Lin Evans

Hi Igor, This is fantastic - opens up many new possibilities!! Best regards, Lin

Hi Gary, The file "HideShowTB.exe" is not a PTE file, but is a file which is used along with Showvideo.exe to hide the task bar. It "may" have become infected, but it's very easy to just dump it and download it again if you are using showvideo.exe to add videos to your slideshows. The HideShowTB.exe file was recently updated by the author and the combination with showvideo.exe work very well and do not contain any virus code. Just informational.... Best regards, Lin

Hi Lynne, It's unusual for a registration key not to be sent, but sometimes the email containing the registration key gets placed into spam by email spam filters. The first thing is to double check the spam filter content and see if there is an email there. I have forwarded your email to the attention of the developers and I'm sure you will hear from them promptly and resolve the difficulty quickly. Best regards, Lin

Hi Mike, I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you are saying exactly. I understand you are using 5.7 beta version 9. When you say you have "saved" a "sequence" do you mean you have saved the PTE file? What happens exactly when you click on "create as?" What is the file name suggested and what is the folder name? Where and when do you get a message about "saved as my version 5?" What is the exact wording and which keys did you press to get this message? If you open a version 5.0 through 5.64 PTE file with the 5.7 beta 9 then save it with the same file name as you opened, it will no longer be able to be opened with 5.0 through 5.64. There is no reason to load beta 5 if you have beta 9 on your system - any of the 5.7 beta versions will be essentially the same as far as saving a file and being able to open it. If you can be very specific about what is happening, then perhaps we can figure out what the solution is to the problem before it gets any more confusing. Best regards, Lin

Hi Henri, Yes, synchronization is important, but also volume and fades at specific places on a slide. For example, some AV creations have background music which continues when there may be voice-overs on a slide, but the volume must be diminished on the background so as not to "fight" or "conflict" with the voice-over. Then there are times when the creator of the show may want to fade the sound other than just at the end of the show. Of course it's possible to do all this in a sound editor, but vastly easier to do it interactively when creating the show. So in essence, both synchronization and volume/fade control are important to the AV creation, don't you think? Best regards, Lin

Hi David, First you need to understand that a "DVD" is of low resolution. There are two major standards - PAL and NTSC. Neither of these are greater than super VGA resolution (800x600). To make an HD DVD you need to have either an HD burner or a Blueray burner. PTE doesn't burn HD DVD's or Blueray DVD with Video Builder, just regular PAL or NTSC DVD's. To burn an HD DVD or Bluray DVD you first create an MP4 video at the resolution you want such as 1920 x 1080 then you use software which burns preferably Bluray and a Bluray burner (drive). The other way you can see your shows in high definition on your tv is to play the executable directly via a computer with a video output (video card) which has HDMI output. There are a number of software packages which can burn HD or Bluray. You normally use Bluray or HD media, but some (Pinnacle Studio 12 for one) can also burn HD or Bluray to standard DVD media, but with reduced capacity of course. Then to play these on your tv in HD you must have a Bluray or HD player. Hope this clears up some of your confusion. Best regards, Lin

Though there will never be enough audio features to satisfy all (many are not currently satisfied with Proshow Producers' audio capabilities and want surround sound, etc.), Simple controls like keyframed fade-in, fade-out, cross-fade, start sound from any point and end at any point and adjust volume independently of individual slide audio, etc., would be probably be sufficient for the majority of PTE users. Though PTE should never try to become an audio editor any more than it should become a video or still frame "editor," these elementary features will prevent having to make so many modifications and saves to an audio track that they are hard to keep up with when used for different shows. I believe that the above are things well within the possibility of future versions of PTE and will, along with video clip control, make PTE "the" premier tool for the masses in both PC and MacIntosh worlds. Best regards, Lin

Hi Mike, Could you zip up this and post it? I'm not seeing any problems in Beta 9 with pan and zoom when using smooth, etc., so maybe looking at your file would help discover where the problem lies. Best regards, Lin

That's a winner, Dom! Excellent - you've been busy building this one! Best regards, Lin

