Lin Evans

The question then becomes one of two choices. Do you want both videos to run continuously (both master videos) or do you want one of them to be the master and the other to stop when you go to the next slide? If you can put what you are trying to accomplish into words, then I can tell you how to proceed. The easiest way to describe it so we are both on the same page would be to name the videos like this: Video A and Video B. For example - say it this way. I want video A to appear on slide one and also video b playing on top of video A but smaller so I can see video A also. When I go to slide 2 I want both video A and video B to remain playing while still image one plays, etc. Best regards. Lin

Hi Eric, Did you download and examine the three zipped PTE files I made for you? It covers the possible scenarios... Best regards, Lin

Look at Project Options then the Screen Tab. Do you have it set for Full Screen or Windowed Mode? If in Windowed Mode is without border checked? The only other reason which I can think of why there might be a border is if your image doesn't fill the screen and you have the background color showing around the periphery. Best regards, Lin

Hi Manuel, I think there are only a few users on this PTE forum who are really fans of effects but for whatever reason many more on Diapositif...The important thing, I think, is to continue to explore ways to use PTE both for conventional presentations as well as for special effects which can be smoothly implemented to perhaps add useful things to help make our presentations more interesting to younger folks. I'm actually seeing a few people who normally would not use special effects actually begining to explore creative ways to do new things. People our age (I'm a year older than you) perhaps don't generally care as much about effects as the younger crowd who will eventually be the market for PTE. Because of this realization, I try to continue to explore ways of incorporating effects and don't really worry too much about whether they are watched. The people who find them interesting will perhaps watch and learn and share what they learn with others. I always try to watch any new presentations which use special effects and learn from those who are creative. I feel it's a wasted day if I don't learn at least "something" new about PTE and how to use it creatively. Best regards, Lin

Thanks Bert, It's fun trying to find just the right combination.... 2nd childhood I suspect - HA! Best regards, Lin

Thanks Jim, They seem to be more prevalent as I get older. A good bottle of Scotch sometimes helps, but it's a remedy I can only afford infrequently on my meager social security check!! LOL Best regards, Lin

During an insomnia attack I spent a sleepless night watching late night Television and old James Bond movies were playing. I saw Sean Conney, Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig sequentially - LOL. Each movie was, as is usual in the series preceded by some interesting special effects. I decided to create a little fun ending rather than prelude for some of my own mini-productions using a pseudo James Bond theme... Just for fun folks... http://lin-evans.org/bond/jbending.zip (Windows zipped exe - about 35 meg) http://lin-evans.org/bond/jbendingmac.zip (Zipped Native MacIntosh exe) Lin

Hi Jeff, I think Win 7 is probably the pick of the litter right now - I agree. I'm still using Win XP on my development system but I have Win 7 on one notebook and Win 8.1 on my latest system. I'm still in Colorado right now. I wanted to move this summer but finances have kept me here until I can finish getting my place here fixed up to sell and get rid of lots of household junk. It's coming along, but much more slowly than I had hoped. It's a damned shame about the EPA causing the spill, but there are so many old mines with similar potential hazzards in the US that it's bound to happen again. It just takes too many years for mother nature to fix the mess that humans create .... sad.... Best regards, Lin

Hi Jeff, I doubt that it has anything to do with not having something "ticked," but perhaps some anomaly in the system or OS which is responsible. I've been testing on my XP and I'll try it on my Win 8.1 and also on my Win 7 notebook and see if it works on those as well. The important thing is that you are able to move them as a group even if by click/drag, but it would be nice to find out why there are differences in how it works on different systems. I'll get back as soon as I have a chance to ring it out on a couple other systems. By the way, the sentence structure is fine! LOL - the important thing with language is that those communicating understand each other. I never was a stickler for grammar myself - HA! Best regards, Lin

