fh1805
-
Posts
3,880 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by fh1805
-
-
Hi Fuzzy,
I don't know whether this helps advance your understanding but...
I have just created a simple 3-slide test sequence and have set it to expire after 2 executions.
I ran it once and then copied the file to two different Flash memory sticks (let's call them Flash-A and Flash-
.I then ran the file a second time off Flash-A. It worked. I then ran it again off Flash-A and was told that it had expired.
I now tried to run it off Flash-B and was told it had expired.
All the above took place on the one computer system - no reboots.
From the above test I deduce the following:
- PTE does not modify the exe file and resave it to record the usage count data.
- Where-ever PTE does save the usage count data, it doesn't include the drive and path data. If it did then the attempt to run off Flash-B should have been seen as a legitimate attempt off a copy that had been run once.
I'll now create a fresh copy with expiry after 1 day and put that on Flash-A and another copy with expiry after 2 days which I'll put on Flash-B. Tomorrow (Sunday) I'll try both flash drive copies on my laptop and re-post the outcome. I'll do the same on Monday and on Tuesday. By the end of these tests we should have a pretty clear idea of what actually happens.
-
I realise that this isn't strictly a PTE subject. But adding voice-over to music and images takes AV work to a new level of complexity. In the attached document I've tried to pass on some of the things I've learned along the way (sometimes learned the hard way - by trial and error!)
-
Hi and thanks for those details,
Although we all, as computer users, want more speed and more memory, I feel that a 1.6GHz processor running in 1.25GB of RAM and using XP Home Edition is probably going to be OK.
To run PTEv5 successfully the PC has to have a fairly potent graphics card. Any concern I have would be over the graphics card. Unfortunately I have no knowledge of this one. I hope that, at some stage, one of our very technically knowledgeable members, (userid Brian.Conflow ) spots this thread and offers his advice. Do you or anyone else use this machine for PC games? If so, are these the heavily animated sort of game? And if so, do these play OK from the point of view of the quality and speed of the video display?
Have a look at this post and follow up the links to see if any of these help you to isolate where your problem area is:
-
Hi LumenLux,
Are you aware of Photoshop Elements capability to "Process Multiple Images" to achieve batch resizing?
-
Hi and welcome to the forum!
The resolutions you quote are unlikely to be giving you problems. I run PTEv5.1 on a widescreen laptop with images resized to 1024 x 768 and have no problems. What is the spec of your PC: Processor speed, RAM, Graphics card, operating system?
Poor transitions and animations in PTE v5 are usually due to the PC not being good enough to handle the high-quality graphics images that are generated by PTEv5.
There have been numerous threads on the forum that have discussed this, one currently running can be found here:
http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7989
You might also care to do a search on the forum for "Graphics" (without the quotes) and read some of the other threads that have discussed this subject in the past.
If you can tell us a little more about your hardware and software, I'm sure that the collective knowledge of the forum members will be able to guide you to the proper resolution of your problem.
-
Bear in mind that the expiration features work only for exe files. In order to check the expiry details the sequence has to be running in a computer as an executable program and not simply running as a video clip off a DVD.
-
Could it be that you have identified your problem but not realised it? You say "Clearly I have a defective download!"
Have you tried downloading a fresh copy, uninstalling the current one and installing the new download?
Sometimes a downloaded file does pick up one or two "garbles". If you haven't tried this yet, why not give it a go? You've nothing to lose other than some of your time (and possibly your phone bill if you're on a dial-up connection.
-
Hi Gremmie,
PTE V5.0 and v5.1 are quite happy to coexist with one another. You do not NEED to uninstall v5.0. Nor do need to keep both versions. I tend to keep previous versions only until I am satisfied that the new version is working correctly. The PTE key which you have previously placed in your Registry does indeed automatically pass over to each new version. Uninstalling v5.0 should not uninstall the registry key.
Hope this helps allay your fears. Have fun with this wonderful product.
-
The Dom,
You're a wizard! That is so beautifully simple. I really must learn to "think out of the box" as they say.
-
You're a quick learner, Mark!
