Lin Evans

Hi Eric, To "unselect" you "left click" in the area outside of the selected object whether that be a video or a still image. You want to "remove" the blue highlight before pasting the video to subsequent slides. The idea is to be certain that you do not accidentally make the still image a "child" of the video. I believe Peter's idea of just adding one additional slide is a good one until you get the hang of it. So just put the video as a master and add one still image to the first slide and get them in their proper respective positions, then add a second slide and copy and paste the video to it and arrange them in O&A with the still slide in the upper layer. Do the keyframes for these two and get them the way you want and proceed to sequentially add additional slides and paste the video, etc. Minimize the potential for confusion that way. Best regards, Lin

If you mean as an "app" to create slideshows on a tablet, probably not - at least not until tablets have operating systems which allow the same sophistication as computers. If you mean can you run PTE created shows on a tablet, you can do that now. It creates video output compatible with many tablets, phones, etc., right now. Best regards, Lin

Once you have placed the video into the audio track, you use the same audio tools you would use had you placed an MP3, etc., there. You have full control via the Envelope with keyframes and you have fade-in, fade-out, volume, offset, start time, etc., On the Properties Tab in Objects and Animations - set the Video to "Mute" then insert the video as an audio and the control panel will pop-up and give you access to the audio editing features. Best regards, Lin

Hi Dan, That's normal - there is normally no indication about the upgrade to Video Builder. The way to be certain is to just quickly create a single slide "show" and then attempt to Publish it for something like one of the iPhones, etc. If you have the new license correctly installed, the program will proceed as normal. If not, I believe you will get a message reminding you that the license for Video Builder has expired... Best regards, Lin

Hi Pete, If you were to output the slideshow to a "video" such as an mp4 h.264 the file size would increase a great deal with multiples of the same slide or video, but remember how an exe works - it is a set of instructions to your computer to perform some specific action and when that action is identical, it's not necessary to store the "instruction and source" more than one time. So no matter how many times you ask it to "run" a particular video or "display" a particular slide, the necessary components to do so are only stored once. On the other hand, when you create a video, each manifestation or incremental change is represented by a separate image. So just a pan or zoom of a slide results in each tiny change being stored so that it can be displayed on a "dumb" device such as a media player on a television, etc. Whereas on a computer with a somewhat "intelligent" (in that it can follow a broad range of instructions) operating system and processor, the device can create the incremental "slides" on the fly without having to store each one for playback. For that reason, our executable shows are usually much smaller in file size than a video show having the identical content. Best regards, Lin

Hi Pete, Xaver has already explained "how to" do the process - I will just address your question of increasing file size: PTE is rather unique in that adding the same image or video multiple times does not increase file size. Try it for yourself. Create an executable slideshow with only a single video. Look at the properties and remember the file size. Now add the identical video as separate slides multiple times and create another exe slideshow which will play the same video over and again as separate slides. Look at the properties and compare the file size. It will be identical. No matter how many times you add the same slide or video to your slideshow, it will not increase the size of the file. Best regards, Lin

Hi Ray, It appears to be working correctly for me - can you give us your operating system and version? Perhaps there is a bug somewhere. When from the customize slide screen I click, for example, on the up arrow and then on O.K., that "up" push is applied to the slide. If I click on the right arrow, and do likewise, the right "push" is applied. Something must not be working the same for us if it doesn't work like that for you... Best regards, Lin

