PicturesToExe Deluxe 5.5 Release Candidate 5

[cjdnzl]

Note for Igor;

Hello Igor,

A problem with beta 3 has arisen while attempting to load a sequence of 13 slides, all sized 1024*768. I marked all 13 slides with Ctrl-A, and clicked the 'add' button to pull the slides into PTE. An Exception occurred which said:

"Exception EInvalidOp in module apr.exe at 00205DE7".

On clicking 'Close ' on this message, another error report appeared, which said:

"Unhandled Exception at 'TPteEngine' disposing (D:\D_Common\Wnlib\Wn32\wpTypes.pas, line 536)".

Colin

[Igor]

Colin,

Thanks, I've reproduced this bug. Will fix it in Beta 4.

[Igor]

Beta 4:

http://www.wnsoft.com/apr/apr-deluxe_beta.zip (5 MB)

* You can add transition point during playback with preview and music doesn't interrupt.

* Fixed small bug of previous betas - added images display with bold font in File list.

* Fixed bug with incorrect display of tiled background in previous betas.

* Fixed bug of mini-player when error message "Exception EInvalidOp in module apr.exe" could appear in previous betas.

This beta allows to add new transition points on the fly.

Colin,

Please try now with Beta 4.

[Ronniebootwest]

I installed Beta 4 and when I try to run the program, my computer is freezing up! It might be something in my setup, I will try it again in the morning and see if it is working then.

Ron

[Ken Cox]

Ron

try a reboot and see what happens

ken

[fh1805]

Ron,

I've downloaded and installed beta 4 and it runs OK without a reboot. My system runs Vista Home Premium.

[cjdnzl]

Beta 4:

http://www.wnsoft.com/apr/apr-deluxe_beta.zip (5 MB)

* You can add transition point during playback with preview and music doesn't interrupt.

* Fixed small bug of previous betas - added images display with bold font in File list.

* Fixed bug with incorrect display of tiled background in previous betas.

* Fixed bug of mini-player when error message "Exception EInvalidOp in module apr.exe" could appear in previous betas.

This beta allows to add new transition points on the fly.

Colin,

Please try now with Beta 4.

Thanks, Igor. Exception problem is fixed, and program runs well.

Colin

[Igor]

Ron,

Did you try previous beta releases of new version 5.5?

And what current version of PicturesToExe you use successfully?

Please let me know about version of Windows and video card.

Such problem may points that there is a problem with drivers of video card. Download and install latest one.

[Davidh12]

Well done to Igor and the wnsoft team

Like others before I put in transition points on the fly

so really pleased you have sorted this out in Beta 4.

5.5 is looking really great. Now like the new look!

David

[Peter S]

Igor,

I have had a quick run through Beta 4 and it all seems to work well including the addition of transitions on the fly.

One thing that may be confusing to new comers is the absence of a Play button as there used to be on the old time line screen. It's fine if you know from previous versions that the space bar starts and stops the play function but not obvious to a new user.

Kind regards

Peter

[Barry Beckham]

Igor

Just got back from a few days away and tried beta 4 and it looks pretty good to me. It works fine and it's now great to see the animation and any frames used to when adding points on the fly. Great work.

I think an extra start and stop button between the New Transition button and the Cut Transition button would be a nice inclusion. There is quite a distance between the start and stop buttons if your not aware of the space bar shortcut.

Barry

[Igor]

Barry,

Thanks! I'm very glad.

There is huge Play/Stop "button" - just click left mouse button on mini-player

[Igor]

Beta 5:

http://www.wnsoft.com/apr/apr-deluxe_beta.zip (5 MB)

* Fixed bugs of previous betas with displaying of some images in "Original size" mode. (It didn't affect on created EXE files). Thanks to Jean-Pierre who helped us to find and reproduce several such mistakes during beta-testing of v5.5

* Fixed small other bugs in Slide list.

* Fixed bug with error messages because of mini-player on some project.

