Lin Evans

Hi Tom, There are a few different ways to do this. Perhaps easiest way would be with a slowly moving mask. The text would be placed inside the mask and the portions of the mask which were white would "reveal" the letters while the black portion would "conceal" the letters. So if you created a PNG or JPG file which started with black on the right side then gradually changed to pure white and keyframed this mask to move slowly from far left to far right, the letters would sequentially be gradually revealed. It could also be accomplished by keyframing the opacity of individual letters across the timeline, but the above would be much easier to accomplish. Here's a quick "template" you can modify or change the background to video or still frame, but you can see how to do this... http://www.lin-evans...xt/template.zip and a quick demo: http://www.lin-evans.org/text/textrevealdemo.zip Best regards, Lin

It occurred to me that actually, it wouldn't be all that difficult for PTE to make the Luma Matte without using an expensive package of any kind. The latest version of Adobe After Effects only works on 64 bit systems running Vista or later operating systems (Thanks Ken - for looking that up and reminding me) so in my case that's a non starter because I can't even afford After Effects let alone a new computer to run it on - LOL. Bottom line is this (I'm simplifying a bit but the essence is correct): There are plenty of free software packages which can take a video and extract each frame as a jpg. Then there are free programs such as Windows Movie Maker which comes with the Windows operating system which can take the individual jpgs and make a video from them. So what can be easily done is to take a green screen video where one photographs the subject in front of and a few feet away from a solid green backdrop. Once the video is complete. First copy the original, then use freeware to extract each frame from the copy. Set up a batch action operation in Photoshop or similar program to use the select color range to select the green then inverse the selection and find and replace it in batch mode with 255,255,255 (RGB) white. Next, deselect and select the white, inverse and repeat the process replacing everything "except" white with 0,0,0 (RGB) black. Next use Windows Movie Maker or Quicktime with the MacIntosh to create a video matching the original in frame rate, aspect ratio and size. Now you essentially have your Luma Matte for the mask itself and your green screen original to furnish the video portion inside the mask which will reveal only that portion of the video which is pure white, which is what you wanted to begin with. You then overlay this masked video on the video or still of your choice and manipulate the mask container for PZR, and 3d transform as desired. Voila! Green Screen Alpha Channel capabilities in PTE. All we need is the video as a mask! It "shouldn't be very difficult to program the ability to extract frames, from a green screen video and convert it to a Luma Matte right in PTE once we have video as a mask incorporated. There are details I've omitted such as the necessity for a really "good" green screen capture with minimal "splash" over. This essentially means that if the subject to be extracted is too close to the green backdrop, green reflected light will "shadow" the subject and make it much more difficult to get a clean luma matte. The subject edges of both the luma matte and the green screen frame must be "softened" a bit with a slight edge blur so there is no abrupt change where green could show through. One way to help deal with that would be to also replace the "green" in the video to be included in the video mask with medium or dark gray. This would be much less noticeable than a slight "green" halo. I've tested this theory in actual application using still images taken from a rather "bad" green screen capture and it works quite well so assuming that the precepts could be maintained, it should be a viable possibility for PTE. Best regards, Lin

