Lin Evans

Hi Ron, Actually, you are correct that having multiple changes in direction "may" need additional layers of "road" but it's not really all that difficult to do. Unless there is a rather abrupt and reasonably lengthy change in direction, a single layer between the main map and the png route "cut out" will suffice. Depending on the individual circumstances either two or more small rectangles or a transparent mask with a red "dot" slightly larger than the cutout width of the road will work nicely to make the "turns". If you remember TheDom's early little red airplane was "followed" by the red layer so it appeared that it was a single red line streaming out behind the airplane. The airplane was on the top layer with the red "road" rectangle one layer beneath. You could do it that way, but easier, I think, to use a red "dot" to lead the sharp turns then on the time line after the red dot paints the turn you bring up a red rectangle to "keep" the road paint while the dot goes on to the next place it's needed. It's not as elegant as doing it with a single red layer on a road which has a primary direction, but is a way of getting around the issues of making abrupt changes of direction smoothly. Best regards, Lin

Hi Al, I see that now that I've looked at the code. I actually created a similar roadmap (posted on the p2e link) and did use a couple black rectangles to mask the red to prevent splash over at the bottom and top of my screen. I probably should have just been more careful in the construction of the red layer but threw it together pretty quickly so didn't resize but just made it the same as the maps. Had I not ended up so near the bottom border it wouldn't have needed any masking but I ran the red over a tad so just used a black opaque bar in a layer over the edge at the bottom and a large black rectangle with a transparent rectangular center to mask the other edges. I think as long as there are no 90 degree or greater turns, the feathered edge works great. I suppose it would be just as easy to do about a 10 pixel feather all the way around the rectangle. It's more difficult to "map" the little red circle idea, but it does give some flexibility for making really tight turns. Very nice job you did on that by the way! Best regards, Lin

I really liked TheDom and Al Robbin's "roadmap" samples, so thought I might create one of my own usnig similar techniques. Essentially done in the same way except I did use a couple black "masks" to prevent red splash over from my red rectangle. One is a "hollow" mask with a transparent rectangle for a center and a black border to hide any red overlay which got beyond the borders. It would have probably been more "elegant" to make the rectangle smaller rather than having to mask it with black rectangles, but it was quicker to just put a couple black bars in a layer over the red at the top and bottom of the frame. The only thing I really did differently was to add a white and blue "tip" on the red "road paint" leading edge (as in USA map - red, white, blue) - actually just playing around. Otherwise just use of transparent background png's images and text blocks. Two links below. The first, "cimarron.zip" is the zipped files and pte so you can see how it was done if you wish. The second "cimarronexeonly.zip" is the zipped executable only. http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/cimarron.zip http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/cimarronexeonly.zip And a little "fancier" version - zipped exe only: http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/denvertocemarron.zip Best regards, Lin

Yes because they are grouped but it's "relative" whether you move the two maps over the red layer or move the red layer between the two maps. I think either way could work but when the road changes general direction such as a right angle turn or even going backward a bit, it may take an additional red layer to keep the appearance. Also you might have to actually "rotate" one of the red layers to keep everything looking correct. Another way to approach this is to have a small, red opaque "circle" mask in a transparent background png which would "trace" the actual route and would be followed with larger red rectangles which "keep" the red paint behind the red circle. The small circle would let you make the turns without accidentally "painting" adjacent areas and you wouldn't need to "rotate" the red layer to make 90 degree turns look correct. Best regards, Lin

LOL - You're working too hard Igor. Think of it as three objects each on separate layer. The PNG is the main map on top with just the actual route being transparent. On the bottom is the jpg original map. These two layers lie in perfect alignment and are grouped so that whatever happens to one happens to the other. The red layer is set to move between the two like the contents of a sandwitch and set with keypoints to "slide" down the route. Because the png map overlays the original map it "appears" as if it is a "solid" map but actually the "cut out" transparent area overlays the "real" map" so that it "appears" as the original which shows through the cut. When the red layer is moved in between the two, it actually appears to follow the route. The black background is just to keep any "splash" over off the screen in the case when the two maps are being moved. I "think" this is about it. Best regards, Lin

