Lin Evans

Hi Grüße I agree. Best regards, Lin

Hi Howard, Moving tribute - very well presented... As both a brother (I ride an FXDWG) and a veteran of two combat tours - I fully appreciate and understand.... Best regards, Lin

This might work for very elementary questions (obviously better than nothing), but the online translations are pretty "vanilla" at best and sometimes downright comical where technical questions are concerned. I suspect most internet users in all countries are pretty much aware of Google Translate, BabbleFish, etc. Best regards, Lin

As a convenience, it might be useful, but users would have to be informed up-front and in their own language that support would not be guaranteed and that translating into English and posting on the regular forum would be necessary to insure a response. There would be necessarily a translation of the caveat into a "Read Me First" pinned instruction. As long as users didn't get upset when and if their questions were not answered, it would be perhaps helpful. But we could not expect Igor to monitor the threads like he does the regular forum. This is always an issue for software sold internationally. PTE has been very good with interface translations and even with multi-language user guide publication - but the language barriers will always be problematic I think. Best regards, Lin

I had always assumed that once a PTE file was converted from EXE to "video" that a video frame was pretty much a video frame regardless of content. That is, I assumed that if a video card could smoothly play "video" such as from a DVD, that it would play any animations as easily as it would a simple slide because animations are, in video terms, simply the result of sequential different frames. So does it take more video clout to play frame a or frame b? Apparently there are differences depending on the frame content. Obviously there are difference depending on the number of pixels constituting the frame, but logic has always told me that as long as the pixel count is the same, one frame is just like another to video. It would seem that this is not so.... This turns out to apparently not be true. In a recent experiment "Dreams" published on the "Slideshows" forum, I discovered that adding a few masks each containing identical png animations greatly taxed both the executable presentation "AND" to a lesser degree, the video presentation. Surprisingly, at least to me, on my older system with an 8086GT nVidia card, the video portion of animations with the masks played smoothly, while the main HD (1280x720) video portion was compromised. In later testing with the compromised video card and web player, both the snow and flames were jerky. So a word to the wise - if you make a complex show mixing animated still frames "and" video, you might find that viewers with less than optimal video cards may have issues with smoothness.... I must do some more testing by playing the older version on my older system (same resolution different frame content) and see what happens. After more testing, it gets even more confusing.... I put both the "old" and "enhanced" versions on a thumb drive and played them on my old system with Kantaris Media Player. They were identical in smoothness, etc. I played the "web version" with both my development system (fairly powerful video card) and my old system (weaker video card) and even after allowing 100% buffering, the old system still stuttered on the flames animation with the enhanced video while the development system played it perfectly smoothly. This now brings the "player" into the equation. There is an approximately 20 meg difference in the MP4 file size. This leads me to video "compression" because the actual image sizes per frame in pixels are identical. So where the problem appears to lie is in the time it takes the "player" and system to decompress the individual files. Apparently this goes faster with the more powerful video card and hence the smoother play on the web player version. So the "player" can make a significant difference especially with a compromised video card! Best regards, Lin

Hi Ken, Good to know. If you read my response to Colin, you will discover what I learned about the video card's functioning even with the show converted to video. Best regards, Lin

Hi Colin, Thanks - I learned something today about the involvement of "video cards" in an animated video. On my development system which has a fairly powerful video card (nVidia 8088 GT) everything on exe and the video is smooth. On my older system with a somewhat limited video card (nVidia 8086GT) the exe plays with smooth animated snow, but with very jerky fire motion. On the video, the snow is smooth as well, but the fire is not. It's "better" than on the executable, but still not nearly as smooth as it "should" appear. The difference tells me that the video card must be optimal to mix video and still animations in the same frame even when everything is converted to video. The flames and general background are a 1280x720 video and the snow animations for both the snowglobe and snow through the windows is done as an overlay with animated stills via PNG and masking. So the less powerful video card is struggling to handle the HD video "and" still animations together. The 8086 card handles "normal" video such as DVD's quite well, but struggles with this video comprised of a combination of animated still and HD video. To get your video to run uninterrupted, start it then immediately hit the pause. Let the "gas gage" advance about a third of the way across then click on "play" and it "should" play through without interruption. Best regards, Lin

