Barry Beckham

Xaver Because comments help you to learn and improve. You don't have take any notice of what people say if you don't want to, but after a while when many people say the same thing, it can help to point you in the right direction. That is the basis of Camera clubs in the UK and whatever you feel about photographic competitions or AV competitions, they work. Human beings are competitive, even those who say they only enter a competition to take part. The competitive spirit drives us to suceed, learn and get better at what we do. You don't have to ask for comments at all, but if it helps those who are unsure whether they should or shouldn't comment, then why not

Xaver No, it's not fishing for compliments. When we are doing creative work, wheather that is creating images in Photoshop or slide shows there is an invisible mist that comes down and dulls our sences. Its not unique to digital and those of us who worked in the darkroom suffered it too. This invisible mist prevents us from seeing the most obvious mistakes sometimes and it often needs a fresh eye to do that. Even someone who does not have any skills at all in how to put together an AV has an opinion and it will be valid. There is a difference between right and wrong and personal preference so when the author does receive a comment on their slide show its up to them to decide if the person making the comment has a point. We don't have to react to the comment if we feel it is wrong, but often someone unconnected with our sequence will spot something useful. Comment from others, no matter what your skill level is useful as long as it is constructive and said for the right reasons.

Yes, we are a bit more expensive, unfortunately we must charge VAT or the UK taxman gets cross. We also provide the software on CD by post which does cost more than a download. Our CD does include full slide shows, demos slide shows and videos on the disk and many people like to have a disk rather than a download. I am sure the PTE server is OK, I can't see Igor allowing it to be not accessable for this amount of time. Try again

PTE will not work in a Mac, but that option is being worked on as we speak. I suspect it will be some time before that happens. In the meantime, you could buy a PC

Get PTE5 on CD here http://www.beckhamdigital.co.uk/digitalav/pte/pte.htm

Try a search for a conversion program on the net, if you don't already have one you can try

I think this sequence has quite a lot going for it, particularly if you like history and the snippits of information added to the sequence. I think the information needs to remain on screen long enough for viewers to read it, but then the images and the show would grind to a stop. Using different images and transparent text you could have 3-4 background shots changing while we read the informtion or better still add the info as a commentary. I agree that some that the images need a little more impact and when you start your show with an image, it has to be a good one. That first image isn't sharp and you know what they say about first impressions? I thought the music worked well, but there are probably better alternatives out there. Again it depends on whether this was aimed for those interested in the Bike trip or American history. The sequence for me was not the bike trip at all, but the history, which really comes back to the question someone alse asked. Who was this made for and for what purpose. It seems to try and sit between the two and concentrating more on the history of the soldiers and Indians was more appealing to me. However, that could be because I am in the UK and this type of history is all new to me. Those who live in the USA, may not be so interested in the history angle.

I can't believe how much of a pain this has been with AVG and I am glad its resolved. I wonder what AVG will pick up next time. First it was PTE files, then Multi Media Builder menus. I uninstalled AVG and went for another free virus protection that is said to have beaten AVG in tests. Anyone interested try Avast, its working great for me. It doesn't do an automatic scan, but I am not sure that is essential as it catches everything when it comes in and automatic scans can be a pain. Better to set one going when you don't need the PC for an hour. http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

I don't think this should come as much of a surprise to anyone. I would suspect that most people visiting this site see the regular members as experts and they will not feel they have the knowledge, skill or experience to be able to make a construtive comment on the work and they are more likely to say nothing. I suspect also that some senior members see some slide shows where finding something positive to say before offering advice is difficult. What do you do, tell a white lie, be honest and perhaps offend, or say nothing. Well, we know what generally happens. If we want comments on our images in a camera club we invite an expert judge. (well that's the theory) What is different here?

Dan One of the best options, especially if you are new to PTE, and to save you reading through loads of information, is to create the images the same size as your screen resolution. Once you have a show or two under your belt, things will become a lot easier to understand and then you can move onto something more to your personal liking. We all had this learning curve to go through so don't worry too much about it now. Concentrate on getting a show made that fits your screen and you will be away.

