Lin Evans

Hi Kim, Layers and Parent/Child are not the same concept at all. When you go to the Objects and Animations screen, the slide which appears in the Main slide list is on layer one. Any photos you add from Objects and Animations go in separate layers. It is possible to insert these additional photos as "children" of the original slide or as independent slides without interdependent relationships depending on whether the original slide was selected at the time of insertion. They can also be children of each other, or you could add additional objects such as frames or rectangles which could be variously parents or children of other objects. You can move these "objects" from layer to layer in Objects and Animations by selecting then using various keystrokes. The transparency of each is 100 percent adjustable. The concept of parent/child relationship is more complex and it is going to take you some time to learn how it all works. Again, I would suggest you download "all" the tutorials and start with the first and go through them methodically until you understand them or you will probably get totally confused. If you go to number 26 on my series of tutorials you can download an entire set of tutorials which will explain most of these terms in some detail. What you are looking for in terms of "start, finish, duration" are called "keyframes" or sometimes called "keypoints" depending on which version of PTE historically. Keyframes are points on the timeline represented by small blue rectangles. Each slide or "object" (the term for additional slides or PNG objects placed on separate layers via Objects and Animations) automatically has the first keyframe inserted as the "start" position on the timelline. You can then add unlimited new keyframes for each object or slide and control the position of the slide or object between any two keyframes visually by dragging the image to the new position while the relevant keyframe is highlighted. The movement can be linear or it is possible to program it on a curve via techniques explained in my tutorials. This motion can consist of variously pan, zoom, or rotate or any combination of the three. Also transparency may be changed between keyframes. I believe you will greatly benefit from taking it one step at a time because there are some very complex relationships which "can" be programmed, but you must understand the interdependency and parent/child relationships first in order to not have unexpected results. Also there are programmable "types" of movement including linear, smooth, etc., which also require a bit of study to get a good handle on. Two things I would suggest. First, go through the series of tutorials. Next, also download and read the "unofficial" user guide I co-authored with Jeff Evans. This user guide was written several generations of PTE ago, but it is still very relevant for background information about particulars which have "not" changed between PTE versions. Your progress and understanding of how to use this program will be greatly accelerated once you understand these basic concepts. Unfortunately, not all the terms we commonly use to describe various features are found in the official manual. Partly this is due to differences in languages. PTE is definitely an "international" tool and we sometimes have to refine the terms we use to describe various features and approaches to program use. I use the term "layer" because it is more widely understood due to the common understanding of Photoshop and other relevant tools. When you place objects in the Objects and Animation screen, they actually go into separate "layers." Each object occupies its own layer. Best regards, Lin

Hi Kim, What you're trying to do must be done with one "master" slide in the slide list, then all other slides are added on layers in Objects and Animations. You must keyframe each slide and position it via keyframes to get the effect you are wanting. The start and finish times and positions must be set via keyframe for each photo in Objects and Animations. Probably it would be a good idea to download and watch some of the tutorials to get a handle on how this is accomplished. Here's a link to the articles and tutorials section where you will find lots of demos and techniques: http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showforum=8 Best regards, Lin

Hi Michael, It's a really simple thing to do. Just highlight the text in the Objects and Animations screen. Size the text using the mouse then drag it down underneath the viewing area. You may need to change the view from the default to something like 25% so you can easily see the active area of your monitor. Next, go to the timeline and click on the + sign next to where it says "tools" on the bottom right of the screen. Another keyframe in blue will appear. Drag this keyframe to the right near the end to the time when you want the text to scroll off the screen at the top. (assuming you want it to scroll from bottom to top). Next, with this second keframe still hightlighted, use the mouse to drag the text off the screen to the top of the viewing area. The text will appear at the bottom of the screen and scroll upwards and off the screen during the time the slide is displayed. You can adjust the timing by moving the first and last keyframes appropriately. I would suggest going here and looking at my tutorials - you'll find a text tutorial as number 15. They are in AVI format. If you can't see them using your current player, just download and install the free Kataris Media player. here's the link for the tutorials section: http://www.picturest...?showtopic=7901 Best regards, Lin

