Lin Evans

Hi, It sounds like perhaps you do not have the available codec to play the AVI correctly. If you download this freeware player, I think you will be able to see any of them correctly. http://majorgeeks.co...ayer_d5719.html The Kantaris Media Player has all necessary codecs pre-installed. You might also try just adding the downloaded AVI to a PTE show via the "add video" and see if that works for you. Best regards, Lin

Beautiful Jeff - Bosque is one of my favorite places to shoot birds - you've captured the very essence of its purpose! Best regards, Lin

Of the suggestions so far, I think Stu's idea of using the "Window" feature makes the most sense because when you close the window, the show automatically returns to the slide from where is was called. However, after reviewing the information available starting on page 58 of the User's Guide about "how" to use this feature - I'm not certain it is crystal clear for a new user. You may want to review one of my tutorials from the "Tutorials and Articles" section of the "Frequently Asked Questions" forum link. My tutorial deals with using this feature to pop-up text, but it is actually "easier" to pop-up an image such as a map. Go to #30 in my tutorials from the link below and I think you will quickly get the idea of how this feature works. The important thing to remember is that you must "create" the "window" before you can call it. I demonstrate how to do this in the AVI tutorial #30 here: http://www.picturest...uously-updated/ Probably, it would be worth doing to create another tutorial specifically on how to pop-up or call an image and return to the calling slide. EDIT: Jan 31 - I made a tutorial on this - see # 31 on link above.... Best regards, Lin

Hi Tonton, There is not the "interactive" capability to pan and zoom manually, but for now there is a way to accomplish this by programming "hotspots" using a "frame" and then clicking on the hotspot to "jump" to another slide which has been zoomed to that area. Of course it's definitely not the same as being able to simply zoom and pan as desired, but can be a viable work around as done in my sample here: http://www.lin-evans...jump/jumpto.zip Place the mouse cursor over the license plate of the old car and click, or over the driver of the fire wagon, etc. There are at least eight programmed "hot spots" in the photo. Move the mouse cursor until it changes to a hand to find them. To return to the original photo, click on the upper right corner of each zoomed photo. Best regards, Lin

Hi Tonton, Good idea! Actually, you may already know this, but you "can" do that now if you only have a few things such as a map, etc., which you might like to "jump to" and return. If you use the same version of PTE, or at least create the exe again with the same version, you can use the "Run Slideshow With Return" feature. Just create the map image as a slideshow then use hotspot, button or whatever to link to it with the "run slideshow with return" and after you have worked with the map, end that show and you will be returned to the slide where it was called from the previous show. EDIT: I think Tom and I were typing simultaneously - LOL. Best regards, Lin

Hi Phillip, Post a link to your problematic mp3 and we can check it for you. Best regards, Lin

Hi Bob, I think Jill's suggestion would be an ideal way to achieve what you are trying to do. Remember, you have full ability to use the comments templates to put any IPTC information or several EXIF extractions in automatically. If you do this only on the second image of a set then save as a template having renamed your slides to a pre-determined name, then if you overwrite with new files having identical names for your next show, the information requested via the comments "template" will automatically extract the relevant IPTC or EXIF information for the slides having identical numbers. This would require you to "write" the name of each bird on every slide in the proper place in either the EXIF or IPTC, but as long as you renamed the slides using a batch editor such as IrfanView or Fastone, every other slide would then reveal the bird's identity. Assuming you are already familiar with the comments "template" but if you are not, I would suggest going to Project Options and then the "Comments" tab. Next under "set comments for new slides" (in blue at the bottom) click on the underlined "insert template" and from the drop down menu choose "IPTC" at the bottom of the list, then choose "Caption Writer." What PTE calls "Caption Writer," PhotoShop, under IPTC Content calls "Description Writer." NOTE! Do not confuse this with "Description." If you use PhotoShop to edit the IPTC, be sure you put the information in the "Description Writer" space. Then when you choose the "Caption Writer" template with PTE, what you have written under "Description Writer" with PhotoShop will appear. If you use IrfanView, it is called "Caption Writer" just as PTE says. I don't know about Fastone because I don't use it. So PTE and IrfanView describe the IPTC place which is called by template when you choose "Caption Writer" one thing, and PhotoShop calls it something else, but it's the same physical location. Photoshop = Description Writer - PTE and IrfanView = Caption Writer - same..... If you put the bird's description as you want your grand daughter to see it in each photo, then duplicate each slide so that you have two of each and rename them sequentially once you put them into PTE and call the IPTC "Caption Writer" for every other slide with the " Comment " feature, you will have a template which you can use in the future. All it will entail is renaming the set of slides to the identical names in your template then simply overwriting what is in one folder with the content in another folder. Of course you will want to use duplicates of your originals to keep them safe because you will be overwriting each time. Best regards, Lin

Hi Bob, Welcome to the forums! If you could give us a bit more information about exactly how you go about creating your "comment" with time delay, perhaps one of us can offer a suggestion. For example, are you using the "text" as a zero opacity with fade in via keyframe on the timeline or are you using the "comments" field with a template to call the file name, etc. The more details you can give, the easier it will be to suggest a way to make this work. Best regards, Lin

