Lin Evans

Fuji has also offered some revolutionary technology with 3D stills and 3D movies from this: http://www.fujifilm.com/products/3d/camera...ions/index.html Think of a PTE show in 3D on one of the new 3D monitor with 3D stills and 3D movies?? Something to think about! Lin

Hi Peter, Just got you message below. I suppose to get it to my server in the easiest way and to avoid any antivirus interference (maybe not applicable to the Mac) I will zip it and upload. I'll let you know how it works out! Thanks, Lin

Hi Peter, Thanks! I have to upload the files to my website and give the Mac users the link so assuming that it should work this way, I would just zip the "ptedemoshowfull.app" folder and when they unzip it they should see only ptedemoshow? If so, it is indeed incredibly easy. I "wish" I could hand them a memory stick, but they are all over the world so I have to upload it to the web. Best regards, Lin

Would it be possible for one of the MacIntosh users to write a quick tutorial on just how to export, save and zip up a PTE show for the Mac? I have friends who use Intel based MacIntosh computers and I would like to send a few of them some of my slideshows samples to see how well they work on the Mac but I'm uncertain of what to send them exactly. If I create a folder to put the MacIntosh output in, I get a total of 9 folders including the one I create as seen below: I assume all are needed, do I just zip the folder and which one?? Best regards, Lin

Hi Igor, Thank you for the "fix" - it works great now with parent/child/grandchild just as before without upsetting anything else!! Best regards, Lin

Beautiful photos Davy, and beautifully presented.... Best regards, Lin

Hi Mike, Here's a link to the zipped PTE file with the video embedded. Just unzip it in a folder of its own and then you can copy the slide and place it into any show you have using Hawk's method. Just open the mike.pte file and copy the slide. Without closing mike.pte, open your slideshow where you want to use the video clip and paste it and save. You may want to extract the sound from your original video and add that to the slide. Use the second rectangle down on the objects list to size and place the video clip wherever you want on the screen. http://www.learntomakeslideshows.net/mike/mike.zip Best regards, Lin

Hi Barry, Just a couple questions - I assume you mean 1920x1024? Was wondering if you meant DVD or Bluray DVD? Best regards, Lin

Hi Mike, Yes, it's not there so an empty file. Go ahead and try to email it and I'll see. Worst case is I won't be able to receive it so give it a try. Best regards, Lin

Hi Mike, There are several options at Mediafire - but for now just open Mediafire and right click on the link there and a drop down menu will appear. Copy the link and paste it in a reply here. Best regards, Lin

Hi Mike, Try uploading the original file to Mediafire.com without zipping or changing. Notice that the zip file you have created only has the envelope, but nothing inside (see the byte size). Unfortunately my email will only accept up to 10 megabyte file size. Best regards, Lin

Hi Mike, A "three leg monopod"? Wouldn't that be a "tri"pod? Is that the one with the folding base which makes it into a tripod? Best regards, Lin

Hi Mike, Zipping is actually just using a program which is included with "most" computers today, but if not, you can always download a free zip program to use. What it does is envelop the file or files content in a protective compression which is more palatable to antivirus software. For example, many antivirus programs simply will not allow downloading an executable file, etc. Using zip allows you to place not only one file within this protective compression envelope, it allows you to place numerous files within one zipped file. When the recipient downloads this zipped file, they then use the same software to "unzip" the file or files and then have them on their storage device just as the originals before zipping. In PTE there is a feature which zips the PTE file along with all the images for storage or transfer to another computer or storage device or via download to another person. The wmv you have created is of quite low quality (play it back for yourself). If it is as good as you want, then let me know and I'll decompile it a place the images into the template for you. However, if the quality isn't up to what you expect, you may just try to right click your mouse on the original avi, etc., and see if you find a drop down menu which asks if you want to "zip" the file. Best regards, Lin