Hi Greg, Though having images in separate folders is undoubtedly a good practice, sometimes it doesn't work to my advantage because I often use full original size images for deep zooms and smaller versions for single display. For example, I may begin with slide one as say a 1920x1080 view then later need to do a closeup of some feature which is best done from the full sized perhaps 24 megapixel capture. One might argue that why have a smaller version when a single large version would suffice for multiple purposes, especially when there is no memory or resource "hit" from duplicating the same image? My reasoning is that for deep zooms I often use antialiasing and mip-mapping while zooming or panning, and sometimes apply sub-pixel gaussian blur to certain areas on the original sized image to prevent shimmer which isn't sufficiently handled with PTE's anti-shimmer feature. But once those operations such as zooms or pans have been completed, I then like to sometimes zoom back out and display a very crisp 1920x1080 without area treatment. This then means that I would have to duplicate the huge original which "would" have a resource hit, or, just insert a downsampled and sharpened version. This is a rather convoluted way of saying that I have good reasons for having both the large original size and downsampled versions conveniently placed in the same folder. Of course I could simply change folders to pick up the one needed, or simply have both available with a close-enough file name so that they stay in proximity in the same folder and right click the thumbnail to get properties and find which is which. It is certainly possible to work without the Classic View, but it is quite "convenient" for some of us who are used to using it on a regular basis. Loosing it won't be the end of the world, we will just learn to change our work-flow a bit. By the way, I'm not completely clear on what you are referring to with : "keeping everyone on the same view?" Actually, there are three views presently available in most recent versions of PTE (horizontal, vertical and classic) or four if you count the full screen as a "view." Best regards, Lin

Hi, Actually, they "should" upgrade to the latest version of PTE Deluxe which is 6.5 with the first public beta of Version 7.0 (For Registered PTE Owners) due out very soon. The easiest way for them to proceed is to create an MP4 h.264 then they can take that to any PC via USB thumbdrive or even one of their SD or CF cards and upload directly to Youtube, Vimeo, Facebook, etc. Upgrades of the main program are free for life. Videobuilder, which is an optional, but fully integrated portion of PTE has a two year upgrade cycle. You buy it and if you want whatever new features are out in two years then you just pay the nominal fee for upgrade of videobuilder. The version you originally buy will always work as it did when you purchased it, but new features, etc., will be added on a regular basis so after two years if you see new features you like you just pay the upgrade fee and start another two year cycle. The "Deluxe" PTE means "with Videobuilder." Videobuilder is necessary to produce MP4 h.264 format but the regular PTE can produce AVI's which can also be uploaded to Youtube, etc. Best regards, Lin

Hi Igor, It's a "no win" situation. You can please "some" of the people all of the time, all the people "some of the time," but you can't please "all" the people "all the time." What's truly important is for you to do the best you can, and eventually we will all agree that it's in the best interest of both Winsoft "and" us. We "will" be happy with what you do. Just go ahead and do it and apologize later - LOL Best regards, Lin

Hi Igor, Perhaps I am conditioned by my years using and programming for "DOS" applications, but I still find very good use for having the old "Classic" view available. There are times when I like to be able to see the "size" of files and quickly scroll through the list to find a file name without having to look through hundreds of icons. If you could at least preserve the "option" of having the Classic view - even by means of a keystroke, it would be helpful I believe. I know that the present generation of young users are "visually" oriented and I can understand that approach to building slideshows via the "lightroom" - but there are many times when I find it "much" quicker to find a particular slide by quickly scrolling through a "list" than looking at thumbnails. For example, I may have several slides which "look" very similar but one could be a "huge" original and another a 1024x768 version and both in the same folder. With the "classic" view I could easily choose the correct one but in the thumbnail views or lightroom views it is much more difficult. Just some way of having the "Classic View" preserved would be helpful. Best regards, Lin

Hi Mark, Cut,. wrap, it's a take! I don't think it needs any more refinement - looks (and sounds) great like it is. Anyone who can make dead fish and bell peppers look great has my vote as a photographer! Best regards, Lin

Hi Maureen, There are insufficient superlatives in the English language to describe the beauty of your presentation. The photography, presentation “and” subject matter are breathtaking to say the least. Thank you for letting us enjoy this incredible journey with you! Best regards, Lin

