LumenLux

I enjoyed the photos also. Both your stories enrich the photos. Thank you.

Well done. With PTE5 - Just like all technical advancements in artisitic fields - After the early advantage to technical wizards, the real talent will come to the top. It is a good thing that PTE can serve all levels of talent and interest. Thanks again Igor. By the way, has anyone seen for heard from Verhoef since PTE 5 Beta?

For such a disagreeable subject, there seems to be a lot of agreement here! Thank you Dave, your table is useful and very much like what I was suggesting someone could do for us all. Your explanation is also meaningful. And Lin, you have answered some of the questions I had not yet formulated. And Ken and Al, thank you for saving some of us from personally experiencing complete brain drain. My own, irreverent and non relevant conclusion - reminds me of a book title that read: "Everything in this book is false - but that 's the way it is." And yes Barry, we are all still having fun with it. Thanks for reminding us.

Jeff, I think this is not a bug and is indeed a useful feature. As I have used it, it allows the keypoint actions to continue between slides instead of just between objects in a single slide. It can be useful at this time also to "soften" an abrupt action - You can have the action of the next slide starting and masking the stopping of the action of the previous slide. Does this make sense or am I misunderstanding your question?

I apologize in advance as I don't think I have devoted enough time to this topic to fully understand the many "aspects" of "aspect ratios." Do one or all of you say that certain settings in PTE 5, will result in a skinny person looking fat (or the opposite) when viewed on a particular monitor/screen aspect? Or, DaveG does your testing suggest or prove that problem can be avoided entirely by making the right choices at the sequence creation stage? I think also, Al, it might help to have some input from Igor, but this stuff is already tough without adding a language factor.

Thanks for the comments. I would invite futher comment from more of our forum members. Everyone may not want to comment on the technical apsects but everyone certainly can say what they "like" or "don't like" about the new "motion" power and usage. Do you like the use of motion on all, most, few, or none of slides in a presentation? As you know, there are no "right" or "wrong" answers. (I think )

I am only vaguely aware that some earlier software at professional level has used multitrack approach for AV. I think that is what you have been using in the past along with PTE? I really can't give valid opinion of the usefulness or necessity. I think you are comfortable with multi-track approach but I wonder if Igor's approach can already accomplish the same thing but with PTE 5 method? Do you think after you learn more of PTE 5 (finished version) that you would think multi-tracks would be better or just "comfortable" because you already have so much experience with the concept? Or, are you suggesting Igor could just add a second track with all the same interface and features of PTE 5's object and aninmation window as it is? I am not sure I am smart enough to utilize a second track with all the power that is already in PTE 5 single track. Especially when we realize that each object in PTE 5 already has it's own track.

Gilio, I remember some of your fine earlier sequences. This new one with PTE 5 is perfect in every way. The features are used in very natural ways for the theme of this show. Thank you for sharing it with us.

In answer to Raydene, I would agree with all that Tom has expressed. The part that I would like elaboration on is: I still find home-made DVD's to be "tempermental". Or certain DVD players are tempermental. That is, a homemade DVD of a PTE show (or home video) will sometimes play OK and then not play at other times on the same player. Has anyone found this to be less trouble with -R or +R?

Guilty on all counts. Memorial Day is typically when I can expect access to my "moose country" without the risk of snow blocking the road somewhere. This memorial day was perfect. It was cold but the moose came calling early and checked back frequently. They did their part likely better than I did my part. I haven't looked yet at all the photos except on the tiny camera screen. But my past moose photos on digital have seemed to be inferior to my earlier film shots. This is strange because almost all other subjects seem to do as well or better with digital. (Maybe Lin can tell me if he has any "digital" problems in his wildlife work.) So that is my excuse for having missed your other topic where you clearly describe what I had missed by reading only this topic. Now I have read, and found helpful, that info. I still feel inclined to "hide my head in the sand" and do my shows at 1024x768! So, some self-searching or self-examining of my self may be in order. You know there is a lot coming very fast in the last few weeks. You don't have to be away long to feel (needlessly, I hope) left behind. But it is sure nice to be out getting the pictures!

