New Slide Show

[Barry Beckham]

I have completed a new slide show, but I am not sure the show does the rainforest justice. Its not often I post something that I am not totally happy with, but perhaps I have been messing so long, I can't see the wood for the trees.

I have pushed and pulled these images and ideas around for some weeks trying to complete something I was happy with, but perhaps the Rainforst needs that something extra. It needs the smells and ambience perhaps. To really appreciate it, you have to be there and hear the rain dripping from the trees.

Anyway, its at the top of this page in PC and Mac format

http://www.beckhamdigital.co.uk/freestuffdigslidesw4.htm

Eric

Its way above your 20mb limit, don't even bother

Ken

No you can't stop the show every few seconds to look at the pictures, its an Audio Visual

Happy new year, one and all.

[trailertrash]

Outstanding as always. For me to have the feeling of being there I would have liked the BG sounds on every slide. I think that would have given me more of a feeling of being in the middle of it.

The photography is stunning as always. I envy your wealth of subjects.

Andrew

[Ken Cox]

BARRY so nice of you bring up my fetish

it shows you read my threads.

just happened to view a couple shows by a pair of French Masters and they happen to take the time to enable MANUAL CONTROL - which does not have to be used - so the viewer can study or read the text

re Rainforest - trees do not rotate - i will buy zooming and panning but not rotation

-maybe you should find out how Bernard does his subtle transitions

- the piano sounds at beginning too shrill for my ears

-- no need to pause it

ken

[Ronniebootwest]

Barry,

Excellent photographs and 8 out of ten for the slide show!

I agree with Ken and feel that the rotating trees are an irritation but the actual images are spot on!

With regard to your comment about the sounds of the rainforest, why not use a portable recorder to record the actual sound and use this as you background music? The piano does not sound quite right in my view.

Ron

[denwell]

Nice one Barry

Having experienced the Oz rainforest environment (albeit in full sunshine - not the best conditions for photography)I was convinced by this!

Only the heat and humidity were missing.

If one looks (and sees) the trees don't rotate - just the camera viewpoint, a popular TV and film technique.

I would agree that it could benefit from the BG SFX being there (subdued) throughout the sequence, not just in the beginning and end sections.

The music was, to me, quite appropriate to the subject but maybe a little too 'bright' for the forest atmosphere.

Photography was excellent.

[David Porter]

Hi Barry,

A very nice show if not amongst your very best. I liked the sound effects and the music grew on me. The transitions I found just right and not over-long (as perhaps in some of your previous work) and the photography was, as usual, first class. Shame there wasn't any wildlife to inter-space the trees.

Oh, and take it as a compliment if someone wants KB control to study your work in detail even if you have the photos in your gallery. I am sure everyone would view the show as you intended prior to going back to use the keyboard. I am still trying to persuade Lakelandlass to set up a gallery or allow KB control but no luck yet.

All the best for 2011.

[Hubert]

Nice images. Transitions & duration were good some even very good.

Did noone experienced some shimmering during zooming in ? I did.

[rick235]

Hi Barry,

Very good show especially loved the background sound track but thought the piano at the start of the show was a little bit harsh. Great images with very good transitions, well done again Barry.

Regards

Rick.

[xahu34]

Barry,

Here are some remarks on your latest production:

• The photography is excellent, as usual.
  
• I would not complain about the piano, but of course, there might be a better choice for the music.
  
• In the beginning, there is at least one animation that stops abruptly.
  
• On my screen, there are some problems with shimmering.
  
• It is fine to have sounds, but not in all places: I do not like to hear the sound of physical processes (here: running water) while the corresponding images are still.
  

In order to study a sequence in more detail, it would prefer to have KB control.

Regards,

Xaver

[Bruss444]

Hello Barry, Spectacular!! Played beautifully on the MacPro and 24inch Cinema! So kind of you to have a Mac version available too. Thanks again Bill and Joyce

[Barry Beckham]

I did think about having light rain sounds all the way through, but discarded the idea because sound effects can be over done, perhaps I will take another look at that.

The Tree, yes, I had doubts, but I guess you can see the sort of thing I had in mind, looking up and turning around, not quite the right effect, I agree.

Music, well that is personal and the pianno allowed me to place the images in the perfect place, so I did have a start, middle and end. I spent so much time fiddling with it, that I didn't have the stamina for a change of music too, perhaps later

Recording my own sound effects, tried it lots of times with a H4 recorder, but its a dismal failure I have to say. Its useless for sound effects unless your right on top of them. So a river or seashore is OK, birds are hopeless.

This issue of Keyboard control: I swear some of you would not know an AV if it jumped up and bit you. (sorry, don't mean that to sound too aggressive) The idea of what I do is a sequence, its not made to be disected and stopped. How do you create a flow of images to music if you keep stopping the thing. What your talking about is a slide show. If all you want are a batch of images to look at, visit my galleries. You don't need a slide show for that at all.

Of course when a show is made for a 1920*1200 minitor and is played back on a lower resolution one, then some moire effect may be seen. You can't have it all ways, unless to soften the images to an unacceptable level. As for animation, they all work fine for me, so little I can do if they are not smooth on your machine. They are on thePC that made it, and on my older demo PC too.