Hi Eric, The "easiest" way to add all slides except the first slide is from the "slide view." Open your project which should now contain the single video as a master. The default view is the "slide view" so that's where you "should" be when you first open PTE 7.0. Simply drag and drop the slides one at a time or use the CTRL left mouse button to select all the slides except the first still slide and drag and drop all the other slides into the area to the right of the "video" which now occupies the place for the first slide. Drag them and drop them into their correct relative positions if they are not already arranged in the proper sequence. Once you have done this - click on the video in the slide list at the far "left" of all the slides to highlight it, then navigate to the Objects and Animations screen. When you arrive at the Objects and Animations screen, you will first click outside the area of the video in order to "unselect" it (no longer highlighted in blue) so that when you add the first still slide, it does not become a "child" of the video. Now right click in the area below the video, choose add image, find the first still slide and double click it. It should now appear above the video which is where you want it. Size and position the still slide where you want it to appear. Next, click on the video name in the Object List (same place where the video and still slide name appear - we haven't moved anywhere) then right click the mouse and choose "Copy." To this point you have added the video all still slides including the first still and are now ready to paste the video to each still slide. ***Do not leave Objects and Animations, but left click on the small far right arrow in the far upper right corner of your screen to navigate to slide number 2. Observe that on the very top left of your screen, it should now say Slide 2 of 30 (or 2 of however many slides you added). The number two slide name will be highlighted, so left click the mouse below the slide name to unselect (we unselect because we don't want to paste the video as a child object) Now right click the mouse and "paste" the video. The video will appear "above" the still slide, but we want it below the still slide. To achieve this, with the video still highlighted hold down the CTRL key and press the PG Dn key. This will move the video slide below the still slide where we want it. Now size and position the still slide. Repeat the process from the *** above for each of the 30 slides. That is, navigate to each slide deselect the slide, paste the video then move the video below the still slide in the Objects List. Once you have done this for all 30 slides, go back to slide one, click on the still slide and add keyframes as David indicated to turn on and off the opacity. The way I would do it is to add the keyframes to all your slides and only then go back to each one via the timeline and sequence the timing for turning them on and off via the Objects and Animations Opacity feature Best regards, Lin Click

HI Eric, Open PTE ver 7.5 and click on Help. Then you have a choice of downloading the PDF to your system or reading the manual online. Best regards, Lin

Hi Eric, I'll proceed as I would do it were it my own project - step by step and I'll assume Dave will do the same with his method. The first thing I would do is combine the separate video clips into one by putting them all into a PTE show then exporting a single MP4. The next step would be to open a new slideshow and add the new combined mp4. If PTE suggests "converting" it to the AVI, I would do so. Next go to Objects and Animations Screen - Property Tab and change the default of "Single Video Clip" to "Master Video Track" - just click on the down arrow to the right and choose... Next add all of your still slides as follows: Go to the first slide which has only the video and add the first still image. Put it on top of the video and size and position as desired. Next go back to the "Slide View" and add all the other still slides until you have all 30 entered. Next copy the video from the first slide by right clicking on it and "paste" it to each slide. As you do this, move the still slides and position them as you wish making sure that each is at the top layer and is not a "child" of the video. Just be certain that when you paste the video to each slide, you do not have that slide "selected" and there will be no issue with the parent/child relationship. Once you have this done for all slides, you may want to preview to determine if your positions and sizes of the still images are as you want. Now you can go into each slide and set the "time" of display and place your keyframes to turn the stills off and on in synchronization with the music. The way I would proceed is to simply place all the keyframes first, the go to the timeline view and move the keyframes to synchronize with your sound. Visually arrange them along the timeline to correspond to your video accordingly. That's about all there is to it. By making the video a "Master" - it will continue to play uninterrupted as the slides sequence. Let me know if you get into trouble. I assume David can explain how he would proceed if there is anything further he would add from what he has already discussed. Best regards, Lin

Which language version are you using? The version (English) I'm looking at is for 7.5 - if you are using one of the other language version, perhaps it has not yet been translated? Later: I just checked all language versions and only English and French have been translated on the provided links. Perhaps the German, Italian and Hungarian versions are still in process... Best regards, Lin

Hi Dave, I think this was what prompted my question: " I have 30+ still images that I want to add to the clips in time to the music & fading them in & out as the video progresses" .... If this is indeed what Eric wants to do, then with the multiple video clips made into one master clip, he doesn't need to be concerned with clip transitions and such and can simply concentrate on which clip to fade in and out and when. He just has to include the video with each still frame and it will play uninterrupted to the end. Eric didn't say that he needed or wanted to end the stills and video at the same time which is why I asked for more clarification before making a recommendation. With the video as a master it will keep chugging along regardless of what he does with the stills - how long the duration, etc., as long as the total duration time of the stills doesn't exceed the run time of the video. Maybe we can get some more input from Eric on exactly what he is planning and then it will be much easier to determine the best way to proceed? Best regards, Lin