On my Windows 8.4 64 bit OS with an i7 4770 CPU (8 CPU's) @ 3.40 GHZ and 32768 MB RAM Direct X 11 and a GeFprce GTx 760 with 2 Gigabytes RAM 192 bit running on a 30" 2650x1600 pixel display, the .30 and .25 are smooth and others all jerky. On my Win XP Home Edition with a Core 2 DUO 2.33 GHZ with maximum RAM (4 gigabytes installed) and a good GeForce GTX 750 Ti with also 2 gigabytes RAM running Direct X 9.0c. None are completely smooth. .30 hiccups a bit and the others all jerk. Best regards, Lin

Eric - LOL - don't fall in again! That shock might not be the best thing for that new heart valve!!! Nice shots - have fun... Best regards, Lin

Hi Eric, Let's see if I can help you get a handle on this. There are multiple possible scenarios. Let's take them one at a time. 1. You have multiple slides which you want to play in sequence and you have a video which you wish to run as a background on "each" of the slides. You want this video to continue uninterrupted while the still slides with either still images or video clips sequence one after the other with this master video running uninterrupted in the background. In such a case, you set the video you wish to run uninterrupted in the background as Master. Then this video which you wish to run uninterrupted on each slide as a backdrop is repeated on each subsequent slide and on these subsequent slides it's designated as "linked" to the Master. That is the identical video is a Master on slide one and from slide two until the end of your slides this same video appears in the object list as "linked" to the master. There are several ways you can proceed. The very easiest way is to create your entire show without this video then insert the video into slide one and designate it as "Master." Next in the object list of slide one right click on this master video and select "copy." This puts the master video onto the clipboard. Next go to each subsequent slide in Objects and Animations and right click in the objects list outside of any object and choose "Paste." The copied master video will then be pasted into these subsequent slides and will automatically be assigned as "linked" to the master. You must move this slide to the physical bottom of the Objects list or otherwise it will completely cover all other images. The images above must be sized smaller than the video or else they will "cover" it and you won't be able to see it. 2. You want a Master slide to run in the background uninterrupted, but want still images and/or video clips to play on each sequential slide then stop playing when the next slide appears but still have the master video running continuously and uninterrupted as the individual video clips and/or still images sequence. In this case you do the same thing. Put in all your individual video clips and still images then when everything is done and your slide timings are all set, Put in the Master video on the first slide, set the video to master then copy/paste to individual subsequent slides and move and size appropriately so that the master video plays behind the still images and video clips. In such a case each video clip should be designated as an individual video clip and not linked in any way. What you have done here is simply substitute in some cases, a video clip for a still image. 3. You want more than one Master video to play simultaneously while slides are sequenced with still images and/or individual video clips. You may designate an additional or several video clips as Master and treat them as explained above. They only need to be properly sized and positioned so that they will appear on top of the Master which you have on the bottom layer. 4. You want a still image for the background to stay on screen with multiple slides and/or videos sequencing. The easiest way to do this is to simply make a video which consists of a single still image and place that video as the Master (as explained in 1. above). Hopefully this may help you understand some of the myriad possibilities. The major point is that a Master Video with linked copies will always run continually while other video clips and/or still images sequence. The secondary point is that you may have more than one master video with linked copies. The third point is that it's always easier to do the other programming first - slide timings, still images, video clips, etc., and leave the Master for the last step. If you would like examples of these scenarios, let me know and I'll make a few for you and post links to the PTE files so you can play them for yourself... Later: Here are three example PTE zipped files for you to examine. 1. Background Master video playing uninterrupted while multiple still files sequence... 2. Background Master video playing with secondary Master video playing and still slides sequencing.. 3. Background still image via being made into an MP4 playing uninterrupted with video clips and still slides sequencing: http://www.lin-evans.org/eric/eric1.zip http://www.lin-evans.org/eric/eric2.zip http://www.lin-evans.org/eric/eric3.zip Best regards, Lin

