Lin Evans

.....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

Thanks Paul! Yes the thought of being a "one eyed" photographer was disconcerting at best. I'm elated with the improvement and am able to work now so back to normal.... Best regards, Lin

Hi Sharon, If you read my response to you above, you will find that you need the Beta 5 version to have pan, zoom, rotate.... Best regards, Lin "Some of us have suggested that you learn version 4.48 before starting with version 5 beta while others have suggested that you jump right in and learn version 5. The reason those of us who have suggested you jump right in and begin learning version 5 with the beta is that we know Proshow (several of us use both products) and what you are used to and the beta 5 can do the pan, zoom, rotate effects very similar to what you are already used to doing."

Hi Sharon, First let me explain a couple of the things which are a bit obscure. When you purchase the release version 4.48 of PicturesToExe (regardless of which license), you are entitled to a free upgrade to version 5 when it is released. Version 5 will come in two "flavors." The standard version does not have an internal DVD burning engine but does have every other feature of the "deluxe" version. The delux version will cost all of us who presently own version 4.48 an additional $20. As far as which version to purchase, you can always "upgrade" to the business version later, but the cost difference is so insignificant, personally I would just buy the business version. The "beta" is presently very far along and the soon to be released beta 9 will have the majority of the features of version 5 release. Unlike Photodex, Wnsoft releases the beta versions for all their registered users to try and use. Since you have been using Proshow you are already familiar with the pan, zoom, rotate features. These are but a few of the features which version 5 will have which are not possible with the present release version 4.48. Some of us have suggested that you learn version 4.48 before starting with version 5 beta while others have suggested that you jump right in and learn version 5. The reason those of us who have suggested you jump right in and begin learning version 5 with the beta is that we know Proshow (several of us use both products) and what you are used to and the beta 5 can do the pan, zoom, rotate effects very similar to what you are already used to doing. Once you understand keypoints (key frames in Proshow language), you will be able to make PTE jump through hoops and even do things which are impossible to do with Proshow Gold or Proshow Producer. It's not that difficult to learn - it just takes a bit of practice, reading of tutorials and time. You will find that the slideshows you create with version 5 beta run smoother and have significantly better image quality than what you can achieve with Proshow Gold or Proshow Producer. In answer to your question about AVI versus DVD. In order to make a DVD which people can play on a television, it's necessary to convert a slideshow to a "movie" format. In Proshow Gold, this was always done by creating an MPEG file (this is one of several movie formats). With Producer you had the choice of creating an AVI (another movie format) file. Proshow Gold or Producer then renders these movie formats to DVD and burned the show on a DVD disk. PTE beta 5 allows you to do likewise. An AVI format is created from your slideshow then burned to a DVD with the program or you can simply create an executable file (just as with Photodex products) which can be played on any Windows based PC. The executable format is of significantly higher image quality than the ones made with Proshow Gold or Producer because PTE shows are rendered at the resolution of the files used (your original images) to make the slideshow. Gold and Producer have always used software rendering which, in essence, means that the orientation and intent has been to ultimately make a DVD rather than an executable. So the files are rendered at or near DVD resolution (low resolution compared to the original images). When Producer or Gold is asked to make an executable file, these low resolution renderings are then "interpolated" (pixels added) to the desired screen display size. This procedure makes the images soft and of less visual quality than those using "hardware" rendering as is the case with PicturesToExe. Photodex stated that they would have hardware rendering in version 3 of Proshow Gold and Proshow Producer. Since that time there has been absolute "silence" about hardware rendering from the company. There has been much speculation on the Proshow Enthusiasts forum about this, and the only conclusions most of us have been able to draw is that for whatever reason they did nor or could not implement hardware rendering. No one has seen higher quality executables matching those from PicturesToExe coming from the latest versions of Gold or Producer so the only logical conclusions we can draw is that hardware rendering has not happened. As many of us are photographers and some of us are professional photographers, image quality is extremely important. For slideshows delivered on DVD, there is ultimately little or no difference in quality between a properly built slideshow with hardware or software rendering. Each is ultimately downgraded to DVD quality. On the other hand for executable slideshows the differences are quite noticeable and this is why most of us prefer PicturesToExe for that purpose. The power available to the user with PicturesToExe beta 5 is incredible. You will find as time goes on that things which are truly difficult to do with Gold are simple to do with PTE (PicturesToExe). You have unlimited layers, the ability to alter opacity from zero to 100% within a single layer and the ability to use very sophisticated "parent/child" relationships which allow such things as the fantastic Photo Album such as Jean-Pierre (JPD) has shown. You can also create bezier type curves, eliptical paths of objects and many things which just can't be done with Gold or Producer. This is truly a fantastic product as you will come to eventually realize, and the cost is so low that it's almost unbelievable. Best regards, Lin

