Lin Evans

Hey Al, Yes, Mark Ridout has been using this effect in some of his demos with Producer, etc., and since it's really a simple little effect to do and quite effective, I though I would duplicate it and post it here. There are any number of variations possible and I'm hoping some of you with more creativity will develop the idea further. I searched the web for some decent auditorium frames but couldn't fine anything except tiny, low resolution images. I though perhaps companies which make the stage drapes would have some decent shots, but they were, in general, absolutely terrible - LOL. I'm surprised they sell any product with the really "bad" photography. Maybe someone living in Italy or France can get us some decent originals to work with. I would be glad to make them into usable PNG's and jpgs and post them but what I've got to work with is pretty low quality. Best regards, Lin

Hi Paul, Very nice indeed! Beautiful photos, exceptional doll house and nice presentation. As a suggestion perhaps you might want to overlap your fades - that is on all but the very first slide, drag both the start keypoint and ending keypoint into the zone outside the timeline. On the first slide just drag the ending keypoint to the right of the transition zone. Drag the beginning keypoint to the left and the ending keypoint to the right. This will, in effect, give you one slide begining while the other is ending and make a nice smooth transition. Once you drag them slightly beyone the transition zones you will see the image disappear, but when you play the preview you will see the nice, smooth effect at the transitions. Use about a 3000 or 4000 (three or four second) transtion for each. Best regards, Lin

Yes, unfortunately the only images I could find were tiny so had to be interpolated from not much in the way of pixels to start with. It would be great if anyone knows where there may be some decent resolution images of a quality auditorium and stage with the curtains drawn shut. If there were some anywhere near I would photograph them, but most of these nice concert halls and such are in Europe. Even the ones in New York like Carnegie Hall are not so great to look at. Best regards, Lin Hi Igor, It's fun finding new ways to use your great program! Best regards, Lin

This type approach works very well except would greatly constrain p2e which has already more versatility in how you can manipulate the image. With the p2e interface you not only can move about from place to place on the image with zooms, pans, etc., but can also rotate the image on center or off center (you can move the center for rotation) as well as change the relationship (alter the perspective) between horizontal and vertical axis for effects such as flipping a coin, etc. Usnig the Revelation Sight and Sound approach works very, very well for simple pans and zooms and is very convenient, but I think it would be quite difficult to implement while still allowing the flexibility afforded by the present interface. Best regards, Lin

Hi Michel, Very true - our imagination may be the only limitations - there are certainly lots of possibilities and creative people will surely be able to create some dynamic effects. I wish I were more creative - I understand how to engineer the effects but rarely do I have the creative spark to come up with the innovations. Best regards, Lin

Hi Bill, I haven't thought much about that possibility, but I would think you could take whichever image you have to be illuminated and use PhotoShop or other software to create a greatly overexposed version then briefly display it by setting zero opacity until you wanted the effect then 100% opacity for perhaps a period of one numeral difference. Then back to zero. This would take four kepoints for each iteration of "flash". Start with zero then at the appropriate time choose 1/1000th before and set a zero keypoint then another keypoint at 100% opacity followed by 1/1000th later zero opacity. So let's say you wanted the effect at 10 seconds into the show. Set the opening keypoint for the overexposure at zero time, zero opacity. Then at 9999 set a zero opacity keypoint (this will keep the effect from gradually going from zero to 100%) then at 10000 another keypoint for 100% opacity then at 10001 another for zero. You could tweak the times to suit but faster usually would simulate a flash I think.... Just a thought, I haven't tried it... You would want to repeat the effect several times and do it with the overexposure as an object rather than an additional slide in the slide list. Best regards, Lin

Wedding photographer Mark Ridout has been using this little effect on his slideshows with a competitive product. It's really simple, but effective so I thought some of you might like it as well. All components in the zipped file along with the executable..... Lin http://www.lin-evans.org/p23/stage.zip

Hi Dom, The music was all from freeplaymusic.com: (correction here) - not freeplay.com rather freeplaymusic.com 1. Saturn Winds: Todd Habermann Vol 2 2. The Wall: World Mix Vol 15 3. Red Sky: World Mix Vol 3 4. Under: World Mix Vol 3 5. From the Heavens: Drama Vol 6 Best regards, Lin

So true, but this is probably beyond either - LOL Lin

Hi Ron, NASA has furnished some spectacular photos - there's so much we can learn from these - what an amazing universe....... Lin Hey Al, It's amazing indeed! It makes me wish that I were a child again just to have the years left to see the developments the future holds. The scope is so vast that the human mind simply can't apprehend the possibilities, but we can appreciate the mysteries and grandeur and NASA has provided so much to think about.... Best regards, Lin

Hi Guys, There must be some problems on the internet between my provider and Europe - I get normal download speeds here. Perhaps try later?? Lin

