d67

Hi John To make it easier for me, I will once more use ADB's (alias Andrew) grading shows. PHOTOGRAPHY/GRAPHICS I find your shots very pleasant. They are soft and moody as can be this misty island. The sceneries are superb ... Skye ... for my wife and me ... our beloved place in Scotland ! There is a photo that I find not very fine due to the fence : just after sheeps and before Storr The penultimate photo is a bit blury. I personaly find the green frame a bit disturbing as it is not enough discreet. The last slide could be a scenery one instead of the clouds. SOUNDTRACK In accordance with the place and the mood. TIMING No particular comment. I had time enough to contemplate the scenery. PTE MASTERY - The mouse cursor could be hidden for the whole sequence. - Your zoom in (Storr) has a very short range, therefore I find it not usefull - Horizon of the photo with the little wooden wharf and boat, not horizontal - last pan (before the ferry) perhaps also not usefull as the range is a bit short WATCHABILITY Would watch again with great pleasure. OVERALL COMMENT Very pleasant pictures and sequence. A keeper for me ! Your photos makes me nostalgic ... I have to think about a new trip there ! Just hump your back when the tank passes by

Barry, no problem and also very few manipulation to do : just select the exe file and hit the Suppr key... that's all !

Hi Peter I don't want you, or nobody else, to change something to your room Due to the very great range of light, my possibilities to get a balanced image was very limited. I tried to improve the shadows but the result was, from my point of view, not satisfying : flat contrast, artificial looking. In fact, after my post treatment, the shadows are not so bad looking when viewed in a normal situation for image viewing : darkened room, no direct light source, screen well parametered, etc ... but, as the majority of us, I too don't match these goals, ... my screen stands just parallel to a window and I close my curtains very seldomly Perhaps a pity but a fact Patrick

Thank you very much for your comments. Here answers to the questions : For the high luminosities and violent contrasts, I take preferentialy my measures on the strong lightened zones, but, most of all, I take several photos, changing settings (over or under exposure) with the help of the image histogram, until I obtain a balanced photograph and a histogram curve with no lost of high or low lights. For enhancing shadows details (Xaver, Morturn), I post processed the images but I had to limit the corrections not to flaten the whole photo contrast... and to retain what was our personal and immediate impression : we weared sun glasses and had to take them away from time to time. If you strongly darken the room where you are running the sequence, you will see that there are a lot, easily viewed, details in the dark shadows. End windmill : I agree with you Peter, but I didn't find a photo of Amsterdam that immediatly refers to this town, so I used the windmills (some are only 20 mins far away by car from the city center) ! I choosed short intervals (Dave, Xaver) between slides (manual control with the mouse is possible) in the first part of the sequence to hold on a sustained rythm... as we did this day to go from one area of the town to the other. The next day, the misty day, our visit rythm falled drastically down in complete accordance with the weather ! Once more, thank you very much for your helpfull comments. Patrick

Hello Here (Beechbrook.com site) you will find a recent, short, stroll across Amsterdam city center I did with my wife and son. The first day was brightly sunny ... with violent light contrasts and the next day was misty and grey ... and very dark. You will find numerous bending forward fronts and some tilting houses. I am not always involved ... as these are normal situations due to architectural considerations (facilitation of house moving on the outside by reason of very narrow and steep staircases) or due to the nature of the ground (houses constructed on piles). This slideshow is controlable : left mouse button = Pause / Resume and right mouse button = Next slide. Image format is 1280/800 pixels Comments, positive or negative, are, of course, welcome. Have fun Patrick

Hi Ray I downloaded the 2 parts of your sequence and started number one... but, honestly, I have to say that I stopped after 5 minutes. Why ? .... Photos are sequenced with an unchanging rythm. Some shots and sceneries are very great but they are all or too soft (as Ken said) or with saturation/sharpness/curves much too manipulated. I assume it's a shame because some shots are really great but, before giving up definitively, I rapidly checked the duration of the 2 sequences and found nearly 30 minutes !!! ... that is really too much (apart for those directly involved in this journey). Sorry Ray, but if you severely select your photos (less than 8 minutes show for example = 50 to 80 shots) and give some rythm to your slideshow I will retry with great pleasure. Did you post your photos to a server as Pbase, webshots, etc... and if so, where ? Kindly Patrick

