davegee

The poor pixels won't know if they are coming or going!! Not for me, thanks, DaveG

When you are taking images to be used in a panorama they need to be overlapping by a considerable amount i.e. 25% or more so the resulting panorama after stitching 3 (768 high) images together is likely to be around 1300x768 - bearing in mind that when shooting for panoramas portrait format is the best option and gives best results. The stitching would be done at a higher resolution and resized later. To obtain a succesful 3000 pixel wide panorama (768 high) you probably need to shoot something like 8 images with a 25% (or more) overlap in portrait format. Don't use too wide an angle lens - 35mm to 50mm works quite well and I have had success using this setup with up to 18 images. Tripod or monopod is strongly advised but is not essential. Use manual focus, manual exposure and manual AWB to avoid wide variations between images. PTGUI is my prefered stitching software but I've have good results with CS3's built in stitching application. Good luck, DaveG

Ray, If I understand you correctly, that means - "short, fat people"? Or, are you suggesting that the original 1920x1080 images should be squashed to 4:3 and then opened up by applying the 1.33 pixel aspect ratio? DaveG

It should be a "reg.txt" file and all that you need to do is put it in the PTE folder in Program Files and when asked for it, just direct to the PTE folder - don't open it. Are you trying to load a Videobuilder key? DaveG

Scorpion, Good advice. All that's necessary to prove the point is the put two jpegs from the same source image into a PTE show - firstly in RGB mode and then after converting the profile to sRGB (or vice versa). DaveG

Hi Ray, "It is common to use 16:9 images (e.g. 1920x1080 pixels) and produce a 1440x1080 video with a pixel aspect ratio of 1:1.33. Then the player will play the 4:3 video with a 16:9 appearance, which will preserve the aspect ratio of the original images so that it will look just as you intended". What does "with a pixel aspect ratio of 1:1.33" mean? DaveG

It is only natives of Yorkshire, BBC writers and Richard Llewellyn who would say: Not a bad attempt, "look you", at some Yorkshire dialect by an inhabitant of Wales. Well done! DaveG

Eric, If you type some text into O&A then go to Properties you can outline the text font and use your up and down arrows on't' keyboard to step through the different fonts and see how they look on the screen in real time. I find that this is a good enough procedure - would you agree? DaveG

Daniel, In the "Virtual Size of Slide" put 1920x1080 and you will maintain the 16:9 Aspect Ratio instead of "Custom". Your height will be the same - 1080 - and your 4:3 images (Fit To Slide) will fit to the height of your 1920x1080 project. DaveG

Daniel, "My slideshow test : pictures sized to 1440x1080px, slideshow aspect format specified as 4/3. I created a mp4 file hd 1920x1080 medium quality" What happens if the slide show aspect ratio is set to 16:9? You should see the black lines each side of the 4:3 image when the EXE is played back. The 16:9 HD video should also then be the same. DaveG

Ray, I think that it goes without saying that you MUST be able to play it back in real time on the PC / Laptop BEFORE even trying to connect with any kind of LCD TV! However, all other things being equal the EXE is going to better than the HD Video file made from it. If you have to reduce the size of the images to get the EXE to play on a PC Laptop so be it. When you then come to play it on the TV the quality of the EXE is still going to be better than the HD Video file made from the PTE project. and it is more likely to be free of stuttering etc. Playing back a reduced resolution EXE on a HD TV and making it fill the screen is UPSCALING and is not for me. My 26" TV is 1360x768 and I have no problems with this resolution. My desktop monitor is 1920x1200 and my system allows for a reasonable degree of PZR with images of 1920x1200 or greater with no glitches or stuttering. DaveG

Ken, To get SKY Digital Satelite TV over here costs an average of around £20 per month. If you want films and sport it's extra. In either case it is literaly hundreds of channels, some of doubtful value, an awful lot of repeats and all of the available radio channels. HD is extra again (£10) for a limited number of HD channels. You could pay around £50 per month for a package which includes HD. On top of that we still pay an annual TV license fee. FREEVIEW is Digital TV via aerial - a limited number of channels - all you need is a converter for a one off price or a TV with built in tuner. Not all areas currently have Freeview. DaveG

Thanks Ken, I found this site - but he seems to be as confused as the people he is trying to "help"? http://hdtvprofessor.com/ Interesting times ahead? DaveG