Hi Eric, Actually, without looking at your earlier PTE files I can't be certain what you were doing but this is the way PTE has always worked. If you want a video to run in the background with other videos or still slides sequencing, the original video which you want to keep running must be set as the master video. Whenever this master is copy/pasted to subsequent slides, it will automatically be linked to itself. As David correctly stated, subsequent appearances of the master video must be linked to the original for that video to seamlessly play across multiple slides. If you have other video clips playing over the master on individual slides they can be either set to master and copy/pasted (this is the easy way to do it) and they will play seamlessly like the other master, or they can be set to individual clips and will sequence just as still slides. Unless you want a cacophony of sound, you need to deal with muting whichever video sound(s) you don't want playing... Best regards, Lin

Hi Dave, That happens automatically if you copy/paste the master to subsequent slides. It's not necessary to set the file manually when the master is copy/pasted to the rest... Best regards, Lin

Hi Eric, It sounds like you haven't correctly set the background video to Master so that it runs across multiple slides.(Objects and Animations) Properties Tab, select video then change Single Video Clip to Master video track. You need to copy and paste this master to each slide. Set the timing on the slide option to the actual time you want the additional video clip or still slide to run and if you want the main video clip to run its full extent, then the total time of the other videos and still slides need to equal the full run time of the master. The master slide will continue to run uninterrupted as the stills and other video slides (link the other videos to the master) continue to sequence. Best regards, Lin

Nice Jacek - they serve then are forgotten.... Best regards, Lin

Hi Jeff, I'm going to have to double check this, but if you delete a song somewhere in a single track, I "think" the following songs should automatically close up the gap. This isn't the case if they or perhaps any are on separate tracks. I'll try this and get right back... Later: Yes, that's the way it works on my system. If all the music mp3's are in a single track and you delete one somewhere in the middle (between song one and the last song) they close up the gap automatically. Could it be that you are talking about multiple tracks rather than selections on a single track? Lin

Hi Lyn, Thanks so much for the feedback. It's amazing how something as seemingly unrelated as an issue with the sound card software can cause such headaches. But in retrospect, we have sometimes had even mp3 files which were not "standard" format cause no sound at all when even one of many was defective. The simple "fix" was to normalize them by loading them in a sound editor such as Audacity and exporting them again. Was it the the "Conexant - CHDRT64.sys" driver file which was the problem? Best regards, Lin Sound Devices ------------- Description: Speakers (Conexant SmartAudio HD) Default Sound Playback: Yes Default Voice Playback: Yes Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_14F1&DEV_506E&SUBSYS_17AAA001&REV_1000 Manufacturer ID: 1 Product ID: 100 Type: WDM Driver Name: CHDRT64.sys Driver Version: 8.54.0047.0000 (English) Driver Attributes: Final Retail WHQL Logo'd: n/a Date and Size: 9/3/2012 06:26:02, 1609376 bytes Other Files: Driver Provider: Conexant HW Accel Level: Basic Cap Flags: 0x0 Min/Max Sample Rate: 0, 0 Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 0, 0 Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0 HW Memory: 0 Voice Management: No EAX 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No I3DL2 Listen/Src: No, No Sensaura ZoomFX: No

Thanks Jean-Cyprien, That's a perfect example of how multiple small png sections can be used and manipulated to build a curved surface. It takes lots of time to build and adjust but the effect is very, very realistic. Very nice example of this... Best regards, Lin

There is a way to actually simulate curved surfaces such as the edge of a coin using multiple PNG sections which work well if the intent is to leave the coin in such a position as to have the edge surface face the observer. It's done by breaking the photo of the coin edge into about five pieces consisting of one long and four shorter sections. The shorter sections are then "hinged" with their centers of rotation moved in such a manner as to simulate a curve when viewed straight on or even at a relatively shallow angle. Which way to proceed depends on how realistic you want to make the animation and actually how quickly the coin is flipped. For even a reasonably fast flip it's generally not necessary to even bother with the "thickness" because the coin passes through the zero position so quickly that the human eye can't even discern the fact that it had zero thickness at that exact time. The value of looking at the cube tutorial is to learn how pan Z works and to see the value of using frames in the construction for controlling placement and motion while acting as the "glue" which holds the components together. Best regards, Lin

