Lin Evans

Hi Chris, Do try Ray's suggestion and use alternative burning software. I'm not certain which version of Vegas Movie Studio you have, but the best info I can come up with is that they suggest other burning software so perhaps this is the whole issue? Best regards, Lin

Hi Chris, If you have the "Deluxe" version of PTE with "Video Builder" then you don't want to create an AVI file at all. What you do is go ahead and create the show at 1920 x 1080 (not 1900) and then click on the "Create HD Video for PC and Mac" button and choose 1920x1080 High Quality which will create an MP4 h.264 file which you then can burn with whichever software you have which will burn BluRay. I'm not familiar with the newer versions of Vegas Movie Studio. If it is designed to burn BluRay then it should work fine, but you don't want to create an AVI file at all for the purpose of creating a BluRay disc. Check your Vegas Movie Studio specs to be sure that it's not just burning at DVD resolution which would not be interpreted by your BluRay media so would create expensive coasters. Best regards, Lin

Hi Chris, PTE's Video Builder doesn't burn BluRay, so first you make an HD show in 1080p using PTE. This will be a mp4 h.264 format at 1920x1080 pixel resolution. Then you use 3rd party software to burn this mp4 h.264 to your BluRay media. If you could describe the problem you are having, which type of PTE file you created, the nature of the error's and let us know which other software you are using perhaps someone can help. Also which OS and version you are using would help. Best regards, Lin

Hi JD, You will have to use alternate burning software to burn your BluRay disk from the mp4 h.264 output of PTE. Video Builder will burn DVD's but not BluRay format. Best regards, Lin

Hi Folks, I think that whatever our opinions might be, we should couch them "as opinions" rather than in some implied condescending tone regardless of our native language. I believe it's inappropriate to imply that because only "X" number of people have responded that it means a particular show was not well received. It could be because of the size of the download, other interests by visitors at the time or myriad reasons having absolutely nothing to do with the "quality" of the presentation. I believe it's inappropriate to first "apologize for" and then continue with negative criticism. If one has negative criticism, just say it without the obsequious preface. If it is intended to express a personal opinion, just be certain that this is made clear. Also words such as: only serve to express a personal opinion, yet are couched as if they were somehow coming from one with an attitude of implied superiority. The following is inappropriate: The insinuated "quality" of a photographer's equipment used to capture an image is an inappropriate comment, and even more so when the opinion, as expressed, is simply wrong. Cameras with "small chips" do not generally reveal "quality issues" in a 1024 pixel display. I would interpret it as a thinly veiled insult and I can certainly see why the OP responded as he did. The above is implicitly a condescending attitude as might be given by a "teacher" to a "student".... Not appropriate at all in my opinion. It's quite obvious that the images "were" made with a wide angle lens so why the unnecessary comments?": My point is that we all need to be aware of how our message will be received. Not only the words we use, but also the "tone" we use is important. The whole criticism could have been simply stated as: "I didn't like the length of the show and I would have made a similar one no longer than "X". " I don't care for animation in "my" shows and would prefer a show with less of it." The problem with the response is "tone." Whether intentional or accidental by virtue of one's writing style it sends a message which is likely to elicit a "knee jerk" response. Another response by another poster implies that the OP might not be as skilled as he thinks and suggests that if the OP were to enter his slideshow in certain competitions he might find out where he ranks...... That too is inappropriate in my opinion. Lin

