goddi

I am using MovieFactory 2SE to create videos. When I check the 'Interlaced Video' box, as recommended, it wants to create an output file with the .ptev extension. However, my MovieFactory 2SE will NOT recognized the .ptev extension. When I uncheck the 'Interlaced Video', the output file extension is changed to .avi and I have created videos this way with my MF2SE. However, when I make a video with this .avi extension, it is not very good quality. The text is wavy and the images are not nearly as sharp as with the CD version. So my questions are: 1- Do I need to upgrade to the MF2 non-SE version to have it recognize the .ptev extension? 2- Does having the 'Interlaced Video' checked really make a difference? 3- Will the MF2 non-SE version improve the quality of the final video, using the .ptev extension? 4- Will my MF2SE version using '.avi' produce the same quality video as the MF2 (non SE) version using '.ptev'??? Thanks... Gary PS I see that MF is now up to version 5. Does version 5 do any better with PTE than version 2?

Yes... I have recently posted it on Beechbrook. It is the one on 'Rafting the Futaleufu' (which is Part2). I have Part1 and Part3 ready but they are so big I am not sure I should upload them. I had thought of doing the search for one of the 'missing' images but my I discovered my BOO BOO just before I was about to do that. Thanks for all suggestions... Gary

Yes... I am a firm believer in backing up. And I do do it. I do have all the originals in RAW format. I would just have had to run my Photoshop Actions, re-tweek, and resave, etc. etc. It is hard to do the Backup Dance when you are in the process of creating the slideshow. But now that I have finished the slideshows, I'll do a complete backup of all my drives. It always seems that you need your backup just before you planned to make the backup. Must be some kind of law. Really sorry for causing a stir.... Gary

Ok...stop the press. Call off the dogs. Everybody can go home now. I figured out my STUPID BOO BOO. I have over 800 images in this folder so my eyeballs get blurry. But I just figured out what I did. I had this group of images Sorted by 'Modified'....not my 'Name'. So this set of image were scooted down to the bottom the the file list. Even though I examined the entire file list, my eyes just did not pickup the file numbers. Sincere apology for kicking up the dust. I will crawl back under my desk for the day. Gary

Things do happen but there is no way I could have only deleted these images and not others images. I made a slideshow in 3 parts and linking them into one show. All of the images in Part2 are missing when trying to view them using MyComputer. I tried the Boxig program but, yes, it only makes screen prints...does not restore images from the exe file. But, I think the real mystery is how can everything look normal in the PTE File List, but the files do not show up using MyComputer or WindowsExplorer???? The sound files that were in another folder are still there. Only the images are not showing up in MyComputer. I just tried something. I right clicked on an image shown in the PTE File List. It opens in the Windows Viewer. I then do an Open With 'Photoshop'. The file opens and when I do a Save, all the other 'missing' files show up in the file list. I do a Save of this one file...but, still, when I go back to view the image using MyComputer, none of the 'missing' file are there nor is this specific file that I just 'saved' is there. I am 'missing' about 518 images. Gary

Thank, LumenLux. Well, the problem is that I dumped the images that were in the newly created Template folder (assuming that they were just copies). So they are not recoverable from there. But I did NOT delete them from their original folder used to make the PTE slideshow. What is not understandable is that, when in PTE, all looks well. The files that were chosen for the show are highlighed in the PTE File List. HOWEVER, when I go to look at these selected files using MyComputer, they are NOT there. Crazy. How can that be???? So...just to get them back in MyComputer, I'd like to extract the images out of the already made PTE slideshow file. I thought I read some time ago that this could be done but I have not yet found the program. Still looking. Any ideas what is going on here????? Thanks... Gary

I noticed somethng strange. I made a slideshow of several hundred images. Everything went well. However, I went into MyComputer to just look at the images, and they are not there. But, when I view the folder in PTE, they are highlighted as if they are still in MyComputer and are still in the PTE's File List. The only thing that might have cause a problem was to experiment with Template. I ran the Template on these files and then I dumped the files in the Template's folder. I read in some of the discussions about the Template function in the Forum and it was my understanding that only a 'copy' of the images are put in the Template folder. Is it possible I have dumped all of my images...but why do I still see them in the PTE program's list of images? If I have indeed lost the actual images, is there a way to extract them out of an already created PTE slideshow? How could they not show up in MyComputer but show up in PTE's File List??? Thanks... Gary

Steve... I understand... and agree. Thanks.