Hi all, I will definitely zip them up and post them but I do have to wait until I can clean off some space on my server. Between the two shows the file size will be close to 200 megabytes and I'm presently running very close to my limits for storage on my isp agreement. I would like to also "end" the p2e show rather than have it loop as present and I think Igor has that as a feature in Beta 3 which should be out in a short time so as soon as he releases beta 3 I'll re compile the show and zip both up and load them on the server. I tried to minimize the differences in pan & zoom, etc., by attempting to keep the file sequences as close as I could from memory but there are some slight changes in the P2E iteration and a couple additional slides. Some things which took multiple copies of a slide with PSG were easily done on the same image with P2E but the actual number of slides was very close. I also used some effects such as gaussian blur, transparent background PNG text etc, and such in some places on the P2E show which I couldn't do with PSG but the essential theme is the same and I did include all image in the P2E show in as close to the same order as I did with the PSG show. The things which were immediately apparent were the smoothness of the pans on large panos and the quite evident increase in resolution on images which were high resolution. Most of my pano shots contain mountain ridges which quickly reveal losses in resolution caused by the interpolation to get back the screen size with PSG. It's not that the PSG show is bad, in fact it's very good. It's just that the P2E is that much better from a photographer's perspective. Once made into a DVD format I doubt that anyone will be able to see any relevant differences since the resolution losses going to DVD resolution are unavoidable. On the other hand when displaying with an LCD projector, etc., or when displaying from a computer on high definition plasma TV screens we will see huge differences. If I can clean off enough files this week, perhaps I can get them up by the weekend but I need to evaluate what I'm removing since much of it is forum linked on a number of different photo forums. Best regards, Lin

Last night I re-created a slideshow I formerly did with ProShow Gold using PicturesToExe. It was a real torture test and I'm happy to say it performed flawlessly. That ProShow greatly diminishes the image quality and downsamples to 720x576 for rendering was quite evident in the size differential between the ProShow Gold iteration and the P2E iteration. In ProShow Gold, the executable file size of the finished product was 62 megabytes. In PicturesToExe the executable file size was 130 megabytes. The number of slides was practically identical and the actual run time of 27 minutes was identical. The difference in image movement smoothness and high resolution image quality was immediately apparent. Details which were missing or muddy on the PSG version were crystal clear on the P2E version. There were a couple problematical slides where I had to use the "blur" feature to "tone down" the detail to permit less pixel "sparkle" or "flicker" during zoom or pan operations. It's apparent that PSG does this by default and you have no control. With P2E you "can" have high resolution and super sharp images on stills and/or tone them down if you need to use the Ken Burns Effects. Now I'm looking forward to Beta 3 so I can actually "end" the show rather than "loop" it., but the bottom line is that even with a 27+ minute presentation with high resolution images the program worked flawlessly. Best regards, Lin

Of course the temporary solution is to change the aspect ratio to 4:3 or 5:4 and increase the image size a bit to hide this. With 4:3 - 114% works very well and all traces of this anomaly are hidden. Unless there is some compelling reason to use a custom setting for your customer, until this issue can be worked out I would just change it to "fit to screen" then change the aspect ratio and re-save the executable. Works fine on my 1024x768 when I did this. Best regards, Lin

Hi Al, I hadn't used that feature before. Thanks! I've modified it. Doesn't it take a bit more storage than an link? Best regards, Lin Strange, isn't it. If it's possibly related to the sound track then temporarily removing the audio track and re-saving should eliminate it, but the problem is that it isn't seen on the OP's system so he would have to provide a link to the modified version with sound removed to test that assumption? Best regards, Lin

Hi Guys, This looks very much like a PhotoShop Guide Line? If so, it should appear on the original image when you pull it up in PhotoShop or your present choice of software. At least in PhotoShop you can get rid of it by clicking as indicated by the cursor arrow on the image below: Lin

Hi Igor, Dave, Thanks - that works well. I'm still experimenting but I think I have the hang of it. Igor, I was looking at the effects on the Star Wars trailers and I think you could get a closer approximation if you created the masks in a "Star" shape. As I look at their effects it seems instead of just a "spot" they are showing "star shaped" bursts at different points so if the "spot" mask had the shape of a star the effect would be almost perfect when added to what you already have. Lin

