An Elegant Camera-to-Laptop Slideshow Solution for Mac Users

[Humpty Dumpty]

PART 1

Hello, all. If you read through the many forum posts you'll find there are many Eye-Fi users who desire a solution which enables them to play back the snapshots they take with their cameras and to display those images in full-screen mode on their laptops, computers or iPads and as the images are taken. While there are a number of slideshow programs which purport to do this, they all have a particular problem in common: during a slideshow, they will each automatically "loop" back to the first image once the final image has been displayed. And there is no way to disable this looping. To understand how this looping causes problems, consider the following example…

Imagine a photographer taking portraits of a model in a studio, and each time a new image is taken his Eye-Fi card immediately downloads that image to a nearby computer where it is displayed full-screen for his examination. Such an ability is worth gold to a photographer because it allows him to see that image in full details and in full glory without having to squint at the small LCD screen on his camera. He can see certain details in the image that he just can't see on the small LCD screen. And should the image need some adjusting, he can simply make a few adjustments to his camera and take a new snapshot. But the problem with most slideshow programs today is while they can all display such images in full-screen mode, they will NOT display or hold those images on screen indefinitely, but will always continue on or "loop" to the next image after every few seconds - whether you want it to or not - and there is no way to disable this looping. You're forced to either accept a slideshow that continually loops on you, or to forego a slideshow and to manually advance to each new image by walking over to your computer and entering a keyboard command after every new snapshot you take. There are no programs that I know of that will automatically advance to and display your new images for you without looping…

But the good news is, I've finally discovered a solution that does this and works perfectly, a solution you can design yourself, and it works exactly as I desire. Not only will this solution display your images on screen in a beautiful slideshow that will automatically update itself whenever a new image is added into the folder, but will also hold the last image on screen indefinitely until a new image arrives. I'd now like to share that solution with you…

My Tips on Setting up Direct Mode...

Since most users needing this solution will be operating their Eye-Fi cards in Direct Mode, I'd first like to share with you a few tips I've learned about setting up Direct Mode. For those of you not having any problems with Direct Mode, feel free to skip this section entirely…

One of the most important things to understand about setting up Direct Mode is to know that Direct Mode can only be enabled AFTER you've completed the following: 1) you must completely install the Eye-Fi Center software. 2) you must set up a new Eye-Fi account online (which will require an internet connection). 3) your Eye-Fi card must be fully activated. Once each of those things has been completed, to enable Direct Mode, do the following…

Step 1 - Launch your Eye-Fi Center Software. Using the supplied USB adapter, plug your Eye-Fi card into your computer...

Step 2 - When the Eye-Fi Center software opens, select your Eye-Fi card from the Devices column shown at the left. Then click on the small gear symbol located on the same line to open a preference panel entitled "Eye-Fi Card Settings"...

Step 3 - In the Eye-Fi Card Settings panel, there are several preferences you'll need to set:

a) Under the "Photo/Computer" tab, make sure the checkbox is enabled to allow the software to automatically upload all photos to the
location you've designated. Use the "Manage" section of the tab to select the folder where you want your Eye-Fi photos to be
downloaded into. The "Video/Computer" tab allows you to manage the same settings for videos...

b) Under the "Networks/Direct Mode" tab, to enable Direct Mode, make sure the checkbox which says "When no known Wi-Fi networks are
in range, start the Direct Mode network" has been checked. In that same panel, you must also select the length of time you want the
Eye-Fi card's Direct Mode wireless signal to continue transmitting whenever you take a new snapshot. Setting both sliders to "4 minutes" is a
good choice. Once Direct Mode has been enabled, below the adjustment sliders will be displayed the Direct Mode Encryption Password (it's an
8-digit code shown to the right of the words WPA2). Make sure you write that password down. That's the password you'll need to connect to
the Eye-Fi card's Direct Mode wireless signal once you've inserted the card back into your camera. Last but not least, when all above has been
configured, don't forget to click on the "Start Direct Mode Network" button at the bottom of the menu (it's very easy to miss) and then click on
the "Save" button to save your settings. Miss any of these steps and Direct Mode will not be set up properly...

c) Once all your preferences has been configured and your settings saved, close out the Eye-Fi Center software and reinsert your Eye-Fi
card back into your camera. And note, you must take a new snapshot with your camera before the card will begin transmitting again. Once
it does, you can then connect to that signal using your computer or iPad and the Encryption Password saved from above. Once connected,
the snapshot you took should immediately began downloading to your computer and into the folder you designated.

