Lin Evans

I "think" you can by going into the "control panel" then click on "archive messages" and change the default. I haven't tried to do it, but it appears that it "should" work. Best regards, Lin

Hi Steve, Only fade in/out and the circle are presently activated. More effects will be activated in Beta 3 and eventually all will be included in the release version. Features are added a few at a time to facilitate debugging. Best regards, Lin

In addition to Ron's note - assuming you are looking for one of your posts or one made since you began visiting the forum. Be sure you have your defaults set correctly to let you see all the posts. Scroll to the bottom of the opening screen (the first screen when you log on) and check on the lower right. There are settings for 20 days, 60 days, etc., as well as no limit. The actual p2e forums began in 1999 but as Ron said there were changes in 2002 - the old forums information is gone, but I'm guessing that's not what you are looking for? Best regards, Lin

Hi Gary, It's a little confusing because of things like overlapping keypoint exc. One way I think you could get a better handle on what's going on is to create a show with only two images. Put one on the slidelist and call one by clicking on the Objects and Animations tab then change the zoom to about 20 percent or so and bring on the second image by right clicking in the grey area outside the boundaries of the green rectangle surrounding the first image and then adding a file. With only two to be concerned with you will get a better idea of how they interact. At first set them both to 100% opacity. Rename both by clicking on them one at a time then click on the "Properties" tab and change their names. Then click on the lower one (in the objects list) and right click the mouse, then choose "Order" and "bring to front". With this object brought to front, everyting you do in terms of resize, pan, zoom, etc., will affect only this object. Even though you can "see" both objects by moving the little blue arrow on the time line, all changes you make by setting keypoints and changing animations will "only" be associated with the object brought to front. So set some actions unique to this object. Click on the zero keypoint then move the object by dragging it clean off the page (off the black area which represents the page). Next change the time for the slide to about 20 seconds so you have some working room on the timeline and make a keypoint at about 6 seconds. Highlight this keypoint by making it blue (click on it) then drag the box containing the object to another place completely across the screen from where it started. Next put some numbers in the rotation like 360 and change the zoom. What you have just done will be reflected in the activity of the first image between zero and six seconds. Next click on the other object in the object list and right click, choose "Order" then "Bring to Front" Click on the zero keypoint and click inside the green rectangle and drag this object to the opposite side of the screen from where you placed the first object. Resize it by using the "handles" and dragging them in or out. Probably it would be best to make it smaller. What you have essentially done with this object is to define it's size and starting position at zero time. Next create a keypoint at about six or eight seconds, drag the object to yet another place and change the size, rotation, etc. When you "drag" an object you are automatically changing the Pan, but you must either type in different numbers for the zoom or use the green handles on the rectangle to drag the object to a different size. You can rotate it by either dragging the diagonals of the green rectangle or putting in numbers in the rotation box. 360 in the box will rotate the object one complete revolution clockwise. -360 will rotate it in the counter clockwise direction one complete revolution. 720 will make it revolve twice, etc. Also notice that when you bring an object to the front, it changes its position on the objects list. try it by watching the position and bringing first object 1 then object 2 to the front. By playing with these you will get a feel for what's happening when you have multiple objects. In short, the one which you have brought to the front will be the one which anything you do to keypoints, rotation, pan, zoom, center, etc., will affect. In some cases, you may not even see the object you are affecting "because" you may have the opacity set to zero! So trust the software. If you bring an object to the front, that's the one you are affecting by changing things. Best regards, Lin

Hi Cèlou, Thanks so much to you and Ian for the explanation of how this was done. You're right - so much power and great features!! Lin

LOL - she's cutting me some slack now because I'm like a kid in a candy store with all these new features, but she will put me back to work very, very soon I think - HA! Lin

Thanks to Ian and Cèlou I now understand that something I thought must have been done in PhotoShop was easily done right in PicturesToExe !! I've heard others ask how this was done in the past so I put a simple demo together in P2E and here's a link. It's a Morgan Dollar rotating. I put an "edge" on it at the zero point to simulate what you might see in a real time rotation. It's difficult to see the keypoints so I almost didn't post this - I don't want to create more confusion. The issue is that it's necessary to keep the opacity at 100% until the point where the object rotating on the vertical or horizontal axis becomes essentially a line then make it disappear very quickly while simultaneously causing the opposite side to "appear" suddenly. The opposite side has to be kept invisible until essentially the identical point where the first side disappears. To do the above requires two keypoints at nearly identical points on the timeline. Because we have no way of making one of the keypoints transparent or nearly so, we really can't "see" the keypoint underneath. This "can" create confusion if you are not aware of it. Think of an object which is being "rotated" on the horizontal axis and which must be visible at 100% opacity until it turns edgewise. So to keep it at 100% opacity and suddenly go to zero opacity we need a keypoint very, very close to the zero opacity point which is at 100% opacity. This keeps the object from fading gradually away to zero and rather suddenly disappearing. The converse is of course true for the opposite side. Stay at zero opacity then suddenly appear. So don't get confused but rather trust the numbers when you enter them. here's the link: http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/morgandollar.zip Best regards, Lin

