fh1805
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Posts posted by fh1805
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Mike,
To take each of your questions in turn:
Q. "Is it correct that PTE does not have a built in audio recorder (e.g., for adding narrative to a slide)?"
A. Correct it does not. A lot of the PTE users make use of Audacity (a free sound editor available here http://audacity.sourceforge.net) to prepare their soundtrack components.
Q. "Is there anyway to view all the slides in a slide list (or whatever) that will show the slides with the changes being made? I'd like to see thumbnails of all the slides that reflect the changes I have added."
A. Igor has indicated that this will be added in the next version (5.2) which is already in development.
Q. "Also, to insert a blank slide one must first create one using CS3 and then insert that image, correct. I.e., no insert blank slide feature exists?"
A. That is correct
Q. "One can use Path and Name of Sound Editor to set the path/name of a sound editor. However, I can find nowhere in the program that uses that information?"
A. I cannot comment on the documentation but see the answer above. PTE does not currently support sound editor from within itself..
Q. "After adding sound to a specific slide using the Sound drop down arrow, how does one preview that slide and hear the sound?"
A. Underneath the bottom right hand corner of the preview panel (the panel where you found "Click here to preview" in the top left corner) is a little icon that looks a bit like a book being opened. If you click on this it will preview the show from that slide and with its associated sound file.
Hope these answers help to further your understanding.
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Hi Peter,
Here's my take on what is happening to explain the difference between "front panel" jack and "rear panel" jack that you have encountered.
Where does the mains power cord attach - and thus go into the AC/DC converter?
Where are all the plug-in cards and their slots located?
Where is the cooling fan located?
And what do these things have in common? They all radiate electromagnetic frequencies ("electronic noise" or EMF) to some extent.
What property does all electric cable have the potential to fulfil? To act as a radio (=EMF) receiver aerial.
Is it then, any surprise that the Line In on the rear panel not only carries the microphone signal (a very weak signal, remember), but also picks up some of this stray EMF?
When this signal - plus the unwanted EMF - is amplified on the soundcard both get the same amount of amplification. The end result? A hissy, hummy, crackly recording.
There is much less cable behind the front panel and a lot fewer sources of EMF noise in that vicinity. Therefore the front panel Line In jack makes a cleaner recording.
To improve the quality of sound using a microphone through the Line In or Mic In jacks one would adopt the Howard Gregory solution - a microphone pre-amp to boost the signal level of the microphone input above that of the background EMF noise. End result? a much cleaner recording - but not necessarily totally clean.
(For the benefit of non-UK AV workers, Howard Gregory is well recognised in the UK as an authority on open microphone recording techniques for AV work)
If a totally clean recording is required, then using the PC's Line In or Mic In is, in my opinon, not an option. The only option that produces acceptable results for me is to make the recording externally on my solid-state digital recorder and then upload the data via USB. But I recognise that not all workers will want to go to this expense. (However, in my experience, someone who refuses to pay £150-£200 for a digital recorder is quite happy to pay £450 for a lens or a digital SLR body).
Whatever solution is chosen, the important thing is to have fun trying and to learn from the experience - whether it be good or bad.
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Al,
Technically you are correct, of course, but I got the impression that Tom wanted to step forward manually through his main images by using Left click to advance to Next Slide in addition to being able to "menu" drive the sequence. Your suggestion would work fine to break out of an automated sequence but not out of a manual one, which is what I believe Tom has here.
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Mike,
When converting images for PTE you need to consider your final output device. If this is going to be a digital projector then resize to the native resolution of that device (e.g. 1024x768). Resolution, in terms of dpi, is meaningless when projecting or viewing on the compute monitor. All that matters is size (expressed as pixels by pixels). If the final device is to be DVD for TV viewing then, I'm sorry, but you'll have to wait for someone with appropriate experience to answer your post.
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Tom,
Please forgive me for interrupting this dialogue but you seem to want to do something that I've already done before.If I can summarise your requirement to be sure I understand it:
From your opening image, consisting of 20 separate images, you want to click on one and have it display full-screen. Then, from that chosen one, you want to step forward sequentially for a number of images and then return to the original image. At this point you want to then be able to go directly to a nominated image and then return to the original, then go to another nominated image and return to the original. Have I got this right?