IMPORTANT NOTE: .When originally installing your Eye-Fi Center software and activating your Eye-Fi card, it may have been necessary for you to connect to the internet. As a consequence, once your card has been activated, by default that same network may appear listed under the "Networks/Private Networks" tab of the Eye-Fi Center software. Please note that the presence of any network under the Private Networks tab will impact the way Direct Mode works. Specifically, your Eye-Fi card has been designed to always give priority to "any known Wi-Fi networks" you have listed under the Private Networks tab, and will always use such a connection first so long as it is in range. Only when it cannot find any known Wi-Fi network will it create a Direct Mode connection. In fact, your Eye-Fi card will not even transmit a Direct Mode wireless signal (for your computer to connect to) so long as you are within range of your home Wi-Fi network or some other known network. When out of range of such a network, Direct Mode will work fine. But when within range, Direct Mode will seemingly not work at all. That is not a flaw. It is designed to do that. When within range, it simply uses the faster known network instead. If you would like to force your Eye-Fi card to always create and use a Direct Mode connection even when in range of your home Wi-Fi network, simply open your Eye-Fi Center Software and remove all networks from under the "Networks/Private Networks" tab. This tab is what gives the software permission to connect to certain networks. If you have no networks listed under the Private Networks tab, your Eye-Fi card will always operate in Direct Mode, even when in the presence of your home Wi-Fi network.

This concludes my tips on setting up Direct Mode. See Part 2 for additional details of my unique slideshow solution...

(See post below for Part 2…)

[Humpty Dumpty]

PART 2 (See post above for Part 1...)

The Slideshow Solution Defined…

To create this slideshow solution, there are two important things you'll need:

1) a free MacOS image viewing program called Xee (it can be downloaded from h**p://wakaba.c3.cx/s/apps/xee).
2) a custom Automator script or application to activate a keyboard command that instructs Xee to jump to "Next Image" in a folder of images.

Note: A unique and important ability the program Xee has that most other programs do not which enables it to work well in this situation is the ability to "pause indefinitely" on the very last image in a folder of images, rather than "looping" or quitting.

Putting It Together And Making It Work…

1) Before starting this procedure, make sure you have your Eye-Fi card already set up and and that you are successfully downloading images wirelessly from your camera to computer without any problems. During this procedure, you'll need to target the folder those images are being downloaded into.

2) Next, download the free program called Xee and install it. Once installed, the following are a few preferences options you need to set to enable the solution to work properly:

a) In Xee, use the "Open" command to target the folder your Eye-Fi images are being downloaded into. It's not necessary to select the images, just the folder.
b) In Xee, under the "Browse" menu, make sure the "Loop Images While Browsing" option is NOT selected.
c) In Xee, under the "Browse/Slideshow" menu, make sure the "Random Order" option is NOT checked. Also in the same menu, select the number of seconds you want each image to be displayed during a slideshow. For now, I recommend you choose an interval of 5 seconds. With these settings, looping disabled, and once you begin a new slideshow, Xee will display each image on the screen for about 5 seconds each. Once it reaches the final image, it will then pause indefinitely on that last image until you tell it to do something else. And that is the behavior we want...

3) Assume for a moment you've started a slideshow and Xee has paused on the final image, what would happen if we then took a new snapshot with our camera and it was downloaded into the folder? Answer: At this point, nothing. Although the new image would be in the folder, Xee is currently in a "paused" state. Xee would have to refresh itself to see the new image. Is there a way for us to get Xee to do that? Answer: Yes. Xee has a menu option called "Browse/Next Image" (which can be executed with the keyboard command: "Command-Arrow Right") which tells Xee to "Jump to Next Image" in the folder. By entering that keyboard command each time a new image has been added into the folder, Xee will automatically update itself and display that new image. You can easily verify this by entering the keyboard command "Command-Arrow Right" whenever Xee is in a paused state and a new image has been added into the folder. Xee will automatically update and display that new image. And that is the behavior we want...

Now that we've verified the solution works, there is one final thing we need to do: we need to create a script to automate the keyboard command for us, so that we won't personally have to walk over to our computers to enter the command each and every time a new image is added into the folder. The following is how I created such a script…

Creating the Custom Script…

There are several different ways we can create automated scripts using Automator or Applescript. However, the problem is, most such scripts use Folder Actions. And most Folder Actions rely upon "event calls" to tell the scripts when to activate or deactivate. And "event calls" themselves are problematic in Mac OS 10.6 and above. Therefore, we won't even use Folder Actions at all in this solution. Instead, we'll use Automator to create a simple desktop "application", one that you can manually click on and launch each time you're ready for a slideshow in Xee. Once launched, that application will run in the background and target the Xee program and continually execute the keyboard command "Command-Arrow Right" over and over again once every 5 seconds, until either the timer runs out or you manually quit the application. And here is how I created it…

