davegee

Dan, I'm going to talk in terms of PAL aspect ratios - you are on NTSC so you will need to think a little differently. When I make a PAL DVD my "image" on the DVD is ALWAYS going to be 4:3 regardless of my settings in PTE. The show that I fit into that 4:3 box will have black lines (or not) depending on the AS of my show. The best possible scenario is to make a 4:3 show to fit a PAL DVD. If I make a 3:2 show and produce a PAL DVD my "image" on the DVD is going to take up the FULL width and have black lines top and bottom. PAL is 768x576 and my Wide Screen TV is 1366x768. My TV (SONY) has settings for WIDE, SMART, 4:3 etc and the ONLY one which gives a TRUE picture (without either short fat people or tall thin people) is the 4:3 setting. Same as the DVD. The picture then takes up a proportionate number pixels on screen and I have black lines top and bottom AND on both sides. However the ASPECT RATIO is absolutely PERFECT. No other setting gives a TRUE aspect ratio picture. The only way to get a true 3:2 picture which fits the height on your TV which is probably 1920x1080 is to create a 16:9 show at 1080 pixels high on your computer and connect your computer to your TV (preferably using a HDMI connection). DG

Thanks both. As I said above - I was aware that there was a version specific issue - but I wasn't aware that each new "dot" bug fix (or whatever) constituted a "new version". I now know! I will need to formulate a strategy for coping with this - Peter, your method sounds good. The overall appearance of the menu driven sequence is first class. The last time that I did a sequence I was getting the flash back to the desktop problem. You can see how long ago that was. PTE is brilliant! DG

Sorry to resurrect this thread but I have just been constructing a menu and a couple of things cropped up which I would like to mention. Forgive me if they have been mentioned before - I have speed read the thread but couldn't find anything which confirmed what I have found. My menu is driving three sequences on my Vista laptop which were constructed on my XP desktop machine. My desktop machine was running v6.0 while my laptop was running v6.0.1. I made the menu on the Vista Laptop and wanted to use "Run Slideshow and Return" to the menu. I immediately got error messages regarding the incompatibily of the Menu with previous versions of PTE. I upgraded the XP machine to v6.0.1 and found that all was well - the sequences were easily upgraded to 6.0.1 and were then found to be completely compatible with the menu. I then decided that a little experiment was in order and I upgraded the laptop to v6.0.2 and upgraded the Menu to v6.0.2. The result was that the v6.0.1 sequences would now not run with the v6.0.2 Menu. I had to go through the same procedure again by upgrading the XP desktop machine to v6.0.2 and upgrading the sequences to v6.0.2 to achieve compatibility with the Menu. The end result is that I have a Menu driving three sequences ready to show in a couple of weeks and I'm completely happy with the way it works. No flashbacks to the screen - nothing to interrupt a smooth playing of the sequences with a little talking in between. I'm a happy bunny. So why this post? I THOUGHT that a menu made with ANY v6.x.x menu would work with ANY v6.x.x sequence - obviously this is not so. It appears that if Igor has to introduce a v6.0.3 for any reason then a MENU constructed with the said v6.0.3 would be incompatible with any sequences made with v6.0.2 or earlier. Anyone else noticed this? Has it been mentioned in another thread? DG

Gary, I think Ron means to crop to a 16:9 aspect ratio and THEN resize to 1920x1080. There's absolutely nothing wrong with your suggestion to do the crop in PTE but please consider that if your screen resolution is 1920x1080 and your image is greater than 1920x1080 then PTE is processing an unecessarily large image. If you are zooming into the image then that's a different matter. The way I look at it is "why tax the system any more than necessary". DG

When you connect any computer to a HDTV the output resolution has to be 1920x1080. In some cases (where the laptop computer monitor's resolution is a different aspect ratio) you will not be able to see both the monitor and the HDTV picture at the same time. VGA is not an ideal way to connect to a HDTV and if at all possible a DVI (plus seperate audio connections) or HDMI connection is prefered. I hope that your problem is solved. DG

