Lin Evans

Hi Jim, Since my tutorials use the DivX codec, you may download and install them here: I would suggest trying the ACE Megapac install first followed by the DivX install. http://www.divx.com/divx/windows/ This "should" make your system again compatible with the DivX suite. Best regards, Lin

Hi Dirk, LOL - I long ago gave up trying to figure out "why" certain MP3 selections and such work properly with some music players and not with others. I've decided to relegate the reasons to black art, gremlins, witchcraft or playful elves (take your pick). Whenever I encounter a really strange occurrence such as this I just scratch my head, import and re-export the selection through the gremlin filter of Audacity once again and all is well. Not having access to the internal code of PTE I suspect that a different library is being used for the mini-player audio which may account for the fact that the music plays all the way through with the mini-player yet fails with the preview and executable (which are really the same in that the preview is simply a temp exe creation). Why removing and inserting a slide caused this issue (if it's not just an unlikely coincidence) is and probably will remain a mystery. I do use most compatible when I export from Audacity for PTE myself.... Best regards, Lin

Hi Dirk, This may sound strange but take your music out entirely and save the PTE file. Open the music in Audacity and export it under a different name then re-insert music and try it again. What this could be is a slight corruption in the MP3 which may not be detected by all music players. I don't think this is a bug in PTE - too many people have used it without issues after adding music, removing music, etc., actually thousands so more likely an issue with the music file itself. Audacity sets things right when it exports and I'm betting that this will solve the issue. Best regards, Lin

This one more difficult because of changes in direction of water flow: about 9 megabyte zipped exe.... http://www.learntomakeslideshows.net/sample/olympia.zip Lin

Hi Gary, Reboot your computer and look again. "If" the codec pack which you installed has additional codecs which were not already installed on your computer they "should" appear in the list automatically. PTE simply queries the system and reports via standard Windows procedures what Windows has shown to be properly installed and operating codecs. As for choosing one, the issue you face is one of trying to second guess which codecs may or may not be installed on other's systems. For any system to recognize and play an AVI file or an audio file the codec used to compress video and/or audio must reside on and be properly installe on the system the file is played on. Windows comes with certain codecs installed but which depends on which iteration of Windows. Generally if you use a Microsoft codec the probability of the codec being available on other computers is greater. The lower number video codecs such as MPEG 1 or 2 (rather than MPEG 4) are more common because they have been around longer, however some of the higher number codecs are more sophisticated and produce better results. It's really a guessing game as far as which you choose and much depends on the audience for your AVI and what you can assume about the relative age of their systems as well as the technical savy of their owners. I generally recommend that for your first AVI's which you plan to use for general distribution that you choose Microsoft MPEG 2. There are some issues which make it difficult to be absolutely certain which codec you have used. I've reported this to Igor in the past but I'm uncertain whether it's something he has control over or whether PTE uses Microsoft's own reporting code. When the drop-down list appears, there is a vertical scroll bar but no horizontal scroll bar and some of the codec names are too wide to display properly so it's not always possible to tell exactly which video codec you have selected. When Igor returns from his vacation (holiday) I will ask him again if it's possible to remedy this. Meanwhile try Microsoft MPEG 2 for your video codec. Best regards, Lin

Hi Folks, As per requests I've created an AVI tutorial on creating the waterfall simulation animation. I've also included a PNG file you can use with modification as instructed in the tutorial to simulate falling water. I didn't cover how to create the PNG, it's akin to "black art" LOL, and would take way long to explain, but for those who want to research it I provided a tutorial on making "snow" animations and how the PNG files are done in Photoshop long ago. Use the search engine - but I don't have the links at hand so if you need to find out how to make your own just search the archives and you will find it. With the instructions in the rather lengthy description and the provided PNG file, you should be able to choose and animate your own waterfalls. Experiment, play and have fun and be sure to post your designs for the forum to see! Here's a convenience link to the Tutorials and Articles forum. The zipped AVI is the last one on the PTE Made Easy (PTE for Smarties) section pinned at the top (about 69 meg download). http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index....st=0#entry49109 Best regards, Lin

Hi Ray, I have the waterfall simulation tutorial ready (about 69 meg) and am putting it up now. It also contains the PNG file called "snow5.png" which you will want to use to simulate the falling water as explained in the tutorial. Best regards, Lin

Hi Tom, The two curved arrows at the top left. The one pointing to your left is undo the one pointing to your right is re-do. Best regards, Lin

Hi Ken, I think something was fishy with the link so I reworked it. Hopefully it will work correctly now! Best regards, Lin

Hi John, Thanks! I put up another without the reflection here: http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8458 Best regards, Lin

