Lin Evans

Hi Tom, I'm waiting to hear from Panos about possibly doing that. Of course his action places any suitable photo within the frame and inside the snow globe and it's easy enough to template the globe itself and the snow at the base because that part never changes. The "trick" is figuring out how to limit the opacity for that portion of the inside occupied by the framed picture. Since the picture will always be changing I can't think of any way to effectively limit the transparency for that area. To make an area semi-transparent you must have something to apply the semi-transparency to. You can make an area completely tranparent and thats very easy to do for this simulation. Also, any parts of the image which doesn't change such as the snow on the "ground" area at the bottom and the ice crystals can easly be made semi-transparent and templated because they never change either. The part which is difficult or perhaps even impossible to template is the area containing the photo itself. If the area with the photo is not made semi-transparent, there will be falling snow of the same volume and appearance over the picture as in the rest of the globe. This might be "O.K." for some images, but I think might well obscure too much of many images to look visually appealing. In my sample I have set the transparency to 20% for this area. If you look carefully you can see snow over the photograph, but it doesn't greatly detract from the image quality. This means a template would either have complete transparency in this area meaning lots of snow or some semi-transparent mask would have to be precisely positioned behind the picture area and in front of the snow. This would then effectively mask the snow but also mask the picture inside the frame thus greatly reducing the image quality. The only other alternative would be a template which would take care of the snow and transparency issues, but would leave the PTE user having to mask off the picture itself and apply a large brush eraser set at about 20% opacity for each situation. If they have and understand Photoshop this would not be difficult, but if they don't or don't have a similar program allowing partial opacity the template wouldn't work very well. I'm pondering this, but haven't a good solution as of yet.... Best regards, Lin

Hey Al, I'm trying to figure out how to keep the picture frame from falling out when I turn it over - HA! Lin

Hi Dom, Thanks for that explanation! I didn't remember all the details and hadn't been following the developments but I really like the latest version you are doing. Both your and JPD's versions are great examples of what can be done with this great tool and some innovative thinking. Best regards, Lin

Thanks LOL - I don't know how much influence this might have on his business, but I've really been impressed with his actions and his attitude. It's fun finding applications where PTE can be used to augument other products and projects. On this particular sample I've changed the original to now more closely simulate the actual effect you get when you flip one of these snow globes. There are larger and more distinct snowflakes in front which better preserve the great lines he has instituted in the action model allowing snow to fall but without obscuring his original intent. This can be seen on the original link. Best regards, Lin

Hi Tom, It's really an extension of the "snow through the window" effect I described earlier. The original is flattened and saved as a jpg then copied to the clipboard and overlaid on a transparency. The eraser tool is used to erase everything inside the bubble except the snow on the floor and the picture and frame. The picture and frame are selected then the eraser brush is increased in size to cover the entire selection and the eraser tool is set to 20% opacity and clicked once which makes the picture frame and snow beneath less transparent than the bubble itself. This is then saved as a PNG. The jpeg is then loaded into PTE as the back image in the background with the PNG duplicate in front. Because of the transparent areas, the effect is just as if the jpg is loaded by itself complete with all the Panos effects, snow flakes, ice, etc. Next a couple snow PNG's are animated betwen these like the contents of a sandwitch. Then because of the less than full frame horizontal aspect a couple black rectangle are added on either side to obscure the snowflakes which would otherwise appear on each side of the image. This one is really rough and quick, but if I get some time I will work out a more refined version. It might be possible to make a template but the difficulty is the portion made less than 100% transparent. It isn't absolutely necessary to make any of it less than 100% transparent, but it preserves the image in the frame without overwhelming it with snow. I'll have to think about how this might be worked around, but it may be possible to make a template or at least provide the PNG with the portions made transparent. I'll need to talk with Panos first about this - he may want to post the components on his site. He has some incredible Photoshop actions and I would like to see more people purchase his material which is very reasonable. Maybe with some additional exposure he can be rewarded for the great work he does! Best regards, Lin Hey Ronnie, I didn't mean to hijack your thread - definitely some great actions at the Panos FX site for sure! Lin

LOL, you mean like this?? http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/panostest.zip Lin

