Nikonos

Hi Folks - while on holiday last year we visited Thomas Hardy's cottage at Higher Bockhampton, Nr. Dorchester, Dorset. It is very much a "picture postcard" type of place and I thought it would make a good subject for Barry's "jigsaw puzzle" technique. The show lasts just over 3 minutes at about 25 meg. You can download the PC version here: http://www.mediafire.com/file/j35xnl0q4rlzvmm/Hardy%27s%20Cottage.exe and the Mac version here: http://www.mediafire.com/file/gd9oph8c388wmnp/Hardy%27s%20Cottage%20%28Mac%29.zip My original intention was to try and obtain an archive picture of the cottage in the early 20th cent and introduce it at the end. Unfortunately, a suitable image has so far proved elusive. Luckily I had a portrait of the great man himself, so I used that instead. Enjoy - Malcolm

Yes, Peter, you are of course quite correct and I should have mentioned that particular proviso regarding documentary sequences. I think we are all prepared to accept less than perfect images especially when they are sourced from archives that the author has no control over. Regarding camera angles - the one thing that really drives me (and the wife) to distraction is when the camera is moved 360 degrees around a stationary centre of interest - such as a person speaking. Almost simultaneously we both yell "Keep the damn camera still will you....!" Quite recently I watched for the umpteenth time Ken Russell's "Song of Summer" based on the life of the Yorkshire born composer Delius. Filmed in black and white (colour was too expensive), with no fancy camera work, it shows what can be done by someone who knows their business... Malcolm

Hi Barry I agree with you absolutely in what you say about "ok" sequences. It takes me am age to produce a show that I am happy with. Far more time is spent in Photoshop than PtoE refining each image until I am happy that an image is technically good enough to be included in the overall sequence. Perhaps I am being over fussy, but I find that I am always more impressed by any sequence that shows really good photography than any amount of clever transitions. To me (and others may disagree), it is the photography that is paramount. Malcolm

A great show. Excellent photography and the animations worked really in this particular sequence I thought. It just shows that sometimes "the rules" can be ignored. I will definitely be keeping this one! Malcolm

Wow! What a great show! A masterful production! I spent a week at Whitby earlier in the year and came across remains of the alum industry along the coast nearby, so it is especially interesting to learn what went on to produce the finished project. From the opening sequences it become apparent that the author was an expert PTE worker! Malcolm

Very well put Peter. As a novice PTE user I find comments (good or bad) very welcome and I have tried to view as many sequences as possible and leave comments of a constructive nature. I agree it is very difficult not to upset some people, but even the most dire show usually has a few redeeming features... I too have come across the "assassin" type of judge who has a really blinkered perspective in what they consider praiseworthy. A judges job is indeed a very difficult one - how on earth to you score an outstanding natural history picture against a similar landscape image? You have summed it all up beautifully by saying "We must all of us practice tolerance, patience and kindness in our dealings with one another". After all - the whole idea of this forum is to share ideas, techniques etc. and to improve our shows. We never, ever, stop learning and after forty years as a full-time professional photographer I know I certainly am! Malcolm

What a great location for photography! Something about decrepit old boats raises the pulse for most landscape/pictorial photographers.. A great selection of images, good compositions and with suitable background music. I really enjoyed the sequence - thanks for sharing. Regards - Malcolm

Superb photography. Crystal clear - just the way I like it! Very enjoyable show - it really makes me want to go there! Malcolm

I agree with the other comments here. A really excellent show, fabulous images and put together in a format which is really suited to it's intended audience. I love the book format which has all the advantages of a real photo album - the ability to dwell at length on each page. And of course, it will always remain in pristine condition! Regards - Malcolm

A nice selection of images Mick. Also it was good to see some interiors for a change - this must be due to the recent relaxation of the strict rules that the NT has imposed in the past. It can be difficult to get the balance of room lighting and the outside world anywhere near perfect without using a tripod (for multiple exposure), or extensive use of supplementary lighting. At one time in my career I did interior (and exterior) photographic work for the NT and it involved a lot of setting up of large format cameras, flash strobes etc. and the use of Polaroid to get a 'natural' look without the use of flash being obvious. Incidentally, I particularly liked the end sequence with the window apertures showing different views. I thought that some of the images looked to have burn-out highlights (the stonework of the castle in particular). I'm not sure whether you shot JPEG or not, but with RAW files you could have mostly corrected this. Some of the images looked a bit on the light side as well on my (calibrated) monitor. Thanks for sharing your hard work! Regards - Malcolm

Hi Paul, I really enjoyed your show and the music was very appropriate. You clearly know your way around aviation photography. It is something I have been meaning to try myself one of these days and I shall certainly pay a visit to Duxford. Just one small suggestion - some close-ups of details on the static aircraft themselves would have been useful to break up the flow of aerial shots a little - especially for the average punter who will not not recognize one aircraft from another. I have a similar problem with an AV of a steam-fair I am starting to put together. Traction engines are all well and good, but too many of the same type of shot can lead to tedium for the average viewer. I especially liked the shots at the beginning incidentally, showing people in costume in context with the aircraft - all helping to create the appropriate atmosphere. Thanks very much for sharing and a good effort. Regards - Malcolm

Very well explained topic Barry and put together (as always) in a superb fashion using PTE. Regards - Malcolm

Thanks Peter, good idea. If I get the chance in the next few days I will give it a go. Regards - Malcolm

The odd thing is that shows for the Mac produced on other machines run just fine - including ones downloaded via links provided here. It is only shows produced on the Dell that will not run - except on the Mac Book Pro....