Dave, It appears you have been doing some useful/helpful work. Any problem in just sharing it all here where everyone has a chance to benefit from it?

Ken - Just the thought of trying to deal with all the aspect ratios and screen sizes is very intimidating to some of us! So as long as you already have the headache - please stick with it and ultimately share your conclusions. After deep deliberation, I mustered the courage to at least look at your posted comparison. Without treading on headache ground, I can say: In the case of both photos, the zoom of the large dimension file gave better (clearer, more detail) picture. If however, I had not had the available larger photo, I would not have noticed any problem or deficiency in the smaller photos. It is nice to have an understanding of these things so we can then pass the "worry" one step further. In this case (if in an actual show) we can then ask is the clarity of the larger photo worth the risk of the larger file making the show less smooth on a less powerful graphics card> Do you agree?

Al, you retired guys create a lot of envy in the world! I'd have to give up most my life just to keep up with you and PTE5. Sure glad you do it.

Very important question you ask! I do have lots of thoughts on the subject. I don't know whether my thoughts are predominantly ideas or questions. Sorry I have waited so long to attempt an answer. But I have now answered some of the above over in the topic about my more recent effort, Strange Land. I hope you will continue your input there, but if there is something that pertains more to this topic here, let me know. I will say specific to Spirits in the Sky, it was a very compelling experience working on it. Like every stone I turned over had a new treasure. And each treasure called out like a Genie offering me many wishes. Sort of amazing really. Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed. Yes, the road & trees effect was intentional, but I did sort of stumble on to it as I was experimenting. It was somewhat a catalyst that stimulated my eagerness to make the rest of the show. Is "jinja" the operative part of your name? What type of use do you make of PTE?

Al, I value your aesthetic view as well as your technical expertise. Thank you. Ah, the flower. The only comment my wife had was indeed also the flower. Her thought was I should have used it sooner in the show. (Maybe by the foreground sunflowers?) In my mind the flower served several ideas. Remember how Boxig used to try to include in each show, some little trick or unexpected item? I think sometimes an "out of place" item really does have a place and can stir further thoughts or point out relationships. I guess in this case I hoped the flower might fit as sort of a useful anachronism. Around Utah there is a well known statement that actually originates in the bible. Isaiah 35:1 The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. Granted, the flower is not a rose, but I was thinking it as symbolic for the purpose. The flower, as a more recognizable form of beauty, is very meaningful in the setting of Goblin Valley's less conventional beauty. In fact most people might find Goblin Valley interesting but not necessarily beautiful. This particular flower is also interesting as you notice the open blossoms are white and the closed blossoms pink. And as the desert day ends and the flower represents the life cycle goes on, etc. etc. I also like the very good dirt and pebbles in the flower photo. Ties right in. By now, I hope you aren't sorry you mentioned it. But, yes it does sort of break the flow, but . . . You remind me of one other observation. This StrangeLand sequence uses 12 slides. Only one had any editing, namely just one slide "sharpened." I had probably taken close to 200. With PTE 4.48 I suspect I would have used about 50 slides. Are we now able to tell a better story in 12 slides than in 50? Although you say you can't study the moving photo for artistic merit, have you really studied it more as PTE paces your view? I agree with you though. And finally, what do we do with all the other photos. I guess we buy stock in makers of hard drives and flash media and other storage media.

