Lin Evans

Hi Igor, Does your question mean do we use PTE to create AVI video with custom video/audio codecs? I use other software such as ParticleIllusions to create avi video with custom video/audio codecs which is then played with PTE. I just wanted to clarify that these questions refer to using PTE to create these. One thing to keep in mind is that if, in the future, PTE can allow users to create their own AVI videos with RGBA alpha channel, the videos will need to use appropriate third party codecs. Best regards. Lin

Actually, it's really easy to cut and paste. I don't think it's really like moving an audio file up and down in the order - that can already be done in the Objects List with highlight Shift Pg Up, Shift Pg Dn to move to the top or bottom layer and highlight Ctrl Pg Up and Ctrl Pg Dn to move up or down one level. It would be more like moving one of several audio tracks to a different track I think. It might depend on one's workflow, but once the file has been saved to the clipboard with a cut (right click and choose cut) then it can immediately be pasted by simply clicking on the desired place to highlight and right click choose paste; or if one wants to leave it and duplicate elsewhere just copy/paste.... It is something to think about and perhaps implement depending on the degree of difficulty to achieve this from a programming perspective. Best regards, Lin

Hi Dave, I had completely forgotten about this feature. It's an option which does work just fine. I had tried it when it was first introduced, but because I never use large videos in my shows, I have never needed to run internal videos outside. This actually makes much more sense than including an external player such as Irfanview. I've been scratching my head because I could not find the correct syntax to get PTE to run IrfanView and automatically open a video show in the IrfanView player. This is easy to do from the DOS prompt within Windows, and I used to use this method to run videos from within PTE many, many years ago before PTE supported video, but the syntax I used then doesn't work any more with PTE. With this feature enabled, there is no longer any reason to even consider using an external player. Thanks to Tom and you for the reminder! Well, I'll revise my previous conclusion to say that there is still a time when it would be necessary to use an external player. If the author of the show wants the option of running a video by clicking on a hot spot (frame) or other object then the "do not include in exe" feature would not help. It would be useful to be able to add this do not include feature to the choices for running an external file. Best regards, Lin Best regards, Lin

Hi Ken, Yes, this particular ASUS has a removable keyboard and can be used either as a small computer or as a tablet. The difference is that the OS is Windows 8 and it comes with Microsoft Office and some other great programs - see it here: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2426771,00.asp Best regards, Lin

Hi Ken, I suspect there is a little misunderstanding here. The tablet Tom is refering to plays executable files and can be used with PTE to actually "create" the slideshows. It runs a real Windows 8 operating system rather than one of the popular tablet operating systems (Android or iOS) or Windows RT which can't run exe files. Best regards, Lin

Hi Tom, I had hoped to get one this month, but instead I ordered a cell phone. I have had a small flip phone for a couple years on a "pay as you go" ten cents per minute plan, but it required putting money in every month or every three months. If you "forget" to add money, the company (AT&T) takes what you have invested. After forgetting to add $25 and losing $140 I decided to go with a different plan. I found a great one which uses the AT&T network but only costs $10 per month for 130 minutes of talk and/or text with complete roll-over forever and no contract. They even gave me a free flip phone and paid the shipping! I found I could use my own unlocked phone by just buying a sim card for $4.95 from them and since I've always wanted a camera phone, I found a new Nokia 808 for $349 and ordered it. That shot my budget for buying the ASUS tablet until I recover from the phone. The phone is in transit so I haven't had a chance to use it yet, but since I have no use for the smart phone features and only will be using it for voice and probably not even text, the imaging and video capabilities will be cool. So I guess the tablet will have to wait for a while until my meager budget catches up! LOL Best regards, Lin

Hi Gary, Yes, I'm being very specific. The exe is not considered a "video." When PTE outputs an MP4 or AVI version of your slideshow, it can be much larger than two gigabytes because the same issues do not constrain video files as executable files with 32 bit operating systems. You can play a BluRay disc video on your 32 bit system which could be as large as 50 gigabytes without issue. On the other hand an exe file of over 2 gigabytes will generally not play properly if it plays at all. Best regards, Lin

Hi Claudio, There is. As Dave suggests, just use a rectangle and choose the color. When you are finished with needing the opacity, set the opacity to zero. Frames are just invisible rectangles. Keep in mind that virtually any object can be used as a mechanism for controlling child objects. For example, by using a PNG object as a child of itself and controlling opacity through time, it's possible to achieve some otherwise difficult or impossible effects. Best regards, Lin

