lathompson

Today, I scanned my system with SUPERAntiSpyware Free Version and it detected videoinet.dll as: Trojan.Agent/Gen-Cryptor[Virut] located at: C:\program files\wnsoft picturestoexe\6.0\videobuilder\videoinet.dll Thought you might like to know this updated false id, as I have not had this happen in prior scans using this really fine free software. I also reported it through their "false positive report" section.

Just when you think it can't get any better, it gets better! Will be anxious to work with the new beta. Thanks Igor.

Okay, thanks. I didn't know that.

About the re-validating of license for Videobuilder.... I didn't think that was necessary. I thought once purchased, it was forever. I've had it for some time and have not received anything to let me know I needed to reaffirm the license. Can anyone explain this please?

In Audacity, change the sample rate to 44,100. Resave and all should be good. As mentioned before, it's quicker to make it right sometimes, rather than try to understand it. I do know this, Pictures to Exe is not to blame. This is just one of those little miseries that PC's have a way of throwing at us from time to time.

I'm using 64bit and have not had problems with PTE vers 6 beta 20. Have no other versions installed on this new machine.

Almost... The most important thing I need is speed. With my music window open, I can grab an approximate number of tracks, drop them into the calculator basket, the total track time displays somewhere. If the total time is less than the target time by 2-3 minutes, I have what I want. If I'm short or long on time, I can see the times of each track and quickly select and delete to shorten, or drop some new tracks into it. This will take about 1 minute or less. I then select all from the calculator basket, drag them to my video-edit working folder to await the final touch, the customized exact-length ending (or beginning, if I want) to bring my soundtrack to a perfect length. This custom procedure takes relatively no time to accomplish. -larry

Yes, WMA. Sometimes the fingers get ahead of the brain.....

I mentioned it in the other thread but I'll mention it here as well. Your calculator is a very useful tool for those that need to put soundtracks together and timing is a factor. My Excel calculator does basically the same thing, but also deals with some other timing issues at the same time. Like you, I always save my music titles with the running time at the end. I don't use the dot, but simply use 4 digits. 0433 is 4min, 33sec.

Actually there are only three types of files I use. MP3, WMV & WAV. MP3 and WAV are the most important.

Yes, Lennart, I did try it. Sorry I haven't reported back. Spent the day with an ailing 90 year old father. Just got back to normal around here this morning. The MP3STATS program is really very nice, but only works on mp3 files. Many of my files are wav or some other format. Also, there is no ability to drag and drop once a list is compiled. I also tried the other suggestions. The CD burner xp program was a nice lite burner software but did not do anything I needed done. On the other hand, Burnaware Free was great for dropping music into in bunches and then culling songs out until the timing was right. The only problem with that is once the songs are in the list, they cannot be group selected and dropped into my audio folder for the video I'm working on. I suppose, I could simply drag & drop from the music folder, but that requires checking one window and selecting from the other. Certainly faster than my current method, but easier to make errors that will cause giant slowdowns in the process later. I'm going to work with that program for a few days and see what happens. Brian posted a nice little program for calculating music compilations, however it is not as useful for me since I already have a time calculator that does that, plus a few other time relevant calculations as well. The offering is much appreciated anyway and I hope that others will use it! Thanks Brian. nobeefstu, I'll be watching. Remember, no big rush on this. -larry

I look forward to seeing what you come up with. Brian offered a time calculator in another thread. It's a really good little tool for those who have not yet used one. I have a time calculator already using Excel and it does a variety of things when planning a video or slide show. Problem is, like Brian's offering, it requires the entering of times, one by one; and it doesn't have any interaction with the actual music files so although it is very useful, it does not save time on a budget project. Budget projects come in at a pace of 20 to 1 over complex and more profitable ones. My idea will allow me to do 5 times more in a given time frame.

You can do that? That's a pretty nice thing to do for a guy, I must say. Let me nose around with a few of the suggested programs first. I don't want you to do such a project if it's not necessary. The offer is greatly appreciated!! Thank you! -larry

I tried that in Nero and Acid Pro with no luck and it doesn't give the total time in Windows Media player when you compile a playlist or to burn. The suggestion to organize is a good one. I currently save every custom track I make in order to reuse it when it's length is appropriate for another job. There is a need to keep the music fresh by not using exact combinations over and over. I have a system now to make different choices in patterns. This way, music may be repeated in different soundtracks, but it won't be repeated with the same tunes. Sometimes, I can eyeball it with short durations. I have customized most of my music by making the time part of the title (example: Summertime_Ripples-0314.mp3 is a song that is 3min 14sec in length.) I suspect strongly that no such program exists but I thought it worth a try. Thanks for your suggestion, DavyC -larry

Lennart, that was a good suggestion but I have already tried working with the music selection in PTE. There are various little things that happen (or can't be made to happen) when PTE's music selection window is open. It's true, it's a great place to dump a lot of music tracks for a quick read of the total time, but once that is done, the productive flow breaks down. I could go into detail on that, but would rather not bore everyone with all the little reasons. Suffice it to say, I can't use that beautiful little feature in PTE. If only I could do a CTRL-A for a mass selection and drag the music to a working folder for my video. (And NO Igor, I'm not putting that on a wish list. You have enough to do now)

