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The attached file is my first attempt to use video clips in a PTE sequence. It is most definitely not an attempt to produce a finished sequence; simply an exploration on my part of how to add video clips and then add sound to those clips. For the technically minded: the video clips were captured on a Nikon D300s, mounted on a tripod; the sound recordings were made on a Zoom H4 hand-held. I did NOT attempt to make the sound recording at exactly the same time as the video clip. I did one, switched equipment and did the other. The D300s was set to capture 1280x720 HD video (hence the Fixed size of slide), which it does into an AVI format. The only post-processing done has been to run PTE's Video Converter on each of the original AVI video clips in order to clip them both front and back. This produced a fresh AVI file using a different codec. When I play the two videos one after the other in Windows Media Player I cannot see any quality change. The sound files are totally unprocessed and were added via the "Add Sound" icon onto each clip (i.e. this is not an assembled soundtrack built in Audacity). So what lessons have I learned so far? 1) The D300s produces good quality video when operated on a tripod. That is reassuring since it was one of the reasons for buying that camera. 2) PTE's Video Converter does a nice job of trimming the video and is easy to use for that purpose. 3) The Zoom H4 handles the outdoor location work splendidly (but I knew that already) 4) For this kind of subject, where the noise is essentially random, it is perfectly possible to dub the soundtrack in the post-production phase. 5) I need to find an acceptable way of getting out of a video clip back to a still image. (That's why there are no still images in this demo sequence, other than the blank slides) 6) I do not like the way PTE kills the sound associated with a slide before that slide has completed its transition into the next slide. That's just way too clunky! 7) Wouldn't it be nice if PTE transitioned the associated audio as well as the image between slides! 8) The sound on the second video clip needs post-processing to reduce the boominess (it is wind noise getting in through the wind-jammer on the microphone) All in all, for my first attempt to capture and use video, everything works as I had hoped it would so I'm a happy bunny. All I have to do now is learn how to deploy video aesthetically! regards, Peter Upper Teesdale Waterfalls.zip

Hi Robert, Yes, I'm booked for the Internationals. Peter

Eric, A early "work in progress" version has already been seen by the manager of the museum at Killhope (January 2012). He expressed himself pleased with the way it was going; and made some suggestions for additional material (which has been included). The version with those modifications was then seen and commented upon by two lots of RPS AV group members - at Bradford (February 2012) and at Snods Edge (March 2012). A further modified version, including some of the feedback from the RPS AV group members, has been seen by members of the North-East AV Group (April 2012). The final form DVD version has been seen by two different friends, when it was checked out on their equipment (May 2012). I don't think it needs any more viewing in order to gather more feedback. I have every confidence that the manager and staff at Killhope will be delighted with it in its finished form - provided it plays back on their equipment! That will be proven (I hope!) next week. Peter

I feel it is only fair that, apart from a handful of friends whose TVs and DVD players have been used to confirm proper playback, the staff at Killhope should be the first to see the final form. I'm taking the DVD there next week. So, a little more patience, please. Peter

??????? what? Peter

Yes, I get the 3:2 AR on my system. But on a friend's system, playing the same DVD, it comes out as 4:3 (both left and right sides have parts cropped off). Peter

Geoff, The only other option would be to autohide the cursor. It will vanish after the specified time interval but re-appear if the mouse is moved. Peter

I'm not surprised. If the ripping software is doing a true rip and producing a WAV file, it is, to all intents and purposes, simply copying the 0s and 1s of the digitized sound from one file to another. That's an operation that is totally independent of the volume controls. It's kind of a special form of file copy. If the rip is producing an MP3 file then it is not producing a copy of what is on the commercially produced CD.

-90dB? What kind of dB are you thinking of: dBSPL, dBFS, dBu, or what? My experience of audio engineering/sound editing/sound mixing, using Audacity, tells me that 0dB is the level at which "clipping" occurs (i.e. the point at which audible distortion occurs). A good sound signal will peak at around -3dB and will probably average between -6dB and -15dB. -90dB is unheard of (almost literally unheard of), it's getting close to the threshold of human hearing. Peter

Dave, Good point. I'd missed that. That implies that there has not been any "double compression" damage. Peter

A further thought strikes me... If you used an MP3 file as your soundtrack and IF the creation of the MP4 has generated an MP3 audio stream, then it is just possible that you have compressed an already compressed audio file. MP3 compression is a lossy compression that damages the audio. If you have a doubly-compressed audio stream then you have added damage to existing damage. If you have the original soundtrack material (as an Audacity or Audition project, for example) then try creating a WAV soundtrack file and using that as input to the MP4 creation phase.