Hi JT, Yes, that won't work. The way to do it via work-around is to call IrfanView or similar program which will run videos with the appropiate syntax: I_view32 myfile.avi (where "myfile.avi" represents the name and proper extension of the video being called) This requires the irfanview exe and the irfanview plugin folder to be resident on the media and folder which is called. This should be called via the "Run Application or Open File" feature. LATER: Interestingly - my syntax doesn't work with the latest PTE. It still works fine from the command line. I can open IrfanView but not open with the video loaded. I'll look into the changes in either PTE or Irfanview and get back..... Best regards, Lin

Hi Paul, I'm assuming that this is the case with your individual show and not something else such as a corrupted image, etc. If you look at the size of the exe file is it larger than two gigabytes? If not, then you may have a corrupted image file which could also cause everything after to not display. There have even been cases of background music causing issues with playback failing at some point. The first thing to do is look at the file size. If it's greater than two gigabytes, then that is most likely the issue. If the file size is less than two gigabytes, try removing all audio, create the exe and see if it plays. If it doesn't play, then it's likely a corrupted jpg, etc., and it's likely the one immediately after where the images ceased to play. If it "does" play, then it's likely a bad audio causing the problem. The solution is usually to run all audio through an audio editor such as Audacity and export which standardizes the format and usually solves the problem. Best regards, Lin

Hi JT, I would assume from Claudio's statement that the production in question made with Wings was a video: "Last week I attended a videoshow presentation by Martin Engelmenn" A video show made with PTE could also be much larger than 2 gigabytes. There seems to be no practical limits on the sizes of video's played with a 32 bit system. BluRay's larger than 25 gigabytes can be played on my little portable BluRay burner on my old XP system without a hiccup.. It's easy enough to do something similar with PTE. For example you could run an external program and return. Many years ago I used to create videos and run them with PTE this way. I would load Irfanview and the video on external media such as DVD or CD and use the run external code command to run irfanview. The simple dos command run i_view32 videofilename plus extension would open and run the video then return seamlessly to the exe file. This then bypasses the 32 bit limitation nicely and is probably essentially what Wings is doing only they own and wrote the code for their video player being called. Best regards, Lin

Claudio, The limitation has nothing to do with Wings Platinum or PTE or other software and it only applies to "executable" files in a 32 bit system, not to videos. A video made with PTE could be much larger in size and still play normally. Executable code is quite different than video. Perhaps if you read this it will help understanding why the 2 gigabyte limit on executable code within a 32 bit system... http://blogs.technet.com/b/markrussinovich/archive/2008/11/17/3155406.aspx Best regards, Lin

Hi Paul, The issue isn't with PTE, it's a limitation of 32 bit software in general. Right now, PTE is 32 bit software as are the majority of software programs on the market. As more 64 bit systems become available, software will eventually gravitate toward being rewritten for 64 bit advantages, but this is not on the immediate horizon. As long as there are a large number of 32 bit computers in operation, a show built to exeed 32 bit limits would not play on them. There is zero advantage in using images larger than the screen resolution they will be played on with one exception explained below. Today, the average computer display is HD resolution and 16:9 aspect ratio which works out to 1920x1024 pixels. The upper end resolution displays are generally 2560x1600 pixels at 16:10 aspect ratio. There are a few 3840x2160 pixel displays being offered (16:9 aspect ratio). So you need to decide what your viewing audience will be using and build your shows with the appropriate pixel dimensions. The only time you will ever need to use larger images than the display resolution of the intended audience is when you have deep zooms. In the few cases where this is happening, use your full resolution images, but make the rest of nominal display resolution and you should have no problems exceeding the two gigabyte executable limitations for 32 bit software. Best regards, Lin

Hi Claudio, There is no way other than a screen capture to output image data from a PTE project. Your output options are all covered in the "Publish" link. Other than this or screen captures, there are no other alternatives. Best regards, Lin

Hi Lester, It's unlikely you have reached a PTE limit, probably more likely you have reached a hardware limitation. As Peter correctly points out, the video card is extremely important and especially the amount of dedicated video RAM. The number of objects is rarely an issue. I have made successful animations which have literally thousands of objects on a single slide. This sequence played smoothly on one of my systems which had only 500 megabytes of video RAM. There is approximately a two gigabyte limit in terms of executable file size which has to do with the 32 bit operating system which is why it's important to know the pixel dimensions and file sizes of your project. Video, especially, can get very, very large and even though it's possible to "play" a larger than two gigabyte video, trying to create executable code with such a huge file will result in failure. There is a decided difference in the way a computer handles video code and executable code so if you are using extremely large video files or a combination of large video files and large images you may be reaching system limitations. Even though PTE runs fine on a 64 bit system, it is a 32 bit software and can't avail itself of the additional system RAM you have. I have a 64 bit Windows 8.1 system with 32 gigabytes of RAM and a top-end video card with three gigabytes of dedicated video RAM but were I to try to exceed the approximate two gigabyte limatation of executable file size this system would work no better than my Window XP system with 4 gigabytes of RAM and video card with 500 meg of RAM. If, as Peter suggests, you can tell us specifics about your video card and the types of objects and their sizes, perhaps we can help sort this for you. Best regards, Lin

