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I do not wish to offend anyone here on the forum, on the contrary I respect all your opinions and points of view but I am growing a little tired of the continuing degrading of one type, or all types of AVs, other than the particular style of AV Digital Image and Audio Presentation, (DIAP) that the protagonist makes. Lowering the standing of one will not increase the standing of the other. It just lowers the standing of the speaker. ALL styles of DIAPs are equally valid and if the author is happy with the result then it is successful, no matter the style and/or the content. Is it good or a work of art? Well the viewers will decide that not the creator. Unfortunately like all form of art there is a vast majority of DIAPs that fall into the category of “all-so-ran” this is just the way it is. While some DIAPs have appealing aesthetic qualities, most are simply documentary, (something the camera, music and DIAPs do well). They are not art, any more than the snaps we take on holidays or at family occasions are art. They hold little interest beyond the subject matter. A work of art is something of beauty, shock or intrigue for its own sake. It is open to us to enter the work and make our own story, it moves us emotionally equally with its beauty or its horror, this is called interpretation. In the wider world of AVs, (which include DIAPs); there are many competent technicians but only a handful of artists. Many imitators but only a tiny number of originators. A wise person once said “imitation is merely the tribute that mediocrity pays to genius”. So let us stop trying to promote one type of DIAP at another’s expense and except that the world is a very diverse place and all styles have their place and can sit equally side by side and be grateful for the few works that rise above the pack to become true art.

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As always a job very well done Igor and all the team at WnSoft. PTE just keeps getting better and better, a BIG thank-you to you all.

Silly me!! I was doing the right click on the thumbnail in Rons post and not on the view of the full image and wondering why I only got a 1.9K size image, so I did a screen-shoot instead. Time for an early night I think, (maybe some of that good whiskey first).

You are correct Ken there does appear to be a difference when I view the two images side by side. Originally I viewed Rons image in iExplorer, (as the screen-shoot shows), used Print Screen to copy, pasted into Paint, saved as a JPEG, then posted the image back in my original post. At some point it would appear that the contrast in the texture has increased, I suspect this was in the conversion from BMP to JPEG in paint. Here is the same thing done with Irfanview. I have just found that If you click on either image in my posts to view the screen-shoot at 100% the effect vanishes and the screen-shoot has the same texture as Rons original image.

My screen is set to 1280x960 and your image gives a small white border top, bottom and left with a larger white area on the right. I have attached a screen-shoot that I hope will show you the way your image is displayed Ron. When I centre the image the result is similar to that Ken obtained.

Barry I have seen many of the so called "Doom/Gloom/Despondency" AVs including the excellent prize winning "Bagnes III VN Prison" by Stephane Bidouze, (referred to by Pwear earlier in this thread) and which can be found here: http://www.bidouze.com/2.html but I have to say the show that has moved me as much as any, made me fell really sad/depressed in fact, is your very good "Black Country" the original version. I have shown it to a number of people, both photographers and non-photographers and most men aged in their late 50s on, who have some fond memory of past technologies have a similar reaction, the music plays a large part here. I don't Know if this was your intention or not with this show but it fits the "Doom/Gloom/Despondency" category for us and there is nothing wrong with that on the contrary thanks. How boring life would be if we only ate white bread everyday.

I am a little confused by your post Anthony. You/Your Photographic Society has spent some time and effort to setup an AV competition, your society members find digital AV a very new and exciting arena and I assume enter this competition, then invite a well-known AV judge, who will be a guest of the society. You attend the event and then you ask: I would have thought this was up to you as a member of the Photographic Society to endeavour to change things. Camera Clubs / Photographic Societies basically do as their members wish. At our club we have both exhibitions and competition mainly as a result of members not wishing to exhibit their work only in competitions.The judge opening the evening with remarks on how he sees judging and scoring and his wants and opinions, this is what I would expect from any competent judge. Apart from helping to educate, (an important part of the judging process), it also gives the audience an idea of the judges position and then his following comments can be seen though this. The judge is invited for his opinion not yours. You may except or reject it as you wish however it is just as valid. There are many different methods that can be used to approach the creation of an AV, the idea/conception, then the choice of music and finally to go and take the images is only one and should be seen as such. This is his method the one most commonly used in the professional area of AVs, (from my experience), certainly in the TV/Movie part of the AV world which he comes from. It is equally as valid as any other if it produces the desired result, just as all topics and styles of AV are. You appear to be guilty of the very thing you accuse the judge of.

