LumenLux

That would be too easy for you, you may as well add an option to close Typewriter after X# seconds after typing is complete. This would expand potential use to slides not at start or finish of shows. Suggestion for your birthday - go find an orchestra to direct. You can take your first slide show you ever shared here and use it for auditioning resume!

Happy Big Birthday ! Don't you have a utility that will pop up forum members photos on screens around the world when the clock strikes a birthday?

Well Gilligan, anyone that greets us with "Aloha" automatically qualifies to host the next PTE Users photo workshop. This presumes of course that you have adequate room at your place in Hawaii. If you are actually not in Hawaii - welcome to the forum anyway.

Welcome Merv from the great state of Houston!? If I understand your need, I think you can accomplish it this way. On main screen, project options, show settings,check the "close show after last slide." Use the customize sync as you have done and make sure your transition marks are all visable on the time line. Then back on the project options, just below "show settings", uncheck the "synchronize slide show to music duration." (You may also have to go through and uncheck the customize slide boxes that you have checked and previously given specific times to.) Finally, customize the final slide to the desired duration. When the show runs, it should shut down when the last slide duration count is done. The music will then be cut short at that point. I just tried what I have tried to describe and it worked with my sample. Eventually you may want to take a different approach by using a sound editor to change your music to your preferred length.

Thanks cc. It was actually with Granot's Nodepad that I had to change the .pte to .txt (I could not find an "all files" option.)

Granot, when you originally created your Typewriter program, I wasn't creative enough to see a use for it. But your mention of it today gave me an idea how I might use it in a PTE presentation I have been contemplating since September! To test my idea, I created the typewriter.exe file and ran it from a PTE "customized" slide as an external application. The typing box pops up and displays the typing of the text while several of my slides are playing. The typing box of course blocks that portion of my slides as they play. I can use it that way, while it is typing. But how do I close the box when it is done so that the rest of the show can be seen? Also, is the type speed dependent on the PC speed? And, how tough to put "speed" configuration as you do with color, font, alignment, etc.?

No, I think you can! I was able to get the show to go to the last slide, but I would need for the viewer person to know how to do it. The way I had it, the left arrow would go to last slide. I think, in my case, I need Igor to more than "confirm it will not cause any problem when running show." I was however able to try your Nodepad. It worked fine - once I figured out I needed to change .pte to .txt to open with Nodepad. On the last slide issue, tell me if I was on wrong track or just need to "figure it out"?

I like it Granot! And I won't tell anyone other than the swarming masses of the PTE forum. I apologize (again?) for not feeding back. I did work with it a little and it seems to slickly do the job. I thought I might think about the design aspect of it. But what really happens is life goes on. We have a daughter getting married in two weeks and everyone thinks it is my responsability to pay for it. Once I am sure I can feed the guests, I promise I will give you some more feedback. Thanks again.

Can the navigation bar be set or modified to allow "go to the last slide" as one of the options?