Hi Patrick, Understood - totally. The jokes have all been in good humor and all have been very friendly - not aggressive or hostile at all. One thing I can say with conviction is that everyone on this forum is very understanding and cooperative. We may disagree, but we do so with all due respect for each other's opinions and views. Best regards, Lin

.....Patrick since he seems not to want to respond further) is a recap of the other new features we will be getting in v 5 when it is released. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We must keep in mind that English is not Patrick's native language and it is much more difficult for him and other non-native speakers to respond to these issues than to state their opinions initially. I could only imagine myself trying to respond to a conversation being carried out in French or Russian, etc. I don't think his reluctance to justify his opinions is motivated by simply not wanting to discuss these issues, but rather that it's a lot of extra work to make his points in a foreign language. There is always a difference of opinion about what constitutes excellence in AV presentations. Some love the video environment while others prefer stills and ultra image quality. There is certainly a place for each. I'm often reminded of some of my friends who love classical music and find my love of American Blusgrass somwhat crass. I have many, many years of musical training and study - I play numerous musical instruments and have studied all types of music but I "prefer" Bluegrass. It's not because of a lack of education or lack of knowledge (I'm as well educated as any of my peers) that directs my preferences, it's simply what I "like". It's this way with video versus stills. I'm a photographer by profession these days and I appreciate both stills and video effects. They each have a place with my various clients. Some are very impressed with pure image quality and could care less about transitions, music, PZR, etc., while others (just as highly educated and just as intelligent) dearly love the video effects. PTE acts as a bridge between these two worlds. It offers the best of each and the user has complete control over which effects to use or ignore. It can simulate video, allow amazing animations or it can produce superior stills with or without specialized transitions, etc. We should realize that those who want to pursue it as a tool for creative animations have every right to do so as well as those who see it as a tool for professional still presentations. It's just a tool folks, not a religion.... Best regards, Lin

Hi Patrick, PTE is a tool. How one uses a tool depends primarily on their purpose and final goal. Think of it in a similar way to the way you might think of an automobile. What is the true purpose of an automobile? Most would agree that it's a convenient and relatively comfortable way to travel from place to place. So why do we "need" or want a Rolls Royce when a Citroen 2CV will perform the same essential service? Even why do we want an automobile at all when we could use a horse drawn wagon? We can agree that they are all ways and means to transport people over distances quicker and with more comfort than walking. So why do we have automobile racing and why a Ferrari when a Corvette can equal the top speed, exceed the acceleration and costs a fraction as much? The answers are actually quite varied and complex. We race for "sport," to improve the handling, safety and progress in automotive engineering to be able to build better engines which last longer, etc. We have automobiles which appeal to many and varied tastes and which can fit many and varied budgets. So perhaps it is with a tool like PTE. As it is in version 4.48, PTE performs beautifully offering the very highest image quality and perfectly synchronized sound with smooth and varied transitions so why even bother with version 5 with all it's power and myriad features? The answer I believe is for the same reason that we have multiple choices in other tools. Not everyone wants pan, zoom, rotate, and scroll. Not everyone likes "movies" and of course not everyone likes stills. To be successful as a software developer and producer one must give their market the tools that they ask for. The world market for slideshow tools has evolved and people ask for these features. The "competition" has them and now so does PTE. What one makes of them and how and why they might use them is academic. They are there if the need or desire to use them arises. Just because one's Corvette can exceed 200 mph doesn't mean it will ever actually be driven that fast, but it's somehow comforting to have the assurance that should the need arise or you choose to do so the vehicle can perform and has been tested to be reliable under those extremes. PicturesToExe can still produce the finest images of any available tool. It still has the smoothest transitions and can now give those who choose to use them the powers to jump through hoops.It's human nature to explore the limits and test the tools. Would you want to trust your life to a surgeon who had not extensively "practiced" in the gross anatomy lab on cadavers before removing your appendix? LOL. Consider the myriad interest in spinning helicopter rotors, rolling balls, dancing cubes, turning pages and such as homework which helps hone the skills of the practitioner so that when they create a masterful diaporama or slideshow or AV presentation, they will be able to incorporate what they need in a seamless and primarily invisible manner to provide a moving experience for the observer. The techniques and practice are not an end to themselves but rather a prelude for the symphony to come. Best regards, Lin