It is an Intel model - about two years old.

Thanks Dick for your kind comments. Oblique lighting is the secret for gravestones of course and if they are leaning it is even better! However, many local authorities here now regard such leaning tombstones to be a hazard due to Health and Safety rules - even though they have probably been that way for decades. Just part of the mad world we now live in I'm afraid!

That sounds the most likely reason Peter. Curiously enough the old Dell (5 years old) had the same problem. I rather thought (foolishly as it happens), that a brand new machine would behave otherwise. In all other respects it's a decent enough PC - fast, big HD, lot's of RAM (8 gig). I do have a genuine copy of Win 7 that I could transfer to the new PC but I hardly think it worth the effort since I can use the wife's Acer to compile the Mac versions. Regards - Malcom

I wrote in an earlier post regarding having problems playing back Mac executables on my Mac G5. Shows made on my new Dell PC just won't run at all on the G5. I have now recompiled a sample show using my wife's Acer laptop and the resultant file now plays back perfectly. Both machines have Windows 7 installed incidentally and both versions of PtoExe are the same. Clearly there is some sort of incompatibility between the Dell that manifests itself when compiling for a Mac. At least I know how to get around it even if I don't know the reason! Shows compiled on the Dell do run however on my Mac Book Pro. Something very strange going on..... Malcolm

Thanks for all your kind comments. I very much enjoy working in churches and graveyards (that sounds like a quote from Count Dracula!) I love the atmosphere and the fact that you are often left alone to just to get on with the photography. I prefer to use natural lighting and always carry a large white fold-away reflector - just to bounce a little light back into very dark areas. The Nikon D700 (or D3) is superb at capturing detail in the shadow areas anyway and with a little help from CS4 results can be achieved which would be be difficult with film (especially so with colour). The de-saturated look was deliberate as I felt that strong colours would just destroy the atmosphere I was trying to create. With the 'overgrown churchyard' shots I had intended to use St. Mary's Church at Whitby - famous for it's Victorian graveyard high above the town (and Dracula fame!). You would hardly credit it, but that very day the local authorities had decided to use an army of council workers with strimmers to clear the long grass from around the graves! However, later in the week I was fortunate to come across a deserted church with a splendidly overgrown churchyard just above Robin Hoods Bay which was even better than St. Marys at Whitby. The modified D80 IR body is a relatively new acquisition. It works quite well although the focusing seems to have a mind of it's own! Normally I shun autofocus but in this case it seems to be more accurate than manual - which may be to do with the way the focusing has been recalibrated for IR. Some of the monuments were of extremely high quality (in my opinion) - the opening sequence was shot at Great Tew in Oxfordshire, a particularly fine monument to Mary Anne Boulton It must have cost a fortune at the time!). I did some extensive research beforehand and made a 'hit list' so that I knew which churches to visit. Sadly, in one or two case churches were locked to prevent theft - a sad reflection of our times... Malcolm

I've just uploaded my second A/V effort to Beechbrook entitled "Pax Aeterna" (Peace Eternal). Transitions have been kept simple deliberately as in keeping with the subject matter. Hope that you all enjoy the sequence! Nikonos

Hi, I have created a Mac executable (ver. 6.0) which runs perfectly well on my Mac Book Pro - nice and smooth, sound ok etc etc. However, the same file will not run at all on my Mac G5 of fairly recent vintage. The G5 is running Leopard OS (Intel chipset) and the Mac Book is running Snow Leopard OS/Core I7). Has anyone experienced similar problems? The file just sits there and refuses to do anything at all... Cheers - Malcolm PS. A sample Mac file that I downloaded from Barry's site works fine...

Hello Peter, It was an MP3 file as it happens. I switched everything off and started all over again. Now it works! The wonder of Windows.. I'll be more than relieved when a Mac version eventually appears... Thanks for responding so quickly! Regards - Malcolm

I've recently started to use Pictures to Exe version 6 after my old computer gave up the ghost. The new (Dell) machine has Windows 7 installed (I previously used XP). Just having started to put together a new show I find that any executable file that I create fails to save the background sound file/s as well as well as not playing in the preview mode. The images are displayed correctly but with zilch sound. The soundfile waveform is shown normally under the time-frame and it plays back perfectly ok in the viewer window. Maybe I've overlooked something but at the moment I'm stumped. Has anyone come across this problem? Thanks (in anticipation)

Hi Ron, That would hardly be practical because the waste ink would be a mix of all eight colours (three of which are black or grey). The waste tank is filled with absorbent felt which cannot be removed without destroying the tank. On top of that you would have to re-program the chipped ink cartridges (which are about the size of a VHS cassette). As I don't actually pay for the ink myself I don't think I will bother ;-) I just hate to see such a wasteful process though. Malcolm

Epson printers tend to quite wasteful of ink. I have a large format Epson 4000 model which has an enormous waste tank - fortunately it is user replaceable though. But I hate having to chuck away what is s significant amount of ink as 'waste'. A full set of ink for this model costs well over £400 incidentally. My other HP Z3100 printer is far better in this respect - surplus ink is pumped back into the system - a far more sensible idea - although less profit for the manufacturer....