It's gratifying to get so much response. And it is very helpful. Thanks everyone, and I still welcome others observations and opinions. Clearly there are some aspects apparent to several viewers and a few individual differences. I think it interesting also the insight of other users into the inherent constraints of the project. Continuing with response to responses - (Hawk & Michel & ContaxMan) If the narration would have been different then I would have to also agree with longer show / slower transitions maybe a little music to break up the narration – but this is not the case here. You understand my challenge on this one. I was given the parameters that the show should be about 12 minutes. The narration was voiced nicely into about 10 wav files. On each spotlighted person or activity, I was given maybe 3 -10 photos. Then I had to use my own photos to fit with the others and pace the photos to the 10 wav segments of varying length. It was indeed fun - and a little tricky to combine. Frankly, it came together better and in less time than I expected. I did have a problem with about 5 slides repeating ? – Not sure if this was intended or it may have been my computer. I have not experienced this - even on the 750 mhz pc I composed it on. If you could stand to watch it again and describe a slide or two where it repeats, I could see if the transitions are too close on the time line. (This may be too much to ask of you. I was impressed that you had already watched the presentation 4 times. That is dedication when you don't have a vested interest in the subject matter.) With the fast transitions people may become quickly tired, because of the constant adaptation of eyes and brains. (it is not like in a film where the images are all linked in a streaming transition). Thanks for this thought. I have never considered brain/eye exercise might be a factor of tiring the viewer- but I am sure you are right, that it could be. Usually, if it is a casual audience, not specifically analyzing the presentation or the photography, I fear more they will fall asleep from a slow pace than from the brain/eye exercise. But this maybe a specifically North American problem. Would prefer dissolve for most with maybe one other used to indicate something special/different - e.g. a change of topic. Yes, and related to an earlier comment, the random transitions are indeed different each time the .exe file is run. So I think a given run of the show may be more objectionable or pleasant than a different time. This is all the more reason that in many cases every transition should be selected rather than random. Then again, hand choosing 200 transition effects may be not "worth it" to the show creator. But if we realize what a difference it can make, then we can make a better decision on whether it is "worth it." And now Michel - as you say - It would be nice to see what someone does, or does not, with comments placed by other members. Will you upload a revised version of this show on Beechbrook ? I think that would be very nice to compare. I agree, a very good idea. Right now, I do not know what changes I will make in this presentation. There are indeed future audiences scheduled that could see a better, maybe more effective presentation, if I make some changes. However, I need to weigh my limited time resource to determine which changes are the best value for effort ratio. It may be that much of the good discussion and ideas won't end up in this show. But the thoughts that have been brought out will definitely be constructive on future projects. If I do remodel the Eagle-Condor presentation significantly, I will post the revision. Oh, one more thought here. What do any of you think of using the navigation bar to control the presentation. In this case, the initial showing of the presentation was to a rather large audience, and there was no desire on my part to stop the show during it's 12 minute allowed time. But for many future viewers, watching it on their own PC, do you think the nav bar, allowing to pause etc, would be a partial solution to the maybe-too-rapid pace?

Well John, I think some of us had to get back to making a living. I know I had to put the pursuit to rest temporarily. There has been some discussion in last few days that relates very closely to your latest experience. Take a look at it. Specifically, I would suggest you try several differen shows, all of them short short to see if you can get any show to work. The most recent discussion is here: http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums//index...t=ST&f=4&t=1723

J G A couple of thoughts - Have you tried uploading using a different Browser. I know in earlier days, using my normal browser, Netscape, I had trouble uploading to Beechbrook. The other idea - You say you have uploaded the same files via fttp to another site? Is it possible for you to simply send the link to Bill for posting. That is the way I have done with my current show on Beechbrook. The link on Beechbrook is to my own site storage area from which the show is actually downloaded. If this is possible for you, it also allows Bill to have more capacity for the shows from people who don't have the linking opportunity. Finally, Bill is so dedicated, he will likely find a way to make it work with you.

Thanks for the clarification. I was thinking more along the lines of the old classic? TR2 or TR3 sports cars of by-gone years.

Welcome to this fun forum. Where you sometimes get expert advice - and sometimes just an attempt to help. Here is the latter. I really know not of this subject, but I would first confirm (as you may have already done) that Real Player plays the same video when it is not linked from PTE. Second thing might be to arrange to try a different player linked from PTE object. Let us know how you solve it.

cc & mike - both good points. Mike, my only regret is that I can't invite myself for the ride through the hills in your Truimph. I assume it is very much like a Triumph! Back to the PTE/Ulead relationship - Do you have any idea why this one worked for you? cc- Thanks also for the report on Studio 8. I have thought some users were maybe using it with such good success we were hearing nothing. Personally I had experienced several instability issues with Studio 8 even before introducing PTE to it. I'm sure you are right about Studio 8 doing more than Ulead Movie Factory2.

Thanks, I was thinking just of the "insert transition" button that we now use to insert slide changes while we listen to the track.

I must be missing what you mean? It seems this is what we can already do in customize sync window on the timeline. Jim, can you clarify what I am missing on this?

Welcome to the forum! Yes, simple to do what you want. In the PTE slides window, right click on any slide to copy and insert the copy where you want the blank to be. Then with that slide hi-lighted, un-check the little box below that says "Show image". There you have your blank slide. You can then copy and paste that same blank into as many locations as desired. Nicely, any duplicate slides used, do not increase the file size of your show.