Step 1 - Launch Automator and select an "Application" template from the workflow selection menu…

Step 2 - For our first workflow action, we'll need to use Automator to record an action. From your hard drive, drag the program application "Xee" to your Dock to make a launch alias of it. Next, click the alias in the Dock to launch the Xee program. Xee will launch and prompt you for a folder of images to open. Navigate to the same folder where your Eye-Fi images are being downloaded and select it. The Xee program will open displaying the very first image in that folder. Switch back to Automator and click the "Record" button at the top of the interface. Automator will start recording. Move the "Stop Recording" palette of Automator off to the side of your screen so that it remains clearly visible because we'll need to click that Stop button in a moment. Bring the Xee program to the forefront by clicking the Xee program alias in the Dock. Enter the keyboard command "Command-Arrow Right" by holding down the "Command" key on your keyboard and then hitting the "Right Arrow" key. Once done, click the "Stop Recording" button on the Automator palette. Back in Automator, you should now see a brand new "Watch Me Do" action group in your workflow with two actions defined in it: a "Click Xee in the Dock" action", and a "Key Pressed" action. If you select the "Key Pressed" action, to the right of that action should be displayed: "Application: Xee" and "User Action: Key Pressed". If it says that, it confirms the Key Pressed action has been firmly linked to the Xee program. If so, we no longer need the first action where we had to Click Xee in the Dock. Therefore, select the first action and delete it, leaving only the second action in the container. Highlight the second action and set the Timeout option to "0" seconds and the Playback Speed to "10X". This will make the Key Pressed action execute immediately upon request whenever it is called.

Step 3 - For our second workflow action, from the left side of the interface under the category "Library/Utilities", select the action "Pause" and drag it into your workflow space below the "Watch Me Do" action. Set the Pause control to "5 seconds".

Step 4 - For our third and final workflow action, from the same category, select the action "Loop" and drag it into your workflow space below the "Pause" action. For the Loop action, set the following options: "Loop automatically", "Use the original input", and "Stop after 30 minutes".

Step 5 - Your are now free to test your new application by hitting the "Run" button in Automator. If any images are in the download folder, Xee should immediately begin playing back those images in 5 second intervals. Once it reaches the final image, it should then pause on that last image. If you then take a new snapshot with your camera and it is then Eye-Fi downloaded into that folder, Xee should immediately update and display it. To view your slideshow in Full-Screen mode at any time, simply hit "Command-F" on the keyboard while in Xee. To exit slideshow mode, simply hit the "Escape" key. Once satisfied your application works as desired, in Automator choose "Save As" under the File Menu, assign a new name for your application and save it to your desktop or some other suitable location. Mission accomplished...

Final Comments…

Once your new desktop app has been created, the next time you're ready for a unique Eye-Fi slideshow, simply launch Xee first, then launch your new desktop app and allow it to run in the background. Once launched, the application will continue to run in the background, will target the Xee program and continually execute the keyboard command "Command-Arrow Right" over and over again once every 5 seconds, until either the timer runs out or you manually quit the application. The best method for quitting the app is when the app is running it usually places the icon of a "small rotating gear wheel" up in your menu bar. Simply select that gear icon and pull it down and you'll see the option for quitting the program.

Although the above solution works great and looks fantastic in action, I still feel my scripting is not as polished as it could be. There may be a few rough edges. I am by no means an Applescript expert and I know very little about creating scripts, so feel free to modify this solution to make it even better. Should you make any improvements, please post them on the forum. We'd love to hear about them.

That's all folks. Sorry for the extremely long post. Enjoy…

[cnymike]

Thanks for posting that info.

I've had some success but not total success following your instructions.

My first problem is that I can create an AdHoc network on my laptop and get everything to work, but try as I might, I simply cannot get the eye-fi card in camera to connect to my computer using the Direct mode. when attempting to use the Direct mode, I made sure to delete my home network to ensure that that network wouldn't take precedence over the Direct mode.

One thing I notice is that when setting up the Direct mode, after making the adjustments you mention, the "save" button remains grayed out and I can't actually click Save. So I'm not sure what's going on with that.


Any ideas about that? I'm using Lion OS.