Hi Peter, I think the "secret" to getting a natural look is matching the rotational degree to the distance traveled. A rolling sphere will travel 360 degrees in the distance described by it's circumfrence which is found by the formula "pie x diameter" or 3.14159 times the diameter of the sphere. So if you make the ball a diameter which can be "rolled" in some even multiple across the visible distance of the screen, the action will appear "natural" to the observer - otherwise it will seem like it's slipping or spinning rather than rolling. Let's take an example. Let's say your monitor measures 15 inches across. Remember that that the horizontal distance must be measured from the resting place (which is the "center" of the sphere) to the final resting place. If the ball were to roll from left to right beginning at the extreme left of the monitor and the diameter of the sphere were 4 inches, then it would actually begin its movement at two inches from the extreme left side of the monitor and finish 2 inches from the extreme right. This subtracts 4 inches from the 15 leaving you with 11 inches. 4 time 3.14159 = 12.5 inches so the ball would need to be less than 4 inches in diameter. So let's say it was two inches in diameter. Then you would have 13 inches to work with and a complete rotation would require 6.283 inches so you would get two complete rotations in 12.566 inches of space to look "normal". Essentially then for a monitor width of 15 inches you could "roll" the ball 720 degrees from edge to edge and it would look about normal. The sample below is far from "perfect" but just an approximation....... It also helps to have some reference for the ball to "roll on" such as a floor, etc., so I've put in a really crude line for reference. Also my "globe" isn't perfectly round which doesn't help. If you pay attention to all the details of distance versus rotation, roundness of the ball and a decent reference such as a floor or the ground, etc., it should look realistic. Here's a link to the quick and dirty sample: http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/rollingball.zip Lin

Just one addition to Al's suggestions. Be sure you have the picture frame constructed as a PNG file with the area to be occupied by the pictures transparent. In case you haven't done this before - if you use Photoshop first determine the pixel dimensions of the frame then "Edit" "Copy" a picture frame image then do "File" "New" - set the background to "Transparent" the type to 8 bit color RGB and be sure the size is identical to the picture frame dimensions then "Edit" "Paste" the picture frame over the transparency. Next use the Eraser with the opacity set to 100% and the flow to 100% and carefully erase the area where you want the picture to appear. Than as Al explained, put the Frame on the forward level and the image to appear on the frame behind. Then you can animate the image within the frame. Lin

PS : What DOES the 'P' button do?!

Hi Marlene, Sorry that happened to you. PTE has two ways to create a DVD. The first way is an AVI "template" which is not a true AVI file but raher only stays while PTE is running. This method uses external software such as Ulead Movie Factory, Nero, etc., to actually burn a DVD by receiving instructions about which files, transitions, timings, etc., from PTE via the temp AVI template. Then the external program uses this information to actually author the DVD. The other way PTE actually creates a stand-alone AVI file. To get it to do this you must choose "create a custom AVI" then uncheck the various external prgrams which might be checked, select a different codec than PTE Codec. I suggest using a Microsoft video codec. You may or may not have a variety of codecs on your computer, but from the web you can download a free codec pack from a number of companies. I recomment the Ace Mega Codec Pack which you can readily find by searching the web. Once you use a common codec, PTE will create a stand-alone AVI file which you can import into your PSP or PSG slideshow. More information is available about this on the Video section of this forum. Best regards, Lin

Hi Tom, I received and checked out your helicopter and it looked just fine. I think you have mastered the technique perfectly. There are probably many ways one can use the rectangles, such as those pioneered by JPD as well as others yet to be discovered. I'm not a truly creative type myself - I wish I were - so I really appreciate seeing technology being used in very creative ways. You have the tools now to go out and create other animations and as time goes on I'm sure the forum members will come up with a wide variety of great and innovative ways to present superior slideshows. Once the novelty of playing with all the new tools subsides, we will likely see subtle applications of these features incorporated in many artistic presentations. I truly can't wait! Best regards, Lin Thanks Al, I'll definitely look that one up. I'm sure as time goes on we will be finding many new and innovative ways to use this great tool! Best regards, Lin