Steve... Not to beat a dead horse...but when I make a show, I always make it synch'd to music (because I have not figured out how to use the timeline... ). But when I include the navbar, the music will stop when I pause or use the reverse or forward choices and the music will pick up where it should when I unpause it. I don't find that the navbar 'will screw up' the show. I wonder if I am doing something different from what you are doing. When you use the navbar, does it create a problem with the syn'd music? Thanks... Gary

I will be sitting next to the fireplace, waiting for Father Igor!!!!!!!!

Yiks!!!! Igor comes through again. Can't wait for V5. Thanks, Gary

Well, I didn't like setting the mouse keys because you only have 2 possibilities. So if you have the left for Previous and the right for Next, you don't have one for Pause. But you have just openned my eyes a bit when you mentioned the use of the keyboard. I just tried the Pause key and the arrow keys to control the images. Gee...you learn something everyday!!! But I do like to make the screen to be around 95% with the black boarder and the Navigation bar at the bottom. Just my thing. But now I will try the keyboard on other slideshows to see if it works there. Thanks... Gary

Greetings, I have downloaded my share of PTE shows off the Beechbrook site. I am wondering why most people do not choose to put in the Navigation Bar to allow the viewer to gain some control of the show. Sometimes I would like to pause to see a particular image or go back or forward to see one. I try to include it in my shows. Am I missing something here or is it just not a popular thing to do??? Thanks... Gary

I was able to convert the 'bad' midi file to an mp3. If I can, I will try it out on laptops to see what happens. Much thanks... Gary

Igor... Yes, I see what you mean now. Thanks so much for spending time on this problem. I would have never guessed it was in one of my midi files. I will see if I can replace it with one that works and does not have that blank space at the end. But, great information to know and how to examine the midi's I use in the future. Thanks again.... Gary P.S. But not to beat a dead horse, the big question in my mind is 'why doesn't the problem occur on my desktop PCs?' I create the slideshow and it plays just great but then if given to someone, it might not work due to a unknowing bad midi file. Perhaps, Brian's discussions come into play and it is just something we have to deal with on a PC by PC basis.

Igor... Thanks for the information. But I am not sure which midi file you are talking about. I have 4 different midi files in the show. The one I think might be the one is FUN7.mid. It seems to stop playing about 1 second before the stated time length. Is there a good way to detect a 'bad' midi file before I put them in a show. They all play correctly in Media Player and WinAmps. Since the problem only appears in some PCs and laptops, I guess the best thing is to wait for the 5.0 update to fix this problem. Thanks much for your testing. Thanks... Gary

Hi Brian... Your discussion above is quite interesting. It has really peaked my interest. And it creates even more questions in my head. I went to see the Properties for my memory stick and found that the Policies tab allowed for 2 choices: optimize for quick removal and optimize for performace. The choices allow for enabling and disabling write caching. Not sure if this has any relevance to the problem but interesting. On my desktop, I have the 'optimize for quick removable' selected, but the icon to 'Safely Remove Hardware' still shows and I do go through that process before I remove my memory stick. I also wonder now where my memory stick fits in the 2 types you mention. But I assume both types are causing 'problems'. I am tempted to put the file on a non-512 memory stick and test it but I don't have the stick or the laptop. Maybe I am just looking through rose colored glasses, but I would think that all memory sticks would be plug and play--as it would be for a floppy disk, or external hard drive, etc. , not needing any "setup". (What would you look for in a Manual for this Setup you mention?) Well, it will be interesting to hear what Igor comes up with and whether the never version 5 will do away with this 'problem'. Thanks... Gary

Brian... Thanks for checking further with this. The explaination about Memory Matrix Mapping is very interesting but way above me. I don't quite get it. I have never heard of someone needs to do something to the laptop to use a memory stick. Do you mean that the Virtual Memory setting has to be set in a special way? Since Igor had the same problem with my file, and he sees some strange things going on, maybe it will be something he can tweek in the program so it will avoid having to tweak the Laptop. But, just to make it more complicated, I had the same problem playing it on a friends desktop PC. Igor said that the new version of PTE might solve this issue. Hope so... Thanks again... Gary

