Peter S

Hi Peter, Yes that is exactly what I mean. It is quite easy to do in Audition. I have not used audacity for some time but a google search soon provided a solution to do the same in Audacity see below. There may be something that has an effect when these files are used on a Mac but I have no idea why that would be the case. They are mp3 files and they work fine on my PC. If you want to have a go using audacity have a look at this: http://www.brynmawr.edu/llc/help/multimedia/RecordStreamingAudioAsMP3.htm Kind regards Peter

Yes. Let's hope you're right Peter. I have tried several more audio files and it does seem that those recorded from web sites using audition create problems on the Mac although they are fine on a PC. I tested a show for which I recorded a voice over using Audition and that was OK on both platforms so just a few particular files that will not work as yet. It will be interesting to see if anyone else has a similar difficulty. Kind regards Peter

In another post Bill wrote: I tried using 3 other pieces of music to replace my original piece. The show worked fine on both PC and Mac using the 3 separate music files. I then joined all 3 files together in Audition and the show worked just as well on both PC and Mac. So it seems as if the problem may not have been the fact that Bill used 3 pieces but that the music file changed in some way. I don't know enough about the music files to understand what might be happening. Any thoughts Bill? There seems to be a problem with some particular music files but so far I can find no common cause. My original problem was using a piece of music I recorded from a web page using Audition on the PC but I think the 3 replacement pieces were done in a similar way. This maybe something that only Igor or Dmitry can resolve. It is quite frustrating as it means trying different pieces of music, creating the Mac files and then copying them across and just hoping it works. If it doesn't start again with some other music. Kind regards Peter

I don't currently have Audacity on my PC but Audition should do as good a job if not a better one. I tried converting the original wav using nero encoder but that still resulted in a very slow version of the music. Kind regards Peter

I have recently made three sequences 2 very short ones and the third just over 3 minutes. I added sound files to each one. On the PC all play perfectly. On the Mac one of the short ones works OK the other two the music seems to play at a very slow speed. All music files are MP3 produced from Adobe Audition. I was careful to ensure they are NOT MP3Pro. If I put the music files on the Mac on their own they play perfectly so it is not a problem with the music file itself. I have tried removing the music and putting it back but so far that has not worked. I feel sure there is a bug somewhere in the conversion. Can anyone help please? Kind regards Peter

Has anyone tried using crossover 7 to run PTE? There is a forum for the Codewaevers web site but I could find nothing on PTE. It seems a relatively cheap option but back in 2008 Macworld did not rate it that highly. Kind regards Peter

I guess I need to read things more carefully! As I understand it Alpha testing is done by users on the developers system. Is that correct? If so I am more than happy to help in this testing. An explanation of how the process actually works would however be interesting as it is not something I have done before. Kind regards Peter

Hi Igor, Please include me on your list of beta testers for the Mac version. I am delighted to hear that you are already making good progress and look forward to testing the first beta. Kind regards Peter

Hi Jean-Pierre, You said in an earlier post "it's only the demonstration of what we can do with a tool I am finishing and that everybody will be abble to use to do such slideshow. I think it will be ready in a month, for free, of course." Did you make the tool you refer to available on the PTE forum? The show was amazing and it would be very interesting to try to do something similar. Kind regards Peter

Sorry Gary, I misunderstood. I thought you wanted to get rid of the black bars. I hate them and assumed you did too! Peter

Try using images 2200 x 1240, Project Options set to 2200 x 1240, tick fixed size in pixels. This is still 16:9 and is the only way I have found to completely fill the screen of my 1920 x 1080 Sony TV. It may work for you. I can see no logical reason for this working but it does and 1920 x 1080 does not. Kind regards Peter

I'm a bit late on picking up on this but great news Igor. I am particularly keen to see the first beta of the Mac version. The sound editing possibilities look really good although I am quite happy using Audition when needed. Kind regards Peter

I have run some tests and I find the results very surprising. The tests may help someone and perhaps someone else may be able to provide an explanation. It seems to me that VideoBuilder behaves in strange and mysterious ways. I made several short sequences using exactly sized rectangular slides with coloured borders and large circles in the centre. I burned these as DVD Video Discs using various settings. My PC has a 1280 x 1024 display and my TV is a Sony 16:9 I find it difficult to believe but this is what works to get an undistorted full screen show on the TV. Size of slide 1920 x 1080 - no surprise there. Project Options Aspect ratio 5:4 (matches my PC screen) Why??? Fixed size of slide in pixels Ticked. Video Builder options TV system PAL/SECAM Menu aspect ration 16:9 TV screen aspect ratio 16:9 Other settings I think I only changed Video type to Progressive but they are: Bitrate 7000 Video type Progressive There was no audio The circles stayed circular on the Wide screen setting on the TV. I lost 40px top and bottom and 80px from each side. Other screen settings such as zoom distort the circles. Kind regards Peter