[pilotguy900]

I had about 99% success with this, but there's one thing that needs to be addressed. My camera (Nikon D5100) automatically rotates photos taken in a portrait orientation, as most good cameras do these days. But, for some reason, even though they are correct in the JPEG files, when Xee opens them, they show up rotated 90 degrees back to landscape orientation. So, while I was recording, I also added a "Command-A" keystroke into the Watch Me Do action immediately after the "Command-right arrow". Command-A is the shortcut for Automatic Orientation in Xee. So, when I take photos in a portrait orientation, Xee will automatically rotate them in the slideshow. The only catch is that the pictures still show up in a landscape orientation for a fraction of a second before they're rotated correctly. But, this trick with Xee is still the only solution I've found so far on a Mac that will display a slideshow as I take the photos without looping back to beginning. So, good work on figuring this out.

Note: I also changed the "loop" action to continue for 360 minutes rather than 30 in the original instructions. I'd rather be able to shoot for an entire party rather than worrying about having to restart the script every 30 minutes.

[Humpty Dumpty]

I had about 99% success with this, but there's one thing that needs to be addressed. My camera (Nikon D5100) automatically rotates photos taken in a portrait orientation, as most good cameras do these days. But, for some reason, even though they are correct in the JPEG files, when Xee opens them, they show up rotated 90 degrees back to landscape orientation. So, while I was recording, I also added a "Command-A" keystroke into the Watch Me Do action immediately after the "Command-right arrow". Command-A is the shortcut for Automatic Orientation in Xee. So, when I take photos in a portrait orientation, Xee will automatically rotate them in the slideshow. The only catch is that the pictures still show up in a landscape orientation for a fraction of a second before they're rotated correctly. But, this trick with Xee is still the only solution I've found so far on a Mac that will display a slideshow as I take the photos without looping back to beginning. So, good work on figuring this out.

Note: I also changed the "loop" action to continue for 360 minutes rather than 30 in the original instructions. I'd rather be able to shoot for an entire party rather than worrying about having to restart the script every 30 minutes.

Hi. Sorry, it has taken me so long to reply to your question, but I haven't been checking this forum lately…

Yes, I remember I once ran into that same problem too, that my portrait images would not be properly oriented sometimes. The solution for me was to choose the preference for automatic orientation in Xee's main Preference menu, and not by manually selecting it via keyboard command. By setting it in the main Preference menu, Xee would always remember my preference and would always have auto-orienting enabled without me having to choose it. Therefore, I think the solution in your case is not to add the Command-A keystroke in your Watch-Me-Do action group as you have done, but rather to set your preference in Xee's main Preference menu (located under the "Xee" name, simply pull it down and open the main Preference menu, and look under the "Advanced" tab. You'll see a preference labeled "Image Orientation" which allows you to choose between "Do not automatically orient image" or "Automatically orient image". I have "Automatically orient image" selected on my computer. And I haven't had any problems since. Hope this helps and solves your problem…

As a side note concerning Xee, I only want to say I truly LOVE the Xee program. It's an amazing program that beats the pants off Apple's Preview program and all other image viewing programs I've used. For example, in Preview, if you wanted to look at a whole folder of images, you'd have to select all the images first and then drag them onto the Preview icon. You'd then have to wait until Preview loads all the images into memory before you can even see the first image. Xee doesn't work that way. Xee doesn't load any images into memory beforehand. If you have an entire folder of images to view, simply drag the folder itself on top the Xee icon and Xee will automatically find the first image and display it, without any delay or waiting at all. Then, by using a simple keyboard command and holding down the key, you can cycle very fast through the entire folder of images at blinding speed, even faster than your eye can see. Preview can't do that. And when high-resolution images are involved it gets even better. Preview will slow to a crawl when opening a group of hi-res images because it has to load all the images into memory first. Xee doesn't have that problem. Xee only loads each image one at a time as it gets to them. Therefore Xee is infinitely faster when navigating through a large folder of images or when viewing hi-res images. And here's another amazing trick... Imagine you have a folder of 200 images and you only want to look at image #120. Simply locate image #120 and drag it onto the Xee icon and Xee will automatically open it on screen. Then hit Command-F to view the image in full screen mode. Next, by using a simple keyboard command, you to easily advance to image #121, go back to image #119, view any random image, or simply hold down the key and fly through the entire folder of images at incredible speed. You don't even have to select the other images first, Xee will automatically find the other images once the first image has been opened. Preview can't do that and not even close...

