Lin Evans

Yes, just make sure that the file sizes are amenable with your hardware for quick display. I would suggest no larger than 1024x768 or perhaps even 800x600. You haven't said which version of P2E you are using, but display them with minimal between slide time and with no effects and you should get decent movement assuming you have adjacent frames. I used the non-beta P2E to demonstrate zoom, etc., in the past by resizing images and displaying them in a progressive sequence. This worked quite well but did take some time to orchestrate. There is no reason why you can't do this subject to your hardware limitations. Best regards, Lin

Anything but boring! It was a delightful trip through an exotic place. One must keep in mind that the purpose was to remember your vacation and that includes not only the scenery and landscapes, but also the people who shared your experience. I would love to see the final version as well! Best regards, Lin

Hi Jeff, That's exactly what happens when you don't have synchronization enabled. There is no mechanism to control speed on the build of video to match the sound track. The sound track is pretty consistent from computer to computer but not video. This should all be solved when synchronization is finished in the release. Best regards, Lin

Hi Bill, The aspect ratio doesn't correspond to any "particular" pixel count, just the ratio of width in pixels to height in pixels. What you need to do is determine what your original file size in pixels is then you can determine the most efficient way to crop to achieve 4:3 or 16:9 ratios. Let's take a simple example or two and see how this might work. Typically, a two megapixel camera might produce an image 1600 pixels wide by 1200 pixels tall. These numbers represent an aspect ratio of 4:3. if you had only 16 pixels on the wide side and 12 pixels on the height side it would still be a ratio of 4:3 (16/4=4 and 12/4=3). So any particular number multiplied by both 4 and 3 would give you the 4:3 ratio. Here are a few samples: 4x20=80 - 3x20=60 so 80 pixels by 60 pixels = 4:3. Let's do another: 4x100=400 3x100=300 so 400x300 pixels would qualify. Now let's look at 16:9 What about 16x100 by 9x100 or 1600x900. You see how it works? So determine about what resolution you want in your originals then find the nearest numbers which will support the desired ratio and set your crop tool on Elements to that figure to get your originals. Move the crop around to get the ideal subject matter inside then make the crop and save. Best regards, Lin

If you need some help making the cubes let me know. It takes PhotoShop or similar program which has the 3D plugin and isn't hard to do, but if you've never worked with layers, etc., it can be daunting and there are some "tricks" which can help. Email me if you get in trouble: [email protected] Best regards, Lin

LOL, I didn't save the original pte since I'm still playing around with it, but this link is to a very similar pte using a couple cube PNG's and the same backdrop which are synchronized in an effort to "switch" views seamlessly. I'm still working on the effects so an in process one but has essentially the same type actions. I'm discovering that trying to sync two PNG, even though they are virtually identical except for file size is not an easy task since precise rotation seems to be somewhat affected by file size or some other yet undiscovered variable. Use the arrow keys rather than clicking on the keypoints to go through this one because some of the midway transition keypoints are nearly on top of each other separated only by hundredths of a second. http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/messingaround2.zip Best regards, Lin

Hi Paul, Thanks but I can't take credit for this idea which was introduced years ago by Scott Kelby, the president ot the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, etc. Scott has written on the 3D rendering in Photoshop many times, but this makes a nice additional effect to play with in slideshow programs allowing PZR. Best regards, Lin

Hi Bill, Currently not all transitions are available in Beta 4 and music sync is not quite finished so don't kill the original but rather save it and open the pte file in Beta 4 and try the preview to see how much of the original in terms of transitions, etc., are preserved. Once a file has been altered in Beta 4 if will no longer open in the 4.xx version, but you should be able to do this soon when beta 5 is released. Lin

Can't you just make a transparent GIF file and use that? The "border" area is defined as you look at it, but doesn't display on your slideshow. Make it small enough to not need resizing. If you use PhotoShop just put in File/New (set the size in pixels and set the background to transparent). Just save the crosshatch as a file named "transparent.gif" and use it for your hot spot... Lin

Hi John, Like most of my "tinkering" it's a work in process - the title says it all - LOL I'm working on some viable way to "flip" the cube to show the other side - It has to be an illusion so will take some thought. There really is no connection from the lobby to the cube except in the mind of the observer. Perhaps the cube dwellers are trapped in another type of "jungle" where the vegetation is similar, but the glass walls surrounding them reflect more about the designers of the "corporate jungle" (this is the old "Compaq" lobby in Houston, Texas) than the reality of their world - who knows?? Lin Hi Ken - yes the beta 4 has lots of potential - can't wait to play with the finished product... Best regards, Lin