That makes perfect sense Jean-Pierre - I used to modify my older release PTE files using Wordpad or using the "Edit" function from the DOS prompt. I had not yet done so with the beta but this is the only reasonable way to get the many, many calculations into the show and saving under another name will prevent disaster should there be a major error! Thanks, Lin

Hi Jean-Pierre, Are you then placing the Excel output directly into the PTE file rather than adding via the program interface? Thanks, Lin

Hi JPD Yes, I think you are absolutely correct. I just looked at Dom's latest demo of the book which uses the curling page effect and I do recall that he was earllier using the method I described originally with my very rough demo of how this effect might be created via masks. At one time I seem to recall that he had a flipping page effect which didn't seem to use the rectangle mask, but I didn't examine it very carefully so assumed probably incorrectly that he had adopted your parent/child rectangle as you described via the cube demo. The nice thing that we all learn from the demonstrations is that there is more than one way to achieve an effect. When Tom first presented his demo of the helicopter I began to explore using PNG masks and such to simulate rotor flashing and constrain the rotor size but quickly realized that your solution was ever more elegant and straightforward. Perhaps Dom can comment on how he was doing this with the earlier template. Best regards, Lin

Hi Peter, I can't speak for Jean-Pierre, but I suspect he is indeed entering the values manually. I don't know any way to take the Excel output directly into PTE but perhaps its possible to export it as text then cut and paste though I don't sse how this would automatically enter the values in their correct places. Maybe someone else can comment here. I don't think Tom is feeding calculations to a hidden place in PTE, but I haven't yet looked into what he is doing with random cube behavior generation so I may be wrong. Perhaps Tom can explain this if he hasn't already done so in another place. I too would love to speak and read French ( Actually I can read a good bit because of the similarity of all romance languages, but don't speak French at all). JPD has so much to offer and is brilliant with his applications of pte to innovative solutions. Best regards, Lin

Hi Jean-Pierre, Thanks! It's not a very "polished" tutorial, just a quick one to show Tom the basic steps, but I think it might help other English speaking members who may be having problems with this concept break down the barrier and see how the parent/child relationships can work to change and "hold" the shapes desired to achieve realistic effects via the rectangles. Thanks again for your discovery and excellent explanations via demonstrations which truly transcend language barriers! best regards, Lin

This little SWF file just shows how to manipulate an object as a "grandchild" of a rectangle. There are numerous cases when one might want to distort a shape such as JPD and Dom uses in their Photo Album templates (to get the effect of the perspective change as the page gets closer to and further from the viewer) or to simulate a rotor blade on a helicopter which is spinning while the helicopter is flying in a mostly horizontal fashion across the screen. Many seem not to yet understand how this works so perhaps this little AV will help shed some light on JPD's discovery which he has put to amazing use in a number of demonstrations such as the six sided cube, the Photo Album, the modification of Tom's Helicopter, etc. It's a zipped SWF file. If you don't already have a Flash 8 player, the free program IrfanView can easily display the Flash 8 SWF shows. Be sure to download both IrfanView and the latest Plugins. http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/rotorblade.zip Best regards, Lin

LOL - I hope you didn't hold your breath for 30 minutes - that deprives the old "noggin" of much needed oxygen! Here's the link to the little Flash 8 SWF file to see how this is accomplished. If you don't have a Flash viewer, the latest Irfanview with the latest plugins will play it for you. The SWF is zipped..... http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/rotorblade.zip Best regards, Lin p.s. I'll put it in the "pinned" tutorial section too.

Hi Tom, LOL - You're not "dim" at all. In many years of teaching in the university, I've concluded that there are two primary types of learners. Some learn best by verbal instructions while others learn easier by visual instructions. Of course we all fall somewhere within these two extremes, but most of us have a decided tendency toward one or the other. This is why "audio/visual" is a very effective way of promoting understanding. In this particular situation it's not often easy for a visual learner to translate words into an effective visual pattern. So I'm preparing a little Flash AV demo to show exactly how this works with your example. It will be ready as soon as the SWF file has completed which should be in about 20 minutes, so I'll modify this post with the link as soon as it's posted shortly. I think this will make it very easy to see for those who tend toward being visual learners. Here's the link: http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/rotorblade.zip Best regards, Lin