Hi Ray, I'll see if I can put something together later this week. Meanwhile here's another: http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8458 Lin

Thanks! This looks like a promising way to see both the music timline and timelilne simultaneously - could be very helpful. Best regards, Lin

Hi Xaver, Yes, in principle it could be a solution for the reflection, but probably not worth the time it would take to implement it. I suspect that there is a combination of both technical finesse and artistic expression involved in makeing good slideshows but probably it's more important to have the artistic talent if the purpose of the slideshow is to move the audience. All the technical finesse in the world would be wasted unless the creator of the show was able to achieve the end purpose. Most who are really serious about slideshows probably don't spend much time with animations. A huge body of superior slideshows were made long before we had the ability to introduce motion into our shows but the younger audience is perhaps more technically inclined and for many of them, having the knowledge to manipulate their images in new and innovative ways seems to be important. As they mature in years they probably will be less interested in the novelty of animation and more interested in artistic content and expression. On the other hand when someone has both talents such as Jean-Pierre, the end product can be very attractive indeed! Best regards, Lin

http://www.learntomakeslideshows.net/sample/waterfall2.zip Lin

Hi Folks, Thanks! It's good to hear that some of the tutorials and demos have been helpful! Best regards, Lin

Hi John, Just a suggestion. Do all your animations, zooms, etc., in linear and be certain you have the essence of your show completed before switching to any non-linear mode. The reason is that when you make changes to keyframes and you have a non-linear function enabled things don't always work as you might expect. Also if you have very sharp images, "smooth" will exacerbate any edge distortions such as normal resize artifacts and cause excessive "shimmer" at the start and end of an animation. This is because there are actually more images created during the slow periods of non-linear smooth start and finish. The way around this is to apply about a 1% gaussian blur to frames or hard, straight line edges selectively to avoid these rather unsightly artifacts. Smooth really works well and is one of my favorites because it avoids the jerky start and finish to a zoom or pan but it does have the side effect of the shimmer of really sharp areas of an image, especially if the zoom is slow. Best regards, Lin

Hi Gary, Yes, it's easy to create a stand-alone AVI file with PTE. Whether you have the Deluxe version or the normal version just click on the Video tab, put a check beside "Create custom AVI video file," then click on the Video Codec tab and choose something "other" than the default PTE codec. That's all there is to it. Best regards, Lin

Perhaps you could create such an animation and show us? The way it works best for me and for an explanation for the purpose of the demo (for newbies) is not to over complicate a simple thing. The purpose is to show new users how to make a simple animation. 20 to 30 separate files would not be so simple would it? LOL Besides, there is an easier way of doing it than using 20 or 30 separate files but it requires making a duplicate PNG reflection with its own mask - this would mean that the new user would have to understand Photoshop or other software to create the necessary files rather than simply use the template available for Xara Xtreme. There are always alternative ways of animating water or snow effects but trial and error over several years have shown me the easiest and best ways for doing it realistically and easily. Later - on reflection, I don't think it's probable to make a realistic waterfall using 20 or 30 discrete files at all. Nor is is possible to do it the way I suggested as "easier" because no matter how many layers are used it's still necessary to have a transparency on each side (top and bottom). Having multiple files means that each file has to have a start and a stop (disappear) position and that to make it realistic the animation would have to be already running before being made visible. Each tiny file would have to fit perfectly under the file above and they would all have to move in unison like a train pulling many railroad cars. Then each would have two keyframes separated by a tiny bit of time to switch from whatever opacity was chosen for the animation to zero opacity when reaching the lake. Beside the obvious issues of coordinating these files they would necessarily have to be very short in the vertical direction, seamlessly joined and synchronized. For an animation such as the one I displayed it would be far more trouble and require far more time to create than worthwhile. I have created some very complex animations with precise timings which took several days to work out but having a reverse animation on the reflection is just not feasible. The reflection is dim, faded and better to have perhaps a "glimmer" of animation provided by a circular or round "spinning" wheel of water animation which would suffice to simulate falling water rather than try to create the complexity of multiple animated files appearing and disappearing with precise timings. This is all, of course, off topic and confusing to a newbie who only wants to make a simple animation which takes moments rather than days. I think the way I did this one is suitable for its purpose, realistic and easy to accomplish. Best regards, Lin

Unfortunately it won't work in this manner for this animation because the falling water is one single PNG file so cutting it off would not only affect what was below the visible window but what was yet to come - LOL. Best regards, Lin

