Lin Evans

Nice one Jeff, I've always enjoyed your productions in the past and love the way Sammy poses for you - but dang, now you've gone and trained him to get you to pose too, and it looks like he's learned to press the shutter - LOL. Really great solitude and perfect choice of background music. Nice job on the sunset and video at the end! Best regards, Lin

Hi Eric, Wow! Great grandson - that's pretty amazing. He's a fine looking baby. He has rather large and strong looking hands; he'll probably make a good sailor! In a few years you can teach him the ropes - er - lines that is - LOL... Nice family production - I like the ending and the music is a perfect fit. Best regards, Lin

Hi George, Right now, mpeg-2 works really well with the beta. You can get a decent, inexpensive converter to convert your AVCHD or m2ts to multiple formats including mpeg-2 for about $35 here: http://www.alivemedia.net/hd-video-converter.htm Best regards, Lin

Whoa Davy, I'll never see mermaids in the same light again - LOL Good one! Lin

Hi Derek, I don't believe that ProShow is "rubbish" at all, but there are significant differences between Proshow Producer and PTE. Which is "better" for one's purpose depends a great deal on what one is trying to achieve. PTE has, without a doubt, the ability to output better "quality" images in high resolution. It also has significant features which are not available in Proshow. Whether these features are important for the individual purpose depends a great deal on what the user wants to achieve. Let me try to list the essential differences so you can make an intelligent decision about which works better for your own purposes. First: What Proshow has that PTE doesn't: The ability to use multiple types of files in addition to jpg, png, bmp and gif. Proshow supports a huge number and types of file formats including /RAW files from digital cameras (with proper codecs, etc.) and also supports layer files directly from Photoshop. Proshow outputs to a much greater diversity of media such as BluRay, SVCD (video disc), XVCD (video disc), XSVCD (video disc), CVD (video Disc) and MiniDVD (video disc) Proshow has numerous "styles" available which make fancy show creation easier and more automated than PTE. It also has significantly more fancy text effects than PTE and offers the user the option of changing and adjusting the image right within the program itself. You can have sepia, black and white, color, etc., all without going to your favorite image editor. For some applications, this makes it a very useful tool. The down side of all these "features" is that along with great complexity comes numerous interaction "bugs" which forever plague the user. It's simply not the most stable software around, but when it works properly it is quite powerful and quite useful. Second: What PTE has that Proshow doesn't First PTE has Hardware Rendering. This means that the video card does much of the work of manipulating internal image creation and display leaving the CPU free to do other things. PTE animations are smoother by far than those done with Proshow. PTE has infinitely more powerful features for dealing with animation than Proshow. For example, the simple task of off-center rotation which can be done in seconds with PTE is a nightmare to try and achieve with Proshow. With PTE you just click and drag the center for rotation where you want it. With Proshow you have to try to calculate numeric coefficients and this generally involves a tremendous amount of "trial and error" and then you rarely get satisfactory results. With PTE you have the incredible power of parent/child relationships. This allows animations not possible at all with Producer. With PTE you have smoothing, sharpening, mip-mapping, anti-aliasing, internal mask creation, much more flexible motion control such as linear, non-linear, fast, slow, smooth, etc., all of which can be manipulated by the knowledgeable user to achieve motion effects simply not possible at all with Producer. With PTE you have a HUGE advantage with 3D transforms. This feature which can be applied to not only still images but also to videos allows three dimensional effects in two dimensional space. It allows you to create reflections, invert, do horizontal or vertical "flips" on images and create effects far out of the reach of Producer. PTE has far superior keyframe features. Producer's keyframe's are awkward and difficult for people to use. PTE has superior text quality with auto conversion to PNG if you wish and with much more control over shadows, etc., than Producer. PTE just doesn't have the fancy text effects such as drop letters, flying text, etc., which are available with Producer. But with PTE you can do things with text which are impossible with Prosucer because the 3D transforms are also available for text. PTE supports many more "layers" than possible with Producer so that amazing animation can be programmed. PTE loads video much, much faster than Producer because Producer converts all videos to its own format with no option to do otherwise. PTE will have the "option" of converting video to its own best format, but also as is now the case with beta versions, you can omit this step and video loads practically instantly. Essentially, the differences are that PTE is more like a nuts and bolts tool which lets you be the driver. Producer is like a Mac Truck with an automatic transmission while PTE gives you a 16 speed manual transmission with two speed rear axle and all wheel drive. Producer is "easier" for the novice user to use to make a fancy slideshow with little knowledge, but PTE has all the tools for those who want to really learn to "drive" to have far superior end results. Now the coup de grâce, PTE has free upgrades for life on the main program and a two year, very reasonable upgrade policy on Video Builder. Producer has "finally" lowered their prices to what the market will bear (they originally tried to sell it for over $500) but it still costs you around $200 and their yearly "upgrades" cost you more than PTE with Video Builder! The above is solely my take on it and in no way reflects any "official" attitude.... Best regards, Lin

