goddi

============================= Morturn, Well done. Beautiful photography and music. Reminds me of our trip to Athens over 35 years ago. Oh...and I like your listing of the descriptors for your slideshow! Gary

====================== Mary, Not sure if this helps, but I put together an exe with several versions of your clip. It is attached. One of my programs I use to convert video files is Freemake Video Converter ( I also use Video Pad). The attached exe shows your Original file; then your Original converted to AVI by PTE; then used Freemake to convert the Original to MP4; then used Freemake to convert the Original to AVI. You will have to judge yourself if there is any improvement, but I think all the converted clips are a little bit better than the Original. But I think you need a clip with less movement to really see if there is any improvement. But my PTE played your Original. Gary Project1.zip

=================== Morturn, Thanks for the comments. Yes, the Night Market in Phuket is quite an event to experience. I didn't take any still images because only video would bring in the chaotic nature of the place. And it is difficult (for me) to take pictures of people in such a setting. Never sure what they would do. Video seems different. The quality of the video would have been even better if I had used the original 1920x1080 and the 14,000+ bitrate. I had to reduce all of the video (except 2 segments) to 640x360 and a bitrate of 2,000 to get the size file down. But I can't disagree with you. I should have taken stills and included them. Your question is "Is this an AV slideshow". I think, sure it is. Not the normal one (so far) but I am trying different aspects of using PTE. Igor has open the gates with more possibilities (with video) and I am exploring them. In the past, I used shorter sequences. I tried to see what would happen with using more video--going to the other extreme. I have found the biggest problem is how large the PTE exe gets. I spent a lot of time figuring out how to reduce it down to a more manageable size. But I can see as time goes on, we will be getting larger PTE shows as more users get into adding video into the shows. I am just pushing my own envelope and learning a lot. This was more of an experiment. And we need to be able to control the audio levels, fade-in and fade-out of video segments in PTE. To me, this is a biggie. You might notice that I did not add any background music because of the conflict with the video audio. To adjust each video segment's audio outside of PTE would be a hair pulling task. Thanks for watching the show and your comments. In the end, for me it really is just a great way of creating memories and sharing them. Gary P.S. Actually, any bravery award should go to the people in the back seat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I shortened a few fingernails throughout Thailand.

Location: Phuket, Thailand. Year: November 2011. Aspect ratio: 16:9. Screen resolution: 1920x1080. Videos: Reduced most videos to 640x360 and a bitrate of 2000 in order to reduce the file size. I did keep a couple videos at the original resolution to retain better detail. Size of file: 76 Mbs. Run time: 2:10. Manual control (yes/no): Yes. Camera and lens: Nikon Coolpix AW100. Any other info that you can provide: This is a short show with all videos on a background image. It is just the tip of the iceberg as far as what you will see at the Night Market in Phuket. http://www.beechbrook.com/pte/ Comments and critique welcomed. Gary

=========================== Lin and Xaver, All of the videos came from the same camera. They are pretty much the same size within the background image. I just uploaded the show to Beechbrook (Phuket's Night Market) that has these videos with the borders. If you can take a look at it, you might see what I am talking about. To me, there seems to be slight variations in the white borders around the different videos. I didn't make any changes to their Canvas size. Gary

Greetings, I just started using the "Adjust Video and Border" tool and it seems to be giving me different results with different images...actually with videos. I am making a show that has several videos and I make them smaller than the background image. I decided to put the same sized border around each video in each slide. I chose the '2' width setting. However, I notice that the actual width of the borders seems to be a little different on many of the videos. Some are slightly thicker and some slightly thinner that the others with the same '2' width. In fact, when I put in a width of '2' in one of the videos, it did not show any border and I had to up it to '4' to get a small border to come close to the other borders that I had used a '2' setting. So I am wondering if the width setting for 'Adjust Video and Border' is a relative setting or is it supposed to be an absolute setting. If it it a relative setting, what is the width based on? Or if it is supposed to be an absolute setting, why am I seeing different widths? Thanks... Gary

