Lin Evans

Hi Robert, It "may" be the extension which is causing the problem. Try renaming the file to xxxxxx.mpg and see if PTE will recognize it. Best regards, Lin

Hi Jeff, I'm a bit unclear about the details of what you want. If you could perhaps sketch a picture of what you are trying to achieve - even just a really rough pen or pencil sketch and scan it or shoot a picture with your camera and post it, maybe I or one of the other forum members can give you some direction. The issue is that a picture is worth a thousand words in this type situation. I'm unclear on what a "stroke frame" is and if you could point to the area via a screen capture and maybe print and sketch on the print what you want and where it would really help. Best regards, Lin

Hi Jeff, As David says, you need a mask. In this case the mask would be simply a pure white rectangle which limits the area in which the image and frame can be visible. The mask can be created right in PTE and you can adjust the shape of the rectangle by holding down the shift key while you drag the bounding rectangle with your mouse. The mask contains both the frame "and" the image and you move the combination by keyframing the mask container. All the little "gymnastics" in the demo are done with keyframes on the mask container by using PZR and 3D transforms as you can see by observing the values. You can also zoom the entire image including the frame (I didn't do this) by zooming the mask container. Here's a quick sample - just extract into a folder, load the PTE file, run the preview then study the construction.... http://www.learntoma...maskingdemo.zip (about 2.6 meg download) Best regards, Lin

Hi Ron, There are a number of great resources in the Tutorials section on the forum. I have AVI files there which show you exactly how to create cubes, etc. Follow the link below and you might find some easy answers to questions you have yet to ask... Best regards, Lin

Hi Dave, Looks good! For those who don't have or understand Photoshop, they can do it fairly well with the drop shadow so several ways to "skin the cat" - LOL. Best regards, Lin

Hi Dave, You can make the "stroke" any color with the color picker for drop shadows. I just used black because the default text color is white. Best regards, Lin

Hi Anthony, I can't answer for Igor, but my understanding is that the video converter will be a means of optimizing the video for use with PTE and not necessarily a way of getting greater compression. Video, by nature, is tough on file size. When you have, for example, 30 frames per second (29.97) or even 25 fps, you have a tremendous amount of data which is being stored. For a 10 second video clip at 30fps you have 300 separate images which must be stored. This means that depending on the size of each image in terms of pixel dimensions and compression, you could have quite a large file. Especially, if you are trying to use HD video you will have large files. The "best" compression right now is being done with Flash format. A 35 megabyte AVI or MP4 could be as small as 4 megabytes in Flash with only minimal loss of quality. So depending on your use of video, you might choose to convert to a Flash FLV or SWF rather than load an mp4, AVI, or other supported format. I doubt that one could "expect" that the internal PTE converter would necessarily make the file size smaller, just insure that it runs with minimal distortion and good sound and video synchronization. I'm sure when Igor reads your question, he can shed more light on it.... Best regards, Lin

Hi Dave, Could be, but is this what you want? This is a complete outline done via "Drop Shadow" by manipulating "spread" ..

Hi Dave, There "may" be a way to do this with PTE, but it's not straight-forward. If you create your text in both white "and" black the overlay the two making the black slightly larger and on the bottom layer, and using the "shift" key to distort the black as needed, you can outline the white text with black. I'm not sure, without seeing your results if it would be roughly equivalent or not, but it might be useful. Unfortunately, it's not possible to make text a child of text so it would require duplication of keyframes to facilitate motion, etc. Best regards, Lin

Hi Dave, I wasn't familiar with the term. I don't think there is any way to accomplish this in PTE unless one wanted to experiment with shadows which "could" serve a similar purpose; perhaps not an identical effect. By the way, I modified the demo using a video rather than the animated still and posted it on the same link. It only added about 4 meg including the sound in the video which I didn't strip out... Best regards, Lin

Sheila, Geoff, Mick, Thanks! - there are a number of possibilities and I think someone with a more artistic and creative mind than mine might expand on the idea and create a really interesting opening title example. Best regards, Lin

Hi Dave, I'm not quite clear on what you do to the text in Photoshop to get "separation" between moving text and background slide? If you could clarify this, I might be able to comment better on the possibilities within PTE. As for video, it doesn't have to add a great deal of bulk for this type application. In my last real slideshow, (Almost Lover) the video for effect was a Flash FLV file of only 3.1 megabytes. When used for effects such as this, the file can be greatly compressed and have no real disadvantage. Since the video would be running within the narrow confines of text borders, it could be even smaller and would generally add no more "bulk" than a small mp3 audio file. I just modified the demo (same link) with a video behind text - now less than 5 megabyte download..... Best regards, Lin

Hi Eric, There really isn't much detail because the leaves on the Aspen trees were too thick and too large to fit into the letters correctly - really a "quick and dirty" example to just give the impression of movement in the letters. The "ideal" way to do this particular effect would be to have a short video of the Aspen leaves "shimmering" as blown by the wind. They call them "Quaking Aspens" here in Colorado. The video would simply take the place of the still image and there would be no need to "animate" it because it would already have all the motion necessary. Actually, the effect works equally well without motion with certain types of backgrounds and the more "blocky" the text, the better it works. I didn't take too much time with this one, just wanted to present the "concept" so Igor could see one reason why we might want to keep this feature..... Best regards, Lin

