy-paste coordinates
       - Deleting a movement - Reseting the coordinates
     - Title management
       - Legend
       - Audio comment
     - Various tools (background, drawing, fog, ...)
       - Scale tool
       - Slide opacity
       - Slide's background
       - Fog effect
       - Motion blur effect
       - Superimposing an animation
       - Drawing tool
   - Rendering a slideshow
5. FAQ
   - Known but non resolved bugs
   - Possible explanations of the error messages
6. Licensing

## 1. Introduction

### SMILE's presentation

SMILE means Slideshow Maker In Linux Environnement. SMILE is a slideshow creating tool (developed with qt4), for GNU/Linux, although it also works on Mac OS/X and maybe one day under Microsoft Windows. It allow, from images, to create a video slideshow, that can be played on almost all medias. The numerous features and the simplicity of use make it possible to create dynamic and rich slideshows in just a few clicks, without having to worry about technical issues or complicated settings.

### History of SMILE

##### By the author of SMILE, Stéphane Gibault

Voici quelques années quand j'ai débarqué dans la sphère Linux, j'ai rapidement ressenti l'envie de développer mes propres outils.... tout simplement parce que ceux existants ne remplissaient pas totalement mes besoins. Pour me former j'ai d'abord commencé par écrire un petit jeu en QT3 nommé Eggibault, puis je me suis penché vers du plus lourd : écrire un logiciel permettant de créer ces propres DVD vidéos .... ManDVD

Alors que j'atteignais mon but, les demandes des utilisateurs devenaient de plus en plus pointues et mon code de moins en moins clair. Il devenait donc indispensable de tout repenser. Durant cette même période émergeait le remplaçant de QT3 ... soit QT4 ... Ce dernier remettait en cause beaucoup de choses pour un ancien développeur COBOL et Pacbase. Mais et surtout il fallait ne pas reproduire les mêmes erreurs qu'avec ManDVD. Le premier travail a consisté à repenser l'outil et surtout à en définir les grandes orientations. La grande majorité des demandes de ManDVD portaient sur le module diaporama qui ne permettait de faire que des diapos statiques. Je me suis donc tout bonnement lancé en premier dans le nouveau module de diaporama nommé : Manslide.

Le développement de Manslide avançait doucement quand je me suis retrouvé voilà deux ou trois mois obligé de réaliser un diaporama pour moi même ... et la j'ai pesté car l'outils manquait totalement de souplesse d'utilisation. Mes connaissances en C++ s'étant agrandie j'ai décidé de réécrire Manslide et de lui donner un nouveau nom pour éviter les grivoiseries de certains ... ce sera SMILE pour Slideshow Maker In Linux Environnement.

Voilà donc pourquoi SMILE est né et cela vous explique pourquoi j'ai abandonné le développement de ManDVD et pourquoi bientôt naitra un nouvel outil pour le remplacer. Mais faisons les choses dans l'ordre .... fignolons SMILE et le reste suivra .... d'ailleurs je l'ai toujours dis le plus gros travail de ManDVD était la partie diaporama .... le reste à été très rapide à développer et comme disait mon prof d'analyse à l'époque ... pfff c'est du pipi de chat ;-)

Stéphane

## 2. Installation

### Under GNU/Linux

#### Dependances

To work, SMILE needs :

- qt >= 4.3
- sox >= 14.0.0
- mplayer/mencoder

For Ubuntu users, it is necessary to rebuild Sox with the ogg support (wich is not the case in the official repositories). Install libogg-dev and libvorbis-dev, then download the sources of Sox 14.0.1 here. Move into the folder containing the downloaded file with (to adapt) :
$ cd /home/user/.../sox-14.0.1.tar.gz
Then unpack with :
$ tar -xvf sox-14.0.1.tar.gz
And compile with : :
$ ./configure
$ make
# make install
It is installed !

#### Packages by distribution

The current versions being test versions, very often updated, there is no package at this time.

#### Launching SMILE from sources

Start by downloading SMILE on The official website (only in french at this time), loking like smile-x.x.x.tar.gz).

Then, in the console, in the folder containig the file :
$ tar -xvf smile-0.4.4.tar.gz (per example)
$ cd smile

If you use a 64-bit distribution or qt4.3, you have to rebuild :

$ qmake smile.pro
$ make

Beware, if you also have a versoon of qt3 installed, it is necessary to check which version runs first by the command qmake -v. If the command returns :
QMake version ...
Using Qt version 4.x.x in /.../...
That's ok, you can go on. But if, the command returns :
Qmake version: ... (Qt 3.x.x)
You'll have to use directly the qt4 version so that the build succeeds. You can find the executables named "qmake" with the command whereis qmake that sould give you two paths. Replace, in the previous command ("qmake smile.pro"), "qmake" by the second path found. If it doesn't work, maybe, maybe the program has another name that "qmake" (as "qmake-qt4, ...), wich depends on the different distributions.

