dabbler

dave, sorry to trouble once again but would you recommend a program like this one? http://www.hide-ip-soft.com/ or do you think it's unnecessary? or perhaps you'd recommend another program? thanks!

just a small note Maureen; after reading your post, i clicked on your links and it appears that the bottom link www.digital-av.co.uk resource information for digital AV isn't working; i'm sure the fix will be simple but i thought i'd mention it since i'm sure you'll want others to visit that website. best wishes, dabbler

got it; thank you!

very nicely done. i like it a lot. as a newbie, it's very helpful to see examples of what can be done. question: regarding the background narration, did you first complete the visual portion and then let it play and record your narration as the slideshow was in motion? OR did you record a lot of little clips and insert them where you wanted them to play? do you have a particular recommendation as to which may be better/easier? i haven't tried putting in a background narration or commentary like you did so i'm just wondering what would be the most effective way to do it. thank you also for the tip regarding .wav vs. mp3 and the use of audacity (i use that, too). i'm pretty sick with a cold but i did want to say how much i enjoyed watching it. the images are wonderfully sharp and clear.

To everyone here who helped: a great big THANK YOU! Just wanted to let you know that the final DVD gift was warmly received by the parents at my daughter's preschool. As you can imagine, they're not interested in being harsh critics; they LOVE their kids and appreciate seeing pictures and videos of their little one. I happily agreed to help my daughter's preschool teacher put together a DVD and I didn't realize that it would turn out to be as challenging as it was. Thanks to your help, it was completed and it works and the parents are very happy. In case anyone out there has ideas of a similar project, I'd say 'go for it!' It will take a lot of time but the final product makes it all worth while. Ingredients * blank DVD cases * a program like photoshop to create an insert for the DVD (they usually have a clear plastic cover and you just need to slip the insert under the plastic. * in my case, i designed everything in photoshop (make sure the print size (not image size) is something like 300 dpi, 10.75 x 7.25 inches and then took it to kinkos. after they printed it (about $2 per sheet, glossy paper), i used their on-site cutter to make straight cuts. (i could never do it with a regular pair of sissors.) * blank dvds (i didn't have the time to create stick on labels for the dvds so i just bought a pack of verbatim digital movie dvd+r; they already have the look of a film roll already printed onto the dvds.) * my daughter's preschool teacher hand made little messages which she placed inside of the case where one usually finds some kind of printed material with info on the dvd finally, to mr. richards, a lot could be said but i'll just say this: i came to this forum as an unknown guest with a problem. what did i get? i got advice, suggestions, help and encouragement from people who were not required to help me in any way. i sometimes check the dpreview site and i've often read posts by lin evans. in the years i've been reading and posting there, i don't recall a time when i thought to myself that he was off target or misrepresenting the facts or pushing an agenda. i only recently learned about pte and this forum and i was very thankful when lin took the time to help out a total newbie. what can i say? based on what i've seen and read, lin gets my vote of confidence. ps: i apologize for not posting this follow up message sooner but i immediately got sick as soon as this project was completed! i'd been up all night the day before it was due and my body just had enough juice to keep me going till it was done and then WHAM! i'm down with a cold! i'm feeling better but it'll take a few more days for my body to recover. ps: did i say THANK YOU?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

thanks for the link; i've never been to that site but it gave me an opportunity to check my computer's vulnerability and i was very pleased with the results. i guess my comodo program and avg are doing their jobs; no exposed ports, etc. you guys definitely provide a wealth of information. thank you very much! quick edit: my ip address showed up (i'm not surprised) but is that something i should try to hide? if so, what program would you recommend? thank you.