Lin, I think you have honed right in on many of my thoughts and concerns I experienced in this sequence. It can be really tough to "punctuate" with the right feeling. Sometimes I feel I want a "soft landing" to a photo but the emotional viewing effect is more like "HALT! put your hands up!". I think the abrupt stop you refer to was very possibly not the right choice on my part. Although I wanted the image to be a static frame for the next slide, the "still" was not really a slide that deserved a long artistic appraisal of itself vs the movement that had been carrying the viewer. Thanks for your ideas on techniques for smoothing with opacity and blur. I have not utilized the blur yet. I like and use the opacity and the overlapping of slides. The thing I like with opacity control is that I can change the background color of the slide and thus get customized effect from the opacity change. Igor's promised control of linear acceleration seems it may add another complication, but a very valueable tool. I have already expressed to Igor that what is now technically constant speed really appears much different than that in certain cases. So I look forward to being able to adjust to the desired perception. Thank you Lin for your generous sharing of your own learning and experiences. I think you, Al, Nickles, and some of our French friends already know more of this new PTE than I will ever learn. Ooops, better mention some of our British AVists too! It really is great to see the excitement and the willingness to help others experience the excitement.

Thank you Ron. These must be really good thoughts - as I agree with them all. I too am sensitive to your point of the intro misleading the viewer or causing a false anticipation which can certainly influence the viewer's appreciation. Even in PTE (pre 5Beta), I have seen many shows (some of mine too) where the first few slides have been so well designed but the rest of the show can't keep up. I know I have been guilty of spending say 8 hours tweaking the first two minutes of a show, and then hurriedly throwing the last 13 minutes together in a couple of hours. I think in the past this "danger" has been even more evident with Flash or other gee whiz openings. I would expect to use the facilities in the body of a sequence only when it serves a purpose and enhances the production. I think this makes very good sense, but will take time for us to each determine the definitions that fit. Unlikely that we will all have the same taste or conclusion. But useful it is to help each other understand the possibilities.

Beechbrook.com is where you can find the show. This 4 minute show is not so much a demo of what Version 5 can do, as it is an attempt to use a few of the new features in an appealing manner. So maybe there can be some discussion about what each of us do find appealing or not appealing so far. I mean, aside from the technical genius of the program and the fun of just seeing what can be done. I'm not sure just how much motion I want in various types of presentations. I thought I would like minimum motion, but find it is sometimes hard to jump from still to moving and back. So is it sometimes best to keep a constant motion similar to using only the fade transition in earlier versions? Or do you like to use the motion features to change the tempo? As you can see, I think we could all use some "discussion" as how the power can make presentations more pleasing, ie effective. This show is less "extreme" in the motion than my earlier Spirits In The Sky. ( Also now on Beechbrook.) That one seemed to appeal very much to some, while others felt it was "over the top", with too much going on. With Spirits, and with Strange Land, my main objective is still the photography. So, in spite of all the fun of annimation, and creativity, at this juncture I am interested in exploring ideas how the new power can enhance the photo experience - not supplant it.

The template feature actually makes a copy of all the files used for a given project. The template folder then has all the pieces - slides and sound files, etc. Contrary to the work flow of many, I often don't first put all the potential files in a single folder. Later in the project, I will usually make a template to make sure I do have all the parts together. Sometimes I will make a template and then batch resize in the template folder. If you do that however, you need to open the template, or the already-open project will continue to use the original, larger files. In regard to the "library" of O/A implementations, the use of the Template would mean the "borrower" person would not only have the project (.pte)(.txt) file but also the actual slides and objects to use or learn from.

That would be very useful, Thank you Igor.

Thank you for your thoughts, now we need Igor to tell us how possible or not.

Good idea and well done. Maybe somebody will host a "library" of pte templates (.pt) or at least project files (.pte) of annimations or other modules for sequence makers to draw from. Igor has opened so many possibilities.

I don't think so Ron. The only .png's I have used at all (so far) are for text. All the other images on top of images in the O/A window are the same slides I am using in the slide list. The only difference is where I have to find them to pull them into the O/A window. Do you see what I mean?

When working in the O/A screen, there is an "add image" feature. Often the image I want to add is already in the slide list for the show. As it now is, the "add image" opens an explorer type browser. I think it would be very nice if I could as an option, select an existing slide to use as an object/image. Would this be possible Igor. I think it would be a very useful feature.