Hi Barry, Though you may be correct about this forum and the amount of "expressed" interest in video, I believe you greatly underestimate the market at large for this product and the absolute necessity of being competitive with video. There are many, many users of PTE who do not post on the forums or even visit the forum. There is a "huge" market out there for presentation slideshow products and essentially "all" of them have relatively sophisticated video capabilities. I doubt PTE would be competitive in the near future without it. Realize that many here who use this product are older and much more conservative about what they do with it. On the other hand, we old codgers won't be around that many more years and the younger users absolutely demand video. Adobe Premiere is a wonderful product, but absolutely "not" more capable for doing the things that PTE does easily, nor is it a simple product to use effectively for making superior slideshows. PTE has the ability to "easily" do things which are terribly difficult and/or exceedingly awkward with video editors. We are missing only a few features from this product in relation to video, which, if implemented, could open entirely new and lucrative markets for it such as a low cost and powerful competitor for PowerPoint with corporations who do in-house productions. I've spent many years in the corporate environment with large companies such as Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, etc., and I have a good handle on what they want and will buy. I see a very strong future for this product not only in users who are interested in PTE for AV presentations, competitions, family slideshows,etc., but also in the corporate arena and even in small businesses. Whether we older users like it or not, video is here to stay. Younger potential customers absolutely demand it. In general, they have little or no use for a presentation slideshow product which "can't" implement video effectively and quickly. I have Premiere and I wouldn't dream of using it, for example, to quickly make a presentation with multiple video's involving masking, moving masks via keyframe, opacity changes, etc. It's just "way" too complex to do it effectively. Likewise with some other powerful Adobe products like After Effects. I've watched demos put on by experts in the use of After Effects where they were using traveling luma matte implementation. I can do the things they were accomplishing in After Effects in a quarter the time and much more effectively with PTE right now! This tool has a wonderful future if we don't drop the ball and forget the future and get bogged down with yesterday's thinking. Yes, audio implementation needs improving and I believe that's on the table. But video needs more features and capabilities to stay current even with products like ProShow Producer. So in my opinion, Video in PTE is far from "completed." You are 100% correct that it is "Igor's" baby and he, of course will make the decisions about how to proceed with the product. Best regards, Lin

Cool Moises, Love it!! Early Merry Christmas to you and your too! I wish JPD were around to see it - he would love it too! Lin

Barry, Are you sure video is "complete?" There are still a number of possibilities for video which have not yet be realized. Audio controls for video, video as a mask, BluRay output of video and stills, possibly AVCHD,, possibly some controls over video speed, such as frame rate manipulation, etc to keep up with the competition..... Best regards, Lin

Hi Boogie, If I find one, I'll post a link.... The only software which I'm certain can do this is Adobe After Effects, but it's "way" over my budget. I have queries out at a few websites to see if I can get any suggestions for cheaper ways to accomplish this. After Effects is a wonderful package - you can even create videos with alpha channel without green screen/blue screen extraction using their new Rotoscope feature. It's extremely powerful, flexible, etc., but with all this power comes great "expense." Legit copies are hard to find for under $600 U.S.D. and generally run closer to $900 U.S.D. Best regards, Lin

Hi Eric, Can't get into your "wishlist" without some more information..... email me at [email protected] Best regards, Lin

Hi Boogie, No luck with that. I think it takes a more sophisticated video editor to output both an alpha channel video and the luma matte. Best regards, Lin

Beautiful photos and presentation Maureen - I put a direct link to your presentation at Beechbrook for you on your post. Best regards, Lin

That's another good and viable option. Probably the best option if one doesn't have a Nikon camera and want to use a video from that camera ... I've modified my post above to include this link.... My suggestion, however, is to download it from my site here http://www.lin-evans...edia/xmedia.zip rather than spend an hour trying to find a place to download where you don't have additional junk like toolbars, players and other non-wanted "add-on's" automatically installed or requiring "opt-out" on your system. The freeware download business has been totally over-run with junk add-on's. Even the author's own site is not immune to these pests! Best regards, Lin

