LumenLux

Barry, just want to thank you for this timely thread. Yes, oft discussed, but our photo world changes, and when the issue is personal, it is the time to discuss. Before seeing your post I have been dealing with the issue myself. Sounds like my main monitor is the same as yours 1920x1200. I had about concluded that should be my own new PTE default. Your experienced opinion is very helpful. Now, if someone could so precisely suggest the best way to get the color right - I'd feel even better.

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.

Thanks Mark, I will link a couple of possibles to you soon. As to how your club's input is communicated - I would suggest it be via this PTE forum. I have always appreciated the things I learn via this forum although the topic or discussion was not aimed at me at all. By having your club report here, there is a chance that others besides me will benefit.

Mark, I enjoyed this presentation very much. Your photography is what I most enjoyed. As we all know, the issue of mixing verticals and horizontal formats has been oft discussed and I hope I, at least, am always willing to learn and keep learning. And of course, our opinions and preferences can change even without learning new ideas. As suggested previously, I think the level of "botherance" that a viewer has for the mixing of formats, does tie closely to his expectation of what he is watching. If I am expecting a flowing "story", which some would argue is the "real" purpose of AV, then the format changes are surely a detriment to the flow. If, as you have on occasion indicated, the main purpose of the presentation is to present worthy photographs while listening to good music, then the mixing of formats and even sizes need not be so distractive. Indeed, if I am looking through a photo album, or even more so, a scrapbook of pictures, the variety of sizes and shapes is probably an artistic way to facilitate increased satisfaction for the viewer. To me, ultimately, the most useful critical question toward any PTE presentation - how well did I achieve my purpose?

Ok, here's the deal, Mark. My daughter and husband made the journey last fall. They are going again this fall in the opposite direction. Get yourself over here and I will go with you and them. I can be serious on this if there is any chance you could do it. In fact, Dave might come back, and maybe we could have a whole crew of PTE photogs. Maybe we can get Igor to come and we will all make a PTE promo piece!

I'm just saying thank you to all for the personal experience info. And thank you John for the question. From the answers here, it is clear that the sharpening tools and methods are still changing and so are photographers preferences. We can't all be the first to know, and certainly can't personally try everything. This site continues to be great with the generous members.

Bart, there are a lot more people pulling for you than the few you may have heard from! Personally, I am glad your website will rise again, but I am more grateful that you, yourself, are on the rise. Welcome back.

Thank you Igor. I'm sure each added feature or change is an important one to some one. To me the internal edit of masks looks very useful and the text handling should be a great convenience. Congratulations on staying ahead of most of us as you invent faster than some of us use. Thanks again.

Mark it is almost by fluke, that I noticed your post here. The topic, though pinned long ago, has been very quiet. I suspect many who might be inclined to respond, have also not noticed the post. But I shall give you my opinion anyway. I think the activity level in your club is remarkable. I have certainly no such involvement here in U.S.A. I would love to have any one of my presentations evaluated at any level. When I post a notice of an AV here I always intend to encourage and welcome all feedback. It does seem it would be useful to your group to know the intended purpose of the show. If the purpose is not obvious, then an inquiry from you on a particular show would also alert the author and give him a chance to say whether he would like to hear his show picked apart or just hear an opinion of how your members liked or disliked it. But I would think usually if an author wants that, he would also appreciate knowing why that opinion was formed. To me, perhaps the two most important general opinions could be: 1. Did the viewer feel he was in some way rewarded by investing his time to view. 2. In the opinion of the viewer, how successful was the author in achieving his goal - whatever it was understood to be.

Congratulations Dave! First for making the hike, and second for the enjoyable AV. I thought Lumenix was a camera, but if Ken is referring to me - let me be clear - it is challenge enough just making the journeys at our age! But it does look like you all got along just dandy. And you successfully caught some emotion/exhaustion on the hikers faces. I like the format you used for your show. I think you did an exceptionally natural vocal narrative intro. (Especially by an American, as we seem to be less prone to do the voice interjections.) At first glance I wondered about the pin-stripe border. Soon I was absorbed enough that it was a non factor whether it was there or not. Then I found it worked nicely as it allowed your occasional written descriptions in the space. One item that was not clear to me was the white ammo boxes. Where did they come from? My favorite photo was your opening scene of the canyon. Wonderful shot. The overall view from the stands was enjoyable. I was really with you - until you showed the thermometer! 120 ?! I may have done enough desert for this year. But it is sure hard to deny the sensory sensations of such a trip. Thanks for sharing your experience. Well done.

What a swell presentation. I like everything about it. Start with the photography - very nice. If you enjoy landscapes of shapes with dramatic color thrown in and subtleties added - this is great. I found that at first, I was very aware of your effects and transitions. Although impressive, I was wondering a little "why". Then I found myself being engrossed in the photos and barely aware of the fancy effects. And finally, by the end, I was thinking the effects, in this presentation, do effectively become a worthwhile part of the entire experience. Thanks Dom for sharing your talent with us.

