JEB

Hi Lin, To answer your question I would go for 20 seconds. Would it not be possible to run two slides with the same image one after the other to create 40 seconds (less transition)? If that is in any way practical then perhaps 15 seconds would be a better compromise? Cheers John

Hi Lin, Most impressive! As Robert says, how you think these things through and then get them to work is beyond most of us. Wee suggestion - water running down the window? Cheers, John

Agreed. It is totally correct to have a workflow as described, whereby all assets are filed as suggested in one location. I personally have learned the hard way,or more accurately am still learning! However, I suspect that not everybody knows precisely what assets they are going to use before constructing their sequence. My problem is that I find that as the creative juices are flowing I think of other images to use bring them into my sequence forgetting to copy them first into the holding folder. Very often I am working with a base of from up to a couple of thousand images, originating from several individuals and often coming to me in an erratic timescale making it easy to get careless. My point remains that if it would be "relatively" easy to build in some sort of safety net then surely that can only enhance the product. Finally,apologies to Canico as I have totally hijacked his topic which now bares only a passing resemblance to its original subject only in that ,in my view, WnSoft would do itself no harm by paying attention to making itself more user friendly. Regards John

So when you reach 14 you take them off. No?

Hi Barry, Dave, i think it would be better to suffer a little pain and know all is well early on in the workflow rather than at some later critical stage. Presumably as PTE can tell us that specific items are missing when zipping it could also ask if we want them moved/copied individually or en masse into the master folder? Similarly surely it could be simple to have such a facility switched off or on for those not wishing to make use of it. I can't see that there could be any problem with that.

Hi Dave (and Igor, if your listening!) I'm sure you are right, however I think this is yet another example that illustrates the need for some form of built in "analysis feed back tool" from PTE. I'm not suggesting that there is a sure fast solution to this specific issue but I do believe that if WnSoft were to be seen to be supporting their customers in this way it would only be seen as a service improvement. It is most frustrating to know that there is lurking within this pile of electronics, solutions to self inflicted problems that could be solved if one had the ability or the tools to sort it out. It is little comfort to be wise after the event. Cheers, John

Hi, STAND DOWN!!! I'm using Camtasia. Cheers John

Hi, I wonder if any of our video experts can provide some advice? I would like to use some video of a screen grab in a show I am working on. Specifically a screen grab taken from a mapping program I am using. I am using Quicktime (I’m a Mac user and QuickTime comes free) which provides a totally satisfactory result when run through its own player but quite unsatisfactory when imported into PTE (stutters). It doesn't make much difference if converted by PTE or not. The original file is H.264 format QuickTime movie with an AAC audio track. I'm not using audio. Any suggestions? Thanks John

Hi Lin, I have done as you suggested. I created a new smaller PNG of 60 KB as compared to the original of 163 KB and that worked in the Preview. I then resized my original 163 KB down to 73 KB and that works. It seemed strange that such a little difference in size should make such a difference in performance. While writing this I have gone back to PS and made a further PNG from the original file and that now works ok in Preview! What I don't understand is why would the original file I supplied work for you and others in Preview but not for me! Even more strangely, I can't now even get that original file to appear in O+A or the mini-viewer! I give up. Im going to have a lie down!!! Incidentally I have 4 of my 16 GB of RAM allocated to Windows7 (I believe it can't actually use any more). I've not really had any what I would describe as memory issues with this computer (just my own memory). Cheers, John

Lin, That is interesting. Your "Preview" runs perfectly on my Parallels desktop! Any ideas? John

Good morning folks, Sorry for not getting back to you sooner but I have not been totally idol. I think Lin you are correct in identifying there being a resource issue. Not I think lack of resources just that PTE is not getting full access to them within my set up. Some background information. You may be aware that I use a MAC (which is in itself not short of resources) and run W7 within Parallels. Coincidently with the introduction of one of the latest issues of PTE I recently lost access to the built in MAC DVD burner from Windows and have had to resort to a dedicated external DVD burner. I was advised by Igor that PTE are not now able to provide support to rectify this issue at this time. I suspect that this current issue may fall into the same category. Since last night I made both a PC and MAC .exe from the zip file I had uploaded and neither performed as they should. I burned them (PC version) to a CD and opened them on my Windows laptop and the .exe did NOT run with the overlay so I unzipped the file on the laptop and created an .exe from the laptop and it ran perfectly. It would appear that there is an issue between PTE / MAC / Windows / Parallels. It’s a pity as I have never experienced these sort of issues in the past. I have been running this set up for about four years now. But then nothing remains constant I suppose, particularly when there are four individual players each with their own priorities! Perhaps Igor would like to comment? Regards John

Peter, I have done as you asked. I have just been expiramenting at this point so there is no great urgency. The main image is rather large as I will be needing to zoom in to quite a depth at places. I'm relieved to hear that I am not entirely alone in experiencing this. Regards, John PreviewChildTest_Feb17-2015_23-18-41.zip

Hi Folks, Can somebody please offer a suggestion as to what I may be doing wrong? I have created a jpg image of a “satellite” Google map of a river I wish to use in a sequence I am working on.bIt will be panned through the screen at various times during the sequence. As the river is not always clearly visible I have also created an overlay in PS as a “.png” and placed this overlay as a child of the main map in PTE. It plays perfectly in O+A and in the mini-viewer but NOT in full screen Preview? Any ideas? John

good idea.