When one chooses "Rasterize Text to PNG" there is a message which states that it is no longer necessary to do so, and for "most" purposes that is true, however, there are times when doing so can be useful I think. For example - If I wanted broad text with images inside the text itself. Of course this would be easy enough to do with Photoshop or other software, but how nice to be able to do the whole process in PTE (and easier, I might add). O.K., this is not a "sterling example," but you can get the idea. I created text using PTE and it was very easy to see the text and pick just the perfect one for the example because I simply scrolled through and observed the text on the screen. Next I wrote the text (using the default "white color") I wanted to use then saved it as a PNG using the "Rasterize to PNG" feature of pte. Ignoring the message, I went ahead and gave the file a useful name and saved it. Next I created a mask using the white text as the mask and simply ran an image with aspen leaves inside the mask with a little animation. Very easy to do and "could" have useful implications for some titles, etc., I think. Here's a quick and dirty sample: http://www.learntoma...pentextdemo.zip (less than 1 megabyte) NOTE: modified by using video behind text - 4.7 meg download now Best regards, Lin

Hi Adri, A couple suggestions: perhaps a bit of text either before or after (in any language which the viewer could translate with Google translate) to explain the significance of Brugge for those not familiar with European history could be helpful. The dark and somber mood with b&w images suggests several things depending on the orientation and knowledge of the viewer. I believe you could resize these photos to something like 1600x1200 or so and shave off more than half the file size without any effect on the quality of the images in the presentation. The photography was excellent, but the mood and darkness might confuse some viewers unless there was some explanation either before or after the presentation. Best regards, Lin

Hi Mick, I think it's fine just as it is! A wonderful sojourn through time and beautiful scenes captured perfectly - what else could one ask? I would love to visit this if I'm ever in Kent. Sherry and I visited several Bavarian castles such as Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau but never got the chance to see many in the U.K. - it was a pleasure watching. Best regards, Lin

Nice Sheila! You've discovered that there's more than one way to "skin a cat" - LOL Best regards, Lin

It was just a five minute quickie - If I get time, maybe I'll make a real one with a more accurate mask, etc... Best regards, Lin

Hi Again, You're doing fine and with more experimentation will find lots of neat things to do..... Here's a quick and very "dirty" example of a video running in the pyramid. Notice that as the pyramid rotates, the video has disappeared and been replaced with another "kitty" triangle. This was done simply by having "two" options on that pyramid face. #1 was the video running inside a triangular "mask". Then as that face goes out of sight, it is keyframed to zero opacity and the second option is keyframed from zero opacity to 100% opacity while it is still invisible because of its position. By this "video" method, you "could" have one of your slideshows running on a face or even on each face of your pyramid, etc. There is no "resource hit" for running the same video on all sides so you could simply replace the pyramid faces with the video running inside the mask and have your video running concurrently on all faces of the pyramid. This same "principle" could be used to create a rotating object (pyramid, cube, whatever) which changes images each time a side faces the audience. Simply using multiple "options" on each face and keyframing them to be visible or invisible would allow some multiple variations and keep the animation interesting. I didn't take a great deal of care in creating the mask so it's not "perfect" and just picked one of my videos as a quick example. I made it very small (400x300) to keep the size down but it's sufficient to demonstrate the possibility. If you watch, just let it run long enough to see the video and for that side to come up again - it ends abruptly at 3 minutes because I didn't try to "polish" it - just a quickie..... http://www.learntoma...yramidvideo.zip (about 18 meg) Best regards, Lin

Hi Sheila! By golly you're getting the "hang" of it pretty well - LOL. It's fun playing with the possibilities, isn't it? Keep at it and you will find other creative ways to use animation. You might think about creating a triangular mask and putting a video on one of the pyramid faces just for fun. Put the video in the mask and treat it just as you would a still image ...... Best regards, Lin

Thanks Igor! It's a wonderful feature which you and the team have given us to use. It's up to the users now to use it wisely... Best regards, Lin

Hi David, Thanks! A fun little show for an old girlfriend whom I dated just before I married Sherry. She and Sherry were good friends and we've kept in touch for over 33 years. After Sherry died, I have been chatting with her on facebook and trying to help her with her photography. She and her girlfriend of 30 years live in the far northeast and she's invited me out to climb a mountain with them next Fall and promised me that I'll be able to get some great photos of moose. I'm looking forward to that... Best regards, Lin

Thanks Roger, She is, isn't she? Best regards, Lin

Thanks Xaver, I made some minor changes such as using a fade to black before transition to avoid the white line on the image with the sunset and used some black masking rectangles to equalize the framing on some images to minimize transition blunders. I decided to keep the brush, but I did improve it a bit, I think so that it looks a bit more "realistic." In all good suggestions, thanks! I'm a bit out of my element doing these types of slideshows, but it was for a good friend who did apparently enjoy it. I uploaded the changed version on the original link... Best regards, Lin

Thanks Davy, You noticed, of course, that she "lost" the dress at the end of the show - LOL Best regards, Lin