Here are even more tricks... Imagine you've got images scattered all over your desktop or in a certain folder and you don't know where a certain image is at. Simply choose any image and drag it onto the Xee icon and Xee will open it and find all the rest. Then, by using a simple keyboard command, you can cycle through all the images at blinding speed until you find the image you want. It's that easy.... And should you ever loose your way while viewing images in full screen mode, simply hit "Command-F" to momentarily pop out of full-screen mode and look at the status bar at the bottom of the window. Xee always displays exactly which image you're viewing. It displays both the image's name, plus its order in the folder - like "120/200" - meaning you're viewing image #120 in a folder of 200 images. Thus, if you ever loose your way, you can easily come back to image #120 at any time. Xee is an amazing program...

Want to hear something else really amazing?… Whenever you download images from the internet, especially groups of images, most will be packaged as compressed zip files or compressed RAR files. In both cases, you'll normally need a special expander program to decompress those files before you can view the images inside. Amazingly, I discovered that all you have to do is just drag any compressed zip file or compressed RAR file onto the Xee icon, and Xee will look into that compressed file and immediately begin showing you and displaying every image in the file - and all WITHOUT ever expanding it or decompressing it. That is so incredible. It doesn't work if the file is password protected and you need a password to open the file. But in all other cases, Xee will extract the images right out of that compressed file without ever decompressing it. And once extracted, you can then save the images to your desktop if you wanted. I hate to sound like an ad for the Xee program, but to me that is so amazing…

The final thing I'd like to say is, Xee's Keyboard Preference design and setup is also amazing. Under Xee's main Preference menu, you can go in and modify any existing keyboard command and change it to whatever you want to make it simpler. For example, you can change the complex "Command-Arrow Right" keyboard command which tells Xee to advance to the next image, you can change it to simply "Arrow Right". That way by simply hitting the Right Arrow key on your keyboard, Xee will automatically advance to the next image. I have all my arrow keys set up this way. For example, I have my keys set up as: "Right Arrow" - advance to next image. "Left Arrow" - advance to previous image. "Up Arrow" - Zoom into the image. "Down Arrow" - Zoom out from the image. "Slash Mark" - randomly select an image. You can freely modify any existing keyboard command by simply finding the desired keyboard shortcut under the "shortcut" column in the Keyboard Preference menu, and then dragging that shortcut and dropping it on the line for the particular "action" you want it to activate. It's that simple and that easy. That shortcut will then activate that action. I wish all programs had keyboard preferences which worked this way and was so easy and so flexible. Xee is just amazing. It is absolutely the #1 image viewing program I use today, even when I'm not using it with Eye-Fi. And the fact that it is FREE is even more astounding. Xee is a "five star" program and I highly recommend everyone to check it out...

[Humpty Dumpty]

Thanks for posting that info.

I've had some success but not total success following your instructions.

My first problem is that I can create an AdHoc network on my laptop and get everything to work, but try as I might, I simply cannot get the eye-fi card in camera to connect to my computer using the Direct mode. when attempting to use the Direct mode, I made sure to delete my home network to ensure that that network wouldn't take precedence over the Direct mode.

One thing I notice is that when setting up the Direct mode, after making the adjustments you mention, the "save" button remains grayed out and I can't actually click Save. So I'm not sure what's going on with that.


Any ideas about that? I'm using Lion OS.

Likewise, I'd like to apologize to you for taking so long to respond to your question. I simply haven't been checking this forum lately. But I hope I'm not too late to help…

First, when you have your EyeFi card inserted into your computer via the USB adapter and you've opened your Eye-Fi Center software…in the Preference Panel for the card under the Direct Mode tab, there is a checkbox which says - "When no known Wi-Fi networks are in range, start the Direct Mode network" - is that checkbox enabled? That checkbox should be enabled. If it is not, then Direct Mode is not on. If it is enabled, then Direct Mode is indeed on...

Regarding the "Save" button at the bottom of the panel being grayed out, that button will only be available when you've made some changes in the panel that has not been saved. But once you've saved those changes, the button will then become grayed out. That is all it means. For example, on my computer now, if I open my Direct Mode panel, the Save button is also grayed out, but Direct Mode is still active. If I temporarily disable the checkbox I mentioned above and then turn that checkbox back on, suddenly the Save button will become active again. And if I then try to exit the panel without saving my changes, I'll get a warning popup telling me I need to save my changes. So the grayed out button only means that there are no changes that needs to be saved. But if you make any changes in the panel, the button will suddenly become active again...