[xahu34]

... This issue of Keyboard control: I swear some of you would not know an AV if it jumped up and bit you. (sorry, don't mean that to sound too aggressive) The idea of what I do is a sequence, its not made to be disected and stopped ...

Barry,

I can assure you that I do know how to watch an AV show. But in case where I want to throw an analytical eye on it, it is an advantage to have KB control, in oder to watch particular sections repeatedly.

Regards,

Xaver

[Barry Beckham]

Xaver

I can assure you that I do know how to watch an AV show.

I am not saying that you don't know how to watch an AV, but I am suggesting your missing the point of Audio Visual completely.

But in case where I want to throw an analytical eye on it, it is an advantage to have KB control, in order to watch particular sections repeatedly.

Sorry mate, but that is crazy. Why would you want to watch particular section repeatedly. Your missing the point of AV completely. Think of an AV sequence as one image, because that is the best description I can give it. You wouldn't want an image in bits, would you.

Of course not. What you don't see in one or two viewings of an audio visual sequence, your not meant to see.

What your referring to is a slide show. A batch of images,with music.

Audio Visual is different, its where we are trying to capture a mood, or spark an emotion. We may not always be sucessful perhaps, but some of us try.

Watch the show as a flowing sequence, that is one piece of work.

My goodness, if some of the slide shows posted here were analized in such detail, you would have a lot of dummies, flying from a lot of prams

[Ken Cox]

Barry

when a show is entered into a competiton, do they not judge the composition of each slide?

how can the images be judged if one cannot study it?

Bernard's 3D show of the snow had manual control -- one does need to use it -- my family watched it a dozen times -- sometimes stoppping it to observe the beauty of the scenes -- they were flabbergasted with the images -- ooo's and ah's resounded throught the room

(had to do show over and over -- only have 6 pair of 3d glasses)

oh i almost forgot

the judging people of the RPS continually say that the use of frames in an AV competition,is a no no as the frame detracts from the image yet you continually use them !

different strokes for different folks I guess

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL

Ken

[xahu34]

... Sorry mate, but that is crazy. Why would you want to watch particular section repeatedly. Your missing the point of AV completely. Think of an AV sequence as one image ... Watch the show as a flowing sequence, that is one piece of work ...

Barry,

Do you think that your work (though it hovers above most productions to be seen in this forum) is free from technical flaws or design flaws? If not, let me analyze it. You do not learn from praise and adulation. By the way, people in the AV group that I manage (though I am, as you say, missing the point of AV completely ) like your productions, and we normally watch them as one piece of work, but in some cases ....

Best regards,

Xaver

[Barry Beckham]

Ken

when a show is entered into a competiton, do they not judge the composition of each slide?

how can the images be judged if one cannot study it?

No, they only see the show once, maybe twice and they may judge the image quality as an overal part of the AV sequence as a whole, but if I understand your question right.. They do not judge each slide and they would NEVER stop a slide show part way through. That would be interferring with an authors creative work, which has always been my point.. Some of the slide shows that win competitions, may not have greatest quality images. Its the overall effect/mood/emotion/idea, that the judges are looking for. If you can get both, then your really rocking.

I have not seen the 3d show you refer to, but perhaps that is what I would call a slide show, rather than AV. I have never been totally happy to pigeon hole any form of photography, but I think I can be persuaded otherwise with this medium. My Apprenticeship slide show is an example. Its a batch of images put to music. No attempt was made to create a story, or an emotion, its just a way of presenting images.

In AV, I would argue an attempt is made to create the start, middle and end. A show that is more than just a batch of images with. If the author is succesful, the result can be greater than the sum of the two parts. (images and sound)

the judging people of the RPS continually say that the use of frames in an AV competition,is a no no as the frame detracts from the image yet you continually use them !

If that were to be true, the RPS would be talking out of their backsides. You cannot make a blanket decision that all frames detract and I doubt the RPS do, to be honest. If they did, then I would be speachless, because I would want to know who made that decision? Who suddenly decided that in AV a frame always detracts. What if a frame is applied that didn't detract, does that get marked down because someone has decided that its taboo to use a frame.You see its too daft for words really.

And in any case, I make my slide shows for me first. I will listen to other peoples comments, but I reserve the right to disagree and I don't care what anyone else thinks about a frame, but it actually does have a purpose.

If your making a slide show to fill a screen, then a thin border may not be necessary, but not all our shows will be seen on the resolution monitor they were made for. In some cases, viewers will see a black area on screen. Now, if the image being shown has dark edges, it looks awful where it is seen against the black. In the worst cases it looks like someone has taken a bite out of the image. In those cases a delicate line will hold the edge of the images, no matter what screen resolution the AV is played on. See my examples.

Xaver

Do you think that your work is free from technical flaws or design flaws?

No, I certainly wouldn't be as arrogant as that, but that isn't the point of the debate. An AV should be viewed as one piece of work, if you feel the need to stop each image and judge each one from a technical point of view, then the AV must have failed miserably.