In 1987 NASA launched Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 on missions to probe space first in our solar system then in deep space. Voyager, as some may remember was the subject on a StarTrek episode. The ship was discovered traveling through space but microscopic space debris had worn off the "O" and "Y" leaving only V GER so it had been named "Vger"... LOL This slideshow is another with slides largely borrowed from the NASA Hubble files. It runs a bit over 13 minutes and is about 35 meg in executable size so broadband suggested. http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/vger2.zip Best regards, Lin

Would it be possible to have a "switch" which could sync the presently viewed slide in the Objects and Animations to the same slide in the slide list view? For example - I have a slideshow with around 60 slides and in the Objects and Animations screen I'm working on slide 50. When I return to the main screen slide list the default is slide 1. So to get to slide 50 I have to scroll down and I by any chance I didn't notice what the slide number was when I left the Objects and Animation view, then I must look through a number of different approximate slides to fine the one. If there were a way to choose to automatically have the main screen slide list sync to the Objects and Animation presently selected slide it could be a time saver. Best regards, Lin

That's an idea... and probably much easier to implement though I'm uncertain of how much true benefit it would be for the majority. I can see a few scenarios where this could be useful, but unless it was easily implemented I wouldn't want igor to spend much time worrying about it. Best regards, Lin

Hi Gilio, I think perhaps I can see some reasons for convenience sake where having independent tracks which transcend a single time frame might be useful. Let me give one such example. When I create a "starfield effect" with a blue/black star-filled sky and stars twinkling in this sky I do it by rotating a jpg behind the semi-transparent starfield. So as the variegated underlying layer rotates it brings dark and light across the star cut-outs thus creating a twinkling effect. Right now, if I want this effect to continue beyond the first slide I must insert it into each new sequence as the show progresses. Let's say I wanted to cut out only a few stars on each of your numerous beautiful starscapes so the twinkle effect would be seen on each slide. Then I would make semi-transparent PNG files rather than the jpgs as you used and poke a few little "holes" in various places corresponding to some of the stars and rotate my background behind each slide. To do this now, I would have to use my rotating background as an insert in each slide. But if there were a video track such as the sound track where we play mp3 "background" music during the entire show I could inset the rotating background as an independent "background" slide, set the proper rotation speed to give a twinkle effect and let this slide run for the duration timing of the entire show. This would be quite "convenient" but not an absolute necessity since it's easy enough to work around it by inserting it in each slide as necessary. Since a slide once used in p2e doesn't incur any additional "overhead" in terms of memory allocation when it is used again and again, the only real advantage would be in terms of convenience and I doubt that this would be something which most would used except on rare occasions when they have such a need.

Hi Glenys, Tell me where you will be in Arizona and I'll find a couple of stores for you which handle Jon's art (Jon Anderson). The art is Fimo Polymer Clay (a Fiore process) and Jon is considered the world's foremost artist in this venue. The process is very interesting. The designs start being made of bread-loaf sized clay and theses "canes" are then stretched over and again until they are tiny but still containing all the intricate design. They are then sliced with an exacto knife like flat potato chips and molded in tiny "tiles" around clay or wooden forms carved in animal shapes. Finally they are baked in an oven which causes the clay to expand into a single unitary piece. Jon was born in Arizona and was trained as an engineer but his artistic side took over. About ten years ago he moved to Bali and has a studio there with a number of craftsmen who help with the manufacturing of these unique spirit animal creations. They range in size from an inch or so (the little frog on the gold/malachite pendant is two inches) to some larger ones which are 15 inches or so. All the elaborate and highly detailed designs are clay, there is absolutely no paint anywhere on these. His art is sold in various places around the Southwest U.S. and there are a number of dealers in Arizona. They range in price from about $70 for some tiny pieces to several thousand dollars for some of the more elaborate larger works. So if you let me know where you will be in Arizona, I'll get you the address of a few dealers. Best regards, Lin

Hi Gilio, Beautiful presentation in every way..... What is it that you want to do which would require a second timeline track? You can have multiple objectes each on independent levels all with their own animations, transparencies, sizes, etc., as the program is. The essence is that you already have multiple timelines, you have a timeline for each object and you may have literally doezens of objects simultaneously so in effect you have as many timelines as objects already. The way this program works is that you don't "display" multiple timelines simultaneously, but when you select objects the timeline you see (providing you have a keypoint selected) is unique to that object. One object, one timeline, 40 objects, 40 timelines. All keypoints on a timeline with a particular object selected are unique to that object and its activity. When you click and drag the little blue arrow through the timeline, you see the entire activity for each object so you can insert additional keypoints for changes in an activity for any object sequenced to what other objects position and animation are. I really see no need for having separate timeline "diaplays" for each object as it would clutter the screen. Here's a link to a little puzzle slideshow which I made that has 30 separate objects, each with its own timing, animation, size, transparency, etc. all in motion simutaneously - in all 32 different levels of objects. I can't imagine how having additional "tracks" could possibly allow doing things which can't already be done?? http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/puzzlesmallRAM.zip Best regards, Lin