Hi John, Cèlou and Ian were kind enough to explain that the way this was done was to change the zoom over time from 100 percent to zero on the X axis. Notice that there are two regions where zoom information is located side by side. In the default mode, when you change the numbers in the left or right block the opposite numbers change to the identical values. If you click on the "tiny" square between these two blocks where the numbers are written it acts like a "toggle switch" so you can change the values in one without changing the values in the other. Think of these as the X and Y axis. Change the number in the one on your left as you face the screen to zero while leaving the one on the right at 100% and the image begins to "squish" over time until at near zero it becomes simply a line. So if you were to set perhaps a six second time from the zero line, the object would "appear" to be rotating on the vertical axis. Conversley, if you were to "flip" the image on the horizontal axis in PhotoShop then perform the opposite action by beginning at six seconds with zero and ending with 100% at 12 seconds, it would appear as if the object had rotated 360 degrees on the vertical axis. You would, of course, start the second object at zero transparency, put in a keypoint at about 5999 (6000 is six seconds) to change it to hold the zero opacity then another keypoint at 6000 changing it to 100%. You would also do likewise for the first object, that is set it to 100% opacity to start, set a keypoint at about 5999 to 100% opacity to keep it from disappearing gradually then put another at 6000 to zero opacity to make the first side disappear as it hit the zero zoom at six seconds. Here's a link to an example I just did which will, hopefully make it clear. It's a coin so I also added a vertical edge view at the six second point (rather crudely, I admit) to simulate what you would see in real time. It's very difficult to dissect the keypoints because they fall on top of one another so you have to plan it out in advance and trust the numbers. http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/morgandollar.zip Lin

Thanks Cèlou, That was quite clear - I understand. Best regards, Lin

Ian - thanks so much, that's exactly what is happening with the pan being moved simultaneously to create the new position as if the object had flipped. I'm feeling really dumb now for not noticing the tiny block in the center between the X and Y axis on the p2e Objects and Animation screen which toggles between locking the X and Y axis and allowing independent action of each. I was looking for a difficult explanation by trying to "puzzle" out how one could save a range of free transform perspective changes in PhotoShop and scratching my head.... silly me - LOL Thanks again, Lin

Could someone explain how the free transform effects work (moving object in perspective such as flipping a silver dollar to show first one side then the other), or as Cèlou did with the cards. I understand how to do this in real time in PhotoShop, but how does one save the entire process as a motion to be used in p2e? Lin

Very nice Cèlou, I'm uncertain how you get the free transform effects into p2e? Best regards, Lin

Hi Dom, LOL - you're absolutely right! It was hidden so well I didn't find it when I first looked. I suspect I must have accidentally clicked on "clone" keypoint at some time. I've removed it and uploaded the zip file again so now there "should" be three keypoints, one at zero then two more near the end of the timeline. The second to placehold the zero for opacity and the last to reveal the background as a replacement for the puzzle view. Good catch!! Lin

Hi Dom, I've discovered a "bug" in the "invision" software. I actually corrected the link three different times and tested it each time, but the changes didn't "stick" - LOL. Apparently you can't "correct" a link with Invision's complete edit, you must "delete" the link and start over. Each time I changed the link the typo returned. Interesting..... Actually, only one of these keypoints is not necessary. The first keypoint which "should" have remaned at zero on the timeline was necessary and automated when placing the main image in the slide list. If I deleted it, or moved it this might be even more confusing - LOL. The last keypoint has to be there to make the main image visible and the next to last is there per the tutorial as a "placeholder" to prevent the image from gradually going from zero opacity to 100% opacity throughout the full period of animations. It's true that one "could" delete or move the original zero keypoint to the timeline point where the main image should start to become visible leaving the opacity at zero, then place the ending keypoint for the main image a few seconds later to effect the fade in to effectively replace the puzzle with the solid image. But doing it this way would be confusing because in the tutorial I refer to the black space at the top and bottom of the screen when originally adding the background image. Also I suggest that the reader set the opacity to zero for this background object so it doesn't obscure the puzzle pieces as they are brought in one at a time. Moving this beginning keypoint to another position such as at the 13 or 14 second point set to zero opacity followed by a 100% opacity would be from a programmer's perspective more elegant because it would require one less keypoint, but from the instructional and learning perspective less effective I think. Best regards, Lin

Hi Gary, I posted a link to a new "puzzle tutorial" on the main page. There is also a link to the included components and the p2e files so you can follow step-by-step. Here are the links for your convenience: http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/puzzletutorial.pdf http://www.lin-evans.net/p23/puzzletutorial.zip Lin

I thought there was enough interest to make a tutorial and step-by-step on how to do this including using the PanosFX action. I kept it simple with only four pieces, but I think anyone can extrapolate and get the same results with 20 pieces or so. Here's the link to the tutorial http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/puzzletutorial.pdf Here's the link to the zipped file containing all the components so you can play with them: http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/puzzletutorial.zip Best regards, Lin Note: link corrected above and a bug discovered in the "complete edit" feature of the forum. You can't "edit" a link, you must delete it and re-type the entire link. If it is edited, the error will first appear to have been corrected in your edit view, but the edit will not be saved and the error will remain.