Hi Eric, You're absolutely right about that - they simply don't make movies like they used to in terms of the thought behind the content. It's absolutely amazing how many really good movies were made and done so quickly. Of course they had their share of "stinkers" too! The major studios created a movie a week on average back in the 40's and early 50's. Of course Casablanca was most unusual because it was actually written during production! The poor actors didn't even know how it was going to end until after the last scene was done. Bogart was called back a couple weeks after the filming was finished to retake the last scene and poor Ingrid was thinking about her next film (For Whom The Bell Tolls) during the entire movie. Casablanca wasn't "supposed" be a real blockbuster, and everybody in the industry was surprised when it turned out to have academy award quality. In fact, it's said that the fantastic performance for Ingrid was, at least in part, the result of "not knowing" who she was really supposed to be in love with! None of the actors knew how it was to end or even what was to be from one scene to the next. It's truly one of the best, or better movies made. Of course Gone With the Wind ranks right up there too as do other classics you have mentioned. Two of my favorites are little known but very well done: Home from the Hill with Robert Mitchum and and Eleanor Parker and The Ballad of Cable Hogue with Jason Robards and Stella Stevens. Today it's all special effects and such and I sometimes believe that often only the small, underfunded studios, can now produce really seriously good work. They try harder I think. Best regards, Lin

Hi Eric, Of course as you know, (and I understand the humor), but just for the public record - "Rick" (Humphry) never said "play it again Sam" and neither did Ilsa (Ingrid). Rick said simply "Play it," and Ilsa said "Play it Sam."

Hi Peter, It's quite easy to do what you intend actually, it just requires using more than one slide. Use the first slide to do your pan around, etc., then copy that slide for the start of the second slide where you do the actual map. Just use the same zoom, pan and rotate values for the start of the second slide as for the end of the first and use "Quick, no transition" for the transition between the two. As long as the second slide is sized and positioned the same there will be no perceptible change when the second slide is displayed, but there will be a big break for the graphics system on the computer. Best regards, Lin

Hi Peter, First, the method which Peter (the other Peter - LOL) mentioned in his reply would definitely be the way to do this rather than with masks (though you may want to use masks at certain points along the route). That method, using two files with the top one cut out, was first done by theDom and then I did a map example and wrote a tutorial on how to do it in an AVI file which you can find on the Tutorials and Articles section of the forum under the "PTE for Smarties" Pte made Easy heading at the top among the "pinned" articles and tutorials. Second, if you really don't need the "full" map size because your route only uses a part, then the following may help greatly. My suggestion would be to first greatly reduce the overall file size by first making a much smaller version for those slides where you want to show the entire map as an overview, then crop out only that portion which you will be using for your actual route (the 800 percent zoom) and this will effectively make your PNG file much more palatable to your graphics card. The smaller the overall PNG file, the less loading on the system and the smoother it will run. Best regards. Lin

Hey Davy, click the link below for a zipped file I have for you: http://www.learntomakeslideshows.net/davy/Davy.zip Best regards, Lin

Hi Nix, You must have missed my post above..... Click on this link: http://www.wnsoft.com Click on "Download Trial." Install the trial version taking all the defaults... On your computer the "Trial Version" will be the "Real 5.64 Version" because it will read your keycode which is already in the registry. Best regards, Lin

Hi Dave, I wish I knew. The first time I visited Wales I thought I might look up some relatives there. My great grandfather was one of seven "Evans" brothers who came to the U.S. and settled variously in Kentucky, Illinois and Colorado. My great grandfather settled in Colorado. I looked in the phone book in Cardiff and I'll swear half the book were "Evans" - LOL. It seems "Evans" is as common a name in Wales as Smith or Jones are in the U.S., so I gave up trying to discover my family origins in Wales. Likewise with Germany, France, England and even the U.S. The only family records were kept in family bibles which have been lost over the years so I only have memories of what I was told when young. Best regards, Lin

Hi Xaver, Sorry, I meant her family four generations back on her mother's side were from S-H, but she was born in California. Her father was German, Russian and Cherokee (American Indian). Best regards, Lin

