Lin Evans

If you could zip the PTE file from the file menu and post it we can check and try to determine where the problem is. I can't duplicate the problem on any of my systems. Best regards, Lin

Go to the Projects Options Main Tab and click on "synchronize music and slides" and you should hear it when playing. Best regards, Lin

Sleep? That's for wimps and old men, I haven't quite reached my 7th decade yet, still a "spring chicken". - LOL. My daughter just "celebrated" her 40th birthday yesterday and she thinks she's old! I keep telling her that she's not getting older, just getting "better". Of course my wife reminds me every day that I'm slowing down. Well compared to a tortise I'm a veritable speed demon - HA! Happy father's day to all fathers both young and to old codgers like me!! Lin

Hi folks, A couple of you have emailed me asking about how I created the reflection frames using Xara Xtreme 4 for the demo slideshow posted here: http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8414 I'm not an expert user of Xara Xtreme 4, but recently downloaded the 30 day demo and will eventually purchase the program. Xara Xtreme 4 is a fantastic program with many incredible features. Some advanced Xara Xtreme 4 user was nice enough to provide a template which allows one to simply open the template in Xara, drag and drop images to the framed samples, select all and export the finished product. That's how I created the framed images for my slideshow demo above. Over in the Tutorials and Articles section I've added two more links to my PTE Made Easy - PTE for Smarties post which is pinned at the top. Anyone interested can download the zipped AVI tutorial (about 16 meg) and the Xara template file which I have linked. Just open the template in Xara Xtreme 4, drag and drop your favorite images onto the main frame, reflection of main frame, secondary frame and reflection of secondary frame then select all and export as either a true color PNG with Alpha channel or as a jpg. The AVI explains it all and it's very, very simple to do. If you like the effect and want to dress up one of your PTE slideshows just download the 30 day Xara Xtreme 4 demo and have a go. If you already have the program then this is probably old-hat for you. Here's a convenience link to the Forum Tutorials and Articles page where you can download: http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7901 Best regards, Lin

Hi Debi, Would you do the following: Go to "Start" - "Run" and type in : dxdiag and press ENTER. After the diagnostic is run, please do a screen copy of the "System" and "Display" tabs and post it for us to see. Also, if you don't have version 5.5 of PTE, please download and install the latest version. It sounds like you may have a problem with an integrated Intel chipset for video. The latest version of PTE 5.5 has a built-in work around for the Intel chipset issue and "should" work fine but if you are using version 5.1 of PTE you won't have this. Either way, the problem isn't with PTE but with something in the hardware chaiin. The fact that the executable and AVI work fine mean that something else is causing the problem and the diagnostic reports will help unravel the problem. It "could" be as easy as downloading and installing the latest drivers for your video card. Best regards, Lin

Hi Debi, What are you using to make your DVD's? I'm assuming you are not using Video Builder because there is no need to make an AVI file first. If you are using Video Builder, just choose to burn a DVD right from your PTE show. That is, drag and drop the PTE file into the bottom window on the Video Builder screen and everything should work perfectly. Are you by any chance using the older version of PTE (4.x)? If so you can upgrade to 5.5 for no cost and you can purchase the Video Builder part separately which makes your version PTE 5.5 Deluxe. Best regards, Lin

Hi, Unless your host provider supports executable code (most don't) you will have to decide on other options. You can almost always place an AVI in your web code. PTE deluxe supports output of AVI files, MPEG 2 files as well as burining DVD's. However, if you want people to be able to see a small movie on your website you must either use a small AVI (they will need to wait for download before show begins) or use a Flash conversion program to convert to Flash FLV to allow pseudo streaming. There are a number of good companies such as On2 Technologies, Sorensen, Wildform, etc., which have Flash conversion software and FLV output. Less expensive, but requiring more research and study would be Riva Producer. Slideshows with zoom, pan, rotate, etc., are not amenable to html code, only slideshows which simply change slides with perhaps simple transitions. The best way to allow people to see your slideshows from your website is to upload zipped executable files which they can download and play on their own computers. This way they see the full sized full quality slideshow with all the bells and whistles rather than a rather tiny and greatly reduced quality show. See this type by going to my website below, click on the "demo slideshows" link then click on a thumbnail to download zipped executable to play on your own system. http://www.learntomakeslideshows.net Best regards, Lin