Hi Dave As it is much easier for me to comment a sequence (I have to translate each word) with ADB's (alias Andrew) grading shows, I will make use of it this time again : PHOTOGRAPHY/GRAPHICS Overall good shots with some beautiful and very moody pictures. Unlike Peter, I find saturation matching well the weather conditions. A pair of images with the lake surface in background need a little straightening of the horizons. Some shots with a unique person as subject are too subject centered : photo with the subject a bit left or right centered would be much pleasant. SOUNDTRACK Nice choice for the 3 times of the sequence. TIMING No particular comment apart, perhaps, that you could have benefitted from the keener rhythm of the second part to make use of shorter timed transitions and give so, more punch and vitality to the photos centered on your daughter ... incidentally ... as pretty as a picture (no matter for the number of shots concerning her ! ) PTE MASTERY Sober execution by using basic fade in and out transitions but, sadly, nearly all of them are more or less jerky (big photos ?). I know, my PC is "aneamic" (I am from far not isolated this side of Atlantic sea and Channel) but I will not start again a discussion with forum members saying I have to upgrade my master card and video card ... just in order to view 2 or 5% of PTE slideshows behaving jerky. As Peter, I think that only 2 pan and zooms are really interesting : panning along the road and the zoom out from the bike to your daughter (this one is a bit to slow to my mind). The exit of the sequence is a bit ... violent. The transition of the last slide of the first time of your sequence (the one just before the focus on your motorbike) is too short. WATCHABILITY Would watch again with great pleasure... even with jerky transitions. OVERALL COMMENT For a viewer not directly involved in the journey, this slideshow is a litlle bit long, but, thanks to the photos quality, the music and rythm, the changing and mix of subjects (scenery, road, camp, persons) this is not a big issue and, as said, I will rewatch it with pleasure. Giving a map of the journey in introduction of the show is great. Dave, keep going ! Just as a point of interest, this simple comment took me 50 minutes (not included looking at the sequence) ... perhaps thats why I, as many others, comment a show only if I have time to and not just by disinterest. ... And, these comments are strictly personnal thoughts and in no way an injunction to modify your slideshow to my ideas !!!!

Hello Dave I find ADB's (alias Andrew) grading shows listing very practical so I will use it here. PHOTOGRAPHY/GRAPHICS Considering the subject, I find the photos quality good and there are some interesting or unusual point of views. SOUNDTRACK I find it much to sad TIMING There is enough time left to read dash-boards but I find the sequence rythm too slow and too steady. PTE MASTERY No particular comment apart : - Image "Mill Camp Log Cabin" has no white frame line. - Time used for introducing slides a bit too long - last slide, "The route", is probabaly more interesting at the beginning of the slideshow WATCHABILITY Would watch again OVERALL COMMENT Good images and an interesting sequence to keep sign and depict a journey. I just find that a more rythmic music would enhance this pleasant travelogue. Thank you for sharing Patrick

Hi Cor FANTASTIC show !!!! Very good pictures , stunning synchronization with the music. An excellent play around this "monument". A great pleasure to follow you showing us details of the structure and the inner life of the Atomium. A big regret... it's much too short Thank you to you and your friends for this great moment of pleasure. Patrick

Hello Jim Most of your picture are excellent. The mix of the white covered trees and those with warm colors is delightful. Concerning technic - I just feel that your photos with the car are anachronic with the remainder of the pictures - some transitions are not perfectly synchronized with the changes of music - the mix of the vertical shots with the horizontal one is a bit distracting This is minor and anyway, it is a real pleasure to see and see again your great photos. Thank you for sharing with us. Patrick

Wow !!! A superb and very poignant sequence ! Photos are excellent, treatment fits perfectly the subject, a great background music .... brilliant ! Thanks for sharing Patrick

Probably a milestone for digital slideshows but with such an introduction I too will try to live with the disappointment not to have seen your masterpiece ! Happy for your warning ... this prevented me from a non-essential download !

????????!!!!!!!!!! No comment ! Continue to produce magnificent masterpieces ... you are alone, or few of us, will exactly see as you see them. ????!!!!! I don't absolutely not feel as coming directly form Middle Ages because I have the curious idea of setting my screen resolution to 1024/768 ! I think that a little bit humility is not senseless Patrick

Hello Barry I preffer more "classical" slideshows showing images full size (complete image) rather then bits of images. When I download a slideshows, I never take time to change screen resolution or other system parameters. If the slideshow behaves curiously or images are bad, I just hit the escape key. I changed screen resolution to 1280/1024 to see your slideshow to your settings. Sincerely, I preffer, without any hesitation, to see it at 1024/768 : images are full screen and without any frame. Oh no ! Working with Word or Excel is harder with this resolution than with 1024/768. This setting fits exactly my needs. Regards Patrick

Hello Barry I am not particularily attracted by such a way of presenting a situation or just photos but I find your slideshow a very strange and interesting one. Superpositions and background images are excellent and the whole sequence is "flowing" very gently.. thanks also to your music choice. Just a point : the title and some end text (very big fonts !) are out of frame. My screen resolution is set to 1024/768. Thanks for sharing.