Lin, Regarding the impending changeover to Digital it sounds as though you will be going through the same process as we went through some years ago. Initially, although we had "digital" TV it was (and still is) in PAL - 768x576 - format. The PAL picture is then upscaled to whatever resolution the TV is. HD TV arrived fairly recently and more money and a different reciever is required. My understanding is that even though it is being promotoed as HD and that a 1080p compatible TV is required the incoming signal is only 720p. I don't have an HD contract so I don't have first hand experience. If you know in any more detail what you will be getting (when it happens) it would be interesting to to know: First - What they are promising Second - What they deliver Going back to Jeff's original post - the ULTIMATE quality is achieved by playing a PTE EXE file via a HDMI connection to an LCD TV where the resolution of the PTE EXE equals the resolution of the TV. ANYTHING else is second best. DaveG

I think that AbdolReza's original reasoning was to do with file size and on that basis he has an argument. HOWEVER, the problems arising out of the use of MIDI far outweigh the advantages. I, too, as previously stated agree with Igor - it is not required and is not desirable. DaveG

Things are moving rapidly. Here's a link to a current model in the Pioneer range: http://www.pioneer.co.uk/uk/products/42/12...HX-K/specs.html It connects to a USB device and enables you to copy to the hard disc. MPEG4 (or DivX) is supported. DaveG Further info: If anyone is interested the Makers Manual is available here: http://www.service.pioneer-eur.com/peeserv...lnr=DVR-560HX-K It seems to be capable of playing DivX files at up to 1920x1080 when connected via HDMI to a HD TV. DivX files can be loaded to the HDD from any USB device.

Lin, I suspect that you have misunderstood. Jeff's Pioneer unit is a HDD (Hard Disc Drive)/DVD Recorder which will not "talk" to his computer. These units are used to record TV programmes and replay or dub (copy) to DVDs. They are "peculiar" in that, for instance, a similar Sony unit will not dub (copy) Panasonic made DVDs and vice versa. Both will play the others DVDs but neither will copy the others DVDs to the HDD for editing or storage. Also, neither will copy computer made DVDs to the HDD. If you want to copy material from another makers DVD or a computer generated DVD you have to enter the analogue domain. There is no input for computer. Only Jeff can tell us if the same thing applies to the Pioneer. The Western Digital and Iomega Media Players which have been spoken about in other threads at this forum would possibly be an alternative for Jeff. However, I have not seen the quality of either product for myself. DaveG

Lin, Please elaborate on the very last sentence? I don't quite understand what you said there. DaveG

Lin, Whether it be computing power or frame rate the facts appear to be that HD Video at 1920x1080 USING ALL OF THE AVAILABLE FEATURES OF PTE WITHOUT RESTRICTION is just not possible for everyone at this time? PTE EXE files provide that capability and when routed properly from computer to TV provide the ultimate viewing experience at this time. That was the point I was trying to make to Jeff. DaveG

Lin, Didn't your recent tests tend to prove that, whilst it is possible to make HD Video in PTE, the PZR effects take their toll on the available computing power to produce stuttering etc? In order to make a 1920x1080 HD Video you need to be able to use 1920x1080 images and if you cannot then use PZR effects as required then what is the point? I've no doubt that in future when we all have machines which are 10 - 20 times as powerful then it will be possible, but Sony etc will by that time have invented SUPER ULTRA HD requiring even more computing power! DaveG

500ms is almost no dissolve! If your slide time is that close to your transition time it's likely that you are going to run into trouble. Look at the timeline at the point where the problem occurs - it's possible that, for some reason, the transition time is longer than the slide time? DaveG

Jeff, It would help to know which Pioneer unit you have? I just looked at the Pioneer range and the top of line unit features 1080 SCALING which is not the same thing. I think this means that your PAL recordings are scaled up to 1080 size. There was no mention at all of BluRay - just the "normal" DVD playing. It this stage in the game I believe the only viable way is to play your 1920x1080 EXE files from a suitably (HDMI) equipped laptop to your TV. I have been doing this for the last 9 months or so and the quality exceeds all other methods. DaveG

The way I look at this and other suggestions is that I would hate to see the developers wasting precious time on what I see as "frivolous" requests at the expense of more meaningful improvements to the basic PTE program. It might be a time for re-grouping, consolidating and making what we already have more intuitive rather than adding bells and whistles which will appeal to only a minority. A "POLL" might be warranted, but remember guys - a poll, like an election, is only meaningful if EVERYONE takes part. DaveG

Barbara, I have just looked at Igor's Demo and the only use of masks is on the text elements of slides one and three. The rest is down to transition effects. DaveG

Hi all, There is a link to Lin's MASKTUTORIAL in this thread: http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index....hl=masktutorial Happy Boxing Day, DaveG