Maureen

You are far better buying a good mic from a professional sound shop or a good music shop On line - Try Googling "professional audio equipment" .Howard Gregory has some excellent CDs and DVDs about Microphones and sound recording Contact Howard for advice before you buy if you can. see http://www.wilmslowguildav.org.uk/ for his contact details. Have attached info about his CD PC World would be good for a Mic for Skype Hope this helps. The accent is not really the problem - it is whether the voice is clear and easy to understand. MICS CD-ROM HANDBILL NO PIC.doc

I have yet to meet anyone who has produced a show for their own use only .. and never shown it to anyone else ! Once you show your work to any others - family or friends, it is not for your own use. Amateur or professional ! Much easier to stay legal or use Royalty free music or compose your own. UK = Buying the IAC licences is a lot cheaper than the fines too. Already answered by others = do not do this with current licences. No. Already answered by others = do not do this

Happy New Year to all our AV friends both far and near. Hope we get to see you & your AVs this year May your year be filled with hope and inspiration and your days full of happiness and dedication ! Poetry was always hard for me so maybe I'd better go 'n' have a drink .....or three ... Wishing you happiness and joy in 2010 Love Maureen, Robert and Fern (age 14 in January) (PS Fern is our Cairn terrier 14 doggie years = 98 human years )

I have been reseraching my family tree since 1968 and my husband's family roots are trully International. I created a web site which became so massive and compex that I ended up taking it down to create a new "tidier" site and it's still on my to-do list here. I also have created PTE sequences about various family members and events. I find keeping all the records up to date is done best using the Genealogy software Family Tree Maker which now has the facility to create simple web sites. I have researched every branch and some go back to 1496 so I have masses to upload. My own deceased parents' taped recollections have yet to be converted into PTE sequences. As previously stated, I found years ago no one in the family was interested in my records. However since the web has developed I have made contact with many very remote cousins who are now starting to do their research too. So it has given me more incentive to keep the records up to date. Good luck with your project. I also created a book using the Aldi software. Much cheaper version than Blurb and easier to then produce an amended copy with updates. Check out www.aldi.com and then their Photo services. Hope this helps.

Enjoy your holiday Igor We are now back home and missing the hot Jordanian sunshine But we look forward to seeing you both again next year Have a good rest and relax in the sun. Love to you all from Fern and also from Robert too. Thank you again for all your hard work with version 6. Love Maureen

Hi Good article but I could not believe you would tell anyone to create a blank title slide ......... at 72 pixels / inch! I would advise changing that fast for any future published articles or you will look very silly ! You are working with projected images not prints here ! Read Scantips : http://www.scantips.com/no72dpi.html May well see you at SWPP but we are off to PTO later in the month too. Hope this helps.

Just like to add Robert recently won the UK Nationals ( proud wife - like to say I taught him all he knows but it'd be a lie ) His latest sequence uses quite a few animation effects but they are so cleverly used you are not aware of "animation" when you watch it. Trick is not to use animation as a "knock their socks off" effect but only when it can add to the AV. Guess you'll all have to visit the UK Internationals next Sept to see this show. Spot on Lin - animation is out there and here to stay folks and lots of it too. Even the latest cameras and phones are incorporating video facilities but PTE can show better quality projection . Many THANKS to Igor and the Team PTE is leading the way. Maybe all won't want to use it .... not everyone wanted to take up the option of electricity either I remember die hards telling me they would NEVER move from slide tape ............. Now they are actively digital in AV HUGE Thank YOU to Lin for producing this Stress Test for video cards. I greatly appreciate it - has been veru useful and recommended it to others too. Thanks also for all the other work Lin, Dom and others have done to help us on the Forum. THANK YOU Lin

