Lin Evans

Since it's easy with ImageReady to export layers as files (but not crop) there is no real advantage to any script which does not actually crop the PNG's created, so the second one has little advantage except saving the step of switching to ImageReady to export. The first one appears to do as explained when I tested it with a text file created in transparency on Photoshop CS, but I can't get it to work with the Panos puzzle action. I first tried it with a 56 piece puzzle thinking it would create separate files, but it wouldn't work. Then I used ImageReady to export the 56 piece (actually 48 pieces because of the aspect ratio) puzzle to separate PNG files. I then opened the first one and the script promptly allowed me to export a cropped version, but when I opened the second piece and attempted to perform the same script it successfully cropped the second piece but overwrote the first with the same file name, to to be effective one would have to have a separate folder for each piece. I then tried a four piece puzzle thinking that perhaps 48 pieces were too much (I ddn't actually try reading the Java code to see how it works) and it wouldn't recognize the four pieces as separate layers. I'm not certain what the issue is. Have you tried the original script (the one which is incompatible with CS) after creating puzzle pieces with the Panos Action? Just curious if it recognizes the separage layers. Best regards, Lin

Hi Manfred, Which one of the tutorials are you having difficulty with reproducing? If it's the Cube Creation, then perhaps you don't have the 3D plugin? I have versions 5, 7, and CS presently on my development computer so if you let me know which issue you can't reproduce perhaps I can test it for you. Best regards, Lin

Hi Jill, Perhaps I'm interpreting this incorrectly, but I think having the option of a different name in the "Objects" list (different from the true file name) is a good thing. Frequently one might want to include the same file (object) multiple times in the Objects list and assigning independent names facilitates ease of picking the correct one from the many possible duplications. Remember back on the original beta when everything in the Objects list was named "object1" "object2" and we had to rename using the Properties Tab? Perhaps I'm confused by what you mean by "file list"? Do you mean the actual Windows list of files found on the left side of the screen in the "Classical View"? Perhaps what's confusing me is the need to rename the object in the "file list", if that's what you mean by it. Why can't you just rename the object in the Properties tab on the Objects and Animation screen? My guess is that when you rename a file on the "file list" a duplicate is being created if that file already exists in the slide list? Best regards, Lin

I've found syntax (primarily object spelling) errors at lines 172, 280, 329, 395, 484, 585. 663 amd 751 and corrected them, but there are other issues which are apparently incompatible with CS. I'm not a Java programmer so can't proceed further. After correcting the syntax errors and removing line #7 as a test, the code stopped at line 8 on the parse with yet another unrecognized command error so I think someone who speaks Java will have to take it from here - LOL Best regards, Lin

The major difference is the choice to crop the PNG's to remove the excess transparency and the fact that you don't need to leave Photoshop. Best regards, Lin

Hi Granot, Certainly you can "save" the reversed file - I just did it! It's a free evaluation, download and test it for yourself! You can convert from AVI to MPG, etc., - very powerful program! If you post a link to a short clip, I will reverse it, save it, and post a link to the changes. Make it reasonably small such as 600x800.... Here: I reversed a quick AVI which I used a screen video capture to make. I reversed it and exported the reversed file as an MPG. It's very easy..... Link to two zipped files. http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/test.zip Best regards, Lin

Hi Dom, There may be some incompatibility with Photoshop CS - I get this error message: Lin

Isn't there one more step? I think you must rename the file because if you download after opening the link you end up with an html and if you save as you end up with a .txt extension?? I just tried it but can't get it to work with layered files even after renaming. Do you have to have the "Script Listening" plug-in installed to make it work?? Looks good though - THANKS! Best regards, Lin

Hi Granot, I couldn't play a video with te software so couldn't check what "mirror" actually does. So what you want to do is reverse the clip? That is play the last frame first followed by next to last, etc., so you end up with the last frame first? If so I found this: http://ali.apple.com/callas/crs_imovie2/9_...ing2/page2.html This is apparently a MacIntosh program and I haven't been able to find out if it's available in Windows format, but I doubt it. Vegas Movie Studio 6 lets you reverse an "event" so apparently you can play selected segments backward. Here's a jpg capture from the help menu.... http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/reverse.jpg I just tested it and it will indeed reverse the clip and play frames from last to first. You can also reverse audio or not...... but it just occurred to me that I'm not clear exactly on what you want to happen? If you will post a link to an mpg or avi file you want reversed, I'll "reverse" it in Vegas Movie Studio and save it and post a return link for you to see if it's indeed what you are looking for. I don't know whether Vegas Movie Studio has an evaluation or not.... Best regards, Lin