Hi Mark, Perhaps we should not limit this particular "part" of the forum to a critique and "help" session. Though I totally agree that when the poster solicits C&C that your comments are spot on; sometimes people post shows for totally different reasons. Many are interested in improving their skills as audio visual producers, but other create shows to simply impart information about a particular subject, or perhaps to demonstrate a particular technique or ask for help in trying to achieve a specific effect. Maybe the suggestion could be made that if one wants constructive criticism they should say "C&C welcome" at the end of their post or link. This is a common procedure on photography forums. Then if this isn't done, the assumption could be made that the poster isn't interested in opinions about what other think about the technical or artistic aspects, but was just imparting information about their subject matter or demonstrating a special effect. The issue is, that it's very difficult to understand the myriad reasons why one might want to post. Photographers may just want to demonstrate their art or craft. Educators may want to present information. Technicians may want to demonstrate techniques or effects. Fortunately, we have all of these different types of personality on the PTE forums. It could be that the forum management might want to consider splitting the "Slideshows Created in PTE" into two parts: one for comments, suggestions, criticism, etc., and another for simple demonstrations or educational purposes were viewers would be welcome to comment on those specifics, but not on the "artistic or creative" aspects of audio visual presentation. We could go off for hours on rather controversial subjects such as, whether or not to include portrait versus landscape orientation, borders, multiple transitions, include video - all things which are, in the opinion of many, simply opinions based on personal preferences rather than "cut in stone" rules and regulations.... Just some food for thought.... Best regards, Lin

Hi Jose, Since PNG files are uncompressed, they have full quality just as an 8 bit TIF format might. The "advantage" which PNG has is that you can have transparency. For example, when you create a transparent layer in your editing program such as Photoshop, then "paste" a jpg image on top of the transparent layer, you have the ability to use various tools such as the "eraser" tool to erase any parts of the image which you don't want to show. Let's take an example: let's say you have a 1024x768 pixel jpg file which consists of a portrait of someone's face and they are standing on a street corner with buildings and traffic in the background. Let's then say you want to use only the "portrait" of the person and you want it to appear somewhere on a different background without the original background. You can simply "erase" the background using the eraser tool or select and delete tools to remove everything "except" the person in the picture. So all the traffic, buildings, etc., are now gone and you have left only the person surrounded by what appears to be a "checkerboard" appearance which is the way various editing programs portray transparency. So if you were to "copy" then "paste" this on top of some other image - such as perhaps a woodlands or mountain scene, you would have this "portrait" appearing with a different background. The important thing is that all that "checkerboard" portion of the transparency is still data, even though you can see through it to the layer beneath (which you pasted it on). So if you use the crop tool or the selection tool then crop this transparency portion which looks like a checkerboard so that only the smallest rectangle of "checkerboard" remains surrounding the portrait, you have effectively removed a great deal of the file size. It's unimportant if you "flatten" the result in your editing program because this removes all unnecessary transparency and makes the whole image into a one layer whole. But if you are moving or animating the transparency over an existing opaque jpg, then cropping away excess "checkerboard" greatly affects file size. A few years ago, I created a slideshow "puzzle" with about thirty pieces which I then moved all over the screen and rotated, etc., Each of these puzzle pieces consisted of the visible puzzle "plus" the full transparent "checkerboard" background so that each was a file of about 1024x768 pixels. So to make the 30 piece "puzzle," there were thirty uncompressed PNG images, each 1024x768. If you do the math, that equals 1024x768x30 or 23,592,960 bytes. This for one single "image" which was only 1024x768 pixels in appearance on the screen. Over 20 megabytes of data. Next I used the crop tool on each individual puzzle "piece" and cut away all the excess "checkerboard" transparency surrounding each puzzle piece. The overall image when the puzzle pieces were "assembled" now was only marginally larger than the 1024x768 area it occupied on the screen. I had effectively reduced the total size of the puzzle by about 29 times to less than a megabyte. The trade-off was that to properly "position:" each puzzle piece took lots of time. Using the much "larger" files complete with "all" transparency made it quite simple to "place" the pieces in their proper locations because when each 1024x768 rectangle was properly "centered" on the screen, each puzzle piece assumed it's proper and original position since they were all "cut out" from an original image of the 1024x768 pixel dimensions which was overlayed onto a 1024x768 transparency. The essence of this is that you can stack "layers" of PNG files with transparency and as long as the "transparency" portion of each layer coincide, you can "see" through any number of layers to whatever is "opaque" on the bottom of the pile. But when you have lots of "tiny" png images, you can lay them beside one another and the fact that small "pieces" of the surrounding transparency overlap has no effect on the "appearance" of the whole. So whenever you create a PNG file with a transparent layer, if you trim as much of the transparent (checkerboard) away as possible, you will dramatically reduce the file size. A PNG file will "always" be much larger in terms of "storage" than a same dimension JPG file because the JPG file is compressed. Once the files are loaded into memory in your computer, the JPG "expands" to its full uncompressed size. Where the advantage comes in using PNG versus JPG for certain operations is that you can have objects which appear to "float" like animated GIF's. One then might ask why use PNG when you could use GIF with transparency. The answer is that GIF files are limited to 256 colors while PNG files enjoy the full color spectrum. There are plenty of uses for PNG's, especially for animation. If you saw my little "eagle" fly across the screen, that was an animated GIF, but when you see my snow animations or waterfall animations, those are PNG files with transparency. I hope this makes sense. If there is any part which doesn't, please tell me and I'll try to explain further. Best regards, Lin