Any suggestions I make now are very much in the area of "fine tuning". Can I suggest that you now watch and "listen" - really listen - to the sequence? There were one or two places where, with a little adjustment to your slide timings you could get some really good effects. The one that stuck in my mind was the image of the log fire and the ornate fireback. Close to this on the music was a point where the brass section comes in strongly. I felt that you should try and bring the log fire in "in sync" with the entry of the brass.
In many respects that's what slides with music is all about: identifying the points in the music where you need to have an image change in order for the one to emphasise the other. If the musical point is abrupt have an abrupt slide transition; if it is more gradual, have a more gradual transition.
The other adjustment I would suggest, which Barry Beckham hinted at in his comments on the previous version, would be to alter the ending of the sequence so that the credit slide fades in along side the music fading out.
Another suggestion: why not add a title to the opening slide?
And one final suggestion: to smooth the start/end of the sequence, why not add a black slide at each end and give it 5 seconds of silence?
Whatever your decisions, it's your work at the end of the day - and very good work it is, too! You'll not be letting yourself down when you show it at your camera club.
-
Hi Marian,
You nearly did all the right things. The sequence of steps needs to be:
Project Options >
Comments >
Click on Insert template link
Select Picture Name
Set for existing slides >
Hope this is what you're after.
-
Freddy,
Here we go, then...
I am assuming you have some basic familiarity with Photoshop (or whatever image manipulation tool you use).
To create the mask on an image, first open that image
Then create a new, empty layer
Select the Paint Bucket tool
Set it to have an Opacity value of 50%
Set the foreground colour to Black
Fill the empty layer with 50% black
Now select the Marquee tool, rectangular form
Make sure that its option is "Add to Selection" and set a Feather value of 10 px.
Next, staying on the black layer, select the parts of the document that you wish to be fully visible. (You'll be able to make them out through the black mask layer). You may need to make several selections to cover the different bits. That's why I recommend using "Add to Selection" option.
Once you are happy with the selection, simply do Edit Cut - and hey presto! Don't forget to save the file!!!!
You may want to experiment with the opacity of the Black from the Bucket and with the Feather value of the Marquee - but the values I've given should put you somewhere in the close vicinity of what you want.
Hope you can follow this. If not e-mail me direct using the e-mail in my signature.
-
Hi Mark,
Norway v5 is much better than v4!
As is so often the case with AV work, less is more. You rarely need to have voice-over on every image - especially on images as full of impact as yours. If I was to build a sequence like this, I would be letting the music and images convey the mood (as they do so brilliantly in your sequence) and using the voice-over to convey historical fact and the emotions that were aroused in me at the time. You are very definitely heading that direction with this version.
Your next challenge in AV is going to be the production of good, clean, noise-free voice-over. There's a small but noticeable amount of hiss present in your voice-over. It is unlikely that you can remove this via Audacity as you will, almost certainly, introduce some degree of distortion into your voice. Take at look at the thread below for some discussions on the subject of adding voice-over and natural sound.
http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7677
I look forward to your next AV sequence with eager anticipation. You seem to have a natural talent for it.
-
Hi Mark,
I confess, I didn't download the music only version, so I've nothing to compare it to. Having said that, for a first attempt at adding voice-over to your sequence you've done a creditable job.
Firstly, one point unrelated to the voice-over, as I key this in your sequence is still on-screen showing the final slide. It's a good idea to set "Close show after last slide" on the Main tab of Project Options.
Now to the soundtrack. You did right in holding back the music so it didn't drown out your voice, but you seemed to hold back the voice over as well. I am assuming that when you were working in Audacity you had two distinct tracks on the go: one carrying the music (great choice, by the way!) and the other carrying the voice-over. Are you aware that you can control each track's output independently by using the "gain" controls. These are the sliders marked "- +" just under the Mute and Solo buttons. To get a rough mix proceed as follows:
- Mute all tracks except the voice
- Play this and set the level to something suitable
- Unmute the music and lower the gain on it to one of -15dB, -18dB or -21dB (according to your perception of good sound balance)
- Play the music and voice-over together and adjust the music gain as required.
- When happy with the settings, File Export As WAV to preserve detail then again ...As MP3 for compactness
- Use the MP3 version as your PTE soundtrack.