The PhotoShop issue is a mystery to me. I haven't seen that type of problem and I tried to recreate it but couldn't. Be sure that transparency is set to 100%, check the "Advanced" properties and see if anything looks unusual - other than "normal" for settings. That would be annoying to not have the checkerboard pattern because you really can't tell necessarily where you have erased especially if there are similar areas of color in the layer you are erasing. Hope you find an answer.... Best regards, Lin

Hi Ragnar, No secrets - LOL - the starfield was created in Photoshop by creating a PNG file. Create a transparent image by File, New, then give a size of around 1200x1200 and chose transparent as the background. Leave this checkerboard appearing file up and create a jpg of the same dimensions with a dark blue/black color. Do a "Select All" then "Edit" "Copy" to put the blue/black image on the clipboard then close this image and paste the clipboard to the transparency. This leaves you with a two layer image having the transparency underneath and the blue/black image on top. Cut out the stars with the eraser tool. I used 1 pixel, 3 pixel, 5 pixel 7 pixel and a few larger ones. Vary the opacity to make faint or bright stars. The more opacity the brighter. Save this file as a PNG. Next create a white square of about the same dimensions (1200x1200) then use the Filter, Artistic, Sponge tool to make a variegated sponge-like appearance. Adjust the extremes of levels to make this black and white and if you wish splash around some red, blue and yellow in a random pattern. Save this as a jpg. Bring both into p2E, put the starfield png on the front and the variegated jpg behind. Next enlarge the jpg so that when you rotate it you don't have the "corners" showing through. In other words make it large enough behind the starfield that the variegated portion is always visible. Set this to rotate at a speed appropriate for the display time of your slide. About 170 degrees per minute of display makes a nice "twinkle" effect as the black, white, red, blue, yellow, etc., shines through the cut-outs on the starfield pattern. The Halley's Comet was an actual public domain photo which I pasted on top of a transparent layer the same size then feathered the edges with the eraser tool and cut out all which should be transparent to view. You then crop away all unessential areas. Remember the size and transparency of this can easily be set in p2e so you can make it larger to start or smaller and vary the size and transparency and speed as it crosses the heavens. The music is all royalty free music which I have purchased or from donations. I never use commercial music in slideshows - it's too expensive to buy the rights. There is lots of low priced royalty free music available on the web. I would suggest looking at Barry Beckham's collection which is very, very reasonable. I purchased eight CD's from Barry and they are excellent. There are also many free royalty-free selections around the web - just do a search. Here's Barry's link: http://www.beckhamdigital.co.uk/royaltyfreemusic.htm Best regards, Lin

Hi Don, Audacity works well, but any audio editor should be fine. I haven't used Premiere Elements but that should work. Best regards, Lin

Hi Andreas, The complete sound features are not yet implemented in Beta 3. These things will be added as testing progresses. Lin

Click on "Project Options" then click the "Music" tab, put a check in "Play Background Music" the add the selections for background music through the menu. For voiceover or single slide sounds click on the Browse (on far right of the Sound Tab) from the Main Screen and add the sound track for the individual slide. Lin

Hi Pat, If you either press "F9" or click on "File" "Create Slideshow" the program will create an executable file which you can run. If you just click on "File" "Save" the program only saves the pte template which is a record of everything you have set up with all the transitions and timings and background music, etc., for this particular slideshow. Please give us a bit more information about where you are in the process and which version of PicturesToExe you are using (the beta 3 version of 5.0 or the 4.xx version). At the very simple level, open the program, put a couple images in the slide list, press F9 then click on "save" and you will have created a basic slideshow called project1.exe. If you have already made a slideshow and clicked on "file" save" then you can open it again by clicking on "file" "open" and then press F9, give it a name other than the default of project1.exe and click on save. Pay attention to where it's being saved and look for the "filename.exe" (filename being the name you gave the show). Best regards, Lin

Hi Al, I should have been more clear. It's the "keyboard" arrows where the bug appears to be. Even if there is a keypoint actuated when you click on an object in the object list, the keyboard arrows don't function for navigation purposes until you click on a different keypoint. Best regards, Lin Hi Dave, Thaks for the clarification - I should have said keyboard arrowys.. the mouseclick arrows work fine. It is rather strange - something simple I think and easy to fix. Best regards, Lin

Igor, I believe there is a bit of a "bug" with this feature. For example, if I open P2E and choose a pte file then click on an object in the object list the right and left arrow do nothing to move between keypoints. However, if I subsequently click on some other keypoint, the right and left arrows suddenly allow me to navigate between keypoints. It's as if there needs to be a click on a "different" keypoint before the arrows will be actuated. Best regards, Lin