JEB

Folks, I have recently completed a short show on my desktop in Beta 9A in which I have made use of the text facility within Objects and Animations. I created a .pte file and then played it on my laptop. Unfortunately a totally different font has replaced the font that I used on my desktop. I notice that my laptop does not have the original font so presumably this is the reason. Surely this is a limitation. Presumably if we wish to ensure that the correct font is displayed on any PC other than the one that created the show we will have to revert back to Photoshop. Can someone please verify? Thanks John PS Hope you are all enjoying this wonderful programme as much as I am.

Thanks all and Ken for the e-mail. I'm sure that when I have a go tonight it will work fine. I have one further question. As my friends want both DVD versions and .exe versions is it possible to include a DVD version of my show AND an .exe version all on the one DVD? This would avoid making a number of CD's as well as DVD's. Thanks again. John

Thanks Folks, This sounds just what I'm looking for. But what is, and how do you create an ISO file? I have had a look through the PTE burner pages and Options but don't see and ref. to ISO. Thanks in anticipation. John

I have managed to successfully burn several shows to DVD’s using the PTE vs 5 burner and am very pleased with the results. I have recently completed a 25-minute (195KB – a lot of audio) show in collaboration with my camera club. A number of members would like DVD versions as well as .pte versions. It’s a few weeks since I made the DVD but I seem to recall that it took well in excess of an hour (I think about 1.5 hours) to complete one DVD. Multiplied by at least 10 copies this is a lot of time. I have little understanding of this technology but one of my colleagues suggested that additional copies should be made very much faster than this. How? I tried to create an AVI file for him to use with his burner software, using the “DVD” button but it was saved with a “.pte” extension and the word “forDVD” as follows NAME OF SHOWforDVD.pte I would have expected to see the extension .AVI I noticed that there are Adobe, Pinnacle and Ulead options but also a "create Custom AVI video file" option. Is this what should be used if the burner to be used is not Adobe, Pinnacle or Ulead? Can anybody give me some guidance please? Regards John

Barry, I also would much appreciate a printable version of this article. I have only just this minute glanced through it and as an owner of most of your tutorial CD's and DVD's I would find this a wonderful supplement to them. Having my face in a computer most of the day my wife would object (I think - but I may try it some day) if I took a PC to bed, but I can smuggle in the odd bit of reading material. Thanks again for your generosity in sharing this with us. John

OOOPS Sorry sir, Ididn't know I could do that. John

Sorry Ken, It is not my intention to make an already confused situation worse. I would not have described my post as a complaint, more constructive criticism. I quote from my posting in the TUTORIAL thread- ”I, like Ron, had seen DaveG’s posting suggesting a single page of links to tutorials. I then, like Ron, had noticed the sudden appearance of a new section entitled TUTORIALS, which I assumed Ken had created in an effort to get Dave’s idea off the ground. In reading through this I followed the link to The Dom’s Tutorial page and simply commented that that, in my opinion, was laid out in the manner that such a central resource should be presented. Ever since I became involved in using this fantastic software I have recognised that its most important resource is this forum and in particular, the major participants, none of whom I will mention by name but many of whom have been contributing to this thread. There is no shortage of information – it is its access that is difficult and confusing. Not everybody has the same level of competence in recognising and remembering where all these gems are to be found as perhaps some people, who have grown up with the forum. Any criticism I have made or implied is not done with any malice. I value my membership of this group far too highly for that. I simply wish to try to illustrate how I think others and I suspect, particularly new members, must feel in their first attempts to get to grips with this fantastic product. In case anyone should be under the illusion that I am taking on the mantle of a recently departed member then let me assure you that this is not my intention. I do think that now is the time for someone, with experience, to take on the leadership that is desperately required if we are not going to allow the present confused state to develop into an even deeper morass.” End Quote One further comment I will make is that if it is not going to be possible to put in place an all encompassing facility such as TheDom’s site without involving Igor and his team (and I totally agree they have other important fish to fry at this time) then whatever temporary measure we have hopefully could be better than a string of individual posts. I may have got the wrong impression but that is what I understand you are proposing. Quite frankly (please don’t take offence) I found your initial post to be confusing in that it is simply a list of unidentified links. On the other hand, TheDom’s site breaks them down into categories and provides a brief description of the tutorial. Perhaps this is what you have in mind. Finally I would take issue with you on your comment regarding WIDEANGLE’s comment. Surely it is better that anyone, newcomer or otherwise, searches the common resource for an appropriate tutorial first before placing a specific post. The best way to learn I suspect. Though, at the moment, you must agree, difficult to achieve. Regards and thanks for your diligent input. John

