Lin Evans

To expand a bit on Peters excellent explanation, you can also choose any image you wish and then choose "tiled" background and this image. If you wanted a picture frame of some design you simply create the frame as a rectangular image in Photoshop, etc., and the easiest way is to choose an aspect ratio corresponding to your own camera's images such as 4:3 or 3:4, etc., then use this image as your background and as Peter suggests reduce the size of your images to show this border. So it's not necessary to have a frame attached to each image just show the image on top of the frame chosen as a background. Best regards Lin

Hi Tom, Ron Link is up now to AVI tutorial on how to hyperlink and how to create the red-rectangles using PixBuilder or Photoshop, etc. Also be sure to look at Ron's tutorials which are quite helpful and very well done.... Here's a link to the AVI on the Tutorials section: http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7901 Lin

Hi Norrie, Buy some rewritable DVD's and use them until you have the wrinkles ironed out. Don't waste regular DVD's on experiments. Best regards, Lin

Phoebe, Do yourself two gigantic favors: First, buy some rewritable DVD's so regardless of which program you are using you don't make useless coasters. If you mess up you just keep using the same disk until you get it right. Second, get the Video Builder upgrade for $20. It's "much" less expensive than Ulead or other programs, you get two years free upgrades and with the money you save with "lifetime" free upgrades on the basic PTE program you are still way ahead. Video Builder is the "only" program which uses hardware rendering which makes it up to 400% faster than other products so you won't waste time. There are numerous issue involved in making DVD's and too many variables unless you really know what you are doing it's much easier to do everything right in PTE because all components are designed to work with each other. Best regards, Lin

Hi Tom, I think Peter has given you the essence of how to proceed, but perhaps this is more specifically what you want to do. I assume you have a landscape image and these red squares indicate detail areas you wish to show. So the viewer clicks on the red square and a closeup image of that detail area appears? If so, in PTE this would be done by creating the little red squares in Photoshop or other program capable of rendering PNG transparencies. You then add these squares as objects in the objects list. You set each photo in the slide list to loop including the original then you set the attribute for each of the squares placed in areas on the main image to go to the slide number represented by the square. The center of the PNG square is transparent and only the red border is seen. These can be sized at the time they are place on the main image. You add a button to return to the main image on each of the subsequent images. So from the main image you click on a red square and the image associated with that detail area opens. When you want to go back you click on the button on the detail image and it returns you to the first or panoramic image, etc. In addition there is the consideration about which types of transitions or no transitions between the slides which you "jump" to by clicking on the red squares. The easiest way is to set "Quick - No Transition" on all but the main slide. The reason for this is that transitions are from the slide before to the slide to be viewed. So when you click on the red squares, the transition will always be from the first slide - no problem. But when you click on the "Back" or "Return" the transition will be from the slide in the slide list just "before" the slide you are viewing. So you have two options. The first is to use the "Quick, No Transition" for going from any of the 20 slides back to the first. The second way is to create a blank slide and insert it before each of the 20 slides. The the transition will be from the blank to the original. This could be white, black, etc., or you could even make the slide "transparent. Many things to think about.... If you check back I will have a tutorial showing precisely how to do this in the Tutorials section very soon, perhaps later today or tomorrow. Meanwhile here's a link to a sample: http://www.lin-evans.net/smart/detail.zip Best regards, Lin

Hi Mr. Echols, No offence taken by anyone - I believe with just a little practice you will be able to make a slideshow very fast with PTE 5.1 - it's just a matter of grasping the insertion of keypoints or keyframes as they are now called in version 5.1. I think one of our members has created a way of quickly doing what you want and the software to do this is given freely. Here's a link: http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7866 It's the first post on the link: Best regards, Lin

Yes, PicturesToExe is now at version 5.1 which you can download from the llnk on the forum here: http://wnsoft.com/apr/index.html Download and install and your original key will be good for all subsequent upgrades of the basic program. Also go to the Tutorials section and at the top download and read the 130 page User Guide in PDF format. If you decide you need the Video Builder portion that's a $20 upgrade and the upgrades on Video Builder are good for two years. Best regards, Lin

Thanks Ken, I changed my original link to this one: Lin

Hi Mark, Yes the hardware rendering in PTE version 5.1 takes advantage of several hardware specific features of newer systems to render the DVD at up to 400% faster than conventional methods. The degree of improvement with your system will depend on several factors including the type of video card you have and the type of CPU. Here's a link to the announcement from Igor concerning this: http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7783 This new system won't increase burn speed because that depends on your DVD burner and media, but what it does is greatly increase rendering speed which is the primary bottleneck. Most DVD burners are pretty fast and the actual burn process is much, much faster than the rendering process. Best regards, Lin

