Lin Evans

Hi John, There are any number of internet providers out there and some of the least expensive I've found are in Canada. It really doesn't matter where they are physically located, you just need to determine how much storage space you need and sign up. Prices vary depending on the services you need - for example it's more if you want to sell products, etc., but for just posting images and such it can be very reasonable. There are places such as PBase, where you can post images free, but frankly I think you would be happier over all if you had your own provider. Here's a link to the one I use (IPowerWeb) which I've found to be very reasonable and reliable. Their prices begin at about $8.00 per month and that us usually payable in advance for a year. You will also need to register a name such as "johnE.net" - they will help with that as well. They also have a free service which helps you quickly build a very basic website. http://www.ipowerweb.com/ Best regards, Lin

Hi Bruce, Yes, that puzzle was compiled to an executable on an earlier beta version. There is a delay with a blank screen with the music playing for about 7 seconds before the puzzle pieces begin. The puzzle pieces all move at their own speeds - some very fast, some slowly and it does end as you discovered with an uncut image. This version loads 147 megabytes at the same time into Video RAM so that even powerful 128 meg RAM video cards are challenged. If it runs fairly smoothly then you know that almost anything created with PicturesToExe will run very well on that computer because no one would normally create something with this type of requirement. When I first created it, it ran very well on my ATI RADEON 9800 Pro - which is one of the more powerful cards available. There was a bit of "jitter" with the piece which is rotating in the very front but this is because the show is pushing the very limits. Once I heard back from several people who tried it and found it to be rather "jerky" I did another (puzzlesmallRAM) which had a relatively tiny RAM load and runs well even on older video cards. The issue is that when files are compressed they show only their compressed sizes when you look at them in Windows but once they load in memory on the computer they expand to their true size. Even though the zipped file size of puzzlesmallRAM.zip and puzzle.zip are very close, the expanded sizes are quite different. The puzzlesmallRAM version should run smoothly on nearly any system, and it loads much quicker so there is only about a 2.5 second delay before the images appear. Either of these would load much quicker were they compiled with the latest beta which loads 30% faster than the older betas. Best regards, Lin

There have been numerous questions over the last few months about various video cards and how they perform with RAM loads. I created two 30 piece puzzle slideshows (very brief) which are virtually identical in practical appearance but which differ greatly in their use of video RAM. Each uses 30 layers with 30 puzzle pieces each of which are PNG files but one will run on low RAM systems very smoothly while the other taxes even the very best video cards. Below are links.... http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/puzzlesmallRAM.zip http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/puzzle.zip The first link is to the low RAM version which runs smoothly on almost all systems. The second link is to the RAM challenging version which even challenges the Radeon 9800 Pro. Put these two versions on a Flash media card and take them with you when you shop for a notebook computer. If the computer runs the high RAM version half-way smoothly, it has a decent video card. Best regards, Lin

One of our forum members, Henn, was kink enough to send me a link to a picture of La Fenice in Venitia, which though of low resolution was already correct in perspective and made, I think, a better source for the stage curtain effects. So I added another spot to Dom's addition, added a stage curtain lighting effect, some minor changes and some more slides just to get a feel for how it might be used.... Zipped file containing all elements plus executable for anyone wanting to play.... Best regards, Lin http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/stage3.zip

Hey Ken, LOL - you're dating yourself dude - wasn't that a 1971 Stanley Kubrick film? Wow 35 years since you went to a movie - you've got to get out more Yes, I just checked my email - it's been up and down lately - some issues with my server I think, and I found the links - some great stuff there, thanks!!. I'm not sure if it will be possible to emulate some of what was done because of the different technology requiring actual video, but if Igor gets the video drop in working for the release - all this will become rather moot I think because a video sequence can be then inserted with absolute realism. Best regards, Lin

Hi Ken, That's a neat effect, but isn't it rather "backwards" in that when unweighted curtains are quickly drawn the compression is first at the top? In other words they would first be in a "V" shape rather than an inverted V?? Of course on large theatrical stages, the stage curtains all have heavy weight in the hems on the bottom to prevent this so that they generally compress more evenly with drawn though they do tend to compress more (pleats are tighter) at the opening edge than at the back, so in that sense your example is visually correct and would work well if we could implement it. It could be done by actually using four curtains rather than two. The back ones would be compressed less and the front ones (the ones creating the opening edge) could be compressed more and shifted from the horizontal slightly. There are lots of interesting possibilities. Best regards, Lin