Hi Peter, Yes, unfortunately much more to it. The difficulty with animating something moving in the opposite direction has to do with the use of layers and transparency. Visible movement in a single direction on only part of an image is possible because of the masking effect of the non transparent part of the main png image layer which the reflection shares with the main image. To animate the reflection without interference from the main animation would require that the reflection consist of an independent PNG object and that it would float above it's own matching background which to complete the illusion would necessarily have to comprise the bottom half of the visible background perfectly matched to make a seamless connect with identical but reverse gradiation with the present background. This is not an "impossible" task but not really feasible without hours of trial and error matching and positioning. Perhaps some day I may attempt it, but then it wouldn't be much of a draw for newbies because to do it would require a most thorough understanding of PTE, Photoshop and Xara Xtreme where the original "reflection" image was created. Think of it this way. You create a "sandwitch". You have two pieces of very thin bread which are identical. You cut a hole in the top piece but when the two pieces are perfectly aligned on top of one another you can't tell that a hole exists in the top piece because the bottom piece being identical shows through the hole. You place some thin but long strips of carrots extending above and below the bread in between and someone pulls the parts which extend below the two pieces of bread downward creating "carrot strip" movement through the "window" of the hole cut in the top piece of bread. Now if someone were to pull some of the pieces from the top upward at the same time other pieces were pulled downward you would have interference in the direction of animation with some carrot strips moving upward while others move downward. Even if you added a third piece of bread underneath with a hole in the second layer to allow things visible between the second and third layer, you would still see movement in the opposite direction because the "window" of the top layer couldn't reveal the bottom most layer without revealing what was happening between the top and second layer. So to make it work you would need two more pieces of bread lying below the first two. The carrot strips moving downward between the upper (non reflected) pieces of bread would have to move "under" both bottom (reflected) pieces to be invisible while pieces moving upward on the bottom or "reflect" bread would have to move under both top pieces to be invisible through the hole in the top bread thus "splitting" layers, something not presently possible with PTE, Photoshop or other known software. Best regards,` Lin

Corrrect, unfortunately no feasible way to animate the reflection. Best regards, Lin

Just a little sample - press escape to quit - animation repeats endlessly..... About 4.5 meg zipped exe file. http://www.learntomakeslideshows.net/sample/waterfall.zip Lin

That would be the "easiest" way to do it. PTE Standard can output AVI and it's possible to use the specialized output then use compatible software such as Ulead Movie Factory to burn a DVD, but it's ever so much easier and faster in PTE Deluxe. PTE Deluxe has Video Builder and uses hardware rendering to do this up to 400% faster than other products. You have complete control over menu creation, you can use your own photos for backgrounds, create multiple chapters, have up to 99 menu selections per DVD and it just works very, very well. I would strongly suggest not spending a lot of unnecessary time mucking about with trying to use two products to do a job which the Deluxe version does so easily and directly. Best regards, Lin

Hi, By all means, download and read the manual as Ken suggests. What you want to do is extremely easy to accomplish. I'm assuming you also downloaded and installed the LAME encoder for MP3 as instructed on the Audacity download site. This allows you to export your work as MP3's. You begin by opening Audacity then click on "File" "Open" then navigate to your MP3 selection and load it into Audacity. Once it's loaded you will see two waveforms one over the other representing left and right channels. Above the waveforms are numbers representing seconds and fractions of seconds. Use the horizontal scroll bar to go to the exact time you want to end the song and click the left mouse with your cursor down into the blue/gray area below the numbers and a vertical line will appear at that point. Place your mouse cursor on that vertical line, left click and hold and drag to the right to select the area to be removed. The area will be highlighted in blue. Once you have it selected release the left mouse button. Press the keyboard "Delete" key and that portion will be deleted. Find a point in time on the waveform about 8 seconds before the end of the song and again select as you did in the earlier instruction when you deleted. Select the last eight seconds then left click on "Effects" and choose "Fade Out". The effect is "cumulative" so you may want to listen to what you have done and if necessary repeat to get greater fade out. Finally, choose "File" "Export" and select an MP3 as the type. Choose a folder and export using a "DIFFERENT" name so you don't affect the original song. Do this with all three selections. Next open the first and second altered selections in that order. Pay attention to their filenames. Select the entire second song and do an "Edit" "Copy" then do "File" "Close" Go to the end of the first song, left click to get your vertical bar at the end of the selection then do "Edit" "Paste" and this will place the second song at the end of the first song. Save this new two song selection under a different name and open the newly altered selection having song one and two the open song three. Select song three, do and "Edit" "Copy" then do another "File" "Close" and you will still have the two song selection on your screen. Do and "Edit" "Paste" to the end of the song and export the final three song MP3 under a new name. That's all there is to it. There are "easier" ways but I don't want to confuse you right now. This will give you your needed results in about 5 minutes. Best regards, Lin