Hi Dave, How does this work to add stills "in time with the music?" Best regards, Lin

Hi Eric, I'm a bit unclear on what you are trying to achieve. Do you want the still slides to sequence "behind" the video for the duration of your show? If so, the way I would proceed would be to first bring all of your video clips into PTE and create a single MP4. Then insert the single mp4 as the video for your slides. The reason for this is that you are going to have to designate the video as a "master" then insert it into each slide. This will keep the video playing smoothly without interruption as the slides advance. If this isn't what you want, let me know exactly what you wish to achieve and I'll try to help you sort it. Best regards, Lin

O.K. - the forum is double posting again - I'm going to delete the extra posts. We can have Igor check it out when he returns refreshed and rejuvenated from his sojourn on foreign soil. Best regards, Lin

Hi Dave, LOL - you're repeating yourself all over again! I'm not holding my breath - any longer - waiting to exhale .... Best regards, Lin

Hi Frans, That issue was never resolved and is still present in 7.5. I updated the link which Xaver pointed to and what it demonstrates is that in certain conditions, the video will perform correctly while the exe file is quite jerky. In older versions, the "preview" would play my animation smoothly while the exe would not. In 7.5 neither the preview nor the exe plays smoothly but a video plays fine. I think there is still a problem resolving quick animations under a mask and even when there is no mask under certain conditions. In my fire simulation, each frame is a very quick time (.11 sec) with no transition. The exe simply can't handle it smoothly. In the much older versions of PTE (4.0 and earlier) it was not a problem at all, but with version 5 and above there are issues with anything faster than about 100 ms. Best regards, Lin

Hi Jose, I suspect they will get around to 64 bit support in 8.0. There are several things on my "wishlist" such as support for chroma key extraction and Alpha channel in video. It's difficult to please everyone so they worked very hard on audio this time around, but PTE "does" have a new graphics engine and 64 bit support is probably just around the corner. Best regards, Lin

Hi Colin, Yes, there are definite advantages to using more sophisticated programs for image manipulation and sound manipulation - but sometimes the differences are not really worth the extra effort (and possible expense for those who don't have sophisticated software) for quick effects. Of course, if one were trying to create an excellent black and white, simple desaturation would be much less effective than emulating various black and white film results. On the other hand, when the image is only there for a very brief time to create a transition to color, it's nice to be able to just drop the image in twice, press a couple keys and set a few keyframes as opposed to going to another editing program and manipulating the image with care, then renaming and entering it back into PTE along with the original color image. It's always difficult to decide where to draw the lines between a "display program" and an "editing program." Many years ago I discussed with Igor the possibility of merging features from PixBuilder with PTE when and "if" if became necessary because of pressures from competitors. One must be cognizant of the competition and what the general purchasing market wants in order to maintain or reach marketing goals and stay in business. For we "purists," PTE already has nearly everything we need, but for the general market where "whiz-bang" and "bells and whistles" sometimes rule, certain concessions must be made to stay on top of things, I suppose. Best regards, Lin

Hi Colin, Actually, for PTE. Igor had a keystroke combination of Ctrl Shift P which first desaturated, then on second press changed color image to sepia and on third press back to normal. This was an undocumented feature in Version 7, but apparently not carried over to 7.5 - but may be added later or in 8.0. It was very handy to do B&W to color transitions with and not have to get out of PTE. Best regards, Lin

Thanks! I missed those posts... Too bad - it was a very nice feature, hopefully it will come back soon... Best regards, Lin

Desaturate image - keystrokes anyone? Best regards, Lin

Thanks Davy, It was nice to get away for a few days with my dog and enjoy the beautiful country... Best regards, Lin

Thanks! Mark, It was a fun trip... Best regards, Lin

I think we can all agree that there is some difference in the behavior between 7 (or earlier) and 7.5. Which is "correct" is the question to be addressed. Obviously, it's not a serious issue and one can always choose the slide ahead if we don't like the response of the selected one. It has no bearing on the show itself so let's wait for Igor to have his well earned holiday and he can address our concerns when he returns... Best regards, Lin