Thank you Patrick for your very good observations and ideas. You slideshow is very interesting. Although I didn't understand all that was said, I clearly understood the message you wanted to give us only with your photos. Sometimes this is the most important thing. But all other "problems" can detract from any show's intended message. Concerning the number of photos, perhaps it is not necessary to reduce it if you use more small photos ; 1 or 2 small photos showed together in a normal slide as background). Interesting idea, I may work with this while leaving sound track intact. I find your pictures also a litle bit smooth. Perhaps enhencing the colors/contrast and sharpness makes more effect ? This is my own biggest displeasure with this show. Many of the photos are my own, both digital and earlier film. Many of the photos are not mine and frankly are in some ways not very good photographically. But they are real and in a few cases, I think the roughness of the photo may actually add to the effect of the message? I guess I now decide if it is justified to refine some of the photos. I also thought of resizing for consistency, but decided "no" at the time. Thank you very much for sharing your work with the internet community and, sorry for my poor english. This is never a problem. When you and other non-english members "speak" here, I love it. I just wish I could "hear" the french accent! I've been reading "guru" long enough that I think I can hear his accent.

Have you tried several SIMPLE small shows with different components to see if you can get any combination to succeed? Igor saw our last posts about this and emailed me that he would still like to find out what causes this not-always problem. Even if it is essentially a Ulead problem or only a PTE problem of certain hardware/software combinations, he would like to solve it. Maybe you will have some inspiration that will be the key.

Dan, your question is a frequent one, and a good one. The answers are often lengthy because it is a new world for many of us. The integration of PTE with DVD requires some new concepts for us as PTE users. I suggest the best way for you to procede is ambitiously read all the conversation in the "How to create video" section of this forum. When you first log into the forum, you should see three separate areas. The How to create video section was created by Igor for us as this subject generated much discussion initially. You will find a few of the messages will be especially helpful. And of course you can post additional questions there as you go. Good luck.

Thank you Carol. I may be able to remove some slides if I can do it without throwing the sound/photo relationship. Some of the photos were actually hastily chosen fillers for the fixed narration time. I like your idea of replacing some of the transitions with ones that might seem less hurried. I too don't like that many different transitions. Pressed as I was for time, I had only customized the transitions for the first few slides and the last few. I guess the bulk of the transitions then vary everytime the show is viewed? I need to verify that. While you have me in a "confessing" mood, I think of many other compromises I made in the presentation. But I shall wait to see if other viewers bring them into discussion. Thanks again for your input here and for the very good shows you share.

Alan, you hit the nail on this one I think. I also just had a similar drift in an email exchange regarding my Eagle-Condor presentation. Hi, Very interesting presentation but it would have been much better with a longer viewing time for every picture. Please take that as a constructive opinion. Clement Thank you Clement. I actually remember your similar suggestion on an earlier Oregon show I put together. I guess that does not explain why, again, I made the view time too short. Perhaps I watch the show so many times while working on it, that I don't realize the time it takes to comprehend a photo the first (and often "only") time it is viewed by someone new. For this presentation, the sound track was my confining factor. But I could maybe remove some slides and still make it work to the controlling sound. Now, I realize I did not watch the show multiple times in preparation - I was too close to "deadline." and just ran out the door with it! Anyway, I appreciate your giving me your reaction. That is helpful. Bob

Thank you Ralph, I edited the link and it does now download properly. Other than just having the sharp eye of a Hawk, how does one know that those numbers in the link were extraneous? Thinking I had simply pasted the link, how would it have the extra characters?

On Beechbrook, Bill has posted a link to my presentation "Eagle-Condor". But I am unable to download it from Beechbrook. I either get an error message, or a new web page which shows my PTE show's correct path in the URL box. If I copy that show path from the URL box, and send that address in an email - I can in the received email, right click, and "save target as" - then the file will download and run just fine!? This is my first attempt at using Beechbrook site for a link instead of the actual show file. I sure hope someone can explain what is wrong. I am posting this same link here, to see if you'all have the same results from Beechbrook vs. this direct link: Eagle-Condor.zip (Editing here: I think Beechbrook is now working and the direct link is not. The presentation is also available here: http://pte.do-some-good.com **Second edit: Now Hawk's sharp eye spotted the problem, so all links now seem to work , thank you.) If some of you successfully download the show, I would really like your comments and suggestions. I have already used the presentation for it's initial purpose. I know, that like most my efforts, "I could have done better with more time." Since the "premier" of the show, an expanded use for the presentation has developed. I would really like to try to improve the show. Relating this to some recent forum discussion, I think this would be a good chance to see what kind of useful discussion might develop. Of course I have some apologies or excuses ready, but I hope this might be an opportunity for some forum members who never comment, to join in. The show is about 35mb and runs 12 1/2 minutes.