Just Messing Around.... http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/messingaround.zip Lin

Hi Steve, Yes, like Ken says, it's primarily a security issue. Numerous ISP's have software which balks on executables so the zip gives an additional level of protection which prevents both storage and download issues with various software. Some ISP's don't want executable stored in their native fashion because of the danger of even accidental actuation of a potentially dangerous file on their server. With zip it must be off-loaded and unzipped before the .exe can be run. Also in the event that you decide to email a slideshow, zip is acceptable by most email servers which bounce executables. Best regards, Lin

Nope - you can apply the same actions to a picture (that's really all a "button" is) as to a button object. Make the button in PhotoShop and import it as a "picture" in P2E then assign actions like you would for any other button. Lin

theDom must be having fun somewhere - LOL Lin

LOL - that could be done - at least the windmill part - but probably not without some good images of fire and ashes smoking. The animals running out ot the barn - that would require Igor to drop in video capabilities which could happen - stranger things have. Actually I did add some blowing snow and will probably quit and go on to something else to try and create like rain..... LOL Lin

More dimensionality added both in snow effect and in sound effects.... LOL http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/storm.zip Lin

That function has not yet been enabled. You can have background music for the entire show, but not yet for individual slides. Lin

Hi Bill, This explains part of the problem. Try this: first install the Beta 4 (download it from the link below) then open your pte file with it and click on "Project Options" then on "Screen" then choose "4:3 PC/DVD" and then click O.K. Next click on "Objects and Animations" and go to each image and you will see what can be displayed on that aspect ratio. You can adjust the image so you either fill the screen and see the entire image with some black border, or you can crop out parts of the ends, etc. Link: http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4327 After quickly going through each image (use the forward and back arrows on the extreme top right of your screen under the "minimixe" and exit "X" to navigate between images) and adjusting them for the desired appearance on screen (the black border represents the TV screen) then click on the "X" to go back to the main screen (like you were exiting the program) and click on the "Video" tab. Choose "DVD Video Disk" and "For Ulead Movie Factory" - use "Progressive" if you have any "Page Turning" effects on transitions, etc., and then choose AVI and do everything else including choosing the pte video codec just as you did with Version 4.44. I would suggest saving this under a slightly different file name for the pte file than with the original so you can use both the Beta 4 and version 4.44 to create shows from the same slide set. This "should" fix the problem of cutting off the top and bottom as well as giving you smoother actions on the DVD. Don't be afraid to try some of the new features in the Beta - and read the tutoials written by several members (check the forum). The DVD's should turn out fine this way with you able to adjust each image by using the "green rectangle" surrounding the picture to adjust the size and screen fit as you wish. This way you can have the best of both the release version and the new beta. Try a tiny slideshow with one or two slides to get used to some of the new features. You can make some very sophisticated slide shows with the beta 4 version. Best regards, Lin PS In case you get into trouble - if you want you can click on "File" the use the "Create zip backup" to zip up the pte and images and post the zip file and we can help you sort it out.

I'm confused Gilbert, Do you have a .zip file containing all these slideshows, or are you referring to a "folder" as a file? There is no practical limit as to how many files you can have in a folder. As far as saving all the files in a single zip file, that doesn't make too much sense. Probably it would be better to zip up shows according to some criteria in groups rather than including all in a single zip file. Of course if what you are really referring to as a "file" is a "folder" then it really doesn't matter. You "could" make multiple folders to contain slideshows from different subject areas if you liked, but there is no penalty for having large numbers of files in a single folder other than the inconvenience of locating them. Lin

Hi Bill, The aspect ratio (height versus width of screen) is different for television and pc monitors. First you need to determine the height/width ratio for the television screen you are using for the display, then when you create the slideshow with pte 5 beta 4 you need to click on the "Project Options" tab then on "Screen" then set the aspect ratio to correspond to this. This will let you see visually that portion which will fit on your television. Since you didn't say which version of p2e you were using, I assumed Beta 4. 1024x768 is typical for many computer monitors but not the same as most tv screens so set the aspect ratio to correspond to the television for DVD production. Go to "start" then "run" then type in "dxdiag" and press O.K. - report the type video card you have and the amount of memory and tell us the average file size of your 1024x768 images and perhaps we can figure out what's going on with the smoothness of the display. Best regards, Lin