[Ken Cox]

Barry

I am disappointed in you -- I thought you would view all shows posted so the you could be more objective in your remarks you give the impression " it is my way or the highway"

you are realy missing the boat by not viewing them all

IMHO and others, the 2 recent shows by Bernard and Jean are exceptonal shows

ken

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Hi Barry

Just when you thought I'd hibernated???? well here's my reply to the remark in your first post.

Shall I be sarcastic? no, it's supposed to be the season of good will, so I'll be gentle, even though you are having to skulk around in a rain forest so the locals don't recognise you as "one of the Poms that are giving our cricketers a thrashing???

And NO I haven't downloaded your show, so I can only rely on the comments from other posters who on the whole seem to think it's OK, but maybe you've passed your best???

The show, I assume is an Australian Rainforest? Back to 2009, when one of my customers asked me to digitize a show he'd produced in the early 80's. It's everything you love & lasts an hour & it's called "OZ". My customer & his family were delighted, some of them living in Oz, where he took the pictures during a visit.

Anyway, in response to the sarcasm, I've produced a little show. As your's is too big for my download limit, I've made mine short, under 2 minutes & under 3MB download. The opening music may have been appropriate for your show? unfortunately, I'll never know. The final picture before the black slide is to remind you to use re-cyclable materials when sending out your little parcels, the show is dedicated to you & called BOZ and available on Mediafire using http://www.mediafire.com/?au1dcuzbuvdce . Hope you enjoy it, Happy New Year from the UK, bet you're missing us all

PS the spelling in the shot of you setting out on your rainforest shoot is deliberate.

Yachtsman1

.

[Ken Cox]

Barry

re frames see

http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=10717&pid=69433&st=0entry69433

and in case you dont read all of the thread

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<BR class=clear>Posted 29 September 2009 - 05:41 PM Almark

Maureens pointers above are spot on in my view. Especially the length of a sequence.

[mhwarner]

Well, I certainly hope no new members of this forum or new users of PTE have gotten into this thread by mistake! What a sarcastic, crabby bunch of old men seem to be lurking here this holiday season (if any of you are actually pleasant young women, I do apologize ). This discussion seems to have descended to a more personal level rather than truly a discussion of the pros and cons of Barry's slideshow (though I will admit that his opening post was an invitation to more sarcasm).

In any case, threads like this certainly do not inspire others to post their slideshows here. Could we have a bit more civility in the new year? Perhaps some of the petty potshots could be taken to the private message area.

[Ken Cox]

We might be old but not crabby - just the facts are being stated Mary

Barry has his opinion and others have theirs

as far as lurking - I sign in generally +- 04:00 till 18:30 daily

Barry does not seem to mind, he likely enjoys it and as you said Barry opened the door

that brings up another point re posting of shows and having them commented on -- when was your last post?

I have people write me off list asking me what is going on -- very few comments coming in -- lots of downloads tho' by lurkers

happy new year

ken

[xahu34]

... Perhaps some of the petty potshots could be taken to the private message area.

Not a good idea for having fun!

With crabby regards (whatever this may mean, I don't know),

Xaver

[David Porter]

Now I've been a member for some time I'm getting to enjoy these jolly posts, and I've learnt that Barry will always be involved, if not the instigator. Let him be precious about his A/V's, for my part you can do what you want after you have view my A/V's through once - or perhaps I only do "slideshows"!

[Barry Beckham]

Ken

I don't disagree with Maureen on anything she said in that thread. All the facts are well known, not just in AV circles, but if your going to send your show for a competition, you wouldn't use a thick white would you. I use a grey usually, but with the sequences I have put into competitions (twice) I make sure that thin line is not very bright, just enough to stop the black bleed off. Of course when I watch them myself, I don't see the border, because the sequence fills the screen. Its only there for others who will see black areas. Each to his own.

I also find that because I produce my shows at 1920*1200, when they are viewed on a 1024*768 projecter, which is almost always the case, the line becomes thinner still, because the images are being seen smaller. I just don't like my images bleeding off into the background. I think that is a weakness when it happens.

But my argument still stands. You cannot make a blanket decision that a line around a slide show automatically detracts from it, and then brain wash judges into thinking the same. I am quite happy to be judged, as long as it is fair and I don't much care for these so called photographic rules. Its like following the rule of thirds in every single case. The majority of the time, it is valid, but not in all cases.

Maureen also says that you make your slide shows to please yourself.

I don't have a problem with vieweing those shows, just havn't got around to it I suppose, but I don' t have any 3D glasses so I guess that one would not look so good to me. Can you provide a link to those two shows, and I'll take a look anyway.

Eric

one of your best slide shows.....It was short

The rest of you stop moaning about the discussion. Or do you want them all to be. Oh yes Sir, I quite agree!

A bit of passion in a debate is good, livens up the forum anyway. Look how many posts have kicked off on the strength of this one, even Eric found the enthusiasm to make me a nice little show.

Lighten up and broaden your shoulders lads....and lassies

I am typing with a smile on my face.

[Ken Cox]

great discussion as far as i am concerned -- Barry has been up all night

happy new year gang

now i can close down -- Mother Bell doing maintenance on the mail servers

ken