A Stress Test for Really Good Video Systems

[Lin Evans]

Do you want to test your video card and system for animation stress?

Do not download this 100 meg show unless you have a pretty powerful video card you wish to test. This one demonstrates a bit of many of the animation possibilities with PTE 6.0. as well as animations of snow, water, OOB (out of bounds) and video clip template transformation, etc.

This one "really" stresses the video card and will reveal any weaknesses there may be. If you can run this one completely smoothly, you can run about anything which will be created with 6.0, etc.

http://www.learntomakeslideshows.net/sample/pte60demo.zip

Best regards,

Lin

[mightec]

Hi Lin

Thanks for sharing so quickly, I am glad to say my video card came through, the show was very smooth. The only problem is that it wetted my appetite but I am not sure how to be able to create the effects.

[Lin Evans]

Hi Mike,

Hang in there! I will have an AVI tutorial up in the PTE Made Easy series in a day or so which will show you how to do the 3D transforms, etc. In the demo, the things which take advantage of the 3D Transform are the rotating snow scenes, the OOB (out of bounds) photos where the perspective changes dynamically, and the reflections at the end, etc.

The OOB shows are very easy to make. You simply adjust the perspective using the 3D Transform (which as you will see is very easy) then adjust the "canvas" and "border" right in PTE. The only thing you must do outside PTE is create that portion of the scene which you need for the portion which lies outside the frame as a PNG object. Just take the original photo, copy and paste it on a transparent background and erase the areas you don't want shown. Then simply make that PNG object a child of the original image, adjust to fit exactly over the original and the PNG object overlay will extend out over the borders after you adjust the canvas size in PTE.

It's then very easy to set the 3D Transformation via keyframe so that it changes dynamically as you like.

The animation within a 3D Transform is also fairly easy to accomplish. When I get a chance I will also make a tutorial showing how this is done. I have already posted a template so you can just drop in images for the reflection animation. That's also done via the 3D Transform by just a horizontal flip of 180 degrees and some masking for shadows and opacity, etc. You can see how it is done by examining the template PTE.

The Earth rotating around the sun was done with my video clip template which uses decompiled video for the Earth's Rotation. The apparent rotation of the sun was done with a technique developed by Dom which involves masks and flat pano type images of the sun, etc.

Best regards,

Lin

Hi Lin

Thanks for sharing so quickly, I am glad to say my video card came through, the show was very smooth. The only problem is that it wetted my appetite but I am not sure how to be able to create the effects.

[CorVdK]

Hello Lin,

Thanks for the test and nice demonstration.

My video card did very well, only the white borders have some "flickering" when turning.

I have a question.

About the last part of your demonstration, the reflections:

In the beginning, when the pictures are tilted, the reflections are very smooth (smooth out of focus).

Then the picture is put straight and turned away. By then the reflection is cut off.

I just wonder, if it is possible to have a smooth out of focus of the reflection as well, when the picture is turned away?

Greetings,

Cor

[Lin Evans]

Hi Cor,

If I understand you correctly, I think it's not possible when one uses the right/left 3D flip transition. To be able to not see a hard edge where the reflections are cut off, it would be best to use a fade transition or one which doesn't display the edge of the image.

If you want to try it, just go to the template section and download my template for this reflection show. Go to the Projects Options, Effects Tab and change to a fade rather than the 3D left/right flip and that should eliminate seeing the hard edge.

Best regards,

Lin

[CorVdK]

Hello Lin,

Thanks for your explanation. I'll look for your template and do some trial.

3D is quite new to me. I'll have to figure it out how one can use it functional in a slideshow.

Greetings,

Cor

[Lmoreels]

Hi Lin,

I was surprised that it run fine on my iMAC.

It has only 256 mB video (ATI)

20" iMAC 2,7 GHz 4 Gb ram, Vista ultimate (bootcamp)

Thanks for sharing this

Luc M

[Lin Evans]

Hi Luc,

That's great to hear! Usually, on either the rotating 3D snow scenes or the rotating Earth orbiting the sun will show up any weakness in a video card or system. The fact that your iMAC plays it smoothly means that your have a system which should handle just about any PTE show with intensive graphics!

