Lin Evans

Very interesting effect Igor! When we have "blur" capability with PTE, perhaps it would be possible to define an area to blur slightly such as the slight line where the top and bottom of the 3D transforms join together in the clouds. This could add more realism to the effect? Best regards, Lin

Hi Douglas, I'm afraid other than by modifying the PTE file with a text editor (there is some danger in doing this if one is not thoroughly familiar with it) that there is no way to quickly remove keyframes. It would have to be done on an image by image basis. Best regards, Lin

Because of this: "* ..... Otherwise we are left forever pressing Left/Right button too many times to get through to the middle / end of the presentation. " It's assumed you have at least a keyboard. And because PTE is a Windows "computer" based program, it's assumed you have a mouse. Since you are also assumed to be a new user of the program - new to the forum at least - the assumption based on your question and request for a "poll" was that you were not aware of the feature (navigation bar) which already allows you to navigate nearly instantly to the middle or end of the show. Sorry if the direction of the thread got off-track from your original intent, but that's sort of how these things go. When you ask for a "vote" you are giving implicit consent for discussion pro and con and why... You now only have provisions for a "yes" vote so it will be difficult to know how people really feel about such a feature without counting the total number or thread reads. For a feature to be seriously considered for inclusion in a software program, it must have utility for enough users to warrant the change. Remember, changes do not just affect the actual functionality of the software, but also require documentation changes, etc., so any changes are quite more than "an insignificant change to the application." Of your four posts to the forum so far, three have been suggestions for "changes." Best regards, Lin

Hi Dave, Yes, the "home" page was essentially what I was referring to. A few years ago I created a template with numbers representing slide positions. I posted it but I don't think at that time anyone was really interested because they had to name their slides according to the template (slide1, slide2, etc.). It was a matrix probably much as your "home slide" in which one simply clicked on the "number" and the show would jump to that slide. Essentially it was just a matrix of invisible frames in which each referenced the associated slide to "jump" to. The user just needed to program each slide to jump to the index slide. The other problem associated is that one needed to arbitrarily choose a number of slides on the index. If the user accidentally clicked on a non-existent slide number an error would ensue. I suppose it could be a problem as you say "scrolling through 99 slides" but it sure is "quick" with the video navigation bar - almost instantaneous to go from slide 1 to slide 100. Best regards, Lin

Hi Dave, The problem is in how to approach this. In the past we have been able to easily program going to a particular slide number or slide name, but what happens when the show is changed by adding more slides or substituting slides and the naming convention is not followed? For example, we can now easily program a mouse click to "jump" immediately to a slide name. We can create a "master slide" with slide numbers and jump immediately to that slide then from there to any slide programmed, but that is difficult when we have hundreds of slides in a large manual show. I don't believe that having an arbitrary number such as "jump ahead five slides, etc" would ultimately be beneficial. From a programming perspective it would be possible to jump forward or backward by an incremented number on the keyboard, as you point out, but then the user would have to create a "key" such as a "cheat sheet" to know which slide was represented by the number and then make no subsequent changes to the relative positions or it wouldn't work. Right now, a user who truly understands PTE can easily program and quickly "copy" to each slide a means of jumping forward or backward so many slides. This could be done by creating "dummy" slides called (for want of a better word) index1, index,2, index 3, etc. Then by first inserting these dummy slides, clicking anywhere on the screen such as bottom right, top right, bottom left, top left on an invisible object (frame, etc) immediately jump to that position from any other slide. Then rapidly move forward or backward from that indexed slide to the desired position. Obviously, this would not be as useful as just typing a number and jumping immediately to that slide's position. I see the possible utility of being able to type a number on the keyboard and jump immediately to that relative position, I'm just not certain about all the implications involved in programming such a feature. Perhaps it would not be all that difficult. Probably Igor could comment here.... Best regards, Lin

