Discussion of v6.0 Beta

[thedom]

Congratulations Igor !

I'm downloading this new verson right now.

I will play with it a little bit and will let you know probably tomorrow what I think.

Thank you.

[Igor]

Tom,

I didn't try but probably yes. At least it should work in windowed mode.

And turn off "Pause show when a window is inactive" option.

[thedom]

+ Customizeable dialogs in slideshow. It is possible to use Objects and animation editor to customize these dialogs.

See Project options | Main tab | "Customize dialogs" button.

Jus a minor precision for those of you who will look for it and will not find it (like I did) :

Actually, this button is called "Customize Windows.." (instead of "Customize dialogs")

Igor, for next version, you might want to correct in Customize Windows : startup caption (instead of statup caption)

And I still have the problem of slideshow minimizing in windows bar when I click on "run" in the Startup window.

> You can add any number of custom dialogs to show them in a slideshow. See a new action "Show dialog" in properties of an object in the Objects and animation editor.

Same remark. The action is "Show Window" instead of "Show dialog".

Little precision : once you choosed Show Window, you have to click on the folder icon to specify the name of the show window you want to run.

> Added simple editor of presets for Masks. It is possible to create simple mask image right in PicturesToExe.

Really nice options for this feature with Width of blur and Corner radius !

But it would be more appropriate for my personal use if it could be a ratio instead of size in pixels.

Just my opinion.

And there is a little problem : if you type directly the figures, it doesn't work, you have to use the cursors to specify the size.

Igor, is it possible for us, (end users) to add other kinds of shape (triangle, heart, etc...) ? or is it embedded code for the circle and rectangular shapes ?

> Added "Adjust Image and Border" tool window. See Properties tab of Image object. It's possible to add color border to an Image object and set canvas size for an Image object.

Great great feature, perfect as it is. The Canvas size option runs like a mask. Even if we will have more control if we use mask, it's a really nice addition.

+ Added optimization for Mask objects when you set Time range.

I don't understand what it means. Could you please explain ?

[Barry Beckham]

I tried the new startup window and I went in and customised the startup and the help screen no problem.

However, when the show is previewed the startup window appears as you would expect, but the sound of my slide show continues while the startup remains on screen.

Then, if I select play, the slide show plays from the start, but begins hidden behind the PTE main screen. You can hear it but not see it and it has to be revealed from the windows bottom bar

If I hit the help button while the startup screen in displayed, the music of the slide show is then paused.

[LumenLux]

Thank you Igor. It appears to me that you are making advanced features more accessible to all users. This is good. Those who fear that more updates mean more complications, may recognize this is not necessarily the case. So, thank you already for your always good work and continuing improvements.

[Lin Evans]

Hi Igor,

Very nice!

One minor thing I noticed - when a URL is entered in the "Help" screen, no matter what the URL, the browser only goes to Winsoft! LOL

Best regards,

Lin

[davegee]

Congratulations Igor and team!

When I opened an EXISTING (16:10) project in 5.7B1 the PROJECT OPTIONS regarding SCREEN were not recognised.

The project was opened with the default screen options (4:3).

DaveG

Edit: If the project is saved from 5.7 and PTE 5.7 is closed and re-opened the last saved 5.7 version opens correctly with all options recognised.

[davegee]

Igor,

Is there any good reason why the start up window cannot be the same size as the project window i.e. in my case 1920x1200? (At present it is limited to 1200x100).

This would probably be an advantage to AVers who want to hide the desktop while talking about the show to an audience.

DaveG

[Igor]

Dominique,

Jus a minor precision for those of you who will look for it and will not find it (like I did) : Actually, this button is called "Customize Windows.." (instead of "Customize dialogs")

Thanks, I'll correct WhatsNew.rtf file in Beta 2. And here on the forum.

Igor, for next version, you might want to correct in Customize Windows : startup caption (instead of statup caption)

OK!

And I still have the problem of slideshow minimizing in windows bar when I click on "run" in the Startup window.

Please could you describe in details what happens when you click Run button in Startup window - you don't see slideshow at all? And what version of Windows you use. Do you use effect of animation for minimizing/restoring of opened windows?

And there is a little problem : if you type directly the figures, it doesn't work, you have to use the cursors to specify the size.

Also will be fixed. Thanks!

Igor, is it possible for us, (end users) to add other kinds of shape (triangle, heart, etc...) ? or is it embedded code for the circle and rectangular shapes ?

It will require write new code with new formulas for these shapes. I don't know if it really necessary, because I think that currently Mask editor should cover 90% of needs for Masks and for more complex shape better to use graphical editor with brushes, pens, lines, etc.

