DustyDesert

No, I didn't get any cool software. I bought the all in wonder back in June, 2003. I looked and don't have Pinnacle. I'm thinking about Roxio. Hasn't anyone transferred VHS to DVD? ~Cindy

I finally have a DVD burner. My concern is putting AVI shows to DVD, but I also want to convert some old VHS tapes to DVD. I have a Radeon All in Wonder card installed, but have heard there is a problem converting analog video and audio to DVD because the sound doesn't match the video perfectly well. Has anyone tried VHS to DVD conversion with the programs that are suited for the AVI to DVD conversion? Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated. ~Cindy Singleton

Hello and welcome! The way to do those tricks is in your image editing software, like Photoshop. Create your background, then place your picture where you want it there. Fade transitions are then done in PTE with the effects option. There are some tutorials on beechbrook's site that will really help speed your learning curve. ~C Singleton

Seasons Greetings all! I've been so busy with Christmas that I have not had a chance to check this forum for a few days. The kids are busy playing with their new video games and I grabbed a peaceful moment. This is a nice thread. Isn't the internet great that we can meet new friends all over the world? I've enjoyed this forum and the program. I've told people that registering PTE is like joining a family. Thank you all. I live in the USA in Idaho, the place famous for potatoes. We're in the desert where it's nice and quiet. It's been wet the last few days but not too cold. Thank you folks up north! Lumenlux, we're practically neighbors! What part of Utah are you in? ~Cindy

Aren't cats great? I enjoyed your show. We have 3 outdoor cats and they are fun to watch. Your show made me want to bring them inside! We also have birds, dogs, and horses, and there's many missed "Funniest Video" opps. One of our horses is hilarious. Same with our parrots, but they turn into statues when they see a camera. Give Louie a hug for me! ~Cindy

I agree with bb. This does makes me think of when my daughter asked a friend of hers for her soccer picture, and the girl responded she was waiting for her mom to get copies made first. I'm the one that took the pictures and had even included an easy re-order form ~Cindy

I downloaded the sample and was VERY impressed! Nice variety and the restrictions of use almost nill. I'll probably buy one or two after I'm finished spending $$$ on Christmas ...... BTW, did you do the artwork for the covers? They were beautiful. ~Cindy

I actually use several different ways to make the original selection depending on the picture - including masks - but to really polish it off, I do it by hand. I wish I were better with the easier shortcuts, but to each their own. ~Cindy

Hmm. The cleverest (or craziest) thing I think I did was sit out in the howling cold wind to take a hundred pictures of clouds and clicking the shutter every 8 seconds! I don't like the wind. I use Photoshop 7.0.1. The extraction method I use is probably the most difficult and time consuming way it can be done. I use the eraser and get in real close. If it's bold and contrasts well with the background then the extract command will work, but it usually does more than I want. Maybe other's are better with this command than I and have better luck with it. I think the most important aspect to adding a new background is the shadows and lighting, and the new object needs the edges slightly feathered, which I do with the brushes. To make the images blend in with the clouds, I desaturated those a bit to match the gray of the background. That's real noticeable in the transition of the two girls walking on the clouds then the entrance to heaven opens up, and also of the girl standing in the wind, then standing in the clouds. The simplest blending trick was to use the "overlay" blending option, and maybe reduce the opacity. That really made them blend into the clouds and made it believable. ~Cindy

I think (hope) I got it right this time. After making about every mistake in the book, I've paid close attention and took notes and totally re-did my show. Thanks for the advice, patience, tutorials, and inspirational shows you've all done! The final exe file was saved using the new beta version. I can't wait to use the rest of the features. I love PTE! Oh, it's called "Dancing Dreams" and is on Beechbrook as of right now. My computer did mess up the first time after all. ~Cindy

Yeah, it did go black, not what I expected. So that was a good sign? I'll wait. I did send an email. ~Cindy

Hmm. I didn't get a screen that said it was successful, so I'll wait till this evening and see what happens then. Thanks. ~Cindy

How long does it generally take before a show is posted after it's uploaded? I uploaded a show about 6 hours ago and I'm not sure it was successful because my computer had a stroke towards the end and froze up. I emailed but haven't heard back. Is it an automatic post? Just wondering if I should try again or just wait. ~Cindy

There's a "+" and "-" feature that is needed to play the burned DVD on most players. This is what the sales guy was telling me when I was shopping for a DVD burner recently. The burners that had both were quite a bit more. That might not be much help and I'm sure someone will have more information for you shortly. ~Cindy

