Icypeak

Thanks Ralph, I found that just before you posted. Not too logical the way this option is set up, but at least it's working now. -David

I've been trying to make a continuously repeating version of a show that I sell. The repeating version is for the store display, but the original (for sale) show ends after the last slide. I've removed the original last slide, and checked the 'repeat until ESC is pressed' in project options, but the new show still ends after the last slide, both in preview, as well as in the final exe. There are no custom options checked on the last slide. I've tried putting a different slide as the last one with same results. The show ends with a fade to black from center, while the default transition for the show is only fade in/out. I've made a repeating version of previous versions of this show many times before, most recently about 4 months ago, and they have all worked fine. I've deleted previous versions of PTE from my computer before 4.3.1, but this result happens if I render the show with 4.3.1, or with 4.4.1. The show is not sync'ed to music and is about 300 slides long, with 6 mp3 music files. Any ideas as to why the program no longer recognizes the 'repeat' project option or how to fix it? I opened up an old PTE I had made which also was supposed to 'loop', and it works fine in preview, looping correctly. -David ==================== Found It The 'show transition to desktop after last slide' box was checked on the 'screen' tab of project options. It would make more sense if that only happened after an ESC press when the 'repeat show until ESC is pressed' option is active, rather than automatically terminating the show after the last slide. Seems like a small bug.

1) Ken Burns effects 2) Fade out music at end of show 3) Volume controls for music as custom control for each slide (to soften background music while voice-over plays on a slide) 4) Make the computer aware that the show is an active program, that is, block the computer's screen saver from coming on or monitor power-off while a long show is playing (mine may run for 45 min.) 5) Integrated slide show installer as a button option in Object Editor. Thanks for the great work, -David

I'll check it out, but the online sample isn't very encouraging. Bad blending of the seams in the sky, partly secondary to light fall-off at the edges from shooting with a polarizing filter (a no-no for panoramas) or vignetting effectc. Panorama Factory and the stitching tool in MS Digital Image Pro 10 do a better job with that. -David

Thanks Ralph, That's sort of what I ended up doing, but I didn't make seperate shows. I did add a 'time trap' to the end, to seperate the show from the index and 'hidden slides', which are behind a 10 minute 'trap' on the last slide of the show, which has option buttons to exit, restart, or go to the index. I also used Boxig's Font Installer 2 program, run from the first slide, to install 4 fonts needed for the show, but noticed that the computer has to be re-started before these fonts are seen in the show, which is too bad. -David

Ah well, I'll add the ability to both be able to 'not autoamtically show slide' and also to be able to define a 'last slide in show' that you can still add more special slides after it to my wish list for future versions. Thanks for your input -David

Thanks Al, Synching the entire show to the music track won't work for this show for a number of reasons, as I would like the user to be able to pause on certain slides, back up, and advance faster than the automatic rate without screwing up the music track that's playing. I also want it to be possible to jump to other parts of the show with clickable links without interrupting the music that is playing. It may make more sense for me to make 8 seperate shows, one for each segment of my original show, each with their own music track (non-synched), and then I can have another seperate show that is an index to all of them with clickable buttons to run each segment, and have each segment linked so that if the user doesn't go to the index at the end of a show, the next show will automatically play. It seems like a clunky work-around, but the only one I can think of. I'll have to see if there is any gap between shows when they are linked (run EXE after last slide), which would also look bad. The lack of music fade-out at the end of each show also may make this not turn out well. It needs to look seamless. -David

No, I hadn't any need to synchronize the show to the music, and it takes about 7 music tracks to fill the show. I could join the MP3's into a single track and try this, if there is no other solution, but what then happens to the music synchronization when the viewer clicks a link to jump out of the show and view the 'hidden slides' that aren't on the timeline? Does the music just stop until they jump back into the part of the show that's in the timeline? What if they jump into another part of the show (as in using my index)? Does the music jump to the middle of another tune to catch up? That wouldn't appear very professional to me. -David

I'm making a show that will be over 300 photos long and needs an index, as well as having a number of 'hidden' informaton slides that can be accessed by the user clicking a button on some of the slides. I can't figure out how to do this with PTE, as unchecking the 'show image' box doesn't acutally hide the slide, just the photo (the background still plays and takes up time). I'd like it if I could add a number of slides AFTER a slide that I can select as my 'last slide' of the show (ie, the show ends after that slide is played), so I can put my hidden slides, index menu, etc. there so they won't play as part of the show, but can be accessed from within the show by clicking buttons. Anyone have advice for how I can do this, or other work-arounds for this problem? I'm also wondering if anyone has noticed that the 'make custom color' function for text (comments) doesn't work, in that you can use a custom color you create , but there is no way to save it to use in other slides, it disappears the next time you open custom colors dialog. -David