This topic came up recently and affected some exe files relating to Multi-Media-Builder menu creating software. It affected my tutorial DVD's and downloads and we mentioned it in the other forum where AVG found a Trojan Horse Virus. It has now been resolved after I managed to get to them and demand some action. Their email I recieved today (19th March 2008) is below. Dear Sir/Madam, Thank you for your email. Unfortunately, the previous virus database might have detected the mentioned virus on some legitimate applications. We can confirm that it was a false alarm. We have immediately released a new virus update that removes the false positive detection on this file. Please update your AVG and check your files again. If you need to restore deleted files from AVG Virus Vault you can do it this way: - Open AVG Virus Vault (Start -> Programs -> AVG 7.5 -> AVG Virus Vault). - Locate the file that was incorrectly removed. - Right click on it and choose the "Restore File(s)" option. We are sorry for the inconvenience. Thank you for your cooperation. We appreciate it. Best regards, David Machac AVG Technical Support website: http://www.avg.com mailto: support@avg.com

I do use Camtasia still and it can produce all sorts of file types. The difference in brightness, is probably a slight difference between monitors, but its not something I have noticed here. I see that AVG free is still causing prroblems for some and perhaps AVAST anti virus software is a better option which is also free

Neil Well, that what I thought, but it appears to be a real problem for some. Still, I am trying to get over the disapointment

Video in a still image audio visual ? Oh my gawd, you will give the AV snobs nightmares about that. They are yet used to us putting a border round the image

Colin Yes you have missed something, I may base my show to be played on a 1280*1024 monitor, but I retain the format from my camera. (most of the time anyway) This leaves me the choice of presentation for the part of the screen not used for the actual picture

JPD is right, AVG is picking up an exe file from the menu software Multi Media Builder. I have tried to inform both AVG and MMB, but its a devil of a job trying to get an email to AVG free. Even now I am not sure I have got to the right place. The best laid plans of mice and men. You sweat blood for a professional looking menu system and the virus software tells you it has a virus when it doesn't and then will not allow you to unzip it... Just great Its almost enough to make you give up

Mightec You probably have your icons set to large, its OK here? Barry

On trying to unzip the Elements file I posted yesterday I am getting a virus warning via AVG free. I also get the same warning on a tutorial DVD that was made ages ago and has been perfect up to now. It seems that a change in virus definitions from AVG (TODAY) is picking up a false positive in the start.exe file I use in my menus. Its the same sort of thing that we experienced with PTE some time ago. Just be warned it is not a virus, but it may prevent you from unzipping this file structure I have contacted AVG free by email to advise them, so hopeully they will address it soon.

fh1805 Something is wrong at your end I think, the video was in a folder called video and still is. It can't be wrong if it worked fine for David. Incidently I am used to this method of packaging and don't usually screw up the very file I wish to present. However, I am downloading the group of files I origanally put up to see what happens when I unzip it. Thanks for the feedback anyway

Can I ask if you all found your way around the menu and got it working OK I have started presenting downloads like this, but I can only assume it's working fine on all machines. Normally I inlcude the starting images, but to get this technique all in, the file size became quite large enough.

DJH There is not a significant difference in what I can see, but then I am not a constant user of Elements fh1805 You an use any sort of images, even landscapes

For those with broadband who want to see a video tutorial on the Another Age technique, see below. They will be available for a few days to PTE forum members. The slide show that inspired the videos is here http://www.beckhamdigital.co.uk/freestuffdigslidesw3.htm Remember this slide show is best viewed at 1280*1024 For the Photoshop video click below http://www.beckhamdigital.co.uk/downloads/...age/montage.zip 65meg running for 29 minutes For the Elements video click below http://www.beckhamdigital.co.uk/downloads/...age/montage.zip 58 meg running for 32 minutes If you unzip all the files into one folder, then click the start.exe file you can run the video and demo slide show from a menu. Videos are wmv files that will run in Windows Media player.

Conflow Well, it healthy to disagree, but experience around the clubs tells me a different story. While in theory I wouldn't argue with your views, but I am a realist and it ain't happening out there as you see it. I don't follow your point here "I do believe that PTE is 'shareware' thank god" Ken Most users don't require a handout because they have a pirate copy.

Conflow Isn't that what I said, its the whole concept of my tutorials. If, however we list 15 different software packages it hardly helps the person who first asked the question. Stay with the mainstream and Elements fits that perfectly.

xahu34 Another thought has just occurred to me and it's something you can see clearly around the Photographic clubs and societies of the UK. I doubt it's any different elswhere in the world. Why do you think that people who are very serious about their audio visual eventually gravitate towards PTE5 at some stage. They may start with other slide show software, but generally speaking there comes a point when they move to PTE Why is that? Could it be that people in general will always gravitate to the best and PTE5 is certainly that. Why do something like 70% of Photographic club members use Photoshop and 30% use Elements. Could it possibly be because they are also the best. I think so, visit clubs in the UK and no other software apart from Photoshop and Elements is ever mentioned. I use Photoshop and Elements I rest my case