Then, for everyone, launch SMILE with :
$ ./smile

### Under Mac OS X

For soon...

## 3. Start up

### First start

At the first start, the program asks you to select a folder to store the temporary files ans the slideshows. Click on the folder icon and go the the wanted folder, then click "Choose". You are in front of the main SMILE's window (you can notice that everything is inactive but the project management functions, because you have to create a project to begin using SMILE).

### General organization of the interface

The SMILE interface is divided into three major parts, outside the menu bar, wich give access to key features of the software (project management, slideshow rendering, ...).

Below id the timeline, which allows you to organize images (moving, deleting, ...), to edit slides, to see the transitions, and to add a soundtrack.

In the upper left, you can see the viewing area, where we see the selected image (marked with a star on the timeline). This area includes a toolbar.

Finally, at right, the tabs containing all the effects (transition, title, ...).

### Important tips

#### Selecting a color - "circles of color"

Each time you'll have to choose a color, you'll have to use this tool. To select a color, just click on it, it will appear in the little circle at the upper left. If you hold the left click, you can change the color as the mouse move.

You can adjust the color colors's brightness with the mouse wheel when the mouse pointer is on the circle.

#### Selecting a value

This type of button allows you to easily choose a numerical value, and is used in several places in SMILE. To use it, you can move the small blue circle in the large cecle, controlling the value, or use the mouse wheel.

#### Floating toolbox

SMILE has several windows of this type. These are samll windows (no title bar), wich are not fixed in the interface, so they can be simply moved with the mouse, per example if the hiade a part of an image.

#### Taking a snapshot

Available in "Edit -> Take a snapshot", this feature allows, at any time, to save in jpeg the display of the viewing area. You'll just have to select the file path to save.

#### Showing a grid

Sowing a grid ('View -> Show/hide grid" ou Ctrl + G) can display a grid on the viewing area, helping positionning the different elements.

## 4. Using

### Projects management

The projects allows you to save a slideshow during the creation, or to modify the slideshow later (wich is impossible with the video file created). SMILE uses files with .smi extenstion for the saves.

#### Creating a project

To create a new project (wich is necessary to create a slideshow), click on "Project -> New" or on the first icon in the toolbar at the top of the windows (or Ctrl + N). Then, you have to select the folder where temp folder and the slideshows will be stored. So it's necessary to have enough space available there.

#### Saving a project

In the menu, there are two choices to save a project ("Save" and "Save as"). At the first save, both open a windows asking you to choose the name and the location of the backup file. But after, the first choice just overwrites the previous backup, with the current status of the project. The second can create a new backup, for example to keep several versions of the same slideshow.

#### Opening a project

If you want to open an existent project, simply click on "Project -> Open", and select the .smi file.

BEWARE : Currently (test versions), the backup files a not compatible between different versions. It is therefore not possible to open a backup file made by a previous version of the program.

### Creating a slideshow

#### Managing slides - The timeline

##### Presentation of the timeline

The timeline, at the bottom of the interface, represents the sequence of slides. It can handle slides, soundtrack and show an overview of the slideshow. The selected slide is marked by a star.

##### Adding slides

###### Import parameters

You can select the important characteristics of the slides before importation. These options are available in "Edition -> Import parameters". It is thus possible to resolve the default duration of the slide, and choose to automatically add a transition (one common to all images, or random for each) and settle its duration. These options are attractive for long slide shows, for which it is tedious to change these characteristics on each slide.

There are two ways to add slides to the slideshow :

###### - In SMILE

Click on "Edit -> Add new slides" or on the button in the toolbar. The top of the main window is replaced by a file browser. You can then navigate to the folder you want (the two points ".." represent the parent folder). To add images, you can use a drag-and-drop for each image to the timeline, or with several images at once (to select, you can use keybindings like Ctrl + A to select all, holding Ctrl button to select several images one by one, Shift to select multiple images, ...)..

###### - From another application

You can add pictures to the slideshow directly by dragging it into the timeline from other applications, like file browsers (Konqueror, Nautilus, Rox, Dolphin, Thunar, ...).

##### Ranking slides

To rearrange slides, the easiest way is to use the drag and drop directly on the timeline. But it is possible to choose "Edit -> Move current slide left / right" and the corresponding buttons on the toolbar.

##### Removing slides

There are also two ways to remove a slide :

- Right click on the slide in the timeline, then click on "Remove selected slide"
- Sselect the slide to delete in the timeline, then "Edit -> Delete the current slide" (or the button in the toolbar).