Hi Jean, I'm not certain what may be the problem - If you have the freeware Irfanview download rather than open the file and try it with Irfanview. There "should" be no problem opening it with Windows but I don't use Media Player myself because it has been problematic in the past. Here is an excellent freeware media player which I believe is much better than Windows: http://www.click-to-download.com/vlcmediap...ID=120997483512 It's called VCL Media Player and can play various videos which Windows can't. Also the freeware Irfanview has no problems with the AVI's and the link is: http://www.irfanview.com If you download Irfanview be sure to also download and install all Plugins. It "could" be that you don't have the codec used for the AVI which is Microsoft MPEG-4 Video Codec V2. On way to check would be to look in PTE under Video in the Create Custom Video section but I'm not certain whether the window is wide enough to let you see the entire codec name. Best regards, Lin

Hi Mark, Yes, understood and I agree. The issue with PSG is not all that different than the issues with PTE as far as hardware goes with one possible important exception. PSG, like all other presentation slideshow software except PTE uses the CPU of the computer to do most of the processing and playback and this makes it subject to not only the power of the computer but the amount of processing going on in the background by other programs. So the "environment" used by the person playing the slideshow is highly variable depending not only on the power and resources of the system itself but also on the way it's being used. For example if memory hogging virus programs are running in the background or if there are other programs sharing resources at the same time, the playback will be affected to the degree of resources available to the program. With PTE there are similar issues except PTE users the GPU (graphical processing unit) in the video card to do rendering for both executable and DVD so that the CPU itself is of less importance. Fortunately it's possible for PTE to gain exclusivity of the video in a non-windowed show so that leaves fewer variable to deal with but still requires a powerful video card for "some" slideshows. Depending on the number and size of objects and images in the slideshow this can require anything from a simple 32 meg old-fashioned video card to an ultra-modern gaming card. Some PTE shows absolutely require a very modern and powerful video card to play smoothly. So both approaches have strengths and weaknesses but since Mcrosoft elected to make Vista a graphics intensive operating system, the newer computers being sold are much more likely to be amenable to the hardware rendered graphics intensive possibilities with PTE because loading on CPU's "could" still become problematic in some cases. What I'm getting at is that the fact that you had issues with stuttering and such with PSG "may" no longer be an issue with newer and more powerful computers being sold just as problems with jerky pans and zooms some have experienced with PTE will also be less likely in the future. Fortunately, the future is brighter for both approaches but as you know PTE still enjoys being the ultimate in presentation quality due to the input equals output of hardware rendered images. I fully understand your desires for automated pans and zooms but with a bit of practice it's quite easy to create pans and zooms with PTE nearly as quickly as simply viewing the image itself. For a slideshow of 75 frames it takes me about 10 seconds per frame to put in a precision pan and zoom. That's a bit over twelve minutes which isn't too bad for a show of 75 frames. Yes, it indeed would be quicker to set an automated and universal key, but I generally want to see each slide anyway so not a major issue for me. I actually just put a stop-watch on doing this and it worked out to just a bit less than 10 seconds per slide for a show with 25 slides so perhaps with practice you will be able to greatly speed up the process time. I usually set project options to give a reasonable time and apply this to all slides then for nothing except pans or zooms it's left click the mouse on the time line and hit the insert key then with the view set to about 25% its simply left click one of the corner squares and drag for the zoom then a quick left click inside and drag the image to the precise position you want. Best regards, Lin