Hi Igor, I've been noticing that when I add text as an object at "0" rotation, it seems to be off by about one degree requiring a correction of approximately -1 degree (minus one degree) to get it horizontal. Am I seeing things or is there actually a slight 'off horizontal" for the default of zero degrees? After taking a better look - It's not P2E, it's PhotoShop CS which is importing the slight off horizontal because I see it there where I create the text - definitely NOT a p2e issue - sorry........ Best regards, Lin

That's a cool effect Igor! It seems there is no end to what can be done with objects when you have the versatility of P2E. Great job with this - there are going to be lots of people scrambling at the competition to try and catch up!! One effect I would like to be able to create but haven't been able to figure out how is the "Star Wars" text effect where the text scrolls up, but it appears to be lying back at about 30 degrees as if the lettering were tipped backward with the top being further away from the viewer. As it scrolls upward it gets smaller and appears to eventually disappear into space. The getting smaller and disappearing while scrolling upward is easy, but the effect of being tilted backward has me puzzled. Perhaps using PhotoShop or PixBuilder to "distort" a text block might work, or perhaps just purchasing some "perspective fonts"? Best regards, Lin

Ken, Why not put them (the two images) both inside a rectangle (group select) then apply the movement to the group? This will keep everything in sync easier I think. Though you "can" individually control elements within a rectangle, if you apply the effects to the rectangle itself the objects within will all take the identical actions. What you are doing with the gaussian blur can also be extended to other effects as I did with the "sunset" effect and the eagle flying. I used what began as identical images but modified the "copy" so the clouds had the sunset effect. Then I varied the transparency over time on each to effect a gradual change from daylight to sunset to darkness while simultaneously using the transparent background moon beginning with about 20% transparency to mirror a daylight moon and let it gradually shift to 100% opacity just before the end of the 36 second slide. Best regads, Lin

O.K., I posted this earlier but it's been moved down so I can't even find it - LOL - Anyway just a repost to help new users get started with Beta 5 - HTML tutorial on basics. It probably would be best to print this so you can follow along. http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/index.html Lin

After looking at AL's (Robbins) mask, I decided to try a couple and I posted a link a few days ago to a file called "eaglezoom.zip". I got to thinking that with all the power inherent in P2E 5.0 beta 2 that I could probably simulate a scenario with early evening to sunset. I took a transparent background moon shot which I had created earlier, then I used a frame I took of a bald eagle soaring away from a perch and dupulicated it under a new name. I took the duplicate into PhotoShop and modified it to show an evening "sunset" sky and saved it to a new file name without changing any of the actual content - just the color in the clouds, etc. I loaded the original eagle soaring away frame and the transparent moon set to low opacity (20%) to simulate the appearance of the moon in early evening while still daylight. I set the time for the slide display to 36 seconds and zoomed out on the eagle set to a keypoint near the end of the show. I set the begining opacity to 100% for the eagle frame and inserted a keypoint near the end of the show set to zero % opacity for the main eagle frame. For the moon I set the opacity near the end of the show to 100%. So far this has the effect of a daylight shot of an eagle soaring away with a dim (very light) moon in the sky. Across the timeline the light slowly fades to black and the moon slowly becomes fully opaque as the sky goes dark. Next I added the duplicate eagle soaring frame which has the sunset and set the begining opacity to zero. At about the 15 second level I placed a keypoint setting the opacity to zero again. This keeps the effect from begining until that point so it doesn't try to gradually change to a blend in of the sunset before I wanted. Then I set another keypoint at about 22 seconds and set the opacity to 100% so that the sunset fully vests between the 15 second and 22 second periods. Then I set a finaly opacity to zero so that as the darkness falls the sunset diminishes accordingly. Finally there is three seconds of fully opaque moon with no eagle or other image. Here's the link to see the results: http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/eaglezoom.zip Best regards, Lin

Looks good Ron, A couple suggestions. Lengthen the display time for the motion slide so as to slow down the ship coming in, then since it's already a png, add some slow rotation up then down, perhaps two 5 degree rotations up and two 5 degree rotations down to get the effect of the ship as it would normally ride in the water. With a little time you could probably also add some semi-transparent "splash" as the rotation goes hits "bottom" to give it a life-like effect. Best regards, Lin