Yes, I'm wrong about that - it hasn't yet been activated as of Beta 5.... Best regards, Lin

Hello Luc, Still in Beta - Version 5 has not been released and there are still many features not yet implemented in the beta version. Right now is beta 5 and there will be at least beta 7 before version 5 is completed. You can use transparent background PNG files created in Photoshop or other software to do amazing text effects with beta 5. There have been numerous tutorials written on how to add and use text effects. Go to theDom's web-site for links. Look up theDom on the search engine here on the forums or just click on any of his links. I have written tutorials myself in audio-visual format as well as in PDF format so there is plenty of information about how to do this available. The best way to put background and voice is to use MP3 format for your background. Add it by clicking on the Project Options, Music, then Add Music. It's best to put your voice over by using the Custom Slide feature to add the voice. If you want you "could" use Audacity (find it free on the web) to combine voice over with music and make a single MP3. You can add multiple MP3's by just using the Project Options just like in the release version (4.xx) of PicturesToExe. Look at some of the slideshow samples linked here or on Beachbrook to see what can be done with the beta versions. You can see some samples from the "Slideshow Demo" link on my site at: http://www.lin-evans.net These are in zipped executable format. Just clilck on the picture next to the description to download the zipped executable. Best regards, Lin

This is just a very brief addendum to the previous AVI tutorial on how to create the StarWars text effect. Previously I took the viewer through the creation of text in Photoshop, the addition of the Layers Blending Options effects of Drop Shadow, Bevel, Contour, etc., then the use of the Warp Text tool to give the spread at the bottom compressed at the top appearance with a slight "laid back" look. I neglected to say that it's possible to then apply some perspective distortion to the then finished text, so this brief AVI is just designed to show the user how to select and use the Free Transform tool to give the text yet some more "laid back" perspective. For those who are already familiar with the Free Transform use this will be rhetorical and un-necessary, but for those who are unfamiliar with using this tool or who haven't already looked at the "How to Make a Photo Cube" tutorial, this may be helpful. Here's the link: http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/starwarsaddendum.zip Best regards, Lin

You "may" have some bad RAM on your Video card. If you download my puzzle tests and run them and can't run the second one, it's almost certain that the issue is RAM. You have plenty of RAM and an excellent video card (The 9800 Pro is an outstanding card) and it "should" run any P2E show without difficulty, but if there is a defective RAM chip it may be causing this problem. Here's a link. Download both these and run them. The smallRAM program will run even on a 32 meg video card but the large RAM model taxes even my 9800 Pro card as well as Igor's card. It should run fairly smoothly, but if you have bad RAM between zero and 128 meg it will show up. The second link below is to the large RAM model. The center piece in the front which circles around and around will be slightly "jerky" on a decent working video card. The sound will begin several seconds before the image on this one. http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/puzzlesmallRAM.zip http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/puzzle.zip Best regards, Lin

Hi Angie, That sounds like Roxio can't use the codec you used to create the AVI file. Do you remember when you created the "Custom AVI" which video codec you chose? Can you open P2E, load any p2e file then go to Video, Create Custom AVI then click on Video Codec and write down the available codecs then report back? I suspect either you took the "default" which is the P2E codec which is only a template for encoding audio and informing one of the supported burn programs, or you chose a video codec which Roxio doesn't understand. There are a great number of free codecs available and all of them are not supported by software such as Roxio LTE which comes with many DVD burners. The one which you should use is Microsoft MPEG 4. If you don't have this one listed, then you should download and install the free ACE Mega CodecS Pro pack here: http://www.soft32.com/download_3916.html Lin

Hi Granot, I downloaded Blaze Media Pro thinking I might be able to help figure out how to make it reverse video but the evaluation copy immediately reported that my "15 day trial had expired" - LOL - the fastet 15 day trial on record I suppose. I have emailed the company asking for help and will let you know when they respond and if I can get an evaluation copy to work so I can perhaps help figure out what you need to do. best regards, Lin Hi Again, They sent me an "extension" so I can open the program, but I can't get it to show any video so I can't "test" this, but the way you are supposed to be able to get it to reverse a video is: Open the program - Open the Video Editor from the File menu - Load your file - go to Transform - choose Mirror then save.... Lin