Let's get through this first slideshow, then my suggestion would be for you to download and view appropriate tutorials from the Tutorials and Articles section of the forum so you get the basics before trying to do too much. I think I have around 22 or so AVI tutorials covering most of the features which you might use to get started and get a good grasp of the basics. First - get the first slide exactly like you want the rest to be in terms of the animations. Second - copy and paste the first slide in the main slide list as many times as you intend to have slides in the show. Third - at the top right of the main screen (not objects and animations) you will find between "comment" and "add sound" a "change slide" button. Click on this and simply navigate and choose the second slide and all keyframes, timings and sequences you have created for the first slide will now be assigned to the second slide. Fourth - continue this for the remainder of the slides. This is how you effectively "copy" the keyframes... A "reflection" is very easy. What you do is duplicate the main slide in the objects list, use the 3D Transform feature to "flip" the duplicated image vertically and position it with the regular Objects and Animations tools. Probably you will also want to decrease the opacity on the reflected image a little to darken it and make it more natural looking. Leave the checkmark on the "Show Back Side" so when you continue to rotate the image vertically you will see the "flipped" side. The essence is that you need to learn the basics of how the Pan, Zoom, Rotate, 3D Transform, Opacity and Keyframes, etc., work before you get too enthusiastic with your slidshow effects. It won't take long, to learn, but better to take one step at a time and a good place to begin is to download the AVI tutorials and go at it in a methodical manner to get a good base to work from. Experimentation will help you, but only if you limit the amount of effects you try to program at at time because when things get too complex, too fast, it creates lots of frustration for you. Best regards, Lin

Hi Johann, Keep it simple. Though there are other ways, perhaps the "easiest" way is to simply place all files at the root level on your CD. Make no "folders" and simply call the PDF file by identifying it under the "Run Application or Open File" by name and extension and let the user's operating system find its PDF reader on the computer being used. This works very much as when you use the "run" command in Windows then simply click on a PDF file. Windows "knows" by the extension that it needs to use whichever PDF reader has been installed and identified. For example, I use a "Nuance" reader rather than Acrobat and this works perfectly for me. Best regards, Lin

Hi Mary, Beautiful images! I'd hate to be a ground squirrel in Flagstaff about now - LOL. You guys really got hammered! Best regards, Lin

Hi Joanne, Though probably no one here has either of these cards, they are both top performers and either "should" make you a top-end video card as long as your new PC has a decent power supply. Don't settle for anything less than about 750w. The ATI card is a bit more powerful than the nVidia according to tests at the site I provided for benchmarks here: http://www.videocard...et/gpu_list.php You can look both up and see their respective performances. Either are extremely powerful so you should not have any problems running virtually "any" PTE show no matter how complex the animations. Best regards, Lin

Hi Joanne, If you have a router, then you essentially have a hardware firewall. If you don't have, you can always get one. If you have DSL then you already have one. If you are using cable to connect to the internet, you probably have one. The router sits between your input from either the telephone, cable or other source of internet and your computer. This router connects via ethernet to your computer or via wireless signal to peripheral computers such as your laptop. The router (hardware) contains a firewall which prevents unwanted incoming. Your sofware firewall prevents outgoing and AVG takes care of the rest. You really shouldn't need anything else. Best regards, Lin

If you are using a router (hardware firewall) that's about all you need. I think more people get into trouble trying to be overly protective than from having too little anti-threat protection. AVG Free plus a good router should provide all the protection you need. Other opinion may differ, but essentially that's all I've been using on my system for several years without any issues. Lin

Hi Hexeta, My mistake, not yours. I got the information and what you see is my response. I accidentally deleted your part of the message. My response "should" have been beneath. Essentially, it's possible to do what you want to do with PTE - but it will take you a while to learn all the techniques. A good place to start would be to download the free tutorials in the Tutorials and Articles section here: http://www.picturest...php?showforum=8 See the PTE Made Easy - PTE for Smarties section: Best regards, Lin