Once Direct Mode has been activated (by enabling the checkbox I mentioned above), near the bottom of the panel you'll see a section which contains the Direct Mode Encryption Password (it's an 8-digit code shown to the right of the words WPA2). My code says "4WNRGCXG". That's the password you will need to connect to your Eye-Fi card's Direct Mode wireless signal once you've inserted the card back into your camera. So write that code down. Then save your changes, close out the Eye-Fi Center software, and reinsert the Eye-Fi card back into your camera. Once your camera has been turned on and you've taken a new snapshot, your Eye-Fi card should immediately activate and began transmitting its Direct Mode wireless signal in an attempt to transmit the image to your computer. But in order for your computer to receive that image, it must first connect to the Eye-Fi card's Direct Mode wireless signal. Therefore, while the card is still transmitting (it will transmit for 4 minutes), look under your computer's wireless menu and you should now see a brand new wireless signal showing up under that menu labeled something like "Eye-Fi Card 24acaf". That is the Eye-Fi card's Direct Mode wireless signal attempting to transmit the image to your computer. And it will be transmitted into the air whether you connect to it or not. Even your neighbors will be able to see the signal showing up on their computers (but they won't be able to connect to it because they don't have the encryption password). If you do NOT see your Eye-Fi card's Direct Mode wireless signal showing up under your list of wireless networks, then it means the signal is not being transmitted for some reason, or that something may be stopping it from doing so. The first step in that case is to take a new snapshot with your camera and try again. But if you DO see that signal being transmitted into the air, then absolutely it tells you Direct Mode is working...

The next step is to connect to that signal. Therefore, select the Eye-Fi card's signal from your computer's wireless menu and try to connect to it. Once you've selected it, automatically a dialog box should open on your screen asking you for the encryption password. Simply enter the encryption password you saved from above and - Voila!...you're connected to the Eye-Fi card's network. Once connected, the snapshot you took with your camera should then immediately begin downloading to your computer and into the folder you designated. That's all there is to it... If you've connected to the signal but you're still not seeing the image showing up on your hard drive anywhere, check and verify where the image is being sent to. The Eye-Fi card will download the images into the same location and folder you designated in your Eye-Fi Card Preference Settings. So check and recheck that you're looking in the exact same location. Beyond that, I see no reason why downloading images via Direct Mode should not work…

Regarding your creating of an Ad-Hoc network, I've heard of people creating such networks but the reality is you don't need such a network to connect to the Direct Mode wireless signal. You don't need any type of network at all. The signal being transmitted by your Eye-Fi card IS the network, and is the only network and signal you need, along with the encryption password. By creating an Ad-Hoc network, you're adding unnecessary things into the equation that are not needed, and they may be interfering with your ability to set up Direct Mode. I recommend that you disconnect or disable your Ad-Hoc network completely and only follow my instructions above, and you shouldn't have any problems. Outside networks are only needed when you're sending images over the internet to be stored online, to be stored on Facebook, in the cloud, or in places like that. Then and only then would you need to have any other type of network enabled. But you do NOT need such networks or an Ad-Hoc network to connect to the Eye-Fi card's Direct Mode wireless signal. That's because the Eye-Fi card's wireless signal is a complete wireless network all by itself. It is completely self-contained and built into the card. It is the only signal and network you will need with your computer to make Direct Mode work...

Hope this helps….

[Humpty Dumpty]

...But, this trick with Xee is still the only solution I've found so far on a Mac that will display a slideshow as I take the photos without looping back to beginning. So, good work on figuring this out.

Note: I also changed the "loop" action to continue for 360 minutes rather than 30 in the original instructions. I'd rather be able to shoot for an entire party rather than worrying about having to restart the script every 30 minutes.

I'm very happy you were able to get my tutorial to work and that's it's working out well for you. Personally, I love the slideshow it produces. Yes, that was the very reason I took great pains to explain everything I was doing in great detail because I wanted you guys to understand the "principal" behind what I was doing and why, and not just for you to blindly follow my instructions. Because I knew if you could fully understand the "principal" behind what I was doing and why, then not only would you learn about the power of Automator and about creating such scripts, but you also wouldn't have any trouble modifying the script to make it even better, and to tailor it to suit your needs. So I am very happy for you. You mentioned how you changed the timer from 30 minutes to 360 minutes to make the script run longer. Yes, that is precisely what I wanted you to understand about the script - how you can modify it at will to suit your needs. So I am very happy for you...

For the record, when creating my tutorial, I created the script using Automator version 2.1.1 running on Mac OS 10.6.8. Even though the Lion OS ships with Automator version 2.2.2, I don't think there are any major changes to it that would prevent the tutorial from still working. I'm letting you guys know this and what version Automator I used because you never can know what changes to a program Apple might make in the future.