Hi Tom, As JPD has pointed out, you can use the rectangle within a rectangle as a parent/child/child relation to achieve this effect. Just to make it possibly a little more clear. If you place a rectangle within a rectangle in a child relationship, then rotate the interior rectangle so that if falls on a 45 degree angle with relation to the outside rectangle, then set the horizontal and vertical zoom so they are independent (click the little box between them on the Animation screen) and change the horizontal zoom on the outside or "parent" rectangle, you can distort the interior rectangle into a trapezoidal or perhaps more accurately a parallelogram shape (trapezium I think you folks on the other side of the pond call it). It's a couple of these and of course lots more JPD uses to get his great Photo Album effect. Depending on the degree of rotation of the secondary rectangle and the amount of horizontal/vertical zoom differentiation there will be differential amounts of distortion. If you look carefully at JPD's example by blowing up the view to 500% you can see the shape he achieves. This forces the rotors, as a child of the distorted rectangle into a similar shape. The upper rectangle's rotation determines the "pitch" of the rotor while the secondary rectangle's shape determines the rotor's angle in relation to the observer. This achieves the effect of rotation of the object in a more or less horizontal direction to give you the desired effect. Best regards, Lin

Hi Marlene, Just download JPD's zip file and unzip it into a folder of its own. Next you start PTE and open JPD's PTE file and you will find a number of files which are used for the program. There is also an explanation of how to proceed which you will see as a text file (.txt) and can read with your text editor. My suggestion is to duplicate JPD's files in another folder then you can delete them when you are ready to substitute your own files for his. Jean-Pierre is not a native English speaker but does very well I think with the explanation, but perhaps I can help translate it so it's a bit easier to understand for a native English speaker. There are a couple files which you need to create as PNG files with the same names as JPD uses, but with your own content. It's very important to create them with the identical file dimensions. These files will replace JPD's files with the same names and dimensions Then you will need to create or crop existing jpg files to same dimensions as the files JPD uses. Then you will simply substitute your own files for JPD's files and keep your file names identical to those JPD used. I would suggest saving JPD's original, then duplicating it in another working folder. Start by just creating a single jpg of the proper dimensions then use Photoshop, etc., to overwrite JPD's "Image 01.jpg" with your own Image 01.jpg then open up PTE, load the PTE file from the working folder and see how it works before getting too far along with creating your own jpg files. Then follow the roadmap below: First create your title png file with the dimensions of 265x228 pixels and name it the same as JPD's. This file name must be "Titre-Title.png" Next create another png file with transparent background called "Nom-Name.png" with the dimensions of 295x71 pixels. Next create a jpg file and name it "Fond.jpg" with the dimensions 1152 x 864. This file will become the background on which the book rests. It can be any jpg you wish as long as the dimensions are 1152x864 and you name it Fond.jpg. Create or find 56 jpg images and make or crop them to exactly 382 pixels wide and 542 pixels high. They should be named "Image 01.jpg" to "Image 56.jpg" The order they will appear is such that "Image 01" will be the page displayed on the right with "Image 02.jpg" on the left, etc., so arrange you image in the order you wish them to appear keeping that progression in mind. To begin with, don't try to get too fancy and add any PZR beyond what JPD has already done until you understand the program. JPD has set this up to be saved as a "screen saver" but you can just save it as a regular PTE file. When creating a screen saver (.scr) file with PTE normally the program is designed to use any mouse movement to end the display just as all normal screen saver programs. This feature (the ability to detect mouse movement and exit the presentation) is not yet enabled in the beta, and since you will be making an AVI to add to your Proshow slideshow just create it as an AVI rather than a screen saver. The title file (first one discussed) will replace Elle le dit avec des Fleurs and the Nom-Name.png will replace the file at the end of the presentation on the last page. You may also change the outside (Photo Album) text but you need to keep the size of the file the same. If you get in trouble, just ask and we can help you get going. Best regards, Lin

I'm sure you can't do this in PSP. Actually, there are some parts of what is done which are applicable to PSP but there are parent/child relationships using rectangles to create trapazoid shapes which there is no way to do in PSP so better to simply follow JPD's instructions for PTE then export as an AVI then import the AVI in PSP if you already have other parts of your slideshow built. Otherwise best to do it all in PTE. Best regards, Lin