alrobin

Thanks so much, Igor! I can feel the itch disappearing already!

Bob, MIDI is nothing more than a set of instructions to the video card or external sequencer or keybord or sound module, etc., about what keys to play, how loud, how long, etc. The "avi" design cannot accommodate these instructions as it works with actual music files such as mp3 or wav. So in order for PTE to pass MIDI "sounds" to the avi file, it would have to have a whole new section in its program for taking the MIDI instructions, passing them through the sound card, and taking the resulting sounds and converting them to a wav or mp3 file. This would be the equivalent of designing PTE to be a sound editor like Cool Edit (Audition), or Gold Wave, etc. The programs which do this are Mega-bytes in size, and cost mega-bucks!

Hi, Linda, I am not into video (yet) myself, so am not an expert on this. You should go onto the other "Video" forum and pose your question and get some help from the video experts. I believe it would be best to convert the slide show to a video format first (which you can do with PTE in conjunction with a video program such as Video Studio). You can call up other programs from the end of a PTE slide show, but to get from a video into a PTE slide show automatically, and then back again, would probably require some sort of utility program.

Hi, Linda, Welcome to the Forum and to PTE! You'll have fun with it! Here are some attempts to answer your questions: The answer is yes as Igor has just added AVI capability to PTE. See the other section of this forum, How to Create Video,dedicated to video issues. To add a dark border, select "Project Options / Screen" and check "Background / Solid Colour" and choose black. Make sure you are using "Fullscreen mode". I put together a basic tutorial which is available at Beechbrook Cottage. It's on page 2 or 3 by now. Best of luck!

Igor, That would not be satisfactory. The narrative is supposed to play over the background music, and does so now on single slides. So there has to be a way to keep the background playing when a new slide is activated. Thanks for fixing the MIDI bug!

Thanks, Igor! By the way, there are still two other music bugs in the current version of PTE: 1. You fixed MIDI playback in version 4.12 alpha, but I don't remember you adding it to any of the "official" betas. 2. When you add a background music file to the same folder as the PTE project file, it will be recognized even if it has a different folder name. However, if you add an overlay "slide" sound file on the "Sound" line in the main window, it has to be given the correct pathname, or it will not be recognized, even if it is in the same folder as the PTE file. One other feature which would be extremely useful, especially in the creation of tutorials, would be the ability to have the sound added on the "Sound" line overlap several slides. Now, the occurrence of the next slide cuts off the sound, whether "Play new background music" is checked or not in the next slide's" customization menu.

Thanks, Igor Re the nav bar choices, I vote for number 3 (it's more compact). By the way, is the slider for volume control or fast forward/reverse? Maybe it should be labelled as such. I also believe the design could be made more pleasing, particularly when seen against a dark background. Re "transparency": Would it be more difficult to add this feature to the nav bar than it was for the "button" object? Re the "double arrows": If not programmable by the "user", then by the "maker" would be good - maybe preferable. I don't see why it is harder to add this option than the ability to specify which slide to go to. However, if you provide slider control of fast forward or reverse, then this option would not be required. I only suggested it since you (or someone else) had earlier indicated that it would be very difficult to program the slider option. Thanks again for listening to our requests and responding to them.

Harold, Welcome back - haven't heard from you for a while. Hope you haven't been ill. Just wanted to say that I agree with your post: When I first started using PTE, I tended to be more of a "purist" like Mike and some of the other members, probably because I was used to being limited by conventional analogue AV technology. But even with multi-projector creations I was amazed by what the professionals were accomplishing in animated and more sophisticated titles than I seemed able to do with my simpler setup. I think the use of animated technology can be overdone, but for someone doing professional AV's, and also for some hobbyists like myself, the incorporation of "Flash", similar to what Granot has done in his "FlashMe" utility, would be very useful, and would add a whole new dimension to what we know as "slide shows".

Igor, You responded to everyone else's suggestions except mine. But, I'm a big guy - I won't feel ignored. I'll just crawl into my hole and sulk! I don't care at all! Really! I've been ignored here before. So, what else is new? Joking aside, Igor has just demonstrated how open he is to others' ideas, most of which were expressed more descriptively than mine. Anyway, Igor has agreed to give us everything I would ever need in a nav bar, except "fast-forward" and "fast-reverse". re For "this presentation only". (are you listening, Igor?)

Igor, Don't forget to incorporate the MIDI changes you introduced in 4.12 alpha.

Igor, I would like to see two double "arrow" buttons on the nav bar for large incremental jumps back and forward. Similar to scroll bars which usually have click for small movement and also for whole page up or down. These could be programmable by the user for the number of slides to skip in a large incremental jump. Now that the nav bar can be made visible in synched shows, I would like to have one not quite so obvious (perhaps a transparent option, with customizable colours, designed to be noticeable against both a light and dark background). As already mentioned, a nav bar button for turning the background sound on or off would also be useful.

It works well for me, too, Igor! Thanks!

Nettleton, Two other questions: 1. By "synchronized" do you mean "synchronized" using the timeline? If you are just spreading them over the music by setting the times in the "Customize Slide" menu, then they are not truly "synchronized", and the times will vary over different computers. 2. Are you using fast "cuts", with less than 1/4 sec between them, or very large images with less than 1 or 2 sec between them? Some pc's, and possibly cd-rom's, will require longer lengths of time to display images coming too close together, and they will go out of sync.

