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Dom, I too have had problems trying to achieve this in the past, finally I admitted defeat and used a map scan. If you have some success I also would be very interested in the method you use.

Andrew, Wonderful final production, I will show it to my camera club later this month and give you some feedback that may be useful for you, thanks for the AV. One point that I had not intended to bring to your attention but when I read you were intending to adjust the timing I thought I would. Concerning the point where you change music tracks in the audio, it is best to have a change in the images also at this point and I noticed in your final production you have hit this point beautifully with a transition from exterior to interior images precisely with the change in the audio track, not sure if you intended this but well done. If you adjust the timing further please keep this in mind and select a suitable change in the image sequence to match the audio change..

Andrew. That's quite a question Andrew, and to assume we know what we are doing, well...... Once I have the concept for the AV settled in my mind and I have the images ready, (correct format, resolution, colour, exposure correct, boarders and other effects done), titles done and the sound-track prepared I can usual produce a 50-60 image AV with PTE in an evening, (3-4 hours), to my satisfaction. The three main building blocks, concept, images and audio can each take days, weeks, even months to prepare. Concept- This can involve a flash of ideas and the whole show will appear in my mind in a few seconds, (often stimulated by some music), and other times, more often the case, I will spend many hours/days preparing a script even resorting to a sequence of story-boards at times. I usually carry several ideas for partly developed AVs in my mind and they evolve over months/years. Images- These may already be at hand, from a trip or taken over some time on a theme that is close to me, (family, hobby, special interest, favourite location near home and so on), or may need to be taken once the concept is established. The amount of work required in Photoshop can also vary enormously. Currently I am working on a AV made from 45 very old range-finder colour negatives. It has involved more than 60 hours to scan, cleanup, correct colour, fading, exposure etc in Photoshop and I haven't finished yet. Audio- Sometimes this will come first for me about 40% of the time, sometimes last 10% of the time and the other 50% it will evolve as the AV develops. If it is relatively simple I can have it ready in a few hours but if more complex, (usually the case), I may spend days recording and then preparing the tracks in my sound editor. Then there may be many frustrating hours going to and fro between the sound editor and PTE adjusting timing, changing the mix when I change the images and so on. So to answer your question Andrew -- Concept -- time unknown, Images -- time unknown, Audio -- time unknown, Production -- hopefully one or two evenings.

Andrew, I came back here to tell you about the space between April and 1940 but Maureen has beat me to it, great. You must be very close to the final production of what I'm sure for you has become an epic. I would like to second Colin in congratulating you on how you have excepted the suggestions you asked for. Also I think my camera club would appreciate, (enjoy is not the correct description), the AV when you have it completed, like Colin I too would like to show it there if possible.

No pressure Andrew!! Follow Lennarts suggestions above and you have a winner regardless of the club results. PS Here is a quick shot of the improvement made by moving the second line of text to the center on the Gas Chamber image.

Andrew, You have improved the show with the use of the image inserts and the end titles work well. I also think the pace is better overall. However there are still a number of typing errors in the introduction, (mainly spaces needed between words), also Kens point on the comma instead of a dash in gas-shootings is still there. I was not able to stop the AV to list the errors for you, and I agree with Patrick the introduction is a little quick. The sign over the gate is still hard to read but that is your choice. One more thing the second line of the caption on the gas chambers needs to be centred. These may appear to be small things but are the sort of points a club judge will seizes upon in club competition which you have indicated you will submit this show to. All in all your well on your way, well done.

Here is a very rough ides Andrew, not meant to be the way you should go but just a quick demo. Select text then fill with colour of your choice and adjust the opacity then use layer style to add texture etc.

Andrew, You may be able to bring the gate title out more with a little work in Photoshop, I think it would be worth the effort. Or if carefully done even overlaying text in the same position as the text on the sign may be a useful effect as part of the opening title. Will you post the final show when you are finished working on it as I would like to see it?

Andrew, Congratulations I believe you have captured the somber, moving atmosphere of the subject well with very good images and a thoughtful choice of music. Also I like how you went to great length to exclude people from the show, this is not easy in such places. I agree with the comments above but would not add any more captions, the one you used is needed at that point but no more. For me the mood would be broken if I spent time reading rather than absorbing the image/sound with my own thoughts, the images alone have more impact. I agree with Patrick completely, I would not like to see these images reduced to a grainy B/W trying to imitate "old photos" this is your story, with your feelings, of your visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau in May 2009 and you have shown it as such. Also the thought of including people suitably dressed or otherwise I find a little abhorrent this is not a theme-park.

Alan, thanks for posting the link, you beat me to it. Ken, I have been using Diagram Designer 1.21 for 6 months with no problems/issues. A great little program for doing quick flowcharts, (when I don't want to dive into a big complex application). Haven't tried the Log Paper program but on the strength of my experience I think it would be good.