Hi, I just thought I should update you. I have lashed out on a BluRay player. I must say that the difference in quality of my DVD's when played through this is most satisfactory. It also has a USB port which enables me to play MP4. Again I'm very pleased with the results. This (MP4) I suspect is going to be the way forward for me as far as my own particular method of viewing my sequences on TV is concerned. As far as bulk distribution of sequences to those who wish them will probably remain with DVD. Thank you all for your input. Kind regards John

Thank you gentlemen. John

Hi, Just when I thought I was catching up with technology I find myself stumbling back to earth! Can I just ask for confirmation that my understanding of what has been said is correct. Firstly - my principle reason for this post is that I have an occasional need to distribute sequences to multiple sources for viewing on their TV. I do not know what equipment they have but make the assumption that they have a DVD player. Some of these people will have limited technical knowledge (even less than I have!). For several years now I have been using 16x9 (Camera and Monitor). I understand that today the TV Safe Zone of PTE is outdated (always understood it to be arbitrary) largely due to the changes in aspect ratio and size of modern TVs. It seems to me that conventional DVD is limited. I was not aware of the resolution conversion associated with PAL so now see where limitations exist there, particularly with an increase of physical screen size. If I understand it properly this limitation can to some degree be improved with an Upscaling DVD Player or a BluRay Player. If this is so would a DVD burned in the conventional way (I use PTE Video Builder) work on an Upscaling DVD Player? I assume not on a BluRay Player? Presumably I would need a BluRay Burner? In any event I can't assume that all my “clients” will have a BluRay Player. I’m looking for the most common denominator. The option of MP4 has been discussed and seems to me to be interesting. However, as I understand it this requires a USB stick or would it be possible to play it through a conventional DVD player in which a disc containing the MP4 file has been burned? One assumption I can make is that most people will have a more up to dat TV than I have so probably have a USB port I would very much appreciate your views on my interpretation of what has been said to date. Regards John

Peter, Just for your information, I have checked you can change an individual slide to a different size within O&A and it will hold that without effecting the others. Then globally in PO perform a global change that will set it back as it was with the others. Regards John

OK, I'll come clean. Im an idiot! I think I have been double clicking the "Apply" button, effectively switching it on and then off again. So it looks like the problem was entirely of my own making. Igor is off the hook again! Cheers and thank you both for your patience. John

Yes, Tried it with several new test projects. John

Hi, I am having a problem with setting “% of the slide to show main image” I am getting erratic responses when trying to set this option in Project Options/Defaults. Most of the time it fails to respond. On a couple of occasions it has responded but as I do nothing different on each occasion I can't establish the cause for this behaviour. I select the value via the slider, index the “Apply to all slides” button and the “OK” button. I am getting the same behaviour on two different machines both running Vs. 8.0.11. In fact on one I have not been able to get it to work at all. Any ideas? John

Dave, Thank you. Firstly, I have got the % to work (though don't know how) and have been able to burn a DVD to my satisfaction. Thank you for that. I think I now see a way forward. However I still have this erratic problem with the "% of Main Slide". I know that I should raise this elsewhere but before I do I would like to be sure that I am not doing something stupid - a fairly common activity of mine! Having tried on numerous occasions to get this to work as described above without success I on this occasion ticked the "Display shadow" box and that appeared to enable the "%" function. I removed the tick from the "shadow" box without that affecting the "%". I tried this action on the other machine but without success. Any ideas? John

Dave, Thank you for your trouble. I do understand the theory and would like to get it to work but that is my problem - I can't get the % of Main Slide to be applied. I have tried this on two machines as I said above. I'm setting it to 82% and hitting the "Apply to all slides" and the "OK" buttons but nothing happens. I have found this to be erratic in the past so wonder if it is something I am not doing properly. Should I have anything else ticked? Cheers John

Hi Dave, Sorry to be a pain but I am having difficulty in setting this up! I assume you mean PO/Defaults/Main Image for new slides and NOT PO/Advanced. I have found this to be erratic in the past when I have used it as I am now. In fact so erratic I can't get it to work for me at all. I'm setting it to 82% and hitting the "Apply to all slides" and the "OK" buttons but nothing happens. In the past when it has worked you get a gradual visual build up on the slide list. Am I missing something I've tried it on two machines both Vs 8.0.11 Cheers John

Will do.