Hi Jeff, Sounds like a good idea. I have about an 11 page tutorial on the web which I did the day after the beta was released. I haven't updated it to include the use of masks or some of the exotic capabiliies with 3D text, etc., but it's a start. After looking at it I decided that I need to recapture screen shots and use only one full screen then closeups of relevant parts because it's too difficult to see the tiny print in a full screen capture. Here's a link to what I have now: http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/index.html

Yes, that's pretty much the differences right now. P2E has always had low level controls which the competition lacks so there are a few other very important differences. For example, having the ability to run "objects" lets the P2E user call external executable code from other programs, run them then seamlessly return to your slideshow. Back in October of 2000 I was using PicturesToExe to make slideshows which included video accessed by embedding IrfanView which itself called and ran the video shows then seamlessly returned to the P2E slideshow. Also the ability to use objects lets the user create their own custom menus which can be incredibly sophisticated. P2E has always appealed to the programmer in me. As a former software developer I've always greatly appreciated the "nuts and bolts" approach versus the menu-driven high level approach by the competition. Though I've used and still use the PhotoDex products since pre-release beta I've found that this low level code approach which P2E offers gives more flexibility in most cases. Take text effects as an example. You don't have the ability to choose a caption, apply specific effects via an P2E menu then instantly have these effects in your show, but what you do have is the ability to use your own outside construction of sophisticated transparent background PNG files then with the keypoints, layering and built-in opacity controls create text effects which just can't be duplicated by the competition. Those who have yet to see JP's objects objects demo need to watch this one all the way through to the end. Go to Producer or even the extremely powerful "Vegas Video" (I also use this) and try to duplicate this and you will better appreciate the low level control offered by the P2E approach: http://www.diapositif.net/V5/PTE5-Objets.zip So what we have is sort like a nuts and bolts approach versus a menu driven features approach. The beauty of the menu approach is that everything is right at your fingertips so it's extremely convenient. The beauty of the nuts an bolts approach is that though it takes longer, the controls are finer and the flexibility is greater. The real greatness is that right now you can buy six full copies of P2E for what a single upgrade costs for Producer - LOL, and you never pay for upgrades with P2E. Best regards, Lin

You can have multiple mp3's play sequentially with P2E. With the beta release, the synchronize functions are not yet implemented - they will be in the release version, but if you either use the present release version you can precisely synchronize your slides with the music. In order to have exactly 50 slides play with one mp3 selection (when there are more than 50 slides) you would have to synchronize the first mp3 (I'm assuming you have created an mp3 with more than one song) to the first 50 slides then synchronize the second mp3 to the second fifty slides. As far as "fading" the mp3 one would assume that it ends with a song which already fades, the majority of recorded music works like this. If not ,you would need to use an audio editor like the freeware Audacity to prepare the mp3 as you want it to fade. The is no internal provision in PicturesToExe to manipulate your mp3 - that is there is no audio editor built into P2E. The program can precisely synchronize the timing between individual slides and your background music, or it can automatically assign equal times to the "entire" mp3 background selection whether this be one or a dozen different mp3's, but it can't assign the first 50 to one mp3 and the next 50 to another mp3, you would have to manually synchronize them so that the track length of the first mp3 and the total time of display and transitions of the first 50 slides match the timing of the first of two mp3's. Ditto for the second 50 slides and the second mp3. The audio sync power with P2E is second to none among currently available presentation slideshow programs, but there is no way to arbitrarily assign a particular number of slides to a particular mp3 unless there is only one mp3 and you set the program to automatically match the length of the audio selection. In such case P2E will take the entire length of the mp3 including any lead in and fade out silence (this is part of the file itself and can be seen in an audio editing program) then take the number of slides and transition times and divide it so that equal time is allotted to each slide and the music begins with the first slide and ends with the last second of the last transition you choose for the last slide. Lin