Best regards,

Lin

[Nordlicht]

Hi,

great demo ! And my video card came through.

I'm very impressed about the possible animation (snow, waterfall ...). How you have realized this ?

Great work..

Thanks for sharing this

Nordlicht

[Lin Evans]

Hi Matthias,

I have an AVI tutorial on the waterfall animation creation, along with a PNG file available so you can create both waterfall and snow animations.

Essentially, these involve using a Photoshop created PNG file or sometimes files which are moved between a background jpg and a PNG duplicate of that background with a transparent layer and transparent "cut-out" areas to show the movement. The PNG "snow" or "water" file is moved about via keyframes and shows through in the areas of transparency (for the water) and over the background with sometimes some transparency for the earth (ground) areas and sometimes not depending on conditions for snow. Sometimes the same PNG file is used multiple times within the same image to achieve different snow conditions, depth, texture and position. You can download the waterfall sample here: (look among the samples - I think # 11)

http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7901

Best regards,

Lin

[Almark]

Hi Lin,

worked fine on my laptop.

But as a 'fade in - fade out' guy - I will not be using these features. Or perhaps not yet! It reminds me of why I switched from ProShow to PTE, I simply did not need all the extras. Indeed PTE 4.8 still does all I need. I use PTE in the old fashioned way of 'showing off' my photography. Good pics and good music.

AV's are becoming movies, and if I want a produce a movie I will use a video camera.

However; I am sure that many people will want to use these new features.

[Lin Evans]

Hi Mark,

The nice thing about PTE is that it offers not only the ability to create amazing animations but also the finest image quality and smoothest transitions possible today.

From the perspective of animation versus video; it would be very difficult with a video camera to capture the Earth rotating around the Sun or even to travel to places you may have a photo of to capture a waterfall or snow in a winter scene inside a snow-globe, etc. So though there is certainly a place for using a video camera, for some there is also a place for creating animations from still images too.

PTE offers the best of both worlds and soon will also offer those who wish to include video in their presentations that option as well. Of course Proshow also allows the creation of a simple slideshow with executable output and simple fade transitions. The only relevant differences in this respect between PTE and Proshow is, in my opinion, the quality of the output. Hardware rendering gives PTE a decided edge in this respect, especially if the highest resolution monitors and displays are being used. It's a bit difficult to see the true advantages of PTE over Proshow and most other presentation slideshow software at 1024x768, but once you've seen both at WQXGA resolution (2560×1600 pixels) the differences are immediate and convincing.

So PTE offers you and others who only want a great slideshow with fade transitions and first class image quality the zenith of performance. At the same time it offers those who wish to experiment with animation and special effects a splendid tool for that purpose as well.

Best regards,

Lin

[Barry Beckham]

I am of a similar feeling to Almark and I believe that while many of these animation effects can have a place, when used they generally exclude any chance of capturing a mood in a slide show. In my opinion of course.

We live in a visual world where we can easily see the earth rotating around the sun and lots more besides, in superb quality too. The Hollywood movies create these effects all the time and they are very convincing and we have become accustomed to them. It's natural then for us to compare what we have seen at the movies or elswhere with what we see here with regard animation. There is no comparison.

So, as clever as it may be, any animation that shows the earth revolving around the sun will be compared to the best we have ever seen and then a PTE version comes up a little short. Now I say that as a PTE enthusiast and one who has seen some really clever animation demos.

So where are all these effects used, I never seem to download a slide show and see any, why is that?

Could it me that it's because they don't add anything to a pictorial slide show and 99 times out of a 100, that is what people are making, a pictorial slide show.

Now I am really going to throw the cat amongst the pigeons.

A lot of what I see appears tacky, unconvincing and has no place in 99 of those 100 shows.

(Ducks quickly and takes cover )

[Almark]

Some time ago I was using ProShow and someone told me about PTE. So I did a simple, non scientific experiment and did two AV's; one with ProShow and one with PTE. I was aware that Proshow would often default to medium quality so I changed all the settings to high quality. The result was enough, for me, and many others at my camera club to change to PTE. We liked the sharpness and saturation , and the fade details produced - above that what ProShow could do. So my early stuff was done in ProShow but my later stuff has all been done in PTE.

