PTE for Mac

[phillcoe]

Hi

As an avid fan of PTE I hope you will forgive me for this post, it's only out of necessity that I am doing it.

I know there have been plenty of requests for a cross platform version of PTE and as far as I know this isn't about to happen any time soon.

This is a real problem for me and desparately need to find a solution for Mac that complements (not replaces) PTE so that can please all of Mac-based clients. At the moment, they just give me a withering look when I say "sorry this only works on PC"!

Does anyone know of a piece of software that works on Mac and approaches the quality of PTE? I tried Quicktime without success and am currently having to use the web gallery function in Photoshop to fill the gap, which is rather lame to say the least.

Hope you can help.

Cheers.

Phill

[Lin Evans]

You could consider converting a P2E slideshow to a Flash based show using inexpensive software such as Riva. Even on the web it works pretty well and on a CD or hard disk it should play quite smoothly on a Mac. Here's a link to one I made from a ProShow Gold slideshow. In practice converting a P2E slideshow is identical and will work even smoother without the pan, zoom, etc. Riva Player is free and Riva Lite is all you need (very inexpensive). You use P2E to create an AVI file then convert the AVI to Flash with Riva and play it either on the web or on disk or CD/DVD....

Here's a link to one of my samples:

Lin

http://www.lin-evans.net/testflv/rivatest.html

[ccmanz]

In Photoshop you can also create a PDF Presentation

You can password protect it, disable the print option.

And a Mac can view a PDF file.

You can have it flip through the pictures.

It is not a slideshow But it is a way to view on the Mac.

This option is in the automate.

[Conflow]

Phillcoe and PTE + MAC's

This topic got major exposure on this Forum last year ~Yes there is 'Software' available from Microsoft Corp. which allows various MAC's to operate the PTE.Program & Slideshows in their entirety without any side effects..

The Program is called:- 'Microsoft Virtual PC' which is loaded on to your MAC and then allows the MAC to emulate various Microsoft Operating Systems ~ in effect the MAC now becomes 2 PC. Its own MAC with its own OP.System, and a Windows "Virtual Reality PC" with all Win.Functions fully operational. In operation you simply select the OP.Platform you wish to use.

Yes, it works awfully well as we ourselves have 2 Laptops out with 'Field Technicians' servicing both MAC's and Win.PC's and naturally we depend on this "dual" functionality.

Contact Microsoft (Local Office) about this, giving your MAC details and they can confirm if "Virtual PC" will run on your particular MAC.

Brian.Conflow.

[Lin Evans]

LOL - but how does this help his clients? They would all have to purchase the software just to see his shows...

Lin

[Conflow]

Lyn,

I had a look at your example Link:- to the 'Riva Player Presentation'. The Music was 'chopped' (not contineous) and the Images although of good quality were very 'jerky' - this on a Pro 2000 with buckets of memory. Perhaps this was less than a perfect example of how to go about the Mac Problem? and "Phillcoe" would have to purchase 'Riva Lite' also.

You ignored my suggestion that Phillcoe should contact his (Local) Microsoft Office concerning Microsoft Virtual PC.

Both Microsoft and Apple Mac have very close connections (from the dim past) and solve these dilemas for Corporate Organisations. On foot of that it shouldn't be a big problem to use a MAC with Virtual PC installed, then import the 'Show' into the MAC, install it, and then 'Burn It' out from there. It would take a little bit of organisation and help from MS&MAC - but would be the professional way of Phillcoe meeting his clients needs.

Brian.Conflow.

[Ken Cox]

and what is the problem with making the avi on a pc

convert it to mpg

put it on a cd or whatever

and giving that to the mac

ken

[Lin Evans]

I had a look at your example Link:- to the 'Riva Player Presentation'. The Music was 'chopped' (not contineous) and the Images although of good quality were very 'jerky' - this on a Pro 2000 with buckets of memory. Perhaps this was less than a perfect example of how to go about the Mac Problem? and "Phillcoe" would have to purchase 'Riva Lite' also.

This sounds like a problem with your broadband connect rather than with memory or hardware. It plays very smoothly on each of our seven PC's over the web with perfect sound, but you missed my point.

The idea is not to play it over the web but rather to make an AVI movie in flash which can be played on any machine through html be it Mac or PC. Riva Lite is $30, what's the price for the PC emulation software? ..... When played from a CD or DVD the flash show is not subject to streaming issues and bandwidth considerations. Also, PTE shows don't presently have anywhere near the worst case scenario of ProShow Gold with the Ken Burns effects of pan, zoom, rotate, etc., which require much greater bandwidth.