[JPD]

All seems correct now for the preview on all my most difficult slideshows, just a very little thing, but for me it's now good. You did a very good job, thanks to you and your team.

[fh1805]

Igor,

I've just installed v5.5 beta 5 and can now confirm that the installation process does not carry forward the default template setting from the previous version.

See thread here for a brief dialogue between The Dom and I on this subject: http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8245

When the pop-up window asked me which version's settings I wanted it to copy I told it v5.5 beta 4. Last night I checked that v5.5 beta 4 was set up to use a template called "My Template". In the Templates folder I have three templates: "Auto with music", "Manual" and "My Template" (which I set up to do this testing). The installation process has connected v5.5 beta 5 to the Templates folder correctly (when I do File...Templates...Manage templates... I see the folder with all three templates present) but it has not carried forward the setting of "My Template" as my default template.

It is an annoyance rather than a serious problem but I hope it is something that you can correct in your install process for the next release of PTE.

[Ronniebootwest]

Ron,

Did you try previous beta releases of new version 5.5?

And what current version of PicturesToExe you use successfully?

Please let me know about version of Windows and video card.

Such problem may points that there is a problem with drivers of video card. Download and install latest one.

The problem was with my graphcs card! I was using a GeForce 6600Gt and it failed so I am updating my entire cumputer that will include an Nvidea 8800 (512mb) card and a dual core processor. I hope that this will cure all my problems.

Ron

[jevans]

I have noticed comments from Barry in this thread about inserting slides on the fly which I have not quite followed. However I have tried the latest beta of 5.5 and have a small query regarding the insertion of a new slide on the timeline.

In Version 5.1, if you needed to insert a new slide somewhere in the middle of the timeline, you placed the blue cursor triangle at the point of desired insertion and then clicked the "Insert Slide" button. The file list opened and you selected the slide you wanted.

It does not seem to be possible to do this in the latest beta as adding a slide always places the slide at the end of the timeline and inserting a new transition does not seem to give you the option to select a particular slide for insertion.

Perhaps I have misunderstood the principle of operation of the new timeline but would be grateful for some clrification.

Jeff

[fh1805]

Jeff,

With the Timeline view active, just drag an image from the Slide Panel to wherever you want to have it inserted in the Timeline. All the other images and their transition points remain as they were - and you can then customise the transitions of the new image to suit. You no longer need to position the blue triangle to be your insertion point - just drag what you want where you want it.

[stonemason]

Jeff you can insert a slide while the soundtrack is playing by pressing the insert key at the desired position and the next slide in the list will be added at that point. I am at present creating several slideshows with a total image count of 1400 and would really like the select slides to the right feature in the right click menu in the timeline ( shift + home does this but also takes you to the end of the timeline which is a pain) I'm using the last version 5.1 as these shows are the results of a national competition and I can't risk using beta versions as I'm working to a deadline. From what I have seen of 5.5 it looks great can't wait to get this project over and start using it.

Well done Igor and the team.

Regards

Geoff

[alrobin]

Igor,

Thanks so much for all your hard work in trying to please us all in the new much-improved version of PTE. I can see that many hundreds of hours must have gone into streamlining this great program and adding in our many "must have" suggestions over the past couple of years.

I like the increased flexibility of the timeline / slide views, the ability to drag and drop onto the timeline, the ability to access project ops from the timeline view, etc.

However, after a very cursory trial of the new program, I have a few requests, complaints, and/or suggestions (call them what you will )

1. I agree with Barry and Busty about the missing ability to clear the timeline of transitions and add them on the fly - moving everything to the end just doesn't cut it with me either (on my first attempt, I guess I hadn't highlighted everything, and only some of them moved past the end of the music. The new "workaround" is too easy to screw up.