Hi, I wish I had an answer for you, but actually this "thumb" seems to be something associated with Photoshop Elements and related to creating the actual Panos snowglobe file with your own image inside. Unfortunately, I use Photoshop CS myself and have very little knowledge of Elements so can't be of much help there. Perhaps someone else here on the Wnsoft forum who is familiar with Elements can help answer your question. My part of the puzzle solely concerns PicturesToExe. The portions of the snowglobe which are used in the animation are twofold: First, there is the output from your .ati file which is the Panos snowglobe "action" which creates the actual snowglobe with your own framed photo inside. The "thumb" etc., is part of that portion of the whole. I'll try to explain what my part is: I take a completed snowglobe (it really doesn't matter whether yours or other) and using Photoshop, remove all the interior content except the snow on the floor of the globe which is made partially transparent. I replace the content inside the globe which I removed and replaced with PNG transparency so that when my modified snowglobe is on a layer above your snowglobe created with Elements, anything in between these perfectly coinciding two layers will be seen through my top layer. I then place the three PNG "snow" files on three layers "between" the two snow globes and animate the snow via the pan and zoom features of PicturesToExe. When you play this back either in real time via the "Preview" or as an executable file created with PicturesToExe, the snow falls within the confines of the two overlaying snowglobes and in front of the content of your original snowglobe which resides on the bottom layer and visible because of the transparent nature of the top modified globe. By simply renaming your files as explained in the tutorial, your snowglobe creation containing your own framed picture overwrites and replaces the one I provide as a "placeholder" and PicturesToExe code takes care of the proper size and placement of all these necessary components according to the PTE file which I created for the template. The whole thing is designed to run (animate) for 60 seconds. You can use PTE to copy the slide on the main slide list and paste it as a second, third, fourth, etc., slide so that the animation can continue as long as you wish with each additional pasted slide being a duplicate of the original so that the snow continues to fall for as many iterations of 60 second intervals as you have copied and pasted slides. I hope this helps with understanding the various components and how they interact. Again, I wish I could answer your question about the "thumbs" (icons, etc.) but I really don't know how Elements works. Perhaps Diana on the PanosFX forum might be able to help with that part? You really want to thank Igor and the PTE development team for their fantastic software which allows us all to create many beautiful animated slideshows. I'm just the "carpenter" who did the finish work on Panos' amazing creation using the great PTE architectural features and blueprints as my "tools." Best regards, Lin

Hi, The .atn files are the equivalent of Photoshop actions for Photoshop Elements. Those actions are the creations of Panos at "panosfx.com" where you downloaded the Snowglobe set. What I did was provide Panos and users of his actions with a PicturesToExe "template" along with the png files which I designed to create and animate the snow inside the snowglobe. The template contains the PicturesToExe keyframes and code which allows the animation of snow inside the globe when used with the other modified files provided in the download. You can thank Panos for all the hard work in creating these wonderful actions which allow the user to place their own images inside the beautiful snowglobe creation. As Peter explained, the PTE demo doesn't expire. It's limitation is that it only allows the user to have a total of 10 images in a slideshow and it places the banner which explains that the slideshow or animation was made with a demo copy of the software. The executable files which you create with the demo or any subsequent AVI video files you might create do not "expire." They will not disappear or stop working, etc. My suggestion would be to save a little each month and purchase the very reasonable PicturesToExe program. This software has a lifetime free upgrade. The associated Video Builder portion which makes MacIntosh executable code, creates mp4 h.264 video, allows automated uploads to Vimeo and Youtube, provides for output to iPhone, etc., can be purchased separately at any time. This integrated module has a two year upgrade cycle but the main PTE software has free lifetime upgrades so even ten years from now when something like PTE 12.0 is available, you will still be getting free upgrades. You can use PTE to create beautiful animated slideshows complete with music and numerous types of really great effects and transitions. The Snowglobe animation is just a sample of what you can do with this software and many different Photoshop and/or Elements packages. You can learn to create 3 dimensional cubes and other great 3D effects and objects with this software. It's well worth the investment, even for pensioners like you and me. There are many of us here who are on very limited incomes which is one of the reasons we love PTE - it's not only the "best" software of its kind, it's the least expensive and most powerful! Best regards, Lin

Hi Peter, If you set the value for the 3D pan large enough it will cause the image to "effectively" disappear to a "dot" as far as its visibility on the object on the next layer, but you could do about the same thing with the zoom by zooming out to a point. I really don't see any utility in doing it this way over fading the image via keyframe and opacity. I'm just not certain what Andrew is trying to accomplish..... Best regards, Lin

