When exporting a QuickTime slideshow from iPhoto, you have no access to the QuickTime options dialog you get when exporting from iMovie, FinalCut, or QuickTime Pro. The QuickTime movies iPhoto generates are immense, even though Apple uses conservative defaults for the framerate, etc. To drastically improve filesizes, open the exported slideshow in QuickTime Pro, pull down File -> Export, click Options, and do some tweaking. The options I like are:
- Video: MPEG-4, medium quality, 12 or 15fps, no data rate limit.
- Audio: MPEG-4, 22kHz 16-bit mono
- Hint for fast start
I just reduced a 14.5MB iPhoto export to 4MB, with no significant loss of quality. Of course, the amount of space (e.g. bandwidth) you save will differ if your slideshow does or does not include audio. Why Apple does not provide access to the QuickTime options on export from iPhoto is a mystery.
[
robg adds: You'll need QuickTime Pro to make this work -- and even if you don't work in video, I think it's a worthy $30 expense (Apple lists 10 reasons to upgrade on their
QuickTime download page).]