So let's get back to the original question. What are the proposals to prevent multiple answers to questions which have multiple answers? PTE, like many software programs allows numerous ways to do things. How would it be possible to avoid telling a new user more than one way to proceed and do we really want to do that? The idea in my opinion is to make it as easy as possible for a new user to approach a particular problem. Yes, we can avoid using terms with which the new user may not be familiar, but are we actually solving a real "problem" here or creating a straw man issue. Have there been any complaints about the way users have answered questions? It seems that helping people via a forum is actually an iterative process. One gives a suggestion, asks some questions or asks for more clarification then gives suggestions on how to proceed. I don't recall any complaints or any particular confusion which hasn't been rather quickly addressed. No system is perfect. We do our best to point the new user in the right direction and a good start is to point them to the free tutorials and articles where they can start at the beginning and work their way through the process of learning the various features and process involved in creating a slide show. Other than improve the help within PTE, I'm not sure that there is much more which can be done, but I'm open to suggestion. Best regards, Lin

Hi Gary, Very nice memories of a trip to some incredible country - that was some flower! Looks like the two little bees were having their fill there. While you were in Thailand did you get to visit any of the amazing buddhist temples? In past years, I've stumbled onto several ancient ones which were totally overgrown by jungle vegetation in Cambodia, Laos and in Thailand. Best regards, Lin

As far as I know, there is no "feature" which would cause certain images to come up more often than other. A simple work-around would be to place the same images in your show much more often. There is no resource "hit" for having multiples of the same image so put 25 or so of each of the "important" image in for each single and simple statistical odds will bring them up. As a "feature" it might be useful, but not something commonly used by most I think. Best regards, Lin

Hi Ken, You don't need to "spend" anything to use video - you already have video capabilities with your dSLR and there are hundreds and even thousands of free video clips and video effects available, the only "investment" is in the time you take to use them and the small learning curve. Mixing video and stills can be done seamlessly and to great effect - definitely the best of both worlds. But, as you say, it would indeed be sad if everyone thought the same. Diversity is indeed the spice of life.... Now that new avatar - hmmm the implications are endless - LOL. Sweet stuff on a walker - Yep... Best regards, Lin

Hi Erik, Nice one! Actually, no matter how carefully you try to use the magnetic lasso, you won't be able to perfectly cut things out for the PNG files. Instead, use the eraser tool and zoom way in on your transparency and carefully cut out the remaining areas which you missed. The best way I've found is to do it all with the eraser. Zoom way in. It takes more time, but the results will be much better. In future versions of PTE, I believe we will have the ability to use green screen video with alpha channel masking. There are some wonderful curtain video effects available, but they require the software to have alpha channel masking capabilities. Actually, right now you can use them in software such as Adobe Premiere Elements and then transfer the "doctored" video to PTE. Even a perfectly executed curtain effect in PTE complete with compression (disconnecting the two X axis values) of the curtains as they open, still looks "stiff" and artificial compared to the incredible three dimensional video effects possible. You are definitely getting the hang of it! Even if there is no place for most of our "animations" in serious AV competition, it's still fun and some amazing creations can be made so keep at it - here's for more "rainy days!!" Best regards, Lin

Hi Frans, What David suggest will work fine. Create a "picture frame" as a PNG file with a cut-out for your images. Place this as a child of the image in the mask and adjust around the outside of both by manipulating the picture frame and mask rectangle. You may click on any of the bounding rectangles around the mask rectangle or picture frame - hold down the shift key on the keyboard and drag the picture frame to perfectly fit around the masked image and the mask rectangle to perfectly fit the outside of the "picture frame" Best regards, Lin

Hi Arthur, The transparent background is, for the purposes of your pc, just as if it were a multi-layer file full of data. The fact that it is a transparent layer with only a small image on it doesn't reduce its memory footprint. Try this, take one of your png files and open it in Irfanview and look at the memory footprint. Now crop it so that there is only the card and all excess transparency is removed, save it and repeat using Irfanview or other viewer which shows the memory footprint. You will see a significant difference. Even though the "storage" size may be small because of compression, when the file is loaded into memory it expands to its full 8 or 16 bit footprint. Here's an example: Notice that the "disc size" (the size of the file in storage) is less than 8 k, but the "memory size" is 2.5 megabytes. What may "seem" like a relatively tiny file, may in fact be quite large. Compressed files expand in memory to their full eight bit uncompressed footprint. Best regards, Lin Below is a transparency (the black part) with a relatively small playing card size grey patch......