Hi Dom, Try downloading and using the evaluation copy of Screen Recorder Gold: http://www.capture-screen.com/ I had Camtasia's demo on my computer but erased it when I bought Gold so I can't test it on my system. Gold seems to work fine for doing this (the O&A windows) but these screen recording tools are all a bit different in my experience. I also purchased AutoScreenRecorder 2.1 Pro, and it won't allow me to start P2E from my Windows desktop, but does fine if I wait until after starting P2E to start the recorder. When I first bought Gold, it had a bug which wouldn't read my codecs so I contacted the developer and explained that all my other screen capture programs I was testing worked fine in that respect. The developer of Screen Recorder Gold also make another screen recorder program called "Hero" which also wouldn't work. The developer fixed the problem and promptly notified me and I downloaded the program again and it works fine now. It's an inexpensive program without all the bells and whistles of Camtasia so you can't do any video editing (but most of us have other software to do that anyway) or produce SWF files, etc., but it does seem to produce really nice AVI's and now reads all the codecs. It also has the red circle for mouse click that you asked about. It's strange that Camtasia doesn't see the O&A window, but it doesn't surprise me because there is lots going on at the system level and it seems that no two of these screen recorders work in exactly the same way. Best regards, Lin

The red and blue circles (left and right mouse click) are part of the Screen Recorder Gold program: http://www.capture-screen.com/ The larger black and white circle is a feature of the software which came with my wireless mouse (Hewlett-Packard). If you go to "Control Panel" "Mouse" "Pointers" you probably have a number of options for your mouse. One of these on my system is to allow dedicating the "Ctrl" key to create the circle effect whenever you depress it. Best regards, Lin

Hi bjc, Yes, I was wondering whether you used the XY axis at all in P2E but couldn't tell exactly. The way you have done it is a superior method because it doesn't require using extended edges on the turning page and actually truly effects the perspective changes throughout the image rather than just simulating it by masking the edges. Fortunately, few have truly observed carefully the legitimate effect and studied the entire image so this goes largely unnoticed in the deception by the majority I think. It would be nice were the capabilities inherent in p2e but there are so many more things Igor has yet to accomplish that perhaps this may be later considered for some future upgrade edition. Best regards, Lin

Hi Jeff, Yes, this would be possible I think. Actually I generally do it very much as you described - sometimes its easier to begin with the "end" and work backward. Another "trick" is to rename each object so that it makes sense from a "positional" reference and if there are not a tremendous number of elements you can assure the final position by using Photoshop and then exporting separate levels with each piece on its own level as in the four piece puzzle tutorial via ImageReady which lets you save independent files from multiple layer originals. This, of course, is highly wasteful of memory resources and onliy amenable to smaller overall PNG's such as individual letters. But what it does is position each piece in its proper place assured by the returning all to 100% (or whatever you decided for zoom) at the end of the action... Best regards, Lin

Hi Dom, Nice and smooth as it should be - I just cobbled mine together very quickly to demonstrate that in principle it "could" be done with some trickery. Your version is very nice, much better demo than the one I did and the shadow is a really nice touch! Thanks for posting it! Best regards, Lin

Hi Ron, They are actually two different ways of achieving the effect. bjc used Photoshop to create 68 multiple images with the proper perspective distortion then loaded these images into P2E in the proper manner, used P2E's ability to manipulate the XY axis independently and ran the sequence. Since P2E only allows XY axis manipulation I used it to effect the simulation of turning of pages in the same manner as in the Morgan Dollar Tutorial, with the added steps of creating extended top and bottom on the page to be turned and the use of masking rectangles with their "center" of rotation set to a corner. Two of these pivot at the "book" spine on top and two at the bottom. Multiple additional keypoints were used to obtain the proper linearity of the mask to simulate the increase and decrease in page size as the page appears to turn. The central pivot point is shifted as the turning page squishes to a single line to facilitate the transition to the subsequent page which begins "squished" then expands. An AV tutorial for this would probably not be feasible because of the complexity. The time to actually demonstrate would be very lengthy and the file size huge. Let me think about it and perhaps I can demonstrate a single page turn with the effect only on perhaps the top of the page then the viewer can experiment and extrapolate from that to the other three masks necessary to complete the simulation. Even this will probably be daunting in size. Best regards, Lin

No, you are correct in observing that it indeed has been removed from CS2 - why, only Adobe knows because it works very well with any Photoshop version. You can download if from my site here: http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/3DTransform.zip Just unzip and put the file in with your other plug-in's in Photoshop Lin