Hey John, LOL - it's not a "contest" just a discussion so no "defeat" or "victory" is needed or assumed. Absolutely "honorable" and all opinions are welcome and equally valid I believe. The tune "Londonderry Air" is definitely Irish and a beautiful, lilting melody for the lyrics to Danny Boy in my opinion. I also want to thank Maureen for furnishing a wonderful slideshow which has afforded us the opportunity to discuss our many different feelings and opinions about music and its application in our shows. Diversity is a breath of fresh air to me. By the way, my ancestors were from Wales, Ireland, Germany, France, England and America. My wife's from America and Schleswig-Holstein (if you know that history, you "know" she's a mix - LOL). Best regards, Lin

Hi John, Actually, the above is an excellent example of my point. Danny Boy was written in 1910 by an Englishman (a lawyer, Frederick Weatherly) who never visited Ireland. The lyrics were written for a different tune, then in 1913 were modified by Weatherly's sister to fit the tune of "Londonderry Air" It was first recorded by a German, Ernestine Schumann-Heink (born Tini Rossler). So you see many musical things are not always so clearly culturally defined and evolve and are "adapted" over time. Best regards, Lin

Hi John, That's just the point - it's the opposite of disrespect. As a musician myself, and having performed myriad types of music both professionally and privately over the last 50 plus years, I realize that while regional musical styles and instrumentation once may have been strongly identified with particular cultures and even with ethnic identities, that's no longer true in the music world. For example, for many years I played in bluegrass bands and helped pay my way through college by doing so. Bluegrass music is typically thought to be of United States folk origin and was named by the "father of Bluegrass," Bill Monroe, a man whom I was proud to call a personal friend. However, bluegrass style music had roots and influence from a broad background including black slaves in the U.S., Appalachian mountain people, etc. So by influence, the roots were Irish, Welsh, African, Scottish, English and in general, from settlers of that part of America from wherever they or their ancestors might have originated. Today, there are fine bluegrass musicians and bands in numerous countries including Germany, Japan, Ireland, and so on. Music is not static but rather dynamic and fluid; ever changing due to influences from a broad world specturm of contributions. One would be hard pressed to identify any significant musical differences between the London Symphony Orchestra, the Beijing Symphony Orchestra and the Denver Symphony Orchestra even though they are composed of people of vastly different cultural and ethnic identities. Music has a common language and though we can easily identify specific "composers" such as Motzart, Debussy. List, etc., their compositions don't necessarily reflect a particular country or region or cultural or ethnic identity, but only the different expressions of the language of music. Of course many years ago, regional and specific musical influences were less widely appreciated because of geographical isolation. Today we live in an electronic world where what happens in a remote Romanian village this morning can be instantly known in a remote Kentucky village this afternoon. If we carefully examine the history of musical instrumentation we may find many surprises. Though one might typically connect bagpipes with Scottish music, you may be surprised to find that bagpipes were historically used in at least seven countries in Western Europe, five countries in Northern Europe, two countries in Eastern Europe, four countries in Southern Europe, in England, in three North African countries and in at least four Southwest Asian countries. So when you hear pipes it may engender feelings of the Scottish Highlands but when people of other cultural heritages hear them they may be reminded of Tunisia, etc. My point is that the feelings engendered by musical sounds and compositions are not necessarily identified with specific geographical locations in the same ways by everyone, and not necessarily representative of any particular culture. It's rather specific to the mind of the listener and his or her own cultural identity and perhaps ethnocentrism or even eccentricities which may make it seem so. Had you no experience or knowledge of the geographical locations in Maureen's slideshow and no knowledge of the composer of the music, ask yourself if you would have the same feelings about the appropriateness of the musical selections. Best regards, Lin

Hi Nix, Just download the "trial version" and install. This will be recognized as the full version upon installation when the software will read your keycode in the registry on your computer. Any upgrades are handled this way. The installation will automatically read your registry and find your keycodes and install as the full version. You should email Igor about the double payment. The basic package of PTE comes with free lifetime upgrades. VideoBuilder which comprises that portion of PTE which is the "Deluxe" version has a two year upgrade cycle. That is all upgrades are free for two years and after such time you pay an upgrade fee only for another two years. Best regards, Lin