Ray, The first thing I would check is that you do not have a problem with the choice of audio codec. What audio codecs does your TV support? (Look in the specifications/technical details section in the user manual) What audio codec was used when the MP4 file was created? (In PTE, navigate to the drive/folder where the mp4 file is stored and, in the File List panel of PTE's main window, right-click on the video file and select "File Info")

Gary, Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying! After setting up a sequence manually, save it. Then re-open that sequence. Tick "Auto spread". True, the only "apparent" change is that the Timeline is grayed out. Now Preview that sequence. The slides have been "Auto spread". Now save that sequence (to protect your original masterpiece, do a Save As and give it a new name). Now close and re-open PTE and open the sequence you just saved. Preview it and the slides will still be "Auto spread". Untick "Auto spread" and Preview again, and the original manual timings will be back! As I wrote in that earlier post, "Auto spread" seems to behave as a "temporary Timed Points/Arrange All Points" that can be undone at any future point in time. Use "Auto spread" on its own and you can revert back to the previous manually set synchronization. Apply Timed Points/Arrange All Points, and you completely destroy all record of the previous manually set synchronization. By the way, you do not need to use both; just use which ever is appropriate - Auto spread for a temporary change or Timed Points for a permanent change. Hope that makes things clearer for you. Peter

Gary, Read my post at #5. One "feature" of the Autospread option is to leave all the manually coded synchronization values intact whilst allowing the user to do a simple "even spread" of the slides. At any future point in time, the user can then "untick" Autospread, and all their carefully planned and coded manual synchronization will magically re-appear! Autospread seems to function like a "temporary Timed Points/Arrange all points" that can be saved and then, at a later date, can be removed to reveal the original timing pattern. As I indicated in my dialogue with Barry above: why anyone would want that feature, I do not know? But it's there! Peter

I agree, it is very confusing. I expected it to do what the Timed Points > Arrange all points does. I've just done a bit more experimentation. Within the PTE project file, use of this option does not destroy the "manual" synchronisation data. You and I, and many others, build our sequences manually (setting each slide's start point to match the soundtrack content). Having built the sequence in that manner and then saved it, it is then possible to apply the Autospread (why anyone would want to eludes me) and save the sequence again - over-writing the previous file if so desired. One can then open that version of the sequence into PTE and remove the Autospread setting and, lo and behold, all the manual synchronisation values are re-instated. Again, why anyone would want to do that sort of thing baffles me. But that seems to be how it works and what it does. As for why? - who knows? regards, Peter

Barry, Having ticked that box, did you then run a Preview? The option is applied "dynamically" when running a Preview or when Publishing. It doesn't seem to do anything if you only view in the mini-viewer. If you select the Timeline tab before ticking the box, you will see the warning that the option is in effect displayed across the top of the waveform area. Peter

OK, I'm back with an update. I have just burned a normal DVD-Video disc and played it back on TV using my Blu-ray player. I have to say that the quality, compared to what I remember from last time I tried burning a DVD - using v5.5 - is absolutely superb. I don't know how much of that quality might be attributable to the playback technology of the Blu-ray player playing a normal DVD; but I have to say, if the TV and DVD player at Killhope deliver the same kind of quality, I'll be entirely happy for the public to see my work. Congratulations to Igor for all the improvements he has incorporated into VideoBuilder's code since 5.5. regards, Peter

In my previous topic, "Which codecs to use?", the discussion arrived at something of a consensus view that, given the equipment constraints of my client, DVD-Video was my only viable choice. This morning I have opened the PTE Project and asked it to Publish a DVD-Video. VideoBuilder duly launched with my project pre-primed in the window. So far, so good. At the bottom of the screen there is a button labelled DVD 4.7 with a drop-down option that reveals two other values - 8.5 and 1.4. I tried to find out what these were about. The first thing I noticed is that there is no Help command on the VideoBuilder window. Why not? I switched back to PTE and used the Help command there to open the V7 User Guide manual. The section on using VideoBuilder to create DVD-Video (page 67) states that the three commands on the VideoBuilder window are File, Edit and Help. Right on the first two, wrong on the third! There is no Help command on the VideoBuilder window. I'm using PTE V7.0.6. Reading on through the VideoBuilder section of the manual I found a mention of the other two options for the DVD button (page 70) but it didn't tell me clearly under what circumstances I would want to change from the default of 4.7. Nor did it tell me what the consequence of changing would be. Is 8.5 going to give superior quality? Will 1.4 be poorer quality? I slowly realised that it is referring to the capacity of the physical disc - 4.7 = 4.7GB. I think it would be useful to add the "GB" text to the button. regards, Peter