2. On the previous timeline, hitting "stop" returned the maker to the very beginning of the show. I always found this to be a nuisance, as I would often hit stop instead of just pausing the show, and have to navigate back to the place on the timeline where I was working. So, the new "tape recorder" system of buttons is a pleasant relief. However, as on a recorder, there still needs to be another button to return the maker to the very beginning of the show if he or she desires to go there. One can move the slider, but that is more awkward than simply hitting a "return" button.

3. The music still gets cut off at the end of the slides unless one calculates the duration from there to the end and adjusts the duration of the last slide accordingly. This would be simplified if one could drag the vertical "end of show" line on the timeline with the mouse, just as one can drag the end of each transition to extend it for individual slides. This would tell the show to keep playing until the end of the music is reached.

4. There appears to be some wasted space on the slide view window (see attachment) when one moves the dividing bar upward to increase the size of the images on the slide list.

5. I had previously envisaged a new window with both timeline and slides visible together, one above the other. I guess this was found not to be possible. One would think that with the high-resolution modern-day monitors there would be plenty of room to include both together. This way one could drag and drop slides from both the file list and the slide list onto the timeline. In the current design it is very tedious to try to drag a slide from the end of the timeline back to the beginning. Thus I agree with the suggestion in a previous post to have the light-table for the slide list accessible from the timeline.

Otherwise, while it only goes part-way in meeting my own personal wish-list, I do find the new PTE an improvement overall from the previous version, and will continue to adopt the new betas and future versions as they are produced. All the best in your continuing development!

[Barry Beckham]

Igor

I have a current project on the go and have been using Beta 4, not downloaded beta 5 yet.

I added some images and got the slide show started, but then created some more images in photoshop and then selected them in beta 4. When I go into the time line, I cannot seem to click and drag to highlight those new images to remove them from the time line. After dragging over 7 images that used to be selected, now only one of them highlights. I had to remove each one, one at a time.

What I want to do is carry on the programming from that point after adding some images.

In addition, if I try to select an image from the slide list to remove it, often the slide next to it becomes selected and the one I click on refuses to select. It will select in the light box screen.

Hope that makes sense

[RayC]

Hi Barry,

I had downloaded and installed Beta 5 just before reading your message so decided to check this new version out with what you are doing, i found that now you have to select very close to the black line above the slides to select muliple slides other wise it does only select the one.

Hope this helps you with Beta 4.

All the best

Ray

[mightec]

Not sure whether it has always been the case, but I find that when I copy and paste the last slide by right-clicking the mouse to the right of the last slide, the pasted new slide seems to appear to the left of the last slide. I would prefer the pasted new slide to be the last slide in the sequence.

Solved my problem, I still had the last slide highlighted when I pasted in the new slide. Well I am a pensioner.

Just a thought, in the new preview window, it would be nice to be able to move back to the start of the preview by the click of an icon.

[Barry Beckham]

I am using Windows Vista and just got the attached message when I installed Beta 5

[ADB]

Igor

I have been playing with the latest Beta's.

I must admit when I first thought how great it would be to have animations showing in the preview window when recording transitions on the fly I probably didn't appreciate the inherant problems this would cause in trying to replicate in the preview (as you program) the exact show that you will end up with. For example if you were planning a quick "zoom in" for a slide lasting 0.5 secs then when recording on the fly and you came to this slide PTE doesn't know how long the zoom will last as its relative to when you add the next transition, so what will happen on the preview is the slide will ever so slowly zoom in then when you click the next transition will race to the correct zoom point now that PTE knows how long the slide will last on screen.

As far as I can see there is no way around this but it does unfortunately give you a very disjointed effect when trying to apply "flow" to your programming.

I think what would be very useful is to have the option that when previewing you can turn the preview of animations on or off so if you want a first run to record transition points on the fly you can turn off "animations preview". Once the initial transitions are recorded you can then turn "animations preview" back on and make any tweaks.

Finally if trying to do on the fly transition recordings and you are using big file sizes you will have delays in showing the preview but I think most users are possibly aware of this already.

Apart from that the new changes are superb!!

Regards