Anyway I have to leave something for future versions

QUOTE (Igor Kokarev @ Jun 18 2009, 10:12 PM) + Added optimization for Mask objects when you set Time range.I don't understand what it means. Could you please explain ?

If you adjust Time range values for an Mask object (see Common tab), PicturesToExe will not spend video card time for rendering of a Mask when it is hidden.

Dave,

When I opened an EXISTING (16:10) project in 5.7B1 the PROJECT OPTIONS regarding SCREEN were not recognised.

The project was opened with the default screen options (4:3).

<...>

Is there any good reason why the start up window cannot be the same size as the project window i.e. in my case 1920x1200? (At present it is limited to 1200x100).

I confirm both bugs. Will be fixed in Beta 2. Thank you.

Lin,

One minor thing I noticed - when a URL is entered in the "Help" screen, no matter what the URL, the browser only goes to Winsoft! LOL

I just checked up and URL in Help window works fine like any object with same action type.

Probably you forgot to update URL of action in the text field below of "Open Web page..." button?

Absolutely - I forgot that both properties "and" common tab need the update. I only updated the "text"..

Lin

Barry,

I tried the new startup window and I went in and customised the startup and the help screen no problem.

However, when the show is previewed the startup window appears as you would expect, but the sound of my slide show continues while the startup remains on screen.

Thanks, definitely it is a logical bug. We'll fix it in Beta 2.

Then, if I select play, the slide show plays from the start, but begins hidden behind the PTE main screen. You can hear it but not see it and it has to be revealed from the windows bottom bar

It seems that you and Dominique discovered same problem which I still can't reproduce. Please let me know your version of Windows.

[Igor]

Barry,

Dominique,

We finally reproduced the issue with Startup window when you press Run button and you don't see a slideshow. Please wait for the fixed version.

[smithore]

Igor, congratulation for the mask options.

Option "run external program' seems to be inactive in this version...

PTE is now an almost perfect "image animation" software, something is still missing for years : the possibility of placing audio samples with fade in fade out options,

after that, PTE will become an "audiovisual" software!

The possibility of including video is also missing, I actually creating a slideshow with videos of 5D II and I must generate jpgs with virtual dub and incorporate them in the slideshow and fixing

40ms timing for render an video effect, anyway this is not perfect, it lacks of fluidity.

Trying the same action on Proshow , setting 0 sec on slides and 0.05 sec on fading: the fluidity is perfect! This is maybe the only advantage of Proshow over PTE: the possibility of chaining slides very fast without lagging.

[thedom]

Stephane,

Here is what Igor recently wrote about audio. I think it will certainly make you very glad.

Also I would like to answer on a recently raised question regarding v5.7 on DiaporamaForum. We've re-worked code of audio engine and will include this change to future v5.8 the most likely together with simple management of audio tracks. At least it is in my TODO list.

Complete topic => http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index....ost&p=65761

[CorVdK]

Igor,

Congratulations for the new version.

I'll send you in a personal post the adapted dutch translation for version 5.7 beta 1 and VideoBuilder.

I noticed and received in:

1) Project Options/Advanced/Customize Navigation Bar.../Scale

for Sky style, when I pull the bolt to the max., I'll have:

"Access violation at address 0049461B in module 'PicturesToExe'.

Read of address 00000000."

and for Air style:

"Access violation at address 0049461B in module 'PicturesToExe'.

Read of address 726F531B."

I'll work in Vista Home. This access violation does not occur in PTE version 5.6.4.

2) Project Options/Comments/Set text comment for new slides:

The blue text button: "Insert template" in dutch it is translated in "Invoeren tekstsjablonen"

In previous versions it was always in a good position in the frame. In version 5.7 beta 1 the dutch text is disappearing to the left of the frame. There is only: "eren tekstsjablonen".

This small slight is shown only in the dutch translation, not in other languages.

Have a nice day,

Cor

[Cèlou]

Igor Bravo and congratulations to you and your team.

Innovations that I personally find very interesting.

In fact, as I used to work with two screens, I tried to launch a different editing screen and I have not encountered any problem since it works perfectly, provided uncheck the "Pause when slide show window becomes inactive".

Good work, bravo

[Cèlou]

Another thing I just discovered through testing.

I open a fitting on the screen 1 and a second fitting on the screen 2.

I keep the default configuration, I do not therefore unchecks the box: "Pause when slide show window becomes inactive"

I in turn launches the first and second mounting and clicking with the mouse on one or the other screen, I can look at the screen assembly 1 and 1 by clicking on the Both the screen assembly 2.

This may be interesting to compare two almost identical assemblies or with modifications.