Hi Tom, Yes, the default sizes of AVI will generally be very large because you must remember that the program is capturing a larger number of frames per second. For example, if you use a frame rate of 30 frames per second, a sixty second clip would contain 1800 separate images. If you multiply even a moderate sized image in bytes times 1800 you have a substantial amount of data. So the way you minimize is to cut down on the frame rate. For these tutorials, I've been using 15 frames per second, but even that produces some fairly large AVI files. BJC uses 3 frames per second and gets excellent results, but remember that the lower the frame rate the more "jerky" the movie where movement is concerned. Of course the other side of this coin is the amount of "compression" that the codec places on the files. Compression saves storage space and makes it more convenient to upload/download a file, but has no effect on actual "memory" when the file is actually loaded into memory and run on your computer. Even jpg files which are highly compressed anyway must be expanded in memory when they are actually viewed. Years ago when computers didn't have a lot of memory like they do today, we used to play jokes on fellow photographers by scanning high resolution images at high dpi rates then creating a highly compressed jpg. We would give this jpg to unsuspecting novice computer users who would then lock up their computers when they tried to load the file. An innocent looking jpg with a file size of perhaps 400K bytes might actually be hiding a true memory requirement of 40 megabytes or more. This happened in the days when computers only typically had a few megabytes of RAM. So some codecs seem to have better "compression" algorithms than others, and the DivX Pro codec seems to have some excellent characteristics. If you downloaded Screen Recorder Gold before last night, please uninstall it and download it again. I discovered a bug in the way the program reads codecs as it loads and informed the developer who corrected the problem last night and posted the new version. So download the latest version and go to the "Options" tab the click on "Preferences" then beside "Compressor" use the down arrow to again check whether you may already have the DIV X Pro codec. If you don't have it you can do a quick search on the Web or you can go here to download it: http://www.divx.com/divx/windows/codec/ Best regards, Lin

Hi Jean Pierre, Your creativity is staggering!! Beautiful simulation. Best regards, Lin

Hi bjc, Let me explain. It's definitely "trickery" - LOL. As you correctly stated, there is no way to alter the perspective as the pages flip toward the viewer, and this simulation would not work for all images unless you put a "border" of solid color such as white, etc., around them. In these two particular pages there is either a large area of rather uniform color such as the clouds with the airplane or the blank wall with the corn wreath which lend themselves to the illusion. It's accomplished by extending the top and bottom of the half page on the right side "as you view the screen". Each side which will "flip" is treated to this extension of top and bottom in Photoshop. Each picture which is to "flip" is divided equally into two portions in Photoshop just as you normally see in a book with staples or binding down the center. Next the individual half images are copied, then overlaid on a transparent layer (this part is just window dressing - not really necessary) and the layer tool is used to give a bevel, drop shadow and contour which adds an edge "dimensionality" to the pages. Next the individual half images are saved as PNG files (they could be flattened and saved as jpgs) and the illusion begins. The two half images are placed side by side in P2E with the image having the top and bottom "extended' a half inch or so on the right. The perspective of the page flip is done just as the coin turn by leaving the "Y" axis constant and altering the "X" axis until the page becomes simply a vertical line. The position is adjusted by moving this line to correspond with the "center" of the book, in this case at the two second keypoint. The perspective illusion is accomplished by using a black rectangular jpg to mask off the edges. This rectangle is used in four places - two at the top and two at the bottom. The "center" for the rectangle is moved to a corner to allow rotation of the rectangle around the corner. Two of the rectangles (same rectangle reloaded) are used for the first page flip and two for the second part of the illusion. The second page begins life as a "squished" line compressed completely on the "X" axis and is expanded by the 4 second keypoint to its full XY dimension. As the page "turns" the other two black rectangles pivot at top and bottom via the center move to a corner to provide the proper masking effect. The anchor point for the pivot is at the center top and bottom which divides the right and left side of the "book" (the spine area). As the page reaches the fully "squished" portion, the pivot point mask is raised at the top and lowered at the bottom to provide for the illusion of the transition between old and new page then quickly returned to the pivot point as the new page begins to expand. Numerous additional keypoints at regular intervals are placed and the pivot angle of the rectangle adjusted via the rotate command to keep the edges of the page progressing smoothly. Actually, it's probably not worth the effort it takes to achieve this illusion but it does show that it's "possible" with some thought and by the great versatility afforded us with PicturesToExe to pull off some complex actions. I'll work on this next week a bit and if I can get it into a less complex state will post a pte file. The way this one is more or less "cobbled" together it would make little or no sense at the present point since I have a number of unnecessary keypoint done from an experimental basis. Best regards, Lin