Hi David, It will be 'if" people insist on using high resolution video for more than a few seconds. On the other hand, if the video's are downsized to VGA or smaller, it will be possible to have longer clips. I suppose experimentation will be the best way to proceed. It would be possible to have a single clip of say 10 megabyte size (about 13 seconds, for 720P) used once or repeatedly as a background which would still leave about 10 meg for stills. But the problems are going to rapidly multiply if users want to show 30 seconds of 1080P or 1080I and say 100 high resolution photos. Of course unless one is doing deep zooms, there is absolutely zero reasons for an original jpg to be larger than two megapixels (1080x1920 = 2,073,600 pixels). Anything larger than this for a non deep zoom in is wasting resources. We can also conserve resources by trimming away all excess transparency possible around PNG objects. A couple years ago I created two virtually identical puzzle demos - one using full sized PNG transparencies for convenience in object placement, and another with all the excess transparency removed. Of course the one with transparency minimized played on almost all systems smoothly, while the one with tull transparency rectangle to facilitate image placement was difficult for many who had less than optimal video cards. JPD was a master at crafting shows with minimal resource use. We will all have to become like him if we want to have our cake and eat it too. Best regards, Lin

Hi Gary, At first, I suspect there will be a deluge of video enhanced PTE shows; at least until the novelty wears off. This will stress the bandwidth of Beechbrook and perhaps require users to "chip-in" and help pay for the additional storage and costs. For MediaFire, it may put some users "over the top" so that they have to pay rather than use the free upload features. It will also tax the patience of those who want to download new slideshows, because time constraints will play a major role in the decision to download or not. That's a good reason, I believe, for trying to use this new feature judiciously,.We need to use some restraint in our zeal to quickly use this neat new capability. Best regards, Lin

Hi Gary, Video is intensive as far as size is concerned, especially if using HD video. As you know, our executable code creates the majority of the images for intermediate steps in animation on the fly, so exe file sizes are only the combination of the original image plus the code to instruct the computer in creating the myriad intermediate steps and effects for the displays and the associated sound files, etc. Video must contain a "hard copy" of each and every "step" so that for a 30 frame per second video we are looking at storing at least 1800 separate images for each minute of video clip. How "large" these files get then depends primarily on the size in pixel dimensions of each frame times the number of frames in the entire clip. So if we only plan to run a relatively tiny frame size video, we can conserve space by not "resizing" the clip in PTE but rather using a video editor to greatly downsize the video clip dimensions. the difference in overall memory storage will essentially be whatever the difference is between the memory requirements for a single frame times the number of overall frames. Of course compression algorithms (codecs) also play into this scenario. Uncompressed video can be huge, while some amazing codecs can greatly help with overall files size control. The other thing (good news) which we can happily attribute to the great development team at Wnsoft, is that if we use the same video clip multiple times, there is no penalty.for an executable slideshow beyond the "initial" hit in terms of overhead. For example, if one were to choose a 720p HD clip of say 12 seconds in length, it might equal about 10 megabytes in overhead. If one were to use that clip as a background for 100 images, the total size increase from using it for the background for a single image is insignificant. It will still only add about 10 megabytes to overall storage. Just as using the same PNG or jpg over and again adds nothing extra for additional use. So we need to plan our shows using video very carefully. That's why I believe a discussion about what users might want to do with video is important. Best regards, Lin

Soon, Wnsoft will have beta 1 of PTE version 7 available, and we have all been anxiously awaiting this. One of the main new features will be the "drop-in video clip" option. But, what will we do and how will we implement this feature in our slideshows? How about some discussion about ways to use this new feature? Will we simply incorporate a few video clips in our shows? Will we use a video clip as a background to display still slides on? Let's have some discussions about novel ways to incorporate this new and exciting feature! Best regards, Lin

Hi Dom, Dang, I can't see it - I just get this:

Amazing, This will let us do something else the competition can't do - we can use a video as a background for an entire slideshow without increasing the storage "penalty" beyond the first video clip size!! That's significant!!! Lin

Ahhh, the possibilities are endless ...... Can't wait!! Lin

Hey Dom, Beautiful images and beautifully presented, but - I would slow it down and give the viewer about 10 seconds rather than four seconds to enjoy each image once the animation has finished. These are too nice of image to each be gone so quickly! Best regards, Lin

