Ian

The most reliable way of compressing files to ensure that most people can open them is to use the standard Windows zip archive. Right-click on the file from Explorer, and choose "Send To" from the pop-up menu. The first option is to send to a Compressed Folder, which effectively zips the file. Don't forget that your PTE exe file mainly contains jpgs and MP3s, which are compressed files anyway. The zip archive will not compress these any further, so the filesize won't be much different from the initial exe. The benefit is that it will allow most people to download it without being blocked. Ian

Maureen keeps track of most events on her digital-av website - see http://www.digital-av.co.uk/intnat-events.htm The old AV World website used to be a good resource, and there are plans afoot to resurrect it. Meanwhile, Peter Coles has a new site at http://www.avpeter.com/ that covers international events. I don't know of one in Sweden though! Ian

As far as I know its not on-line anywhere. Johan is a member of Kordial Multimedia but their site doesn't appear to have any downloads. Its a Flemish language site though (I think!) so I might have missed something. From memory, the Sirja Lamia sequence is either a Wings Platinum or mObjects production, both of which tend to generate massive executable files. I think the Sirja Lamia sequence was about 700Mb or more. The version that has been seen in festivals is actually an extract from a larger piece that Johan made about the subject. The original was shown at an arts festival in Belgium. For those who haven't seen it, the sequence is about the life of a 'goth' girl who belives she is a vampire. Fantastic photography and very innovative use of motion effects to add drama to the story. Its next showing in the UK will be at the Geoffrey Round Competition in Capel Curig, North Wales. on 24th and 25th March 2007. Johan's summary for the entry reads: "A Newspaper article about “gothic” lifestyle of 17-year old Inez caught my attention. Our first personal contact, a few months later was the start of a year of intense collaboration. A year I submerged myself in a year of the gothic subculture, previously unknown to me, but gripping. I had many profound discussions with Inez leading to the scenario and the text. I try to show not only her special lifestyle, but also her ideas and passions. In her poems I found the inspiration to represent her dark dream-world audio visually, and thus weave into a story both fiction and reality." Ian

For those not already aware, Maureen Albright is currently in Australia, and last weekend was part of the Adelaide AV Festival Jury, along with her husband Robert and Richard Brown. Barbara Mullins of the festival committee has just emailed me the results, which are now posted on the AV Group section of Wantage Camera Club website Alternatively here is a direct link to the Result Sheet Congratulations to Johan Werbrouck, the overall winner with Sirja Lamia, The Night Born Vampire Ian

Hi Barb It might be that the music file you've used has been encoded with DRM (digital rights management). In some cases that can lead to the file playing back okay on the initial computer, but refusing to play on other machines. This is especially the case if the file has been downloaded from an on-line retailer. You're better off creating your own MP3 file from a standard CD, using a ripper that does not add DRM to the file. Audio Grabber is a free program that gives very reliable MP3 files. Ian

The Global results of the 3-2-1 competitions are now available on http://www.challengediaporama321.com/ First place overall went to Ricardo Zarate of GAPHE with 'Memoria' Second was Stephane Bidouze with 'Eugene le Gene' Third was Ron Davies and Peter Coles with 'Striped Pyjamas' Congratulations to these and all who entered! The individual country results are also on the website, which makes for some interesting comparisons! Ian

Hi Stonewall This coming weekend is the Northern Ireland Photographic Association AV Festival at Ballyearl - see NIPA AV Festival Poster As well as lots of sequences, Richard Brown FRPS (the judge) will be speaking about his own techniques im making sequences. I judged the event last year, and its a great weekend - very cheap too!! I'm sure you'd be made very welcome if you went along. Ian

Just had a quick go. It should be possible to re-create the Flash example using just one slide overlaid with semi-transparent png masks. Doing it this way you have complete control over where the split appears, and as many colour effects and speeds as you like. The attached uses just the original jpg, with a 'sepia' and 'blue' overlay as an example. With a bit of experimentation you should be able to get the effect you want. Ian gates_ian.zip

Just a reminder that the 3-2-1 Competition takes place next week at various locations throughout Europe. The UK stage will be held at Aldbourne on Sunday 18th Febuary, so if you're based somewhere in Southern England please come along! Full details can be found on 3-2-1 website There are 56 entries, of which 27 are from France, 14 from the UK, and the rest from a variety of countries. Hope to see you there. Ian

Both - with voiceovers I generally combine commentary, sound effects and music into one MP3 file anyway, so I only use one audio file for the sequence. Ian

There have been a lot of comments about the synchronisation not working, but I can't really see what the problem is. I've made several new or updated sequences with v5, and found that the synchronisation works pefectly on the various computers they've been played back on. There are a couple of minor operational glitches to be wary of - eg when constructing the sequence the timeline view is a fraction of a second out, but once you've allowed for this on any critical points the saved exe should remain synched as expected. Other people have reported problems with the audio starting to repeat at the end of a sequence, but again if you're careful to end both screenhtime and audio at the same point this problem disappears. Unless I've been particularly lucky (which is unusual in itself), you should be able to produce a synchronised sequence with the beta version already. Ian

I guess its up to an individual to decide how to 'judge' an AV sequence, either from a personal perspective or in a formal competition. I've participated in many, as either a judge, participant, or organiser, and on the few occasions where a marking sheet was used it didn't really add any value to the process. A successful sequence, whether in a competition or not, blends all of the elements in a way that moves and inspires the audience, and thus is more than just the sum of its constituent parts. Attempting to put a numeric value on each component will inevitably reduce the overall scores to an average, with the relative highs/lows tending to flatten everything out. While the analysis might be helpful for a new judge to construct any comments he/she might have to make, ultimately the heart is better than the head for sorting out the jewels. Its certainly provoked a lively debate though - no doubt this one will run and run! Ian

I think she managed to figure out what was wrong....