Hi Ale, Yes, you can continue to use Video Builder as it is presently implemented in Version 7.5.4 forever. Only if there is a new version of Video Builder after your present expiration date and you upgrade PTE to that new version which uses the new version of Video Builder which you have not paid for would there be a problem. Your Version 7.5.4 and the version of Video Builder associated with it will "always" work just as it works now. New customers can apparently only purchase the deluxe version now, but customers who purchased PTE before Video Builder was an option can upgrade for a reduced price to get the latest Video Builder along with the Free For Life latest version of standard PTE. In other words, the new features of PTE which are not part of Video Builder are and will always be free for life upgrades, but if you want to use Video Builder WITH THE NEW VERSIONS OF PTE after your expiration date of Video Builder, you will have to pay for the upgrade of Video Builder. Your paid for version will never quit working as it is right now. Only after the expiration date, newer versions will not work with newer versions of PTE. Best regards, Lin

That's not necessary if you use the new Navigation Bar. You can Drag the pointer and move almost instantly to any point in your slideshow. Just take one of your present shows with say 100 slides and change your current settings to include the default video type navigation bar. Go to "Project Options" "Control Tab" and left click the mouse in "Show Navigation Bar." You have a choice of having this navigation bar always visible or visible when you move the mouse, etc. You can then simply drag the slideshow just as you would a video to rapidly go forward or backward..... Best regards, Lin

Hi Ale, The Deluxe portion of PTE is what is called "Video Builder." Video Builder allows you to automatically upload your videos to Youtube and Facebook, output videos suitable for many portable devices (iPhone, iPad, etc), make high definition videos (HD Videos) in mp4 h.264 format and output AVI videos automatically using an included built-in codec (code/decode), output Native MacIntosh executable code and burn DVD's. These features which you have today will not stop working when your two year renewal date comes and as long as you continue to use the version of PTE which you now have nothing will ever change. However, as time passes, new features are being added to Video Builder and these new features will only work with the then "current version" of PTE. By "current version" I mean you now have version 7.5.x and Video Builder as it is now, will "always" work with 7.5.x (the x represents, for example 7.5.2, 7.5.3, 7.5.4, etc.), So, say in a year from now when PTE version 8 is released and you upgrade free, everything which is not associated with Video Builder will continue to work, but if your Video Builder version has expired, the parts of Video Builder associated with version 8 will not work until you pay for the upgrade. Version 7.5x and Version 7.5x Video Builder will continue to work as it always has with Version 7.5x of PTE. Without Video Builder at all (if you didn't purchase the deluxe version of PTE), you can still create AVI files and Windows Exe files, but you must manually choose the codecs for AVI and it is more difficult for some than the automated way with Video Builder. However, without Video Builder, you can't output MP4 h.264 so you can't output HD videos or videos which will work with portable devices and you can't create MacIntosh Native exe output. You can still add videos to your shows and output Windows exe files which will play those videos, but you can't create high definition video versions of your PTE show or versions compatible with portable devices. Hopefully I haven't missed anything, but welcome any comments or "corrections" to my assumptions about the upgrade path. Best regards, Lin quote name='ale53' timestamp='1359466233' post='105218'] Hello everyone, I have a question I am asking myself for some time (I have PTE DELUXE since version 5.5.2, and I have continued to update the program every two years), but still I don't understand the difference between the version DELUXE -that costs more- and the STANDARD version (which costs less) but it did not need to be updated every two years (and I don't see more as listed to purchase). If I no longer had the ability to update PTE (which I do not think it will ever happen, TOO BEAUTIFUL AND FUNCTIONAL PROGRAM AS), I would still be able to use it to create and burn DVDs of my slideshow? I would be very grateful if a moderator explain to me good ideas. Thanks in advance for your answers and again thanks to Igor and all the programmers for the excellent program they have created. P.S. I have done already purchase two of my friends two verioni PTE, by having them positive feedback pier program. Ale 53.