This technique works well when you have voice-over almost constantly throughout the sequence - as you have here. And this leads me on to my next comment. Just as one would vary the pace of images and the type and duration of transitions to create variety and interest in the sequence, so should you vary the soundtrack a little more. If you feel up to expending some more effort on it, cut out some more of the voice-over so that you have some short inner sequences of just music and slides. On these you can then set about increasing the gain on the music. However, this cannot be done simply by adjusting the gain slider. That sets the output level for the entire track duration.
To modify the gain on just selected parts of the track you need to use the Envelope Tool (one of the six little icons towards the top left of the Audacity window). You then position points along the track by clicking on the blue line and dragging down or up as required. A little experimentation will soon make things clear. As before, leave the voice-over as the base sound level and adjust everything else to it.
You have one big, big plus going for you: your lovely soft Irish brogue. It's a natural for voice-over work.
If you haven't already done so, you might like to take a look at my Audacity User Guide which is posted on the Tutorial forum. It's still very much "work-in-progress" but I hope it will help you.
I hope you find these comments constructive; that's how I intend them to be.
You can find a sequence of mine (LestWeForget.exe) that I posted last year at this link: http://www.mediafire.com/?29c0niyaxyd
-
Hi Freddy,
This post addresses the first of your queries - highlighting part of a document. I'm not aware of any way to do this easily with PTE. I've recently finished a presentation about my grandfather's service in WW1 and the final section of that was told using his own words, from the letters and postcards that he wrote home from the Western Front. I scanned the documents and then used Photoshop to set up cut-out masks of 50% opacity black to highlight the words on the letter that I was reading out in the voice-over. I can give you more details on this technique in Photoshop if you would like them.
-
Mike,
When considering my previous (long and detailed) post, please bear in mind the following:
We have different requirements.
- You seem to me to be wanting to store material on DVD and access it directly off the DVD by either (both?) TV playback or (and?) PC playback. I am way out of my depth on DVDs. I don't use them.
- I want to be able to give an evening's entertainment to audiences by playing sequences off the laptop, through a digital projector.
I came to PTE from the world of slide/tape sequences. I'm an amateur, not a professional, photographer; so I have no need to produce DVDs of proofs to give to my clients - I don't have that kind of client. I have no family; so I have no need to prepare DVDs that they can watch on their TVs. Moreover, as I read the numerous posts about the problems of burning DVDs that don't work the way the user wants, I get the impression that the whole DVD subject is riddled with excessive technical complexity and lack of a single, clearly defined standard. In other words it looks to me like one huge can of worms that I'm better off keeping out of.
-
Andy,
What you are seeing is how PTE currently works. And I agree, it is a bit of a niggle having to re-navigate to the folder containing the images for the project you've just opened. But I can see the validity in xahu34's comment too. Your posting implies that you keep each of your PTE projects in its own folder (this, to my way of thinking, is a very good practice!). I work this way too, and so I agree with your comments. But others don't work that way; they pick up images from all sorts of folders. (xahu's post tends to imply that this is his/her work method). For such users how can PTE know which folder to position to in the File navigation panel?
I would certainly back a request to Igor to position to the folder where the pte file was opened from. But, even if he provided this feature, I would still have to navigate within the file panel because my images are stored in a sub-folder within the project's top-level folder, e.g.
My Documents
- AV Sequence1
- Images
- Music
- AV Sequence2...etc
The "pain" of navigation is a small price to pay for all the other wonderful features of this product.
-
Manual control of the flow of PTE sequence(s) can be achieved in many ways. The first requirement is to ensure that in Project Options...Main tab you checked the box "Wait for a key press or mouse click to show next slide". Doing this ensures that all time-based slide changing is disabled. This does not turn off animation within an individual image.
The next step is to realise that the main image, and every object placed on it, can, independently of each other, be programmed to react to a mouse click. This feature is found by selecting an image from the Slide List and then going into Objects & Animation. Now take the Common tab and click on the button labelled "Action on Mouse click". The options thus displayed are available on each and every object that is placed on the main image as well as on the main image itself. This doesn't seem to be given much coverage in the PTE User Guide. (Jeff Evans/Lin Evans, if you're reading this and agree that it needs further coverage, please feel free to plagiarise these words)
The possible options on mouse click are:
None - As it implies, no action is taken.
