Alan Lyons

Thanks Ken for your comments. I'm glad to be able to help you exersize your bladder. We get so much rain in Ireland, that we have become the world experts on "cotton wool" water, Alan.

Hi All, Just to say I have posted "After the Rain" to the cottage. This show was shot on the one roll of film on a wet and miserable afternoon in a placs called Massey's Wood just out side the south dublin suburbs. So don't let bad weather stop you, Alan

Hello Clive, just munching on my lunch. It would seem that you need to go to aweb page to down load the files as Audacity has not got the ability to launch you into a down load page. Try typing Lame mp3 encoder into your search engine and see what happens. Glad to see you are "mixing" with the big boys now, Alan

[quote= only ex darkroomers will "do it in the dark" ken] But Slide workers are more positive about it Alan Thank Ye all for your input. i had forgotten about the oliy forhead being the undoing of the greasy palms. I still think a wash may be the best option for my problem. I will say however, if Clive thinks there are no oily people in Ireland, where did you get your hair style I'll go and lie down now, my forhead needs rubbing

Thanks to all for the replys, To update, I have scanned the images and it is when I view them under zoom that I can see the dirt marks. The reason for cleaning would be to have the best possible quality going into the scanner, the darkroom boys will remember that to start with the best neg saves hours of retouching later. I'll have a closer look at the links supplied by Ken. As for CLIVE! Should I use Surf no bio on the delacate wash, and what effect will the spin cycle have? I agree I should post "After the Rain". I needes to make a few adjustments and will post asap, Alan

We talked recently about the difference between digital images or scanned slides. I am currently scanning some old AV work so as to present them on CD. Some are over 10 years old. Does any one know of a chemical bath I can use to remove thumb prints ect. from slides, Alan

Hi All, I came across this CD in AV World its called "Digital Audio Visual" and it takes you through all aspects of P2E and some aspects of Photoshop 7. It is a good reference CD and the lay out is easy to work your way arround. It includes examples of completed shows and a "Goodies file which I have yet to explore. You can get it for UK£15 from Barry becham at www.bbdegital.co.uk. Worth a look, Alan.

Harry, It is right to say that no other files are needed as P2E will carry a sound player to the exe. How ever this has been known to give problems. If you sellect "use external player" in the programme options the exe will look for a player on the computer it is playing on, Alan

LumenLux, I think in my case ignorance is bliss, or then agai it could be blind luck. I scaned a sequence I origonally had done on 2 slide projectors and as I had just aquired the scanner I pot every thing I could in the job sequence on auto i.e. focus, exposure ect. The only thing I had to adjust was the "sellect visable image area" as slide mounts do leave a double line around the image. I had the chance to show the sequence through a digital projector to a group of people who has seen the show before and they felt that it mached the original. I wonder if your problem with slides is in the camera? You need to slightly under expose the film to get good saturation. Try this, take a shot at the right exposure then 1 each at 1/4, 1/2 and 1 full stop under exposed. Then compare these and the one which gives the best saturation is where you set your meter for all future slides on thay brand of film. My camera is set at 1/4 stop under and the saturation is fine. Only as a last resort do I read the instructions Alan

Bill, one thing I forgot was that the Minolta scans at 11mp which is far and away better than any affordable digital camera. Also, as scanners improve, you still can go back to your orignal slide which is better than both combined Alan

Hi Bill, I've been next door and posted on your scan thread. On this subject I would feel that Neat Image should be the first programme after the scan/exposure as this will remove any faults added by the electronics. Like the old days getting to the darkroom with the best negative was half the battle. With that old negative I spoke of it certainly made it easier to see the scratches! Alan

Bill, I just sat down to lunch so I said I'll add my bit to this string. If as you say you have a lot of slides around which you nee to scan then it would be worth your while to buy a film scanner. The chepest scanns I have found in Dublin work out at about 50c each, and are not always the best as labd tend to use a default setting. If your images fall outside the "normal" you can get some strange results sent back. Copying from a screen has it's own set of problems i.e. contrast, exposure, ect. I would say to get your slides digitized, the home scanner is your best option. The Minolta Dual Scan will scan Slides, Colour negs, and Monochrome negs. The software alows you to do focus, exposure, and crop operations amoung others but you will find that most slides will be perfect with the auto settings. You mention the difference between 2 and 20 sec. for camera and scan, but is this extra time what rainy afternoons and dark winter nights were made for, Alan

Bill, Had what turned out to be a short trawl through Neat Image (trail Version), when you work for "dad's taxi service" your time is not your own. However this looks like a powerful tool once you get your head arround the ideas. The "image process detailed" in the help menu is a good place to start. The preview on part of the image is good to as you can test on key points befor exporting. As I still use slide film ans a Minolta Dual Scan2 a twain source would help no end as you could scan and filter in one move using the profiles option. one thing though, if your film is scrached, Neat Image will sharpen these up too! Alan