Hi Folks, As some of you may know, I posted some questions the other day for users who have Photoshop CS4 Extended. I was having lots of difficulty installing the trial version and finally had it resolved by installing manually and omitting the Adobe Media Player. As it turns out, the Adobe Media Player is "not" necessary nor is it an integral part of CS4, so if you have difficulties installing CS4 and it crashes as it tries to install Media Player, just go to manual install, remove the checkmark beside Adobe Media Player and the install will proceed perfectly. I also asked the question about whether it was possible to output an AVI video with a transparent background because I wanted to be able to use my decompiler and break down the AVI into individual frames without having to chroma key, etc., to get transparency behind the files. The answer is good news! Not only does CS4 Extended have the ability to create AVI video and export 3D objects, it can very easily output individual PNG frames from that AVI complete with transparent background. Evenly more important, for me, was the fact that you can choose the names of the files so that they can be directly loaded into my template to simulate video! Photoshop CS4 Extended can take a two dimensional image and "wrap" it around a sphere, a soft drink bottle, a donut, etc. It can put the image on a cube, a ring, a cone, a cylinder, a wine bottle, etc. You can adjust lighting, create X, Y and Z axis manipulations of these 3D objects and even import and use other 3D objects available on the web and elsewhere. To demo some of the possibilities, I made a little sample. Please ignore the "jerk" when the "bird globe" starts it's second rotation. That's just because I didn't bother to precisely match the XYZ position at the start and end of the animation output from Photoshop. With a perfect ending and starting point match, there would be absolutely no perceptible jerk - just smooth rotation. The demo is nothing special, just a quick and dirty example to show some of the possibilities. Obviously, CS4 Extended isn't a full blown 3D software package, but it does let the user easily do some pretty neat things. This is just an informational demo......... http://www.learntomakeslideshows.net/sample/birdglobe.zip (~ 34 meg zipped exe file) Best regards, Lin

Hi Bill, Sorry, no control over volume or fade in PTE yet, but of course as you probably know you can fade in one of the free sound editors such as Audacity then re-load the exported mp3 into PTE. We expect to see some rudimentary sound control in later versions of PTE but right now the development team has its hands full with the new features such as output to dual monitors, output to native MacIntosh, 3D transformations, ability to create and adjust masks internally, ability to add borders, the new vectorized fonts, etc., etc. Best regards, Lin

Hi Max, This is very easy to do. First you want to create two slideshows. The first consists of your "first slide only" and you set it up as follows: Main Tab - Project Options: 1. Check by "repeat show until ESC is pressed" 2. Uncheck "Synchronize music and slides" 3. Check "wait for keypress or mouse click to show next slide" Advanced Tab 1. Check "permit control of show using keyboard" Music Tab 1. Add your music selection 2. Check "Repeat music after playing" ============================ Click on "Customize Slide Tab Set the display time for a long period such as 5000 seconds Go to Objects and Animations In the "Common tab" set Action on Mouse Click to "Run Slideshow With Return" then navigate to your slideshow to complete the selection. Save the PTE and create the executable. Second slideshow. Just set it up any way you wish, but be certain you use the same version of PTE for both the controlling "single slide" show and the second show. Go to the timeline after adding music and click on "Timed Points" "Arrange all Points" and this will spread slides evenly along the music selection. Opening the first single slide show will cause your image to appear with repeating sound over and over "until" you click the mouse on the image. At that time the second slideshow will open and when the last slide plays out the control will return to the single slide and you will have completed the "loop". Press ESC to exit... Best regards, Lin

Total frustration with Adobe "support".... Just a rant about current practices at Adobe...... Adobe's new flagship Photoshop CS4 Extended is hyped as the "Cat's Meow" of photo editing and graphics software. It has some of the most advanced features available including 3D, hardware rendering, advanced stacking, HDR, etc., etc., etc. It actually may be the most fantastic editing software anywhere! But, you can't prove it by me.... Not yet, and maybe not ever.... I can't install it! I have attempted to put it on two of my systems. One a Dell, the other a Gateway. Each has Win XP Home edition. After over six hours of install, uninstall, upgrade video drivers, download 814 megabyte files "twice," install Windows Service Pack 3, etc., etc., I finally called Adobe Support only to be totally disappointed with the non-support. First, I am subjected to a lengthy wait listening to loud, bad, music loops. Next I'm connected to a "support" person, apparently in India or Pakistan with a stong accent making it very difficult to understand. He wasn't at all interested in learning about "where" the installation had failed, but just wanted to shovel me off to download a "Windows Cleaner" and "CS4 Cleanup Script." He informed me that I may have to uninstall "ALL ADOBE PRODUCTS" before installing the CS4 Extended Trial. Now the above statement is just plain stupid, especially from an Adobe representative! Try Adobe Flash, Photoshop versions 5, 7 and CS each complete with dozens of plug-ins, hundreds of actions, specialized settings, etc. How about Adobe Frame Maker with hundreds of projects, Adobe Quick Time, Adobe Encore, Adobe Premier, etc., etc., all with myriad data, plugins, etc. We're talking weeks of reinstall or a complete reinstall of the disk which would, of course, wipe out CS4 EXtended (if it were ever installed - LOL). So after once again uninstalling the remnants of CS4, installing and running the Win cleanup and CS4 cleanup and reinstall of CS4 Extended - guess what? Yep, failed at exactly the same point - the installation of "Adobe Media Player." I've wasted two days on simply trying to evaluate CS4 Extended. I've installed a service pack I didn't want or need. I've completely lost Flash thanks to the CS4 Cleanup script and still have no CS4 trial installation. I'm writing this while again listening to bad, loud music loops (for the past hour and 10 minutes). Listen up Adobe - I've spend many, many thousands of dollars with your company and deserve better treatment. Will I purchase CS4 Extended? It's not likely and becoming less likely with every bar of bad, loud, music loop. Do you actually want to sell your products? Then get some knowledgeable technical support people who can help sort out issues like this and make them available. Don't have some 1st level "support" person who speaks the native language of the country where the support is to be given with an accent so strong that it's impossible for a native speaker to understand. Don't have someone who insults the intelligence of the potential customer with silly statements. In addition to the statement about possibly removing "all Adobe" software before the install, he make the mistake of telling me that this was only "Trial Software" an therefore not necessarily a "stable" and trouble free version. I had to remind him that Adobe states that you simply pay for then receive the unlock code and this "unstable" trial version becomes the "real" and "very expensive" CS4 release version! Give me a break already!! End rant..... Beware. If you order CS4 maybe you should download the trial version first and be certain it will install and run on your system. I hope you have better luck than I've had. By the way, I posted a duplicate of this on the Adobe Photoshop forum at Adobe.... EDIT: as of 2:44 PM Mountain Time Colorado. As with our forum here, the users of the Adobe forum proved to be quite helpful. The suggestion was made to uninstall the remnants of CS4 and re-install "manually" and omit Adobe Media Player which seemed to be where the installations always crashed. I did this and now have CS4 Extended Trial installed but without the Media Player. How the absence of Media Player might impact the usefulness of CS4 Extended is yet to be determined, but at least I can evaluate the portions which I'm interested in (3D Object output). I'm thankful for the support of the Adobe forum readers to resolve what Adobe's "non-technical" support people couldn't. Best regards, Lin

