Lin Evans

Yes, of course. There are numerous ways you can accomplish this. First decide if you want a background for the text to scroll on. If yes, then create or choose either a blank jpg image in the color of your choice or an image (jpg) which you want the text to scroll on. Next add that blank or image slide as the first or last slide in the slide list and use the normal "Text" tool (click on the "A" at the top of your Objects and Animations page) to create the desired text and manipulate the text just as you would any other object. If you want a black background you can add any jpg as the first or last slide (depending on whether you want to scroll the text at the beginning or end or both) then simply delete that slide from the "Objects" list. This will leave a black blank page on which you can scroll text. Another way is to create custom text then either save as a PNG from within the program or do the whole thing in Photoshop, etc. Use this PNG text as an object and scroll it wherever you wish. Read the free tutorials in the Tutorials and Articles section (PTE Made Easy), download and read the 130 page User Guide from the same section or available via the "Help" section from PTE. Lin

Hi Robert, No doubt he was a true genius with carving. It would be very interesting to try and program a PTE show to follow one of his Mobius carvings but it would require having pictures from several angles including both sides. I'll see if I can find some detail images.... Lin

Hi Mike, No need to download until beta 5.5 is released. There will be some very nice changes and improvements as Igor has told us in his several messages. It will be a full working beta so usable for creating shows immediately and will include some nifty new features having to do with live views for the timeline, etc. It also has the hardware rendering for DVD's as found in the several upgrade releases for 5.1. Because of the significant amount of work which has gone into this new beta there will be no 5.2 but a jump to 5.5. My mistake in above the version should have said 5.12 rather than 5.2 - I will correct it... Best regards, Lin

Hi Barb, In addition to Ken's suggestion you may want to download the latest release version of PTE which is version 5.12. Because of the magnitude of changes there will not be a version 5.3 but instead the next version soon to go to public beta testing will be version 5.5. One of the many improvements is with the Video Builder portion of PTE which is the specific part which makes PTE Deluxe. If you haven't yet purchased PTE's Deluxe let me explain a bit about what it does. PTE Deluxe lets you author DVD's directly without the need for creating an independent AVI file and using other software. Like the main PTE program, Video Builder uses hardware rendering to render your files up to 400% faster than ordinary programs. This vastly speeds up the process of DVD creation depending on your individual computer's hardware. Also Video Builder gives you the option of creating a stand-alone MPEG II version of your slideshow. Video Builder lets you create custom menus with beautiful backgrounds from included templates or allows you to use your own images for the menu template. You can control text fonts, drop shadows, text placement, etc., in very sophisticated ways. In my experience it's truly a joy to use Video Builder to author DVD's because it makes it fun rather than work! You won't regret upgrading to the Deluxe version!

Hi Tom, LOL - only $1.00? Cool effect - keep them coming! Best regards, Lin

Hi Barry, LOL - look carefully for muddy footprints! Best regards, Lin

Hi Xaver, Ahhhh - now I have to dry my monitor! Shame!! LOL... Best regards, Lin

Hi JPD, Quite a while back I showed an entire slideshow of OOB images so that was not novel to me, but was surprised that I had not seen an "animated" use of the technique in a PTE slideshow. Yes, I too use a similar method of overlay of PNG objects without a grid but by using temporary opacity change for one. Best regard, Lin

Hi JPD, I modified the next to last frame (the last coyote) which is now an oob (out of bounds) image. Unless you downloaded the file a second time you wouldn't see it. I don't believe this has been done in a pte show before. The coyote comes out of the frame. Best regards, Lin

Hi Robert, Thanks! I thought about using the goats but the background wasn't quite right I think for the same effect. It would be a bit more difficult but certainly not impossible to do them this way. Actually, not a lot of work to achieve the effect as long as you have an amenable subject. About 10 minutes total involving duplication of part of the coyote as a PNG - matching positions and zooms (one of the reasons for the need for a nice fine grid). I'm a bit surprised no one has done it before but probably just not something which immediately comes to mind. OOB is sort of a specialized subject which has intense interest but among only a few people. Perhaps this will be the "push" which encourages more to experiment? LOL

Hi Tom, Actually quite innovative! What would be way cool is if you could use the same scene in both except a complete mirror image. So right to left in one and left to right in the opposite! Best regards, Lin

Hi JPD, If you have the time, download my demo again and look at a different ending. It's something I don't believe has been done in PTE yet. Little surprise! Best regards, Lin

Hi Barry, If you get the time, download it again and watch. I have changed the ending to something which I have not yet seen using PTE... Little surprise. Best regards, Lin

Hi Xaver, Looks fine to me. I think much depends on the subject matter more than on the actual pespective distortion of "most" images themselves.

Hi Ken, Thanks - actually, I could have used much smaller images but didn't take the time to resize them.