Just what is a AV? Audio Visual Audio -- Sound. Visual -- Image. See Wikipedia at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_visual "works with both a sound and a visual component" Others I have seen -- * Both audible and visible. * relating to materials, such as films and tape recordings, that present information in audible and pictorial form. * An aid, other than printed matter, that uses sight or sound to present information. * Audio Visual combines visual input such as video or 35mm slides with sound to convey information. So movies, cartoons, someone giving a Power-Point presentation, TV shows, computer based training, presentation of research work. many forms of entertainment, and so on can all be considered Audio Visuals. We work in a very narrow part of the Audio Visual spectrum with our photographs and sound recordings combining to make a PTE presentation as, (mostly but not only), entertainment. For sometime now I have wondered if we need a better name for our hobby/art/work/indulgence/pastime. I have seen some Camera Clubs and exhibitions outside the camera club world that still have Tape-Slide exhibitions and/or competitions and there is not a single slide or tape used in them. There are so-called AV exhibitions and/or competitions but don't allow any video entries. Tape-Slide show was far more descriptive for that type of presentation, however now with the digital shows we make, AV would appear to be a comparatively poor, (although broadly correct), description of what we do. Comments anyone?

I have been watching this thread with a lot of interest and have restrained myself from commenting until now but can't be silent any longer. Barry I am glad you know what your critic said because it makes no sense to me. If they had said --- "Don't pass off pictures and music as GOOD AV" "Don't pass off YOUR pictures and music as AV" "Don't pass off pictures and music as ALL AN AV CAN BE" "Don't pass off JUST ANY pictures and music as AV" "Don't pass off pictures and music ALONE as AV" and so on and on and on. I may not agree with their comment but would have some idea of where they were coming from. As the comment stands almost anything can be read into it, (and has been here), so I would have put it in the round filing cabinet in the corner of the room and not given it any more thought. However this starts another line of thought which may need to be a new thread. Just what is a AV? Audio Visual Yes I think I will start a new thread on this topic.

LOL Yachtsman1

I fully agree with this point. Your dynamic model is a very well thought-out proposal Jean-Claude, and I would certainly like to see the O&A screen developed in this direction. Thank-you for the time and thought you have put into this.

Thanks Dom for that explanation and Mary for your question. You have cleared up something in v5.5 that I also have been wondering about.

Your images are very good considering the ISO used. May I ask Mark if they are as from the camera or have you worked on them very much? Liked the show, music added to the mood very well. Thanks for letting us look at your show.

I have just loaded RC1 and the problem with selecting key-points in the timeline has indeed been fixed, as always a big thank-you Igor, it was driving me crazy trying to make fine adjustments. I had neglected to tell you I was working with Auto Scroll. Style 2 selected, (my default choice). There is no issue with me as far as the position of the position cursor, either right after transition effect or before. That was never part of my problem.

I've been shooting with Canon digital SLRs for sometime and currently have a 350D. AVs are my main product with some prints, A3 to A4 in size. I shoot in RAW for everything but "record" shoots and then I shoot in both and usually delete the RAW if I think I don't need them. My better half has a Canon S70 which I borrow when I want something I can slip into a pocket. It has almost all the options the 350D has but where the SLR wins is lens quality. Also I have been privileged to have a wonderful Canon 40D on lend for some weeks now and will definitely be moving to the next upgrade, (Canon 45D or 50D), which is not to far away, (I have been told before the end of the year). As others have said-- All very true, and remember to enjoy your photography.

A few screen-shoots to hopefully illustrate the problem. Scenario A. I wish to select slide No7 (to7) and adjust it to the 17 second point. (see - A Start). The mouse pointer is placed over "to7" and the left button operated resulting in the second screen-shoot where the timeline display has repositioned and the slide is no-longer under the mouse. (see - A Click) Problem 1. I can release the mouse, move to the slide and make the adjustment however this is a double operation to perform a very basic operation, one we do many, many times in building a show. Problem 2. If I move the mouse, (still holding the button pressed), the result is the slide is now moved out of position as shown in the third screen-shoot. (see - A Move) problem 3. Scenario B. I wish to select slide No7 (to7) and adjust it to the 10 second point. (see - B Start)) The mouse pointer is placed over "to7" again and the left button operated resulting in the second screen-shoot where the timeline display has repositioned and the 10 second point is no-longer visible on the screen, thus removing from view the timing relationship. (see - B Select) Problem 4. There are a number of other scenarios where the timeline display jumping around will cause operational problems for the user. I have only illustrated 2 here. The timeline display needs to function as it did in v5.1.