Hi Roger, Very cute! Love the sound effects and the voice-over's were spot on! The use of the typewriter intro was perfect. Now I'm wonder just how much the ant received for his/her payout? LOL. Thanks for a jolly good show! Lin

Hi Jan, Barry has a good idea, but some discussion below to give you some background..... What you are doing requires, primarily, the power of the video card. PTE, unlike most presentation slideshow products, uses hardware rendering. You may be already familiar with this, but if not, a short explanation. Though the power of the CPU is important, primarily the memory and GPU in the video card are used to render complex animations smoothly and quickly. As you know, when an executable file is played by a system, the computer creates the stream of images on the fly. So even if you have an extremely good video card and create a very smooth slideshow with complex animations, if the executable file is played back on a system with a less than optimal video card, the motion can be jerky and stuttering. Video creation is limited to either 24 or 30 frames per second in most cases, while the executable code frequently creates over 60 frames per second. Therefore, certain types of motion in an MP4 h.264 simply won't be as smooth as with an executable file. This is especially noticeable on the leading edge of objects in motion. In the movie industry, there are some really complex algorithms used for "smoothing" these otherwise "jerky" motions by using various blur techniques. Unfortunately that technology isn't yet available to presentation slideshow developers. Because of the need to adhere to Direct X protocol, the absolute best sequence rate in current presentation slideshow software is around 150 ms per frame. On the much older versions of PTE before Direct X issues, it was quite possible to sequence at speeds of up to 10 ms per image which made it possible to animate timelapse and even exceed the results with pro video. Unfortunately, with the new versions, this is no longer possible. It is possible, however, to do opacity blending between frames to mask some of the jerk between frames, but it's a "lot" of work and with the forthcoming video clip drop-in, I doubt it would be worth the time it would take for you to do this except on very short clips. Even so, the problem remains that not all systems you play your show back on will be able to run it smoothly. As for the smoothness of MP4 h.264, you will find that the same show played on a computer with rather "jerky" motion, may very well play quite perfectly when played on a wide screen LED or LCD television via either the USB port or with one of the newer media players. It seems that televisions are optimized to play these mp4's while the software available to play them on computers is less than optimal in most cases. I've made several shows which use opacity blending to give smooth motion to objects, but I have kept the objects small so as not to overtax the system. For example, I'll link you to one I did a year or so ago which uses a variety of techniques. It was a "demo" of the abilities of PTE and the particular part where opacity blending was done was a sample of the earth rotating on its axis while rotating around the sun. Take a look at it and then I can answer question you may have. There were over 600 separate views of the Earth in rotation used for the short sequence. These consisted of small PNG transparencies with opacity blending between frames. Another possibility you may want to explore until we get the first beta 7 with video clip drop in (it's due very shortly) is to explore using animated GIF's. It's very possible to convert video to animated GIF's and PTE runs them very well. I'll also link you to a couple shows where I've used animated GIF's in lieu of video. http://www.learntoma...emoshowfull.zip (about 95 meg download) Windows Executable zipped http://www.learntoma...showfullmac.zip (about 97 meg download) MacIntosh native executable zipped Now for the animated GIF's: http://www.picturest...showtopic=12809 (gif animations using cube) http://www.picturest...showtopic=12935 (flying Bald Eagle using animated gif) Best regards, Lin

Thanks Daniel, It's good that such a large pano can still work with older video cards. Best regards, Lin

Hi Mary, Thanks! It's actually working better on older, less powerful cards than I expected. I guess we can learn from this that adding animated objects while the pan is still slowing can tax the system a bit. Best regards, Lin

Hi Bert, Thanks for the feedback. That's caused by the "smooth" start and finish and the inability of anti-shimmer to completely stop sharp small objects from "glitter" or "ripple" - unfortunately, there isn't too much that can be done without making the image very blurry without overlaying a single frame over the pano and treating it independently in the affected areas. Best regards, Lin

Thanks Ralph, I suspected that using "smooth" might have that effect on some older cards. I can't say for certain, but I assume that to get the "smooth" version, PTE uses a combination of increased frame rate along with actual pan rate curves. If this is so, it could cause some older cards to "stutter" a bit on startup. If not, I'm not sure what might cause it. That far along it "could be" just that the sharpness in that area of the image might overcome the anti-shimmer which I have turned on. On a sharp LCD type monitor, it might just be that or a combination of frame rate and sharpness. These things are not always easy to ferret out. Best regards, Lin