Yeah, ICE is great stuff. It does not like Kodachrome, however, since that film has a "topography" on the emulsion side... raised ridges corresponding to dye build-up for dense areas. To get around this, turn the slides over, so the base side faces the scanner. Then flop it (mirror the image) in software. At least ICE will then zap dust on the base.

PEC-12 film cleaner is very helpful to have around when scanning old film, as is a StaticMaster anti-static brush.

If you have any glass-mounted slides (Gepe or Wess...), you probably should remove the film chips from them and clean with film cleaner. Glass tends to trap mold/mildew.

One more note... since scanning is tedious, do the best job you can the first time, so you won't have to do it again. I always scan at a high resolution and then down-sample/down-size the image later, if I don't need hi-res. That way, I can make large prints if someone wants one.

Long thread... I hadn't read it all. But great minds think alike.

Gestalt was at the core of what the AV industry did in the 1970s through the '80s with *multi-image.* We synchronized lots of computer-sequenced still images with a narrated script, music, and other sound elements to make an immersive, high resolution, high fidelity experience that carried logic, stirred emotions, and told stories with a high degree of believability. It was an elevated form of stylized corporate photojournalism.

Photojournalist, Jim Richardson, won the 1983 Crystal AMI award at the Association for Multi-Image conference (a week long event in Orlando, featuring over 125 competing slide shows from all over the world). He did it with a little two-projector slide show about Cuba, Kansas, that featured incredible black-and-white photos of small town life, a stirring narration, and quiet, reflective music.

Jim's show, "Reflections from a Wide Spot in the Road", brought an audience of 800 to tears, twice — once during competition, and again at the awards banquet. It was a stunning, magical lesson in how a great story, accented correctly with human narrative, and illustrated succinctly with arresting visuals, can shake you to the core and wake you to emotions you didn't think you had.