I've been struggling with this issue myself as I am working on a new slide show to offer on my website. Even though it will be free, and mostly for entertainment, I've had a very difficult time finding music. I pulled my last show because I was nervous about the music and the traffic it was getting. I've approached several musicians, and not the big names either, and prices range from $50-250. The $250 was for a 10 year old track of drum music! Not mainstream. I considered the $50, but it was not exactly what I was looking for. Greed is an ugly monster and it's sad. Seems like some of these musicians would jump at the chance of more exposure with the exchange of being given credit and a link or something. I'm sure that in the cities one could find struggling yet talented musicians (of which there are MANY) that might jump at such a chance. After all, it would be free advertising. Something about copyright law that hasn't been mentioned. When you file a copyright, which I have done in the past, it does NOT mean that you own the copyright no matter what. If someone happened to file one like yours, but filed it BEFORE you, and if an issue ever arose over it, they win. The only way around this is to hire a "coypright lawyer" or you can visit the library in Washington D.C. and search for yourself. All an official copyright means is that it's on record. I don't know how this law compares with countries other than the U.S.A., but it is probably similar. There is such thing as "royalty free", but it involves an official declaration which puts it into the public domain. Once there, nobody can copyright it ever. Classical and folk music is an example. Fortunately, titles can't be copyrighted at all, only trade marked. ~Cindy

Interesting. Thank you! I learned a lot from your tutorial. That was great of you to do! ~Cindy

I'm finally re-doing my slide show. There's only one (I hope) question this time around, and that's on the smoothing line. The default is 40, Al's tutorial said 20-40 is good. My transitions are better this time, 3 second fading effects, 1 whole second between transitions, with medium contrast between frames. No more black! Should I go with 20 or leave it at 40? I don't notice much difference on my machine and would like it to work on older systems, too, without the jerkiness. I guess I could just transfer it to my old system, but thought I'd just ask what you guys (and gals) use first. Thanks, ~Cindy

I agree! This is a great program and the support and kindness I've received from this forum have been amazing. Thank you all. ~Cindy

Jim's right. I do a LOT of printing, and scanning at 300 dpi is plenty for a re-print of the same size. If there's will be any enlarging done, then scanning at a higher resolution is good. Saving as a tiff first, then resizing and saving as a jpeg is good, too. Keep in mind that for the people that you give this to, if they want to take it to some place like Walmart to get prints, their machine probably won't recognize anything but jpeg, rgb files. But if there's no compression loss, they will get good prints at the highest resolution jpeg setting. If I were you I'd offer them the slide show, then each image as a low res jpeg (100-200 kb; same as what you used for the show) and a high res jpeg. Much easier for the average person to deal with and then they also have something to email or post on the web. ~Cindy

Why not put it on a VHS tape for granny? ~Cindy

I do all my graphics work on a different computer (big and bad!) that is NOT connected to the internet (and never will be!). Just go to your download folder, transfer the file to a disk, and move it. I didn't have any problems and it moved fine. Yes, it is a great program and getting better all the time! ~Cindy

Thanks, Ken, and I changed the free demo sign, you can't miss it now! I'll be re-doing the show so it will play smooth on more systems, but it has to wait for now. I'll leave it there until then since it does play smoothly on many systems. ~Cindy

Thanks, Bill! Your post should be part of a manual for PTE! Very infomative. I will be re-doing my show completely over the next couple of weeks when I can find the time. I have some graphics ideas I'm anxious to try and will make those transition and contrast changes, also. ~Cindy

Thank you so much! I just got up to my ears in some custom work, but as soon as I'm done I'll RE-DO my show from scratch. I used black for my frames between the pictures, which is the MOST contrast I could have picked, and I had the transition time on the custom synchro at 2 seconds! The shows that seem to have smoother fades on my old CPU seem to be at about 5 seconds. Is that correct? I'm referring to Black Country, Life is Life, Olga Photographer, and Southern Autumn. Thanks, Bob, I'm looking forward to viewing your show! I'd never been to Beechbrook before the other day and have really been enjoying viewing the shows there. It's been very enlightening to see what the possibilities are for PTE! I can't wait to get back to my demo show! ~Cindy

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- how big the show - 3.7 MB # of slides - 41 size of average slide - 40 kb type of music etc - mp3 then also describe your system - Intel Celeron Processor, 128 MB RAM, Windows 98 (and was new 5 years ago!) The show has all fades, and I think it probably works fine on most systems including the one I created it on, but my internet computer, the one described above, plays the music fine, transitions are on key, but there's a shimmy in the fading in and out that I don't like. The show I referred to did not shimmy on the transitions on the very same system I described. I posted my show I'm concerned with in another post, but here it is again http://daydreamsart.com/daydreamsdemo.zip ~Cindy