You are absolutely right, this is the only slideshow solution I've found thus far that will create a full-screen slideshow without looping. All other slideshow programs I've seen will loop. Once you've set this up and got it running, it is so beautiful and so cool to look at. For example, I can take a new snapshot with my camera and a few moments later, that snapshot will be displayed full-screen on my laptop. I could then walk around the room, go into another room, or even out into the yard if I want, taking pictures of various things (or people) as I go, and every one of those snapshots will be relayed and transmitted via Eye-Fi and displayed on my laptop screen as I take them. And the best part of all is that, I could then take a break from my shooting, or perhaps I only want to sit down and examine the last snapshot I took for a while, or I could even leave and come back 15 minutes later or so, and guess what - that same snapshot I last took will still be displayed on the screen and will not have changed. If I then pick up my camera and begin taking new snapshots - a few moments later, the screen will automatically update itself and the new snapshot will be displayed on the screen - and all without missing a beat, and all without me having to do anything at all. To me, that is so cool. I don't know of any other program which does that or is even capable of it. If you're a photographer working in a studio, or someone who only wants the most current image to be displayed on the screen, and for the images to be shown only as you take them, then the ability of this solution is invaluable.

The only drawback I've found regarding this solution is that, because the script is created as an "application" and runs in the background, while the script is running it tends to completely take over control of Xee until you shut the background app off (that's because the script is continually executing the keyboard command "Command-Arrow Right" in Xee once every 5 seconds - which is necessary to detect any new images that may have been placed in the folder). It's hard to explain the behavior I'm speaking of, but those who have used this solution know what I'm talking about. But the good news is, as soon as you shut the background app off (through the gear icon in the menu bar) then Xee returns to normal. That is the only drawback I've found. Otherwise the script is perfect and the slideshow is perfect. You could probably change the timing of the script from executing the keyboard command once every 5 seconds to once every 20 seconds or so, and that would likely lessen the impact the background app was having on Xee. The only problem is, doing so would mean a delay of at least 20 seconds between image changes when in slideshow mode, plus it wouldn't bother checking for brand new images in the folder but once every 20 seconds. Which would also mean a delay of at least 20 seconds or so before each new image you've taken with your camera would show up on your computer screen. That's kinda long. I haven't tried the idea yet, but that's my theory of what would happen. But once again, if someone comes up with a better idea or a way around the problem, we'd love to know...

And here's a final tip… Even if the background script is running and Xee is currently showing the most recent image on the screen, if you ever wanted to go back to some previous image while still in slideshow mode, there's nothing to prevent you from doing so. Simply enter the keyboard command for "jump to previous image" (which by default is "Command-Left Arrow" - but which I've reprogrammed in my Keyboard Preferences to be my "Left Arrow" only). By simply hitting my Left Arrow key one or more times or by holding it down, I can go back to any previous image at any time, and all without me exiting slideshow mode. Then, whatever image I stop on, Xee will display that image on screen for at least 5 seconds, and then proceed forward in normal slideshow fashion until it gets to the last image again. Xee will then hold the last image on screen until I take a new snapshot. And note, if at any time the background script is interfering with what you want to do, you can always simply shut the background script completely off via the gear icon in the menu bar. For example, if you ever wanted to go back and look at some previous image indefinitely, or to completely exit slideshow mode, etc. - it's a very easy thing to turn the script on or off.

[photosteve13]

Is there a windows program that does the slideshow without looping?

[Humpty Dumpty]

Is there a windows program that does the slideshow without looping?

Just to provide you with my two-cents… The short answer is: Not that I know of.

There are some Windows programs that tout they will automatically update when brand new images are added into the folder ("Photolive" is one of them), but every program I've seen will "loop" back to the beginning once they've reached the final image (and I had to install Photolive to find this out). Not one of them will "hold" on the last image, without looping or quitting.

There are also some that may have a "looping" option you can turn off, but that usually is referring only to "frame advancement" - meaning if you turn it off, you'll then have to walk over to your computer and manually enter a keyboard command each and every time to advance to the next image. Which sort of defeats the purpose of it being a slideshow.

There are many Eye-Fi users who have been clamoring for such a solution for a while. You would think that some enterprising slideshow developer would get busy and add such a feature to their program. Until then, your best option might be to look into the available scripting tools for Windows. There should be a Windows counterpart to Apple's Applescript and Automator programs. If so, maybe you can find a way to create a Windows script that does something similar. If so, let us all know...

[DJNuance]

I will confirm when I get back to my slideshow computer but I use FastStone Image Viewer.

it does stop whenit hits the end of the files. It also updates as files are added and beautifully supports slideshow to a 2nd monitor, leaving your other monitor for whatever else you have.