Hi Brian, Plays perfectly on my systems. Very nice use of the Swap 3D transitions. Nice and slow and gives the right feel to accompany the wedding photos. Enjoyed your show! It's great to be able to archive and display older photos and memories this way, isn't it? Best regards, Lin

Hi Dom, No doubt that the PS3 has been tremendously successful. I'm glad to hear that component and manufacturing costs have now dropped to the point where Sony can recover early losses. Bluray player prices continue to drop in the U.S. so that now they are becoming very popular, but since the PS3 offers Bluray playing as well as so many other features, it seems logical that it would be the better value. It seems that Bluray has won the battles of HD output, at least here in the U.S. we rarely see HD DVD's available at video stores for rent. The Bluray section of one of our larger video stores in my area carry perhaps 1,000 movie titles in BluRay. Actually, a few weeks ago I rented five movies for $1 each and accidentally picked up three Bluray's which I had to return and exchange for standard DVD's (I don't have either a Bluray player or HD TV). It would be great to have a PS3 but prices are still pretty high here. It seems that the PS3 with larger hard disk drives are "much" more expensive here than ones with smaller HDD's. The price seems to be way out of proportion to the actual added costs of the HDD itself. Perhaps that's where Sony is making up for earlier losses. It's good to know that the PS3 has so many features other than just to allow game playing. Though I knew that you could play Bluray discs on them, I didn't realize that you could use them for slideshows, etc., as well. It seems they are quite versatile! It would be nice to know if the face recognition feature is strictly software in the PS3 or tied to the firmware/hardware. This feature has been available in several digital cameras now and was developed, I believe, by Hewlett-Packard, but is now featured by Sony, Fuji, Casio, Pentax, Samsung, et. Best regards, Lin

Hi Dom, By PS3 to you mean the Sony Play Station 3? If so, it's quite an expensive piece of equipment. I think it would be even more expensive if Sony were not "dumping" - selling way under costs. They have put lots of work into this and probably will eventually make up the deficit, but here is an interesting tidbit from Wikipedia: ----------------- The PlayStation 3's initial production cost is estimated to have been US$805.85 for the 20 GB model and US$840.35 for the 60 GB model.[72] However, they were priced at US$499 and US$599 respectively,[73] meaning that every unit was sold at an estimated loss of $250,[72]fiscal year ending March 2007.[74] In April 2007, soon after these results were published, Ken Kutaragi, President of Sony Computer Entertainment, announced plans to retire. ------------ I haven't seen the PS3 in operation, but I suspect Sony may have firmware links to the software features which allow face detection, etc. I would be good to know for sure.. Best regards, Lin

Hi Guys, I think Ron didn't realize that the button size must be large enough to accommodate the text or the text "must" change size or it won't fit within the button space. As long as the button is large enough, the text will not change size as I understand it... Best regards, Lin