Hi Steven, You "clone" a keyframe then move it to the point along the timeline when you want to "hold" some image for a period of time before making further changes. For example, let's say you have done a zoom in and you want to keep the zoomed in image stationary for a period of time. You create a keyframe, select that keyframe then do your zoom. Now "clone" that key frame and move it further along the timeline for the length of time you want that particular zoom to remain as it is. When you create a "new" keyframe the "expectation" is that you want things to change, but if you manually enter the same zoom, rotate, etc., values for the "new" keyframe, it will function exactly as the "cloned" keyframe did. The "clone" feature just automatically copies everything except the "time" and saves you the trouble of entering the values again. Remember - all animations, etc., happen in time and happen "because" of differences in zoom, rotate, pan or 3D transform values. The distance along the timeline between adjacent keyframes determines "when" animations start and end. The "values" in the pan, zoom, rotate or 3D transform determine "whether" there will be be changes. The "clone" feature just copies all of the existing values associated with a keyframe "except" the time and makes it convenient to essentially "stop action" for the period of time represented by the distance between keyframes relative to the display time for that slide. Best regards, Lin

Hi Ray, Leave the "Synchronize soundtracks and slides" checked then click on "Slides" (at the top of your screen) then from the choices choose "Fit all slides to soundtrack"... There have been slight changes over various revisions, but the "Synchronize soundtracks and slides" really has never extended the time for slides to match the time of the audio. In past versions that was accomplished in the timeline by "Timed Points" "Arrange all Points" Best regards, Lin ]

Hi Guys, If you use a camera which "only" has an LCD for framing or focusing, or if you use your dSLR for video and on a tripod, you will eventually find that you absolutely need something to allow you to see the LCD in bright sunlight, or with sunlight to your back. I use a wide variety of dSLR's and digicams and for many years have used the Photosolve "Xtend-a-View" sunshade and magnifier to allow me to see the LCD for framing, precise focus and also even to make menu changes. The Xtend-a-View line has served me well, but in recent years my eyesight has changed and I really need a diopter adjustment to compensate. I have been using foam tape to extend the distance from the LCD to the housing on my various Xtend-a-View devices, but I have found a single solution which works with virtually "all" my cameras. In looking for a solution, I tested the Zacuto Pro (very expensive), the Carry Speed VF-3 and several "Hoodman" devices. The Carry Speed was my favorite. I specifically wanted something to work with my tiny Sigma DP2 Merrill fixed lens camera. The DP2 Merrill is an incredibly high resolution fixed 45 mm (35mm SLR equivalent) jewel which I use primarily tripod mounted. Like a rangefinder camera, it doesn't have an optical viewfinder or an EVF (electronic viewfinder). There is an optical viewfinder available from Sigma, but it uses the flash hotshoe and parallax prevents its use for serious closeup photography. The Carry Speed VF-3 isn't "perfect" for the DP2 Merrill because there is a 7.8 mm "gap" between the LCD and the rear boot of the viewfinder when mounted, but it isn't a deal killer and it works "perfectly" on all my dSLR's including my Nikon D7000, Sigma's with battery accessory plate mounted all my Canon dSLR"s and my Olympus E3. The designer of the VF-3 is working with me to improve the design so that it perfectly fits the Sigma DP2 Merrill (DP1 Merrill, DP3 Merrill, DP2, DP2, DP1X, DP2X, etc.) as well as the Sony RX-100. It's a rather large device, but since people who use the Sony RX-100 for serious video work, I think the value of having such a device is well worth the $129.00 price. Here are links and some pictures I took of the device mounted on my DP2 Merrill. I might say that the "gap" between the LCD and the rubber boot on the rear of the VF-3 housing has not prevented me in any way from seeing the LCD clearly regardless of sunlight position, but as I said, the designer is working with me for a solution which "should" work also for numerous other small cameras. All buttons, controls and the battery and SD access port are available on the Sigma with the device and camera mounted on the tripod. The large eye cup is easily reversible for those who use their left eye. There is a built in "switch" which activates an internal "lens" cap and prevents sunlight from damaging the LCD when the device is not actively in use. The diopter is easily adjusted with a large "ring" and it takes only seconds to remove the device to gain access to the optical viewfinder on your camera. A note for users of the Sony RX-100: The battery and SD card access will not be available with the device or base-plate mounted on the camera because of the rather unusual off-center location of the tripod access on the RX-100 which is immediately adjacent to the battery/SD card access. So if shooting video with an RX-100 and using this device, a freshly charged battery and large SD card would be recommended. It doesn't take long at all to remove the base-plate from the camera. A coin or the provided hex wrench will allow it to be removed in a few seconds, but it is less convenient than having the access readily available without removing the camera from the tripod. In all, I find this to be a valuable addition to one's "kit' for closeup, video work or just to see the LCD with bright sunlight behind you. It's also very easy to use while wearing glasses. Best regards, Lin Carry Speed VF-3 Link

