davegee

We were writing at the same time! Does this now mean that we have one extra "vote" for 1920x1080 monitors and one less "vote" for 1280x1024????? I was beginning to think that some would have me leave the POLL running until 1024x768 proved to be the most popular. Seriously, I hope that you enjoy your new toy. It is like a lot of other things - until you try it you don't know! Same goes for NX2. BTW don't be tempted to Colour Manage until you are ABSOLUTELY sure that it needs it. DG

Peter, I hope that some of the above is of some help. The following has nothing to do with your problem but please read on. A further advantage of using NX2 with a D70 is that it effectively upgrades some of the in-camera software of the D70 to the same as a D300 or D700. As well as being able to read the COLOUR MODES of the D70 and reproduce your camera controls and exactly what you see in the camera's LCD (immediately and without intervention by you) it gives you the option of seeing how the image WOULD have looked had you chosen a different Colour Mode. AND.......... It gives you access to the additional 8 Picture Controls of the D300 and D700 etc. It won't turn your camera into a 12MP model but it is an extension of the camera which will allow you to retrospectively alter SOME of the controls at the taking stage. I have been using it since I had my 5700 (prior to the D70) and won't be without it. Just thought that you'd like to know? DG

Igor, When installing the last two Betas (11 and 12) the last part asks if it should take the registration details from Beta 9 on both occasions. I would normally expect it to refer to the previously installed Beta i.e. 10 or 11. I have done nothing different to all previous Betas. Anything to worry about? DG

Part two, Interrupted by a delicious Beef Stroganoff. I would add that your workflow for RAW should stay in the 16 Bit domain for as long as possible. By saving as a 100% JPEG you are converting to 8 Bit too soon and losing much of the advantage of using RAW in the first place. Replicating NX2 strategy, you would benefit from sending to PS, LR etc as a 16 Bit TIFF - a LOSSLESS conversion. The 16 Bit TIFFs can be deleted when no longer required. I can replicate your skies in my D70 files (albeit in lower quality saves) and see the effect in a side by side comparison in "Save For The Web". By adjusting the JPEG quality the banding disappears and at the point it disappears it is safe to SAVE. I also notice that you are including a Sharpening Step. NEVER sharpen skies! - When sharpening do it SELECTIVELY and leave any continuous tones such as skies unsharpened. You could possibly be sharpening too agressively? A question (because I can't remember): Are you using the MAXIMUM RAW quality in Camera? The D300 and D700 offer two levels of RAW - I can't remember if the D70 had the same facility. I won't argue about your reasons for choosing LR or PS etc but I will say this: Everything that you list above can be achieved in NX2 WITHOUT leaving the RAW domain. For some purposes you would never need anything else. More after tea - perhaps? DG P.S. I just downloaded the D70 Manual - ignore my remark about RAW Quality.

Peter, My first DSLR was a D70 and I then progressed through D200, D300 to D700. In short (and generally speaking) you cannot save a D70 file at quality 6 - you are asking too much. I still have loads of D70 files on my computer and go back from time to time. I have found that when you go upwards through the pixel size of cameras you can then attempt lower quality settings for the JPEGs but IMHO a D70 file at quality 6 - no. Try quality 8-10 and use "Save For The Web" - that way you can see both the original and the JPEG side by side and determine the best quality setting. Someone with a 24MP camera can offer the suggestion to use quality 6, but for a D70 I would try a higher quality setting. DG

Hi Peter, I am in total agreement when you say: "it knocks the spots off the old NTSC/PAL/SECAM DVD-video for TV". Some people have to be continually reminded, though, that it's no substitute for the EXE file. If, as you say, you are going to use their LCD TV, is the no chance whatsoever that you could use a laptop connected to the TV? A HDMI connection would give you the ULTIMATE quality wheras some would not quibble if you were forced to use a VGA lead. I wonder if there would be a possible alternative there? They are likely to be able to provide a laptop wheras they might not want to purchase an extra bit of kit like the WD Box. Just food for thought,

Peter, With Ken's help I have downloaded the MP4 and it plays a lot better through MPC from my HDD than full screen via YouTube. Still not convinced about the quality but I haven't seen the EXE to compare it with. DG

Peter, I, too, was not impressed with the quality of transitions. I use my laptop to preview my 1920x1080 shows (EXEs) from my desktop computer and the laptop copes with everything I throw at it so I don't think it is resources. Yet the Abbey show stutters along from one image to the next. It doesn't make any difference if the show is played in real time or allowed to fully download before playing - the result is the same. The images look great at full res but the transitions leave much to be desired (on my laptop). I must confess a little confusion with regard to your comments re VideoLan MP - are you suggesting that the file can be stored on my computer and played on software other than the uTube Player? How is that done? DG