Mark, I am a part-time nature/landscape/wildlife photographer, and sell some PTE shows of scenic areas, national parks, etc. I have bought music from PBTM.com before (about $45 per full MP3 track, along with a briefer version for transitions, etc.), and have gotten a good product, I think. I've also licensed Native American flute music from an artist I met at an art show I was participating in. I'm not presently looking for more music, but may be in the future. I mostly use very relaxing music with an environmental or spiritual feel, some Celtic music, guitar music, some Andean folk music as well. If you come up with a CD 'catalog' of music samples, I'd like to have it on file. -David

I've had good luck buying individual tracks from PBTM.com, which writes and records their own music, and sells per track, or per CD. A single track (most 3-5 min) sells for $20 USD, and can be downloaded immediately. They have a good selection of music with a variety of 'feels', and sell to a number of professional production companies, including for PBS specials, etc. http://www.pbtm.com/index.html -David

Thanks for your great product and support, Igor! -David

Hmmm, this version does solve the music skipping/pausing problem, but introduces a new problem at the same time. I have the 'auto hide mouse cursor' option checked, with a 2 second delay. Now, instead of disappearing, the mouse cursor blinks on and off, staying on about 3 seconds, and then off about 6 seconds, throughout the show. It is close to the rate of advancing the images, but not exactly in synch with that, and continues to happen during frames that display (customized) for 30 seconds.

Thank you Igor. I'm downloading it now, and will let you know if it solves the issue. I forgot to mention in my email to you that my screen res is 1024 x 768 in 32 bit color. -David

I've been producing the same show (or variations of it) for the past 2.5 years with P2E, and haven't had trouble until now. It has about 225 jpeg's, set to 5 MP3 music tracks, not synchronized. Since using v4.1 and 4.12, it now has skips/pauses in the music, about every 1-2 minutes, for 0.5 - 0.75 sec, which is very annoying. It does this when the show is played from the HDD, as well as from CD, and on other computers also. I went back and re-rendered it with v4.01, and it's fine (but have the slower loading time with the 'loading' bar at the start, of course). Anyone else having this problem? -David

Thanks to both of you, very helpful, as usual. This will be a nice addition to my CD's. -David

Thank you all. After reading a bit more, I don't know if it's time to produce DVDR's for general distribution or not. It seems that about 15% of even the latest stand-alone DVD players can't read either DVD-R or DVD+R's, and I'm sure that number is much higher than that with older players. Seems like I'm setting myself up for lots of complaints, returns, and tech support emails if I go down this road...hmmmm -David

Yes, I do actually mean to install the .scr from a clickable button within a PTE.exe show. I sell a CD that has both a PTE.exe show that autoplays, and also has an .scr show on the CD that the user (until now) has had to copy into the correct folder on their HDD. I was wondering how I could add a button to the start or finish of the EXE show that would allow them to install the SCR, if I didn't know what the drive letter of their CD drive was. -David

Thank you! I'll play around with this on the weekend. If I want to launch this installer from inside of a PTE exe show (rather than with an autorun) on CD, is there any reliable way to do it, since I won't know what letter the customer's CD drive has been assigned, and so won't be able to specify a path for an object button to launch this app? -David

I don't have my DVD burner yet, either, so can't test this out yet. I'll get a multi-mode burner that can to DVD+ or DVD- R and RW, but I still don't know what is the best format to use for general distribution/sales, given the complexities of the capabilities of DVD players of various brands, models, and ages. -David

Thank you. If I also include a PTE show (along with the seperate DVD video show) on the DVD, along with an autorun.ini, will it autoplay the PTE in a computer with a DVD drive?

I'm wondering how to go about making a show on DVD that will play in most DVD players (assuming compatability with DVD-R or DVD+R), but also will autoplay on computers with DVD drives (am I correct that a computer CD drive cannot read files or programs on a DVD?). I was thinking of using a video editing program like Pinnacle Studio, or similar, but would like the added features of a show made with PTE for viewing on the computer. If I put both types of shows on the same DVD, how will the computer know to not autorun the DVD video (I think that many computers autodetect them and start the DVD software without needing an autorun file), and only start the PTE show by an autorun.ini. Any ideas? -David

After 3 years of my asking over and over, someone's finally going to do this! Thank you! As you know, in Win 98, the folder is C:Windows\System. Will this program be able to be activated by a clickable button from within a P2E show to install the screensaver? Looking forward to using this. -David

Thanks Igor! Best wishes for a healthy and prosperous new year for you and your family! -David Utah, USA

Agreed. I've been requesting an install function for the screensaver for 2 years. Most of my shows have clickable buttons, etc. that would prevent them from working as a screensaver. Hopefully, an override for the system screensaver will be incorporated into a future version of P2E. -David