However; we must all consider our audience. While I post my AV's here and on Beechbrook, the intended audience is me, my family, and my camera club - who are more interested in the photography than any fancy effects. Clearly; all products must evolve and try and get one step above and beyond the nearest competitor. If PTE V6 is trying to compete with other similar programs, that is fair enough. The purpose of selling a product is to make money. So; perhaps the owners of PTE should consider their audience. Maybe conduct a survey to discover why people use PTE over other products and what effects they regularly use?

I agree with Barry, just look at the recent submitted PTE AV's to this forum and consider how many are using the effects above and beyond V4.8?

More cats and more pigeons :-)

[Ken Cox]

Some time ago I was using ProShow and someone told me about PTE. So I did a simple, non scientific experiment and did two AV's; one with ProShow and one with PTE. I was aware that Proshow would often default to medium quality so I changed all the settings to high quality. The result was enough, for me, and many others at my camera club to change to PTE. We liked the sharpness and saturation , and the fade details produced - above that what ProShow could do. So my early stuff was done in ProShow but my later stuff has all been done in PTE.

However; we must all consider our audience. While I post my AV's here and on Beechbrook, the intended audience is me, my family, and my camera club - who are more interested in the photography than any fancy effects. Clearly; all products must evolve and try and get one step above and beyond the nearest competitor. If PTE V6 is trying to compete with other similar programs, that is fair enough. The purpose of selling a product is to make money. So; perhaps the owners of PTE should consider their audience. Maybe conduct a survey to discover why people use PTE over other products and what effects they regularly use?

I agree with Barry, just look at the recent submitted PTE AV's to this forum and consider how many are using the effects above and beyond V4.8?

More cats and more pigeons :-)

MEOW MEOW

hate to admit that one of dom's tricks [ the book] and many of Lins demo's get more oh's and aw's than most shows from my family

some shows/slides get "that's pretty" comments

I have given this subject a lot of thought --" could we have this sort of fade etc" Igor makes it but do we ever see it -- seldom - the only one we see is the straight fade and the page curl in the different configurations it will do

generally we have 3-4 people asking for more to be added to the basic program -- but do we ever see the finished product by the people asking for it -- it would have to be pointed out to most of the members

Lin and Dom have worked very hard to show what can be done with pte -they have used the expertise of other developers and introduced them to the functions of pte

- so why not give credit where credit is do ?

and last but not least

" LONG LIVE V4.49"

KEN

[Lin Evans]

Hi Barry,

I suspect that you are a bit out of touch with what is going on in the world of slideshow creation and presentation among the competition. Animation effects, transition effects and 3D are perhaps the most frequently asked for features and additions to not only presentation slideshow software, but even for tools like Photoshop. Even Adobe has even added 3D effects, etc., to Photoshop CS4 extended.

If you take the time to seriously inquire into the various forums for competing products, you will learn that people want these special features. Whether or not they add anything of perceived value either to you or in any serious way to a photographic slideshow, they are vital to the success of a presentation slideshow product in today's market. If a developer does not put these features in their presentation slideshow software, that product will fail in today's market. Further, if you don't demonstrate that your product can be used to create these effects, then that product will remain in obscurity in terms of commercial validity.

The market success of PTE doesn't rest with us old codgers (that includes you, me, Mark, Ken, etc.), it depends on the ability to capture the imagination and interest of the younger generation. You only have to look around you. Open your eyes and mind and you can't help but realize that from cell phones to television, from digital frames to software, and even the web itself; the future is motion, flash and what you may consider foolish gimmicks. It's what the public wants and what a developer must give them to succeed.

Actually, you "can't easily see the Earth rotating around the Sun." It takes a year for the Earth to make a single orbit around the Sun and, of course, during that period the Earth rotates approximately 365 times on its own axis. Even from the space station we can't see the Earth rotating around the Sun. As a matter of fact, no living person has actually ever "seen" the Earth rotate around the Sun. So what we can see are simulations of this natural event made with a variety of software tools, and yes, some of them are very, very good.