Hi Martin, I'll try to answer both question here. If you have a web site, you can post the zipped file into a folder on the server at that site then provide a link here by simply putting the path. For example. I created a slideshow called puzzlesmallRAM. I zipped this file via the method explained earlier then I had a file called puzzlesmallRAM.zip which contains all the images used to create the show as well as the file puzzlesmallRAM.pte. This file was then uploaded to my website in a folder called p2e. My website is accessed by typing: http://www.lin-evans.net The file, being in a folder called "p2e" then is accessed by providing that path: http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/puzzlesmallRAM.zip If you don't have a website, then there some places where you can still post images and files such as pbase, etc., but in order for someone to download your file to test it, it needs to be placed on a server on the internet. Best regards, Lin

LOL - like none of us ever makes those - HA! Best regards, Lin

It sounds very much like you have the "Windowed" option in the screen tab set on. Go to the Project Options then click the "Screen" tab and check to see if you have "full screen" selected. Best regards, Lin

Hi Martin, How large is your show? How many slides and songs? What I'm getting at is that there is a feature in the Beta version which lets you create a zip file containing all you slides, the pte file, etc. If the show is small enough for you to zip up and post a link to, perhaps we can help figure out what's happening. Normally, you should hear your music from either the preview or from the timeline but terms can be confusing. There is the timeline view where you place keypoints and the timeline view where music is synchronized. Since you mentioned "thumbnails" I'm assuming you mean from the music timeline. The music synch is not yet completed in this beta, but my shows play music from that timeline by using either the preview or timeline "play" tabs. This is an unusual issue so if your show is small enough to zip and post (from the File provision at top left of your main screen) choose "Create Backup in Zip" and this will create a zip file containing all your images, the pte file, etc. If you post a link to it, we can try to duplicate the problem and perhaps figure out what's going on. My suggestion would be until you are thoroughly familiar with the new features of the beta to not try to generate a very large slideshow because it increased the variables and makes it more difficult to debug. Best regards, Lin

Now this would be an excellent suggestion for Igor to look into. Essentially, this would consist of combining two existing pte files by removing all common content from the second file, changing the "end" parameters, etc. Even when they were combined you would still need to hand tweak the transition where the drapes open to begin your own show. It's easy enough to do from scratch, but if we want to apply this existing sequence to a number of shows, we need a mechanism for automating the pte script so that those portions which are common to all pte scripts are removed from one of those being combined. It's not quite as simple as it may at first seem since it would require setting all universals which we may have changed back to some default so they matched for the two shows. For example what if we had changed the default from four seconds to twenty seconds for each slide on one show and to 10 seconds on another? I suppose once the individual slides have had their "customization" beyond the default levels that would remain, but what if we had relied on these pre-set defaults and not set custom numbers for each slide? Then a change in the defaut would surely mess up the timings, etc. Then there is the background music issue. That would need to be ammended to include the new information so this "could" end up being difficult to implement smoothly. It's probably "possible" do so right now by using a text editor to append the second pte file then manually removing or changing necessary parameters, but perhaps more than daunting for the non-programmer. Maybe Igor, Aleksey and Pavel can look into the feasibility of doing this for a future release?? Right now I suspect the easiest way is to start with the theater sequence and simply re-do the rest as inconvenient as that may seem. Best regards, Lin

Looks "and sounds" great - you might want to re-do with the perspective corrected one - Link below: http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/stageperspective.zip Best regards, Lin

Hi Ron, Yep, let me see if I can correct the perspective. Unfortunately, because of the nature of the original the entire image will be shifted so that the screen is lower than desired - but it's either that or loose the seats entirely - LOL Best regards, Lin Hi Al, It's due to the slight perspective distortion being shifted but not too unrealistic since frequently in real life situations there is a slight gap between the floor and curtains, but it's easily "corrected" by gradually shifting the image downward a couple clicks... LOL Best regards, Lin O.K., here's a link to the perspective corrected version. I didn't have time to do the light dim - have to run do some work this afternoon. http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/stageperspective.zip Best regards, Lin

Hi Tom, Yes, either of these suggestion could be implemented. Dimming the lights may be a bit more difficult than the applause, but could be done. Since the effects are done with PNG files and layers, all layers except the main screen (with the eagle in this instance) would need to have opacity synchronized precisely or additional images would have to be made which gets tedious. Perhaps other can tinker with these files and come up with some samples.. Best regards, Lin