This is not the case! In photography your eye is drawn to the brightest part of an image. We take trouble to make sure highlights are not burnt out. The problem arises when in a darkened room projecting a sequence the image is surrounded by white ! Immediately, the eye is drawn there. This is why judges find it so off putting and such a pity when beginners all put up this white border. The answer if any border is really preferred or wanted is to choose a suitable colour from the images on the screen which blends in without a sharp contrast or pick a narrow grey line. I have stated all this here on the Forum in the past so this is nothing new. How many photographers deliberately insert white highlights into their photography? Why then do some AV workers think it is OK, especially since their work will be viewed in a darkened environment? There are very few rules for AV just common sense and advice. Obviously competitions and Distinctions do require some uniformity as judges can't sit through days of 40 minute sequences. My advice is firstly always create your work to please yourself and to be proud of it. Secondly don't be arrogant enough to assume you will really honestly interest an audience for more than 10 to 12 minutes without them feeling bored, tired or switching off and dreaming of something else. There are very few exceptions to this and you may be one of the major Oscar winners who should be working in films with Steven Spielberg and making a fortune. If your subject is so interesting it needs hundreds of images then think about sorting it into "chapters" ie mini interesting parts. Authors don't expect us to read a long book all in one go. Think of your audience and divide the subject into mini AVs which can be linked. This is especially true with family events - divide the wedding intop parts - arriving at the church, ceremony, arriving at reception, group photos, speeches & cake cutting, evening. one Av of the best photos - all under 12 minutes. Then if Aunty Flossie is in one section you don't have to all sit through hours of every picture to show her how good she looked in the photos. The very hardest part of improving your AVs is not learning new techniques but "killing your baby" - editing out large parts to make it much better and the more advanced you get it doesn't get any easier. You have your absolute favourite images which you must include at all costs and the advice you are given is edit and cut .... it feels llike murder but at the end of the day the sequence gets stronger and far more interesting. Thirdly if you have an image with text in it, again the eye will be drawn there to read it and brain reads first, listens secondly. If the text is not important either clone it out or blur it. Again when your images are unavoidably full of clutter - as you could not take a picture of your main subject without it, select your main subject, put a large lazy lasso on it and a large feather. invert the selection and blur out all that clutter. The eye will immediately be drawn to what attracted you to the scene first for your AV. Your local AV Group, Forums and CDs are all there to help. You can't beat one to one contact and advice so if you can go to a meeting you will learn so much and faster. Even swopping your AVs with more experienced workers can help. I personally don't find giving points for images, sound, borders, script, etc, etc at all helpful. Go for creativity and forge your own path. Beginners have sometimes taken a great new idea and produced a fantastic sequence. Technique is important only to polish the product so your brain doesn't jar on one element. e.g bad recording so you have to strain to listen so much, you don't enjoy the images. What is always important is the overall end product. Hope this helps.

I am sure all AV workers will join me in wishing Sir George Pollock a very speedy recovery after his serious car accident yesterday. He had to be cut out of his car and was taken to the Royal United Hospital, Bath. He is badly injured and having an operation today. Sir George is know internationally for his great contributions to AV photography. More news will follow.

Full Results are now posted up on the web site at www.digital-av.co.uk for the 2009 National AV Championships held last weekend at Leicester, England. Click on the link to view the results: http://www.digital-a....ls-results.pdf

Hi just received the following news : Dear AV Friends The number of people booking has far exceeded our expectations and we are very very close to the maximum limit for fire and insurance regulations on the room, and have thus stopped taking any more bookings. We will also not be able to accept any late-comers who come on-spec on the door Sorry but if you've not already booked you will not be admitted. Kind regards Brian JeffsNAVC Secretary http://www.navc.org.uk/ Look forward to seeing lots of AV friends (who have already booked) at Leicester soon. All others will be missing a very good event and great opportunity to meet new and old AV friends, watch good sequences and learn lots of new things. Enjoy your AVing where ever you are and what ever level you work at.

Hi Jill and John See you at the Nationals and also many other PTE Forum users I hope ! The accepted AVs and order of showing is now up on the web site at http://www.navc.org.uk/ Love Maureen

Try a quick e-mail to WnSoft and pay the extra $26 for the DeLuxe version Will try to contact them - don't know if they've left the Office by now. Best Wishes Maureen

Snap Lin ! Great minds think alike The main thing is to relax and enjoy your wedding day. You can laugh with the grandchildren in years to come about any hiccups. I got married with my contact lenses in the wrong eyes but still married the right man. Just make sure you marry the right person ! Have a great day and I'm sure we'll all be thinking of you both and everyone sends best wishes Welcome to PTE and the Forum too Best Wishes Maureen

Hi Jonathan Wishing you and your bride every happiness and hope all works well for tomorrow. Possible quick solution: On the computer you have created the slideshow on. Open your completed PTE slideshow in 5.6 Go to top left corner File / create a backup in zip Save that zip file onto an external drive or a pen drive you can then plug unto the second (DVD burning) computer. When external plugged into second computer, open the zip folder. Assume you have PTE 5.6 on the second computer too. Open PTE 5.6 Open the pte wedding file (Ie Picturesto Exe project file) from the zipped folder on your external drive. When it was saved as a zip all the images, sound ,and pte file will have been parcelled together and now should open successfully on the second computer. You will need to have also purchased PTE deluxe edition ( Deluxe Edition: $75 ) to burn the DVD. http://www.wnsoft.com/order.htm Go to create slideshow and follow instructions to burn the DVD Contact me if you have a problem. Best Wishes to you both, Maureen