Hi Peter, Yes, you are correct, the warning is only before using Video Builder for various video outputs. It probably "should" be extended to include exe files, but with the "option" of overriding so in case the exe is to be created only as a trial for further experimentation. Best regards, Lin

Go to "Settings" "Preferences" "Project tab" and you will find auto save is set by default to 7 minutes. You can change the settings to suit yourself or disable as desired. It is necessary to click in the box beside the feature to enable. Usually there is a warning before an exe is created asking you to "save" the work first..... ============== Peter corrected - the warning is only before using Video Builder to create video formats. It probably should be extended to exe files except sometimes users want to make "trial" exe's to see how things function. So there probably should be an option for that feature as well.... Best regards, Lin

Some data on your new monitor would help. Is it LCD or CRT, what is the refresh rate, which type transitions flicker? What size display and which resolution are you now using? Is this different that what you were doing? What is your video card? Best regards, Lin

Hi Tom, It's not on my PC where Xvid is much smoother, it's on my 40" Samsung Television. My card supports PureVideo and hardware acceleration is enabled but the violet colored box motion is jerky on both the 30 and 60 fps sample. Best regards, Lin

Hi Tom, Does the lavender square move smoothly on your system? On mine the movement is pretty jerky regardless of 30 or 60 fps... That's one of the reasons I went to XVID Mpeg which supports 60p. XVID is the only video I've been able to get smooth movement from on my Samsung 40" LED Television. MP4 h.264 just isn't smooth for me. On the other hand, David seems to have better quality results with MP4 h.264. I'm perplexed as to why the differences... Best regards, Lin

Tommy, See Link Here: Scroll down to last post.... Best regards, Lin

Hi Tommy, Most of my tutorials are in AVI format. I would recommend first downloading and installing this free player (Kantaris Media Player) which has nearly any codec you might need. Link to Download Kantaris Media Player There is no danger in downloading any of the files I linked you to in the Tutorials section of PTE or on the Learnpicturestoexe site. I'm not certain why you would get a warning unless your anti-virus software is responding to the fact that the files are "zipped." Zipping the files allows one to download without the AVI trying to "run" from the server so all my tutorials are zipped. Your Windows XP should be able to allow you to unzip and "extract" any of these tutorials. Best regards, Lin

Peter, It appears that Dominique's site is back on-line now... Best regards, Lin

Hi Peter, It's likely that theDom's site has been hacked. It's happened several times in the past. There is a standard transition which is perhaps what you are looking for. It's called "Page Curl" and the parameters are completely adjustable. Just right click on your slide, choose "Customize Slide" then go the the "Transitions" tab and down to "Page Curl." Scroll down a bit further and you will see the various parameters which can be used to "cutomize" this transition. Dom's effect isn't really a "transition" per se, but rather designed to drop a number of images into the template and run a slideshow. It sort of works as a transition might, but is much more complex with shadows, lighting, etc. Without carefully examining it probably nobody on the forum could tell you exactly how he made it. Hopefully his site will be back up soon in case the "Page Curl" isn't what you are looking for. Best regards, Lin