Exit - The sequence is terminated at this slide and control is returned to whatever called this exe file; e.g. to the menu exe file that drove this exe file or to the Windows desktop if the exe was launched from there.
Next slide - Advances to the next main image. Any animation programmed on the triggering slide is not allowed to complete. The advance takes immediate effect.
Previous slide - As for "Next slide" but stepping one slide back in the sequence. Any animation programmed on the triggering slide is not allowed to complete. The step back takes immediate effect. This option does not play the sequence in reverse. It steps back to the beginning of the previous slide and plays that in a forwards direction.
Help - No experience. I've never used this option.
Go to first slide - Jumps back to the start point of the first image in the sequence. Any animation programmed on the triggering slide is not allowed to complete. The jump back takes immediate effect.
Go to slide number... - Gives an input field in which you key the relative slide number that you wish to jump to. The target slide can be any slide anywhere in the sequence. Any animation programmed on the triggering slide is not allowed to complete. The jump takes immediate effect. Be aware of the following limitation in the current release (v5.1) of PTE. If you program your sequence using this option and then add an extra slide into the middle of the sequence, these relative numbers are not automatically recalculated. You have to work through the entire sequence checking and correcting these numbers. I've previously asked Igor to include this in a future release. It's a real pain having to do that rework on a one hour lecture with maybe 200+ images.
Open Web page... - No experience, but I expect it asks you to supply the URL of the web page.
Write e-mail... - No experience but I expect it opens your Windows default e-mail program in a new e-mail item
Run application or open file... - Gives you an input field in which you supply the name of the program you want it to run or the file you want it to open. This is a very powerful feature for anyone preparing demo sessions. You can use it to break out into e.g. Word, Excel, Windows Explorer, Photoshop, another PTE sequence - absolutely anything. When you close the application thus launched, you are returned to this point of departure in your PTE sequence. The input field comes with standard Browse capability to let you find the application or file. If you are building a menu in PTE to drive other PTE sequences, don't use browse. Instead give all your exe files shortish names, free of any spaces and special characters and just key their basic name into the field eg AVSequence1.exe. Then, provided you keep all your exe files, including the menu exe file, in the same folder you can move them all from one PC to another and all the links will work.
Print picture/slide - No experience. I don't know what the interlock might be, if any, between this and the Project Options...Advanced tab items to do with allowing/prohibiting the printing of slides.
Run application and exit - This works the same as "Run application or open file..." except that the triggering PTE sequence is terminated as soon as the new application is given control.
Hope this helps to explain what is going on. As with all of these wonderful PTE features, the best way to find out is to set up little test sequences and explore for yourself. Have fun, everyone!
-
Mike,
You wrote "The Create Slideshow and Create Slideshow As options allow you to create an executable file. My assumption is that the exe can be run on a PC using a copy on portable media such as flash memory or as a copy on a CD or DVD. Correct?"
Correct! The exe file is totally self-contained and can be written to any valid PC storage device (removeable or fixed). If written to removeable media then the file can be transferred to a different device and it will run from that removeable media. There is no need to copy it to the hard disk of the recipient PC. However, it is most strongly recommend that you do, since removeable media are, typically, slower devices than the hard-drive. Running off flash memory, CD or DVD increases the risk of playback problems caused by slow read activity. Having said that, I have never encountered a problem when running a PTE exe file off flash memory. I have had, and have witnessed, problems running them straight off the CD or DVD. The recipient PC must be of a similar spec to the creating PC if animation effects have been used, in order to be certain that these will play successfully.
You also wrote "The "Permit control of show using keyboard option" allows one to control the show via keyboard commands."
My understanding of this option is that when ticked, you can pause and resume the show by pressing the spacebar as a toggle. I am not aware that it offers any greater control than that. More learned folks than me might be able to enlighten us both!
Finallly, the last part of your post leads into the subject of "menus". Can I suggest that you create a new topic that includes the word menu in its title and cut and paste this question there? I'm certain there will be many members interested in the ensuing discussion. This present topic's title doesn't really give a clue to the direction it is now taking. It is usually a good idea to open a new topic when you want to introduce a totally new theme.