It's PicturesToExe (pictures to executable file) and the options are very useful. The protection features found on the option box are for an executable presentation. You can deliver an executable presentation via a CD or DVD but not as a DVD presentation on a television but rather a computer presentation on a computer delivered via a Windows executable fie. If you "could" depend on the presentation being delivered via a rewritable CD or DVD being played in a DVD or CD player with write capabilities, it "might" be possible to alter the code as it's done on a computer file thus making the show die after so many iterations or after some prescibed date rolls around and assuming the user isn't savy enough to run the date back on the computer. But a show burned to a CD or DVD in that format can't necessarily be altered because of limitations of the technology - nothing at all to do with this program. At present there is no economically feasible way to limit the number of views on a DVD show delivered via DVD. To do this with programming code requires the code to physically change after some period of time. This is easily accomplished when a file can be modified - but a show delivered via a CD or DVD and played from that media can't be altered since the technology is write once read many (WORM). Lin

Al had an excellent suggestion to improve the realism of the curtain opening on stage effect. His suggestion was to compress the drapes on the horizontal plane as they open, thus simulating the normal compression of folds in the material as drapes are being opened. I incorporated it and it's now included in the download at: http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/stage.zip I think it adds a good measure of realism - any comments? Great suggestion, Al..... Best regards, Lin

Hi Howard, It just occurred to me that you may have been at the wrong site. In my original post I said the music was from freeplay.com - in fact it was from "freeplaymusic.com" which has been discussed on the forum several times. I misquoted the link from memory - sorry. Best regards, Lin

Hi Howard, I don't believe that one could "own" an album created by FreePlay Music so the answer would be no, but you can certainly purchase rights for use and if your use fulfills the requirements as set forth by their terms as stipulated in "Terms for Use" then the use is either free or requires a fee depending on the circumstances. ..............3. Personal Non-Commercial Use (Non-revenue generating or associated) Personal use does not include any broadcast use - web, blog, podcast or other 4. Educational, Non-Commercial use (limited to student use on school grounds for in classroom projects- non broadcast) Then Freeplay Music's compositions and recordings may be used without a fee. .............. I believe their intent in the above description is to prevent commercial use in the broadcast sense (web broadcast, blog broadcast, podcast, etc.) so they don't want their music used in any commercial sense without a fee being paid. Giving a CD or DVD to a few friends is not a commercial use of their product. Putting their music on a website where it plays when one clicks a link as an aid in promoting a website would be a commercial use. Selling a CD or DVD which contained their music, such as a wedding photographer might do for a client would be a commercial use. They are quite specific in their wording concerning the terms "Broadcast" and "Non-Commercial". That's my interpretation but if you have any questions about how you would use the music it would be best to contact them and ask. Best regards, Lin

Hi Deanna, If you run into problems, just let us know and we can help you get going. Be sure to keep in mind that you will run into all types of programs which "convert" AVI files to Flash, but all are not suitable for what you want to do. A little explanation is in order. There are two basic types of Flash files: Flash SWF and Flash FLV. There are many programs which convert to Flash SWF but only a few which convert to Flash FLV. Flash SWF has some inherent limitations which make it less suitable for serious slideshows than Flash FLV. SWF format has an absolute limitation of 16,000 frames per instance (per slideshow). To get decent quality you want 29.97 frames per second (use 30 frames per second as a reference for the math). This means that you create 30 frames for every one second of the slideshow. If the slideshow is 9 minutes in length, times 60 seconds per minute = 540 seconds times 30 frames per second = 16,200 frames so a nine minute slideshow won't quite work with Flash SWF. The other issue is synchronization of sound. Flash SWF doesn't reliably sync sound past two minutes. The bottom line is that you really need Flash FLV which has no absolute limit for the number of frames and syncs sound perfectly. Some of us have been down this road for several years. The "least" expensive way to do this is with Riva Producer Lite. It's inexpensive, works well and creates all the files you need to load the show to your website. This includes the SWF player, the FLV file (it takes an SWF player to run the Flash FLV slideshow as strange as that may sound) and the html code to link to which not only plays the slideshow in the player on the web, but also detects the absence of the proper iteration of Flash on the visitor's computer and redirects them to the MacroMedia site to quickly download and install the necessary Flash player on their own computer. This only takes a few seconds. There are multiple iterations of Flash out there. The latest and perhaps best is Flash 8. Riva only supports up to Flash 5 and Flash 8 creates smaller code and plays very, very well, but to get Flash 8 with all the necessary bells and whistles including a player costs about $250. Believe me (I use both Riva and On2 Technology's Flix Pro which is a Flash 8 generator) Riva is the far less expensive way to go and produces very nice code even if not the latest and greatest. It's also much, much easier to use than any of the three companies (On2 Technology's Flix Pro, Sorensen Squeeze or Wildform's Wild Presenter) products which produce Flash 8 FLV files in a usable package. The least expensive of these is FLix Pro (also I think the best) at $250 but support is marginal and if you don't know what you are doing you will be lost. There is also a Flix Lite product, but it doesn't include a player and doesn't produce a file to detect flash 8 so the user has little control - not recommended. Again, let us know how you get along and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask for some help. Best regards, Lin

