stonemason

In April of this year the Rushden and District Photographic Society (UK) will host it's 24th annual Slide and Digital exhibition. It is an open competition and usualy attracts an entry of 1800 images. Details of how to enter can be found here Rushden Open Regards Geoff ps I hope this post is in order, but if not Moderator please remove it and accept my apologies.

Hi Mike Welcome to the forum. I downloaded and watched your yorkshire Audio Visual, which I enjoyed a lot. Couple of things I would comment on. Firstly you have the AVs as exe files for downloading, this would be better if they were zip files, as windows can be very aggresive in preventing the downloading of exe files, and secondly make sure you check the "Hide curser" option in the project properties panel to hide the curser during the AV. For my own personal taste there was too much manipulation on some of the images, which I felt were strong enough without it, but as I said that is a personal thing, and did not detract from my enjoyment of the AV. Regards Geoff

Hi Lin I am aware that AnyDVD bypasses copy protection on DVDs but I am reasonably sure that DRM is introduced by Windows Media Player during the encoding process, regardless of the source. This is the reason I personaly use Audiograbber and the Lame encoder, apart from the superior results there is no DRM encoded within the file. regards Geoff

Hi Gilbert Posted this elswhere but thought I would repeat it here just to make sure you see it. I'm sure that a great many problems with mp3 files are caused by digital rights management. Avoid using microsoft media player for anything but especially ripping from cd to mp3. Use audiograbber (which is a free programme) and the Lame mp3 encoder, for superior results and no problems with DRM. My two cents worth as using this method I have never had any problems with sound in PTE previews or in running the exe files. Geoff

I'm sure that a great many problems with mp3 files are caused by digital rights management. Avoid using microsoft media player for anything but espesially ripping from cd to mp3. Use audiograbber (which is a free programme) and the Lame mp3 encoder, for superior results and no problems with DRM. My two cents worth as using this method I have never had any problems with sound in PTE previews or in running the exe files. Geoff

Just a thought have those having trouble updated windows media player, if so it could be digital rights management causing the problem, worth checking if the exe files play music OK. Geoff

Hi Ebenist You have to create your image with the smaller image on it in your prefered graphics editing package, ie photoshop. Then save it as a new picture, then in PTE use whatever effect you prefer to go from the original slide to the one displaying the small image on the original. There is a slide show on Beechbrooke Cottage called Third Image Demo which demonstrates the steps if I remember correctly. Hope this helps Regards Geoff

Found it. I was mistaken it is not a boxig utility, but a Jean-Claude one. To anyone else who is interested http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums//index...605&hl=synopsis

Thanks Ken but boxig had a very useful utility on his site which enabled printing of slide lists and timings from the pte file. If I can get hold of it before he clears his site it would be useful. regards Geoff

Hi boxig which of your utilities is the one that allows a pte file to be opened to see timings, slides etc. had it once but managed to loose it. many thanks stonemason

Hi morturn Thought this was a very evocative AV super images, and a soundtrack that fitted perfectly. It gets across the message that you intended very well, a well crafted and executed presentation. My only slight critisism from a personal view point is that I am not very keen on frames. I think your images are more than powerfull enough to occupy the whole screen. That said however this is an excellent piece of Audio Visual, one I'm sure I will enjoy again in the future. Geoff

Patrick Very much enjoyed your show, the slow fades allowed the third image ( when two images are in mid trasition, in case anyone has never heard this before) to be seen and appreciated very well. The slideshow created a very good mood, and is one I'm sure I will enjoy again. regards Geoff

I agree that one has to be polite and constructive with critisism but I agree with JRR that the risk is worth taking in order that we can learn what others think of our work, and take note of any suggestions if we feel they are valid, and ignore them if we feel they are not. Perhaps the best thing would be if all who posted AVs and wanted feedback, actualy said so in thier posting. This would then not deter people from sharing AVs who were not keen on recieving any critical feedback. I feel this has the potential to greatly increase the knowledge of all by allowing people to view slideshows and read what others think, to see if this matches their own opinion or not. Lets not miss an opportunity by being too cautious, while at the same time being mindful of others feelings, and considering our comments with care. Please all who read this engage in the debate, and make our forum as interactive as possible. Geoff

Yes Dave by all means, this applies to this AV and any others that I make available for vewing in the future. Geoff

