nickles

I was highly impressed by some beautiful Christmas music located here: Christmas Celebration Very nice for slideshows and it's free to download from the artist Cynthia Jordan. Recommend you check this out! Cynthia has some more free music here that is also excellent: More Music .....ken

Igor: Thanks for the reply....I think as the technology is changing quite rapidly...in that direction...it would be a wonderful option to have. Keep up your great and very responsive developments. thanks again, ken

Ken Cox: Thanks very much for your input. I decided to experiment with my existing software before trying something new. I have a friend that has recently bought a 42 inch wide 16:9 plasma HDTV. He wanted me to make a slideshow for him. I finally developed the following procedure after a few intial tests: 1.) I cropped and resized some photos to be 854x480 pixels (16:9) format. I then resized the photos to conform to DVD format of 720x480 pixels without locking the aspect ratio. On my PC screen they looked "squished". 2.) I made a PTE AVI with a 720x480 @ 29.97fps. 3.) I noticed that my Cinemacraft Basic MPEG-2 encoder had a place to specify to create the MPEG-2 for 16:9 tvs. 4.) I then authored and burned the DVD with DVD Lab. 5.) When I played the DVD on my 4:3 TV with my DVD player setup for 4:3 TV size the video looked "squished". I then setup up the DVD player for Widescreen and the video displayed at the right proportions but was letter boxed with black bars on the top and bottom. 6.) I took the DVD to my friends and played on his HDTV. Simply amazing! The video initially appeared squished until he selected "fit to screen" on his TV. Wow! The overall clarity was amazing and perfect proportions. The advantage to the anamorphic(applys only to widescreen TV sets) is that the vertical resolution does not need to be stretched but only the horizontal from 720 to 853. Wow again! Must get a wide screen TV when the prices drop where I can afford! Almost as clear as watching a PTE slideshow on your PC monitor. Thanks again for your input Ken.

I am interested in creating a DVD that's optimized for a wide screen TV that has a 16:9 format (HDTV). I believe the type of DVD is called Anamorphic. Is there anyone out there that has any experience with this format? Any help will be appreciated. .....ken

Bill & Karen: I like it! I like It! Very nicely done. Who's got the wonderful eye for composition...Bill or Karen? You can sure feel that there are a lot of memories tied up in all those old places. I assume those places must be in the vicinity of y'alls place. If you haven't seen it you need to down load at Beechbrook Cottage...a must see...the scenery and music are guaranteed to get you in the fall spirit. Thanks for letting us take a peek.... ken

I have been very successful making DVDs of my PTE slideshows. The following is a suggestion concerning quivering of slides when playing the DVD on your TV. Oftentimes when a slide has many straight lines, either vertical on horizontal such as a shingled roof line or venetian blinds a quivering will be noticed. This I think is due to the way the TV draws the picture with scan lines. Quivering sometimes occurs when you have a very light to dark contrast change....such as a white border. I have found that if you use a very slight Gaussian Blur with your Photo Editing software, on the problematic slides, the quivering oftentimes goes away. Due to the enherent low resolution of the TV the actual picture quality is normally not effected. The blur will sometimes be noticable if you create the slideshow for PC viewing but oftentimes it creates a very pleasing effect. I use both PhotoShop and Paint Shop Pro for photo editing. One very nice feature of Pant Shop Pro is called Soft Focus, that I use a lot for portraits, especially for portraits of the female gender. If you have PSP, the Soft Focus will also sometimes stabilize the quivering effect. Never over sharpen a photo to be used for video...it will definitely make the problem worse. I never...never use the sharpness filter that can be checked when creating an AVI in PTE...it always makes the quivering worse! Just a suggestion should you have this problem...it is definitely worth a try but not guaranteed. ken

Hey! Bill & Karen: An excellent show...everybody needs to take a peek at this one! You English Ladies and English Men live in a very beautiful country. It appears to be the kind of place that meeting the new day is a delight. and also Bill & Karen....thank you for your continued support of all the many PTE contributors to your web site and download/upload facillities. ken

Geoff: As a person who is proud to be an American, I was highly stirred by your very moving presentation. I was too young to have been directly involved with that terrible war.... but let us never forget those that sacrificed their lives to overcome the terrible atrocities done by those they fought. This includes not only Americans but also soldiers from countries throughout the world. The presentation was so thoughtfully made...and meant much to me as we Americans seem to be so despised by so many throughout the world in the present times. I've watched it several times and suggest that you not change anything...it gives its message so well. Thank you so much for creating and sharing with us...I shall be directing many to your presentation. Very sincerely, ken