Hi Dom, Al, Thank you both for your replies. I should have guessed that it had all been thought of before. Having said that it is comforting to know that our concerns and ideas are taken seriously and as often as not implimented. I will just keep plugging away. Thanks again John

Folks, As always thanks for your prompt replies. Question1 I understand now that I have to nominate an image to be the one visible in the slide list unless it was the first image placed there. I see that Al has taken up my point regarding the “non-deletion” of the original image. I’m not convinced however, that it would not be better that it was properly removed to save confusion. Perhaps an option for it not to be removed may be a better way forward. Question 2 I suspected this was the case and agree that the PS solution would be preferable. Supplementary Question Taking this a stage further – and deeper into the mire! I find that when working with several objects in O&A and the timing relationship between each object, that unless I take detailed written notes of the times of each action for each object, it is difficult to relate these actions to the actions of the other objects. I hope I make myself clear! This would, I think be less confusing if the timing points of a nominated additional object could be displayed (temporally) along with the other object, on the O&A timeline, ideally in a different colour. Alternatively, if there was a permanent grid on the O&A timeline this may help when switching between objects. Perhaps my working methods are wrong and I should be recording on paper before going into O&A each action for each object rather than making it up as I go along. I always have “flown by the seat of my pants” and never was one for planning! I'd never make a programmer. Regards and thanks in advance for your observations. John

Hi Folks, I wonder if somebody can explain a couple of points regarding Objects and Animation (O&A) which have been bothering me for some time. I should underline that I have limited my experimenting up till now to fairly simple Pan & Zoom. I have two questions. Why is it that if you select an image from a show from the panel along the bottom (don’t know its name!) and in the course of applying some animation or you add additional images and remove the original image the original still shows in the bottom panel and indeed in the main large image panel though, as you would expect, not in any preview? My second question or perhaps observation would be a better word as perhaps there is some good reason, which has up till now, escaped me. It concerns the O&A window. I notice that when several images are “stacked” in the objects panel if you click on any object name its “key points” are revealed but if it is not the top image in the stack it remains hidden behind the top image in the main window. Personally I find this a little confusing at times and wonder if there is something I am missing. I hope I have explained myself. Regards to all and in particular to Lin who I see is getting back into action. John

Hello Sharon It is not so long ago that I was in exactly the same situation as you find yourself in at this moment. Let me say straight away this is a wonderful forum made so by the members who give so freely and generously of their time to help newcomers such as yourself and indeed each other, as nobody knows everything about this fantastic product (except Igor and his team of course!). In my view and I am sure many will agree the biggest problem for newcomers is identifying where to get precise answers to your questions particularly when often you don’t really know what question to ask! All the sources that have been suggested in earlier posts will undoubtedly provide the answers but it can be a bit daunting wading through the debates that have taken place in the past. Fantastic as the various tutorials that have been put together by all these diligent and generous people they don’t cover everything and sometimes make assumptions regarding the users basic knowledge. This will sound like an advert but presently I am putting together a number of lectures for a small group within my camera club who are interested in “getting into” AV using PTE. I have been racking my brains as to how to structure these lectures and have just found the solution, which I think, could be of interest to you. Barry Beckham has put together a fantastic DVD for PTE5, which in my view is put together in a very logical and clear manner, and I would strongly recommend you get hold of that. I confess I only received my copy three hours ago and have only watched a few lessons (videos) but from looking at the contents and knowing his Photoshop tutorials I can see that this is every bit as good if not even better. With his permission (and after this how can he refuse?) I will be using this as the centrepiece of my lectures. Good luck and have fun. John www.beckhamdigital.co.uk