We as a forum community spend lots fo time delving into the inermost workings, and functions of PTE in order to get the best results from this great piece of software. The end product of asking for, and recieving lots of advice from members of the forum, who so generously give of their expertise and knowledge, is hopefully slideshows that we can be proud of. Allowing others to see our work, is a good way of getting constructive feedback, and another good way of learning to get the best from our slideshows. My own AV background is from slide/tape AVs, which I entered into competitions and recieved said feedback from the judge. With the decline in slide/tape AVs, and as yet few opportunities to compete with digital slideshows (in my area anyway) we must rely on feedback from like-minded people on the PTE forum and this brings me to the point I wish to open for discussion. When a slideshow is made available for others to see, such as at Beechbrook Cottage and other sites, at Beechbrook at least the download tally rarely is less than 200, and yet comments on the presentation section of the forum rarely exceed 5. I'm not looking for some mutual backslapping session, as I'm sure others are not either, but it would be good for all of us if discussion, praise or critisism of presentations was more freely entered into, and this section of the forum would become as good a learning source as is the PTE forum. regards Geoff

Hi Al Thanks for your kind comments, the buttons were done in photoshop, with one layer style applied to the normal state, then saved as a gif. I then moved the text 4 pixels right and 2 pixels down applied a different layer style to the text, and saved as the over state. The finished rollover button was the created in the web site software. regards Geoff

Thanks to all for your comments on my site they are very much appreciated, especially those from FxDesigner, as being self taught I am always keen to learn from others. LumenLux, I don't have enough web space or bandwidth to host my own AVs, however Bill has kindley allowed me to put a show on Beechbrooke Cottage occasionaly, for which I am very grateful. My AV Bressingham in Bloom is posted in the presentation section of the forum at the moment. I have had over 100 visits to my site since posting it on Friday. Again many thanks to all regards stonemason

My audio visual Bressingham in Bloom is on beechbrooke cottage, I have included the following text about the AV. Bressingham gardens and steam museum are in the county of Norfolk, in the United Kingdom. In this presentation I have concentrated on the magnificent gardens and the riot of colour they produced on a July day in 2005. I can recomend Bressingham for a vist for the photographic opportunities it presents. All the images are digital capture using a Nikon D70. Hope those that download the AV enjoy it regards stonemason

Sorry senior moment My Webpage

Hi my web site is up and running, would appreciate some feedback please stonemason

Pam unzip the file, and run the enclosed exe file, then just follow the onscreen instructions. regards stonemason

Ronnie if its a wma file there is a possibility you have run up against the dreaded DRM (Digital Rights Management). Wma is always best avoided for this reason, and stick with mp3. Try to convert your music to mp3 with your prefered application, and if it refuses then drm is the problem. Not sure how the completed exe file handles the music but windows is unlikely to see it in the original wma format so it will play OK. Hope this is of some help regards stonemason

Hi Granot It would seem that Goldwave will do what you want, not free I'm afraid but a fully functional trail is available from http://www.goldwave.com/ which may give you time to get your job done. The text below I found on a sound forum regarding batch increase of wav volume using the command prompt in Goldewave. GoldWave v5.11 supports command line processing and batch presets. The command line parameter is /process. The GoldWave manual provides some details about it under the Batch Processing section Code: C:\Program Files\GoldWave>Goldwave.exe /process:Trim "C:\addend.wav" Hope this helps regards stonemason

Jeff if you select the DVD option in TMPG it will create a mpeg2 file which has the soundtrack contained within it. It is not the easiest piece of software to get to grips with, but the effort will be rewarded with excellent results. Do a google search on DVD creation, there are some excellent tutorial sites out there. If you have problems let me know the specifics and I will see if I can help, if needs be I will try some screen shots to talk you throuh the process. regards stonemason

Hi Jeff I would recommend that you download a trial copy of TMPGEnc DVD Source Creator and give that a try as it will encode to all formats that you may need. The method is the same as creating an avi file but it encodes straight to mpg2 (for DVD) and takes about 20mins for a 5 minute AV on my computer ( 2.5ghz cpu 1.25gb ram). It produces first class results and is worth the time to learn how to use it. The advantage is there is no further encoding by your prefered DVD production app, and the mpeg files can be dragged and dropped into your project. If you have several AV's to encode you can open several copies of PTE each with a seperate AV point TMPGEnc DVD Source Creator at all of them and then go to bed and let it do the encoding through the night. This will produce a seperate mpg2 file for each of your AV's. hope this is of some help regards stonemason