Hi Grüße, But PTE is not an audio or video "editor;" rather it's a presentation slideshow tool. You have now multiple tracks, an envelope for each to control volume at any keyframe point, the ability to offset, begin audio at any point and end audio at any point on any track. Where does one "stop" with audio visual tools? What if you have twelve simultaneous audio tracks - how would you see them all simultaneously with a display such as the one in your attachment? If the need is for sophisticated audio editing, free tools such as Audacity work very well. The phrase "jack of all trades, master of none" comes to mind. We can always have improvements in every aspect of a tool, but PTE does quite well as it is being the favored tool in the majority of the world of AV competition. Yes there will be improvements in both audio and video features in future versions, but the fact that PTE is used very successfully by award winning AV competitors means that it works quite well even now. Best regards, Lin

It's questionable, in my opinion, whether this could be done and be effective. First, who is going to monitor and translate? Igor has his hands full with development and translating to and from English. The French have solved this by having their own French speaking PTE forum which works quite well. If we have multiple languages, where do we stop? We have members who speak Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Farsi, Japanese, Chinese, Russian, French, etc. Isn't it more effective to have one language rather than the confusion which would most likely result from trying to understand the nuances of multiple languages? The strength of the forum and a major plus for PTE, in my opinion, is that forum members help each other with subtle issues which are difficult enough to explain in one language. Someone who speaks both English and one of the other languages would have to volunteer to translate. Do we have volunteers who are willing to attend to that every day 24/7?? It's unreasonable, I believe, to ask Igor to be the only one who answers questions and to try to translate to and from multiple languages. As it is now, when a member has difficulty with English, most of us try very hard to phrase the answers in terms which are not culturally or linguistically challenged. Only if we can elicit the full cooperation of multilingual members could this be done effectively, in my opinion. The international language of "business" has become English. That may change in years to come, but right now it's done to maximize efficiency. It's been found that having one language, whatever that language happens to be, greatly simplifies transactions. Just my thoughts..... Best regards, Lin

LOL - Put your glasses on! Actually, the snow is falling inside the snowglobe and the moon is rising, but because it's scaled proportional to reality, the snow is difficult to see inside the globe. Perhaps I should make giant snowflakes inside the globe - it's a thought..... Just for you, I've added snow outside the windows - download the exe again... So - I made the snowflakes a good deal larger inside the globe .... Let me know what you think... The modified video is uploading, but being over 100 meg, it's taking a while - LOL... Finally uploaded - the additional material makes it necessary to start then stop the video for a bit to allow some preload depending on the speed of the broadband. I need about an inch and a half of "gas gage" before starting to have uninterrupted play on my DSL. It's one of the problems with doing animation on video. The exe plays fine for me, but "could" be a bit jerky for some with marginal video cards.... Best regards, Lin \

Which version of PTE are you using? The processing of the audio tracks isn't bad in 7.0, actually it's quite versatile... Best regards, Lin

http://www.lin-evans.org/dreams/dreams.zip (21 meg) http://www.lin-evans.org/dreams/dreams.htm Lin

Probably 720x480, Mary, because you are in Arizona (NTSC) Best regards, Lin

Excellent Colin! Well done in every way! Best regards, Lin

Hi David, No, and Yes (in order asked). Best regards, Lin

Been playing - Just a little sample of the possible with 7.0 and such.... http://www.lin-evans.org/wind/wind.zip (zipped PC exe - about 19 meg) For those who prefer a video: http://www.lin-evans.org/wind/wind.htm Lin

Hi Moises, The presentation is "paused" for other "slides" unless you press "Pause/Play" when you go to each other presentation. Think of your presentation as if it were simply slides. If you press "pause" or have a key designated as you do a button via mouse click, the show will "pause" on whichever slide you happen to be on. It will then "resume" when you again click the button. Video is just another "slide" in the view of the program. I believe this is the way it works for a single exe file. To get your show to work differently, such as immediately playing when opening the second or third video, I think you need to make them small separate exe files and call the exe with a "return." Best regards, Lin

You're certainly welcome... I'm certain there is a limit to the number of tracks which can be added, but one is unlikely to reach that limit in practical use. Best regards, Lin

Add your first music selection via the Project Options "Music Tab". Next click on "Add a Track" and add your second music to the second track. Adjust the volume for each via the Customize Tab. Best regards, Lin