I put old home movies onto DVDs for clients. Once the footage is finished and I determine a run time for the final video, I then create a musical soundtrack from my collection of RF music and add it to the video. The problem is, I want to speed up the process of gathering the music to fit the length needed for the video. Right now, I must look at the run time of each song and add the times up as I go along. I use a special template in Excel to automate the math right now, but that's still a very slow process. Once I get the run time of my music within approximately 3 minutes of the video's length, I then create a custom track from scratch using Sonicfire Pro. I need to automate the music selection process more. I do not want to do this work on a time line, I'm not custom editing sound on a project that is budget minded. I'm setting up simple background music for old 8mm home movies. The music comes from a large collection and it does not need to be listened to for content. It is all appropriate for the videos. With the right program, I could throw say, 20 (or so) songs into the folder, see how close it is to the video run time, then add or subtract a few songs to meet the length requirements. Right now, that's a 20 minute job. With an ideal program, it could be a 20 second job. So, my question is this: Does anyone know of a program that would allow me to drag and drop tracks into a folder and have that folder instantly show me exactly what the combined run time is for the tracks I have just dropped into it? I will still need to create the custom ending with Sonicfire Pro, I know, but that's something that I don't want to eliminate.

CTRL + or - works for me in Firefox 3.5.2

Cool, new look! Easier to read.

I will stand with others that do not wish audio to become a PTE feature. If it does, I can live with it, but does it need it? Not for me. I fear programs that do too many things. I also prepare my music in Audacity first, to control the length, the beginning and the end. So maybe my vote shouldn't count. I wouldn't use the audio feature anyway.

Wideangle beat me to it. That is a perfect and fast way to make silence. You create it once, it's available forever. One more thing: Sometimes, I find an irritatingly quite or quirky start to a piece of music that otherwise, would be great for a show. If I can find a good spot to do it, I clip the irritating part from the beginning so the music starts precisely where I want. Sometimes, this is not possible, but when it is, it improves the impact at the start. On the other end, when I get a piece of music that has too much silence at the end, and a lot of my RF music does, I use audacity to clip it off as close to the end of the music as I can, thereby allowing me full control of the impact music brings to the end of the show. -larry

Geoff, I downloaded avast and loaded it. Works great! Thank you for your suggestion.

Sorry about being off topic, but I have the need to put an old machine into daily use in my network in order to use an old, but very useful editing program. This customized program I'm using requires Windows 98 SE. and will not operate in a virtual operation. It requires a dedicated setup. Previously, I used AVG on this machine, however after booting up for the 1st time in a couple of years, I see that AVG has since discontinued support and updates for windows 98. Does anyone have a suggestion for a free anti virus software that will do the trick? -larry

I agree with you Barry. Well said.

Peter, I did understand Andrew's original questions and you guys gave excellent advice. Excellent! I agreed with everything including the fact that dvd is a terrible choice for Andrew. I felt that statements concerning dvds and quality of dvds needed some clarification. I provided the asterisk. larry

Peter, I agree that there are certainly limitations when a PTE show is burned to DVD and yes, the quality cannot compare with a show from an EXE version, but if you want to circulate the show to people that don't have a computer or don't have a laptop to feed it to their tv, the DVD is about as good as you can expect. And viewed on a tv, at a normal viewing distance, quality is very nice indeed, particularly if the viewer has never seen the higher quality version to compare with. I find that given a choice of messing with a computer/TV feed, most consumers prefer the convenience of the plain old freestanding dvd player. Not advanced hobbyists like most of the forum members. Not AV professionals, but everyday consumers. For the past 2 years, all of my customers have requested dvds. Previously, the shows were delivered on Cds as an executable, but when dvds became common, people began to ask if the CDs would play on the dvd players and didn't like it that they didn't. I got strange looks when I suggested viewing on the computer. The result was to switch to producing dvds. I still offered the CDs and explained that the EXE could be played through a computer to their new TV monitor for superior quality. Surprisingly, not one single client, commercial or not, has wanted the EXE version. Seriously. Every customer has gone for the dvd version. Quality is what they wanted but convenience is what they buy and they tell me they love it. I do about 1500 slide shows annually. I have no complaints on quality and my business on referrals is fantastic. Quality is what it is to the consumers. It's weird! Remember BETA vs VHS? And where the hell did SVHS ever get to? Never saw an SVHS rental movie. Hobbyists settle for nothing but top quality and smart professional presenters do it right as well, that's the way it is and the way it should be, but to the average consumer, it's the message of the show, the music, the flow and the convenience of viewing. You are right, Peter, but for those that belong to this forum and new to the world of PTE, and will not produce for a club or present a formal presentation beyond family and friends, the choice to burn to dvd is a viable one with it's own advantages and quality range. I think that PTE's video burner does great work if compared to other dvds, viewed at proper distance on regular and/or new plasma/lcd screens. To brand it as poor quality against a beautiful EXE version is not fair. That comparison should always come with an astrisk. larry