Hi Igor... Thanks for looking at it. When I have played it on my desktop PC, where the problem does NOT show up, I do, however, notice that some slides do seem to be displayed a for a bit less time than the others. Gary

Greetings, Thanks to all for thinking about this problem. I just FTP'd the file to Igor. I hope he can dissect the problem. I don't think it is a "power saving" issue. These laptops were on display do they were not set to shutdown or go to a screen saver. I can't come up with any 'reason' for this to happen. And unfortunately, I don't have access to any laptops to do any more testing. I don't think the store appreciate me going from PC to PC with this large file. They were helpful once but I don't want to push it. I think Igor will be able to figure it out and it will be the right answer.... And just to be clear, the screen doesn't shutdown or go blank. The screen will show a little 'flutter' just as it is about to freeze up and then the current slide will just freeze up on the screen and stay there but the music will continue to play. Strange or what??? Thanks... Gary

I don't think a screen saver had anything to do with the slideshow freezing up. All these laptops were on display at the store and the salesman closed down all the background programs. I can't say for sure but it seemed that only the large PTE file would freeze up, rather than the smaller sized ones. If you care to try my slideshow, I could upload it to you but it is pretty big...46.3Mbs. I have broadband so I don't mind. But it is strange that I tried about 5 laptops and they all, except for the Pentium 4, froze up. After a few minutes, the current slide would just stay frozen on the screen but the music would continue playing. I created them recently in 4.43. Maybe it is just this one slideshow but it is difficult for me to do any testing since I do not have my own laptop. But I will try further testing. Gary

I have been using PTE for a long time. The slideshows always work on my desktop (P4, 2Gb RAM). Recently, I tried to play a 47Mb slideshow that I brought to a friends house. I played it off a Cruzer 512Mb memory stick on his laptop and it froze-up after a minute or so. Then I played the file, using the memory stick, on his desktop. It froze again. I didn't have time to examine exactly what type of processors he had and assume it was just some low powered PCs or a USB1 port. However, now I am looking to buy a laptop and I am using these slideshows to test laptops to be sure I will not having a problem showing them on it. I went to Best Buy with my memory stick loaded with several slideshows. When I played the 47Mb slideshow (playing it off the memory stick), the show froze up. The music continued to play but the screen freezes. I expected this to happen on the Celeron M processors, maybe. But it also happens on faster processors. The only one it played without freezing up was a laptop with a Pentium 4 processor and 512K RAM. It also froze up on a Gateway with the Athlon 64 processor (1.7Gh?) with 1Gb RAM. I thought, maybe, it was due to playing it off the memory stick. I also copied it to the HD and it still froze up on the Gateway. I want to get a laptop that will not have these problems. Can anyone tell me why this is happening? Is it the RAM or the processor or.....what???? Can anyone tell me what are the minimum specifications that I need for a laptop to play PTE slideshows without this type of problem??? Thanks.... Gary

I had a slide show on a 512MB Cruzer. I tried to play the show (around 48Mb) using the Cruzer plugged into his desktop PC's USB port. The show started but froze up after a minute or so. I then tried it on his portable PC and it did the same thing. I was not able to copy the file onto his PCs and try playing it directly from the PC. But my question is what would cause it not to play on his PCs. I have no problem playing it on my desktop PC from the Cruzer card. His desktop might have had a USB1 but his portable had USB2. What might have cause this problem? Thanks... Gary

bd... Interesting to hear your problem. Just yesterday, my project started to have similar problems. After I added a bunch more slides, the "Start preview from current slide" would not start the preview if I tried it toward the end of the slide show list. It just sat there. It would work if I chose a slide in the earlier part of the list of slides. Also when I would start the show fromt the start, it would stop at somewhere short from the end of the show. The music would stop and show would stop, suddenly. I fiddled around and, just by chance, I noticed that the "custom synch..." was checked. I switched it back to "automatic synch..." and it went back to working normally. Maybe there is a bug of some sort. But it does not seem to be happening to too many people. This is not a solution or a fix but we both may have a problem that might be fixable in future versions. I really have no clue as to why it happens. I always use the "automatic synch..." because I just am not sure how to use the "custom synch..." method. Gary

Yes... I have Photoshop CS. But I can use the new 'tools' that you all have recommended. Now I just have to get busy and use them. I am not sure exactly what I want to do but having some new tools will help in the 'creative' process. Thanks all. Gary