Hi, Merlin, Given the varying lengths of the music files, I would say that yes, it would be better to splice all the music files together and sync the show. Let us know if you need any help in doing the synching or sound editing. There have been lots of posts here in the Forum on this topic. Good luck!

Isabel, That's the only way to aproach it. Nothing is impossible, especially if you work at it hard and long enough. Good luck! And someone will be here if you run into problems.

Isabel, By "through my sound card" I was referring to the recording of a MIDI file by connecting the line output of the MIDI device (e.g. keyboard) to the line input of the sound card, and the use of a sound editing program such as Audacity or Audition to convert this analogue input to a ".wav" file. Please let me know if you want me to elaborate further.

Hi, Mike, Sometimes it feels like that, too, especially trying to keep up with all this new digital hardware and software. But what you can accomplish now in just a home-based studio is mind-boggling. However, recording from your keyboard doesn't have to be complicated if you just run a line input to your sound card. This way you can record the actual sounds from the keyboard.

Hi, Isabel, Thanks for the compliment. However, it won't help to make your MIDI setup any simpler! Unless you are using a pc-based sequencer for your MIDI, you will have to have a physical connection from the line out on your keyboard to the line-in on your pc sound card in order to record the music in ".wav" format. Note that it is a "line" input, not a "MIDI" input. I also use a laptop from time to time, but the sound with it is not as good as with the better quality sound card on my pc. I found out earlier this week that for around $1000 CDN I can get an external box for my laptop, (distributed by "Motu" - they have a web site), which would allow me to bypass the laptop's sound card, and access the on-board sequencer and sound-editing software via the "firewire" port. I would also have to use an external module for the MIDI sounds. This external box also has about 20 inputs which would allow me to record an orchestra or rock band, and then mix all the sounds together, including adding some MIDI, with the Cubase software. Santa, are you listening? If you have a pc-based sequencer, then you would use a MIDI input from your keyboard, but it would likely be through a special MIDI interface, not the sound card itself. I use a little "Midiman" box as the interface which allows me to connect through the USB port of my computer. With this arrangement, you would be using the internal sounds on the sound card, however, and these are usually inferior to those on the keyboard or external sound module. With this setup, you don't need a separate line input, as the sound capability is already in the pc. The program accesses the sound card internally. In fact, you can have your sequencer (I use "Cubase") running and your sound editor (Acoustica, Audition, etc.) recording, all at the same time. If you didn't want to connect up your keyboard, with this arrangement you could also simply import a MIDI file and play it back with your sequencer or other MIDI player, and record at the same time. However, you would again be using the sounds from your sound card. Things get a little complicated, I know, especially with the MIDI part. That's why they call the people who record for CD's, etc., "recording engineers", I guess. Hope I haven't made this too confusing.

Hi, Isabel, No, you can't do a straight conversion (or importing), as a MIDI file is not a music file, per se. It is just a collection of commands that instructs a MIDI-enabled instrument what to play. So, you have to set up the MIDI player (sequencer or keyboard or sound module) so that it's output is routed to the sound card's line input. Then you can record into ".wav" format as you play the MIDI selection, and then convert it to ".mp3".

Inna, Sorry, but this is not good enough. Most people serious about stealing images from a PTE show will just use a utility such as "Snagit" to bypass the PrintScreen key. And if all else fails, anyone with a camera, digital or otherwise, can just take a shot of the pc screen.

Hi, Isabel, I use a Roland "U20" keyboard along with a Technics "WSA1R" synth module for my MIDI and have found it to be quite successful. The sound in both my "Canada Day" and "Hidden Desert Canyons" shows are examples of the output from this combination. Even if you could use MIDI directly in your avi files, unless you need the smaller sound files, it is best to convert the MIDI first to mp3 or wav files, even for your PTE shows, as the sound quality will be more consistent, and probably much better, over different pc's. You can use Audacity, or Cool Edit (now Adobe "Audition"), or similar sound editor, to do the conversion through your sound card.

Thanks for the plug, Ron. Unfortunately my tutorial doesn't go into any detail on how to achieve the various special effects that are possible through PTE and Photoshop. That's a subject for a more advanced version. (maybe after Christmas??? 2005??? )

Hi, Sweetpea, Welcome to the Forum! In case you haven't found it yet, in this TUTORIAL on page 4 of Beechbrook, OGL (Oleg), one of our more accomplished graphic and AV effects designers, has created an informative and interesting tutorial on how he created one of his backgrounds. He uses Photoshop, which is probably the most popular and versatile commercially-used image editing programs, but as Isabel indicated there are a number of other budget programs available.

Hi, Fuzzy, The sound line is the line on the main window under the slide list where you can enter the file name of a sound file which you want to associate with your image. Another way to associate a sound file with an image is to click on "Customize Slide / Music", check "Play new background music file(s)", and add the music selection as indicated. If you add you music to the slide in this manner, then if you put all files in the same directory, PTE will be able to find them regardless of where they were previously. If you drag the slide from the left-hand file list and "drop" it into the slide list instead of using the "add" button, it will appear where you want it, instead of at the bottom of the list.

Fuzzy, If you put all files, including the PTE file, in the same directory, the show should run OK.(however, if you added music via the "sound" line on the main window, you will have to either rename it or move it to the correct directory, as PTE does not automatically find it, even if it is in the same directory as everything else).