Hi Mark, Actually, my reply was to Mr. Echols - rather than to you but you said yourself that "it ddn't work as well when incorporating those effects". The point is that portrait photography is but one of a number of subjects for professional photography, but since it's the one which is important to your business let's discuss the application of automated pans and zooms with portrait photos. Why didn't the automated pans and zooms in PSG work for you? My guess is that automated pans and zooms either or all done the same way as with some of Microsoft's freeware products or they would have to be randomized. If all done in the same manner then zooms would by chance "sometimes" zoom on the subject and other times zoom on an area of the portrait where there was no subject. Perhaps it would work if the portrait were only of one person but then what about group frames? Who gets the benefit of the zoom - maybe aunt Bertha or Uncle Joe or maybe just the background behind them. What if you are a landscape photographer or a wildlife photographer? What if you are an archetectural photographer? How does one design an automated zoom and pan to even remotely work well with the vast array of possibilities in photography? The reason PSP's automated zoom and pan doesn't do well is exactly the reason Microsoft's doesn't do well. It's simply zoom and pan with no intelligent design rhyme or reason and is simply motion for the sake of motion. Would your clients "know the difference?" I don't know. Maybe yes and maybe no. The real question is if they wouldn't know the difference would they even care whether there was pan and zoom? As for Igor "not listening to his customer's requests" that's truly ridiculous. Igor has implemented more of his customer's request than any single company in this business has ever done. When is the last time that you requested a feature from Microsoft and had it implemented? How about Adobe? How many features requested by users have been implemented by the presentation software competition? Wnsoft has consistently listened to their market and gone way beyond what a normal software development company would do even to the point of bending over backward to please their users. Some things are not simple to implement and do well and only the developers know what is feasible. If this random pan and zoom were feasible then Wnsoft would have done it. You expressed the opinion that only fade in and fade out were ostensibly for professionals and the other effects were for amatures. Perhaps true, perhaps not. Perhaps others feel the same way about randomized pans and zooms? We all have our opinions and choices. On beta software. Yes, in early beta stages some of the features now present were disabled. That's the nature of beta testing. By limiting the number of features available in early beta products the majority of bugs are swatted before they become major problems as they have with some presentation software products. Also the more people involved in beta testing the more bugs can be discovered and fixed before a product is released. Most companies don't let users anywhere near beta products so if you are too busy to play with the beta software wait until the release version. I'm not certain at all what your point is? Wnsoft was nice enough to let users share in the development process and the majority of users feel very fortunate to have been included in the process. I've read the posts and understand that "some," not "many" would like to see these effects. It's not exactly been a subject of intense desire by the majority of users of PTE. You say pretty much all the slideshow generators incorporate "these effects". That's certainly not been my experience and I have nearly every major current presentation slideshow product available. I have no dog in this fight and really have nothing except my opinion but a random, automated pan and zoom is not something which I personally would care about or ever use. My clients would laugh at me if I presented my work to them in such a way. On the other hand having a feaure which I would not use but others would certainly would not diminish the quality of PTE so don't think for a minute that I have anything against there being such a feature, just that I feel it would not be used by the majority. If it were something simple to implement then probably the development team would have already done it. PTE is not like any other presentation slideshow software available today. It uses hardware rendering both for the slideshows and for the Video/DVD. This gives not only the finest quality images and executable code available in "any" presentation slideshow software but also the very fastest DVD production of "any" company. The developers are very busy implementing features which have been under consideration for an extended period and whether this random or automated pan and zoom is among them I have no way of knowing. I do know, however, that no other company I've ever had the pleasure of association with as a customer has been as accomodating to their users as Wnsoft. Best regards, Lin

Since you are a professional photographer, it seems you would want to present your images in the very best quality possible. The very best quality possible is with PicturesToExe. I'm also a professional photographer and have been using the "majority" of available presentation software for many, many years. Personally, I find P2E to be "the" software to present my images in the very best way possible. What "extra" time is necessary with P2E which is not necessary with other presentation slideshow software? If you want to present your images in the best possible way you would absolutely "not" want to use automated pans and zooms. As a professional surely you realize that what works well in a pan or zoom for one photo absolutely does "not" work for another. I know many professional photographers around the world and none of them use automated pans and zooms to display their photographs, but perhaps that or something similar is unique to your operation. As someone who has used PTE for five years and joined the forum here in 03, I'm surprised that you have only posted here since December less than a month ago. This perhaps means that you have not yet learned to use version 5 of PTE and perhaps after you learn how to use the new version you will feel more comfortable with your concerns that others have or have not surpassed PTE. Of course the best way to find out is to use other products and there is nothing wrong with doing that. But from the questions you have asked, I feel that you have not yet learned this 5.0 software and perhaps need more time before making an informed decision. Best regards, Lin

Hi Ken, My Host is having difficulties or the internet link is problematic. The file is there but I'm not able to reach my own site so hopefully they will correct it soon. Hey Al, You bet - they are all "sweeties" too!! Best regards, Lin

Presently three tutorials and a demo: http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7901 Lin