##### Editing a slide

You can access this module by right-clicking on a slide in the timeline or in the viewing area and clicking on "Edit slide" or in the "Edit" menu. The editing window takes the place of the main window and has three areas of tools : hozizontal and vertical toolbar and a floating toolbox.

The image editing changes the current image. Unlike effects, which are just superimposed on the image, the changes made in this module are final, once accepted, you also notice that these are the only visible in the timeline.

It is possible, at any time, to return to the initial state of the image by clicking on "Restore". Once the edition is complete, click "Ok" in the upper right (or "Cancel" to cancel the changes).

The features are :

- In the toolbox on the right of the editing window
  - Changin colors (brightness, contrast, balance)
  - Applying a fade (which all aspects are configurable)
- In the vertical toolbar with insights
  - Predefined colors modifications : negative, sepia, black and white
  - Flip the image, mirror effect
  - Adding a frame around the image
- In the upper horizontal toolbar
  - Crop an image : just maje a selection of the area with holding left button, and click "Ok"
  - Cutting the image using a form: select the form and click "Ok"
  - "Eraser" tool
  - Rotation: opens a floating window to rotate the image. Click the button again to close the tool.

###### "Eraser" tool

It allows you to add transparency to the image. The size of the eraser is adjustable in the toolbar. When the opacity is set at a minimum, it amounts to make the area painted transparent, where the background will be visible. But if you increase opacity, you can choose a color, and create an area where the background will appear through this color. Click again the button "Eraser" to close the tool.

##### Preview

The timeline, full of features, can also display a slideshow preview. For this, use the buttons on the upper part of the timeline (begin, reading and end). The begin and end buttons position the view at the beginning and the end of a slide, and a the reading button launches the preview.

##### Expert timeline

You can see in the timeline a button "Expert timeline" that displays an enigmatic window above the timeline. It allows to finely control the movement of the selected slide. Its use is explained in moving slides part.

.

#### The transitions

A transition can make the change from one image to another dynamic, with various effects. To apply a transition to a slide (at the beginning of the slide), select it and choose the transition in the pulldown menu in the "Parameters" tab, you can also adjust the duration of this transition. Once the transition is applied, it is represented on the timeline by an icon representing the transition in the bottom left of the slide. To remove a transition, select "No transition" in the menu.

#### Soundtrack

The right side of the timeline lets you add a soundtrack to the slideshow. The first button allows you to open an audio file (.ogg,.wav or.mp3), the second to remove it and the third put the slideshow duration as logn as the soundtrack (increase or decrease the duration of the slides). You can also choose to repeat the soundtrack, if it's shorter than your slideshow (duration of the slide is displayed in the upper right corner of the timeline), and you want it to last until the end.

#### Management of the slides' movement

##### Form of the slide (cube, flag, ...)

It is possible to change the form of an image, with several types defined. To do so, right-click on the image in the viewing area, then select an item in the first part of the menu ( "Plane" to "Plane with reflect", "Plane" is the default choice). The image can then be manipulated in the same way regardless of the chosen effect.

##### Moving slides

The movement can be done with the floating toolbar of the viewing area. Here is an explanation of the effects the different buttons :

- 1 : move the slide
- 2 : rotates the slide axially X (hold left click, and move to left or right)
- 3 : rotates the slide axially Y (hold left click, and move to left or right)
- 4 : rotates the slide axially Z (hold left click, and move to left or right)
- 5 : free rotatione, allows you to rotate the slide in 3 disensions (X, Y et Z) all at once
- 6 : zoom : control the zoom with the mouse (holding left click, move to right to zoom in, and to left to zoom out). The zoom is also controled at any time by the mouse wheel.

##### Movement in the slideshow - Begin-End - Expert timeline

You may have noticed that all the movements that you make with the toolbar are not visible in the preview, or in a movie slideshow. You have, in fact, to tell the program the position of the slide at several times, and it will create the moving accordingly. There are two solutions available to you : the flags begin and end, easy to use, which regulate the status of the image at the beginning and the end of its passage, and put in motion, or the expert timeline, which allows you to benefit from greater clarity (indicating "crossing points" of the picture between the beginning and end).

Note: When you begin to move the slides, you will see that they are positioned to default on a black background, which is configurable.

###### Begin/end buttons

These buttons are located on the toolbar, the green flag representing the beginning, and the red, the end. It is very easy to use :

- put the slide in the desired position for the beginning
- click on "Begin"
- put the slide in the desired position for the end
- cliquer sur "End"

That's all ! You can now "move" between these defined points with the preview buttons in the timeline. You can click on the left button to return to the beginning of the current slide, the central button to launch the preview : the image is moving.

###### Expert timeline

The use of expert timeline, which can may appear complicated, allows you to manage much more finely the movement of slides. It consists of several components: the upper bar, where each number corresponds to the numbering of the second of the slides, there are therefore as much as defined in the duration of the slide. Under each of these numbers, you can see a circle.