Creating Actions: DG Actions.pdf

Thanks Maureen, We must have had the Gods looking kindly on us - we have been going to the same valley, same village, same hotel, same fortnight for around 9-10 years and I can only remember one year which didn't give us the opportunity to go walking in sunshine for most of the time. If it rains it is usually after dinner - very civilised. DG

Excellent quality at 1920x1200! Just the thing to put me in the right mood for Austria in a few weeks. I loved the late evening shots. May I make one suggestion? You have the keyboard disabled in the show and I wanted to review a couple of slides which was impossible. Unless you have an overriding reason to disable the keyboard it might be helpful to enable it in future? DG

Hi Alan, You can use multiple tracks and apply "envelopes" individually and independantly to each track. Not only that but if you read Igor's reply in another thread you will shortly be able to see the multiple tracks in the timeline. DG

Another improvement on what is a GREAT tool would be to be able to set the PLAY cursor (the RED line) back to the beginning with a REWIND button. At present the only way I can see of doing it is to zoom the WAVEFORM to minimum and drag the red line manually? DG

Hi Mick, OFFSET does what you want (in the AUDIO CLIP PROPERTIES BOX). See: http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=11969 DG

Time to close this Poll. Almost made the 50 participants but not quite! Here's my take: It shows that 70% of the people who participated are using Widescreen while the other 30% are using Non-Widescreen. The 16:10 and 16:9 aspect ratios were evenly split, each being used by 34% of those who participated. Among the Non-Widescreen users 5:4 was used by 18% and 4:3 by 12% of those who participated. Obviously, this makes 4:3 the least used monitor aspect ratio among those who participated. The LCD/CRT split was 90% / 10% and I suspect that the CRT users are the 4:3 (1024x768) users – nothing technical about that assumption – it's just that the figures are the same. So, my question now is: Do the above results change your view about which aspect ratio you should use to produce your PTE shows? Speaking for myself I produce a mixture of 3:2 and 16:9 shows. I can't remember the last time I produced a 4:3 show. I think that the results above suggest that I am on the right track when trying to match the aspect ratios of what I produce to the aspect ratios of other peoples monitors more closely. Thanks to the 49 people who participated. If you want to carry on discussing the results, please feel free to do so.

So, the fun begins!! DG

Hi Peter, I experimented a little more and found this: I inserted a piece of music (Amazing Grace) and with no alterations it played OK from the beginning. By looking closely at the waveform I could see that the phrase "That Saved a......." started at 12 seconds into the piece so I made the "Start Time" 12 seconds and the Preview started at the correct ("That saved a....") point. I then added a 4 second offset and the music started at the WRONG place 4 seconds in. By increasing the Offset to the same value as the Start Time all was well again. The piece started 12 seconds into the show with the phrase "To Save a....". Obviously not a correct situation and you were, indeed, right! Let's see what Igor comes up with - he seems to have identified a problem thanks to you. DG

Hi Peter, I'm not getting that at all. Obviously not replicating what you are describing! DG

If there are no additional participants in the next 24 hours I'll close the Poll and we can summarize/discuss the "results". DG

No quite true. DaveG recommends using HDMI from computer to TV wherever possible. OR DVI to HDMI with adaptor and seperate Audio Leads (not required with HDMI). Desktops have DVI output - I haven't seen a laptop with DVI out - they are mostly HDMI.

Exactly - it was they to whom I was refering. DG

OK Peter, I agree, but these things don't happen without warning - forward planning? DG

Just a point arising out of Peter's last post: If, for instance, a 1024x768 show (Windowed Mode) appears in a viewing along with 1400x1050 shows (being viewed via a 1400x1050 projector) then surely the facility exists to OPTICALLY enlarge the 1024x768 show to the same physical dimensions of the 1400x1050 shows using the projector's zoom lens? DG

Thanks, Is it fair to say that you use it more for Graphics Layout than pure photographic? I use this site as a first stop when looking at monitors: http://www.dabs.com/category/computing,desktops-and-monitors,monitors/11109-4294957423#filters As you can see the price new (over here) is a little more than you suggest - that's always the case. What's also interesting is that the site categorises monitors as WIDESCREEN, NON-WIDESCREEN and some others. For whatever reason this monitor is classed as one of the "others".

Crossfade, That's a very interesting monitor with a comprehensive spec - it should be at that price! It seems to be a "one-off" at the moment - no other manufacturer making that resolution in LCD TFT (?). Care to share your experiences with it and reason for buying it (apart from the obvious)? I have some friends who are still using 1024x768 who argue that they can't see the icons on larger monitors - I wonder what they would think of that DG