Hi Folks, I've decided to create a series of AVI tutorials which I call "PTE for Smarties". A very popular series of books for computer users called variously "Windows for Dummies", etc. were written to help beginners learn to use Windows and other software. Well, I don't think there are any "dummies" using PTE. The fact that you have chosen PTE already demonstrates your intelligence so I elected to call this series of beginning and intermediate tutorials "PTE for Smarties" !! I've created the first few of a continuing series on the elements of Pan, Zoom and Rotate. After all, the primary reason users want to use version 5 of PTE is for the Ken Burns effects of pan, zoom and rotate and this first AVI will jump-start your understanding. It's not intended to be a thorough and complete guide to PZR because later installments will get into esoteric uses of these functions, but this will get the beginner started and the continuing series will eventually make a PTE "expert" out of the beginner. I chose the AVI format rather than Flash or more compressed modes because it's compatible with nearly every PC without the need to load additional software or drivers. I will continue to add links to this post as time goes on. Necessarily AVI files are larger but hopefully will be worth your time. A note of caution for all who create PNG objects and expect their slideshows to be shown on computers which "MAY" have different resolution from the one you created the slideshow on. NEVER use "original size" for your objects unless your entire slideshow uses "original" size. In other words "DO NOT MIX" original and fit to slide objects in the same slideshow. Yes, it's "much" easier to properly position your png overlays when you are creating your slideshow and use the "original size" for your objects, BUT when the slideshow is played on computers with different screen resolutions these objects will "not" fit properly and not properly overlay the original portion of the screen which it is designed to mask. So, remember to never mix "original" and "fit to slide" or "cover slide" in your objects. Keep them consistent. Note: if for any reason you can't see the video it could be that your system doesn't have the necessary video codec. I used Microsoft MPEG-4 Video Codec V2. If you don't have this one you can download it from here thanks to Ken Cox http://www.divx-dige...mpeg4codec.html If this doesn't work for you I suggest using the Freeware VLC Media Player which should solve any problems. Here's the link for it: http://www.download....4-10267151.html Index to Tutorials 1. PZR for Smarties: 2. Intermediate Rotate: 3. Esoteric (advanced) Rotate: 4. Uber Rotation Possibilities: 5. Basics of Non-Linear Motion. 6. Basics of Superzoom 7. Basics of Hyperlink 8. Basic Map Route Creation 9. Button Normal, Hover, Pressed 10. Xara Xtreme 4 Photo Frame Extrusion and Reflection 11. Sound and PTE (2 AVI Tutorials) 12. Waterfall Simulation Tutorial with PNG file to simulate falling water 13. PDF Masking Tutorial 14. Creating the Panos Watch with PTE Animation 15. Basic Text Tutorial 16. 3D Transform Demo and Tutorial 17. 3D "Z" Position Demo and Tutorial 18. 3D Cube Creation and Rotation 19. Christmas Snow Cube Tutorial with Template 20. PhotoScape Crop Tool Tutorial 21. Photoscape Splitter and Combine Tool Tutorial 22. Animate any image with snow in under 60 seconds! 22 (a) Snow template 23. Snow Build Up Over Time Tutorials and Components 24. New Animation Feature in 6.5 25. Audio Envelope 26. A Complete Set of PTE Tutorials in Microsoft MSI format 27. How to Fade and Resume Slideshow Sound with Video Clip Inserted in Middle of Show 28. How to Use Text As A Mask - See Video Or Still Images Within Text 29. How to use a Mask to place text on a background rectangle for easier viewing in some circumstances 30. How to Popup Text when clicking an Object or Area in PicturesToExe 31. How to Popup a Slide when clicking a Slide or Area on A Slide Then Return to Original Image by Pressing ESC 32, Creating and Framing the Transparent Cube - With Cube Template and Transparent Sides 33. How to Move an Object in an Elliptical Orbit and Cause The Object To Pass In Front and Behind Another Object 34. Cube Template and tutorials. How to use your cube sides with template - how to control motion of cube 35. Building a House With PicuresToExe - Improving your Carpentry Skills 36. Marcel's spiral rotate - zoom effect tutorial 37. Wire Frame Object Creation Tutorial 38. Building The Video Wall in PTE 39. Using and Modifying The 8x6 Video Wall Grid 40. Building The Video Room From Your Video Wall 41. Download Gridwork Components To Go With Above Tutorials 42. Using SqirlzReflect With Photoshop and PTE to Create Water Effects 43. Using Masking to Attenuate and Control Water Effects With PTE 44. Controlling Animated Gif Effects With PTE 45. Download Link for SqirlzWaterReflection Freeware 46. Expanding Audio Waveform and Audio Timelline 47. Adding Water Ripple To Complex Image Procedure (an overview) 48. Using Avidemux Version 2.5.6 to Extract Sequential JPG Frames From Video 49. Using Photoshop To Create PNG Objects With Transparent Backgrounds 50. Creating Realistic Animated GIF's From Sequential PNG Objects Extracted From Video 51. Remove and manage sharpening halos in your photos with Photoshop 52. Styles - how to import and apply a style 53. Rain/Lightning Style Tutorial - How To Use Lin's Rain and Lightning Strike Style 54. Waterfall Animation Tutorial With PNG File For Falling Water 55. Text Circling Rotating Planet - Tutorial and Template - For PTE 9.0 56. Text Circling Rotating Planet - Tutorial and Template 2 - Show front AND back of text. 57 Puzzle Tutorial 1. - How To Use The PanosFX Action With Photoshop To Output PNG Puzzle Pieces 58. Puzzle Tutorial 2. - How To Create Puzzle Animation With PicturesToExe With PNG Puzzle Pieces 59. Snowglobe Styles Tutorial 60. Increasing Realism In Your Snowglobe (tutorial) 61. Creating An Out Of Bounds Photo With PTE and Photoshop 62. Using Text as a Mask With PTE 9 63. Converting Images To 3D Anaglyph With Photoshop 64. Setting Project Text Defaults In PTE 9 65. Cube Style Tutorial 66. Video For Background Tutorial 67. Cube Style Tutorial (PTE experimental cube) 68. Using Jean-Cyprien's SapinBabel Cube Style For Other Than Christmas Purposes 69. Curling, Flaming Text Style Tutorial... 