lathompson

Very nice effect! Thank you for that. larry

Ken you're right too. The funny thing is, I don't think that any of my clients are dishonest. I use my little disc trick just to get them back in. Frankly, I'm not concerned about anyone ripping images from my slide shows... And that's because we have our profits built into the job and it's paid for before we begin. The problem is more laziness and procastination. I just want the customers to get the order in so I and get the portraits delivered. That has been a really big problem for us. After awhile, all the shine goes off the apple and everyone forgets about ordering and the thrill of getting those beautiful enlargements in their hands. Oh, the hazards of the profession... Anyway, Gerdi, I didn't mean to hijack your thread. I won't do it again, I promise. larry

Ronnie, in the realm of possibilities, yes, this could backfire, since there is no end to what any given customer might do or think; however in my experience over the past 2 years, I haven't had a single person even begin to question the reason the disc didn't work. It got them to call, I got the conversation going about ordering while their thinking about it and then, I was able to get them back in for another viewing (in the studio) and close an order. Before I started doing this type message, I did have people hacked off that I put a limit on the disc. They'd ask "Why did you put a limit on the viewing" and what do you say to that? They get upset that I'm forcing them to make decisions, whereas the other scenario simply gives them a good reason to call me so they can see the pictures again.. They get a renewed sense of action as they talk to me about choices. I find that this has no downside at all.. And I'm a stickler for good PR. larry

Gerdi, as others have said, there is no perfect way to foil all people. That said, perhaps if you can't beat them you might try deverting their attention by a little sly wording. Instead of giving them a message that the disc has timed out, make the message appear to be a Windows error text box giving the impression that that there is a problem with the computer playing the executable. Something like this: ERROR! This operation has ceased due to low memory. Please see your administrator or perform disc maintenence to rectify this condition. (Message: X00000422:MSR2) A totally meaningless message that doesn't give them a clue that the disc has timed out due to dates. It will take a pretty good guesser to discover your ever so simple device. It works great for me as my customer will call me and be all worried that the disc is causing problems for him. At which point I suggest that "Since you called, why don't you come on in and get that order in. You won't have to use that disc again." Man, does this ever work! Give it a try. larry

Barry, referring anyone to PTE from your website can only reinforce your site since there are many references back to your site again. That's good for you. I use Vista with PTE and have no issues, however, since you are being asked for advice by folks that are assuming you have that knowledge, it would be in your best interest to either turn them on to PTE directly or you should purchase Vista, load it onto another computer and become a hands-on knowledge base for those that ask you. IMO, that's about the only way to keep them on your site. First hand knowledge is better than being a 3rd party informant. Larry

You have the right idea, Al.. I just took it one step further.. Yesterday, I retired that HD and bought a new, bigger drive. Everything works fine now. It's faster, quieter and I have no problem at all with stuttering music. It's kind'a like washing your car.. Once it's all clean and sparkely, it seems to run better. Oh, yes, I also scanned the old drive prior to retiring it. No viruses. larry

Geoff, the AVG protection didn't matter for playing mp3s. The problem still exists. I've stopped all activities on my machine, it still stutters. It even stutters in other players and editing programs. It's just something in this machine I guess. Oh, and I guess it could be the DVD/CD burner/player itself. I forgot to consider that, although everything I burn on it works fine when played elsewhere. And Premiere is still dropping frames with anti-virus turned off. Lost cause I think! Gonna have to retire the machine from this activity I guess. larry

Well the 3 of you agree that I should dump MS media player, huh? Okay, I guess I can do that. I have to say that MS's player has been the only MS product I like.. I really will miss the familiarity. Oh well. Thanks for the leads on the frebee players. Tom, I defrag once a week. I'm pretty anal on maintenance and cleanup. This just shouldn't happen. I also get 3-5 dropouts per 10 minute video capture in Premiere as well. That is a similar dysfunction as well. I sure hope I can let this go! I really hate mysteries of this nature. larry

I know this is not a PTE problem but it does fit considering how much our music ties into our slideshows... Iit's driving me nuts and I need to know... On my main graphics computer, a 1 year old PC, Windows XP Home, 2gigs ram, mucho HD space and with no other programs working, when playing music, I will have a 3-5 second stutter when playing back from both CDs and mp3 songs on my HD. It is randomly doing this 1-3 times throughout any song I play. The music doesn't do this on other machines. It seems that this has only begun within the past couple of weeks since I've been using this machine to capture and work with all my music, from simple editing to composing with loops. Never have I experienced a problem like this. It makes a person paranoid when putting a show together and previewing it only to have the music stutter at you. I'm perplexed. Any suggestions? larry

What the... Cool... What did you do in the 60's??? And I suppose you can do Rubic's Cubes in your sleep too! larry

Isn't there a way to require accurate ID along with an accurate way to check the person's credentials, for anyone wanting to post? I would not be opposed to full disclosure. There must be a way to protect against such devient behavior! larry

Linn, this was an eye opener for me. I didn't know this kind of software existed! Very interesting. Thanks, Larry

What more can I say that hasn't been said. I anticipate the following 4 or 5 days... A nice touch to Friday the 13th. Thank you Team Igor! larry