On Drag and drop: If all the files were in a single folder, drag and drop can work, but for someone like myself who has thousands of images (actually hundreds of thousands) it works better the way it's presently implemented. When I work with ProShow Gold I have thumbnails and "drag and drop" (not for layers) and the time and resources it takes to generate thumbnails in each folder I gather images from is very troublesome. I suppose it all depends on your workflow model. On acceleration and slowing: I believe this is on the table to be implemented - whether it will be in the first release or later I'm not certain. On Add Text: Yes, not implemented as of yet but will be there either in later beta or in the release. I'm not sure what the "Add Frame" is about yet. It appears to create nested rectangles when you click on it. The "add rectangle" is used to "group" objects so they share the same attributes. I'm unclear yet what the "add frame" does but perhaps with a little experimentation we can figure it out. Best regards, Lin

1. No, there is no way to "drag and drop" a new layer, but it's even easier. Just click on the layer you wish to insert under (click on the "image" in the list on your right in the Objects and Animation View" - then right click your mouse then choose "add" from the drop down menu, then from the associated window choose "image." Negotiate the folder structure to your file and double click your file Depending on which image (the main or anchor image is at the top of the list) you highlight, that's where the new image will end up. 2. No, but what you do is either right click on the selected object (image) within the green rectangle where you see the image itself or better right click on the word "image" at the level it is presently then choose "order" and you can bring the object to the front, back or up and down a level at a time with a click of the mouse. 3. I'm not completely clear on your question, but if you mean can you "walk through" the movements from the Objects and Animation window, the answer is yes. You use the little blue arrow on the time line and slide it forward or backward and you can see all the actual actions as it advances or regresses along the time line. 4. Yes you can change from one slide to the next forward or back by clicking on the little forward and back arrows up on the very top right of your screen just under the white "X" in the little red box. 5. These are for features not yet implemented in the beta version 6. Yes but you need to make the blank (black, white, green, whatever) slide in your graphics or photo software then save them to a folder which you can access. Once you have a "collection" of these you can choose them like any other image. There is no automated way to "create" the image via the software. Perhaps in a later version or the release. 7. Rename an object in the timeline.... yes, click on the one you wish to rename the click the "Properties" tab and you will see "image" or "image1" - rename as you see fit. 8. I don't believe there is any way to see the transition effect without using the preview, but you can "preview" from any position by clicking the icon located between the "Preview" and "Project Options" tabs. 9. You can display the display time and transition effect (only two transition effects "fade in fade out and circle" are presently implemented in the beta" by clicking on the "Slide" then using the "Main" tab to see or change the time and the "Effect" tab to see or change the transition and timing of the transition. 10. From the "Screen" tab in the "Project Options" screen you have a choice of five different aspect rations or you can set custom. 11. The output resolution is determined by the actual resolution of the images you use for the slideshow in terms of an executable file. For the not yet implemented AVI creation you will have choices. 12. You have captions now, but to use fancy text you need to create your text in a graphics editor which allows transparent background GIF or preferably PNG format. If you have no software to do this, I would recommend PiXBuilder (right here at Wnsoft). If you already have PhotoShop it's VERY easy to do. If you don't know how to do this let us know and we will direct you to instructions. It takes only seconds and you can have some seriously powerful text effects. Lin

Indeed it does - it opens lots of new doors as does the natural masking ability of different layers. The combination allows for creating 3 dimensional effects which can be pretty impressive when used with some aesthetic taste. Unfortunately, we will probably all go through a period of having fun playing with the "effects" before we settle down and learn how to best apply them to enhance the beauty of a show rather than display the capabilities of the program. But the learning is sure fun, isnt it?? :-) Lin

Hi Al, That's a very nice technique, here's a sample which I think uses your process... http://www.lin-evans.net/p2e/eaglezoom.zip Best regards, Lin

Could you relate exactly how (keystrokes) and on which page you add the second image? Are you adding the second image by right clicking inside the green rectangle with handles or outside - in other words on the list of objects to the right of your screen does your second image have a "child" relation to the first where it appears offset underneath object one or does is appear on the same vertical spacing as object one? When you add the second image is the zero time keypoint highlighted (activated)? What is the number in the "zoom" box? Left click the mouse (select) the second word (image) then change the number from 100% to 50%. The image size should change accordingly. Change it to 200% and see what happens. Please take some screen captures and post them so we can see exactly the steps you are taking. Best regards, Lin