Hello Peter A very interesting show : absolutely clean execution (AMD Athlon 1.01 GHZ, SDRAM 512 MB, NVIDIA GEFORCE 2MMX, 32MB Video memory), no fancy and disturbing technic prowess, a soft music and overall, superb photos ! A keeper and a very sympathetic way to learn about nature ! .The mouse cursor could be hidden for all the show Many thanks for sharing Patrick

Hi Ron Perhaps this Anti-virus comparative report will be of some help for your search of the best product for your personal needs.

There is no magic solution .... apart only showing bad looking pictures or only put black slides in your sequences.

... OK then ! To be honest, the changes are not obvious to me : the too numerous moving images are still very disturbing ... and, sadly, take away a great part of the effect, your superb images would give if they where just still I noticed in addition that the first pano moves much too fast (and overshoots the boat) and the last pano is a little bit curious as the boat seems to move lateraly

Hi Dave I agree with most of Andrew's comments and here my personnal ones : PHOTOGRAPHY/GRAPHICS Some redundant and/or superfluous photos... therefore a bit long. A few one with centring problems : too centered or false side privileged Last slide (motel) ... perhaps not the best choice ! A few (5 to 10) fade in/out transitions, jerky. TIMING First slide appearing much to fast. PTE MASTERY No problem concerning the managing of P and Z (speed, stops) but they have nearly all a very "thin" range and the question "what for ?" can than arise. OVERALL COMMENT Interesting slideshow with some good shots. A little bit too long and a great number of P/Z superfluous (in any event ... virtual range !).

Hello Paulo* I am an aviation enthusiast but this doesn't prevent me from trying to analyze as objectively as possible photos and sequences I will use Andrew's scaling. PHOTOGRAPHY/GRAPHICS A handful superb shots ! Thanks to your skill mastering "slow" shuter speeds, you managed to give to the spining propellers a natural look (partially blurry) in most cases. You mastered also the regular problem of planes flying : the contrast plane/sky and the concomittant lack of details on the aircraft. The shots with the landing aircrafts are sadly polluated by modern background resting privat aircrafts ! ... and big laugh for your touch of humour with the 2 P-51 at rest and the ladies in front SOUNDTRACK Excellent choice and very good idea for the engine sounds ! One more step would be the embodying of "life" sounds (loud speakers, hurrahs, crowd, ...) TIMING No particular comment PTE MASTERY The first pano is an excellent idea but unfortunately it doesn't behave smoothly : brief stops as the incrusted images appears and than stuttering. Otherwise, the other panos are, from my point of view, not convincing (poor interest and too slow considering the real aircrafts), particularily the one with the Catalina. WATCHABILITY Couldn't finish / Watched Once / Would watch again / Would watch many times OVERALL SCORE AND COMMENT A very interesting slideshow with good music background and engine sounds, and mainly, some excellent photos. First pano ... a bit laborious and other one, superfluous (once more... personal point of view... not universal !) Thank you for sharing

Ah ! OK ! I don't understand too ! ... must probably be due to a software running in the background just during launching of the slideshow !

Oh no !!!!! I find that your slideshow would be much more "stricking" with just fade in and out transitions (apart start and end sequences). Your photos are superb and absolutely self explanatory ... gadgets and spangles are superfluous and disturbing ! During your trials, did you perhaps create your slideshow with PTE 4.48 or with PTE 5 but only with fade in and out transitions (or without any zoom or pan) ? If so I would be very very interested !! Patrick

Hello Dave I downloaded Flinthills 2 and 3 and find that both greatly enhance the initial version. Difficult to choose between these 2 versions which is the best, as pictures are not strictly the same ... maybe Flinthills 3 Now I have 3 questions : - the range of pans and zooms is very, very, very restricted ! ... why then these effects ? They are of no use ! - what are your fade in and out parameters, particularily Thickness of smoothing line as this transitions are grossly stuttering (about 6 to 8 "flashes" before end of effect) - did you change something on the sound level between flinthills 2 and 3 as the version 3 has a higher sound level... and there are some distorsions audible ?

... yes but the master word in your sentence "when the next image gently appears" is gently. If I suggested a stop at one or each end of the animation sequence it is because a lot of current slideshows are linking up zooms and pans without any chance to take again his breath ! Currently, creating a slideshow without any pan and zoom seems to be a sign of senility or pshychological rigidity