Peter, I beg to differ. If you left click, (select), a slide on the "to XX" tab and hold the button down, (which is what I have been doing), the slides position stays in the correct relationship to other slides but the position in the display jumps to the centre of the display where the position marker is. I understand that the position marker now appears at the end of the transition for the slide that I have selected, that is not the issue. If you try this on a slide well to the left or right of centre of the timeline display, (somewhere in the middle of the show with some zoom in on the timeline and the audio track displayed), you will see the problem. It is as I described earlier, in v5.5 the selected slide jumps to the position marker, which remains in the centre of the timeline display, in v5.1 the position marker, (blue vertical arrow), moved to the selected slide. On your other point I agree this would be desirable.

I have been working in the timeline view matching a number of slides to a complex audio track which needs very precise timing. The way the screen is now setup with the preview, timeline, etc is much improved, thank you Igor for this big improvement in PTE. However there is a very annoying features in the timeline that was not in v5.1 but has appeared in v5.5 that I am hoping that you can do something about. When selecting a slide with the left mouse button, (on the "To XX" symbol), with the intention of holding the button down and moving the slides position the timeline will jump to reposition the selected slide in the middle of the timeline display thus I then have to reposition the mouse pointer and select the slide again to move it. This is very frustration when making small, precise adjustments to the slides position or when doing a lot of reposition of slides to match audio changes or when rearranging the slide order in the timeline. As the level of zoom is increased in the timeline view this becomes even more frustrating. Perhaps this auto repositioning of the timeline display may be of use in some situations, (I haven't found a use yet where this is the case), so if you don't wish to remove the repositioning function in the timeline, (back to how the timeline functioned in v5.1 when a slide is selected), could we have a button or menu option to turn it off/on as required please? **EDIT -- 1022Hrs. After a little more testing and comparison of the difference in function in v5.1/v5.5 it would appear in v5.1 the preview position marker, (blue vertical arrow), moved to the selected slide. In v5.5 the selected slide jumps to the position marker, which remains in the centre of the timeline display. The v5.1 functionally is much easier to work with.

All OK with me. No malicious infections of any kind. Think it's a false reading Jim. Glad to hear your health is on the mend Bart.

What is the make and model of your DVD-Burner Peter? Also which beta are you using, if not the latest, (beta v11), download it and try.

I would like to echo all the positive comments posted above, this show is one of the best I have seen, well done Phil. The effect is stunning, I will be using it sometime in the future and your images are also superb. You do indeed live in a beautiful part of the world. One very tiny point, if I may, on the image of the wave breaking on a breakwater, (about 1min 20sec into the AV). There is, (I think), two birds in the sky above the wave and with the painting effect they appear to be dust spots rather than birds. The image would benefit if they were removed. Thanks for sharing a great AV with us Phil. Our camera club is having an AV workshop next month and I would like to show your AV as an example of what can be achieved if that would be OK with you?

Igor/Peter/Everyone, The user should be able to nominate the folder that the auto-save file is saved to. I too am concerned if the auto-saves has destroyed my original start point as Peter believes. Igor, also is the history destroyed when the auto-save is done? I too would like an answer to these questions.Thanks for this useful addition to PTE, I'm sure when we know how it works we all will appreciate your work adding this function.

Just install PTE to your new PC then move the key file from your old PC to the new one. This is the file you created from the original email you received when you first purchased PTE. Run the new PTE and all will be well. Keep an eye on this forum as PTE v5.5 final release is not too far away, (or you can install the working beta now, it's very stable). You don't need to purchase PTE again as you have a lifetime upgrade on PTE standard. The PTE deluxe version upgrades are available for 2 years after purchase. Welcome to the world of PTE A-Vs and the user forum CGE, you will find lots of friendly help and advice here. This forum is a great source for advice, guidance and ideas. The sense of community helps make working with PTE more creative and pleasurable.

Potwnc, the pixel size is now shown in the "status bar", (left of centre in the status bar), and is updated as the images are previewed in the mini player.