It is free for personal use and only 20 or 30 bucks for commercial use.

I have been using it for years now and love how easy it is to use.

[Windowvilla]

I have done absolutely everything humptydumpty has said in his excellent thread, but to no avail. when I take a snap, the direct mode network just doesnt show up, at all. I dont even get that far :/

[Humpty Dumpty]

I have done absolutely everything humptydumpty has said in his excellent thread, but to no avail. when I take a snap, the direct mode network just doesnt show up, at all. I dont even get that far :/

Hi. By following my various troubleshooting tips, it should be fairly easy to narrow the problem down. Here are some tips related to your problem:

Troubleshooting Tip #1 - "Once your camera has been turned on and you've taken a new snapshot, your Eye-Fi card should immediately activate and began transmitting its Direct Mode wireless signal in an attempt to transmit the image to your computer. But in order for your computer to receive that image, it must first connect to the Eye-Fi card's Direct Mode wireless signal. Therefore, while the card is still transmitting (it will transmit for 4 minutes), look under your computer's wireless menu and you should now see a brand new wireless signal showing up under that menu labeled something like "Eye-Fi Card 24acaf". That is the Eye-Fi card's Direct Mode wireless signal attempting to transmit the image to your computer. And it will be transmitted into the air whether you connect to it or not. Even your neighbors will be able to see the signal showing up on their computers (but they won't be able to connect to it because they don't have the encryption password). If you do NOT see your Eye-Fi card's Direct Mode wireless signal showing up under your list of wireless networks, then it means the signal is not being transmitted for some reason, or that something may be stopping it from doing so. The first step in that case is to take a new snapshot with your camera and try again. But if you DO see that signal being transmitted into the air, then absolutely it tells you Direct Mode is working..."

Troubleshooting Tip #2 - "Lastly, please note that you cannot have your Eye-Fi card configured for Direct Mode and for sending images over the internet or Wi-Fi at the same time. You can have one or the other enabled but not both at the same time. It is possible however to have your Eye-Fi card configured to where whenever you are "out of range" of your home Wi-Fi network, that Direct Mode will then become active and enabled. But please note that in such a case, Direct Mode will not function or work so long as you are within transmission range of your home Wi-Fi network. Only when you are "out of range" of your home Wi-Fi network or of any other known network - will Direct Mode even work. If you would like to force your Eye-Fi card to always create and use a Direct Mode connection even when in presence of your home Wi-Fi network, then you must disable and remove all networks that are listed under the "Networks/Private Networks" tab of the Eye-Fi Center software, and that includes your home Wi-fi network if it is shown. You cannot have Direct Mode and those networks enabled at the same time, or else Direct Mode will not work..."

In diagnosing your problem, the first thing to check is to make sure that Direct Mode has been properly enabled in software (by setting the correct preference options in your Eye-Fi Center software). The second thing to check is to make sure there are no networks listed or enabled under the "Network/Private Networks" tab of the Eye-Fi Center software (the presence of any networks under that tab can block Direct Mode from working). If those two things are okay, then once you're inserted your Eye-Fi card back into your camera and has taken a new snapshot, your Eye-Fi card should immediately activate and begin transmitting its Direct Mode wireless signal into the air (note, the card is programmed to begin transmitting each time a new image has been saved to the card. And once it begins transmitting, you can then see that signal showing up under your computer's wireless menu. And don't forget to refresh your computer's wireless menu if necessary to detect any new signals. The signal normally won't show up until about 30 to 60 seconds after an image has been saved to the card). If all above is okay and you've taken a new snapshot, yet you still don't see the Direct Mode wireless signal showing up under your computer's wireless menu, then perhaps there's something wrong with the card. But before you conclude the problem is with the card, check your camera and make sure that your images are actually being saved to the card (ie, plug your card into your computer via the usb adapter and verify the images are actually on the card). Note, the Direct Mode wireless signal won't begin transmitting until after an image has been saved to the card. Therefore, if for any reason, no images are being saved to the card, then Direct Mode won't work either. You should also verify that your camera is actually recognizing your Eye-Fi card and that there are no camera error messages in relation to the card (for example, my camera will generate an error message anytime there's a problem with the signal or a problem with the card). Lastly, note that some cameras may have a special Wi-Fi card or Eye-Fi card option that can be enabled or disabled in the camera's preference settings (mine does). So make sure that all such options have been enabled. If such options are turned off, that too can prevent Direct Mode from working.

By following the above tips, you should be able to easily narrow your problem down. Hope this helps...

[daavidfischer]

Thank you for the time you took for creating this post. very helpful. Thanks again!!