Hi, The NVIDIA 8600 GT and the NVIDIA 8800 GT are both great cards. Either has plenty of power, especially if you get the 512 Meg Ram version to run any PTE show smoothly and efficiently. These are both really fine cards. If you are into games, the 8800 GT would be the preferred of the two but also much more expensive and requires at least a 400W power supply in the system. The 8600 GT takes all its power from the bus but the 8800 GT requires power from the power supply as well. It takes two 4 pin molex connectors (the card comes with an adapter in case you don't have a really new power supply with the six pin output). I use each of these cards in different systems and they work flawlessly for me. The 8800 GT is really a bargain with about 90% of the power of the very most expensive cards at less than half their price. The 8600 GT or an 8600 GT OC (overclocked) version will sail through the most trying PTE multi-object high RAM requirement shows with power to spare. Best regards, Lin

Hi Babu, It sound fine on my computer at Daily Motion as well so probably just some snafu with a cache or possibly a codec issue on Ken's machine which is not an issue on mine.... That's one of the reasons we must be very careful which codec we choose to maintain optimal compatibility across many systems. Lin

Hi Babu, Maybe you should just try doing it all with PTE? The new PTE version 5.5 deluxe has the ability to output both AVI, MPEG 2 and DVD. You get a free upgrade to version 5.5 and all you have to pay for is the Video Builder upgrade portion. You can simply download 5.5 from this site and your old unlock code will still be good (assuming you have it or the old PTE still installed somewhere). After looking it's not possible to determine which codec was used to encode the audio for your AVI but perhaps the 44,100 kpbs 16 bit stereo audio rate "may" be too much for Youtube. I suspect you can take the AVI into one of the more popular video software (Sony Vegas, etc.) and strip the audio then re-do it with a different codec and perhaps more compression such as 22,050 8 bit mono rather than 44,100 16 bit stereo for the Youtube version. It should be possible to correct the AVI using the proper software. PTE can definitely output Youtube compatible code - many are doing it. I would consider using PTE to make future Youtube shows and leave Nero and Quicktime out of it. If you want to post a link to the original AVI in zipped format I'll have a look and see if I can strip the audio for you and repost. Best regards, Lin

Hi Babu (do you have another name we could use? - LOL) You said you did this with an "earlier" version of PTE. All PTE shows are forwardly compatible so if you have the original PTE file there is absolutely no problem with recompilling the show using current code. best regards, Lin

We often forget that we have a "command prompt". Sometimes this works best by simply going to the command prompt and typing in the "command" then pressing "Enter" as: C:\> slideshow.exe -slide 4 With some systems doing the command from the "start" "run" doesn't work all the time. Lin quote name='JRR' date='Jun 11 2008, 12:19 PM' post='54150'] Thx Xavier I thought it might be that, but I wasn't sure Better to ask than......

We need more specifics to be helpful - what audio codec was used for the vocal part? What amount of compression, etc.? What size was the original AVI in pixel dimensions? From your description it sounds as if there may be an issue of the codec you used not being widely available. Do others also hear garbled sound when the Youtube version is played on other computers? Give a link as Ken suggested and some specifics and we should be able to unravel the mystery. Best regards, Lin

Thanks to all who responded by email - my conclusion is that since the SWF file must be downloaded to the client system anyway, and given that the Flash compression for a reasonably good Flash quality creates a file size comprable to the executable code zipped size, there is no real advantage at all in converting to flash using this technology for other than MacIntosh users. For MacIntosh users one could justify using it however given that most new MacIntosh computers are capable of running Windows it's value is somewhat dubious. A really "good" Flash implementation of Flash 8 or higher using a product such as On2 Technologies Flix or Flix Pro will give better results at higher compression levels - of course they are not "free" but neither is this program now that the download and free registration have expired. It was, however an excellent learning process to see how it was perceived by different users. Ray, tanks again for the original tip and link! Best regards, Lin

Look in Projects Options Main Tab and be certain that you don't have Auto Spread Slides along Music checked. When that is checked, the timeline and actual play time will not coincide. Auto Spread Slides along Music "will" give you coordinated last slide and music end on your executable but not on the the mini-player on the timeline nor will the waveform line up properly. Instead click on the "Timed Points" tab on the timeline then on Arrange All Points and each slide will then be alloted equal time along the time line and the music "should" show the proper time. This may or may not be the issue, but it's something I only learned about a couple days ago. It was quite perplexing to see the waveform and music not properly represented but as Igor explained, it's not possible to do this for technical reasons and the "Auto Spread Slides along Music" feature may be removed in future versions because it's functionally obsolete now having been replaced with "Arrange All Points." Best regards, Lin

Hi Dom, Thanks! Did you get my PM? Best regards, Lin

Hi Jean, Actually the background is left black (normal) but the images themselves have a linear gradient as a backdrop for the frames and reflections. Best regards, Lin