If so, then you make each of your twenty images on the "base image" an object. You use the Common tab for each of these objects and set the action on mouse click to be "Go to slide number..." where the number is that of the relevant image when shown full-screen. This will take care of jumping from the base image to a nominated image.
To return from the nominated image to the base image you need to add a button to each nominated image that is programmed via the Common tab to be "Go to slide number" where the number is that of your base image. If you make this button fairly large and have zero opacity and place it in an easily remembered location (e.g. bottom right corner) then when you click in that part of the screen you will go back to your base image.
In project options you need to set "Wait for a key press or mouse click to show next slide" in the Main tab of Project Options. And it would probably be a good idea to program the mouse buttons to be Left=Next slide and Right=Previous slide via the Advanced tab of Project Options.
Do you understand how to use PTEv5 features to do that?
I'm convinced this will give you the flexibility that you need as I have an illustrated talk built using this technique but with all buttons visible.
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Judy,
Please contact me "off list" via my e-mail address (see signature below). I have a Word document that contains some instructions which may help you determine whether or not you have any chance of getting results using your existing mic and soundcard.
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Peter,
I think there may be some slight misunderstanding between us. I use the Zoom H4 simply as a recording machine. It captures the recording on its SD card and then, using a USB cable, I connect the H4 to my PC where it appears as an external drive. I copy all the files (which are already in WAV format) onto the PC. Then I take these WAV files into Audacity to do any post-processing. All the "techie" stuff is done in Audacity. The trick is getting the right quality of original open-mic recording.
I, too, am aware of Howard Gregory's excellent offerings in the sound recording field. Indeed, I also own one of his pre-amps, but could never get it to give a satisfactory result when trying to record via a microphone, through the pre-amp and into the soundcard on the PC.
Hence my use of the Zoom H4 to do the initial recording off-PC, and then the import of the WAV file from the H4 to the PC for subsequent work.
The name of the game that we're in is Audio-Visual but most of those who dabble in it only ever use ripped music. They have no idea how complex the audio part can be when you try and add open-mic recordings of voice-over and sound-effects.
Good on yer' for trying.
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Den,
I'm trying to avoid duplicating material that already exists and is good. The need for the lame encoder and the "how to get it and install it" is well covered by the Audacity Help and the Audacity Manual and Tutorials which I document in the introduction to the User Guide (latest version is v0.3).
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Judy/Peter
Another alternative which is working well for me is a solid-state digital recorder. See this post of mine (and indeed, the whole thread in which it sits)
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It's a dull, wet, miserable morning here in north Yorkshire so I've done some more work on the User Guide. The latest version is attached.
Please, please give me your feedback - good or bad.
What else would you like to see included?
What is still unclear to you?
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Having spent some time reading the Audacity Reference Manual and Tutorials pointed to by Leonard in his post above, I have re-worked the structure and contents list of my User Guide to eliminate unnecessary repetition. I have attached a revised copy (version 0.2) of the User Guide. The real meat of the User Guide is still to come. If tomorrow is as wet and miserable as yesterday and today have been, I may get the back of it broken by tomorrow evening.
The link to the attachment was withdrawn on 24 Jan 2008. The latest version of the User Guide can be found at post #12.
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Mike,
Thanks for the encouragement! Do check out Leonard's pointer in his post.
The number of downloads feature comes automatically when you include the attachment into the post. The attaching was done as follows:
Used ADDREPLY to add my post to the thread
Browsed to the draft file on my hard-drive
UPLOADed that file
Took the option to "Manage Upload Files" or words to that effect
Clicked on the left most icon ("Add attachment to post" or words to that effect)
Put a carriage return in just before the attachment code in the post
I had done it once before many months ago but didn't really remember exactly what to do. It was relatively intuitive.
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Leonard,
Thank you for that pointer. I wish I'd known about those pages two years ago when I started playing with Audacity. I'll need to rework the introduction section to make reference to them. And, as a side-product, I'll need to re-think the contents list. Ah well, that's precisely why I posted a very early draft - to find out who knew things that I didn't.
