SheilaG

Personally, I've always been very happy with this programme and what I've always thoought of as a more than fair and honest approach to its customers. This new structure doesn't change my opinion. As I understand it, PtoE is honouring its promises to those of us who bought the product years or even just days ago. I think that should be appreciated. We don't have the right to demand more. Nothing stands still and companies have to grow or die. It's a harsh but unfortunate reality. Even worse, the smaller but succesful companies get gobbled up by the greedy giants. Let's be grateful that the PtoE we all love will, hopefully, retain that 'family feel' that it seems to have at present. Igor and his team have my very good wishes for all that they want to achieve. I for one will be staying firmly on board. Regards, Sheila G

Hi, Just a thought ............ have you tried off-setting the start of the video and having the video at zero opacity for the transition period? You could then bring the video to full opcacity, for its start time, as the transition is completed. Obviously, this would require an appropriate background 'still' to be visible behind the outgoing slide during the transition time. Regards, Sheila G

HI, Thanks for your feedback which, as ever, is valid and welcome as personal opinions for me to take on board and think about. ContaxMan ........... The 'shimmer' on the stills, which I admit I don't like either, is only apparent on the Youtube upload and not on the exe file when I view the AV. I'm still not convinced by the use of the stills in that sequence but wanted to bring in the excitement of the moment as they dragged the rushcart round the corner. I will be taking it to a club evaluation next week so I'm hoping for some useful feedback that evening. Mickp ...... Thanks for your feedback, which I have taken on board. However, please forgive me, but your own preferred way of constructing an AV is not really for me, although I'm only too happy to accept your personal right to like or dislike my own sequences. Incidentally, I would love to be in the happy postition of being able to buy a decent video camera but that isn't an option for me. Regards, Sheila G

HI Colin, I enjoyed that sequence .............. it was great to see some pictures of Liverpool when it was still 'booming'. For me, presenting the cards against the album-cover background kept them in context and gave a sense of continuity to the images. Your choices for the final couple of postcards were good, leading us nicely into the closing frames of the sequence. Being able to use the space-bar to stop the sequence and examine selected images more closely was a bonus. Regards, Sheila G

Hi Everyone, My latest AV sequence is an update of one I made earlier this year. In this one I've included a couple of video clips and also changed the background soundtrack to one I recorded myself, at this year's festival. The video camera that I have is only relatively low spec so at 100% the display is significantly smaller that our screen sizes. I've tried to include them within appropriate frames without zooming and lowering their quality stil further. Also, where the movement was too fast for the camera to capture it properly, I've introduced appropriate 'stills'. The stills were taken from the video and then put through a 'painterly' filter in Photoshop. I then re-introduced them into the video at approximately one frame per second. It works for me because I feel it captures the mood but accept that it might not work for everyone!! I've saved a .exe file to Dropbox and, as some people seem to have problems opening .exe files, I've uploaded a version to YouTube Hope you like it, Sheila G Runtime : 5min 35secs Ratio:16:10 Projection: 1680 x 1050 File size 87MB Download from Dropbox HERE Watch on YouTube

Hi John, My '2 penn'th' for what it's worth !! Neither right nor wrong, just my own opinions. I enjoyed this sequence .......... I liked the ideas, the mood, the pictures and the choice of music. I think you chose the photographs well, making good use of limited depth of field to isolate some of the plants. There were no jarring additions that didn't 'fit' (for example a building suddenly appearing or an unexpected and unnecessary long-shot). The length was good ........ not too long, and the gentle, light mood of the music suited the images. I liked the introduction of other images into the main image .......... sometimes it worked really well, other times it was not as 'comfortable'. You could try creating really soft fades in the opacity around them so that they aren't obviously insets; make sure the colours blend together, or are harmonious, where the 'fade' occurs. There is nothing wrong with adding 'bits' to a slide ........... you just have to make sure that if it's supposed to actually be there then the viewer can't tell it's been added. Not the easiest thing ....... shadows, positioning, relative size, angle of capture, habitat if in nature, etc., etc., all have to be taken into consideration. The caterpillar was definitely not convincing! These things didn't spoil the enjoyment ......... just niggles. No matter how good you are there will always be 'bits' that someone, rightly or wrongly, thinks should be done differently. Always ........... take on board opinions that you can agree with and discard the others! Creativity should never be constrained in a mould! And have fun! Sheila