The first and last circles are red, the other grey. If the circle is red, it means that a position was attributed to the slide at thit instant (by default, the slide has just a starting point and a point of arrival, which are identical: no movement).

To assign an instant a particular position, set the slide as desired, then right-click on the cicle corresponding to the moment chosen : it turns red, the position is registered. To remove this position, right click again on it (this lets you change the positions of the beginning and end).

You can let circles grey. In this case, the movement will take place between the two positions recorded (it thus becomes possible to create movement more or less long, in one slide).

If you click on one circle, you will see the position registered at this instant in the viewing area. You can also hold the left button on moving on expert the timeline : you follow the movement of the slide at every moment.

##### Applying the same mouvement to several slide - Copy-paste coordinates

The copy/paste coordinates can apply the movement from one slide to another one. It works well with the movements defined by begin/end and by the advanced timeline. It is accessible by a right-click on the image in the viewing area or on the timeline, or by the "Edit" menu. To use it, simply copy the coordinates of a slide and paste on another one.

##### Deleting a movement - Reseting the coordinates

If you want to delete a movement associated with a slide, the buttons "Cancel the coordinates" are available on right clicking on the image (in the viewing area or on the timeline), or in the "Tools" menu.

#### Title management

##### Legend

The legend tool can add text on your slides, a tab is dedicated to it. You will notice that during its use, all other functions are inactive. The text is fully configurable (color, background, font, size) and fade in / out can display or erase the legend gradually.

##### Audio comment

The audio commentary adds a soundtrack to a single slide. If the soundtrack is longer than the slide, only the beginning of the sound will be played, and you can think about extending the slide's duration.

#### Various tools

Below are the many effects you can apply to the slides in SMILE, most of them are available in the tabs.

##### Scale tool

Located in the "Settings" tab, it allows, as the tool of the toolbar, to zoom on the slide. But if the scale can't vary during the movement,it is proving very useful by its zoom level, much more powerful (which can also be combined with the toolbar one... ). Per example, it allows you to move inside of the cube ...

##### Slide opacity

In the tab "Effects", this tool can adjust the opacity of the image (that can't be modified during the duration of the slide). A tool to change the opacity of only certain parts of the image is available in the edit tool.

##### Slide's background

The background is set in the "Settings" tab. It is useful to set one if you move the image during the slideshow. You can choose :

- another image by clicking on "Load image" (opens the file browser)
- a color as background
- a color gradient : the first "circle of color" select the top color, the second, the bottom color, and the "Balance" rules the proportion of each color.

##### Fog effect

Available in the "Effects" tab, it allows the application, as its name indicates, of fog to the image. You can adjust its opacity (at the beginning and end, allowing it to vary during the slideshow). The fog applies to any part of the video, and not just to the slide (for example, if it's moved, the background will also be under the fog).

##### Motion blur effect

The effect motion blur is useful if your slideshow includes movements. The movement will be marked by a blur, which varies depending on the speed of travel

##### Superimposing an animation

The first part of the "Effects" tab allows you to superimpose an animation to the dipositive.Three images are supplied with the program, but it is easy to add and remove with the buttons at the right of the menu. This animation is configurable (size, rotation, opacity), and movable on the image (move it with the mouse).

##### Drawing tool

Accessible at the bottom of the floating toolbar of the main window, this tool can paint on the slide, with different forms of brushes, and by adjusting color, size and opacity. The "Erase" button allows you to remove drawing from the wanted places. To close the drawing tool, you need to click again on the icon.

Like the fog tool, drawing applies throughout the area of video, and not on the image, meaning that when moving the image, drawing does not move.

### Rendering slideshow

To render a slide show, just go in "Rendering -> Rendering slideshow" (or the corresponding button in the toolbar). It opens a window offering to give a title, to delimit the images to include (all are included by default). you also have to select an output quality and a codec (compression format for video). These two parameters affect the quality of the video, and its weight. Here is a brief description of codecs available :

Codec | File extension (container) | Weight | Compatibility with DVD players | Comments
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
MPEG-2 | .mpg | ++ | All players | Codec used on DVD
XVID (MPEG-4) | .avi | - | Only some players | Free codec
DV | .avi | - | ? | ?
FLV (Flash) | .flv | + | None | Especially designed for use on the Internet

The file will be generated in the folder selected at the opening of the project, with a resolution of 720x576 (DVD resolution). The choice of "quality output" changes settings for encoding, and therefore influences on the file size (though the resolution is always the same).

## 5. FAQ

Nothing for now. Coming soon...

## 6. Licensing

User documentation of SMILE.
Author : moostik (contact mooostik_at_gmail.com) Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. The text of the license can be found in the appendix GNU General Public License.

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