Utopia Perhaps

[Barry Beckham]

Igor

I have mentioned this before in the distant past and I raise it again not knowing of course what the technical difficulties are.

It is the issue of presentation, how our slide show is finally seen on screen, not only by the author who created it, but also by others running different screen resolutions. For me AV is all about presentation and I think this issue is an important one to tackle if it is technically possible to do so of course.

I want to have the ability to create a slide show at any resolution I like. For the sake of my explanation, let's assume I want it to be 1000 pixels wide and 400 pixels high. I want to be able to animate that slide show and present it on any screen colour of my choosing or any texture of my choosing.

I want to be able to animate the show, but have the animation restricted to within those 1000*400 pixels so that anyone with a higher resolution monitor does not see any animation outside of the 1000*400 format. I don't want to have to use Png frames to accomplish that.

We are close to it with the window mode option in Project Options, but that has limitations. If I restrict my slide show to 1000*400 pixels, anyone running my 1000*400 format show will still see parts of the desktop of the PC it is being played on. That is what is unacceptable to me as it destroys the visual effect of the slide show.

If that is not enough, I also want the opportunity to create a fine line around the edge of the 1000*400 format for those times when I want to present dark images on a dark background or light images on a light one.

This all has to be tied in with that other option on the effect tab "Disable scaling of images". To accomplish what I am asking images would have to be displayed at the size the author created them, rather than expanded by the software to fit a higher resolution monitor.

I want my 1000*400 pixel show to display perfectly for 1024*768, 1280*1024, 1280*800 etc. No black bands anywhere on the screen at all. If I choose a textured background I want it the same on all monitors edge to edge. Left, right, top and bottom.

I also want a button in PTE that tells me what the winning lottery numbers are for next week.

Only joking about the last part.

Barry

[davegee]

Barry,

I once suggested a variation on the FULLSCREEN mode which would, effectively, play a PTE show on any size monitor UP TO your maximum desired resolution at which point it would revert to Windowed mode or similar.

I had no takers at that time including from your good self. Igor also declined to comment - maybe too difficult?

Maybe I was ahead of my time? (Only kidding!!).

DaveG

[Ken Cox]

Dave

you got my gray matter working -

what is left

- was it not in the works to auto adj to the current monitor resolution no matter what size it was made from?

ken

[Lin Evans]

Hi Barry,

I'm a bit confused. Isn't that what the "Original" mode in the Common Tab of Objects and Animations provides?

The "disable scaling" provision is a universal command affecting all images so would defeat the provision of having a background which would fit all resolutions. You can make a background which would effectively fit all resolutions simply by making it large enough in pixel dimensions to cover any currently used screen display resolutions and use this background for all slides. The "Original" mode then could be applied to images which were created, cropped, whatever to get 1000 pixels by 400 pixels. The 1000 by 400 pixel images would remain exactly that dimension on any monitor while the background which was created large enough to cover any and all display resolutions would provide the background. A black jpg image of perhaps 1008 pixels by 408 pixels and set to "Original" mode would reside behind the jpg images and the background on the layer behind the 1008 by 408 pixel frame which would provide a 4 pixel black frame around the main slide image. Wouldn't this satisfy the conditions you need?

Best regards,

Lin

Igor

I have mentioned this before in the distant past and I raise it again not knowing of course what the technical difficulties are.

It is the issue of presentation, how our slide show is finally seen on screen, not only by the author who created it, but also by others running different screen resolutions. For me AV is all about presentation and I think this issue is an important one to tackle if it is technically possible to do so of course.

I want to have the ability to create a slide show at any resolution I like. For the sake of my explanation, let's assume I want it to be 1000 pixels wide and 400 pixels high. I want to be able to animate that slide show and present it on any screen colour of my choosing or any texture of my choosing.

I want to be able to animate the show, but have the animation restricted to within those 1000*400 pixels so that anyone with a higher resolution monitor does not see any animation outside of the 1000*400 format. I don't want to have to use Png frames to accomplish that.

We are close to it with the window mode option in Project Options, but that has limitations. If I restrict my slide show to 1000*400 pixels, anyone running my 1000*400 format show will still see parts of the desktop of the PC it is being played on. That is what is unacceptable to me as it destroys the visual effect of the slide show.

If that is not enough, I also want the opportunity to create a fine line around the edge of the 1000*400 format for those times when I want to present dark images on a dark background or light images on a light one.

This all has to be tied in with that other option on the effect tab "Disable scaling of images". To accomplish what I am asking images would have to be displayed at the size the author created them, rather than expanded by the software to fit a higher resolution monitor.