Oh, crap... I apologize to all of you beckhamdigital supporters and especially to Barry! Your site was on my list at the very top! I inadvertantly erased it while updating, cut and pasting a couple of new entries to the list. I really feel bad about that, especially since I use several of his albums a lot. Sometimes my fingers get ahead of my brain. Probably Mad Cow Disease setting in! larry

Neil, the current laws in the US are very clear about synchroized music with slideshows. It is against the law to use copyrighted music without the expressed consent of all concerned and secondly, you will not likely get a release for any popular music without paying extremely high commissions. Actually, you will probably get ignored if you try to purchase sync rights. I've tried for years and as a member of the DWF (Digital Wedding Forums for photographers) the power of 4000 plus members couldn't get a deal accomplished over the course of a year trying! In reality, if you use the music anyway, and if you get caught, you might regret the consequences. OTOH, you will most likely not be bothered, assuming you don't use your show commercially or sell it. There are lots of good music pieces that can be purchased royalty free and without limits. Bear in mind that it might take a lot of time to fine the gems amoung stones, but it can be worth it. Try some of these sources: www.stock20.com (very cheap but classy) http://www.stock20.com/ www.freeplaymusic.com www.musicbakery.com www.incompetech.com http://www.gregmaroney.com/royalty_free.htm http://www.freeplaymusic.com/ http://magnatune.com/ http://www.mgmusic.ltd.uk/ http://www.music2hues.com/ http://www.uniquetracks.com/ http://www.shockwave-sound.com/ http://www.akmmusic.co.uk/catalogue.htm http://www.davenportmusic.com/yourchoice_cds.html http://www.guru.to.it/ www.flashkit.com www.sounddogs.com www.audiolicense.com Good luck! Larry

For the price, why not buy it and use it. The simplicity is super as are the final shows you will produce. V5.0 being yet in Beta, will perform very well, minus many features of course, but you can get a feel for it and produce some exciting stuff. Take a look at some of the sample shows. I have used ProShow and found it fairly good to use and set things up, however final shows didn't have the quality I wanted and there were issues with crashes and lack of solid support. I know many photographers that like PS best, but mainly because they use MACs and not PCs. Many happy PTE users here and support in this forum is excellant. The big plus is that you have the ear of the author and his team, always listening to the users and supportive beyond expectations. Come on over! larry

I read your message and have to say, I could have written this myself since we seem to share many of the same problems with our production and clients... however, I didn't. I didn't because it sends a message of disconcern for the author and team that is working hard to put this program out ASAP but with regard for quality and ease of use. I would reserve taking such a postition myself. It's nice to have betas to work with and it's wonderful that the betas work so well. I appreciate getting acknowledgement when suggestions are made and when feedback is requested to and from the team. The one thing that I would not have said, if I had been the author that message above, is that final sentence. It is never too little when it comes to effort to produce good software, and I would doubt that it is ever too late. Progress takes time and when it happens, we all find a way to prosper from it. I am equally frustrated when people tell me to go to xyz software and laugh at me for sticking by PTE. I really don't like waiting either, however there are no other software producers out there that appear to have as much concern for their customers and for that, I can wait until a release is ready. Now if there's one software giant that really needs to get his act together and stop using tape, bailing wire and glue to hold his software together, lets all complain about Billy Boy up there in Redmond, WA. He still hasn't got it right! larry

Yes, I tried it. The download was interrupted by AVG announcing the threat. My version of AVG is the PRO version 7.5.433 and it's up to date. I'm getting that pop up on my free version with the announcement daily. It's interesting that by following the links of the popup, there really isn't any way to get to the free version download. It is available and they say it will continue, however it is becoming increasingly difficult to find the download for the free version. I have many friends and from time to time give them a heads up on this great AVG program. The last 4 people I sent to grisoft couldn't find it. larry

Guess I didn't Ken. Don't have it in my show archives. It's nice however, that I have not experienced the problem. AVG on the other hand, has caught many gremlins trying to invade my space over the years and I've really been happy with it. It is so seamless and doesn't bother me with popups. Well, at least until recently anyway... They've begun anouncing the end of the current free version and want us to upgrade to the pay version. larry oh, and Happy New Year to you.

I have AVG Free on my main graphics computer and AVG PRO on 6 other computers. PTE runs fine and I have never had a single virus threat or mention of one from AVG. Isn't that weird how variable these programs can be from one machine to another? larry

Love the beta 8R. I was totally surprised when I ran my show and the music was in sync... I didn't think this feature was due until beta 9. A very nice surprise indead. Thank you team!!!! larry

Just had this site brought to my attention. http://www.stock20.com/commerce/index.php The music, although limited in quanity, is pretty good and at $7.00 per song, is a very nice value. larry

Uh, Ken, I'll uh, pass on that. My interest doesn't go quite that far... larry

I just noticed this thread. I'm wondering about this spam thing... To my knowledge, I have not seen any spam on the forum. OTOH, I don't read everything. How does it occur? Are they fake messages with attachments or something? I'm just curious. larry

And Hi to Harry Porter... He made his 1st post above. Welcome Harry. larry