This ASUS Tablet looks like right now - late March, 2014 - like it may be an ideal solution for users wanting to run and even "create" PTE files on a tablet. Link to review below. Everything, including the price seems to be optimal. I'm considering one myself... http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2426771,00.asp Best regards, Lin

Depends on the tablet - some tablets run Windows 8.1, etc. Those which will run Windows exe files (not Windows RT) should work with current PTE exe output... Read this: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2417564,00.asp Lin

Hi Claudio, The question is a little too vague to answer without knowing the specifics of what you are trying to do. In general, if you want an entire 3D object to become invisible there are easy and hard ways to do this. The easiest way to make the entire object disappear is to place it inside a mask and keyframe the opacity of the "mask container" to zero. You could keframe the individual components of the object but depending on the complexity of the construction, this could be a rather awkward way of doing this. First create the 3D object then collapse the construct to the basic elements using the + and - signs to make it easy to deal with. Then you can "cut" it to put the 3D object on the Windows Clipboard. Next add your mask and then paste the object into the mask and control the opacity by keyframing the Mask Container. If the 3D object has its own controlling frame, you can control the PZR with this frame. If there is no controlling frame, you could place the entire mask beneath a frame and control the PZR by controlling the frame. Best regards, Lin

Hi Jay, You will either have to screen copy your images with a high resolution display or purchase some expensive software to deconstruct the executable file. I can do both but can't guarantee that your individual executable is amenable to either. A lot depends on the date you created the files, or more specifically the version of PTE or other software you used and the internal settings and other factors such as the original capture or scan resolution of the images used. PicturesToExe executable files when the internal engine is set to display at full screen may display up to the original file dimensions or even larger (interpolated) depending on the individual settings at time of file creation. I have access to a number of displays up to and including nine megapixel output. So screen captures as high as output from cameras such as Canon 30D or equivalents in other brands which had 8 megapixel resolution can be screen captured at full resolution without quality loss. If the original images used were higher than nine megapixels in original capture file matrix, then this method will not work to achieve optimal image quality. Unfortunately there is no "one size fits all" solution and only by examining the original executable code can I give you a reasonable expectation of success using one or more methods of retrieval. Best regards, Lin

If you will zip the executable and give me a link, I may be able to recover your original images from it... Best regards, Lin

Hi Claudio, I haven't tried to do that so I'm probably not the best source for how to proceed, but I would think that any good image editor such as PhotoShop could help. A tetrahedron is composed of four equilateral triangles which can be constructed by drawing two straight lines connecting the opposite corners of a square. So, if you can use the software to crop to a square image and also to draw straight lines, you should be able to get the proper geometric components to work with. You may want to ask David Gee about this. I think he was working with similar geometry when he developed his icosahedron style. Bests regards, Lin

Hi Claudio, Thanks! The opening title consists of a small RGBA alpha channel video I created using ParticleIllusions (the flaming asteroid) which apparently passes through it's own layer and through the text (the text consists of two layers - one a traditional text and the other text used as a mask). The flaming text uses the text as a mask and another small avi video I created also with ParticleIllusions. As the flaming asteroid reaches the text on the layer beneath (you can see the text in front of the flames) the opacity of the mask is switched off and a duplicate effect running in the layer above the text which had zero opacity is switched on. The effect is that the flaming asteroid passes through the text from behind to the front. The great mirror and rubick's cube effect was done by Jean Cyprien from the French forum and given to the users of PTE as a style. The two instances of the Kaleidoscope effect were also programmed by Jean Cyprien and saved as a style which he shared on the French Forum Diapositif. The icosahedron style was created by David Gee and shared here on the English speaking PTE forum. Later in the show the use of masking was implemented to show and remove the face masks from the artist Lisa and her Chihuahua puppy. It was just a fun project to test using these great styles in a little show. Best regards, Lin

Hi Claudio, Here's a pte file of how I approach the cube-in-cube: http://www.lin-evans.org/demo/cubeincube.zip Best regards, Lin

Hi Claudio, On the right hand side when you look at the screen where you placed the checkmarks, there are "navigation" buttons so that you can determine "where" the feature appears on your screen. It's possible to place these buttons in several places on the screen using these navigation options. By highlighting one of the choices then using "Move Up" or "Move Down" you can move that feature to different places (categories) such as top right, bottom left, etc. Best regards, Lin