Hi Andrew, I'm not 100% clear on just what it is you are trying to do. If the slides are in the slide list, you can have a menu which allows you to select any slide at any time. That is you can display slide one then jump to slide 300 if you have either a menu or hot-spot (a hidden button, etc.) programmed to do so. If the slides are in the Objects list in Objects and Animations, and they are in separate layers, the only way you can control their visibility as full screen objects is via keyframe and opacity. You have no ability to change the position of the slides as they exist in their respective layers in real time. You "could" use keyframes to move the slides out of the viewing area and have alternate slides moved into the viewing area. If the slides are smaller (zoomed) to less than the screen display size you could have all three or any combination visible at any time via the pan feature. If you could explain why you want to do this and exactly what it is you are trying to accomplish, maybe someone can help sort it out. Best regards, Lin

Hi Barry, Actually, this package is more designed for those "with" musical experience. With the right skills and understanding of music, Band in a Box can be used to create very useful music in a wide gamut of genres. If you go to the site and listen to some of the compositions, you will find that a skilled user can produce music virtually indistinguishable from that created by some talented musicians who depend primarily on synthesizers to create their primary backgrounds - not unlike some of the music by the talented composers such as Medwin Goodall, etc. I would not suggest this software for someone with no musical training or background, but if you have the requisite background you can produce some very good and quite useful music with this software. Of course, like much of the royalty free music, it's entirely instrumental and there are significant costs to get the necessary "packages" which allow various types of rhythms and styles. What it does is allow a reasonably good musician to have "cheap" backup to perhaps produce his/her own compositions.

Hi Xaver, No, more like 67 year old eyes without glasses or coffee. Best regards, Lin

Hi Xaver, Sorry, I misread your reply. Yes, a minor disadvantage but one which with masking and an inexpensive third party software such as Gimp (free) or PixBuilder Studio (inexpensive) can be implemented in PTE without too much effort providing the user understands the procedures. The combination of selective masking plus opacity levels can generally create about any type of effect possible with more sophisticated blending algorithms although it takes more time to create appropriate masks. Best regards, Lin

Hi Xaver, How and why is this a "major disadvantage?" Could you provide an example of an image which has been so mixed which is not possible with PTE and masking, or with PTE and an inexpensive Photoshop alternative such as PixBuilder Studio? Lin

Hi Dave, I can sympathize with your frustration with this issue, but it doesn't follow "at all" that if there are PTE conflicts with an anti-virus and firewall that it's a problem with the PTE code. There absolutely are known issues where anti-virus software causes issues with not only PTE but with "many" other perfectly good software programs. Symantec NAV 2010 immediately comes to mind. The problem is so pervasive that Symantec has written a "work-around" and even patched the "work-around" so that it would do what they originally intended when it failed to work properly. I have been, and presently am in contact with the Chief Technology Officer at Symantec to try to get this issue resolved. The NAV 2010 SONAR module incorrectly finds PTE created executable code to be problematic and summarily deletes these data filled files. Destroying data is a serious no, no even in the anti-virus world. Companies such as AVG and Kypersky quickly fixed their code which were finding false positives with PTE executables. Symantec is a more difficult company to work with because even some of the senior technical support people have no clue as to "who" is responsible for correcting the problem. Their code is written in numerous countries and like some other companies which I'm familiar with, no one who is immediately accessible has a clue about how to resolve problems which fall outside the normal curve. Windows 7 is not a panacea and has "numerous" bugs which are being discovered and "swatted" daily. It's no different than previous Microsoft products in that respect. It's smaller, less complex and hopefully will be "easier" to debug than the bloatware Vista, but it's far from being a stable product yet. There are conflicts with various manufacturer's hardware, conflicts with thousands of software products and there are numerous software products which simply will not run on Windows 7 at all! We will need to have patience to allow PTE's developers and Window's 7 developers time to work out the kinks. No new product is perfect and a new OS is especially problematic. As has been mentioned by Stu, it will probably be at least Service Pack One for Win 7 before things will completely settle down. The problems people are having could be hardware related (video card), driver related, driver revision related, PTE software related, anti-virus related, firewall related, etc. Most competing presentation slideshow software does not use hardware rendering. This means they use only the CPU rather than the Video card to create on-the-fly images. In the past, some of these software vendors have even asked their users to not use their own software to create DVD's but rather to create ISO files and use third party software such as Nero to burn their DVD's! That's how pervasive these issues of compatibility can be with new operating systems, new hardware and the myriad variables which are involved. Having hardware rendering (using the GPU rather than CPU to create intermediate images for PZR and transform effects) gives PTE the incredible smoothness and quality which set it apart from the competition, but it also makes compatibility issues more complex because it involves more variables such as the video card and drivers and their interaction with both PTE and the new Win 7 operating system. We would "all" love it if everything worked instantly and perfectly, but we will have to ride out the storm until things settle down. We will also have to have patience and cooperate by helping the developers wring out the bugs on the PTE side while Microsoft and others do so on the OS and hardware side. Best regards, Lin