How are you interfacing with the TV - laptop, DVD? If laptop - HDMI or VGA? What's the resolution / aspect ratio setting of your laptop's monitor? Does the picture look "squashed" top to bottom OR "stretched" side to side? DG

Is there not already an FAQ which states that the prefered colour space for PTE is sRGB (not RGB)? DG

Hi Ed, How can you possibly tell a "producer" what quality to use - that's OTT. Resolution yes, but surely NOT quality? DG

Firstly, there is no "TRUE" 3:2 aspect ratio which will accurately fit a 1024 wide "box". You would be better off using a larger "true" 3:2 image and fitting to screen (in your case 1200x800). The 3:2 preset is 15:10. If your laptop will not handle 1080 high images without stuttering then, by all means, use 800 high but be aware that if your show is viewed on a monitor larger than 800 high interpolation will take place with the settings I suggested. Some will argue that the degredation is not significant but you should be aware of it. You have to decide which aspect ratio is more important - your monitor's or the projector's - there are no 16:10 projectors as far as I am aware. Whatever your decision, a compromise is necessary. DG

The best approach is to use "one size fits all". Many here (myself included) use 1080 pixels high images in a 1080 pixels high show at the aspect ratio of your choice i.e: 1920x1080 for a 16:9 show 1620x1080 for a 3:2 show 1440x1080 for a 4:3 show. In Project Options / Screen set: Fullscreen Your chosen Aspect Ratio Set the correct pixel dimensions - xxxx pixels wide by 1080 pixels high Tick the box - Fixed Size of Slide When the images are added to the show they will "Fit To Screen" on your monitor and any monitor up to and including 1920x1080. They will fit to the laptop being used and also to the projector. DG

John, Be aware that if you add the border in PS you will not be able to use PZR without losing the border. Wideangle's "trick" is a good one. DG

Hi Barry, I have viewed at full 1920x1200 resolution and the quality just jumps off the monitor screen. I forced myself to read the titles and not be distracted by the pictures emerging in the title sequence. I have to admit that it was difficult (but not impossible). Seeing them at full resolution made me wonder if those who are still hampered by lower resolution monitors get a different effect than intended due to the "mix" of background texture and normal image? In other words, is it possible that the texture needs to be faded back a little for the older, lower resolution monitors? Just a thought! First class show - it ended a little too soon and left me wanting more. I saw some of the rock paintings when we were out there and they are so impressive! DaveG

Gary, You cannot "resize" your image out of the camera that way. For a distortion-less image in 16:9 format you MUST crop to 1920x1080 (16:9) and lose some of the top and bottom. Set up and save a crop tool to do just that and crop your images to the 16:9 format. Or, in IMAGE SIZE make sure that you CONSTRAIN PROPORTIONS to get the the 3:2 (ish) aspect ratio when altering height or width. If you want to use the images straight from camera then I would sugget that you make your images 3:2 and 1080 pixels high. Your camera produces an image which is not EXACTLY 3:2 so for uniformity I suggest that you set up a 3:2 crop tool and use it on all images. Use the 15:10 option in Project Options / Screen. That way you have the optimum for computer and HD Video. On your computer the images will fit to the WIDTH of your 4:3 monitor (black lines top and bottom) and on your TV they will fit to the HEIGHT of your screen (black lines at the sides). If you don't want to crop your out of camera images, I would suggest that to be the only way of getting a compromise between computer and TV. I have chosen to crop my images to suit the 16:9 format and get the best compromise between my 16:10 monitor, the occasional TV show and the 16:9 projector that I sometimes use. Two out of three is not bad! Knowing what I know now I think that I should have bought a 16:9 monitor a few years ago instead of my 16:10 but I have learned to compromise. DG

