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Almark

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Posts posted by Almark

  1. Thank you all for the feedback. I look back on some of my first attempts in AV (2006), in ProShow and PTE, that were prepared at 1024x768. Because of a lack of discipline and management I find that cannot find ;-) the pte file, or if I do, the images can't be found (due to computer changes / hard disk upgrades and so on.)

    We all learn from experience. For anyone interested, I now use an external esata 1TB for my photos and av's, and movies. I use Capture NX2 for all my adjustments, and will sometimes use Photoshop for edits, and Lightroom for management. Having the lightroom cat on an external HD means I can use my laptop when not at at my main 'puter.

  2. While many folk use the 16:9 ratio (1920x1080, which is TV and projector Full HD), many are now using 16:10 ratio (computer monitor).

    As most modern (12Mp)cameras can now capture around 4000x3000 pixels, it really seems foolish to crop/resize to less than half that. Therefore; in order to future proof AV's, may I suggest that it be a much better approach to double the pixel size. Examples - 16:9 from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, or 16:10 from 1920x1200 to 3840 x2400.

    For users with really big (pixel) size images,(eg Canon 5D Mk2, Nikon DX3) it might be better to triple the pixel size and keep the 16:10 ratio, (5760x3600).

    I am, of course, fully aware that such an approach will increase the exe file size. But as high speed broadband is now almost the norm, AV workers may want to consider this "suggested approach".

    I welcome your thoughts and comments...

  3. Andrew, may I offer some feedback?

    I know you placed a warning notice about if you have strong political /religious views, but I have neither. What I do have is local knowledge and I think it is right and proper to offer you some detailed information, (which you may wish to include in your AV). I was born in Belfast in 1959; and as a teenager lived I through some of the worst times of the 'troubles' of Northern Ireland. I worked for 30 years throughout NI and during that time I had many work colleagues / relatives killed, maimed and very seriously injured as a result of terrorism*. I am now retired and still live in Belfast. So I think I have a very solid foundation to offer you feedback.

    This AV is worthy for historical reasons, as it clearly illustrates the differences between the two tribes, when times were very bad. Almost all of the murals (you have shown) have been replaced with more community based historical events, like the launching of the Titanic an so on. The money for these new murals came from Government in the form of community based grants.

    Why? Simply because the (old) murals celebrated people and organisations that were involved in terrorism: murder, extortion, punishment beatings (a bullet through the knee if you were lucky, a Black and Decker drill through the knee if you weren't.) It was a blanket form of social oppression and intimidation. These murals offered a reminder to the locals (brainwashing) of what they should be thinking. Despite the fact that the thugs and murderers had only a few people actively supporting them, these murals were designed to keep the ordinary decent folk in their box! Clearly; who would complain about the side of their house being painted over when the organisation behind it, could have you shot if you said anything!

    As a Belfast resident and keen amateur photographer, I never was tempted to photograph these murals. To me, and many other NI photographers, they were a shrine to murder, death and destruction and therefore should not be reproduced/supported in any way. However; many visitors, especially those from the Republic of Ireland and the US, were able to see things in the way you did, that locals like me didn't!

    *Terrorism: I mentioned this earlier, and I must stress that all organisations behind most of the murals (purporting to represent 'their' community) were fronts for terrorists/murderers. Just to make it very clear, the so called 'Loyalist' and 'Republican' murals both celebrated dominance and the suppression of 'the other side' by force, by way of threats of murder. BTW: The penny finally dropped after 9/11 when the US suddenly realised what 'terrorism' actually meant. (That so called Irish freedom fighters were actually terrorists/murderers, and as a result the public funding of such org's dried up. This was one of the many pieces of the jigsaw that created peace in Northern Ireland.)

    I hope and trust that you accept this info as unbiased and accurate.

  4. Andrew, it's all in the coding...

    Peter, please remember that this was done ten years ago, when really big monitors were only 800 pixels wide, most were just 640. The purpose of the 'Product' was to illustrate to the gaming software companies, that an 'engine' could be the starting point for their future gaming products. It was most successful, Doom, Quake and many others used the 'engine'. Of course it has been super-ceeded many, many times since then.

    Just a trip down memory lane... But still in 2010, this mere 64k exe is impressive. I liked the fades and leaps of perspective to the music.

  5. Hi guys, please forgive me for posting this here. It is not a PTE production. But I suspect it might be of interest to PTE workers. Almost 2GB compressed in to just 64k. (That's right 64k, not 64MB) It is an exe, and runs for 15 mins in total. Please note how the soundtrack, beats to the images, the fade ins and outs.

    Download should be almost instantaneous, as it is only 64k - here

    Clearly this is very dated, ten years old, but it was the engine that went on to become 'DOOM' and 'Quake' and basis for almost all modern games.

  6. I am disappointed to see that what I thought were my 'lifetime' upgrades to PTE have stopped. While I am offered updates to the standard package, my 'deluxe' version ended on 30.10.10. So; while I admit I do not use the 'deluxe' features much, if at all, I wonder if I should update my current settings.

  7. Thanks Ken, sadly my original pte and soundtrack were on my stolen laptop. So I have been trying to rebuild them. I think I have failed and will have to do the recordings again. Also the blends that worked in 3:2 ratio didn't work at 16:9, again more re work is required. But I am not upset, it is a welcome learning curve.

  8. Bryce Canyon:

    Hoodoos - grotesque, eerie and often whimsical... are on display here, along with ancient trees and scenic views from the rim.

    Famous for its unique geology of red rock spires and horseshoe-shaped amphitheatres, Bryce offers the visitor a "Far View" from the eastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau in southern Utah.

    I live in Belfast, Ireland, and my house is just 355ft above sea level. I found that walking down into Bryce canyon, at 10,000 ft, meant that I had to allow twice the time to walk back up again! It took my breath away in more ways than one! A stunning part of world.

    Download here

  9. Thanks everyone for the feedback. The AV is only 4 mins long, so I will use this as my introduction. Thanks Barry for the tip about another one at the end, I will have to think about this. Maybe thanking them for their attention and maybe they might want to invite me back to talk about Yellowstone in Winter.

    BTW this is not a commercial venture, I do these talks for free.

  10. After a recent RPS AV (Ireland) group meeting, I learned a lot. I have always been a fade in fade out sort of guy. I will probably remain so, as it suits what I like to do. But at the recent RPS AV (Ireland) group meeting, I learned some stuff. One of the things I missed from ProShw was the simple 100% to 105% zoom, so easy to do in Pro show and I never was able to work it out in PTE. A big thanks to Raymond, who showed how it is done. (I know i could have read the manual!)

    The other bit was creating some text in Photoshop, discarding the background - so that it is transparent - and then saving as a ping, or png. This image can then be added (with objects and animation) - Again thanks to Raymond.

    So the next step is to re record the small narration parts and add them as tracks with PTE 6.5. Again a technique demonstrated by Raymond.

    http://www.markallenphotography.co.uk/markallenphotography_galleries/newnorway.exe

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