When you were a child in school, I'm certain that at one time or another you probably visited a planetarium where there were mechanical models of the solar system. They were not very realistic, but they served a purpose. Using software such as PTE to create teaching models of our solar system or even a theoretical model of atomic structure is a valid and useful purpose just as using it to display "your" photographs complete with "artistic" interpretations made with various Photoshop techniques such as craquelure, etc., serve a purpose. No, the simulations I make with PTE do not compare with those made by Hollywood which cost millions of dollars to produce any more than your photographic art resembles a Monet or Rembrandt. Neither are remotely representative of the best possible, but that's not the point, is it?

As for the question of where various special effects are used in slideshows? If you are truly interested, I will be very glad to link you to literally hundreds of slideshows where they are used. Because you don't download or see shows where numerous special effects are used speaks only to your personal experience and not to any type of statistical validity. Believe me, they are, whether it is in your experience or not.

Personally, I don't believe that some of the effects I and others create with PTE add any particular aesthetic value to a serious photographic slideshow, but once again this wasn't the point of my post. I posted this particular presentation to help people test their video cards so that should they want to use features such as animated OOB, 3D transforms, snow, water, or planetary simulations, they would know whether their systems were up to par. I believe that I made that quite clear in the original post. I created this collection to demonstrate some of the possibilities with PTE which may or may not interest everyone.

Choosing to use this thread as a platform to express your personal bias and opinions about the show's content is off-topic and deserves a thread of its own. I notice that you didn't even comment about whether it ran smoothly on your system, or really respond to the original thread, but instead chose to use it as an opportunity to express your opinions about the quality and appropriateness of the content. Why not start your own thread and discuss the proper aesthetics of a presentation slideshow? I think there is a valid place for your point of view, but I don't believe it belongs in this thread.

Best regards,

Lin

I am of a similar feeling to Almark and I believe that while many of these animation effects can have a place, when used they generally exclude any chance of capturing a mood in a slide show. In my opinion of course.

We live in a visual world where we can easily see the earth rotating around the sun and lots more besides, in superb quality too. The Hollywood movies create these effects all the time and they are very convincing and we have become accustomed to them. It's natural then for us to compare what we have seen at the movies or elswhere with what we see here with regard animation. There is no comparison.

So, as clever as it may be, any animation that shows the earth revolving around the sun will be compared to the best we have ever seen and then a PTE version comes up a little short. Now I say that as a PTE enthusiast and one who has seen some really clever animation demos.

So where are all these effects used, I never seem to download a slide show and see any, why is that?

Could it me that it's because they don't add anything to a pictorial slide show and 99 times out of a 100, that is what people are making, a pictorial slide show.

Now I am really going to throw the cat amongst the pigeons.

A lot of what I see appears tacky, unconvincing and has no place in 99 of those 100 shows.

(Ducks quickly and takes cover )

[Maureen]

Just like to add Robert recently won the UK Nationals

( proud wife - like to say I taught him all he knows but it'd be a lie )

His latest sequence uses quite a few animation effects but they are so cleverly used you are not aware of "animation" when you watch it.

Trick is not to use animation as a "knock their socks off" effect but only when it can add to the AV.

Guess you'll all have to visit the UK Internationals next Sept to see this show.

Spot on Lin - animation is out there and here to stay folks and lots of it too.

Even the latest cameras and phones are incorporating video facilities but PTE can show better quality projection .

Many THANKS to Igor and the Team PTE is leading the way.

Maybe all won't want to use it .... not everyone wanted to take up the option of electricity either

I remember die hards telling me they would NEVER move from slide tape .............

Now they are actively digital in AV

HUGE Thank YOU to Lin for producing this Stress Test for video cards.

I greatly appreciate it - has been veru useful and recommended it to others too.

Thanks also for all the other work Lin, Dom and others have done to help us on the Forum.

THANK YOU Lin

[Barry Beckham]

Yes I am fully aware that as I get older I may get out of touch, but I know what I find appealing and what I don't and I also realize that as you get older you get set in your ways. Taking that all into account I cannot force myself to like something that I feel has little place in AV.

When I mention AV, I say that in the belief that 99% of what is posted in and around this site are pictorial sequences, not instructional or tutorials. Different rules may apply to those.