You get them all moving simultaneously by having actions set for each and having these actions occuring during the same time periods on the time line. This is done by choosing some period of time such as 10 seconds as a "finish" point for the second keypoint. So the default keypoint is set to zero, the next keypoint is set to say 10 seconds. The animation path you choose for the second keypoint will happen between zero and 10 seconds. Then you choose another keypoint perhaps 2 seconds further to end the animation and set the pan/zoom to zero and the zoom to 100%. This places that particular puzzele piece where it must be at that particular time. Do likewise for each using 10 seconds as the "activity" period for the animation for each and be sure that all are set to 100% opacity so you can see them. Choose different animation paths and vary the third keypoint time by a second or so for each. So if you "plant" the first puzzle piece at 11 seconds, then plant the second at 12, the third at 13 or such and so on. The end result is that you have all the pieces (or as many as you wish) doing something simultaneously, then one by one they settle at their own respective zero points so the puzzle gets completed. Best regards, Lin

Hi Gary, Highlight the first object then click on the "Properties" tab and rename it - do this for each and just give the the shortened names like a1, a2, b1, b2, etc. Then you know which is which. Click on any one of the renamed objects from the Objects and Animation screen then right click your mouse and choose "Order" then "bring to front" . Once you have the object brought to front "and" have one or the keypoints for it highlighted, you can resize or move it accordingly. Just do this sequentially for each object and eventually you will have all actions set as you like. Best regards, Lin

Works perfectly! Congrats - the first one is always the most difficult. Once you grasp that you just run the action then open the file in ImageReady and export as separate files (you probably will want to rename them when you import them as objects into P2E) you will have it mastered. I've found that it takes lots of video card power to run a 30 layer puzzle. TheDom couldn't get it to run smoothly on either of two laptops and I tried it on my wife's new Dell laptop and it (my 30 layer puzzl) was pretty jerky. I suspect that 20 layers is probably optimal for smoothness on the majority of systems. I have a pretty powerful graphics system on my development computer so the 30 layer puzzle runs very smoothly, but Jean-Pierre couldn't get it to run at all on his system. Best regards, Lin

Yep, it's pretty graphics intensive. Thirty separate images moving simultaneously. It's nice and smooth on my 3.2 Ghz with ATI Radeon 9800 pro card, but I can imagine that with anything but a very optimized grahics environment it's asking quite a lot. I just did it more as a torture test than anything else. The program can certainly handle everything fine, the hardware is crying for a beer - LOL Lin

Fantastic!! We'll see that in beta 3 then? Thanks, Lin

Hi Gary, No way that I'm aware of to get a "random" pattern cut out. You "could" use one of the selection tools rather than the crop tool and cut out pieces of an image then create transparent background PNG files from them. It's time consuming and you would need to overlay the transparency and follow the original contours of the cut edge to get a proper fit. This would take lots of time. You also may want to dissect the action and see how Panos used the tools to make the puzzle cut-out. Best regards, Lin

Hey Gary, The easiest way is to use a PhotoShop action which someone with lots of PhotoShop experience and lots of time has already done - LOL Go here and download the free Puzzle action first: http://www.panosfx.com/ Load the action in PhotoShop and run it, adjust any parameters such as contour, outer-glow, texture, etc., to suit your taste then open the results in ImageReady and export the separate layers as PNG files. The rest is just import into P2E on separate layers, adjust the animations for each and you have a "puzzle" slideshow. Lin

Hi Ken, That's the way it should work. I added the sound then reposted without changing the file name. The one I just posted for Jean-Pierre was done without the sound to see if it had some bearing on the problem he was having with it. Something strange going on with his system and this file I think. Best regards, Lin

Hi Jean-Pierre, There must be some type of bug - possibly because I used a midi-file. On most systems this show plays very well so it would be a good idea to find out why it's not working for you. The delay between the begining of the sound and begining of the images on my system is about 4 seconds and pressing the "ESC" key kills the action immediately. The fact that you have had problems and had to kill the process with other slideshows indicates something unique to your system is incompatible with this, when we find out what it is it will probably be easy to correct. I have removed the midi sound and posted another zipped executable with a link for you to try. If you could try it and let us know the results it might help to determine the cause. There should be about six or seven seconds delay on this before images appear. http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/puzzlenosound.zip Best regards, Lin