Dennis, Don't forget that audiacty from Audacity.com is free and is allyou will need for sound editing. I always make my sound track into one MP3 ans use it in the sync. to lay out the slides, then adjust the images as required. This means you can name the MP 3 "(show's title) soundtrack" making it easier to find when compiling all the files for the show, Alan

Hi Michel, I've downloaded your "Fiche" form from this posting and hope to send an entry. I will foward copies to those here in Ireland that I know may be interested. I wish you all the best of luck with this festival and hope you get loads of entries. Maybe if I win the lottery, I will pop over and have a look, Alan

Hi All, I love the way these types of postings go on and on. I had a look at the two comparative links and was impressed by the clean images achived. But (here it comes) , i also agree that we must not loose sight of the creative side of the images. Crisp and clean does not always mean good. Modern office or cosy fireside chair? Both good in their place. Remember the opening sequence in "Saving Private Ryan" was shot with out of date film stock and processed with old developer to create the ols news reel effect. Then the porely exposed landscape with nodatail in the shadows and strong highlights some would call a beautiful sunset, See ya now, I'm off to have a look at "Neat Image"

Hi all, just a quick one as I'm supposed to be working, I would say to Thinkbox that as a beginner we all have admired the work of the great advanced workers and aspire to that level. But when I talk to novices in my Society ( Photographic Society of Ireland) I tell them that if the work you are presenting now is you at your best then thats fine. But I would suggest that if you look at this work say a year on, then you should find that you have improved your standard. This way the feeling of getting nowhere can be seen to be false, Alan

Hi Micheal, I agree with what you say. Even if the show is only for private viewing we should not let the standard down. As wee "wet process" photographers say film is the cheapest item you will buy for your photography so why be so mean with it as to not re shoot if nessary. Also because this id a digital forum we tend to spend a lot of time discusing the machanics of the show rather than the creative side of the process. Remember how the two shots of the waterfall got us all going? Alan

Hi Micheal, I agree with what you say. Even if the show is only for private viewing we should not let the standard down. As wee "wet process" photographers say film is the cheapest item you will buy for your photography so why be so mean with it as to not re shoot if nessary. Also because this id a digital forum we tend to spend a lot of time discusing the machanics of the show rather than the creative side of the process. Remember how the two shots of the waterfall got us all going? Alan

Hi Sandee, Welcome aboard, Leif has a point about the hard drive. If the show has to be collected from a CD as it's been shown then this is one more delay that can occour. If you have set out your time line and it works on your HD ok, when you run from the CD your time line may be quicker than the abilty to deliver the images to the screen. See also "Temp CD" on Page 2 of this forum. If at any time you feel that P2E is problematic then try to create a show with slides, projectors, and disolve units, then you will see how easy this programme has made things, Alan

Hi Joe!!!!!! , I nearly choked on my sandwitch when I saw your name on the forum. I told you that the on / off button on your computer would transform it from a piece of furnature to a powerful tool. Glad to see you finaly jumped on board. Maby we can have a special section for NAME DROPPERS , Hi from all at the Lyons Looney Bin

Hi, and welcome to the forum, There are two ways to solve your problem. First is you must costomise the slides on which you need to start the music. This is done on the Music tab and you losd your music and sellect "Start new music" on subsequent slides you must sellect "continue playing music". For the next piece of music you must load the next piece of music, ans sellect "Start new music" on subsequent slides you must sellect "continue playing music". The second option is more reliable because you only have to load one music file into your project and are not subject to loading delays which can happen in option 1. For this you use a sound editor i.e. Audacity, Cool Edit ect, to make a file combining all of the sounds you want then in the project options you can time your slides to arrive as the given piece starts. Use the search on this forum to find a wealth of topics on this subject, Good luck, and enjoy, Alan

Hi lumenlux, What i do with Irfanview thumbnails is rename them with a number code i.e. "My Show01,02 ect. You can sellect a slide and position it by giving it the number next to the slide it needs to follow in the sequence. If you already have My Show 01 and My Show 02 but find you need to put a slide between them you can call it My Show01a. The Slides will sort as you go and if you find you have a lot of a,b,c ect numbering when you finish you can then use the "rename batch" option to rename all images. I always rename my images after the show title as this makes it easier to find the right image file for P2E. Alan

My choice is for No.2. I feel that the inclusion of more of the pool at the base of the image gives a better balance to the composition. I would leave the branch alone it helps to keep the composition together. Without it the high light at the top would draw your eye out of the image, the branch helps to pull the eye back down into the image then the pool and the rocks at the bottom guide you back around through the whole thing again. Both shots are your's to beproud of but I would hang No.2 Alan