Thanks you, Howard, That was a beautiful tribute, and one which I'm certain Peter would greatly appreciate were he able to watch. Who knows? He may very well have seen it. He will be greatly missed by all, not only for his charm and wit, but also his ability to produce poignant and stunning AV's, and write meaningful sonnets making even the mundane interesting and thought provocative. As your images clearly portray, Peter had many friends and relatives who gave him a lovely "send off" on his journey to the next great adventure which someday awaits us all. Best regards, Lin

Hi Fred, Glad to see you back! Actually, you download the beta from this forum - here: http://www.picturest...deluxe-70-beta/ Igor updates this link with the latest betas as they become available... Best regards, Lin

Cool system!! TIger changes their stripes so fast, this is "no longer available" per their search engine - LOL. That's a really neat system and should keep you busy tinkering with software installation and such for a few Heineken's worth of pleasure! Looking forward to hearing how it fares with video and such as time goes on. Best regards, Lin

Hi Dave, Actually, I've already done that. This is a new issue with an MOV which didn't come from my camera. I "wish" I had a smaller example, but this is the only one I have... Best regards, Lin

Hi George, To do this would require you to place the same image in the slide list two times. The first time on Objects and Animations, the slide to come from behind would be in the layer underneath the first image. Then use a "quick, no transition" to go to the second slide where you must match the "position" and "zoom" where the first slide left off, but have the slide which came from "underneath" as the top layer so that when it goes back to the original position, it will lie on top of the one which it came from underneath on the first slide. When properly matched and coordinated with identical zoom and pan numbers, this will appear as if it were all done on the first slide. There is no way to "change layers" during slide display on a single frame so it must be done as described above. here's a link to an example - this done with Beta 3 so be sure you use it to load. This is the PTE file so create a folder, extract the content of the zipped file in that folder then load the PTE file with beta 3 and you can see how to do this. http://www.learntoma...emo/example.zip here's a zipped exe example: http://www.learntoma.../exampleexe.zip If you wanted to add a tiny bit of "realism" to your animation, then adjust the "y" axis in Objects and Animations for the image which is moving about 8 degrees positive via keyframe just before it begins the "return" trip to cover the original slides. Be sure to set it back to zero as it covers the slide via keyframe. Best regards, Lin

Hi Igor, Still finding issues with MOV files. I'm emailing you a link and explanation for a large MOV file which plays perfectly well on Irfanview and other players, but is reported as "Image not found or damaged" in PTE Beta 3. Also, I'm having similar difficulties with some AVI files which play fine in other players but reporting identical "Image not found or damaged" in Beta 3. I suspect if you find the answer to the MOV issue in the file I'm linking to in my email, you will also have solved the AVI issue. Best regards, Lin

Hi Kim, I "think" you may have some confusion about Keyframes. If I'm correct, what you need to do is when you first open your slide in Objects and Animations view, a keyframe (little blue box at the start of the timeline) is automatically generated. For example, you want to zoom in on an area of your slide. So you "create" another keyframe further on the timeline and click on this new keyframe "before" zooming your image. Once the new keyframe is selected, then zoom the image. Now, to zoom back to where you started, create yet another keyframe further to the right on the timeline and click on it. Next zoom back to the same size (see values for zoom in the little boxes) where you started. Your image will then, over time, zoom in and then zoom back out. For rotate, the same thing must happen. You must create a second keyframe. Click on this new keyframe and change the rotate. The image will then rotate this number of degrees and direction "between" the times for the first and last Keyframe. Best regards, Lin

Hi John, On your question: A year or two was the last report on a full MacIntosh version. It turns out to be very complex and its necessary for the development team to learn an entire new language and port PTE to that new language in order to create a unified product serving both the MacIntosh and Window user. On your assumption: There is no "audio fiasco"... Many new and very useful audio functions have been added if you just take the time to learn to use them. I would suggest looking for the audio tutorials posted by Jean-Claude Colibri. There seems to be a broken link right now, but he has a series of four very good tutorials on audio which I hope with appear again soon. It's now possible to have multiple audio tracks, add audio to individual slides or via "comments" - expand and contract a sound envelope, use offsets, determine start and stop times, fade-in-fade-out. One has complete control over volume with audio and with the envelope it's possible to adjust that volume in real time. With the envelope one can easily insert one or more tracks into any position along the time-line, etc. It's quite powerful in my opinion. The major thing which remains is to help with user understanding. It might also be useful to have an overarching visual waveform showing multiple tracks simultaneously. As time goes on there will be continuous improvements in audio function just as there have been with visual function. Best regards, Lin