There are several ways this can be done, but our Mac Based clients are quite happy with our slideshows created in Flash with Riva Lite - it's just one suggestion....

Lin

[Lin Evans]

and what is the problem with making the avi on a pc

convert it to mpg

put it on a cd or whatever

and giving that to the mac

ken

Nothing, that works as well but it still must be downloaded from the web, etc., so the Mac user can put it on their own CD. The problem with either Flash or MPG is getting it into a Mac format on a CD or DVD. The reason I suggested using a Flash conversion is that the client can both download and run from a hard disk on the Mac or see it on the web. An mpeg can be easily stored on your server then downloaded and played on the Mac.

Lin

[Conflow]

Lin,

I can assure you that there's absolutely nothing wrong with our 'Broadband' ~ Netsource.IE is a 'Corporate Broadband System' used by Irish Rail and other Municipal Authorities and when testing programs we don't 'bounce' them off the Server because the link is already pre-established.

Its another thing entirely sending Program's down the wire (or Satellite) to remote PC's. In the past Al Robinson and others have 'Tested' small programs for me, thankfully they had, because it revealed problems which were not evident with primary 'Bounce-Back' testing - I assume thats how you tested the 'Example' on your PC's.

Personally speaking if I had Phillcoe's problem, I would be looking for 'Universal Open-Source Programs' such as Java or HTML Players. I would get the PTE Presentation into them, then on to a Disc, and give that to the Client. Java & HTML Players cost nothing and they are absolutely universal.

Ken,your suggestion seems to me to be a very pragmatic one, however I think we will have to refer back to Phillcoe because in his 1st. Posting he never mentioned the Web at all, neither did you, the man was simply looking for a bit of cross-platform software to operate on MAC's - Java will !

Brian.Conflow.

[JRR]

Lin:

I watched your Riva Flash show last night (it came as a streaming file)

No problem with the music at all, a few of the pan and zooms were a little jerky, but so have been any ProSHow Gold shows that I have seen with pan and zoom.

[Lin Evans]

Ken,your suggestion seems to me to be a very pragmatic one, however I think we will have to refer back to Phillcoe because in his 1st. Posting he never mentioned the Web at all, the man was simply looking for a bit of cross-platform software to operate on MAC's - Java will !

Personally speaking if I had Phillcoe's problem, I would be looking for 'Universal Open-Source Programs' such as Java or HTML Players. I would get the PTE Presentation into them, then on to a Disc, and give that to the Client. Java & HTML Players cost nothing and they are absolutely universal.

Java will work as long as there isn't too much movement in the slideshow, but it's much less capable in terms of image quality than Flash, and Flash isn't great either. Once PTE has the Ken Burns Effects enabled, I wouldn't want to suggest Java as a solution. At present there is no "perfect" solution other than a good MacIntosh slideshow program. Any "conversion" process is less than optimal so he will have to pick from those available or find something designed for the Mac environment.

Lin

[Lin Evans]

Lin:

I watched your Riva Flash show last night (it came as a streaming file)

No problem with the music at all, a few of the pan and zooms were a little jerky, but so have been any ProSHow Gold shows that I have seen with pan and zoom.

Hi Jim,

That's essentially what the majority of our clients tell us. We quickly constructed and threw that one up as a test only - not a serious example of a slideshow. We put in zooms, pans and rotates just to test them. The shows with this kind of overhead in ProShow Gold work better on PC's over the web than on MacIntosh, ostensibly because the Mac Flash players are less efficient according to the developer.

It's definitely far from a perfect solution to rendering a PTE show for MacIntosh, but so far it's the best way we've found and we've tried Java as well. The test show is way too large for a real example, but does bring out the "kinks" in whichever environment it's tested in. We don't expect the Mac clients to use the web shows but make them available for download as Flash to be played under HTML. So far we've not had any complaints so it is "a" solution, albeit not a perfect one.

[phillcoe]

Evening All

The old (fireworks night) public service announcement in the UK springs to mind...."light the blue touch paper and retreat to a safe distance!"

I apologise for starting this small bout of fisty cuffs without being present to referee the fight but having come in during the final seconds of the last round it reminds me why forums such as these are the future and the best to share information, expertise and humour.

It's been a long few days so I will review all your (much appreciated) comments tomorrow but in the meantime...THANKS!

Appreciative of Mijas

The phillcoe