davegee

Hi Tom, We have to acknowledge that a lot of work was put into slices by some very capable workers long before the advent of Custom Transitions. Your link to SliceBox inspired me to try to obtain the SliceBox effect with Custom Transitions and to a degree it is possible. However, I am now of the opinion that to FULLY implement the effect would required some basic changes in the way Custom Transitions work. They would need to be IMAGE based and not SLIDE based. I have got as close as I think it is possible to get to that effect by doing the slicing outside of PTE and building a transitional slide (my last PM). One of the problems is that to get the total effect of SliceBox the images being sliced need to be smaller than project size and this creates the Slide versus Image anomaly. The other problem which Igor suggested that we work on is the Masks versus Canvas approach. The two methods produce very different results and it appears to me that the canvas method would need to produce something like a PNG file to avoid exaggerated perspective problems. Regarding "Brookings" above - the text element works fine in the Horizontal Slices but not so well in the Vertical Slices?? DG

Eric, This was fully discussed when Igor introduced the "Safe Executable File for Internet" and as much as hate to repeat this, I have to. If you were part of the development of 7.5 you would be fully aware of the things that you are finding problematic. To answer your specific question, when creating a Menu which calls up (Safe) Executables you link to the exe file within the folder. You always keep the extracted folder intact and do not remove the two files from their folder. You don't put the two files in separate folders. Kid's stuff - not rocket science. Try it? DG

Do not uninstall anything that you might regret later. Check first!! DG

Eric, Barry was correct in all that he said regarding "Extract All" and "New Compressed Folder" in Windows Explorer. You were to blame for installing completely unnecessary software. Some will argue that WinZip and others do a better job but they have obviously let you down when sticking with the Windows option has never failed anyone. IT IS YOU!!/> DG

Try this (it might work, it might not): Right click on a ZIPPED Folder and choose PROPERTIES. In GENERAL it should say: Type of File Compressed Zipped Folder (.zip) Opens with Windows Explorer If it says something other than Windows Explorer, click on CHANGE and browse for Windows Explorer. Make a note of what it says before you change it so the you can go back to what it was. If Windows Explorer is not available report back. DG Added. READ THIS: http://www.computeractive.co.uk/ca/pc-help/2181987/the-extract-all-option-for-zip-files-is-missing-from-my-windows-7 DG

The transition refered to above was more of a technical excercise than a serious attempt at a Custom Transition. The further back that I took the Rotational Point the more the Transition looked like a PUSH transition. Nevertheless it unearthed a limitation in the Pan Z (Minus) control which Artem has agreed to correct in the next Patch. (Thanks Artem). DG

Can't be of any help with that. I have had, over the years, XP, Vista and W7 and "Extract All" has ALWAYS been there. DG

Right click on ZIPPED Folder: DG

Extract the contents of the Zipped File. Add the folder containing the two files to your project folder. Point the Menu Link to the EXE as usual. The two files MUST stay together in the extracted folder. DG

Thank you Jean-Cyprien, Magnificent and inspirational!! DG

Because I didn't want to? Didn't need to? PTE did it for me, plus I can superimpose stills on the video and all of the other clever things that PTE does? 2.3Gb for 30 minutes of High Quality HD Video is not bad. I will now try a smaller project size and let the TV do the upsizing. DG

It's a steep learning curve /> I recorded a School Nativity Play this morning and used PTE to create an MPEG4 to play on TV via USB. I used completely default settings, converted the video in PTE's converter. 2.3 Gb. Plays really nicely on the TV in spite of being upsized from 576 high to 1080 High. DG P.S. The TV does not support the Video files produced by the non-HD 4:3 Digital Video Recorder.

Technically superb show which ticks all of the boxes. I note that you are now using "Safe Executable File for Internet" which is what we all should be doing. I find it a slight irritation that I now have to EXTRACT before viewing wheras with a Zipped EXE file it could be played from within the Zipped folder. But that does not detract from the show. Great synchronisation. DG

Tom, I have taken the Rotation to the maximum allowed by PTE. It is the only way to avoid/lessen the Perspective problem. 22.5 deg as opposed to 90 deg. Slicebox seems to be doing what it says on the tin - it is creating x number of slices and rotating them separately - we cannot do that inside of PTE because of the perspective "problem". It is possible that if Igor can get the CANVAS crop to work without moving the cropped image to the centre that effects such as those seen in SLICEBOX can be achieved. Feel free to play around with it but please change the name so as not to confuse anyone? BTW mine work nicely at 4 seconds transition time. DG

IMPROVED SLICES CUSTOM TRANSITIONS Attached below is a ZIP File containing the improved SLICES Custom Transitions. Also included is a short EXE showing both transitions. The zoom is maintained throughout each of the Transitions (but is not an integral part of the Custom Transition). The Custom Transitions use Masks. The EXE is 1920x1080 and is only guaranteed to work at that res. Smooth as silk on my PC DG Attachment removed - see later post.

Welcome, Right click in OBJECTS PANEL to ADD a MASK. You can create a mask in PTE - circular or rectangular. Or you can add a mask made in PhotoShop. White shows what's under the mask. Add an image between the Mask Container and the Mask. Are you trying to use an image as a mask?? DG

Further request. When submitting Custom Transitions it is easy to include an EXE using two (or more) coloured blank JPEGs to illustrate the effect without having to load it. File size would be very small Kb and it could be included in the same ZIP folder. DG

When preferences was introduced the first thing did was to turn everything on and move everything to the position on screen that I was familiar with. I would like to see everything turned on as a default and any new items added should be the same. DG

In 751 it is permanently on. no option. DG

Paul, As much detail as possible. Laptop? Desktop? CPU - i7? RAM? Graphics Card? How much Graphics Memory? Shared or Dedicated? DG

Tom, See PM. DG

It could probably be BIGGER? DG

Paul, Have both shows been made in the EXACT same version/beta?? Please give some details of your system so that Artem or Igor can follow it up on Monday? Best wishes, DG

I will rephrase for the benefit of my esteemed colleague. I do not see this behavious on my Windows 7 PC. In order to ascertain whether the problem is confined to "Run Slideshow" or if it also happens with "Run Application" will you please try "Run Application" and reply? Also, are you linking to an EXE made with the same Version? This is not intended to be a "Workaround" - it is a diagnostic tool. DG

Try using "Run Application" instead? DG