brutus

Hello George. See here: http://www.easy-video-converter.com iWisoft is a free video converter capable of excellent results for most formats. Suggest you give it a try and use the HD MPEG2-TS option at 20kb/sec for best image quality. Feedback appreciated Cheers, John.

Firstly, congratulations to the developers for resolving the text related issues of former versions. Secondly, I note that when creating a 1080 HD movie, the demand on my dual core cpu hovers around the 100% mark with only minor variations. This suggests the software may not optimized to take advantage of cpu multi threading techniques? System comprises: AMDAthlon 2.8Ghz X2, with 2Gb high speed ram, running XP Home Edition. John.

Thanks Ken. Since then I've had a rethink - hence my latest thoughts on the matter. Cheers, John.

Hello Forum Members and Guests. Attempting to pin down the reason behind the unexpected and random defocusing [fuzziness] of text comments is akin to finding a needle in a haystack. Here is the result of my first and last attempt. 1.0 Choose an image with fuzzy text on it from your slides and open it in the O&A window. 2.0 Next, open the 'Properties' tab by left mouse clicking it [LMC] and further down the window under 'Objects [ ],[LMC] the 'Text comment' entry to reveal the options list. Note particularly, the single 'Anti-Shimmering [mipmapping] option in the grayed space above Objects [ ]. 3.0 Now, right mouse click [RMC] the 'Text comment' entry to reveal a new drop down menu. Notice here that 'Text comment' is checked; meaning the entry is ticked, [LMC] the entry to uncheck it.This action will return the window to 2.0 above. Again [RMC] the 'Text comment' entry - taking note of the additional two options now revealed: namely,'Rasterize text to PNG image' and the checked 'Auto font quality' mini box. 4.0 At this point I suggest the reader take a well deserved coffee break 5.0 The next step is particularly interesting: proceed to uncheck the 'Auto font quality' option by [LMC] its mini box. Notice two things: 1) the text comments are still blurred and 2) the appearance of a new options box to manually set the font quality. Take note of the numerical setting in this box by writing it down, before proceeding to the next step. 6.0 This time [LMC] only on the 'Auto font quality' mini box while noting what happens: A) the options box to manually set the font quality has now disappeared and more importantly; clarity of our previously blurred text is restored. 7.0 All is not over yet though: [LMC] on the 'Auto font quality' mini box again - the options box becomes visible but this time note its setting. Compare this value to the one written down previously. So, what has been happening? Why the difference? To find out we need to open the font quality options box by [LMC] the downward pointing arrowhead thereby exposing its slider bar. Notice what happens when the slider is moved to the left [low value]; the fuzziness increases and the text problem is reproduced, conversely when moved to the right [higher value]; the text problem disappears. This explains why the various tedious, frustrating, and time consuming workarounds have ultimately had their desired effect - albeit at much inconvenience to the end user in the process. Clearly, toggling between font styles for each slide until the fuzziness has cleared, invokes the program code at some undetermined point to manually reset the font quality to its optimum, [default] setting. Whereas I would expect this to happen automatically and without user intervention each time a new font style is selected in its options window. 8.0 In thinking about this problem I was puzzled by the relatively small number of reports on the topic by members of the forum - that is, until reading the most recent post by yachtsman1 wherein he mentions a fuzzy text problem reported to him by a colleague. I immediately sought to reproduce such an effect on my own computer running Windows XP. After numerous unsuccessful attempts I finally succeeded. Although the defocusing was slight it was still discernible enough to be easily seen by my wife who has Macular Degeneration. This outcome became the catalyst for my current investigation into the 'fuzzy comments' issue and the results now before you. 9.0 Conclusion. I am satisfied this issue requires a bug fix [technical jargon for program error]. It occurs at random and appears related to the auto font quality off-on timing function. Interestingly, its effects appear to be less in more recent versions of the software suggesting perhaps, a masking effect by program changes and advanced algorithms. Blurred text comments are easier to reproduce when opening old files made on earlier versions of the software for updating. This raises the possibility of a compatibility issue although I think its less likely. John. [Apologies for any formatting errors. I'm a newbie to this kind of stuff].

Hi John, Igor has already indicated that v5.7 of PTE will take a completely different approach to the handling of Text objects. Instead of rasterizing them, they will become vector-graphic objects. I don't profess to understand all the detailed intricacies of this change, but I do know that it means they should look sharp and crisp at all sizes and throughout zoom animation. Given that a new "text-handling" feature is to be part of v5.7, it doesn't seem unreasonable to me that the development team have put no further effort into resolving any remaining text-related bugs in v5.6. regards, Peter Hello Peter. Many thanks for the updated information. I await the release of the new features in v5.7 which hopefully, will resolve the fuzzy comments issue. Your post offers a satisfactory answer to my initial inquiry. Kind Regards, John.

Hi Lin and welcome back to the Forum, "Have you encountered this problem? The reason I'm asking is that there are thousands of users of PTE and only two members have mentioned this, and of these two only one currently has this issue. 1.0 Yes I have. Under much the same circumstances as ArenqueRojo and Goddi. 2.0 Please direct me to the post detailing the solution for the other member - but please not a workaround. "Though it "may" be a bug of some sort with PTE, without others being able to reproduce it, and since it has only shown up in a tiny, tiny percentage of systems, the probabilities are much greater that it is either a user or input issue rather than a PTE issue. 1.0 Agree, but while there remains the possibility of a bug neither can be ruled out until the developer makes a determination one way or the other. "Do you have some reason to believe that the developers of PTE intend to move to another version without correcting existing bugs? That certainly has not been their predisposition in the past. PTE is one of the "least" buggy presentation slideshow software programs I've ever used; and I've used nearly all of the current and past major presentation slideshow software programs for many, many years. !.0 Of course not. My intention was to prompt them to a more thorough investigation of those issues extending over multiple versions. In my case as far back as 4.8 "You must realize that a great number of "issues" about which people comment on this forum are not PTE bugs but rather user problems and misunderstandings. Many of these would be easily solved were users to carefully read the user guides and tutorials available for download. True "bugs" in this software are rare, and the developers generally get to the bottom of the issues quickly and efficiently. 1.0 Not in dispute. Not all matters are necessarily covered in manuals though, that is why they are subject to constant revision. One of the nice things about PTE is that we are all beta testers and each have the opportunity to "ring out" the software before the next version is released. With the myriad operating systems, drivers, Windows bugs and other related variables, it's a wonder to this old programmer that anything works well these days. I personally believe that the PTE development crew does an incredibly good job of swatting bugs before releasing new versions and I think that most users will agree. Many of us have been using this software since its introduction, and some of us were testing it even before it became available many years ago. We believe that it represents the very finest software of its type and that the developers have been dedicated toward keeping is so. 1.0 Completely agree and addressed in my opening remarks ("Great Software......... ) Thank you Lin for your prompt response. Kind Regards, John.

Hi Everyone. Great Software but might I respectfully suggest the developers devote more time to addressing the outstanding problems in version 5.6 as identified by forum members before moving on to the next version. Of particular interest is the issue of ‘fuzzy comments’ identified by ArenqueRojo and Goddi. This problem is a real headache for users who are unfortunate enough to encounter it. Maybe another forum member has come up with a solution ??? Cheers, John.