Hi Tommy, Welcome back... There are numerous tutorials offered freely in the "tutorials section" here: Tutorials and Articles Link You can also access all mine here: Lin's Tutorials: I would suggest starting with the elementary ones and working through. Essentially creating a "pan" effect goes like this: Go to the Objects and Animations screen. Right click the mouse on the blue timeline and choose Add a Keyframe. Move it by dragging to the point you want the pan to end. With the keframe selected (blue) drag the image as you want the pan to end. Click on Preview to see... Best regards, Lin

Let's look at some of your assumptions: 1. You created Zip backups - what makes you think "Zip" will be around in 50 years? 2. You discuss "video" - are you sure video will be a viable modality in 50 years? 3. Why would one assume that just because Windows might not be around in 50 years that the product (PTE) won't successfully "migrate" to the next operating system? I've been around personal computers since they were invented. In 1982 I wrote a data management software package in CPM. I later ported it to PC DOS. I still use it today, 31 years later, running in DOS mode under Windows. There is just a strong a probability that Windows or some derivative thereof will be around in 50 years as there is that Apple or some derivative of their present OS will be around in 50 years. The probability is less that video, as we now know it, will exist in the same way in 50 years. I strongly suspect that what we will have in 50 years is a form of holographic projection rather than the simple video in 2D or even 3D which we experience today. Had you gone immediately to some form of "video" editing software, you "could" do some, if not most of what you do today with PTE, but it would be "much" more difficult. Good video software will let you make a simple slideshow with transitions, text, pan, zoom, rotate and even in some cases 3D transformations. On the other hand literally "all" of these are much easier to do effectively with PTE. PTE is a "presentation" tool which can do some editing. Video editors are editing tools which can do some presentation. Some tools such as Adobe After Effects when coupled with Premier Pro and perhaps other portions of the Adobe Creative Suite, can effectively replace PTE. But at what cost and with how much effort, training and time? So your question of would I have been better off working with video in the first place is one only you can answer. There is certainly no reason why you can't work in both PTE and in Video. I do. But, I can tell you with certainty that one can easily do things with PTE which are difficult if not impossible with even the best video editors. There is definitely a place for both. What will the future bring? We can't say with certainty. About the only thing we can say is that there will be change - lots of it. The technology curve is very steep and there will be myriad things tomorrow we can only dream of today. There is no way with certainty that we can predict the direction, but we can do the best with what we have to work with and hope that our choices help us assimilate into the future.... Best regards, Lin

Hi Wilburke, Just let me respond to your comment about "template transitions, and a bit about editing audio from the timeline." Indeed in PTE 7.5 it is possible to make and share transitions. When you create your own custom transition, it is saved as a file with the extension .ptef This file can be shared with anyone and when they "choose" the ptef file you or others have created, they will indeed enjoy the same custom transition. Perhaps someday we shall see many "free" ptef files available on the internet.... Perhaps not "exactly" what you are looking for yet, but if you place your cursor on the waveform and right click the mouse then choose "customize audio clip" you can then control the waveform via the project options from this point. If you move the "marker" along the timeline to the precise place you wish to make a change to the waveform and note the time, you can then move the marker in the waveform to correspond and make your changes. You also can perform the other functions available from the drop-down menu such as mute track, remove, lock, etc. This is, of course, not exactly the same as being able to manipulate the tracks "from" the timeline, but remember, there are unlimited audio tracks available with PTE and the timeline could be very "cluttered" were all available to choose from at this juncture. Perhaps in a later version there may be some greater sophistication.... Best regards, Lin

The "no disk in the drive" error with DR1 generally means that you have a removable drive device with the designation C: If this is the case, use Disk Management to rename the removable device to another drive designation. It's not a PTE error, it's actually an OS error, but not all that uncommon. If this isn't the case, we can look for another possible explanation... Best regards, Lin

The "no disk in the drive" error with DR1 generally means that you have a removable drive device with the designation C: If this is the case, use Disk Management to rename the removable device to another drive designation. It's not a PTE error, it's actually an OS error, but not all that uncommon. If this isn't the case, we can look for another possible explanation... Best regards, Lin