Hi John, As David and Gary have mentioned - there are several ways to deal with this until PTE has video sound editing capabilities. There are freeware video editors available where you can adjust your sound in the video. You can fade-in and fade-out and adjust volume on audio tracks in your video that way. I haven't tried Windows Movie Maker myself, but I have used the free version of Video Pad Video Editor by NCH (I'll provide links later in this post). The only problem with these approaches is that it requires a bit of learning to use the video software. Not a monumental task, but definitely takes a little time even for an experienced user. The other approach, which works quite well if you don't require absolute synchronization between voice and video image is to simply "mute" the video and insert an mp3 of the video sound track as a sound object and then use the full power of the PTE audio controls to fade-in, fade-out, control volume anywhere in the sound track, etc. Of course this brings up the question of how to create an mp3 audio from the video's audio track. The way I do it is with a tool which records any sound going to the sound card on your computer. The program I use to do it with is inexpensive and called "Audio MP3 Sound Recorder." However, in searching the web, I found a freeware tool which apparently does the same thing. Here's a link to that: http://download.cnet...4-10698910.html I haven't tried the freeware tool linked above, but from the description on the link it appears to be capable of doing this. Below are links to the tool I use which is not free, but is very useful and works very well: http://www.mp3-recorder.biz/buy.htm And below this a link to the site where you can download the free version of Video Pad Video Editor: http://www.nchsoftwa...opad/index.html I believe Xaver's suggestion to use Xmedia Recode is probably the best solution of all if you don't have a Nikon camera because it preserves the synchronization between audio and video. I'll repeat my suggestion further down here. Rather than try to find and download this video tool on the web, I've searched out a "tool bar free" and "add on free" downlad and uploaded the install as a zipped link on my site. Unfortunately, freeware today has been overwhelmed by add-on junkies who put tool-bars, players and all types of unwanted add-on's making it almost impossible for the uninitiated to download a clean copy of the install without polluting their system with unwanted code which they later have to uninstall with various degrees of success. Even trying to download the actual "program" you want is a monumental task anymore. Deceptive links abound on download sites. One "thinks" they are downloading the desired program and instead end up with all types of "other" software. It took me an hour to actually get a clean copy of Xmedia Recode. I zipped it and the link is below for those interested. http://www.lin-evans...edia/xmedia.zip Hopefully, one of the methods suggested will help you get your audio track under control like you want it. Xaver's suggestion (link above) is, in my opinion, the best way to go. Best regards, Lin

Hi Robert, LOL - those "mini-peaks" can be distracting for sure! The ripples were an example of running and sizing a video inside a mask. Actually, it was the same video used in the opening slide. I suspect they (the images you mention) were Wales. Funny story - last time Sherry and I were in Wales I thought maybe I might look up some distant relatives. My great grandfather and his six brothers came to the U.S. from Wales and I thought perhaps I could learn a little about my genealogy. When I looked in the phone book in Cardiff, about half the book shared my last name - LOL. I decided that my relatives must be among, if not the most prolific rascals in Wales. I gave up that idea as a lost cause! I've never entered any AV competitions, actually I've never seen one, so haven't a clue about what goes on. Everything I know about competitions I've learned from the forum here. Unfortunately, here in the U.S., there seem to be very few AV competitions, at least that I'm aware of. My experience with AV in any formal way is greatly limited. In past years, I made shows for business clients, primarily in the art world, but that's a fairly specialized venue and oriented toward selling art to customers. Years ago we had a camera club in Boulder, Colorado but interest waned, and it seems that there are not many who have the time or inclination any more for such. I guess a great deal of that is because of the internet. I envy your pervasive interest in the U.K. and in Europe in AV clubs, competition, etc. I think competition is a healthy thing for promoting overall improvement in the skills of presentation. Of course there are bound to be issues with judges and "opinions" about what makes a good AV presentation. I've always eschewed "politics" and probably wouldn't fit in very well. Best regards, Lin

Hi Paul, To save a little reading - go here: # 18 should get you going.... Best regards, Lin

Try a couple things: First click on View then Timeline Options and check the color of the waveform and make sure it's not white. it it's white, change it to a color which can be seen against the white background. If it's not white, then put your cursor just below the blue waveform icon until the cursor changes to up and down arrows with parallel lines in between. Hold the left mouse button down and drag the line upward a couple inches and see if the waveform appears... The fact that a vertical line appears below the little blue up arrow means that the waveform is there - for whatever reason you can't see it.... Lin

Hi Threllie, A couple questions: What color is the waveform icon before and after you click on it? How did you add your music - through the Project Options or on the slide? If you added it on the slide, you won't see the waveform and the waveform icon will be gray. If you added it through project options, the waveform icon will be blue and when you click it, you "should" see the waveform below the timeline. Best regards, Lin