Hi Tom, Not too long ago there was a discussion where Hawk provided a way of using copy/paste to move information from one to another PTE project. The "secret" was to keep both open - here is a link to the explanation.... http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index....amp;#entry31206 Best regards, Lin

Hi Maureen, LOL - I'm working on watering down that whisky right now! I'll bet we could make some pink elephants from fluffy snow flakes - HA! Thanks again. The opthamologist has pretty well cut me loose with no restrictions so in a few days I should be back much earlier than expected. Best regards, Lin

Hi Suzy, This is really easy to achieve - and I think you did see that scene on Barry's site. Let's start with the basics. Take any image you wish to make transparent as a cut out into PhotoShop. Now there are several ways to do this, so I'm just going to give you one easy example. Let's take a balloon for an example. Open a balloon jpg in Photoshop first do a "Select All" then "Edit Copy".. Click on "File, New" then set the background to transparent, 8 bit RGB color and choose a file size in dimensions to match the jpg of the balloon. Next do "Edit" "Paste" and this will paste the full jpg of the balloon over the transparency. Next choose the Eraser tool with opacity set to 100% and erase all parts you don't want to appear. Next save the file as a PNG (do not flatten or merge layers). Open PTE and put on the slide list the background you wish to use for the balloon to appear on then click on Objects and Animations and set the view to about 10% (up at the top of the screen to the right of "paste"). This will make the background look like a large postage stamp surrounded by lots of black space. Right click in this black space far away from the jpg image and completely outside the bounding rectangle of green surrounding the picture. Choose "Add File" and then select your balloon PNG file. Adjust the size of the balloon with the rectangle visually and place it anywhere you want it to be at the start of the slide show. Next use the Customize Slide feature to set the time for the entire slide appearance. For now use 30 seconds. You will find the balloon jpg on the Objects list on the right. Click on the balloon file then go somewhere along the time line and set a keypoint - say 15 seconds for an example. Now move the balloon by clicking and holding down the mouse key with the mouse cursor in the center of the balloon and move the balloon by dragging it to a new position. You can also change the size, etc., at this time. Next click on "Preview" and you will see exactly what this animation will look like. Place other keypoints for the balloon and move the position and change the size to see how this affects the action and animation. By changing the opacity of the balloon, you can cause it to appear or disappear at any keypoint. The action of changing opacity will happen "between" keypoints. If you want the balloon to stay 100% opaque until only two seconds before a keypoint, place another keypoint two seconds before where you want it to fade out and set this opacity to 100%. You will begin to see how this works. All actions and animations take place "between" two keypoints. Opacity is actually another animation so if you set the opacity to 100% (the default) at the start of a slide show then set a keypoint at 4 seconds with the opacity to zero, the balloon will begin to fade out gradually and fade out completely at the 4 second point. So if you want it to stay visible until three seconds, you need to set a keypoint at three seconds and make that opacity 100% at that time. This will keep the fade out action from happening until the three second point then between three and four seconds the balloon will disappear. If you want it back suddenly, then you need to set a keypoint just before where you want it to re-appear and set this opacity to zero then another keypoint shortly after and set the opacity to 100%.. Practice a bit and soon you will be animating multiple objects with ease making them move about, etc. Read the tutorials on theDom's site and you will learn how to use and move the "center" point for any object to control the type of rotation either around the center of the object itself or around a point where you "move" the center to. Soon you will learn to use rectangles and parent/child relationships to create any type of bezier curve you wish an object to follow in movement. It's a very exciting and powerful program - give it a bit of time and don't be afraid to ask for detailed help. We're all here to help you get going and learn to use the program. Here's a quick and dirty sample - I just cut out one of my balloon samples and saved as a transparent PNG then animated it on a background scene. I used the same PNG for each of the two balloons as you can see. Just unzip the file and open the PTE file in PicturesToExe and study the path of each balloon via keypoints. http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/balloonsample.zip Best regards, Lin