Greetings, I have been trying out different video converters, including PTE's Converter. Before I delve into the other programs I have tried, I'd like to understand a bit more about PTE's Video Converter. First, my primary purpose when I convert a video file is to reduce the size of the original MOV and keep reasonable quality. Below are the test results of converting a file using PTE. My assumption is that the file size is based primarily on the chosen bitrate. If this is not true, then my questions are probably moot. However, here are my tests and my questions: My original MOV = 14,622kbps TBR; 25,346 Kb file size. Here are my conversion test results: -PTE Converted at 50% Quality = 16,060kbps TBR; 27,351 Kb file size. -PTE Converted at 25% Quality = 10,792kbps TBR; 18,376 Kb file size. -PTE Converted at 10% Quality = 7,375kbps TBR; 13,005 Kb file size. (TBR=Total Bitrate) I expected that PTE's '50%' selection would have reduced the file size and the bitrate by about 50%. It actually increased the bitrate to 16,060kbps and the file size to 27,351 Kb. In order to reduce the bitrate and the file size by about 50%, I had to choose the '10% Quality'. When I put both videos in PTE and reviewed them on my 27" monitor, I could not see any real difference in quality. I have converted videos to have a bitrate of 4000-5000kbps with great quality. So my questions are: 1-What does the '50% Quality' mean? Does it have anything to do with bitrate? 2-Why does it not allow for the selection of a bitrate instead of this nebulous 'Quality' selection? 3-Why does it not allow for a change in FPS? 4-What is the best FPS choice? Thanks… Gary

======================= Eric, I have a Nikon D7000. It is similar to the D90, in that the viewing screen does not flip out, as some do, I believe. I thought that was a good feature when I got my D7000, but now I see the problems. As you mentioned, it is difficult to view the screen AND make any adjustments like focus or zooming while taking the video. Since I wear bifocal glasses, I have to hold the camera in difficult positions to being able to watch the viewing screen AND fiddle with the controls. I am still learning how to set up the camera to take the video (but that's another story). It is really not straight forward as one might think. I have recently been taking video of myself playing racquetball (10mm lens) and it does work really well. But it is on a tripod and I don't have to worry about making any adjustments during the shoot. When on a trip and I took videos with the camera, it was a real pain to have to hold the heavy camera up to my eye level and out far enough to be able to view the screen. This does not help in trying to get a steady shot. The video quality is really good but real difficult to handle the camera body to avoid the shakes. I guess practice is the only solution. And maybe using a light monopod to keep it a bit more steady. I used to use a short monopod and I would stick it in my waist to steady the shot as I walked around. I might revive that technique next time I try shooting hand-held video. But I have found that I can get excellent quality video with my little Nikon AW100. It shoots HD1080p, 29 fps video and sound quality is really good, I'd say. And it is waterproof, with GPS and really too many neat functions I haven't even tried yet! When I went ziplining in Thailand, I used my D7000 with an 18-200 lens. I should have used the compact AW100. I learned my lesson. Gary

============================== Igor, I don't have an iPad but I downloaded it and tried it in different media players: Worked in: Quicktime; VLC; Kantaris Did Not Work in: Pot Player; Windows Live Movie Player Played only the Audio: Windows Media Player Gary

====================== Davy, Nice combo of videos. Well done. Inventive. Thanks... Gary

========================== Davy, I downloaded the 'Road to Nowhere' (78.6MB). But when I try to play it, the screen goes black and I get an error message: "There is no disk in the drive. Please insert a disk in Drive F:". Only way to dismiss this is to get into Task Manager and dump the program. Do you know what might be causing this? Gary ================== ADDED LATER: I re-booted and then it played just fine....strange. Never mind.... ADDED EVEN LATER: Great show. I see where you got the Talking Heads video but what is in the middle of your show? Gary

========================= Xaver, You have been reading my mind. I second that. Would it be nice for the scroll bar to return to the original slide after doing a Shift+End. Igor just fixed a similar problem that I was having with the scroll bar with the highlighted slide not returning to the timeline window when you close O&A. This is a similar problem. Hope he will fix this too. Gary

============================== Rick... Yes, that is a possibility. However, I just can't get over the "shock" effect that some people are having with the use of the single portraits format with a black background that I tend to use. I find mixing it up with landscapes AND portrait formats to be interesting and less boring. Maybe using blurred backgrounds is the answer. And as far a composition goes, when you shoot a vertical object, I think it needs a vertical format. I really don't want to "shock" anyone but I find verticals to be a good technique and mix in a slideshow. I will try in the future and see if I can lean toward less shocking shows.... Thanks... Gary

