LumenLux

Strictly for fun. When the traditional Thanksgiving Day game between local universities disbanded 50 years ago - a few family and friends started playing our own. Rain, snow, and distance have only added to the tradition of getting together for this annual event. 64mb file contains 6-7 minute show. This was fun to "produce", and may be fun for someone out there. Available now on Beechbrook.com as Turkey Bowl 2008. I know the 64 mb file size is a problem for some potential viewers. You can view a lesser-quality, but "high definition" video version here: Turkey on Vimeo Editing here: Maybe anyone that has trouble downloading 64mb will also have trouble with "streaming" from Vimeo, etc.? Any comments from anyone will add to my enjoyment/learning.

So how about Boxig himself? Anyone still in contact with him?

I had to apply my limited time to Bill's important question about the hat. But now I find time to tell you "the story" that relates to your observation. Yes, the vignetting on many frames is from a polarizer that is not sufficiently thin-rimmed. I would not normally allow the vignetting to appear in an AV or presented photo. But in this PTE I decided to try another approach. If you notice the first slide of the show - not only does the vignette appear, but a obvious bottom ring/edge of a neutral grad filter. Normally any photo's selected for PTE use, I would crop or clone to be rid of the edge intrusions. As this presentation was an impromptu and rush job one night, I thought I don't want to take the (little) time to clean the corners. And the first slide gave me the idea to make the show as if one were looking through a telescope or lens which would be consistent with my "theme" of "seeking" a view of my friend's life and surroundings. So I decided to leave all the corners as-is and see if anyone had any reaction. I also wanted to see what my own reaction would be after watching it a couple of times. I guess from your comment, any "purpose" I intended was either too subtle or just not the best idea. As for myself, rationalizing that the look was intentional, I accept or ignore what otherwise would be a constant annoyance and distraction from the photographs. So thank you very much for commenting. I did try one other thing on this show that was a first for me. While taking the early-morning photos, wandering by myself, I listened to my MP3 player with the vague intent to find some tunes as candidates for any show I might make of the photos. I have never welcomed sound in my ears while photographing or even hiking, but this time it seemed worth a try. And thus the soundtrack was born.

Thank you Lin for sharing this one. I always enjoy glimpses into "other" cultures. I have a brother who has spent his life living and teaching in various Native American environments. That has helped me appreciate even more the diversity of life. Seeing your photos here reminds me also that "native american" is still a very broad description.

I like it. And isn't it a great feeling when some seemingly monster obstacle is overcome. Now you can enjoy this program all the more. I think many of us have some aspect of PTE power that we, for whatever reason, are reluctant to tap. So your experience is a good reminder for many of us.

Bill - you ask such deep, searching questions! So here is the deep, focused answer. I know for sure about the old hat, but I am not sure which new hat you mean. If you are referring to the brim hat on the golf course - that is not me.(How do you like that studious/prayer photo though?) On this journey I am wearing a black "Nikon" ball cap, but I doubt you can recognize the Nikon in the pix I included. (Can you?) As for the old hat, which indeed has been with me for about 14 years (!), it is not fully retired but has been re-assigned as a dedicated hat for a specific mountain area where I keep it for use there. For hiking most everywhere else there is indeed a new, similar to the old, hat, but it did not get called into action for this civilized expedition which included the golf course. The new hat did get called into action today for our 49th annual Turkey Bowl football game. (But it was usually getting knocked off, as everybody else is younger, bigger, stronger, faster, . . .)

Old friends discover the lifestyle/territory of another friend. Includes beautiful scenery of southern Utah, USA. November 2008. 12 minute presentation. Title animation courtesy of "theDom". Download here at Beechbrook Making this presentation gave me cause to thank and compliment "theDom" and Igor! The opening title animation is a template shared by theDom a long time ago. At the time, I thought it was well done but not really what I would use. Sometimes things take a while to sink in. It came to mind while working on this sequence and I like it a lot - Thanks Dom. As for Igor - Thanks again and again for this fine, fun software. This software allowed me to very quickly put this show together as a thank-you to our friend and host, Michael. A couple of hours of fun in the wee hours resulted in another friend "wowed" by what can be done by PTE. Not necessarily fancy animations, but the photo quality on large HD TV's now really can impact a new viewer. Before posting this EXE file, I posted three video versions, ie Standard Definition, High Definition, Wide Screen. All of these created by Igor's new port-to-Vimeo. Again, Igor has done great things for us. However, when I came back to post this EXE version, I realized all over again, the quality of PTE as an EXE file just can not be beat. IMHO Thanks again. Comments on this presentation are welcomed and encouraged.

