coopernatural

BB, It’s important for me to state that this was just my take/ideas on things. I don’t want you to take your eye off the ball.It’s not for me to say what will or won’t work. With Youtube there will be videos,so a photo AV will have to be pretty punchy/standout,to compete. If you get caught up with too much text......well it’s the exit to next show button. I often build an AV around the soundtrack.I would say that music is the most important thing here initially. Effects less so,as a lot will be wasted/lost in translation to this format. You will need to use more images I think to keep peeps away from the esc button. Use whatever advertising/promo technique you think will work best,but keep it simple. For expert advice on how to’s I would point you first to the experts like Lin. Lin recently made available FOC his PTE tutorial,so if you haven’t already,download it. For the show I posted,it was a total remake,as I did not want to use any of the original images a friend had sent to me from Burning Man. I have never been there myself and so trolled the archives for images from over the years.Sets from the likes of David Best are just amazing. The vibe is a bit more Chill with this.Probably a bit boring by Youtube standards. The young guy in the AV was an image in PS and a fade to a Corel Painter 11 painted version. The balloons are probably done a bit crudely,but I was just trying my hand at a bit of animation. The rotations,I liked as they gave a 3D effect to the images. These and other pics can be downloaded from Google,but it’s down to what you want to use or do. Just give me a shout If I can help, but seek out the experts here first. I might be one of the best set builders in the world, but PTE tutorials is a whole different ball game. Davy

BB, I’ve made a couple of Burning Man AV’s and put one up here a while back. The other,I wouldn’t post here,as the naked dildo fencing scenes, might leave some more than puzzled. My take on your AV (so far) is very good.Don’t know how or if you want to develop it more in relation to the full thing. As you say this is an intro, but 1 dictates the other. If Youtube is where you want to target for your promo then that is a different audience from here. Quality of Youtube for viewing a photo AV sucks, and for here,an exe will show things off better. An AV If it’s overly wordy,may lose impact/interest.There is a 16 sec intro to build things up,using edited text, or combine with spoken word.Spoken word,if you want,could be given a treatment. Useable space still remains inside images,so maybe after your intro time you could confine text to 1 or maybe 2 ‘impact/resonating words’. There is a tribal vibe to the music,so maybe try an emphasis with a word on each selected (say 4th ,6th whatever) downbeat. Maybe try varying the Position/persistence of words on screen. While music is in the tribal vibe,a neat effect is to introduce a short break to an ‘image per beat’ set, of the same peeps dancing. It’s a suck it and see thing.Might help/work and might not.It is easy to try out a few things though. Maybe troll some vids on Youtube and see what is missing from them,or what you would like to try. Good luck with the AV and application for a Village. Code gets stricter every year. Davy.

Danger of the proposed higher res AV future proofing, is that it might become subject to some last minute government,luxury pixel import tax,or something. Anyway,future proofing just isn’t as good as it used to be in the past. Presently I commit all my surplus pixels to a special e-bin.Every 2 weeks a large e-van arrives and empties it. They take the waste pixels away for recycling onto the ProShow forum.Apparently they can’t get enough of them. It might be wrong of me,but I get a nice warm feeling with that. Davy

Colin, Of course it’s not the first time an AV has had naked ladies. We did have the risqué AV about Amsterdam,that featured Bill Clinton in a cameo role. It had a Peep Show,Massage Parlour and naked dancing girls.There were also some drugs thrown in as well for effect.It featured on Beechbrook,of all places. Back to your AV and just my take on it.I liked the concept,but some of the mechanics of it didn’t work for me. Same girl pic in 1st and 2nd frame but image jumps to fill the vacant space left by the removal of text. Text type font is a little on the ‘Roll UP, Roll UP’ side. Rotating spiral was maybe too fast/not needed. It also revealed to be a rotating rectangle. Taking away the moving spiral may have left the show feeling static though. Maybe develop the the girls appearing gradually through gradual blending/fading between backgrounds. Maybe some subtle zooms. I have seen 3 of these girl pics via Google Images (by mistake). Middle pic of the 3 girls (Angie) features on the 4th page of July 2009 ‘What Streetwalker Monthly’. Interesting article about her giving up naked Ice Skating.Something to do with the embarrassment of falls and suction. There is at least one hi res pic (Google images)of the tattooed girl on the left,for a standout shot. I would have avoided repeating model shots,except for different poses. Music starts ok, but the piano playing is a tad ‘clanky’,or heavy handed for me. So,a few things I would have changed,but that’s just my take and it’s not my AV. Thanks to you for paving the way. I can now get to work on my ‘Vestal Virgins of Rome’ AV. Just have to remove the original title. ‘Streetwalker Vixens’. Thanks for this, Davy PS for Patrick. 'Naughty boy, get to the back of the Maginot Line'.

This could only have been made by David P. The soundtrack and effects worked a treat. The rising Cathedral canvas pic was clever. I would have liked to see a couple more special effects like this else ware to add to the abstract soundtrack. Maybe just a couple of close ups like the clock face, signs etc. A small blip in picture format size on one of the river shots. Liked this and have watched it a few times already. Davy

I preferred the one where you walked on the surface of Wallaby Crap Creek and rescued a drunken Aborigine from drowning. At least the visions are returning.Just hope it’s not a sign that the end is near. You would surely be missed on Wallaby Crap Creek. How’s things going on that forum anyway? I heard that the vultures were starting to circle. Only thing holding them off,was the rustle of tumbleweeds.