Hi Barry, It’s a study in “perspective” designed to help the viewer apprehend the elements which allow us to create the “illusion” of depth where none actually exists. If you look carefully you will see a couple rather obvious things and some which are more subtle. First, the “wall” behind the picture frame is actually perpendicular to the plane of view. Had it been part of the original photo, the portion to the left as seen by the observer would have the horizontal threads converging and the tiny squares created by the texture diminishing in size. To offset this and draw the observer’s attention, the Krugerrands on either side are animated at the start of the show. First they overcompensate to focus one’s attention then stabilize at the proper angle as they would have been had they been part of the original frame capture photo. The Krugerrand on the right is larger in diameter than the one on the left as it would appear in an actual photo. Having two objects with proper perspective provides camouflage for the backdrop – a technique which can be applied in other situations when necessary. The photos appearing in the frame have either been manipulated in Photoshop to mirror the angle of perspective distortion of the frame or were chosen specifically because of their content which makes them amenable to the deception. For example, the last photo of the coyote had to be horizontally reversed in Photoshop so that the taper in the long muzzle appears with the coyote facing left as seen by the observer. Other subtle features are left for the observer to discern. The “purpose” is to help the student learn perspective. To make apparent those features with which we all are familiar in everyday life yet few really take the time to understand. Of course art students learn this very early on, but not all of us have had classical training in art so even though we intrinsically “know” when something doesn’t appear just right, we don’t always know “why.” Could this type animation be used in a practical slideshow? Perhaps, should someone wish to show an architectural room interior, etc.? Of course we don’t “need” frames at all but people have a strong interest in them else there wouldn’t be many software packages devoted to creating frames to put around out electronic images. Must the image fill the entire screen to be of value? It’s a good question. Pictures hang on our walls which occupy only a tiny bit of available space. Some people fill the wall with picture frames; others have only a single picture. Certainly it would be possible to use a landscape frame mode then enlarge to fill the screen and with no perspective view, but then it wouldn’t be a lesson in perspective. Actually this exercise is a part of my forthcoming Advance Tutorials which go beyond PTE and encourage the user to experiment with tools such as Photoshop to learn more about not only the technical aspects of animation but also to further artistic exploration. Specifically, in the relevant sense, it shows how to create the illusion of perspective when none actually exists.

Hi Robert, Just a little fun thing to experiment with perspective. You're right, the last one doesn't work as well so I changed it and ended with another coyote which actually fits the schema better I think considering the music - LOL. Thanks for having a look and for the good feedback!

Cool effect Dom!! Lin

A little perspective experiment - about 25 meg zipped Executable; http://www.learntomakeslideshows.net/pte/frame.zip Lin PS, a little surprise ending added - worth redownload....

Hi Robert, I downloaded and played the video and love the content and effort, but you really are beating yourself to death trying to essentially build a piece of fine furniture with a framing hammer. Why don't you just use something like Proshow Gold for a project like this? You can easily mix video and stills and the overall result will be much superior. PTE is the very best at what it does, which is produce incredible high-resolution image quality AV shows, but trying to get it to mix video and stills is just banging your head against the wall. If you don't need PZR in the stills, even MediaShow (Cyberlink) will give you excellent results mixing video and stills and it has superb text effects. Perhaps some day in the future when typical video resolutions reach 1080p it will be feasible for the developers to configure PTE to mix video and stills, but right now even though it's "possible" to combine stills and video either by decompiling video to jpgs and animating them (not simple and rather crude) or do the stills animation in PTE, convert to video MPG II then mix in a video editor such as Vegas Video, Encore, etc., it's still a rather cumbersome way when you can just drop the video clips into a program designed for stills and video and end up with a superior product in a fraction of the time. Really, it's horses for courses I think..

Dave, If you're not familiar with how to create a mask using Photoshop, etc., I can give you some quick suggestions. 1. Go "File" "New" give dimensions such as 1600x1200 and set background content to "transparent" This will be the "bottom" of layers you will work with so keep it on the screen. 2. Open the background you want to use and set the size equal to the above such as 1600x1200. This could be a texture or canvas type background in the color you wish and will comprise the "matt" portion of the mask. 3. Copy and Paste this over the transparency, then close this file because you are done with it. 4. Go "File" "New" and put in dimensions such as 1044x703 and paint the color black or dark grey. You can use the Paint Bucket to make the black background. The reason I suggest 1044x703 is that most dSLR cameras have an aspect ratio which works out when reduced for on-screen use in a slide show to 1024x683. Adding 20 pixels on each side will give you a 20 pixel black "frame" Copy this, close the file and "Paste" this over the canvas or textured background which will place a black rectangle in the center. 5. Go "File" "New" and put in dimensions such as 1024x683 and create a color rectangle and paint it with a bright color such as red. Copy this and "Paste" it which will leave you with a red center rectangle surrounded by a thin black border surrounded by the matt frame. 6. Use the select color range tool and select the red. Use the Eraser tool set to 100% opacity and erase all the red. This will leave a black rectangle but if you look at the "layers" you will see that you are working with "Layer 3" and the selection will still have the "marching ants" dashed lines outlining the 1024x683. Now click in the layers right over where it says "Layer 2" and use the eraser to erase the black. This will leave a thin black rectangle but with the canvas or matt background. 7. Next click in the layers right over where it says "Layer 1" then select the eraser tool and erase the canvas or matt and this will leave you with a 1024x683 transparency in the center and a thin black border surrounded with the 1600x1200 canvas or matt background. Now deselect. 8. One more step. Now click back on where is says "Layer 3" then press "CTRL E" which will merge down one layer leaving you with two layers. Save the file as a PNG. If you want you can play around with feathering the inside of the black rectangle, etc., change the color scheme, size and so on. This whole thing is much easier to do than to describe but essentially this is one way to quickly make a mask to use for doing the type of thing described in the above thread.

Hi Mike, "much more" what? Lin

Hi Tom, If you plan on doing lots of this it's very easy to use a converter. The one I use handles almost every conceivable format - literally anything which can be played on Windows Media Player, Quicktime or Real Music. It's $19.95 and worth every cent. http://www.all-music-converter.com/ Best regards, Lin

Good to hear that there is actually improvement in display with these players.

Hi Peter, It would be useful to know the status of the viewer's download capability. I'm not certain at all of the percentage of people who have access to broadband communications. I have often been perplexed by the same observations but have attributed it to the assumption that the majority do not have fast connect and download capabilities. Perhaps a poll on the forum could shed more light on the percentages of visitors who are still using dial-up connections? Best regards, Lin