Thanks, that's kind of what I suspected. Having that alpha layer might be too much to expect. I'm download the 30 day trial version - can't afford to purchase it yet - and maybe will learn more tomorrow. Even being able to output a single color background will be a big help. What I have in mind is to be able to create the video with transparency as a background. With a solid color I can always write a Photoshop action to subtract the background from individual frames which is what I eventually need to plug into my template to simulate the video but have much greater control over size, placement, etc. 08/09/09 Install failed twice - will have to give up on CS4 Extended until I talk to Adobe.... sigh... Best regards, Lin

Could anyone tell me if it's possible with CS4 Extended to output a 3D video with transparent background or with a solid background like white, green, etc...?? Thanks, Lin UPDATE: It's definitely possible to output individual PNG files with alpha transparency (transparent backgrounds) so I assume it's possible to also output 3D video with the same. I haven't yet tried doing this but I see no logical reason why it wouldn't work. It's also possible to output a solid background of your choice! Lin

Hi Mike, I "think" the problem may be that you have not "extracted" the PTE file from the zipped file I sent you. Even thought you may be able to "see" files within a zipped archive, they are not available to PTE until they have been extracted (unzipped). Sometimes you can even run zipped executable files without unzipping (extracting) them, but to use the PTE file and associated files I sent you, they "must" be extracted from the zip file. Not knowing exactly what you have on your system in the way of zip/unzip utilities, why don't you download and install the following and use it to extract the PTE file. http://www.trans4mind.com/personal_develop...pper/index.html I think this may solve your problem. Best regards, Lin

Hi Peter and Barry, Thanks much - that's great news and easy to do. I haven't yet decided which shows to send my MacIntosh friends, but when I do I'll post a link for you to try! Best regards, Lin

Hi Bill, and welcome to the PTE forums! In regards to your comment below, PicturesToExe already does a "lot" of things Proshow Producer can't do. First, it gives you the ultimate image quality using GPU hardware rendering both in the executable slideshow as well as for rendering DVD's. PTE has sophisticated parent/child/grandchild nesting, it has real working off-center rotation, much more sophisticated and much better and easier than with Proshow Producer. It has optional mipmapping, incredibly smooth vectorized text at any zoom size, one click rasterize to PNG, allows complete manual control as well as autorun for slideshows, will seamlessly run foreign executable code and return automatically to your show. With parent/child/grandchild relationsips, PTE has the ability to manipulate horizontal rotation on the "Z" axis. The soon to be released version 5.7 will have 3D object transformation, adjustable internal masking, will create native MacIntosh executable code, output to dual monitors, etc., etc., and registered users can already use most of these new features in the 5.7 beta version. Proshow Producer can not do any of the above, that's why PTE is the overwhelming choice for a reasonably priced presentation slideshow tool which is greatly revered among international AV competition participants. One rarely hears of Proshow Producer being used in serious AV competition. Auto pan and zoom have been discussed a number of times but is not something which the majority of PTE users have expressed a desire for. The feeling is that each slide is a unique entity and to try to automate this simply does not make good professional sense. One size simply doesn't fit all, even with the latest face detection algorithms, etc. There are many other areas where the program can still be improved and software such as Proshow Gold and Producer already have auto pan and zoom and no one here is tremendously impressed with what they do with it. Perhaps in the future when technology improves something like what you suggest might be feasible, but it's not a primary consideration at the present time as has been expressed by the developers. Best regards, Lin

Hi Mike, It was posted before I posted the message above??? Lin

Hi Mike, Sounds like that one would work well and be more stable than a regular monopod. On the video, please go to the Video section of the forum and read my last post there... Best regards, Lin

Hi Mike, You're making it much too hard. From your description it sounds like you are trying to add each decompiled image as individual slides. This is not how it works. The PTE file I sent you actually already has all your decompiled images in it in the proper order and all contained in a single slide as objects. All you need to do is place the zip file I linked you to into a folder of its own and extract the PTE file into either the same folder or another. Next, open the PTE file with PTE with your choice of PTE versions (use 5.7 if you want). You will only find one slide on the "main" menu (don't need to go to Objects and Animations screen). Right click on this one slide which will both select it and bring up a drop-down menu. Left click on the first choice at the top "copy slide" - this puts the entire sequence which is contained as objects of this slide onto the clipboard. Do not close this PTE file but now click on "File Open" and navigate to and open the PTE file you want to add the video sequence to. From the main menu simply go to the place in the slide list where you want to insert the video sequence and right click. From the drop down menu, left click on "Paste". Your video sequence is now added to the new slideshow. You can move the position of the video sequence in the slide show just by moving the slide just as you would move any other single slide. All the video sequence is contained on one slide. That's all there is to it. You must then save this change in your show. I would suggest saving under another PTE name. Best regards, Lin