Hi Deanna, By "share it as a link" do you mean so it will "play" as a slideshow when they click the link, or as a link which they can click on to download the slideshow? They are quite different animals. If you want then to be able to play it in realtime on anything other than a broadband system, then you need to convert it to Flash. On the other hand if everyone has broadband in your network you can simply upload an AVI file to your site and provide a link to the actual AVI file. When you say it's 12 megabyte, do you mean as an executable file, or as an AVI file? If executable, it wll be much larger as an AVI and may be too large for this to work correctly. If you mean 12 megabytes as an AVI then when they click on your link, they will have to wait however long it takes for their systems to completely download the AVI file before play begins. There is no "preload" or spooling on AVI files. If you want the slideshow to spool out and you don't want to spend a fortune, then you may want to look at the free Riva encoder and the $30 Riva Producer Lite program. This program will convert your slideshow to a Flash FLV file which can spool out and be played by anyone who clicks your link and has Flash installed on their own computer. If they don't already have Flash installed, the Riva program will prompt them and send them to the MacroMedia (Adobe) site for a Flash install. Flash FLV is the least expensive way of creating a file which will begin play almost immediately. Flash FLV is a "progressive" download which looks and feels just like server side streaming except in reality the show is being downloaded to the users computer on a temporary folder on their hard disk and streamed from that location. Let us know which you are discussing and then we can provide links to appropriate solutions. Best regards, Lin

Hi Ron, Yes, with the new capabilities in version 5, we have the ability to create some serious realistic results, but as you pointed out the sample I provided was of terrible resolution. Now if we could just get one of our members to take some decent photos of a really nice auditorium with curtains closed, it would be easy to make some very realistic effects. Unfortunately I live in the wilds of Colorado and we have absolutely nothing remotely resembling the grandeur of the European theaters. I'm not sure we have anything like it in the entire U.S. but I'm not intimately familiar with all the large cities and what exists. I have searched the web fairly extensively (at least what's available in the rather paltry 12% indexed by Google and Yahoo, etc. - I don't have access to Bright Planet, etc.) and can't find a single decent high resolution photo to use. Maybe we can talk one of our Italian or French counterparts into photographing some really nice European theaters so we can make realistic effects?? Any volunteers??? Best regards, Lin

Hi Paul, Hubble has certainly opened a glimpse to another world hasn't it? Sure, you're more than welcome to use the slideshow any way you wish. I'll check out your Planet Creation show on Beechbrook and I'm glad that the suggestions might help with the transition issues - it takes lots of experimentation to achieve the effects we want, but it's all part of the learning process with these great new tools! Best regards, Lin

Actually, by moving the centers and using a variety of keypoints you can sort of do that now, but in a crude fashion and it takes lots of visualization and "tinkering" to accomplish. Your idea is great - what it would take would be a bezier curve with adjustable "handles" then the movement would follow the the result of the creation of the curve - that would be something wouldn't it? Maybe Igor will eventually try to incorporate such in later versions. Best regards, Lin

Great idea Al, also when they reach the end of their travel, one could rotate them slightly and quickly with the centers moved to the tops so that their bottom swings inward toward the direction of travel then back to simulate the normal inertia effect. I just which we could find some decent images so that once all the details are worked out the solution could be permanent for a few different samples... Best regards, Lin

Hey Dom, Love the lens flare and lightening flash! Nice effects... Lin