Unfortunately we do - and lots of it. Lightning in Colorado ranks only second to Florida for human deaths. On nearly any mountain peak in the afternoons climbers must be off before the early afternoon because of lightning danger. We have 54 peaks 14,000 feet and over with sudden snow storms throughout much of the year. It can be sunny and beautiful then fifteen minutes later blizzards with white-outs, hail the size of half-dollars, heavy lightning and all be gone in an hour. Snow and lightning are very common together in the high country. Best regards, Lin Hi Ken, Additional lightning - PNG Best regards, Lin

Just playing around, but the thunder, lightning and clouds found their way into it too - if you get a chance take another look - LOL (download the original link again).. Lin Hi Ken, Yep, we kids just have to play - LOL Best regards, Lin

The issue of image size to use for various purposes (zoom in, zoom out, display, etc.) has a number of variables which we need to be aware of, but which may be solved by the release. Let's set some foundation information so we are all on the same page: Obviously we need to create our shows with the final disposition in mind. That is, if the show is to be displayed on DVD via NTSC or PAL it has different requirements than if it is to be displayed on a high resolution computer monitor. Fortunately I have systems allowing me to display resolutions from 640x480 to 2048x1536 on a single monitor so it's reasonably easy to test these differences. Also we need to be aware of whether we will be doing extreme zooms and how this will affect the images depending on the display used by the viewer. Right now pte is using bilinear interpolation to auto-fit display screens having differential display resolutions. This creates artifacts when using low resolution monitors with high resolution native images, especially when viewing edges of straight lines such as doorframes, edges of vehicles, etc. Reference this answer by Igor to a question raised by Andrew concerning this issue: ----------------------------------- Andrew, You're right about this problem. Unfortunately Bilinear resizing gives such artefacts when image reducing in several times. Bicubic gives much better results, but Bicubic works in 10-20 times slower and can't be used at all here. I see another good solution for this problem. And I hope we'll realize it in the next betas (already in v5.00). ------------------------------- By this, I assume that some other interpolation method or anti-aliasing technique may be on the horizon for the release, so this may all be premature, but let's continue. When we start with a high resolution oiginal image then use bilinear to make it fit a lower resolution screen such as 1024x768 we end up with a "rope-like" twisted appearance and other aliasing, especially on man-made articles. With trees, grass, etc., there is not so much apparent, but do this with houses, bridges, automobiles, trailers, or anything having straight lines at other than 180, 90 or 45 degree angles and we have issues. So we have the problem of how to zoom in very tight then zoom out to 100% display size when we have a computer monitor or television screen which is set up for a display size considerably different from our original capture resolution or from an exact mathmatical extract such as 50% of the original size. Presently, the best way to do this is either to sacrifice quality of image by using lower resolution originals which have been resized from the capture or scan resolution via sophisticated interpolation techniques such as used in PhotoShop (you zoom in tighter than 200% and you loose significant display quality) or you match the original to scree display resolution by doing the interpolation with PhotoShop, etc., to make the slides the same as the intended display resolution. Right now, there is no other good way to accomplish this. There "are" work-arounds we can consider right now such as using a high resolution original for the tight zoom then fading to a lower resolution copy for the final display or vice versa. This requires some "fiddling" around with fade techniques to approximate the appearance of a single image being used, but is possible. Perhaps we should defer this discussion until version 5 is released because this may all become a moot point and we can simply choose the highest resolution supported by our viewer audience with no concern for these details...... Best regards, Lin

Yes, the frames allow you to manipulate the objects visually - soon when version 5 is released (out of beta) several of us will have tutorials which can help walk you through all the possibilities. There are some fine points which need to be understood such as "Parent/Child" object relationships which were most likely responsible for the problems you were having. Best regards, Lin

Hi Bill, It may be easier to show you than to tell you so if you can, zip up the pte and photos and post a link to the zip file. If you can't do that - here's the situation. There are several ways you can enter objects. First, to do what you want to do you need one of these as the "main" object (on the slide list) and the other directly entered as an independent object on a separate layer. The should appear something like this: Object 1 Object 2 NOT like this: Object 1 ------- Object 2 The easiest way to get these on separate layers is to use about 10% on the view (not auto or 100%) then add the second object by right clicking in the grey area far away from the green bounding rectangle which defines the size and orientation of the first object. You have a feature available by right clicking the mouse with the cursor on an object. Then from the popup you can change the relative positions (layers) by bringing to front, send to back, move forward or move back. This is how you make one object pass either in front of or behind another. If you can zip up the files (go to File then use zip feature) I can set them up for you to see..... Lin