Hi Mick, Great job. I find nothing wrong with your speaking voice and the photos were beautiful. Just drop the overall volume level of the background music and in my opinion it will be fine! Best regards, Lin

Hi Robert, This is great information Robert. What I believe may be the usefulness, is to overlay small chroma keyed videos over stills. Once we have the ability to use video as a mask, there are numerous types of things which, when used sparingly and with good taste can, I think, enhance the still image without becoming intrusive. I think these type mini-animations might be useful especially in introductions and in closing scripts. An example of this was one I used some months ago in a show where I animated a "paint-brush" painting the subject in the first slide. I wouldn't use the paintbrush for a serious show, but the water-drop video I used in a couple places in the introduction and second slide might be the type of use which could be accepted by judges in time. Of course I didn't have "video as a mask" which would have made it very easy to do, but I did run the video "in a mask" and with opacity control was able to make it work. Here's a link to that show: http://www.learntomakeslideshows.net/almost/almost.zip (about 17 meg Windows pc exe file) Best regards, Lin

Hi Boogie, Here's what the "help" says: Chroma Key Select the Chroma Key color by clicking on it in the preview image. Then, using the preview image as a reference, adjust the Background and Foreground sliders until the desired transparency is achieved. Note you can click different positions on the timeline to see how the video will look. Click OK to apply changes. If you would like to make changes later, first select the overlay in the list on the Overlay tab, then click the Change button next to the Use Chroma Key checkbox. It's not very helpful, but I would assume that you can save the alpha channel as an AVI provided that you have the necessary Codec installed. There are several (at least 3) codecs which support the Alpha Channel. So this program at least lets you remove the Chroma Key color and leave transparency, but whether it can save this as a black and white alpha channel video or just overlay it on another video is the question. Once I get my system back and running, I'll try to find out what it can do. I can make a quick green screen video and test it then... What we would need - to make this work with video masking is what is commonly referred to as the Luma Matte. The luma matte is essentially a black and white video. The white being opaque and the black being transparency. In PTE, the white would allow the chroma key portions (black in this case) to be transparent, and that part of the video which was not (green or blue, etc) to be visible. Best regards, Lin

Hi Colin, It could be that you overlooked something such as start time, offset, etc. The fade feature seems to work fine for most. If you could send me your PTE file where you had the problem, I would be glad to look it over and see if I can determine what's happening. The structure of the audio features isn't visual, but if you work with them for a while, I think you will find that it's actually much easier to get the results you are looking for right in the program than to go to Audacity or other audio editor. I use Audacity too, but I find it more convenient to do nearly everything right in PTE these days myself. Best regards, Lin

Hi Tillman, Thoroughly enjoyable! What a wonderful way to see this beautiful place and its people! The only thing I would change would be to use "smooth" for your pan of the wide frame.... Best regards, Lin

Hi Tom, Chroma Key would be nice, but not necessary. What I have in mind is just the ability to use video as a mask. A number of software applications can create a video with Chroma Key technology which have both the black and white alpha channel as well as the color channel produced. In PTE with a using video as mask option, we then insert the alpha channel black and white video as the mask and inside the mask run the regular matching video. This then gives us the ability to use the video just as we now use a PNG transparency. Let's say we have a video of the earth in rotation made on a black background. The alpha channel video is pure black and white. The Earth is simply a white circle within a black background. Then when the actual video is inserted within this video mask, we have the Earth rotating just as a still PNG cutout except with full video motion. We can then overlay this "video" as a mask on any background and the only parts we see will be the earth in full color rotating on our choice of a still "or" video background. We can size and manipulate (pan, zoom, rotate, 3d transform, etc.) this rotating earth. The black surrounding the rotating Earth is transparent in the mask revealing everything "except" the Earth on the layer beneath (that being our choice of video or still backdrop). The white alpha channel revealing only the rotating Earth which can be manipulated as desired. Now take this same concept and apply it to an alpha channel made by Chroma Key extraction of any subject whether static or dynamic and we have the ability to, for example, overlay a video of you made with a home video camera against a green or blue backdrop for extraction. You might be walking about, talking, sitting at a table, whatever. This alpha channel black and white (video as a mask) then coupled with the associated regular color video from which it was made, lets us place you and your table, etc., anywhere in the world. Let's say we have a video from Paris on La Seine by the Eiffel Tower. You could be sitting at a table as people walk by and it would appear that you were actually there. This video as a mask has some seriously powerful implications I think... Best regards, Lin