Hi bharkins: I normally purchas an M42 to EOS adapter for each M42 lense I plan to use very much. That way it's ready to put on the camera without messing around. The ones I've been using cost about $15 after shipping. I've bought them all from this guy who sells them pretty regularly on Ebay. I suspect he makes them in his backyard shop: M42 to Eos Adapter Sincerely ken

I recently posted a gallery of test shots for various 35mm lenses that I've evaluated. Note this is pretty boring gallery unless you are interested in lenses. The lenses are those that I adapt to my Canon 300d Rebel. There is an explaination of the testing in the gallery description. The Flektogon 35/2.4 that was used to create "A Walk in the Garden" slideshow is amongst the evaluated lenses. The gallery is located here: http://www.pbase.com/knickles/lenstests I created this gallery for a photographic forum that I participate in, but thought some in this forum might be interested. ken

Hmm...Hmm...Hmmm.... Could I have been right in my original statements.... Is this a friendly thread or what?.... I've now got skeleton's dancing on my screen....another well kept secret??...but I haven't been involved in this forum as long as many of you. I love the idea of a joint PTE...did someone "step up to the bar" to coordinate it?...or did I miss the volunteers name? What nice people..... ken

Thanks Ken Cox My mug shot's on the way to Andrew. ken

Hey Ken Cox: "Bussty's" site must be a well kept secret....neat...if I knew how to post my mug on it...I would. thanks for the info.... ken

Ronwil, Ken Cox, LumenLux, Igor, ContaxMan, boxig, Michel, dadou, Alrobin, Conflo, ccmanz, and dozens of others: I've said this before...guess I woke up on the good side of the bed this morning...but guys and gals like y'all make this a thoroughly enjoyable forum to participate in. Please continue to be so helpful, thoughtful, and considerate. Wouldn't it be neat if everyone of us could gather in a room and talk face to face, instead of over a keyboard? Unfortunately we're miles and miles apart. Sincerely ken

LumenLux: As always my wife and I thoroughly enjoy watching your shows. From the smiles on the faces of the many children....I think someone must have been doing something very wonderful. Thanks for sharing your adventures. Sincerely, ken

I sincerely appreciate all the comments that y'all have made. Michel... I always set the "fit the screen" option...just curious of why you suggest otherwise...and I agree the show runs a bit slow. Michel's probably got the safest answer to the sound track, especially when posting on the web for general public viewing...I've worried about that when I've posted but was never sure. Most of my shows are prepared for sending to my children, grand children, and relatives, so I often add there favourite tunes as the sound track. Sincerely.... ken

Hi DaveG, I'm not at all offended by your question concerning music copyrights...but I don't have an answer. My slideshows are non-commercial and I am purely an amateur photographer. I create slideshows that I share with family members and do not market or sell anything. I own a purchased CD, LP or Cassette Tape for all music I use in my slide shows. As far as my Beechbrook post, I consider Beechbrook as a place to share slideshow concepts and obtain critiques and feedback on these areas...and not a place to commercially distribute a product. I did a quick search on the web concerning copyright infringement and found many, many opinions. I liked the opinion that I found here: What about the Audio Home Recording Act? I don't know for sure what is right but I suspect their are as many legal opinions as their are lawyers...maybe I'll end up in jail....but I hope not. thanks for your feedback..... ken

I love photography and always have. The new digital cameras have made it even more fun and gives the photographer control over the development process. When you couple this with the ease of using PTE to make nice presentations...you have a winner. When Kodak came out with their first digital DC260, I ran out and bought one. I then rushed out and bought a Canon G2 when they were announced. I think I was the first person in the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex to buy Canon's Digital Rebel SLR. Prior to digital I used and still have a Canon AE-1 and A-1 with lot's of lenses. I've recently been experimenting with old manual focus lenses that use the old Pentax M42 type of mount. These are very available on EBay. Of several that I have bought there are two that really shine...An old Tamron 90/2.5 Adaptall and a Carl Zeiss Flektogon 35/2.5. I've bought several M42 screwmount adapters that let me attach the lenses to the Rebels EOS mount. Shortly after receiving the old used Flektogon, which shipped from the Czech Republic, I anxiously went to the local Botanic Gardens to check it out. I was there when the gates opened at 8am Sunday morning. It was me, my camera, a few gardeners, a couple of security guards, a couple pushing a baby buggy, and later a wedding photographer shooting photos of a bride to be. I almost had all 400 or so acres of lush green walking paths to myself. In two hours I had shot around 130 photos with the Flektogon. When I got back home to my computer to develop my shots...I was totally amazed. Normally I get a half dozen good shots out of a hundred. I think I ended up with 4 out of focus shots. The Flektogon close focuses to within about 4 inches of the front of the lens and infinity focus is about 10 feet. On the Digital Rebel the 35mm is equivalent to a 50mm on a film SLR. The clarity and sharpness was astounding. My sharpest Canon lens is an Auto Focus 50/1.8...but in my opinion the Flektogon outperformed it in sharpness, contrast and color. Based on experience so far with the Tamron 90/2.5 and Flektogon 35/2.5 and about 500 photos...I would not trade them for any AF lens Canon makes in this focal length. I think the photos in the following slide show, that is posted at Beechbrook Cottage and was derived from my walk in the gardens, speak for themselves: A Walk in the Garden Note: It's a large 25mb! ken

