Foto2Avi 4.2

Foto2Avi makes photo to video conversion, video editing and enhancing, and video transcoding a simple and rewarding task. It supports all the most widely used video and image file formats, including HD video with a resolution of 1080p. The program comes with a wide range of effects and transitions that you can add to your photo collection to create pro-looking slideshows and videos.

The program wisely combines easy video generation with a long list of configurable features and functions that can add extra value to your slideshows and videos. The most adventurous users will enjoy the possibility of giving their personal touch to logos, subtitles, effects, transitions, animations, etc., while others will love to use the program’s default values to produce movies and slideshows in just a few mouse clicks.

Foto2Avi can also work as a standard video editor and converter, though with limited functionality. Video cutting and merging is as much as you can do as far as video editing goes, while video conversion is as simple as saving any source video into a different video format.

To me, it is in the effects department that Foto2Avi deserves special mention. The wide array of effects provided are divided into four categories – simple, advanced, animation, and order effects. The first three subdivisions are the most interesting ones, as the benefits of using the fourth one are more obvious. The Basic effects include fade in and out, rotation, color correction, blur, grey scale, sepia, various noise types, etc. These effects alone are much more than what you will find in many similar tools out there, and not always for free. The set of Advanced effects available includes various distortion effects, bubbles, binoculars, disco lights, and many more. The great thing is that you can determine the duration of the effect (in milliseconds) on each of the source images. Animation effects are equally customizable, and they will move your photos around the screen in whatever way you prefer. The program advise you to use these effects wisely and not to overcrowd your videos with them as they will take most of your CPU resources during the processing time. Actually, I had to deal with various memory errors while testing this interesting tool.

Finally, you can save your work as a standalone video file or as a DVD folder, ready to be burned to disc. You can set specific chapters by pointing at specific seconds within the video file – not the most intuitive way of doing it, though – or let the program set chapters automatically at fixed intervals.

Foto2Avi would surely complete its functionality by adding some extra authoring tools (menus, templates, etc.) and, probably, a few more editing features, but then again let’s not forget that this is a free tool, and that similar commercial apps are charging dollars for far less than what Foto2Avi offers you for nothing.