Yes, please point me in the direction of the best AV you know about that uses these types of effects. I will be the first to admit I have made a bad mistake if I realize I have. I am not stubborn and I have no problem with saying ooops, made a mistake there.

We see loads of whoops of delight over certain animation effects, so, if they are so popular with people why don't we see them used? I don't have a problem will all animation, but these effects that try to mimic video are a disaster in my view They are what I would describe as tacky and unbelievable.

Please educate me into what I am missing because I still think the bog standard fade is a very difficult act to beat? If I have it wrong I want to know what I am missing.

[Lin Evans]

Hi Barry,

Here is a new thread where you can pursue discussions about the use or abuse of effects and animation in slideshows.

I don't think anyone is trying to convince you that animation or special effects are either "good" or "bad" for presentation slideshows. They are simply a "choice" and any decision about either their use (or not) is purely subjective and personal.

No one wants to "educate" you about what you are "missing". The point which is being made is that animation and special effects are being used and being used by many, many people making slideshows. They are requested by users of not only PTE but by users of competitive products such as Proshow Gold, Proshow Producer, MemoriesOnTV, m.Objects, Wings Platinum and a host of other presentation slideshow products. Animation and special effects are here to stay whether one likes it, approves of it, loves it or hates it. In order to stay competitive, PTE also must not only have this capability, but someone must demonstrate these effects. Whether you or I believe they are "tacky" or "fantastic" is totally immaterial to the rest of the world. People will accept or reject their use based on individual preferences. Like shoes, one size does not fit all.

The links I have given you on the other thread are just randomly selected shows from Photodex users and CodeJam users. They have one thing in common - they all use animation. To me some are decent, some are poor and most fall somewhere smack in the middle of mediocrity.

You use the term "mistake" as if there were a right and wrong way to do these things. There is no right and wrong, only different. The only time right and wrong enter into the equation is when there are established, written "rules" governing a particular event such as AV competition. Even then, the "rules" are arbitrary and simply constitute an agreement or consensus among those judging the event. People create slideshows for multitudes of reasons. Some of the results are aesthetically pleasing to some while horrendous to others. It's like art. Those who love realism might embrace the work of Native American Navajo artists Harrison Begay or Jimmy Abeta and hate the renderings of Pablo Picasso and vice versa. The beauty of human diversity is just that; diversity. We all have our preferences and PTE is simply a tool which allows us the latitude to explore those preferences.

Here's the link:

http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=10741

Best regards,

Lin

Yes I am fully aware that as I get older I may get out of touch, but I know what I find appealing and what I don't and I also realize that as you get older you get set in your ways. Taking that all into account I cannot force myself to like something that I feel has little place in AV.

When I mention AV, I say that in the belief that 99% of what is posted in and around this site are pictorial sequences, not instructional or tutorials. Different rules may apply to those.

Yes, please point me in the direction of the best AV you know about that uses these types of effects. I will be the first to admit I have made a bad mistake if I realize I have. I am not stubborn and I have no problem with saying ooops, made a mistake there.

We see loads of whoops of delight over certain animation effects, so, if they are so popular with people why don't we see them used? I don't have a problem will all animation, but these effects that try to mimic video are a disaster in my view They are what I would describe as tacky and unbelievable.

Please educate me into what I am missing because I still think the bog standard fade is a very difficult act to beat? If I have it wrong I want to know what I am missing.

[Barry Beckham]

Well, I am ploughing through a few of these shows, but I have not seen anything yet which stands out and why are they all ProShow gold llinks?

If I wanted to watch a butterfly jerking it's way accross the screen I would use Proshow gold myself.

I will keep watching, but my resolve is slipping a little.

Later addition

I have watched a number of these shows and I am beat, they are mostly personal slide shows of family celebrations that have no appeal outside that family.

and some of the special effects like the butterfly was tacky and added nothing to the slide show.

That is the trouble, get it right and animation enhances, get it wrong and it really kills the appeal.

[Lin Evans]

Barry,

I have a hard time believing that you are really this "thick." I posted the other thread for you to continue your personal quest for convincing everyone that animation and effects do not belong in slideshows, yet you continue to post in this thread where it is totally off-topic. I created this thread specifically for people who want to test their video and system resources using a slideshow designed for that purpose. You have elected to make it a platform for your own personal bias seemingly to convince the reader that the animations and effects I used have no place in a "slideshow."