Hi, Thanks for the feedback - there are many new variables which we will have to contend with in the coming months as both users and developers learn to work with the new OS. Best regards, Lin

Hi Jose, Don't forget that it's a two-way street. PTE must make some changes as operating systems evolve, but operating systems also must be debugged and made to work with the millions of existing software programs out there which work just fine with earlier operating systems. The "proof" that Microsoft almost "always" releases their operating systems prematurely, then uses the public as free "beta" testers as is very evident by their release of "service packs" which are not only "security updates" but also code fixes to help quash frequent bugs. Years ago when Win ME replaced Win 98, I modified some of my own Microsoft operating system code to reveal a Windows "splash" which stated "Welcome to Windows ME" "99,000 Bugs and Counting." It wasn't a specious number, but indeed a real bug count generated from actual reports. It will be a while before Win 7 is debugged and everything works as expected. As is always the case, early adopters become defacto, albeit unwilling beta testers. My recommendation would be to go ahead and order your new system, but keep the old one running just for backup. I'm sure Igor and the development team will have PTE working with Win 7 long before Win 7 is properly debugged. Best regards, Lin

Hi Joanne, On skinning cats....... There are several ways in which PTE can achieve what you wish, but I think the terms used in our description the transition might be, at first, a bit confusing. The transition effect is called "fade-in/fade-out" but it is non intuitive requirement that in order to "fade out" there must be a subsequent slide in the slide list. I suspect this may be one reason the developers are adding the "blank slide" feature in the next release. If you take a single slide in PTE at the default of four seconds and set the transition to "fade-in/fade-out" for a value of "2000" (two seconds) you will have a two second fade-in and an abrupt ending. In order to have a "fade-out" for this slide and to use only the slide list, you need to add a black file (jpg, etc.) as a second slide and set it also to fade-in/fade out. Another way to achieve this is to go to Objects and Animations and add a black slide on the Objects List and use the opacity feature and keyframes to fade-in the black slide at the appropriate time. In addition to this, you can do the whole thing as Peter suggests by putting the second and third slide in as "objects" on the object's list and control the timings of the fades via keyframing as explained. PicturesToExe is a very powerful tool, but with this low-level functionality comes a certain need for practice and the resultant experience which you will quickly obtain once you begin working with Objects, Layers and Keyframes. In addition to the above, it's also quite possible to manually "pull" and "push" the keyframes into times before and after those dedicated to the slides. This means you can start a second slide via keyframing while a previous slide is still displaying simply by pulling the second slide's start time (via the keyframe and mouse) into the time slot for the preceding slide. The myriad ways in which various effect can be created makes this a most versatile tool, but one which requires a little time to master. This may, at first, sound confusing. However, if you take a couple slides and experiment with it, you can achieve some very unique effects this way. Hopefully, in the near future I will have some time to create an AVI tutorial on this and add it to the existing twenty two or so which I have made available via the Tutorials and Articles Forum (PTE Made Easy - PTE For Smarties). You may want to avail yourself of these to help you get a jump start on learning to work with PTE. Best regards, Lin

What happens if you put the .scr file in a different folder location then point to this new location? Since I don't have a Windows 7 system, I'm not certain how 64 bit Win 7 handles 32 bit files, but the fact that you can run the preview means that a valid PTE exe file can be run on your system. Can you run the .scr file with the "Run" command? If so, it sounds as if Windows 7 may have some restriction about files in the System32 folder. Can you run other screen savers from the System32 folder? Best regards, Lin