The DVD authoring module looks very good and is easy to use. Would it be possible in a future beta to allow a customised backdrop image for the menu screen? Well done!!!! Ian

I've made a couple of "scenic" 3D sequences but they aren't one line yet. I've just uploaded another one though which I thought would be suitable for Halloween! I've also made a standard 2D version for all those people who don't have red and cyan coloured eyeballs... see Hampden Pye sequences Have fun!

Anaglyph sequences are great fun to make, and much easier now that the whole thing can be done digitally. One of the best freeware programs is Anabuilder, which allows you to to adjust the point of focus before saving the anaglyph. For anyone in the Midlands area of the UK, I'll be doing a demonstration of how to make one at the East Midlands AV Day at Narborough this coming Sunday (29th Oct). I've just finished a new 3D sequence with v5 using some zoom effects, and the effect is quite startling! Re the point about moving from 2D to 3D in a show - I have actually tried this, but it doesn't really work. There is a distinct feeling of dis-orientation as the 3D image appears, and it takes quite a while for the brain to adjust to the new apparent depth. Red/Cyan glasses can be bought on Ebay for about 35p per pair, depending on the quantity purchased. Ian

Hello KaST There is a very active AV group in Belgium called Kordiale Multimedia. It is led by Johan Werbrouck, who has won many international awards for his PTE shows. They have a website at http://www.kordialmultimedia.be/ The group is also co-hosting the Flanders Image Festival on 31st Sept/1st Oct, which includes a workshop on PTE - see Flanders Image Festival agenda Ian

John - The booking contact for Cirencester is Tony Troman - see http://ian-bateman.mysite.wanadoo-members....set-booking.htm I think its too late to book accommodation at the college now, but its worth giving Tony a ring anyway. Entry tickets for the various projection sessions can be bought at the door anyway.] There are also various B&B options in and around Cirencester. Ian

Hi Lin This is an optical illusion. It looks like the object - eg the back of a card - is zoomed from 100 to 0 along the x-axis only. This gives the impression that it is turning towards you. Then a second object - eg the face of a card - is introduced to replace the first object with a zoom from 0 to 100, this creating the "turning" effect. I made a similar sequence in GlobFX some years ago using this technique, so I assume that's what is happening! Ian

Hi Andrew Actually, the customised synchronisation works fine in v.5 just like before. You can edit and move slides on the timeline in exactly the same way. The one thing you have to watch out for is that you give slides with overlaid animations sufficient time to run before bringing in the next image. Its important to cater for the full duration including the transition times. Ian

Hi Ken The "starfield" is basically lots of white dots created in Photoshop and saved as a png with transparent background. This is then overlayed several times as objects with zoom and slight rotation effects. I've put the source files for the starfield here: Starfield.zip Ian

It might be that in the final version of v.5 the cpu-based graphical engine will be able to handle the scaled objects better than in this early beta. In another thread Igor said: the result will never be as good as on a powerful card, but might be smoother than at present. Ian

Thanks for the feedback both here and in individual e-mails. No-one has (yet) reported any problems in viewing the sequence, so maybe the "15:9 and 'cover screen'" settings will prove to be the optimum ones to use if you don't intend to create a DVD. Al - there are a couple of tweaks from the original, one of which is to just point to a section of the rocket motor rather than the whole think. Also I found an actual chariot in a French chateau last year so was able to include a shot of it rather than just mention it! I'm looking forward to being able to preview part way through and have the music start in the correct place - this will make the timing of object actions much easier to handle! Ron - sure please use it at Sutton! John C - the soundtrack was created in Cool Edit (now Adobe Audition), where you can blend several pieces of music together. Audacity does a similar job and is completely free! Ian

As a technical exercise I've re-made one of my sequences using PTE v.5. The original was made in 2002 with GlobFX Composer, using the motion effects possible with that software. I re-made it with PTE v.5 to compare the result, and I'm pleased the say the PTE version is sharper, smoother, and generally much improved over the original. Its available on Beechbrook for download. I used the screen setting "15:9" and "Cover Screen", which seems to offer the most versatile output for display on different monitors. I'd be grateful for any feedback on this as to whether it displays correctly on your own monitor setup. If it works okay then this setting may well be the best option to ensure compatability between standard and widescreen monitors. Ian

Al - you can already give each object its own name. When working on an object, click the Properties tag and re-name it to something more useful. Occasionally it doesn't bring the name through to the object list, but if you temporarily tick the "main image" checkbox it seems to force it through. If you leave the checkbox ticked (as I discovered...) the individual object is displayed in the slide list instead of the original background image. Ian