Snapcam, The folks here in Sleepy Hollow would fall asleep for good, if not for opinions and feedback. Some take neg comments really bad though. It's like chucking a spanner into a well oiled machine. Keep it coming. Davy

Snapcam, It’s a simple AV,with sadness as the theme.Deliberately made with no linear storyboard,or direction. It is a diverse collection of images arranged,in what I thought was a definite structure. The must have a,’beginning,middle and end’forms part of the archaic and formulaic mantra preached by the‘Hector Heathcoat brigade’of Photo societies. I could care less about that nonsense. The rather,‘Art House‘,‘Feeling connected with your work’comment was amusing, but maybe wasted,on a ‘Tea and Biscuits’ forum. I do appreciate you taking the time to watch and give your opinions. Thank You. Davy P.s. I did wait a while in case someone did answer your rhetorical question, ’Am I the one to say the King has no Clothes?..........Well actually, Yes.

Jose, Well done with your refined and elegant response. Showing excellent good taste,that rather than eat a Yorkshire Pudding,you choose to leave it at the side of your plate. Too bad we may have lost a 2006 member.Maybe Magix have put a few 'sleepers' into the forum. Davy

Hi Mick, You should be plesed with this alright. I don't download every AV,but this was well worth it. Music worked for me. Well done. Davy

Jose, We got you noticed, which is something in itself. I look forward to being proved wrong. Whether success is 100% or not, we will see. It may be that success is conditional. Thanks to Potwnc for taking up your plight. Davy

Hi Jose, Never thought I would download/watch an AV of this size/length. Glad I did though.Very clever and well executed. The use of sound was excellent and made this nostalgic voyage all the more enjoyable. Well done, Davy

Jose, Its’ shameful that you have been ignored.Neither a knowledgeable moderator, or even Igor, have attempted to answer to your question. Maybe you have highlighted an Achillies Heel in PTE/Videobuilder. That no amount of Bitrate/codec tweaking will bring you exe quality Bluray discs. The settings are just a smokescreen. PTE exe file quality trounces Proshow etc., but is it lacking with regards to MP4/AVI output? AVCHD/Bluray disc burning is common enough on other Slideshow software now (Even free ones). As a feature set, Videobuilder is sadly lacking this capability. Is it because it is lacking? With the exception of new PTE customers, and wrong as it may seem, it is those subscribing to Videobuilder who are sponsoring PTE. Perhaps I am wrong here and there is a way to burn a Bluray disc that is as good as the exe file. I will be pleased if I am wrong,but regardless, your question should be answered. Davy

Hi David, Very kind of you to include this with AVs that made it to your favs list. Thanks, Davy

Hi George, Glad it had the desired effect on you. I'm all for quality and even though higher quality will equate to higher quantity (file size), in this case, the >20 mb was just a little attempted humour from earlier in this thread. I had a quick peek at your web site and was strangly drawn to your animated video. Nice one. The best back at you. Davy

I am not sure that a piece of Wallaby crap, (no matter how well photographed to a very high standard ) could be described as dramatic. It’s just crap, even with a threatening rain cloud. If I go along with your definition of 'dramatic' though, I still can’t accept that you are just a run of the mill type. I have downloaded a few of your shows that I thought were very good and I told you so at the time. Some excellent images and treatments. Really clever stuff and bar a few below par efforts, generally above run of the mill. You could, I suppose, consider them to have 'dramatic' content. That I don’t consider the content as 'dramatic' is only down to my definition and no failing on your part. I don’t have anything dramatic under any definition. I’m just a run of the mill type.

Barry, The UK has been going through some Arctic like, ‘not so good’ weather for a while now. Sub zero temps, with snow, ice and even a water shortage here through burst pipes. After this cold snap ends I will venture forth, unless it’s chucking it down with rain as it often does here. A good day for me then, is the opposite of the above. Now, how would you define ‘Dramatic images’ in your terms? and do you have any? Davy

In my case, not so good weather is a guarantee that I won’t be out taking any photos, be they good,bad,or indifferent. Good images are no guarantee of a good AV. Dramatic images mean different things to different people, but regardless of definition and their extreme rarity, I have never seen a dramatic AV, unless somebody here has been holding out.

Thanks Daniel, I do a fair ammount of AV's that use images that I have no way of getting, other than by downloading. As soon as the good weather comes,I will be out with a real camera instead of a virtual one. Some excellent AVs on your website.Keep up the good work. Davy

Barry, I’m with you on that. It’s all too easy to assume that somebody is getting what you are typing. Not too comfortable with all these freakin Emoticon thingees either. I only have about 7 emotions and only 3 of them are listed here. I suppose I ought to post a 19.999mb AV in mono, 5:4 format as punishment. Greg, Thanks for watching and commenting. Most of all, thanks for asking Barry That question. Davy

Barry, It was a little attempt at humour,not a serious statement Who would the >20 meg filter out? Only your biggest 5:4 fan. Doh!

Hubert, Thanks for watching and your comments. I was not sure how this would turn out. Making people think about the subject and images is what I wanted. Glad that it worked for you. Davy

Daniel, Another impressive show. Capturing everything perfectly. Music was great and worked so well, just like the man behind the lens. Bravo. Davy

Hubert, I liked this.I was thinking if I had been there with a camera I would have missed what you captured. The treatment to some images won't suit some folks,but I do like the perspective and think it added to your show. Well done and look forward to more from you. Davy

Rick and Colin, Thanks for watching, comparing and feedback. Rick the black and white works better for me too. Lends itself to the mood/theme. Had a difficult time finding images for this, which was surprising. Colin, yes the little girl sitting at the end of the line photo could be the cover of a book. There’s a whole story in that Picture. Davy