70. Typewriter Simulation Software By David Fitzpatrick Tutorial 71. Painting With VisiSketch Pro and PTE 72. How To Make A Video Signature With PTE and CaptionsAlive Pro 73. How To Use CaptionsAlive Pro To Output Uncompressed Signature Files 74. Jean Cyprien's PTE Book Style Modified and Tutorial 75. Rotate Image Inside Frame (without using frame feature) 76. Introduction To Masking In PTE AV Studio 10 Pro This index will be continually updated as new AVI tutorials are added. Most tutorials are followed with downloadable examples. 1. PZR for Smarties: Pan/Zoom/Rotate Link (about 64 meg) 2. Intermediate Rotate: Intermediate Rotate Link (about 38 meg) 3. Esoteric (advanced) Rotate: Esoteric Rotate Link (about 37 meg) Demo of esoteric rotation: Demo Esoteric Rotation Link (about 8 meg) 4. Uber Rotation Possibilities: Uber Rotation Possibilities Link (about 38 meg) Demo of Uber Rotate with Helicopter Demo Uber Rotate Link (about 8 meg) Note: the above is an older AVI I made in response to Jean Pierre's (JPD) suggestion on how to rotate a helicopter rotor blade horizontally for a simulation which one of our forum members was creating. JPD explained it but being a French native speaker some were not completely clear so I created a brief tutorial to show his method which works very well. When you see the AVI remember that the rectangles will be made invisible via the 100% control of opacity. In the demo animation I created you can see how this works in practice. 5. Basics of Non-Linear Motion (how to set non-linear motion - about 44 meg) Basics of Non-Linear Motion Link Demo of Non-Linear Motion (less than 1 meg zipped executable) Note: press ESC to end show... Demo of Non-Linear Motion Link 6. Basics of Superzoom (how to effect smooth continuing zoom between images - about 60 meg) Basics of Superzoom Link Demo of Superzoom technique (about 37 meg zipped executable) This demo shows a zoom from about 28mm to 2000mm focal length using multiple frames with multiple lenses. Notice the original "prowler" size image inserted inside the "O" of the word Prowler at the end. Demo of Superzoom Link 7. Basics of Hyperlink (about 74 meg) This tutorial shows you how to first create and save a small PNG file consisting of a red rectangle with a transparent center using PixBuilder or Photoshop, etc., then how to use it in a PTE show to hyperlink to different detail images from eacMy linkh place the rectangle is placed, The demo zipped executable following shows the completed PTE file. Basics of Hyperlink Link Demo of Hyperlink: (about 6 meg) Demo of Hyperlink Link 8. Basic Map Route Creation (about 69 meg) Basic Map Route Creation Link Example file: (about 8 meg) Example of Map Route Creation Link 9. Link Below to Buttons Tutorial Buttons: Normal - Hover - Pressed Link Below to Zipped AVI for download: Click Here to Download (about 10 meg) 10. Link Below to Xara Xtreme 4 3D Frame Template and AVI Tutorial Template Link Click Here Xara Reflection Frame Template Use Demo AVI 11. Links Below to Sound Tutorials (about 45 Download Each) Sound AVI Tutorial Link One Sound AVI Tutorial Link Two 12. Link Below to Waterfall Animation Tutorial (about 69 meg) Also contains PNG file you can use to simulate falling water.... Link to Waterfall Simulation Tutorial - Click Here 13. Link to Mask Tutorial PDF (this will be updated when I better understand all areas of masking) http://www.learntoma...asktutorial.zip 14. Links to Watch Tutorials and Files which will allow the PTE user to Animate the Panos Photoshop Watch Link (AVI Tutorial) Link (PTE Template) http://www.lin-evans.org/tutorial/panoswatch.zip Link (PDF Tutorial) Link (example of different watch faces and ways to use in PTE) 15. Basic Text Tutorial: http://www.learntoma...exttutorial.zip 16. 3D Transform Demo and Tutorial: http://www.learntoma...3Dtrandform.zip 17. 3D "Z" Position Demo and Tutorial http://www.learntoma...3dzposition.zip 18. 3D Cube Creation and Rotation http://www.learntoma...ubecreation.zip 3D Tutorial PTE File http://www.learntoma...rialptefile.zip 19. 3D Christmas Snow Cube AVI Tutorial and Template http://www.learntoma...avitutorial.zip http://www.learntoma...ptetemplate.zip 20. Photoscape Crop Tool Tutorial PhotoScape Crop tool tutorial link 21. Photoscape Splitter and Combine Tool Tutorial Photoscape Splitter & Combine Tool Tutorial Link 22. Animate Any Image With Snow In 60 Seconds or Less Tutorial: Link to Snow Animation Tutorial 22. (a) Snow Template Link to Snow Template 23. Snow Buildup Over Time Tutorials - Suggested for Intermediate/Advanced Users of Photoshop: Link to Part One of Two (about 110 meg download) Link to Part Two of Two (about 90 meg download) Link to Snowglobe Components For Snow Buildup 24. New Animation Feature In 6.5 Link to AVI Tutorial on New Animation Feature in 6.5(about 17 meg) 25. Audio Envelope in PTE 6.5 Beta 10 Link to Audio Envelope Tutorial Note - At beginning I discuss 3 seconds when I'm actually talking about 30 seconds. Age related - LOL 26. Formerly for sale - now free - Complete set of PTE tutorials in one Microsoft.msi format (about 360 meg download) Complete Set - Not Same As Above - of PTE Tutorials 27. How to Fade and Resume Slideshow Sound with Video Clip Inserted in Middle of Show Link To Sound End and Resume With Video Clip Between 28. How to Use Text As A Mask - Display Still Image Or Video Within Text Tutorial in MacIntosh Native Exe Format Tutorial in 'Windows PC Zipped Exe Format 29. How to use a Mask to place text on a rectangular background for easy viewing or simultaneous fade (70 meg Zipped AVI) (alternative is to just use the "button feature - works perfectly)..... Using a Mask to help create text on a background for easier viewing and simultanous fade capabilities 30. How to Popup text when clicking on an area or object in PicturesToExe Popup Text Tutorial Link (30 meg Zipped AVI) 31. How to Use the Window Feature To Popup a Slide then Return to Original Slide by Pressing ESC Slide to Image to Slide Link 32. How to Create and Frame the Transparent Cube Link To Transparent Cube Tutorial Link To Transparent Cube Template 33. How