Hi Brian, You have chosen a project which will have a bit of a learning curve, but will I believe be a fun adventure for you to pursue. To understand how 3D space in PicturesToExe works I think you might be helped a great deal if you download and study my tutorial on creating and manipulating a cube with PTE. Essentially, what you will have to do for this animation the way you want to see it is to create the two faces for your coin (heads and tails) as png with transparency objects and also create the edge thickness object also as a PNG with transparency. You may want to actually photograph a rather thick coin from the edge then size and manipulate that photo into a PNG transparency. Once you have these components, then you will essentially create a three dimensional object in the PicturesToExe objects and animations screen using these components in very much the same manner as in the creation of a cube. Think of the coin as a very thin "cube" which has a slightly different shape and with parts of it invisible. In the 3D space of PTE the object will still have six sides even though it's actually round and has only two important faces rather than six. The other four faces are the coin edge as they would be viewed if you rotated the coin in your hand. The heads and tails portions will be adjusted (positioned) in space via the "pan Z" parameter with the edge PNG file occupying that area between. You will use a very similar type construct to the one I describe for the cube in the tutorial link referenced below being mindful of properly checking off the proper view viz the front and back (you will understand this after watching the tutorial). You will also have to adjust the spacing between the front and back of the coin to suit the thickness you decide on for the edge views. Here's the link to the cube tutorial. A very similar construct can be created for your coin using the controlling frame and sub frames. It's possible to modify the construct to a four rather than six sided affair, but you will discover the fun of experimenting and which way will best suit your own animation as you conceive it for your project. Scroll down to the bottom portion past the red descriptives to number 18 and download the AVI tutorial: The construct for the coin will involve a great deal more experimentation and use of addional objects such as black rectangles, etc., for masking the edges and the use of changing transparency for the edges as the coin is rotated. It's not a simple animation to get perfect, but you will have fun experimenting. http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?/topic/7901-pte-made-easy-tutorials-continuously-updated/ Best regards, Lin

Hi Lynda, Tell us a bit about the laptop - brand, amount of RAM etc., Generally you can get this information by running a Windows resident file called "dxdiag.exe" which Windows "should" be able to find if you just right click on the white Windows icon (the one with four little square white divisions) then from the dropdown menu choose "Run" and then enter the word "dxdiag" without the quotation marks and press the Enter button. What will be of interest is what the Display and System tabs reveal... Best regards, Lin

Hi Lynda, The first question I would have is do each of these copied files on the "pendrive" (I'm assuming this pendrive is a USB flash memory stick?) run from that drive correctly when it's connected to the desktop? The next question is, were these all single executable files or were some of them created using the "Safe Executable File for Internet" feature of PTE? If they are not all single exe files and some were created as Safe Executable Files, are both the data file and exe file resident on the pen drive and were both transferred to the laptop? Finally, does the laptop have sufficient resources to run the executables in terms of dedicated or shared resource video card, etc.? Once these questions are answered perhaps we can chase down the source of the error(s). Best regards, Lin

Just to clarify - you don't need to actually add the AVI file at all to the objects list, just add the video as an audio then follow Dave's advice to use the offset to match where you want the video's audio to begin. You can also visually "drag" the audio track of the video where you want it to begin from the timeline which in turn, changes the offset automatically. You are treating the video as if it were an audio file only (which it actually is via PTE"s feature). Best regards, Lin

Hi John, If the mask is rectangular (such as the internal rectangle mask in PTE) it's very easy to do this. Just use a solid "rectangle" and put it on the layer beneath the mask and stretch it slightly larger than the mask rectangle. Screen capture below shows how to construct this: In this case I just put the identical map into the mask, enlarged and moved to get to the display desired then created the solid rectangle and placed it on the layer beneath the mask and sized and positioned it to suit... Lin