-
Ralph,
Many thanks, that was just the help that I needed!
Whilst in Full Edit I tried to add a hyperlink to post #12. The way that I went about it did actually create a link to a post #12 - but to post #12 in a totally unrelated thread!
The technique I used (from within Full Edit) was to take the "Insert a Special Item" option, ask it to add a Post Link, keyed 12 as the post number and "here" as the text (actually keyed in without the quotes, of course). As I say, it built a link but to a post 12 in some other thread. Having discovered that it hadn't built the link I wanted, I went back into Full Edit again and deleted the link to the post.
Creating a forum post to behave as you would like is almost as challenging as creating a PTE sequence to do just what you want it to!
Once again, thanks for pointing me in the right direction.
-
I need some help from an expert Forum user (as opposed to an expert PTE user).
In my thread on Audacity Sound Editor software I have, over the course of its life thus far, posted three different versions of the Audacity User Guide. I'd like to withdraw the first two links and replace them with a direction to post #12 which currently holds the up-to-date version. I understand how to get the link to post #12 and put it in a post. I have tried to edit the post that contains the link to the initial version but the attachment link is still there. How do I edit one of my posts and remove the embedded attachment?
Also, are there any "best practice"s in respect of the etiquette of editting one's own posts so that others know by whom, when and why the post was editted.
Please can somebody coach/tutor/mentor me on this matter?
-
Hi Jeff,
Your post above describes the technique to all the launching of a sound file associated with a single image into the sound editor program. Is there anyway of launching the main soundtrack file into the sound editor from within PTE?
Also, assuming you'll be rectifying the omission in the next version of the User Guide, when you do could you please drop me an e-mail with page/paragraph references so that I can cross-link back from my Audacity User Guide to the relevant section of the PTE User Guide.
Thanks in anticipation,
-
Hi Dave,
It is my understanding that what goes out the back of the laptop down the 15-D socket to the projector (or down the DVI line if that is what you are using) will be a straight clone of the 1024x768 laptop screen image. Therefore my money is on the projector doing the interpolation.
I'll be watching this thread with interest to see if I'm right - and if not, to learn!
-
Terry,
The only place where you will see your text is in the O&A window or... when you Preview the show. The fact that you don't see the text in either the Slide List or in the Preview panel is a limitation of the current release of PTE. Igor's team will be adding this function into v5.2 which is already in development.
Are you seeing the text when you Preview the show from the Preview button in the main window?
Expiration question
in General Discussion
Posted
Hi interested readers!,
First, let me explain the scenarios I have set up. On my desktop PC I have created three short sequences as follows:
- Expiry1D - expires after 1 day (created at c.1630 on 2 Feb 2008)
- Expiry2D - expires after 2 days (created at c.1630 on 2 Feb 2008)
- Expiry1R - expires after 1 run (created at c.0700 on 3 Feb 2008)
In reality the file name of all three is Expiry.exe, I'm using the name forms above as short-hand notation to describe their function. Each file was written to a separate flash drive memory stick as follows:
- Expiry1D to Flash-A
- Expiry2D to Flash-B
- Expiry1R to Flash-C (This file was written after it had been run to its expiry point on the desktop PC)
I then took all three sticks to my laptop PC and ran them as follows:
- Expiry1D (ran OK as many times as I wanted it to - just as expected)
- Expiry2D (ran OK as many times as I wanted it to - just as expected)
- Expiry1R (ran OK but just the once, thereafter it said it was expired)
All this was what I expected.
I then removed Flash-C and re-inserted Flash-A. The file names are the same on all three files and the files are stored in the root directory of each flash drive. I was curious now to know whether the "expired" status of the file from Flash-C was going to be carried over to the file on Flash-A. It wasn't! I was able to run Expiry1D as many times as I wanted to. None of the three flash drives has been given a name (i.e. there is no name showing when calling up their properties) but they use three different device drivers.
I shall now wait until tomorrow (Monday) and repeat the tests. I would expect both Expiry1R and Expiry1D to come up as immediately expired and Expiry2D to still be functional.
I will post more results some time tomorrow.