Hi, The latest full version of PTE is 4.48 which has been available for quite some time now. However I think that most people are now working with one or otherof the Beta versions of 5.00. This has many additional features most of which have been the subject of rigourus testing by a group of senior members in recent months. However some of the less used and less critical features of 4.48 have been disabled in the Beta versions, presumably to simplify testing of the new features. Many of these have gradually been reactivated to the extent that now in my view the latest Beta 8s is pretty damn good. I believe, reading between the lines, that the full Version 5 will be with us in a matter of weeks. As far as getting hold of the Beta 8s version is concerned look through the thread at the top of the forum. I would give you the URL but I don't know how to do that!! Perhaps I have managed to get it for you. Try the following. If this is wrong I'm quite sure somebody else will correct me. http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index....ost&p=35589 All the best John

Thanks for that Al, It looks like it is more flexible than I thought. I will need to give it some more thought. Regards John

Hi Folks, Happy New Year when it comes. I know that the facility to attach audio to specific slides is not yet available on V5 as it was on V4. I have been using V5 in its various stages for some time now and appear to have lost V4 along the way so I can’t do my research on that. On the assumption that when this facility is re-activated on V5 will it operate in the same manner as V4? Can somebody please confirm that my understanding of its limitations are correct – (a or b?) (A) Music (AUDIO) inserted under the Customize Slide Tab will only play for the duration of that slide within the show. ( Music inserted under the Customize Slide Tab will play for its entire length even if that slide is replaced by subsequent slides in the show before it comes to its end. Additionally I assume that “Customized Slide” audio will play over “Project Options” audio thus providing a “crude” mixing facility. I am familiar with Audition and Audacity for mixing tracks but am just looking at what other options may be available for a project I have in mind for the future. Thanks in anticipation. John

Maureen, Thanks for that. I can now relax!! Regards John

Thanks Lin, That was a very clear explanation. And in writing this reply I had a practical demonstration of having to log on again. But what kept you! You took all of 35 minutes to reply!!!! Just joking. Regards John

I notice that I am very bad at NOT logging out of this forum. Is there any way that an automatic log out can be instigated after a period of inactivity? John

Firstly, Seasons greatings to all. It is my understanding that the "Format" feature gathers copies of the resourses (images, audio etc) used in a particular PTE AV into one central location, which presumably I can specify. Is this correct? If I am correct, does this mean that if at any time in the future I wish to re-edit or re work this AV these images will be gathered into the "new project" from their new location rather than their original location? Why I ask is that I am just about to finish a very large project in which images and audio have been used that exist on various drives (internal and external) and which will inevitably be moved at some time in the future hence making a re-edit difficult to say the least! Assurance would make a wonderful Christmas present!! John

Folks, I am sure the answer to my first question is no - but I need to be certain. Can you include video images within PTE shows? My second question is. Can you confirm whether PSG can incorporate video? I'm told it can. My reason for asking is that I am heavily involved in producing a show with members of my camera club on the subject of our local river. We are using a general river shot as the background for our opening and closing titles. It has been suggested by a member that perhaps as an alternative to the still shot we could use a similar video shot showing the rippling water, together with the associated audio. Personally I’m not in favour of the idea as we have set out to produce a show using our still images. My feeling is that using a moving sequence particularly at the beginning would create the wrong initial impression, but I need to know the answer. By the way there is no way that we would use PSG but I need to know the answer to that as well. I understand that an avi or a MP2 file could be made available. I think what we may do is strip out the audio from the video and use that as part of our soundtrack with the titles. I would appreciate your comments. Regards John

