tom95521

Hi Lin, It would be so easy for the camera to make the blur optional. My made in China intervalometer should be here soon. I definitely need to get a fluid head for my manfrotto tripod for smooth video pans! Also testing Mercalli video stabilizer software for hand held video using a camera pistol grip. Too much fun. Tom

I tried the FZ150 miniature video mode today. It has an integrated tilt-shift (blur) feature that can be adjusted but not completely eliminated (as far as I can tell). A couple things I have noticed. It takes a long time to capture video. Approximately 10 minutes for every 1 minute of video. Also it is important to have a steady tripod. And smooth pan is very difficult. I think it has potential for clouds and looking down long sections of road where there is a lot of motion. Tom

No. I was not aware that the FZ150 camera included time lapse conversion (jpeg -> video) software. As soon as I read the words Motion JPEG I thought of a codec. I am not sure I want to load more software on my PC, even if it comes with the camera. Like Lin said, there is plenty of software that can do this including most video editors from Adobe, Corel, etc. Since PTE is already using ffmpeg/x264 it should not be too hard to add this to the video converter. If I do time lapse often I might buy dedicated time lapse conversion software. Thanks, Tom

Please add option to convert jpeg images with numerical filename sort into video. I think video converter utilizes ffmpeg which supports command line option to join jpeg images. Yes, I know I could do this in PTE by importing all of the images and setting no transition and 1/30 second duration and then publishing as video, but that's not as easy as a dedicated time lapse converter. Also it would be nice if you could extract 1/N frames from normal speed video to create time lapse video. This is also a feature of ffmpeg command line. Thanks, Tom

Hi Eric, The FZ150 does have a video miniature effect mode that speeds up video 10 x normal. Probably better for shutter too since it's electronic. I should have the intervalometer in a week or two. Youtube has plenty of examples. Tom

Hi Eric,It looks the same to me. On the amazon.com site it mentions the FZ-150. http://www.amazon.com/JJC-TM-D-Multi-Function-Control-Panasonic/dp/B00I42JRZU Tom

Hi Jim, Yes. Importing video in PTE 8 makes it much easier to create time lapse. Tom

Hi Lin, Ordered the intervalometer for my FZ-150. Also AC battery adapter so I can really long time lapse. FFmpeg command line will do what I want until I get more experience. http://andrius.miasnikovas.lt/2013/01/quick-tip-easy-time-lapse-videos-with-ffmpeg/ Thanks, Tom

And for those of who prefer Twitter you can follow @wnsoft. Thanks, Tom

Hi Eric, You can buy a intervalometer type device for your FZ-150 camera. I might buy one myself since it's higher quality than my security camera. Here is one that is not too expensive. http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Control-PANASONIC-MagicFiber-Microfiber/dp/B0049IOPFK/ Just have to figure out how to join all the .jpg files into a video. I think I can do it with ffmpeg command line and probably Quicktime Pro.Not sure if I want to buy/rent Adobe. It would be nice if PTE had a multiple jpg to video converter. I know I could make separate slides with short duration but the slideshow would be very big. Tom

Nice slideshow. To give you and idea of cloud speed I have a security camera pointed at the sky. The camera is set to output 5 fps but the computer software captures every 2 seconds. Tom

My best guess as to why 512 is the maxium internal mask size is that it requires more computer resources (cpu, gpu, ram) for larger masks. Rendering all those pixels together in real time is hard work. Publishing a slideshow as a video has the advantage of rendering slower than real time without causing a problem. If you create a mask file 1920x1080 it has almost 8x pixels than a 512x512 mask and may cause slower PCs to hesitate. You may not notice it on the latest intel/amd cpus with fast graphics cards. Tom

No. I have not experienced this problem. What version of PTE? Are you using Publish Show -> DVD to create the DVD? Problem on more than one version of PTE? If you play the DVD on the PC does it sound the same as the PTE slideshow? Have you tried another DVD player? Tom

Nice slideshow. Hard life. I would not want to be shot and hung at the same time (actually neither)! I also like the Emmylou Harris, Waylon Jennings version. Nobody can sing like Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. Tom

Good news! Will there be 2 slideshow player engines? 32 bit and 64 bit? Thanks, Tom

Let me be the first to volunteer to beta test the Mac version. Thanks, Tom

Eric, You sure know your way around sailboats. Lin, If I remember that day correctly we had at least 4 to 6 hours notice before the tsunami hit the west coast. Not sure what the guy on the boat was planning to do but he should have taken his boat out to sea hours earlier or not been on the boat. Tom

Hi Eric and Jeff, Enjoyed the video from the IOM. Now I want to have scallops for dinner. I really like to watch changing weather (wind/rain). Clouds are fascinating to watch using time lapse photography. So now my ideal retirement location would have fast internet, lots of winter storms (no snow), temperature range 0-23C, and not too crowded. A bonus would be watching boats entering the harbor. Tom Depoe Bay

My first choice would be Isle of Man (low taxes, no national debt) but since I'm a US citizen and only 1/2 Irish I don't think I could immigrate there. My second choice and probably where i will end up is about 200 miles to the North somewhere along the coast of Oregon. I have to live close to the sea for some unknown reason. My brother moved to Albuquerque and I have visited Los Alamos but I think it's too dry. I can handle earthquakes and tsunamis but forest fires scare me to death. Tom

Hi Jeff, Sorry. This might help. Download and unzip the transitions. You go to Project Options and then Transitions (2 steps I forgot to include in the screen captures). Tom

Nice slideshow. I did not know about Inscription Rock or El Morrow. It's amazing how people 150+ years ago were able to travel long distances without modern transportation like cars, planes, etc. Lin leaving Colorado? I am thinking about leaving California when I retire. Tom

Inter-frame encoding like mp4 would be hard to reverse playback. Probably the only practical method is to export frames as jpg images and reverse sort order before encoding. That means it would be better as part of videconverter. Tom

I think it would help to backup your slideshow (one or two slides) and post here before anybody can verify if it is a bug or user error. Thanks, Tom

Please add reverse video option. Maybe call it -100% on the existing speed control? Yes. I know video editors outside of PTE can already do this. Thanks, Tom Example. Enigma: Return to Innocence.

Hi Mick, 8.0.2 has a newer DVD burn engine than 7.5 but you are having the same problem with iso and imgburn. Also since your DVD discs work with 7.5 the disc media is not the problem. I thought maybe your videobuilder was set to NTSC instead of PAL. If it is a specific slideshow that will not publish to DVD it might be something about the images or audio that is not being converted to mpeg-2 format. Maybe try a simple slideshow with different images and no music and see if that works? Strange problem. Tom