Ian

Sincere good wishes, Lin. I hope your wife makes a speedy recovery. Ian

I agree with Tony. I've just spent the last few days preparing a menu for the 321 Competition that will be held next weekend in Aldbourne, and found that the Run File command whether applied to a button, text or an object only works intermittantly, and with no "hand" icon to indicate its presence. I have 56 sequences to launch over several pages of menu, and there is no pattern as to which ones work and which ones don't. In the end I opened the project in 5.1 and re-saved and they all worked perfectly with the 'hand' icon present. Ian

Thanks Igor - keeping the selected image visible in both views will be a big time saver. One other tweak that would be useful - would it be possible to set a flag in the "add music" browser so that it defaults to the current project folder? Or failing this, to remember the last location used? I should think that most users save the audio files in the same folder as the images and PTE file, so if the browser initially points there it would save a lot of drilling down the drive list to get to the right place. Many thanks Ian

On-line video or downloadable exe file? I think Ken has hit the nail squarely on the head by stating that they are intended for different audiences. For the best quality, an exe file played on your own machine can't be beaten, but requires time and effort to download and run. This particular file has lots of fast moving images so weighs in at a hefty 80Mb. I know if I was presented with a file that size I just wouldn't bother downloading it! On-line streaming video such as You Tube and Vimeo offer instant access to a casual viewer, and can be seen by people who wouldn't dream of downloading anything. I have one file on You Tube that has been viewed over 7000 times - I'm sure that the vast majority of these viewers have never even heard of AV so would not have seen the sequence at all if it was simply available as a download. This particular file is also available on my website as a downloadable exe (along with a few other older sequences), and a small proportion of viewers have done this after seeing the You Tube version. My view is that AV is a dynamic medium and changing rapidly, and hence all types of sequence and all methods of distribution should be encouraged. From the lectures and demos I've done round the UK this year, I know that the on-line publishing has attracted a lot of interest, and I always get lots of questions about these new features. It usually takes a while for new features to start to get used in anger, but already there are quite a few 'traditionalists' who have experimented with You Tube in particular. Vimeo seems to give a higher quality result than You Tube (even if using the new higher definition version), but the user-base is much lower. As Barry has found, it also requires a current version of Flash to work at all. I guess its a similar situation to the launch of PTE v5, when lots of users found that their computers weren't powerful enough or didn't have a current DirectX version. I guess nothing stands still for very long.... I'll be visiting Australia in the Spring for the Adelaide International AV Festival, so look forward to seeing some of the antipodean authors then! Ian

Seasons Greetings to all on the forum! This is a short sequence on Vimeo, mainly of London department stores but also a few from Paris thrown in for good measure. Click the link to view an embedded video The More the Merrier Best wishes to all at Kirov, and I'm sure we can all look forward to lots more PTE innovations in 2009! Ian

Re You Tube upload - I also get a similar error message when trying to use the PTE uploader. I've had some dialogue with Igor over what causes it, and in my case I think its because when I originally set up my You Tube account I did it from within my Google account. You Tube only recognises my log-in details if I am already logged into Google. The PTE uploader only allows the standard You Tube log-in, so this is what may be causing the problem. Ian

For those using You Tube, the aspect ratio of the player has now been changed to 16:9 instead of 4:3. Anything new that you upload can be prepared in this format. Existing videos haven't been changed though, so now play back with a black border. Unfortunately even if an existing video is in wide-screen format, it still plays back in a small window inside the new frame, unless You Tube are working on converting them. Igor - would it be possible to tweak the You Tube uploader to cater for this change and also to give a hi-res option? Videos uploaded in hi-res give the viewer the choice of watching in standard or high quality. Users also have the option of configuring You Tube to always play in high quality if available. Ian

For those using You Tube, the aspect ratio of the player has now been changed to 16:9 instead of 4:3. Anything new that you upload can be prepared in this format. Existing videos haven't been changed though, so now play back with a black border. Unfortunately even if an existing video is in wide-screen format, it still plays back in a small window inside the new frame, unless You Tube are working on converting them. Igor - would it be possible to tweak the You Tube uploader to cater for this change and also to give a hi-res option? Videos uploaded in hi-res give the viewer the choice of watching in standard or high quality. Users also have the option of configuring You Tube to always play in high quality if available. Ian

This would be the best option by far. It would allow the new menu to run slideshows from dfferent people - eg for a competition or festival - where it would be impossible to embed a 'run menu' command. In this case there might be a variety of shows by different authors, some of which won't have been created in the compatable PTE version. I guess the command would have to be tested from the menu to see which shows it would work with, then use the 'run application' option on the ones that failed to start. Ian

Hi Igor I've just tested this and it works smoothly in launching the new slideshow. However, the "wait for key press to advance" is not yet functional in the beta, so menus with several pages don't yet function properly. Also, I can't figure out how to return to the menu after the launched slideshow exits. On my test the menu has also quit. Ian

A side issue, but relevent to the topic. I have a few sequences on You Tube, one of which uses a Cat Stevens track. I had a note from You Tube saying that the copyright holder had found the video on You Tube and had granted a license for it to be used. In return the copyright holder is allowed to place an advert on that page. I could either choose to accept this, which I did, or reject it in which case You Tube would remove the video. Ian