This post is simply an effort to stimulate discussion about possibilities for the "video as mask" feature.... One of the features several of us have asked for in a future version of PTE (hopefully the next one) is to be able to use video as a mask. This will open up a number of great possibilities for PTE's extended use not only in AV productions, but also in the business world. A feature we sometimes see on the web is a website with a "talking head" or with a tiny "actor" walking back and forth and talking about the website or some of the features, etc. This is done using green screen (or blue screen) alpha channel extraction. With video as a mask, we could easily do this with PTE and create really interesting possibilities. Today, there are multiple video editors capable of doing alpha channel creation along with a normal video so that the user has both. How this ends up is a black and white video and a color video to match. Programs which create special effects, such as Particle Illusion can be used to create an alpha channel along with the regular video. Once we have the Alpha Channel black and white video which can be used as a mask - we would put the black and white in as the mask and run the video underneath. Then only the animation would be visible through the mask. We could then "animate" the mask as desired. For example, let's say we had an alpha channel extraction of a horse running. We could move this running horse across a pasture still image or a video. We could have a person walking and talking and this could easily be overlaid on a business presentation, etc. There are myriad possibilities once this feature is manifest in PTE. How would this be possibly used in a dynamic AV presentation of the sort used in AV competitions? How would it be received by judges? These are questions which we might discuss. I have no knowledge or experience with AV competitions so am depending on those who have a background and experience to give their input and open minded commentary.... Best regards, Lin

Cool stuff Jan - looks great in HD! Best regards, Lin

LOL - Great job, Herhey! Question - Did Wally like the cake best or the "desert" at the end of the show? Loved your show - by the way, I used your running skeletons in my little Halloween skit here: Good to see you back on the forum! Best regards, Lin

Hi Vic, Actually, there are ways to do what you want to do without the blank, etc. You can do this in either of two ways: 1. Add the background sound two times on the same track. Set the "duration" for the first instance of the background audio to terminate just before the start of the video. You can use a fade out for "X" number of seconds. Next go to the second iteration of this background sound and set the "start time" to correspond to the ending time of your first track. This will "continue" you background sound right where it left off. But, you must also set the "offset" to the ending time of the video. You can set a "fade in" on this iteration for "X" seconds. So what will happen is your slides will progress with normal background audio until the one just before the video and at the termination of this slide, the audio will have faded out and the video's audio will begin. Then when the video ends, the audio from the second iteration will begin to fade in. You will probably, however, want to put your video into your video editor and fade the audio track in and out. There is no provision yet for this in PTE. 2. Put the audio first on track one and set the duration to the time of the video's start with a fade out of "X" seconds. This will effectively terminate the first instance of the audio with a fade out as the video starts. Add a track and put the same audio in the second track with the "Offset" equal to the end time of the video and the duration to the end of your last slide or where you want the audio to end. Put the "start time" equal to the end time of the fade out of the first track. Use fade out as desired. The reason I gave two ways of doing this is that sometimes one might have other things going on in separate tracks..... The audio is actually pretty sophisticated with PTE but you must keep in mind that "start time" is "how far into the audio track you want to begin to hear the sound" while the "offset" is how far along the time line you want to actually begin hearing audio. Then the "duration" is how much of the audio you want to actually play. If left at default, the entire audio mp3, etc., will play assuming there is sufficient time along the time line (enough slide time) to complete it. There is actually no resource penalty for having multiple instances of the same audio in a single PTE show. Best regards, Lin