Hi Jan, The kittens were definitely cute .......... I think they're going to be quite a handful as they grow!! They were a good subject for a beginner to video, such as I am ........... all I had to do was sit on a chair and keep the camera turned in their direction. At the least I got some video clips that I could enjoy watching whilst I learned how to use the editing software. Regards, Sheila

Hi John, I'm glad you enjoyed the sequence. Feel free to take any ideas, from my AVs, that appeal to you ............ nothing is ever completely new!! Regards, Sheila

Hi John, This sequence had lots of appeal for me. I thought you made a really interesting AV out of the installation. It nudged me to 'google' the artist to find out more, as well!! The choice of music was perfect. Regards, Sheila

Hi Barry, Your AVs never disappoint. The concept of the 'living fossils' grabs us and takes us into the fabulous landscape, that exists without human intervention, and gives us a 'background thought' against which to see the images. The little bit of gentle panning and zoom also adds to that feeling of timelessness. I've never been able to look at a fern or a crocodile without being reminded of how 'young' mankind truly is. Hope you can tell that I liked the sequence!! I'm a member of 2 photographic clubs, and a small AV group, within the L&CPU in England. Through that involvement I go to a number of inter-club competitions and look at many salon acceptances on cds and their websites. In other words, I see an awful lot of REALLY good photography and yours is up there with the best for quality of composition, capture in camera and editing afterwards. And getting to AVs ....... I've probably looked at most of yours from your website and, even when the subject material wasn't of particular interest to myself, recognised the attention to detail, that you always bring to your sequences, which makes them so worth watching. I already include your website on a list of useful links that I have on some 'How to ....' downloads that I have on my own website and I will happily add a link from my Links page. I will also add one from my club's website links page. (in fact - DONE!) Regards, Sheila ps ..............I liked the choice of music, as well!

Hi Barry, I didn't realise the point about ratio and pixel size being separated in the Project Options had already been raised! This fact bothers me because it's in the settings that we decide upon what we want as we start a project. It's all too easy, more so for someone new to making sequences, to enter a value for one of the settings and, not realising that the other will change automatically, actually find that the final result, when projected or played back, is not quite what they expected. The position of the buttons doesn't bother me ................ I don't work speedily (!!) so the second taken to check their position isn't a problem for me. Regards, Sheila G

Hi, I find that in the 'new' Project Options, the box to set the 'aspect ratio' has moved to the Main tab and the box to specify the 'virtual pixel size' has stayed on the Screen tab. I much preferred it when the two were together and I could set my ratio and pixel size at the same time and make sure that they were compatible without toggling between the two tabs. I suppose that there must have been a good reason for the change but is there any possibility that they could go back to being on the same tab, please? Regards, Sheila G

Hi Dave, It seemed (and still seems) easier to learn how to use Premiere for the editing when there is so much cutting, pasting, fading, transitions, adding stills and only using a tiny part of the audio. I work with what I find most comfortable. Sheila

Hi Ken, I loved it!! Talk about putting your head in the lion's mouth!! I've sent the link to Laura (owner of the kittens) ........... I don't think she'll be getting a pitbull, though! Her flat's not big enough!! Glad you liked my own first attempt. Sheila

Hi Everyone, My first AV with some added video! I can't quite believe how long it took me to make this sequence! Firstly, I had to learn how to use the video camera (borrowed from my son) and then try to remember that it's the subject that moves, not the camera! Next I had to edit the clips (in software that seemed totally alien!) and make something reasonable that wasn't an enormous file. I shall be the first to admit that my video editing skills still have an awfully long way to go ......... but I shall keep practising! This is it, then! 'CATS!' I hope you enjoy it. Sheila G Run time: 3m 20s File size: 66MB Aspect ratio: 16:10 Download HERE