Igor I had an error message occur while using Create for Vimeo in PTE. I had already created and uploaded to Vimeo an SD version. I then wanted to create and upload with PTE Vimeo setting as HD. Here is screen shot near end of creation: I made the screen shot and was preparing to start over when I realized the PTE screen was still active and was uploading to Vimeo. As near as I can tell the HD video is fine on Vimeo. http://vimeo.com/2355434 - - As the PTE creation for Vimeo takes rather long for this 12 minute show, I have not tried to re-create the problem. But I am interested in whether this is something you can fix or whether I can avoid by any setting change.

Lin, I too enjoyed the show. But LOL it is strange to see a museum for things my own age!

Would there be a way to have two PTE shows running simultaneously with a mask technique allowing only the rolling text to be showing from one show onto the other show which occupies the bulk of the screen?

Your Version 2 is fun and excellent quality. I can see it might be useful for some presentations. I also think it might be more useful with some additions. In Lin's Maskdemo, the magnifying glass enlarges the view under the glass. The enlarged area appears less clear than the overall photo. In your demo, the image under the glass becomes very focused but does not appear larger. Can a template be made which would offer both options individually and together? It seems to me, that most useful would be for the passing glass to both magnify (enlarge) and retain original clear definition. Thank you for your work that you share.

You may have already noticed: If your project screen is showing the slides (photos) along the bottom (instead of the timeline view) - pressing the Delete key does remove the slides. Then when you switch to the timeline view, you will find the slides are gone there as well.

Previous to PTE V5.6 Betas, I had converted a couple of PTE presentations and posted them (non HighDef) on Vimeo. My results, similar to Lin's posted tests, still left much to be desired when it came to transitions and animation movement. My first use today of Igor's new Create HD video for Vimeo, has yielded excellent results on the particular PTE I used. The PTE uses only standard fades and no-fade cuts but with a variety of slide durations. The 7 or 8 minute presentation required 1 hr 20 minutes to output for Vimeo. Vimeo, after holding the video in line for maybe an hour, took about 25 minutes to convert and post for viewing. The Vimeo delay is less than I had experienced at busier times previously. The really nice part was that Igor has it automated for us such that once I told PTE/VideoBuilder to Start, the rest was un-attended, all automated! I could then go into my Vimeo account and adjust settings such as making the video private via any of several parameters. In this case I wanted it "private" to extent that password is required to view. With this specific PTE project, I think the Vimeo result is outstanding! The HD file as output by PTE and further "converted" by Vimeo really looks nice, in my opinion. At the Vimeo default size for viewing HD, the resolution seems flawless. You can, even while viewing, expand it to full screen, which then reveals some less perfect rendition. You can escape back to the default size or turn off HD if you prefer for a given situation. The Vimeo site gives all kinds of "share" options. In this case I simply copied the imbed code, pasted it as a new post on my blog, and it was ready for blog members, including the Mac users who have always felt a little underprivileged with my traditional PTE postings. On my blogsite, the Vimeo is not HD, but if you click the HD option while viewing on the blog, it nicely informs the viewer he can view it in HD by continuring to the Vimeo site. It is all very slick. My next pleasant "discovery" has to do with email. I found I can place the PTE/Vimeo output from my blog into an email to anyone. The email recipient can view it right in the email context or click back and forth with full screen. The same privlege continues with forwarding the email and all recipients need the password if the the Vimeo setting is so specified. If anyone here wants to judge for yourself and share your opinion, please use our PTE Forum to Private Message me with your email address and I will forward the mail as I have described. I would also be interested how the emailed version would run on an iPhone or Ipod.

Thank you Lin for sharing your learning. I had posted a PTE/video on Vimeo about a month ago with the intent to figure a way to find closer to PTE.exe quality on a video site. Some of the pure video on Vimeo looks really fine. But after my first attempt with my PTE to Vimeo, I was ready to either call "Uncle" or "Lin", because my result was less successful than yours. But I also had not yet posted an HD version. I had started to work on it and then decided to wait for Igor's routine. As for your Southwest Art post in HD on Vimeo - I guess my LCD monitor qualifies as slow because your Vimeo version really looks quite fine - until I expand it to full-screen view. At full screen, all the motion-triggered trouble appears. On my setup it really deteriorates when full screen. When you speak of monitor refresh rate does that mean the 60 - 75 mhz, etc. or is it the response time listed as 3 ms, or 5ms, etc.? I have not yet tried Igor's new porting for Vimeo, but I expect it will be a great convenience for us even if Vimeo, at this moment, is not ready to maintain the quality we send. It will be interesting to see if Vimeo or any site will come up with a way to do better or whether it is an inherent limitation of the current status of "flash"?