To Move an Object in an Elliptical Orbit and Make the Object Pass both In Front of and Behind Another Object Create Elliptical Orbit Tutorial Link Elliptical Orbit Demo After JPD's Model Link (very small - about half meg visual explanation) 34. Cube Template: Tutorial 1 - How to Change sides to your own images (jpg, bmp, png, animated gif or video) Tutorial 2 - How to control the rotation and size of your animated cube Link to Lin's Cube Template Link to tutorial on replacing cube template sides with your own images or video Link to tutorial on controlling size and motion of your animated cube made with the cube template 35. Building a House With PTE - Component Construction Building A House With PTE Link 36. Spiral Rotate Zoom effect as provided by Marcel from the French PTE Forum Link for Windows PC in PTE EXE format Link in MacIntosh Native EXE Format Link to Zipped AVI Tutorial (preferred - much smoother) About 113 meg zipped file 37. Wire Frame Object Creation Tutorial Link to Wire Frame Tutorial (about 70 meg download zipped AVI) 38. Building The Video Wall With PicturesToExe 39. Using and Modifying The 8x6 Video Wall Grid (Click link to the left to see tutorial in YouTube} 40. Building The Video Room From Your Video Wall 41. Gridwork Components To Build Video Wall - Zipped File Link To Zipped Grids 42. Using SqirlzReflect With Photoshop and PTE to Create Water Effects Link to Water Effects Tutorial 43. Using Masking to Attenuate and Control Water Effects With PTE Link to Water Effects Tutorial On Controlling Ripple Effect 44. Controlling Animated Gif Effects With PTE Link To Brief Animated Gif Tutorial 45. Download Link For Freeware SqirlzWaterReflection Software Download SquirlWaterReflection Here: 46. Download Link For Expanding Audio Waveform and Audio Timeline Tutorial Link To Expanding Audio Waveform and Expanding Audio Timeline 47. Download Link to Create Water Ripple in Complex Image: An Overview http://www.lin-evans.org/tutorial/ripplewatercompleximage.zip 48. Link to Avidemux Tutorial For Extracting Sequences of JPG Frames From Video http://www.lin-evans.org/tutorial/Avidemuxtutorial.zip Link To Zipped Archive of Avidemux Version 2.5.6 For Windows http://www.lin-evans.org/avidemux/avidemux.zip 49. Link to Tutorial On Creating PNG Objects With Transparent Backgrounds in Photoshop http://www.lin-evans.org/tutorial/creatingpngtransparency.zip 50. Link to Tutorial On Creating Animated GIF's From Sequential PNG Files With Photoshop This Zipped Archive Includes 22 PNG Objects With Transparent Backgrounds, The Tutorial and a Zipped PTE Demo Using The PNG Objects And Also An Important Information Text File http://www.lin-evans.org/tutorial/animatedgif.zip 51. Link to Tutorial on Removing and minimizing Sharpening Halos from your images with Photoshop http://www.lin-evans.org/tutorials/haloremovewithphotoshop.zip 52. Link To Video Tutorial On How To Import and Load a Style http://www.lin-evans.org/styles/stylestutorial.zip 53. Link To Video Tutorial On Using Lin's Rain and Lightning Style - How To Increase Rain and Move Lightning http://www.lin-evans.org/styles/rainlightningtutorial.zip 54. Link To Waterfall Animation Tutorial With PNG File To Use For Falling Water http://www.lin-evans.org/tutorial/fallingwateranimation.zip 55. Tutorial and Template To Create Circular Text Circling Jupiter http://www.lin-evans.org/tutorial/experimentalforcirclingtext.zip (Zipped PTE Template - about 2 meg) http://www.lin-evans.org/tutorial/circulartexttutor.zip (about 50 meg) 56. Tutorial and Template To Create Circular Text Circling Jupiter, Other Planets Or Odd Shaped Objects http://www.lin-evans.org/tutorial/backandfronttext.zip (tutorial) about 12 meg http://www.lin-evans.org/tutorial/circleletterstemplate2.zip (template) about 15 meg 57. Tutorial On Using PanosFX Puzzle Animation To Create PNG Puzzle Pieces To Use With PTE http://www.lin-evans.org/tutorial/puzzletutorial1.zip (tutorial) about 34 meg zipped wmf video 58. Tutorial On Using PNG Puzzle Pieces From The PanosFX Action To Create Puzzle Animation http://www.lin-evans.org/tutorial/puzzletutorial2.zip (tutorial) about 41 meg zipped wmf video 59. Tutorial on using my SnowGlobe Styles http://www.lin-evans.org/tutorial/snowglobetutorials.zip (tutorial - about 78 meg zipped video) http://www.lin-evans.org/tutorial/snowglobestyles.zip (zipped snowglobe styles) 60. Tutorial on Increasing Realism In Your Snow Globe http://www.lin-evans.org/tutorial/SGRealism.zip (zipped video tutorial - about 35 meg) 61. Creating An Out Of Bounds Photo Using PTE and Photoshop (two zipped video tutorials) http://www.lin-evans.org/Robert/makingrosieoutofbounds.zip 62. How To Use PTE 9 Text As A Mask http://www.lin-evans.org/tutorial/PTEtextasmask.zip (about 12 Meg zipped video tutorial) 63. Converting Your Images To Anaglyph 3D Using Photoshop - (about 17 Meg zipped video tutorial) http://www.lin-evans.org/tutorial/photoshop3d.zip 64. Setting Text Font and Attributes Defaults For Your Project In PTE 9 (about 12 meg zipped video) http://www.lin-evans.org/tutorial/commentstext.zip 65. Cube Style Tutorial - Explanation On How To Adjust Position and Size of Video or Image on Cube Face (37 meg) http://www.lin-evans.org/tutorial/CubeStyleExplanation.zip 66. Using A Video For A PicturesToExe Background Tutorial 67. Experimental Cube Style Tutorial 68. How To Use Jean-Cypriens SapinBabel Cube Style For Other Than Christmas Tutorial https://youtu.be/kfJcU1OkCEA Click on link to the left to see tutorial on YouTube.... 69. Curling Flaming Text Style Tutorial 70. Typewriter Simulation Program Tutorial (David Fitzpatrick's Typewriter 2) 71. Painting With VisiSketch Pro and PicturesToExe Using VisiSketch Pro with PIcturesToExeTutorial.rtf 72. Using CaptionsAlive Pro Converted Files With PTE For a Signature Applied To Any Image 73. Using CaptionsAlivePro To Export Uncompressed AVI File and How To Compress Then For Use in PTE 74. Jean Cyprien's PTE Book Style Modified - Tutorial and Explanation 75. Rotate Image Inside PNG Frame (without using Frame feature) 76. Introduction To Masking With PTE AV Studio 10 Pro Essentials of Masking Tutorial - Download above for your own computer here: http://www.lin-evans.org/tutorial/MaskTutorial.zip