Happy posting to you, Happy Posting to you Happy 900th posting to you Xaver Happy posting to you ! Now I'm on my way to a bigger number too I'm having no problems with the Forum. Looks good and just enjoy reading others info and feeling lucky I don't have many of the problems others sometimes get. Have to spend lots of time traveling so don't have the time to creep up to 900. Wishing everyone Happy postings and joy with their PTE work, whatever the level or type of work you do........ enjoy it

Thank you Igor and all your team. You have worked very hard and we are very pleased with all the new developments. You all deserve a long vacation when it is all finished Love Maureen & Robert

Now use sharpening on the Raw file in Lightroom or CS4. Previous versions before Raw, I always created a new layer, used ALT merge visable which changed the new layer into a flattened version as a layer and then sharpened that layer, so all the original work was untouched below. I could then save the edited image with the sharpened layer above as a PSD file. If I felt it was over done I could go back, delete the sharpened layer, and simply create another new layer, ... alt merge visable and use the unsharp mask again. Great explanation Lin. Thanks. Katrin Eismann has a great book which has very good advice about sharpening. I would be very hesitant about giving out sharpening settings as a quick fix as they can vary so much from image to image, you would not generally use the same settings for portraits as landscapes. Often best to select an area to sharpen in the image. maybe use the lazy lasso and feathering. Hope this helps,

I always leave Templates folder where it is (with PTE program in C Drive) but always copy this folder and keep backing it up, onto an external hard drive so also have backups of all my Templates in another location. Usually create my AVs on my main frame computer and also like to have a third Template folder on my laptop so I can if necessary quickly open one if I'm doing a demo and something crops up. Always create a zip copy of each project, so when someone asks for a copy, I can either upload to a web site ( another safe source of storage - if your house catches fire ) for their speedier download or if it is small enough e-mail to them. I always start each project using the project name folder, which then contains three sub folders for all sound files, images (including another sub folder for original images, PDFs or any unwanted images I don't use) and a Docs folder for notes, scripts, PTE files, Exe files, zip files and anything else. I like belts, braces and buckles - you never know when something will let you down - and many templates and the project folders are also saved periodically to DVDs! Hope this helps Ron. Best Wishes Maureen

Welcome back Rick You're still listed & pictured on Andrew's site at http://www.imagescapes.co.nz/forum/forum.htm so Igor should know you're an "Old User" Best Wishes Maureen

Snap Eric ! Our projector costs less than a thousand pounds while many Camera Clubs have been spending over three thousand for a 1400px x 1050px model (no names mentioned to protect the innocent) I am a volunteer organiser for the RPS - ie unpaid and on an OAP pension all donations gratefully received so am not the RPS itself. I speak as an individual member of two Camera Clubs and two small AV Groups. Small Groups in UK can and have applied for grants for equipment. Waves were very successful last year and so purchased their projector, laptop & other kit. Oh how I wish I was elitist Eric! Guess I'll have to train hard and join the SAS ... not the RPS but maybe too long in the tooth now .. and most of those are falling out at my age calibrating your equipment is crucial and not expensive. Can't afford the equipment , then just use a chart to start with. have some posted on the South Wales DIG site - hope link below works best one is actually the black & white calibration_1 chart Most people here would echo my sentiments when they post on this Forum ..... I hope this helps. Good luck with any grant applications.

Think you should have pointed people directly to the web site for the UK Nationals Peter http://www.navc.org.uk/ Hope to see you there Also it is only for UK entries this year but next year we will be holding the International Championships again. (at Cirencester ?) Three Groups in the South of England already use 1920px by 1080px projectors. RPS Wessex, WAVES AV group and Wantage AV Group have all bought the Optoma projectors and we are making sequences for 1920 by 1080 - great to see your work projected on the new HD televisions too. Many people will pay lots of money for their camera gear, computer and then cut corners with projectors and screen, also paying very little heed to the need for calibrating the computer with the projector. Be aware of the following : Concerns with cheap screens Cheap screens with black marks on them can melt and even cause fires under intense light from projectors with an output greater than 3500 lumen. [9] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Projection_screen I think a future issue (not for PTE) will be with the development of special new screens especially for digital projection. We have already seen some camera clubs are using a large wall to project onto and some of the sequences can then show some strange colour casts, even when the wall looks quite white and clean. Just be aware of this. Meanwhile have fun making your sequences.