i agree. the comments above definitely helped me with this project. fyi, the project turned out great. i did use PTE to create 3 slide shows and then VideoBuilder to export 3 mpeg2 files. i later used adobe encore to assemble the pieces into a dvd that plays in standard dvd players hooked up to TVs. since my daughter's preschool teacher will want to create another dvd project sometime next summer, i have some time now to learn more about PTE/VBuilder. knowing a program's strengths and weaknesses will help me to decide which tools to use for that upcoming project. for this past project, the programs included: photoshop for editing images, audacity for editing sound, premeire for editng video, pte for creating slideshows, videobuilder for outputting mpeg2 video files, acdsee for viewing images, and encore for assembling the various parts into one dvd. since this was my first dvd project, i'll say that i was definitely learning as i was doing. certainly not the preferred way to go about it. i'll also say that i was being unnecessarily fussy about certain things. i could have saved a lot of time if i had had more realistic expectations. i just wanted the final product to be good for the teacher's sake. things to learn: a lot! * i need to better understand the differences between .avi files and .mpeg2 files. * i need to learn the strengths and weaknesses of PTE * i need to learn the differences between PTE and ProShow Gold * i need to understand what PTE's .exe files are and why they supposedly produce images that are better on computer screens. * i need to understand what the differences are between viewing video & slideshows on a computer screen and a tv monitor * i need to understand what HD TVs are * i'd like to experiment with creating animation using Flash and seeing if it can produce usable .mpeg files for dvd projects * i need to understand what objects are in PTE and what kinds of animation one can achieve with PTE etc, etc, etc! and that's just off the top of my head! got about 1 hour of sleep last night, then a nap of about 2.5 hours in the afternoon so i'm still a bit dizzy. will have a good long sleep tonight. thanks to those who provided suggestions and ideas! i look forward to learning more

thank you, lin. you're very probably right. i'm so sleep deprived now that there's a good chance i'll mess things up and then i'll really be stuck. yes, i look forward to learning how to use PTE/VideoBuilder. as you say, i'm sure it's a powerful program. i definitely need to learn what its strengths are and how to match those qualities with whatever project comes along. that is, using the tool that best suits the need vs using a hammer no matter what! off i go! did i say thank you?!?

hi lin, yes, you're right on the money; in this case, the DVD will be played most probably on dvd players connected to a TV. keep in mind that this will be a gift to parents of kids (3 - 4 yrs old) so some of them may play it on their computers, tho i suspect most parents will view it on a tv. yes, i have movie clips that were digitized from a digital camcorder so it is a mixed bag. if i use VideoBuilder, i hope it'll be able to play those video clips. i'm a little concered and unsure about your statement that "The only way you can mix movie formats and PTE output in PTE is via Video Builder and not as a contiguous show. That is it would be broken into the PTE part then the movie part, etc." important: i'd like the dvd to play like any store bought dvd: insert, up comes a menu with options, click whichever option and view the contents (slideshow or video clip). end of slideshow or clip? go back to main menu so the user can make another choice. i assumed PTE/VideoBuilder can do this but is that true? if not, i really have no choice but to output mpeg2 files for each of the slide shows and then use encore to put all the pieces together as a cohesive piece. thank you again for your help with this matter. it's now about 2 pm and i probably won't sleep at all tonight working on this. sigh..... ! * edit: just thought of a naive question: can PTE/VideoBuilder output DVD files for play on a dvd player connected to a TV AND an .EXE file to play on a PC? if so, that would be a wonderful advantage.

lin, thank you very much for your comments. at the very least, it puts to rest my anxiety over what i may have done wrong to create a lower quality output. my brain is so fried at this time and i'm so sleep deprived that i cannot think straight! after i type this, i reread and consider more what you've written. if i understood you correctly, what i should do if i want the best possible image quality is use PTE to do everything vs use encore or some other program. hmmmmm. i'll have to weigh the pros and cons of going with what i'm familiar with and accepting a lower image quality vs going with something new and getting a better image quality AND consider that this project is due tomorrow! finally, while i have the chance, i'd like to say thank you for creating so many wonderful examples of what PTE can do and for your many insghtful posts at the drpreview site.