Gary, Attached is a Backup in Zip of a 1920x1080 project which, when played on both my 1920x1200 monitor and my steam driven 1024x768 laptop monitor, FILLS THE WIDTH OF THE SCREEN with black bars top and bottom. Please unzip to your desktop and try it and then reprt back? I hope it works - I don't normally use Backup In Zip. DG Goddi_Jan28-2010_22-50-44.zip

Gary, If you are using 1920x1080 images in a 1920x1080 show then, in O&A, your images will FILL the screen area shown (at 100%). If you are using smaller images then they will appear in O&A with the black border (at 100%). Are you getting this in O&A? Post a screen shot of your OPTIONS / SCREEN Tab and let us know what size images you are using. DG P.S. I picked up one of these HD TV players in PC World recently to have a look at the specs. The one I looked at had an output resolution of 1280x720 which, if not upscaled to suit your 1920x1080 would give the sort of scenario you are experiencing - it's not that is it?

Gary, I'm not sure if I know the answer to your problem but I can tell you my experiences/setup for doing exactly the same thing. I use 1920x1080 images in a 16:9 show with "Fixed Size of Slide" ticked. i.e. Fullscreen Aspect Ratio = 16:9 Virtual Size = 1920x1080 That show will fit to the width of any aspect ratio monitor from 4:3 (1024x768) right up to my 16:10 (1920x1200) with black lines where appropriate at the top and bottom but never at the sides. When playing the same show from my laptop to the 16:9 TV via HDMI (same setup as your WD) the show automatically fills the screen. I started doing this a couple of years ago and reported it here - others have since adopted this methodology with the same results as you are experiencing. DG

I've been using Perfect Disc for a few years with no problems whatsoever. DG

Be carefull when setting the resolution. 1920x1080=16:9 1920x1200=16:10 Use the MONITOR's Resolution. Another point - if the new monitor (and your computer) have HDMI (the monitor will) use it in preference to VGA! DG

You must set your computer to the FULL resolution and aspect ratio of the monitor - 1920x1200 - 16:10. Then all will be fine. DG

Barry, You are, basically, correct. It takes a VERY high standard of musicianship to construct a MIDI sequence and to make the listener even wonder - "Is that MIDI or is it real". DG

Alan, Have you checked you junk mail box? That's a common problem. DG

"Probably we will add "Export tracks to MP3" option to mix all tracks into one audio file. You will able choose both ways". That's good enough for me! DG

Hi Ken/Peter, Ken may have got it slightly wrong (or I have misunderstood his intention). I don't advocate the use of DVD for this application - I've never had satisfactory results this way. What I DO advocate is connecting a laptop (with HDMI output) to your TV and playing your 1920x1080 EXE file directly. Some have indicated that they have had good results using VGA connection. Having tried both I can definitely state that there is a clear difference between the two on my setup. Furthermore, when connected via VGA (on MY SONY setup) the TV limits the width you can use to something closer to 16:10 format. Black lines each side. Laptop - HDMI - 16:9 TV. It's the only way to go. I realise that this advice is of no use to anyone wanting to mail a DVD to a relative/friend. Peter didn't say what his intention was in that respect. DG

I find myself agreeing with Brian re: "I agree with Xaver and Peter on this proposal ~it wont work~ and I have forgotten how many times Ken and I have have remarked about those who come on the Forum with a problem ~get it fixed~ and we never hear from them again not even a acknowledgement nor a thanks. In comparison to those persons there are many Forum Members who appreciate the help given by others whether the problem is solved or not." I would like to offer an alternative under the conditions outlined by Brian. Give the thread a reasonable amount of time and if the OP doesn't get back the Administrator marks it "CLOSED". DG

Xaver, Speaking purely for myself, I have always had reservations about what is proposed by Igor regarding sound editing. We all know that multiple tracks CAN (but not always do) cause problems. The proposal encourages multiple tracks, UNLESS it is Igor's intention to mix the multiple tracks into one for the EXE? DG