I am not sure what your out of the box comment is intended to convey but it does not really get us much further. What do you actually do? If I burn a 16:9 PTE show to a DVD using Video Builder I do NOT get a DVD that fills my 16:9 screen when I play it on my TV through a DVD player. Do you? How does the quality compare with the same show played through a lap top using an HDMI connection? Peter

Hi Dave, I agree that connecting a PC or Mac to the TV using HDMI is the best solution and I have done this successfully. I appreciate that the DVD will not produce the same definition but was looking to see if there is a "reasonable" solution to sending DVDs to other people. It seems a shame to have the option available but not to be able to get at least a reasonable quality DVD that can be passed around. Ken, I am afraid that the links you provided don't really answer the question. I cannot find the thread that discussed this topic in 2006 but Hawk published a step by step guide as to how to use Nero to make a DVD and I thought that was for a 16:9 HD TV but my memory is as old as I am and may be failing. Is the conclusion "It is really not that worthwhile to make DVDs? Peter

Back in 2006 there were some interesting discussions on how to produce AVI files which could be burned onto a DVD using Nero. I learned quite a bit from other forum members at the time. Although I had some reasonable results I did not have an HD TV and have not pursued this since. I have just started looking at this again (having bought a 40" Sony) and would appreciate some guidance. Simply burning a DVD Video Disc from various differently sized slides ranging from 1920 x 1200 to 1024 x 768 sized files throws up some interesting resizing effects when viewed on the TV. Can anyone please tell me what the latest advice using PTE 6.0 is to get a DVD that will play full screen on the TV. Many thanks Peter

If you really do not want to circulate exe files you can always turn your material into DVDs. You will not get the same picture quality but you and the users of your material will avoid the "exe risk". Kind regards Peter

Rob, If you have installed Snow Leopard that may be the cause of your problem. Perhaps Igor or Dmitry could confirm if this is likely? It would also be helpful if any Mac users who have installed Snow Leopard could say if they have been able to run their shows or not. Snow Leopard does seem to create quite a few problems with certain software. I have been told by Adobe that they recommend complete clean re-installation from original discs for their software after installing SL. Check around other forums before you decide to install SL if you have not already done so. Kind regards Peter

I always keep my Mac software up to date so that is not an issue but I gave up and ran it on my PC! Good stuff thanks Lin. On the subject of MP4 I just came across an MP4 file I made of a slide show and it runs in QuickTime on my Mac and on my PC BUT.... I can't remember how I made the MP4 file in the first place. Can anyone tell me how to do this please? Kind regards Peter

Dave, You are quite right. I made it to match my PC resolution 1280 x 1024. Now I have grasped the resizing concept I will be able to do better in future. Peter

This problem has now been sorted by Dmitry. Mac Versions made with the later versions of PTE work perfectly in mirrored mode. I found no difference using HDMI or VGA connections as far as this particular topic is concerned. I found that I had to use PC rather than HDMI etc to get the show full screen on the TV. Kind regards Peter

Hi Henri, I tried playing Lin's tutorial on my Mac using Quicktime and got a message saying additional software is required. I got sound but no vision. Luckily it ran OK on my PC. Have you downloaded any Quicktime plug ins? Kind regards Peter

Andy, I am not sure I have understood your problem. You can create your PTE slide show with the music synchronised to the show. If you then crete the show for the Mac it is identical to the PC version and the music/commentary whatever will play in exactly the same way as it did on the PC. Can you describe in more detail exactly what you are trying to achieve? Are you using a programme in addition to PTE on your PC? If so what and how does that integrate with PTE? Kind regards Peter

Well, I have an answer BUT.... I am still no wiser as to why everything except the PTE Mac viewer works perfectly well with Mirroring switched on. Still I am happy to wait and see how the release version caters for this. The same show ran perfectly well when I connected the MacBook to a projector and in my blissful state of ignorance I thought the TV would be just the same!

Hi Andy, Why do you want to use Keynote to run the slideshow? It will run itself on the Mac without any other programme, just as the PTE exe file runs on your PC. see http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=10357&view=&hl=&fromsearch=1 Kind regards Peter