Glenys, I enjoyed your slideshow. What a neat looking wilderness area. I bet the water was refreshing. Very good photography along with enjoyable mountain music. A very nice show.... thanks for sharing, ken

ronwil, Very nicely done. Exellent photography of the scenes with pleasing background music. I suspect maybe that was you who briefly faded in and out within the 3rd or 4th slide? I've been in a railway related business for about 30 years and I still never tire of photos with trains in them...hope I have your stamina at 80+...if I live that long.... thanks for sharing, ken

Michel: I'll reduce the characters to 90% of what I posted...it looks pretty good...but I'm not real happy with the clarity of the fonts produced by my graphics software(Paint Shop Pro 8)...I've got PhotoShop 7 but it is too unfriendly... Anway I'll reduce size and send to Granot...I'm hoping that if MultiShow catches on that someone more skilled in graphics will assist Granot in this area...that's one reason I started my Skins thread hoping that an expert would participate... ken

Michel & Granot: Have A Look: French MultiShow French MultiShow with Active STOP and LOOP When you both concur I will package up and Email to Granot. Please post any changes I need to make either here or email me....standing by. Hey....I have a feeling somebody might be trying to "pick on me" in this thread just because I'm from Texas. I like anybody with "good heart"...French...Asian...Muslim...Catholic...Christian...Jew...Black...Red..Yellow...and even Green.....all races, nationalities, & religions.....and also Texans.

Michel: Thanks for the prompt response: I will try to put the text on the buttons this afternoon...and post a skin for you to look at and approve this evening. At present, my wife has me lined up with several outside chores...but we shall see. Of course...need your approval also Granot.... ...............later ken

Michel I know that in an earlier post you provided a French translation of MultiShow's English text labels but the basic skin and layout has changed in Version 2.0. The basic skin and layout is here: MultiShow Skin Version 2.0 If you "right click" on the skin you can "save the picture as" and download. Please study the layout very closely and see if you can determine a practical French Translation of all the text that might fit in the existing button size arrangement. It appears that the long buttons might accept up to 22 characters and the short width buttons around 11-12 characters. The text size could be reduced but still must be easily readable. You can either email me your translation or post in the forum. If you post in the forum please post here: MultiShow Skin & Interface Design This is where I am trying to keep track of basic MultiShow skin change recommendations but not functionality issues. Not sure what Granot's position is but I will consult with him concerning your posted translation. He is the brains behind the player and I'm just offering my assistance to him. P.S. : I downloaded your slideshow "Oxygen". What a very lovely show...a work of art...beautiful background music...with such beautiful and flowing imagery. Thanks for sharing in the forum. ken

Of course, as many of you may be aware I have been offering assistance to Granot with this new utility that he is developing. I am an amateur photographer and probably shoot several thousand photos a year. Often people protest me sticking my camera in their faces...but I know years later somebody will appreciate it. I have been a pretty heavy user of PTE for several years. It offers a very convenient means of sharing photos with family and friends. I probably bore many of my relatives with CD slideshows that I have sent them over the years but I think some of them appreciate my efforts. Most of my relatives have computers but many have a hard time just turning them on...they're not very computer savvy. I have spent a lot of time creating thumbnail front-end PTE slideshows and autorun.inf files to make the process of playing the CD easy for these relatives.....lots of work for me. When I saw Granot's initial MultiShow I became very excited. I think he is going to have a very excellent product that he is willing to share with us all. I don't believe, although I haven't asked him, that he is a PTE slideshow creator like many of us in this forum. I desire this player to fit my own personal needs and that is why I have offered my assistance, although my expertise may be somewhat limited in the area of graphics and software design. I urge each of you to download Granot's MultiShow and give it a try. Your feedback and suggestions will be very important in creating this product. So...give your opinions on this player even if you are a little shy...no idea is a dumb idea. I will continue to assist Granot...anyway I can. Your participation is appreciated. thanks for reading this........ken