I want my 1000*400 pixel show to display perfectly for 1024*768, 1280*1024, 1280*800 etc. No black bands anywhere on the screen at all. If I choose a textured background I want it the same on all monitors edge to edge. Left, right, top and bottom.

I also want a button in PTE that tells me what the winning lottery numbers are for next week.

Only joking about the last part.

Barry

[Barry Beckham]

Well, as far as I am aware the original mode and the diable scaling are the same. One affects just one image via the O&A screen and the other does it globally from project options.

I suppose the question was not put as a solution for me, I know how I could do this, but it would mean making 2-3 different shows. It is one of those issues that baffle the hell out of newer users of PTE, PSG is the same.

It is tied into the automatic scaling up of images to a larger monitor, which I/we don't want. (do we?) Especially as we have spent so much time getting the right size, sharpness and quality.

I want the show to run at 1000*400 on a textured background and I want that show to play at 1000*400 on any PC (1024*768 and higher)

The background colour, texture should then fill any space between the edge of the image and the monitor limits.

I use a piece of Multi Media software to create menus for DVD's, I have mentioned this before. I can create a small window for the menus and have that placed on a background of my colour choice. I can also set the background to be full screen and I assume that full screen colour will be applied to any resolution.

________________________________________________

Take a look at the example below.

http://www.beckhamdigital.co.uk/example.zip

Just unzip and double click the exe file inside. You should see your entire screen in white with a 1000*400 pixel image in the centre. You should be able to click and drag that image around too as it is just a frameless window. Escape will end the demo

That is how we should be able to present our slide shows, but with the added advantage of being able to use textures and edge lines

[Barry Beckham]

Try this little demo too

Download the following zipped files http://www.beckhamdigital.co.uk/demo.zip

The zip contains two files, but don't click the familiar PTE icon, keep both files in the one folder they are unzipped to and click the one called Start.

You will see that I have created a very small window (so I know the 1000*400 demo slide show will cover it) that contains a start button. That start button will fire up a short animated slide show with just a few images at 1000*400. (no sound)

If I am right here, this will play a restricted slide show on a solid black background on all resolution monitors from 1024*768 upwards.

I have created the white line too, but that has been done as a png frame.

[JPD]

That run fine, but you can do exactly the same (without Windows' bar) with V4 and hidetaskbar.exe (from Marcovelo), with or without a button to start the slide show. I used that with V4 slideshows and now with V5, but use only V4 for start file.

[Barry Beckham]

JPD

I accept what you say, but remember the vast majority of users to PTE do not have our knowledge and skill level. I don't want to have to use utilities and complicate the slide show process, it should be simple.

I want all you saw in that demo as part of PTE, if it is possible

[Lin Evans]

Hi Barry,

If I understand you correctly you would like to see some "automated" choice so that three conditions could be met:

1. a display size choice could be preserved such as 1000x400 pixels

2. a frame of several pixels in the users choice of color could be maintained

3. a background scaled to fit the display could be used which would prevent the extra display area on the display device from showing at all times.

Though these conditions can presently be easily met by someone having a knowledge of PTE, it would be advantageous for the novice user to simply select from a "menu" to apply such a set of conditions.

I would agree that this could be an advantage but for me certainly not at the expense of giving up the option of scaling to fit the available display.

I think we tend to desire things which fit our individual use models and our slideshow audience. For my own purposes locking the display for one of my shows to 1000x400 pixels would generally not work well at all. If my clients typically used 1024x768 displays then that would work beautifully, but in my case the "norm" is 2560x1600 and the extremes are 3840x2400 pixel displays. I have several clients who use ultra high resolution displays for my slideshows which don't use PZR and a number who use displays set to 2560x1600 for my PZR shows. As you could imagine, a 1000x400 pixel show locked to those dimensions looks rather like an elongated postage stamp on an ultra high resolution system.

If the original images used in the slideshow are downsampled to fit an available display of say 1024x768 they still look very good. On the other hand if a slideshow consisting of originals at 1024x768 is upsampled by PTE to a display resolution of 2560x1600 it definitely looses a great deal of impact. So my strategy is to prepare my shows using an average resolution I expect to find on my client's systems. If I were preparing my slideshows for a different audience then I would probably do it quite differently.

The bottom line is that a software developer must try to meet the needs of a rather broad audience. The general trend today in display resolutions is upward so I believe "choice" and "options" must be maintained to serve the trend. It's difficult for Igor because his products span a wide audience in multiple countries. For example, in France there are apparently larger numbers of older systems in current use (per Patrick) and making slideshows the way I do for my gallery art clients in the U.S. would certainly not work since the majority of my shows would not even run on the average computer there. On the other hand if I made shows which would work correctly on the majority of systems in France they would be rather unsuitable for my clients here. So I find the present options offered by PTE to be very good for my own purposes even though I fully realize that for others with different needs there may be valid reasons for wanting different options.