Hello all you cleaver people, An Idea – and then I’m putting my head down under the parapet. There is a mine of fantastic information lurking in this forum but it is becoming increasingly difficult to find some of the pearls. The cross-referencing search facility on the forum is, I think most would agree, limited. For example, the superb replies of Lin and Al to the current request for help in current “RECTANGLE” post are in danger of being lost in the mist of time. For those who have been around the forum for a little while we know the places to look for demos and tutorials and I applaud those who are providing this service (and lets not forget – free service). However, many of the questions and more importantly answers, which are appearing regularly throughout the forum, surely are worth cataloguing in some way. This would be a mammoth task now but even more so as time passes. Before I go any further let me admit openly and honestly that there is no way I could take this on. I neither have the skills of a librarian or PTE technician, nor the time or recourses that would be necessary. I simply float the idea in the hope that someone out there may have the necessary skills. John

Ken, Thanks for your swift reply. I can now confirm that I am running DirectX 9.0c and that I have 256 MB on my card. I have run all the tests that Igor and Lin have produced and am happy that my desk top is up to the task. I have also read all the tutorials that you and others have kindly produced over the recent past. I have persisted down the line of opening one of the DOM’s Project Files from within PTE5 and guess what! I have managed it! There it is, all the details of how he put the show together for me to study and learn from. I was sure this was what I should get but because I was going about opening the file incorrectly I was missing it. Thanks again for your help. Its head down time now! The only problem is that I’m going off on holiday to Sicily in a few days and I’ll be short of time before I go and may have to leave it all till my return. I don’t think that “her indoors” (unless your British you may not know that somewhat derogatory expression) will let me take my laptop as well as my camera! Regards and thanks John

Ken, Thanks for your reply. Perhaps I have not made myself quite clear. I am running Beta 5.5 and have been able to open and run all shows, including Igor's, on many occasions and have just done so again now. I am able to open the "xxxx.pte" folders by first saving them to my h/d and then opening 5.5 and then opening the "xxxx.pte" from there. If however, I try to open rather than save, direct from the unzip process an "INFORMATION" box invites me to open in an earlier version of PTE and fails. This is one of the problems I had in the past. I assume that these particular example source files of Igor's and others are for us to try to build the show as they built it from these recourses. I had thought that what I would be presented with when I opened these files was the constructed show at the stage just prior to "create" so that we could examine the timings, action points etc. Yes or No? If YES then it’s not happening for me. If NO my problem then is how to use the templates within my shows. With regards to Direct X I have no idea which version I am running (or how to find out), all I can say is that I constantly get automatic updates from M/S. Neither do I know how much memory there is on my Graphics card but believe it to be up to spec. It is a NVIDA GeForce FX5600 which has in the past been considered ok. Regards John

I must be more stupid than I thought (Don't answer that!) but I have never been able to figure out how to utilise any of the wonderful templates that have been appearing recently. Viewing the superb demos is driving me daft. My knowledge is obviously limited but I have been playing with PAZ with some success, adding objects, titles etc. I am not totally ignorant of the “Objects and Animations” window. Can someone please give me a few clues as to how to proceed. I have been attempting for instance today to use The Dom’s “White Frames” so perhaps you could have that in mind when answering. Another very basic point is that I have never been able to open any of the “Full PTE Projects” that you good folk often share. I assume that they should be opened within PTE to let us study how you have put your demos together. Thanks once again (in anticipation) Yours John (OLD FOOL!)

Hi Lin, I'm afraid the answer to both questions is no, both are LCD's and I don't get a trail on the laptop. But thanks for your interest. John

Lin, Yes we are reading from the same page. I have just run through both shows again on both m/c’s and results are as before. Desktop – both shows “smooth as silk”. Laptop - Both shows have a little flicker (compared to desktop) as the pieces move into place (both shows about the same). I confess it is difficult to identify which pieces as they move at different rates but it’s certainly not as smooth as the desktop. I confirm that the most noticeable stutter is with the spinning goat in the small show! Very odd! Regards John