I came late to the party today, but quickly found the fun is just beginning! After reading early comments, I DL'd Lin's demos for my first thrill. So nice to have such an immediate glance into the expanding universe of PTE. Thanks Lin. But realizing the masking skills will take some personal investment of time, I then moved to the new transitions for some instant gratification. Igor's implementation of the 3-D Swap is nothing short of spectacular. For leisure viewing of fine photos it is supreme. On the other hand, I now have, with very little effort, the power to induce motion sickness into the most steady seaman or any unsuspecting U-tube veteran! Thank you Igor for your skill and dedication.

Wonderful! I was there. Well, only for the few minutes that I walked with you. Thank you for sharing the experience of beauty. I like the method used for your close-ups of the flowers pulled from the setting where they were found. Your back packs appear nicely light weight. Do you utilize the mountain huts for shelter and for food? Thanks again for a very pleasing presentation.

Thank you Patrick. A also found your Dolomite link very good.

Patrick - very nice presentation of your experience. Good photos can really entice me. I am reminded that the Dolmites really should be on my list for the future! I have a couple of questions on your recent journey. How many days were involved in the photos displayed? Do you sleep in the huts that are visible in the photos?

Thank you Mark for sharing the Newforge Taggers! I have always appreciated rugby. And I always appreciate those with Downs Syndrome and those who work with them! But I have never been aware of any connection between the two. The benefits, I'm sure are many. As with so many things in life, the "benefit" is commensurate with the effort committed. Right now in the U.S. there is a new movie release, Forever Strong. It is based on a true experience of rugby in our city. The local high school coach brought a new team in a new (to many) sport to national prominance and remodeled and built many young men in the process. A great success story. I'm sure your efforts with PTE and the website will help your program there to achieve great things. Thanks for sharing a bit of the good.

And my preference (at this point) is to avoid the navigation bar showing on the photos we want to fully appreciate. Therefor I normally accept Igor's default which allows the pause/forward/reverse if we feel it is worth informing viewers that may want the feature of which they are most often not aware. One thing clear to me is that Igor has offered enough to accommodate all of us with our needs and preferences.

You are right Gary. See here for my non-elegant, simple method. And on Beechbrook, my presentation Morning Glory uses a more elaborate explanation for the viewers.

Welcome David! Whatever your level of AV interest, you can certainly further it here with PTE and the helpful fans who gather here. And we will all be looking to enjoy the fine photography that has been with you for so long.

I tend to agree that the suggested verbage may be better. In original testing my first reaction was the same as Peter's. But as I soon understood the meaning, I forgot to mention it to you, Stu.

Es gefaellt mir. Ganz gut eigentlich. Yes Peter, although this is your first presentation using PTE, your experience in related art/tech is evident. I was hooked with your very first image. I think the vertical pan was a very effective attention getter. Even at that large size, the photo quality was very good. I think your use of different transitions was fitting in this show. I suspect some viewers may think the effects were somewhat too much. I think your vertical pans worked and were nicely synchronized with the music. Your show title was useful as it gave me a hint of what to expect in your presentation. If I accurately understand your intent to show the two sides of life in Bangkok, I think you are partially successful. I thought the carousel of people passing around the lotus flower was good, symbolic, and a pleasing way to view some people in their day-to-day life. If the one world, of the two worlds of Bangkok, is meant to show the rough, dirty side of life - then you could have shown more than you did. However, I think it is nice to withhold much of the "dirt." One does not need to see every nasty detail to get the point. The photos are quite good. In watching the show, I felt it was interesting but I did not really feel emotion. I am afraid I saw more the high quality of the Budda photo rather than an emotional effect. I did enjoy the show. One problem however of such a good first effort in PTE - is that you now have to make every show at least so good and we will all expect almost each one to be even better. Thanks for sharing your views of Bangkok.

Bravo Lin, another fine display of technique than can be useful. Having been recently trying shots of similar hummers, I like your slow-enough-to-see wing speed. Now, if you want to add more drama to the action - Take some shots from your stock, (or use mine) of the Rufous variety that incessantly chase away the other species from the food source! And - I suppose you could have the elusvie bird be a moving target for a mouse-click in PTE to move onto the next game screen! Probably not a lure to "gamers" but could be fun for young folk or some of us older folk.