Best regards,

Lin

[Michel]

[JPD]

in France there are apparently large numbers of older systems in current use (per Patrick)

There aren't often old systems, but at work, the PC are generally used for applications as Word, Excel and so on and don't need a powerfull graphic card, so when we need to use PTE at work for a tutorial for instance, it's necessary to design the PTE file in order it run fine on such PC. In big international companies for which I worked, all the PC where almost the same, in Europe, in America, in Asia and even in Africa, with the same tools on them, in the same langage (english) in order a japanese a french or an american who come anywhere in the world can work with a PC of the place he goes.

Of course, there are old PC in Europe, but I think it's the same in USA, some members of this forum have problems with old PC and they don't all live in Europe.

With PTE we can do exactly all what we need for the PC we have, it's really a good tool for that.

[Lin Evans]

Hi Michel,

This goes back to a thread a while ago when the discussion was how to use resources to make shows compatible with a wide range of systems. It was not meant in any way as singling out "France" in particular as having older systems, but rather referred to a statement made by one of our French users (Patrick) who works I believe for a large hospital where the majority of the systems in use there have very limited video resources so that many of the shows PTE users were creating did not work correctly.

In US home use there are wide variations in computer resources with some still using systems with Win 98 installed and having also limited resources, however in the US computers are apparently on average much less expensive than in some other countries so the norm here is to replace them on average every three years or so making an abundance of them with more resources available. This tends to mean that users here often create their slideshows with little concern for resources because they expect that most who play them will have adequate video power to handle large files with PZR. Obviously, this is not always the case but it has not been perceived by many as being much of an issue.

Best regards,

Lin

What??????

[Michel]

[xahu34]

Green with envy, we - the old fashioned Europeans - look up to the modern America and its wonderful monitors (made somewhere in the Far East)

Best regards

Xaver

Munich

Germany

Europe, near to France

[Lin Evans]

Hi Xaver,

My clients are all over the world, in fact more in Japan and Asia than in the US so please dub down the politics, it has no place here. The international art community have traditionally used high resolution imagery and sophisticated electronics regardless of where they are located. We have clients in Bali who use equipment which would be the envy of most of us regardless of where we live.

The fact that computers are less expensive in the US than in some other countries has little to do with where they are made. Because of the low prices here and regardless of why, there are numerous reasonably powerful systems available in the US and therefore fewer older systems with lower performance video cards making it less likely that shows created with little regard for resources will be problematic.

The majority of computer monitors were traditionally made in Taiwan as were most early PC's. IBM was perhaps the only company which originally "assembled" their Taiwan made components in the US.

Don't be overly sensitive about unimportant things. The point was simply that different users have different needs and different assumptions so PTE allows all of us to create shows which suit our particular purposes. The discussions we had about creating slideshows with sensitivity to those with fewer resources took place before you became a member of the forum. If you are interested I would be glad to find the links for you to read.

This forum is not a place for knee jerk reactions to perceived slights. Let's just forget the politics and concentrate on helping each other make PTE the success it deserves to have without silly bickering over who has what.

Best regards,

Lin

Green with envy, we - the old fashioned Europeans - look up to the modern America and its wonderful monitors (made somewhere in the Far East)

Best regards

Xaver

Munich

Germany

Europe, near to France

[Barry Beckham]

Lin

1. a display size choice could be preserved such as 1000x400 pixels

2. a frame of several pixels in the users choice of color could be maintained

3. a background scaled to fit the display could be used which would prevent the extra display area on the display device from showing at all times.

Yes, that is what I would like to see.

I would agree that this could be an advantage but for me certainly not at the expense of giving up the option of scaling to fit the available display.

Then we need to have both options.

Size and format are an issue to grapple with and no matter what Igor can do, it will not solve that, but to be able to create your show at any format and animate it easily without frames or hassle seems to be a goal worth aiming for.

If it's possible of course.

[xahu34]

... reactions to perceived slights.

Hello Lin,

provided that this means that I were offended or aggrieved (whatever may be the right expression), let me say that I am rather amused than anything of the other stuff (while a little bit of politics is in the game, I admit). Maybe that my humor is different from your's.

Best regards

Xaver

Munich

[xahu34]

Hello,

let's return to the subject of this thread, or at least a related topic: Let me again ask for the windowed mode in fullscreen variant with an aspect ratio as input (helpful for users with Win XP and ATI graphics cards).

Best regards

Xaver

Munich