Hi Arthur, No, PTE isn't a graphics file creation program. Except for creating text and PNG text with shadows, pages of background color and gradients, etc., it isn't designed to do the work of Photoshop or other specialized graphics programs. What it does is "manipulate" files in many innovative ways. It can change or distort the X and Y axis and via the parent/child relationships alter the Z axis to accomplish animations and effects not possible with most if not all other presentation slideshow programs. Programs like Photoshop are primarily designed to create graphics and presentation slideshow programs like PTE are designed to manipulate graphics. Though each has some cross-platform ability they have distinctly different orientations. Best regards, Lin

Nice variations on a theme NBS, some demonstrate possibilities unique to PTE and not enjoyed by users of other slideshow software. Once automated they definitely would be nice to provide variety with the automated stock transitions. Best regards, Lin

Hi NBS, I tried it again this time with a RW which had already been formatted and had the original slideshow already burned once and the total time was 2 minutes 32 seconds. Go figure! I've long since stopped trying to figure out why computers sometimes respond differently to identical situations. I'll try it again with my 3.2 Ghz systems and 128 meg Radeon 9800 Pro and see if it changes. It seemed to hang at the 99 percent level for an extended period last time. This time with the ATI Radeon Pro and 3.2 Ghz system (which has a faster hard disk) it only took 2 min 24 seconds including the burn. Last time with this system I used a 16x Sony media and this time I used the same 4x RW media as with the Nvidia system. Again - go figure. It appears that the last time the system must have not have liked the media and perhaps spent an inordinate amount of time with analysis before actually doing the burn. Very strange but obviously having nothing to do with PTE but rather system and media variables. Best regards, Lin