Thanks for all the suggestions and comments. To all those who are recommending HD, Blu-ray, HDMI and other such routes can I stress: these are NOT options. The equipment, according to the verbal description of it that I have received, does not have those kinds of connectivity options fitted. Also, I cannot change the aspect ratio to 4:3 as many of the images rely on subject matter that would be, at least partially, cropped off. The "pseudo-animations" via quick transitions rely on the fact that these images were captured "in register" by shooting off a tripod. It seems I will have to burn to a DVD-Video disc (to PAL standards) and try that. @Tom95521, That suggestion for future proofing the DVD contents looks a good one. I'll give that a try. Peter

In my opening post I confessed that I know little about this subject. I have tried outputting DVD-Video twice in that past (back in the days of PTE v5.5 I think it was). I was appalled at the poor visual quality of the images when compared to the quality of the EXE file. If, as seems likely from the replies I've had so far, I am going to be forced down this route, the new question is: how best can I preserve as much of the image quality as possible? As I understand it, I cannot output my 1624x1080 images via PAL. Is that correct? Peter

But which Publish method do you use in PTE: HD Video, DVD-Video or AVI video file? I don't particularly want to come down to NTSC/PAL DVD-Video if I can avoid it. Unless, that is, somebody out there can tell me how to preserve all the technical quality of the images whilst taking what I see as a retrograde step.

I'm seeking advice from you experts on a subject that I confess I know little about. I am preparing a sequence for Killhope Lead Mining Museum in the north of England. Killhope is about one and three-quarter hours drive from my home; so not somewhere I can just pop into to run a quick test. They have been unable to secure funding for a PC on which to run the EXE version, and so will want to have the final form of the sequence as a video file in order to play it back on their existing DVD player and TV set combination. My question is this: is there such a thing as a "universal" video codec/audio codec that is guaranteed to work on any DVD player/TV combo? If not, what codecs are most likely to be supported. The DVD player is a Sony but I don't have any model details. I've been told it has a sticker on the back which states that it supports almost every DVD type (R, RW, +, -, etc) I have no idea what the TV is, other than it is a flat screen LCD TV. I have been told it has only RCA sockets and a yellow-multi-pin socket (S-Video?). The DVD player and TV connect via a SCART cable. The museum does not have Owner's Manuals for either piece of kit; they were both donated as working second-hand items. The sequence has been built on the original expectation of running it as an EXE and is at 3:2 aspect ratio with images sized at 1080 high. It is not a technically complex sequence. It opens with a pan across a 180 degree panoramic image. There are four instances of slow, shallow zooms and some "implied" animation that has been achieved by a combination of motor-drive still images and appropriate choices of transition effects. I would welcome all and any advice on this matter and will do my best to answer any supplemental questions which might arise. Once I get the sequence finished, as an EXE, I will post a version for all to see. regards, Peter

Because I cannot see your system, I'm trying to visualize what you have done and what is happening. You have one particular slide in your sequence on which you have added three image objects. Each of these added objects starts out at 0% opacity and at a small zoom size. Each one is then zoomed to a larger size whilst also increasing its opacity to 100%. These added images are all placed centrally on the main image and therefore each one overlays the previous one. Is that right? You simply hide each added image with the next added image? Or do you return each added image to 0% opacity before starting the animation of the next added image? Do you zoom each added image back down in size? For debugging purposes I would suggest that you copy this slide three times and set the four copies up as follows: slide 1 - delete all the added images, slide 2 - retain just one added image and delete the other two, slide 3 - retain two images, slide 4 - the slide in its present form. On which of the four slides does the problem appear? Not the first, obviously - but does that appear EXACTLY as you want it to? Does slide 2 show the problem? If so, we need to resolve the problem with just the one added image before trying to add a second and third image. What I am trying to do is solve the problem with your technique or your understanding in the simplest case, before over-complicating the scenario with extra images. regards, Peter

For that period when the introduced images are at less than 100% opacity, the background will always be somewhat visible. Is this the problem that you are describing? If not, could you try and explain more precisely what you are seeing. A screen grab would probably help.

In PTE, select one of your video clips (File List, Slide List or as object in O&A) and do Ctrl+I to get File Info. This will show you what codec is being used. My D300s shoots MJPEG AVI which PTE converts to MPEG4 AVI. Peter