As far as the links are concerned: First, they are not "all ProShow Gold links". In fact, none of them to my knowledge are ProShow Gold links; some are Proshow Producer and others are MemoriesOnTV. Some are links to Google shows and some to Vimeo. No one said that they would "stand-out or that they were in any way anything other than examples where slideshow authors used animation and effects." You are trying very hard to change this thread to something totally off-topic and I'm simply not going to play whatever game it is that you are playing.

If you want to continue this, please either do it on the other thread or start a new one yourself with a topic which is appropriate to your intent. Please do not continue to post in this thread about either the suitability of animations and effects for slideshows or about the perceived quality of the slideshows I posted links to.

Lin

[JagJag]

Lin

Thanks for this. Worked fine on my system, I think!

The river scene: should I have seen what looked like distinct areas of water movement without appearing to blend with the other water movements around them i.e. just above and to the left of the rapids edge.

Also, when the earth traversed over the sun: when it reached the middle of the sun it seemed to develop a slightly raised blackness around the top edge as it traversed the remainder of the sun.

I'm probably being over critical as I'm watching this on a 30" monitor running at 2048 X 1536 with a 1Gb graphics card.

Regards and thanks,

John

PS. 1. Does the link given above lead to the animation shows. 2. Apart from Beechbrook, and those member sites listed by Ken Cox, are there other sites hosting PTE shows. 3. Where would I post to see if anyone can help me find a show I downloaded some time ago but which seems to have vanished off my sysytem.

[Lin Evans]

Hi John,

Yes, there should be areas of water movement which do not blend with other water movement especially where the stream makes a 90 degree bend. Unfortunately, there is no good way yet that I know of to create a smooth curve with smooth motion using a PNG transparency. I guess if I were to spend some time using radial blurs I could simulate a decent curve via spinning a circular cut-out and mask. That's something I will work on for future demos.

The slight blackness around the top edge of the Earth is the result of some vestiges of pixels which were not completely erased by the Photoshop action I created to cut out the individual Earth frames. There are a bit over 600 individual Earth PNG files which are used in the rotation animations. The actual pixel display resolution is pretty low for your system, being only about 1024x768 so when the image is displayed at your higher screen resolution they can become visible, especially with the back lighting by the bright orange sun. I didn't spend a great deal of time on the PNG images because the purpose was to tax the system resources. For a more perfect animation I probably should clean up the edges of the Earth, but it's hard to see it on smaller CRT's, etc.

No, the link I posted is just to demonstrate that people are beginning to use lots of animation in shows made with other products such as Proshow Producer, MemoriesOnTV, etc.

If you can describe somewhat the "content" of the show, perhaps some of us can help locate it. There are a number of demo slideshows on theDom's site, on my site and on some of the French sites. I'm not certain what Ken posted but if you go to my site here:

http://learntomakeslideshows.net/

Then go to the "Links" page, there are links to theDom's page, to Barry Beckham's page, to Diapositif (Jean Pierre's French site), etc., where there are demo shows. Also if you click on my Demo Slideshows Link there are about 15 demo shows you can download.

Best regards,

Lin

[JagJag]

Lin

Thanks for the info confirming that what I saw was correct. It's good to know that, even though I burn my eyes out at a screen for hours on end, they obviously still work. Thanks for the time it must have taken to put this demo together and, as I said earlier, I was being super critical.

The show I am trying to trace was taken in a war graves cemetery (WW2) in Europe, a very powerful sequence. It was about the American (or Canadian) dead. There was a music sound track and the story was told by text. From memory parts of the show were raised off the background by using a shadow effect on the image which was sitting on top of a slightly larger background. The end was a few shots inside the cemetery building showing a chandelier light made from metal which the story line gave details of. Again, if my grey cells are working, the author was Dutch, or something close to. I'm involved in AV locally and want to show this, along with other sequences, to try and encourage others to take up AV.

As a new poster (I've been reading the forum for a long time) I didn't want to post my request for help in the wrong place.

Once again, thanks for your help.

John