Hi Neil, It's a legitimite question. Sometimes we assume more about the user's experience with PTE than logic dictates. When a zip file containing the components of a PTE show is linked what you do is click on the link, download the zip file and put it in a folder. You can create a new folder in Windows or just use one which has only a few files. Once you have the zip file use the Windows "Run" command with the "All Files" rather than the default "Programs" option. Select all fles then "Extract" them into the same folder. Once all files are extracted so you can see them start PicturesToExe then use the File Open on the included PTE file. This loads all the necessary files and you can then either use the Previw or you can create an executable just as if you had created the slideshow yourself. The reason I used the zipped content file was so the OP could get some idea of how the components were used to make clouds move, snow fall, lighning flash, etc., by actually examining the construction. This show was done long ago with 5.0 beta 4 and is a good demo for seeing how PNG files can be used to simulate video with still images. For convenience I'll link the zipped executable below: http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/storm.zip Best regards, Lin

Hi Shirley. Nothing could be easier than doing a basic pan or zoom in PTE. Let's start with a zoom: 1. Put your slides in the slide list 2. Click on the first slide in the list to highlight 3. Click on the Objects and Animations button 4. Left click on the timeline near the far right side and a little blue arrow pointing upward appears 5. Press the Insert key on the keyboard and a new Keypoint appears 6. Next to the "Close" button on top of your screen just over the picture click on the little blue down arrow and change to 50 percent from the drop down menu 7. Click on the little square on the upper right side of the picture, hold down the left mouse key and drag the image to make it larger Press the Preview and see the result of your zoom. Once you do this you should download the User Guide, read it and you will learn how to fine tune zooms, pans rotates. They are all done in a very similar fashion. The essence of all pan, zoom or rotate is that you begin with an image of some predetermined position and size then you create a keypoint further along the timeline which represents real time and you visually change the pan zoom or rotate while this second keypoint is selected. Then the program automatically creates all the intermediate images which are needed to make the effect work. Whether you are dealing with pan, zoom, rotate or a combination of these the basics are the same. After you learn the basics then you can easily learn to choose the default of "linear" or you can choose smooth, etc., for the movement. Everything is carefully explained in the User Guide and there are numerous AV tutorials available to show you how to do this with PTE. It may at first seem complicated but it is really very easy if you just remember the above paragraph. I made you a brief AVI tutorial so you can see exactly how to do this. Download here about 40 meg. http://www.lin-evans.net/tutorial/pzr.avi Lin

Hi Dan, No, you don't need to combine a video and stills to do that - it's easily done with all stills. Here's a sample of what you can do with PTE with all stills. In this sample you have falling snow, lightning, moving clouds, blowing snow, etc., all with still images. http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/stormcoming.zip If you will email me with the details, I'll try to tell you how to do the animations. data2@lpbroadband.net Best regards, Lin

Actually, you can use the same file name 100 or 1000 times as long as it's on the slide list as a different slide. I'm not certain what the problem is but if you can post the PTE file perhaps it can be explained. Here's a little example: http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/black.zip Best regards, Lin

Hi Dan, If you mean combine stills and video in one slideshow the answer is no. The deluxe version has Video Builder which creates DVD or MPEG files from animations created with PTE and can also create DVD's or MPEG II files from videos but they can't be combined into a single slideshow such as you can do with some software which doesn't use hardware rendering. The difference is with hardware rendering as used in PTE you get ultimate image quality on computer executable slideshows. Because videos are low resolution compared to stills there would be a major visible difference. Software programs which use lower resolution rendering software rendering can combine video more or less seamlessly with lower resolution still images. Best regards, Lin

Hi Tom, David, Yes I included the burn time so I could get a feel for the overall time necessary without actually doing a test with a larger file. The actual MPEG II creation times I've included on the original post in bold. Even though my 3.2 Ghz system is faster and has a much faster hard disk than my Gateway Pentium 4 running at 3.0 Ghz it's still much slower because of the difference between the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128 meg and the overclocked Nvidia 512 Meg 8600 GT. But that 40% boost from dual core processors is a major factor it seems. The dual core processors make a great deal of difference apparently since the Pentium 4's running at 3 Ghz and 3.2 Ghz take considerably longer than systems running the modern processors. The Overclocked 512 Meg Nvidia 8600 GT is very fast and even with the video card speed the actual time compared to the fastest benchmarks so far is about double (43 seconds versus 88 seconds) so Igor's benchmark of a 40% increase in speed with dual core on his system sounds very reasonable. Best regards, Lin