LOL - That will teach me to look at the "handle" as well as the first name - I confused you with Maureen Albright who has been under the weather the past few days.... We have two talented "Maureen's" from the U.K. here.... Best regards, Lin

Hi Mary, I just received an email back from Xara - they did not include a preload but once again informed me that it was "on the list of things they were considering" for their next release. That's what they told me a few months ago when I suggested it for their next release (this one which appeared without it) - LOL. I wouldn't hold my breath. I really don't understand why a company would even bother putting a video output with player and "not" have a preload. If they had even a remote "clue" about their market, they would realize that today HD video is "the" thing among videographers. With almost "any" HD video format, the data stream exceeds all but the fastest DSL and Cable broadband capabilities. People with 1.5 mbps download speed simply have to wait until a sufficient amount of data has streamed or the viewing will be constantly interrupted. It's a relatively simple task to program a preload for a player. I can think of four or five different ways to do it even if it meant providing a "dummy" video with zero opacity which was queued to run before the player would function after load. It's not rocket science. I often wonder why Vimeo, YouTube, etc., don't have that as an option. It's a simple thing, but nearly all except the makers of Flash FTP players seem to ignore it. Go figure.... Best regards, Lin

Hi Colin, I agree, but you may want to start with the free version of VideoPad here - then once you understand the benefits and limitations, move to either the professional version of VideoPad or Adobe Premier Elements... http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Multimedia_and_Graphics/Video_and_Animation_Tools/VideoPad_Video_Editor.html Lin

Hi Dom, Thanks! First you need to find a video which has lightening with a minimum of intrusive objects in the frame. Ideally, lightening over the ocean or where there are no buildings or tall objects which are illuminated during the flashes. Next, you bring in your own still image which you want to apply the lightening effect to. If it's already an evening or night scene you can leave it as is, but if you want to make an image taken during the day "look" like it was taken at night, then using the opacity control can work wonders. Next you will want to "invert" the scene with lightening (rotate it 180 degrees) so that whatever "was" on the bottom, now is on the top where you can pull it up outside the viewable area of the screen. I find that using "Shift" plus dragging the control points can help in two ways. First you can move objects outside the viewable area and second, you can "stretch" the image to help position the lightening strikes where you want them in the image. Check your messages for some more information.... Best regards, Lin

Hi Mary, I've seen the "What's New" for Designer 7, but I saw no mention of preload either. I've had several conversations via email and web with developers of Xara and they were considering adding preload, but I've heard nothing. They do automatically detect HTML5 and there is no need for resident Flash to run MP4's any more. This means your web site with video via Xara Designer 7 would be available to iPad and iPod or iPhone, etc., but if they didn't incorporate preload it was a serious omission in my opinion. I won't upgrade if it's missing.... Best regards, Lin

Hi Patrick, Beautiful in every way! Excellent photography and amazing scenery... The music was a very nice complement to the show and fit perfectly. Thanks! Best regards, Lin

LOL - Eric, did you see 2001 a Space Odyssey? By the way - black and white are not considered "colours" ;-) Best regards, Lin

Hi Peter, Very nice implementation of your idea! Works well indeed! HAL (and Dave) would be impressed - LOL Best regards, Lin

Putting together disparate elements including stills, video, animated gif, and sound to create a quick and dirty sample which could give rise to ideas for more serious applications in the future.... http://www.learntomakeslideshows.net/wolf/wolfstorm.zip (about 35 meg - zipped pc executable) http://www.learntomakeslideshows.net/wolf/index.htm (800x600 video) Suggest starting show, then immediately pause and let it buffer to about three inches of "blue gas gauge" the restart to avoid pauses. Unfortunately, I do not yet have the ability to preload - hopefully I've talked Xara into incorporating a preload on the next version of Xara Web Designer 6. Best regards, Lin

Hi Maureen, A pleasure to view and excellent work all around!! Congrats! Hope you're feeling better... Best regards, Lin

Hi Colin, Any decent video editor will let you choose a start and ending position and let you export what is between them as an independent video clip. There are numerous choices for that. You might want to start with a freeware video editor then later you could go to something more sophisticated such as CyberLink Power Director or Adobe Premier Elements. Here's a link to Adobe Premier Elements - watch the video's which shows you what you can do..... http://www.adobe.com...cts/premiereel/ Best regards, Lin

Just a little 4 megabyte file to demo one way of using video with a still to create a special effect. This was done by taking a still photo of a mountain near my home with clouds, etc., during daylight and using a video of a lightening storm. The video was "inverted" to get rid of some unwanted reflections of objects and opacity was adjusted on the night scene with the lightening to make it appear as if the mountain scene was taken at night. Just a quick and dirty example of something which, when better executed, might be used as an intro to a slideshow about lightening or such.... http://www.learntomakeslideshows.net/demo/lighteningdemo.zip (about 4 meg) Lin