Hi Ken, Thanks - fun images to work with. I tweaked the presentation a little to get rid of aliasing shimmer on the frame edges and added a temp snow animation on one frame. best regards, Lin

Hi Folks, I downloaded the free Flash Encoder Ray mentioned in his post and encoded an SWF version of the zipped executable sample I posted a couple days ago. Anyone with a broadband and enough time to wait for the approximate 27 meg of swf download to happen before play begins is welcome to test it and comment. There is an email link at the bottom of the player. Link below: http://www.learntomakeslideshows.net/testflash/index.html Thanks, Lin

Hi Ray, I downloaded and installed - seems to be a nice little free implementation with decent performance. Here's a link which I'm posting to the forum for testing. The only down side is that there seems to be no code generated for the flv implementation - at least I can't find it. FLV has pseudo spooling which is a good thing. As it, my swf trial must be totally downloaded to the client machine before it begins to play. The Flash file I generated with performance rather than "economy" of space is 27 meg and all 27 meg has to find its way to the client machine before play begins. Here's the link: http://www.learntomakeslideshows.net/testflash/index.html Best regards, Lin

I have not been keeping completely abreast of changes in PTE since 5.1, especially in the area of music synchronization. I was quite surprised to find that the "auto spread slides along music" feature (found in Project Options, Main Tab) no longer worked as I expected. In the original 5.0/5.1 you could check this feature then on the timeline find that the slide timings were spread equally to match music timings. When I tried this recently I discovered that not only did it not work as I expected when viewing the music waveform on the timeline, but that when I went to the Objects and Animations screen and clicked on the "start preview from the current slide" even though I was on my last slide the music began to play from the beginning rather than from the point in the slideshow I expected. Igor explained to me that for some time now things work differently - duhhhh - my error for not keeping up! But I decided to write this because others may also be confused, especially those who are new to PTE or those who like me have not kept abreast of current changes to the music/image synchronization. If you want to see the slides equally spread on the waveform do not use "auto spread slides along music" feature - leave it unchecked (in fact it may now be obsolete and due for possible future removal). Instead, go to the timeline (from the main menu) and click on the "timed points tab" then click on "arrange all points". This will automatically do what the old "auto spread slides along music" feature did. If you want the music play in synchronization with your currently selected slide, then go to Projects Options Main Tab and put a check beside "synchronize music and slides" and the music will then play in its proper synchronization with "start preview from the current slide". If this block is not checked, music will play from the beginning regardless of which slide you may be on when you click on "start preview from the current slide" icon.

Hi Peter, Because it allows you to rename your files, etc., you can simply open an existing PTE file then swap file names, etc., it serves very nicely as a quick way to do what you want to do. Best regards, Lin

Hi Peter, As you have discovered, the "template" feature in PTE is really not a true "template". In old versions of PTE the template feature was a more primitive way of doing what the "zip" feature does today. The zip feature encapsulates the PTE file along with all the images so that you can later simply unzip it in a folder of your choice and continue with modifications or changes and additions to your project without having to keep track of the individual components and their locations. What Hawk did was explain how it's possible to copy and paste segments or complete slideshows and incorporate them in other shows. When theDom or I or anyone else creates a so called "template" it's simply a way of allowing the user to substitute their own files for the ones in the "template" so that they can enjoy the same transitions, animations, etc., as found in the "template" examples. But to do this, it requires the user to rename their images, use the same number of images and in some cases, crop or resize them so that they are virtually identical to the ones in the template except for image content. This, of course, is not a true "template". A true template is a pattern which allows the user to re-create the design over and over again. A true software template would automatically rename, resize, etc., various files and place them in their proper places. The reason Jeff and I did not spend a great deal of time with the template feature was that it would take many pages to explain to a novice user of PTE its rather convoluted use for the purpose you wish to use it for. We decided that the unofficial user guide was more suited to an overview of the features rather than a "tutorial" which many of us have created on various specifics of PTE use. The closest thing available to a true "template" is an Excel spreadsheet template done by Al Robins called PTE-5 Adjustor which you can read about and download here: http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=6767 Best regards, Lin

Just playing around with some images from Canada Ken passed on to me (not mine) and a couple of my shots to demonstrate one of the techniques which can be easily done with Xara Xtreme 4 - essentially just messing around testing new computer. http://www.learntomakeslideshows.net/sample/reflections.zip (about 33 meg download) Lin

Hi John, I'm only commenting on that part of your comments below: There is no need to "guess" or use the grid to match text size. Just look in the zoom box, pick the text object you want to match for size then copy and paste the zoom number of that text object into other text zoom boxes for a perfect match. Best regards, Lin