To try and clarify for some the thread topic was "Time Line enlargement, Can the Time Line be magnified in PTE v 5.6" Peter asked - As Peter has stated he was asking about the Timeline not the Slide-line, (images). Peter continued - If I am correct I don't think it is possible to adjust the timing on the images by picking them up, it is only possible to reorder them in the slide-view. The timing adjustments done in this way must be done in the timeline view. Even when the slide-view is condensed to the smallest setting PTE will allow there is no overlapping of images and no problem in selecting an image to move.

Eric, I think you may still be viewing the "slides" if you click on the "timeline" button, (bottom left of center), to bring up the timeline and then check I think they will be available for use.

Peter, I think what you are looking for is the Zoom In / Zoom Out function on the Timeline. This can be found in the menu bar under View>Timeline Options>Zoom In or Zoom Out. You can also use <ctrl> + F11 keys to zoom in and <ctrl> + F12 keys to zoom out.

Yes please. If it is possible this would be a very useful function in the O&A window.

The audio side of PTE has been the topic of some discussion here as the implantation leaves something to be desired, many suggestions have been made on how to make it more user friendly and efficient but as of yet nothing has happened, maybe one-day. If you post you document I'm sure someone will look it over for you.

Barry I was typing when you made your last post, yes indeed we can all but try.

On the contrary, most forums I visit contain sections such as--- "Off Topic" Use this board to post your off-topic discussions and anything not related to PTE. "Tools, Products & Reviews" Here you can find comments and reviews of the best freeware and payware tools around for PTE. "The Pub" Is where mates hang out for a chat. It is a meeting place to discuss all things A/V, have a laugh, have a cry, share stories and generally share as a PTE Community. It is my experience that these sections are enthusiastly participated in and encorouge more free discussion not less.. As for new and inexperienced users there is usually a section where they are directed to which contains FAQs, Manuals, Documents, Guides and other useful information. A quick look across the forums I regularly visit shows an average of 11 sections. Censorship is the last thing I think any of us want but a better set of signposts would encourage more discussions that would remain on subject.

Barry your observation is a valid one, as is Peters points. Forums that I am/have been an active member of that work well in this area tend to have a large number of sections with very descriptive/specific titles and are strictly monitored by the moderators. If a topic doesn't fit the section it's moved quickly to where it best fits. Also moderators tend to keep discussions on the subject if they are starting to stray to far. Ken has raised some difficulties in this area above. After all anyone of us can pull a discussion back on track if we wish.

I too would like to see the "Auto-Save" function improved, I don't use it as I think the current implementation is poor to say the least. Overwriting the working file is a disaster waiting to happen. The changes that are needed are along the lines of Where, When and Name with the choice of default or set under user control. There have been some good suggestions here in this thread to do this. Hope they happen.

Barry, under you heading "Generally Speaking" I'm in agreement with you on this one.

I complete agree with your comments on what should be credited/stated at the end of an AV Mark. It is just as important to state what the author did not create as well as what they did. Also I think some credit should be given to the major tools used in the AVs production, that is - PTE and so on. I haven't done this in the past but intend doing so in the future. Just a small comment in the bottom corner of one of the end title screens.

Just like to add to Peters' comments above that JPD also has the "eye" of an artist. Add this to his technical skills that Peter wrote about and you have one hell of a creative person, a true"one off" as Peter called him. It is my belief that his PTE show, Mon Maitre, contains no video files (MP4, WMV, AVI etc.), but was done using only advanced PTE PZR techniques and Excel macros. Perhaps JPD could comment on this for us. Dave, I don't believe it is possible currently to incorporate video files in a PTE AV.

Lin, Along with everyone else here I wish you everything you hope for in the recovery of your wife. My wife had a very serious, life threatening illness recently and I fully understand what a traumatic, all-consuming event this can be. Your knowledge will be greatly missed on this forum and I hope you will be able to return soon when your wife has made a full recovery. Thanks Lin for all you have done here in the past.

Igor, Very pleased to see this development in the text area of PTE. I have never changed the Auto font option from default so will not miss it if it is removed.

About 1sec after the image is at full brilliance I get a slight jump in the pan. Happens on all the images after the Honda vti, (3rd image on). Apart from that all OK. Win Xp Pro SP2+ CPU Intel P4 2.27 GHz 8 kilobyte primary memory cache, 512 kilobyte secondary memory cache. 2048 Megabytes Installed Memory. Nvidia GeForce FX5700 256 VRAM VideoMode 1280 by 960 pixels, 75 Hertz. DirectX 9.0c Nice show Davy with good music and depth-of-field choice with sharp cars.