Cool!! I like the curtains and Dom's countdown works really well here! Good use and smooth integration! Best regards, Lin

One option which "will" work if you have the original PTE files is to simply install 7.01 and recompile everything. If all you are dealing with is a simple menu (the rest are mp3's) and no real "slideshows," just install 7.01 and compile your menu from you PTE file. This should solve the problem quickly. 7.01 will co-exist just fine on your system with your older version.... Best regards, Lin P.S. I've made you a working sample - menu with two songs and all associated PTE 7.01 files zipped into a single archive and linked below: http://www.lin-evans.org/eric/foreric.zip (about 28 meg) Just download and extract the files into a single folder. Click on the menu executable and test it. I think this is what you are looking for - it will just bring you kicking and screaming into version 7.01 and when you have finished with the menu you can go back to 6.xx Best regards, Lin

By all means read the tutorial Ken pointed to, but for now just put your menu music in as a "comment" from the Main screen rather than add it via the "music" option from the Project Options - that "should" solve your problem... I no longer have the older version on my system, so can't check it - but my suggestion would be to build a very simple one button menu which calls one exe file and post the PTE file so we can check it and see what you have done. I don't see that problem with 7.01 with either the sound comment or the music added via the project option as long as you set the button property to run a slideshow and return. I can't remember when changes were made. If you have the original PTE files for all the exe's which constitute the show, you could just recompile in 7.01 and quickly open your menu there and test it. Best regards, Lin

Often, in both business applications and in personal applications, your viewers might like to see specific areas of your slide up close. Of course we can always set up zooms where we "think" it might be nice, but we can't always be certain where viewers might like to see more details. An example for private use could be a large panorama which would appear wide and rather small vertically to fit the horizontal aspect of a wide screen. We really never know what our viewers might like to see, so how can we deal with this? Let's say you are putting on a slideshow in the conference room for business partners, etc., and you have a high resolution flow-chart or organizational chart. You can have dozens of slides each with a "crop" of this high resolution original and show them sequentially, or you might find it more expedient to do it this way. What I have done for an example is take a reasonably high resolution original and zoom in to areas of interest - take screen resolution snaps of the zooms and make them into individual slide. Then I setup hot spots using invisible "rectangles" (you could use buttons, frames or any object for this) for each area of interest. So now the person running the slideshow simply moves the mouse cursor to the invisible "hot spot" and the cursor changes. Left click the mouse and that area is immediately enlarged to reveal the slide which was cropped from the original high resolution slide. When done with this slide, just left click the mouse in the upper right hand corner of the slide and the show will return to the original slide. When you are finished, right click the mouse to exit the show. This entire method takes very little resources and rather than zooming in on a high resolution slide multiple times, the "collection" of small individual crops serves the identical purpose, works much quicker, uses very little resources, etc. Just another neat feature of PTE: Try clicking on the horses heads, the driver of the fire wagon, the front and back wheels of the wagon, the driver's head getting into the car, the license plate on the old car, the sign with writing above on the building - etc. You will find the "hot spots" when the cursor changes.... http://www.lin-evans...jump/jumpto.zip (a couple meg download) Best regards, Lin

Hi Gayland, LOL - You're hurting me!! Of course in the summer when it gets to 105 there, we can head up to the mountains here (about 15 minutes away) and enjoy 70 degree comfort - HA! I just wish that parts of Texas had some relief from the drought. At one point it looked like Lake Travis was about 50 feet low - lots of boats hanging by their moorings.... Best regards, Lin

Hey Tom, I sent you a PM.... I still have a couple old "typewriters." They work really well. Actually, one of them is also used as a "keyboard" for my old CPM Systel word processor. It's a dandy Olympia made in Germany. I think I paid over $5000 for the Systel back in the early 80's. I realized after playing with it that I could format a Systel disc and download software from my Kaypro II such as dBase II, etc., and it worked perfectly on the Systel. I actually made lots of money in those days doing that for people who purchased this word processor. They just bought the software for Kaypro CPM systems and I used a 150 baud "modem" to copy the software to the Systel format for them. I ported over dBase II, VisiCalc, WordStar and a number of other programs so people who had paid $5000 for a dedicated word processor now had dandy CMP "computers" as well - LOL. Best regards, Lin