[brutus]

Firstly, congratulations to the developers for resolving the text related issues of former versions.

Secondly, I note that when creating a 1080 HD movie, the demand on my dual core cpu hovers around the 100% mark with only minor variations. This suggests the software may not optimized to take advantage of cpu multi threading techniques?

System comprises: AMDAthlon 2.8Ghz X2, with 2Gb high speed ram, running XP Home Edition.

John.

[thedom]

Hello Igor,

I noticed two minor bugs that are absolutely not a major issue :

- you can not cut more than one father object at a time

- for a mask object, if you choose an other file to use, the name of the mask is not modified.

Actually, those bugs already exist in v5.6.4.

I hope everything goes fine with the other new features which are not included in this current beta release.

[Cèlou]

Hello everyone,

I do not know if this has been reported (I think not), I found a small bug.

I click on the button "Project Options" tab "Main" button "Customize windows" Show startup window.

When I run the preview on the screen 1, nothing happens

When I run the preview on the screen 2, the assembly began, but it is impossible to stop when I press the "Esc"

[Cèlou]

Hello everyone,

I do not know if this has been reported (I think not), I found a small bug.

I click on the button "Project Options" tab "Main" button "Customize windows" Show startup window.

When I run the preview on the screen 1, nothing happens

When I run the preview on the screen 2, the assembly began, but it is impossible to stop when I press the "Esc"

[Igor]

S.Bidouze,

Option "run external program' seems to be inactive in this version.

I can't reproduce this problem. I tried with "calc.exe" and it works fine. Please could you send me small one slide test project to illustrate this issue? And where you call external application: action of an object or at the end of slideshow?

The possibility of including video is also missing

It is in our plans.

Cor,

We just fixed the bug with adjusting of Scale parameter for Navigation bar in PicturesToExe. Please wait for Beta 2. Thanks.

The blue text button: "Insert template" in dutch it is translated in "Invoeren tekstsjablonen" In previous versions it was always in a good position in the frame. In version 5.7 beta 1 the dutch text is disappearing to the left of the frame. There is only: "eren tekstsjablonen".

I just fixed this bug.

John,

I note that when creating a 1080 HD movie, the demand on my dual core cpu hovers around the 100% mark with only minor variations. This suggests the software may not optimized to take advantage of cpu multi threading techniques?

Opposite CPU loading at 100% indicates that PicturesToExe fully utilizies two cores of CPU during video encoding (H.264). If software is not optimized for multi threading CPU loading will not reach 100%.

Dominique,

- you can not cut more than one father object at a time

I can't reproduce this issue - I put two images on a slide and after selecting both ones I can cut and the paste them. Is it specific for v5.7 Beta or same for previous v5.6?

for a mask object, if you choose an other file to use, the name of the mask is not modified.

Yes, I configured this behaviour because when you're editing already existing Mask it already can has unique name named by user.

[thedom]

The possibility of including video is also missing

It is in our plans.

Best news of the month !

I can't reproduce this issue - I put two images on a slide and after selecting both ones I can cut and the paste them. Is it specific for v5.7 Beta or same for previous v5.6?

I forgot to mention that this apply to father objects with children objects.

This is an issue I noticed for v5.6.4 and V5.7.

[smithore]

S.Bidouze,

QUOTE

Option "run external program' seems to be inactive in this version.

I can't reproduce this problem. I tried with "calc.exe" and it works fine. Please could you send me small one slide test project to illustrate this issue? And where you call external application: action of an object or at the end of slideshow?

I've just downloaded beta 2 and now it's working! I've tried many times with beta 1 and nothing happened!

Thanks!

[davegee]

Igor,

Bug in startup window?

Entering 1920x1200 produces a startup window which is roughly 1860x1200.

I have to enter 1960x1200 to get window to fill 1920 width of screen.

DaveG

P.S. It is also annoying that the desktop flashes between startup window and preview start. Can anything be done about this?

P.P.S 5.6 show now opens correctly with screen options recognised.

[thedom]

Entering 1920x1200 produces a startup window which is roughly 1860x1200.

Same problem here.

And I notice there is a quick return to desktop before the show starts.

I will never use the startup window because it offers less flexibility than a classic menu but those who want to use it, it might be a problem...

[thedom]

I forgot to mention that this apply to father objects with children objects.

This is an issue I noticed for v5.6.4 and V5.7.

Sorry Igor, actually it's my mistake.

If you select the parent objects using SHIFT+C (image on the left), it won't work.

But if you select only the parent objects using CTRL+C (image on the right), it will work.

And the problem will occur only if a Mask Container is included in the selection.

=> Not a bug.