wait! i see. i'm trying something now. will write again soon. okay, i exported to my hard drive as mpeg2 but the quality of the images don't appear to match the quality of the images when i test it as .pte files. i set everything i can to max out the quality but the resulting .mpeg2 files do not seem to be quite as good. any ideas? and of course, thank you very much for helping me to get this far! ------------------- thank you very much for replying so quickly. i would love to do what you suggest, however, i cannot find any way of saving or exporting my project as an MPEG2 file. even after looking at the manual, i do not see any reference to being able to do that. i followed the directions page by page and it does not anywhere appear to say anything about exporting as an mpeg2 file. it would be absolutely wonderful if i could, but i don't see how. would you give me brief steps in how this is achieved? i believe i have the deluxe edition and i got to the video builder screen as depicted in the manual but i couldn't go beyond that. unfortunately, it's already 3:30 am where i am and i'm dead tired and quite disappointed. i'll probably check again in a few minutes but if i don't see a reply, it's just because i'm exhausted and will check my email in the morning. thank you again for your help. if i could export my projects as self contained mpeg2 files, the rest would be easy as i'm more familiar with encore than with PTE...

forgive me but i'm now in panic mode! i've worked for hours in creating various pte files assuming that i could use PTE to export my work into .avi files which i would then use as distinct pieces in adobe encore. that is, i would use adobe encore to bring all of those pieces together. encore would create a simple menu and link to each separate slide show. however, when i tried for the first time to export to .avi, it appears that i need to burn a DVD just to store the file, otherwise when i click finish, it would delete the created .avi file. at the moment, this is what appears to be the case and i'm writing to see if i'm mistaken. i have yet to burn dvds just to save the .avi files but perhaps that is the only way to preserve them. this seems to me to be very strange and an unfortunate use of dvds. it would at least seem logical to give the user the option of saving or deleting the files after they had been created. i've looked through the manual but i have not found a section that particularly addresses my question. i'm in a panic mode because i've got till thursday morning to complete this project and it's already early wednesday morning. i do hope someone will have a clear and simple answer to my question. thank you very much for considering this question.

yup, you're right. i have it but hadn't gotten to that section. will do.

terrific! i hope you add more in the near future.

thank you. you guys are so helpful and nice! picture me slapping my forehead. i was wondering what that meant! sorry, but i don't think it's so intuitive.... or i could just be slow! two drop down menus; i never thought that they represented the left and right mouse clicks! ugh. thank you for that very valuable piece of info! if it works, it should do the trick. since my ultimate goal is to make various .avi files and then use encore to assemble a dvd for use in dvd players/tv, it shouldn't matter that i set those mouse commands. of course, if it is an issue, i guess i could easily change those settings. do you use PTE to create a DVD with various "parts" or links? i'm not even sure if it's possible. i mean, i know it can make a single dvd slideshow but what i have in mind for my daughter's preschool teacher is a DVD like one you'd rent from some place like blockbusters, with a main menu and several link/options. if PTE can do that easily, i'll seriously consider doing it that way. thanks again for the help! (ps: it's 1:30 am my time now so i'll have to really test the mouse command idea later.)

shesh! i just wrote a longish reply only to hit add reply and get an error message! i'm cursed! to make a long story short: * i use version 5 on windows xp pro * i like the idea of testing the esc key on a very short slide show * on my second try, i may have messed things up by trying to toy with the menu, keyboard options. i'll give it another try tonight and let you know how things went. thank you.

thanks for taking the time to reply. really? i tried the esc key many times without any success. i finally gave up and just turned off the power! i know it isn't recommended but i wasn't going to sit and wait for 35 minutes! maybe i'll take a chance and try it again later. thanks for the second tip: that makes sense and i wondered if that was possible because it definitely isn't efficient to have to always start from slide one! thanks for the help!

i'm helping my daughter's teacher by creating a slideshow for her and this one part has something like 550 pictures. synched with the songs of her choice, the length of the slideshow is about 34 minutes long, so here's my problem. when i click preview, i don't see how i can end the preview and get back to editing/work mode. i hope i'm just being blind to some easy way of doing it cuz i'd hate to think that i'll have to wait 34 minutes before i can finally get back to making changes. thanks for any info you can send my way so that i won't be a grandfather before i get this project done!

awesome pictures. i read some of your comments over at dpreview and so i thought i'd check out picturestoexe. your samples are great. i hope to learn a few things by reading and seeing some very good examples by people like you. thanks.