=================== Eric, It is interesting that you zeroed in on the images that I had just fixed. In a PM. DG told me of a better technique to use. I had been putting the ending keyframe of a pan or zoom about in the middle of the ending transition grey section. He suggested that move the ending keyframe to the very end of the ending transition section. I went through the entire show and applied this technique to all images that had a pan or zoom. I had been putting the ending keyframe in the middle of the ending transition, as opposed to the very end, because I have relatively short slide durations (4.1 seconds) and it seemed that the image following the previous ending transition was getting shortened in its duration. Maybe that was just my imagination. But moving the keyframes to the end makes all the transitions much smoother. I think it is a good technique. Also, I find that to make the transition from a video to a still image, there is another technique that could be used. When a video is dropped in the show, say it is 10 seconds long, and the duration is set for 10 seconds, the video tends to stop during the transition to the still image. To avoid this I move the still(s) (following the video) to the left in the Timeline about a couple seconds or so and that gives a smoother transition from the video to the still, similar to the results of moving the keyframe mentioned above. This means that when you trim your video, you should leave a couple seconds at the end after where you would normally trim so you have something to work with. Thanks, Gary

============================= Igor, I tried the 7.0.6. Perfect. You fixed the problem. Thanks very much! Gary

=========== Greetings Morturn, Thanks for the comments. Yes, I always feel that in the end, all we have are the memories. I use PTE to preserve as much as I can. It is a blast to look back at places and things we have done and slightly forgot exactly what and where we went. The PTE slideshows are perfect for that. Great fun. But I am wondering about a few comments about 'abrupt stops and starts' in the show. I hope someone would point to one or two spots so I can see what is going on. I don't see them as I play it here on my PC. Just wondering. Thanks... Gary

=========================== Well, it is just a crutch until the Doctor makes the fix!!! Gary

======================= Eric, I feel your pain. I don't see any way of saving a draft. However, from your attachment, it looks like you are using Internet Explorer (IE). IE is a browser just like Firefox. So you can open a second session of IE to search for content and copy/paste into your first session of IE. Since there does not seem to be a way to save a draft, the only other way I can see is to do a save of the text into Word for later use. It seems a pain at first but later it becomes second nature. Gary

========================== Eric, Maybe I am not understanding exactly what your problem is. But I have been able to open a second Browser (Firefox) and copy text or a link into the first Browser (Firefox) that I have already opened with a posting in PTE. Maybe you could create a video of what you are doing and we could see the problem easier. Gary

=================== Igor, Thanks. It is nice to get a quick response from you. It took me a while to get my idea across but I think it will be a little improvement. Gary

======================= Eric, I need to do the same thing many times. While writing a post, I need to get back into the Internet to get some info. I use Firefox. I just open a second version of Firefox and keep the first one open. Works every time. However, if I think I am going to lose the stuff I have already typed and it is too complicated to remember what I typed, I do a quick copy/paste of the stuff I typed into Word. Not real elegant but it saves retyping it. Many times I have inadvertently lost long postings that I could never retype exactly what I had. I don't know how to actually 'save' it in the Forum but these two techniques work for me. Gary

===================== Greetings Peter and Nobeefstu, Thanks for restating what I was trying to say. I knew what I wanted to express but I think my words failed me. How you put it is exactly what I meant. Super thanks, Gary

============================ Lin, I understand what you are saying. But... read my #8 posting above, if you haven't yet. I think that should better explain my suggestion. If not, I will try another explanation. Gary

=================== Eric, Thanks for your nice show. I understand what you are saying. But not all portrait images are conducive to panning. If a tall building is panned from, say, bottom to top, you lose its relation to its surroundings. I appreciate your input but I am not swayed from not putting in portraits as I have been doing. Perhaps putting in blurred backgrounds is something I might try. But I will wait until Igor puts in a blurring function next to the opacity function. Gary

Hi Gary, Your images show the O&A screen as an overlay on the Slide View. I'm totally confused as to what the issue is I'm afraid.... Best regards, Lin ========================= Lin, If I understand your attachment, I think all you have to do is to reduce the size of the O&A window and you will see the Slide View beneath it. At least, that is what I do. Gary