Hi Peter YouTube is a very quick and handy method of publishing 'thumbnail' of your sequences. Its not intended to show high resolution video, and as long as this is understood it provides an excellent service. I've got a small collection here: YouTube link This is primarily used as a method to include examples of AV sequences on my websites, as YouTube allows you to embed the link code into your own pages - eg see Wantage Camera Club Festival Sequence and 321 website I have tried various video codecs from Video Builder, but ultimately found that the most reliable method was to use the 'old' PTE temporary avi output file, then convert this to a Quicktime video using a 3rd party conversion program. I set an output file sixe of 480 x 320, and let the You Tube converter re-size the correct You Tube dimensions. This seems to give a sharper result that outputting at 320 x 240. The next release of PTE 5.6 will have a built-in YouTube uploader anyway, so this will take all of the guesswork out of it. Igor demonstrated it when he gave his talk in the UK last month. Ian

Hi everyone I've not been able to log on for ages, but Igor has now fixed the problem so I'm back! Igor gave a demonstration of some of the new features ov v5.6 at an AV Day at Aldbourne last week, and there is an excellent masking facility built in. You will be able to make a user-defined soft-edge mask and interleave it between two objects so that areas of the lower one will show through the top one as the mask is moved. Difficult to describe, but a really cool effect! Ian

Hi Dave I'm actually doing a seminar on PTE at Talbot Green next Sunday, which I believe is where Gwynfor CC meet anyway. Come along if you're around! Ian

To answer some of the queries above: Colin - this info only refers tp projected images. The resolution required for prints is quite different. We do however use a camera to do a live capture of the print during print competitions, and this is projected on to a large screen while the judge comments on the original print. Dave - we set PTE to 'fill screen' with the images. Most members submit images 1024 pixels wide anyway, and we haven't had any that are smaller then this. I guess its the same principle as when entrants used to submit 35mm slides - if any arrive crooked or dusty then that's how they would get projected! Ron - we generally use PTE as this will cater for our requirements. However, we have run some tests on Film Free Projection when it was in beta release, and have also hosted a large inter-club federation competition using the EasyComp software (the author of this is in the CACC so provided the software to run the competition). Ian

Hi Dave The projector is XGA, so we have a recommendation that images are sized at 1024 pixels wide. Most people adhere to this, but if they don't we project whatever image size they have supplied. The only stipulation we have is that it must be saved as a jpg. Ian

Hello and welcome to the forum! Your question is a perennial favourite that often confuses new starters. If you scan your pictures at 6 x 4 inches at 300 dpi, what you are actually doing is creating an image with pixel dimensions of 1800 x 1200. This is a simple multiplication of the inches by the scanning resolution. Typically, a DVD show has a pixel width of 720, so there is no real benefit in using pictures at a higher resolution than this. However, if you intend that at some point the show will be played back on a higher-resolution device (eg hi-res computer, HD or Blu-Ray DVD etc), then there is no harm is scanning at a high resolution to 'future-proof' your show. Have a look at an article I wrote here for AV News magazine, which might help a bit. Ian

At Wantage Camera Club we mainly use PTE to project images for both internal competitions and battles, including a successful series of international battles against the Camera Club of Ottawa arranged with forum member Al Robinson. The show is not created as an executable, but run from within PTE as a preview. That way if any slides have been held back you can simply switch to the 'lightbox' view, select the slide and press the spacebar to display it. No special programming is needed. However, there are several bespoke programs that have been specifically written for camera club competitions, allowing scoring and sorting from within the program. Click here to see some of the programs that other CACC clubs are using. Ian

Hi Tom The problem could be that your laptop is only able to display video on one screen. This is quite common. To get around this, set up your laptop with projector or external monitor connected, and use the Function/key toggle to direct all of the video output to the external projector/monitor. The key toggle will depend on the make of your laptop - eg on my Toshiba I can switch display modes by pressing Function/F5. There might be several display modes available - the one to select is the laptop screen turned off and all of the output sent to the projector or monitor. Ian

Hello Stonewall As a general rule, images used in sequences entered into competitions should be the original work of the entrant. However, it is also generally accepted that for some 'documentary' style sequences, some "borrowed" images are permissable where they are essential to the story. For example, there have been various sequences made about painters such as Lowry and Monet, and hence images of some of their paintings have been used to illustrate parts of the story. The essential thing to remember is that these "borrowed" images should be relevent to the plot, and there should be no copyright issues with using them. In your example, I see no objection to using a few copyright-free images of the Titanic as part of a sequence so long as they just form a small part of the overall sequence. Similarly, some historical views of a city to contrast with your own current shots would be an acceptable use. Ian

Hi Peter You're correct that the 'action' function of the buttons in v5 has not yet been turned on, but Igor has indicated that this should be available very soon (possibly in Beta#10). Even so, there is nothing to stop you making all of your sequences in v5, but using 4.48 to create the main menu. This will work fine, and the only thing you will lose is the new button designs in v5. As you say, the DVD option will work anyway using the standard DVD menu structure. Ian

Granot - you can set Audacity to record from the soundcard instead of the microphone. Use the drop-down menu at the top right corner and select "Wave Out Mix". You can then start up your audio file from any source, hit the 'record' icon in Audacity and it will record whatever the sound card is playing. Ian

Its possible to achieve a similar effect to this request with a work-around. First duplicate the object, make sure its 'on top' of the original and modify its shadow/glow parameters to the new settings. Then turn its opacity to zero. At the required keypoint turn its opacity back up to 100%. The shadow/glow effect between the two keypoints will appear to change as the object becomes opaque. Ian

Just tried opening a previously saved sequence that had a working start-up window, but it also failed to show it. Ian

Strange - I just tried Al's file and there was no sign of any start-up window. Ian