I still feel that there are some usage techniques that I could usefully document, so all is not over yet!
To everyone else reading this thread. Do have a look at the link provided by Leonard, it's excellent material.
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Just giving you all a "heads up" that I am working on an Audacity User Guide under a thread in the Tutorials Forum. All feedback welcome, but please add the feedback to the thread in the tutorials forum and not this thread.
Thanks in anticipation.
The latest version of the User Guide can be found here.
http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index....ost&p=49413
Edited to include link to latest version of User Guide
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Before I commit too much effort into this, I'd like to get some feedback on what I propose to build over the next few days. Accordingly, I've attached an initial stab at the contents list and have fleshed out the first two sections.
Is the content that which you'd like to see covered?
Is the layout style OK?
Is the style of English usage OK?
The first draft copy is on the attachment below:
The link to the attachment was withdrawn on 24 Jan 2008. The latest version of the User Guide can be found at post #12.
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Mike,
What ever decision you arrive at is yours to make. But there is a lot of sound sense in the old saying: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"
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This might be the wrong place or even the wrong forum for this subject but here goes:
In the 10 months or so that I've been a member of the PTE Forum community I have seen several posts relating to handling the soundtrack part of the AV sequence. Several of the "expert" members have recommended Audacity software as a reasonably good, basic sound file editor that is capable of doing most, if not all, of what is required. Although shying away from being called an "expert" I have recommended it myself to several new members.
Would there be any interest in an Audacity Tutorial? I'm thinking here of something that would be of value to a newbie to help them get started. I've done a couple of teach-ins at my local photographic society on this subject and would be willing to put one together.
Your thoughts on this matter?
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Hi Phoebe,
In my opinion the simplest way to have several pieces of background music with your AV sequence is to use a separate sound editor program to "stitch" them together. There is an excellent free sound editor called Audacity which you can download from: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ If you go down this route and find yourself struggling with it, I'd be happy to accept direct e-mail questions.
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Hi Phoebe,
If you are using PTE v5 you can achieve the effect that you want fairly simply. You need first to use Project Options... Screen tab: change the background solid colour from the default of black to white. Then select each of your images in turn and take it into Objects & Animation and reduce the Zoom value to, say, 95% or whatever suits you. If you want more control over the border size you can click on the little button between the two zoom values to "disconnect" them and set each one independent of the other.
Hope this helps,
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My understanding of the Actions feature in Photoshop v7 and CS versions is that it allows you to automate tasks. In other words, if you find yourslf doing the same things to several images, you can set up an Action so that they are performed automatically one after the other. For most hobbyist users of PTE I suspect it is unusual to want to do that sort of thing in Photoshop; except perhaps to automatically adjust contrast, sharpen and resize images. All these last three can be automated in Elements by using the File...Process Multiple Files... command.
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Hi Mike,
Not a tick box - but yes you missed something in Project Options. Go to the Advanced tab. About one third down is a long button (probably showing "Auto hide mouse cursor after:"). You need the selection to show "Always show mouse cursor".
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Hi Ron,
Like you I've used Norton products ever since I first connected to the Internet back in 1998. Unlike you, I've had no problems. Out of curiosity: which Norton product(s) do you currently use? and running under which operating system? If there might be troubles ahead for me I'd like an early "heads up" on them?
Hope you get your current problems resolved to your satisfaction - by whatever route you finally choose.
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Hi Gilbert,
Just a quick word of caution...I would strongly advise against publishing your full UK address so openly in your details. The PTE Forum website is not a "secure" site - i.e. the padlock does not appear any where in the browser window. I would recommend that you edit your details to show just "Sutton Coldfield UK".
In these days of identity theft it pays to take as few chances as possible - ideally none!
Trial Review Questions
in General Discussion
Posted
Mike,
I just realised I forgot something in respect of "insert blank slide". You can add a rectangle and assign it any colour you want via the "Object and Animation" feature. Just drop any image into the Slide List then select it and click on the "O&A" button. Now right click that image, select the Add command off the pop up window and then Rectangle off the next window. You can then use the Properties tab to change its colour etc.