Beyond comprehension how you use the power of PTE. But the result is very enjoyable. Thank you for sharing your work.

Ed - My experience leads me to an opinion, not a conclusion. My opinion is that in the O & A window, your friend can do anything, I mean anything, he can conceive. But as much fun as I can have in the O&A window, I would certainly bog down before the program would if I made an entire intricate presentation there.

Nice work Patrick! Near the end, some of the grand-scale scenic shots may be my favorites. Thanks for sharing this presentation.

I too, of course, remember Harry and am saddened by his passing. My sincerest prayers are for his family. Possibly the friend who brought this to our attention can also pass on to his family the comments from this forum. Harry was an inspiration to me. I remember very early in this forum, he shared that he was dealing with residual health problems, I think from his military service(?) At the same time, Harry was one of the first to "go get 'em". He was beating the pavement to find customers for his PTE presentations. I think he landed a local community center or similar as a buyer for his photos presented in PTE. Seeing him going full steam ahead is what inspired me. In contrast, I tend to gather facts and analyze way too long. So it was Harry's example that helped me to become a little better about sharing my photography and AV interests. Thanks Harry.

Good work John. I think your background effect works well for this photo stream. It also triggers a couple of ideas. Thanks for sharing.

Jeff, I found your presentation enjoyable and well done. If you were able to sleep dry at night, I'd consider the snow a photographer's blessing. How many visitors can have the snow on that route. I think your scrolling textures were a very nice start and good reprise at the tail end. Your special effects added interest and did not over-rule your photography. Glad your getting the feeling back!

This is very good, Dom. I was expecting only another frame. Your gallery - or lighting - effect, makes the frame presentation very pleasant and fitting. Thank you also for providing the template.

Picture quality is very good. But motion is in definite steps. Not pleasant to try to watch. Pentium 4 3.2 ghz, 3.0 gb ram Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT

Wonderful Jean-Pierre! Enjoyed in awe. Makes me want to brag to the world that I know you. When Igor revealed his first animation version, I said that any visual presentation could now be done with PTE. You have again added proof to my "vision."

Well Ken, in this case, I have not even got to the issue of DVD. My intent with all this has been in pursuit of achieving PTE/video posted on the web to be the highest possible quality. I know Lin and others have hashed much of this out before, but it is never possible to absorb it all until you personally have the "need" at hand. I do think you bring up an interesting issue, because as I read around the web, I think the widest use of h.264 is people being able to backup DVD's into much smaller files. I see people claiming a standard movie from DVD ends up being "reasonable" (what ever that is) quality in only 400 mb.

Igor - When I use PTE Create HD Video for PC and Mac, the resulting .mp4 file is a much more clear picture than when I use PTE's Create custom Avi file with the (VFW) x264 codec. Is it possible for you to make the same h.264 codec available to us in the Custom Avi window as you use in the HD .mp4 option?[

Of course not Ken! You and I both know common man can't do all this. But it is still wonderful to see what some minds can do. And if it is just a perfect picture you are after - we all take those by the armload!

Thank you Igor, for the link. That will probably accomplish my original task. As to h.264 codec for use in PTE "Custom Avi" - much I don't understand, but have learned or observed - Like Xaver, I was unable to install the x264 codec and similar, that seem to be widely used with Linux etc. with less emphasis on user interfaces for Windows. I eventually decided to install portions of the K-Lite Codec pack. In the pre-installation window, K-Lite lists under VFW Video codecs: x264 [revision 1114] "For encoding video in the H.264 format. We don't recommend using the VFW system to encode H.264 video. It is better to use a CLI based solution, such as MeGUI" I attempted briefly to do something with MeGUI, but could not get a h.264 codec to install and show up in the PTE custom choices. So in spite of the "don't recommend" above, I used K-Lite to install the x264 (VFW). That Codec does then show up in the PTE custom avi window. With this in place and selected, I have used PTE and this x264 codec to produce test videos of 1280x720 and 1600x1200. Both videos play with very good quality using Media Player Classic Home Cinema. When I use VLC to play the 1600x1200, the sound finishes on time while photos continue for several seconds. If I reduce the view-window size in VLC, then it stays in time sync and the picture quality is excellent in all cases. Xaver, I don't know whether your reference to WMV files is different than the VFW referred to by the K-Lite information? Maybe Igor can explain for us if PTE uses the VFW version of H.264 and whether it would be even better if we can use in PTE, the CLI version of x264 that MeGUI uses. Or maybe, Igor, you can help us all understand better what matters and how to bring best results in this area? From my two tests above using PTE Custom AVI with x264 VFW, the file sizes are dramatically smaller than any other avi I have made! And quality seems equal or better.

What you achieve is amazing. Your shadow work is superb as is the realism of it all. On my very powerful video card, I see just a little less-than-perfect smoothness in the first movement of the book and shadows before the book opens. Very nice photographs too. My favorite is the first pink & white blooms (small ones).