kgoreilly

The PNGs originate from a very short blu-ray video clip. This was processed in Premiere Pro using Twixtor to create ultra slow motion video. I then used FFmpeg to extract all the frames. These were then processed using an 'action' in Photoshop to get the exact look I wanted. The resulting PNGs are pretty good quality. The trouble is when I tried compressing them there was really a big drop off in quality -visible banding and pixelation in the images. I know this workflow may seem odd, and if I had more than very little experience with Premiere Pro, I might be able to do everything directly in Premiere Pro. I just went with approaches I've used before. It doesn't help either that I'm only interested in art, rather than craft/technology as a thing in itself.

Just 30 minutes. A lot of it runs at 24 frames/sec like a video, hence the large number of PNGs.

Thanks for the replies. What threw me was the fact that it did create the 3.9GB *.exe, just with no sound. I have 8,000 PNG files which I've tried compressing but the quality loss was just too great.

Okay, so it's not safe over 2GB?

My version 7.0 user guide says..... "The resulting executable file can be up to 4 GB."

I have a show created with version 7.0. The *,exe file size is less than 4GB. There is sound in Preview and when I create HD video of show, but no sound when *,exe is created. I experimented with truncating the show. Once the file size gets down to about 2.2GB the sound works. This is not a question about how to get the file size down. I'm just puzzled about why there's no sound if I'm less than 4GB.

Yes, just as a very small point, I think it would be helpful if PTE could export a text file detailing the sequence of slides, timings, transitions, audio, zoom levels of video.....in fact the whole shebang. This would help in the rebuilding, and would be used in tandem with the zipped backup.

That's interesting I must check it out. Do you recommend creating an image of my machine from time to time? Or, should I just assume I would be able to get an image of a current machine in the future? It also occurred to me that I still use a CRT monitor, as the back lighting in flat screens ruins many of my very dark shows. The blacks just aren't black. I'm hoping OLED screens solve that particular problem.

I think you've stated it very well there. But, it still leaves me wondering about the precise nature of the risk with PTE files. Would it just take Wnsoft going out of business, and a new generation of video cards, to make life very difficult for us all?

Well that's my point. You would need an 8-Track machine to play it. So, just how hardware dependent are the PTE files? And if hardware built around Windows gives way to hardware built around something else, what then? You're joking......but, I'd be heart broken.

A few things. I'm not at all worried about the 'existence' of the files in the future. I think that can be covered by approaches like the 123 rule. And, I accept that video throws up the same issues, although I'd have more confidence in the long term viability of an AVI file than a PTE file, because Wnsoft is such a niche product. I am worried about the playability of the files. This is already an issue for me on my Macbook. It's an old one (I think OS X 10.5.8). The shows play but with the occasional glitches. I primarily work in a Windows environment, so it's no big deal. But this shows what could happen in the future. I know I could save a copy of Windows, and the PTE software, and there would be 'emulation' options available for sure, but could there be hardware differences which make it impossible to successfully play the PTE files in the future. Especially video card differences -if PTE accesses the video card directly is it not very dependent on the video card hardware specification (I'm probably showing my ignorance here). I'm not attempting here to exaggerate the risks, because I'd guess they're low enough, but I'm talking as someone who has spent very very considerable amounts of time over the past eight years making their work in this format. A small risk, but with huge (potentially catastrophic) consequences. I long ago concluded that PTE was much better to use than say Premiere Pro which I also use for certain jobs. And I've never managed to get better output than what I see from the PTE executable, so I need no persuading there. My point is solely about the long term playability of work.

I bought my first tablet before Christmas, and it occurred to me that it's just possible that one day Windows may not be around anymore. Then, I began to think of all the years work I've done using Picturestoexe. Holy S**t -will I even be able to play it at all? My sole motivation for using it in the first place was quality, so outputting everything to video is NOT an option. I know Mac output is now possible too, but let's think 50 years from now. I have made ZIP backups of all projects, and I suppose keeping a copy of the software would do no harm. And, I know the problem applies to all formats, but I think I might have been better off working in Video software from the start. I'd love to some reassurance.........

Thanks Aginum. Twixor might be just what I was looking for. I'm using Windows too, so Davegee's suggestion wouldn't work. It's intriguing really in terms of getting the best quality, but I wonder whether something very basic couldn't easily be implemented into PTE.

So, nobody has experience of using conversion software to change the speed of either their own video or film clips. I have been using VideoSpirit Pro to do this, but need a better quality conversion if possible. This is why I was thinking of something like Premiere Pro.

No, this is not my video, but film clips. Is Premiere a good way to make the speed conversion? AVS seems a bit daunting.