Hi Jean, I think there is almost a three second delay normal. The first two slides have .5 second duration and the third is 1.3 seconds so 2.3 seconds before anything in the way of animation starts. I think it's a combination of load time and video card capacity for Arthur. I also have a system with the 8600 GT card which I will try it on. The main issue appears to be loading size of files rather than the animation itself, but with the size of the PNG files, I think the 8600 card is a bit overwhelmed. Both the 560Ti and 560M are excellent graphics cards and much better than my 8800GT. Subtracting the 2.3 seconds of the first three slides from the total time before animation on my 8800GT system, I have a five second delay before animation. So I would say your system with the 560M is probably about as good as it will get. I think I would set the first two slides to a longer display time, perhaps of three seconds each, then the third to five seconds. When I do this, the animation starts immediately at 11 seconds, similar to your first suggestion. Of course the solution for now may be to greatly reduce the size of the PNG files for the cards. Best regards, Lin

Hi Arthur, It ran fine with my 8800 GT so I think we can assume that the issue is that your 8600 GT is just a bit dated. Best regards, Lin

Hi Arthur, First, open PTE and use the "File" "Create Backup in Zip" to zip all the components into a single zipped archive. You can rename the zipped archive to do away with all the date information and make the file name easier to deal with. Keep the file extension .zip .... Next go to a file upload and sharing facility such as MediaFire: http://www.mediafire.com/ Then upload your zipped file to media fire and post a link on the forum here. Best regards, Lin

Hi, It's difficult to know without more information. First, how did you go about trying to change the music? Was the original audio linked to individual slides or put in on a single track via the project options? When you tried to change the music, did you remove all from the Project options? Why are you using a "Browser?" Is this a video or an executable file? Sorry for all the questions, but more information is needed to help you sort this out. Best regards, Lin

Hi Arthur, It sounds very much like a system resources issue. My first assumption would be that you have exceeded the capacity of your video card. If you would like substantiation and independent confirmation, please post a link to the executable file and some of us with high-end video cards can test it and see if we experience the same delay. Best regards, Lin

Back to the future - LOL... Isn't that "exactly" what PTE does right now? If you put in two mp3's, set crossfade to greater than 5 you will get a fade-in on audio selection one as well as the "cross-fade" ? If you give me a few moments - I'll create a "tone sample" demonstrating that visually..... Here ya go: http://www.lin-evans...te/tonedemo.zip The procedure was load the two flat tone mp3's into PTE on a single channel as two mp3's (first tone 440 cycles, second tone 880 cycles). Next click on the five second tab and change to seven seconds. Now observe the audio waveform in the timeline. Fade in, tone, fade-out/fade-in overlap tone 2. No fade out on tone 2. Easy enough to just set a fade-out on tone 2. Lin I thought that was what Gary was complaining about??? Best regards, Lin

Hi Stu, I guess we have the ability now to have a Background Slide on the bottom layer - it's the "Tiled image" set to 100%. The Top Slide or master top layer is an interesting possibility. Best regards, Lin

Hi Barry, That was what actually surprised me. We "can" add a png, jpg, bmp, etc., and have it apply to ever image in the show right now - I didn't know this because the function which allows it is called "Tiled image" and I never really fully investigated it - an oversight on my part. We simply choose "Tiled image" then change the numeric value to 100 (which represents percentage) and we have our choice of background image, or "slide" or whatever we wish to eventually call it universally applied on the lowest layer on all slides. The issue is what to call it since "Tiled image" seems, at least to me, to not be representative of what "most" will want to do with this feature. It's indeed not "tiled" when the value is set to 100%. I think Igor is considering a name change for this feature and a default of 100% rather than the present 20% We can then use the "customize slide" feature to substitute any other background for any individual slides we want handled differently. So I guess, defacto, we have the ability to "remove" it from individual slides. At least "functionally" it is removed - at the program level I'm not certain what is happening... Best regards, Lin

Hi Gary, Line space and sharper smoother are both two directional attributes. You can have more sharpness or less sharpness than what your camera gave you for a default which is zero as far as PTE is concerned. You can have greater space or less space between lines than the software gave you for a default. These "sliders" must pass through zero to give negative or positive values so have no real relevance as comparisons. Unsharp mask is the only one of your three comparisons which is similar to cross-fade, but it only deals with "one" item, the image, while cross-fade defacto deals with two items (music or background audio selections). Unsharp mask is set at zero by default because it is altering the image as it was placed into the show. If you want unsharp masking at all, then you change it visually to suit your own wishes. Cross-fade, on the other hand is defaulted to "off" "unless" you either place a check in the crossfade block or click on cross-fade in the music tab where it offers 5 seconds as a default. If there is no second music or audio choice, the value of zero is preserved even if you click on and choose 5 seconds. So the software is "smart" enough to "not" try to force cross-fade on a single audio selection. Cross-fade, defacto deals with two audio selections. Therefore when cross-fade is chosen, a value of zero is meaningless because it means "no cross-fade." This leaves us with a "default" which is simply a reasonable "guess" at what people generally want in a cross-fade. That's perfect logic in my book. You're right - we simply disagree on the logic of the way it is implemented. The only thing I would change is to eliminate the "cross-fade" on audio selection one when there are two audio selections and you choose cross-fade from the music tab with the 5 second default. I believe that the five second "cross-fade" appearance in music selection one is a bug. Best regards, Lin