goddi

Greetings Tonton, I just did a test with your suggestions to 'convert tracks to Mp3' and 'not include the video clips in your exe' for the 26 video clips I have in this show. Interesting results. The size of the exe dropped from 360 Mbs to 172 Mbs. Quite dramatic. But I don't understand what is going on. If the video are 'not included', what is happening? If the show plays just fine with the video clips being 'excluded', why is this not the default, to reduce file size? Why/when would you want the video clips to be 'included'? When I 'convert tracks to MP3', some of the audio files are MP4 (audio from videos) and MP3s. I don't see any changes made anywhere. So what is going on? If this reduces the final size of the project, why is this not the default? Great discovery but I don't understand why the file size decreased. Thanks.... Gary

Greetings, I have trimmed and converted an MOV video clip using PTE Convert. This video clip was trimmed and converted from a 34 second length to about a 16 second length. But I want to use the entire audio portion of the original length of the MOV clip. Normally, I would go through the process of Project Options/Add Audio File/select the video and add it to an audio track. But I notice that I can accomplish this my just dragging down the MOV file into an audio track. So, is this easy way (just dragging down the video clip) of adding the audio of a video clip a valid method? Another Question: The original size of the MOV clip is about 41 Mbs. If I drag down the MOV clip into the Timeline, is it adding the full 41 Mbs, or only the size related to the audio portion? If I am using only the PTE trimmed/converted video file of 16 seconds, can I delete from MOV clip from my PC and still use the audio portion of that MOV clip? (Yes, I can also Convert the full 34 second MOV to AVI, and that clip then becomes 51 Mbs. I can drag that one down to the Timeline, too, so the clip used is not H.264. Same questions). If I use an external program to extract the full audio length of 34 seconds from the MOV video clip, the size of the MP3 is 1.3 Mbs, will I actually be saving the difference between the original 41 Mbs of the MOV and the 1.3 Mbs of the MP3? Gary

Oppsss. I had copied/pasted the chart from Excel, but it disappeared. So I added it as a jpg, above. Gary

Greetings Denis and all, I don't know why I never related the 'Quality' with changing the 'bit rate' in the Converter. Thanks so much for turning on the light bulb. I did a little test. I Converted an original MOV (11.1 Mbps and 30.2 Mbs.) to the various 'qualities', 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 50. Here are my results below as an attachment. I put together a slideshow that shows the difference of each quality setting. It is interesting to compare each quality to the '50'. With my eyes, I would not use qualities 0, 5 and 10. I can see the 'noise' in the shadows and the text of the sign is not to good. However, 15 and 20 start to compare favorably to '50', with reduced file sizes. The shadows are better and the text in the sign shows less pixelation. At the end of the individual samples of qualities in the attached video, I put them all in one frame so you can also compare each quality. Thanks again for shedding some light on something I really needed to understand. Let me know how you see the differences, if you can. Gary PS. Forgot to put in the full navigation bar but you can still jump from quality to quality using the keypad. Video_Quality.zip

Greetings Tonton, Yes, that is exactly my problem. I prepare my shows with the intention of uploading them to the Slideshowclub site. The limiting factor is that the max size of a show used to be 280 Mbs. Now it is down to about 124 Mbs. I have asked Igor to fix that limitation some time ago but nothing yet. Even the 280 Mbs limitation is too small when you have many video clips reduced to bit rates of even 5 Mbps. The Converter can put the bit rate at 3 times that. When I prepare my videos with an outside video program at the lower bit rate, there is still good quality and fluidity. If Igor would allow us to choose a bit rate for videos when using the Converter, that would help reduce the size of the shows. Many of the shows I am currently are working on are over the 124 Mbs limitation and one is about 468 Mbs. Yes, your workflow makes sense but I still need to work hard to reduce the size of my shows since I have many video clips inserted. The way the Converter currently works does not help, so I have to use an external program to process my video clips that allows the choice of bit rates. Gary

Greetings Denis, If I understand your post, you say you use h.264 with no problems. However, recently I was having problems with a video that was formatted as h.264 and Igor indicated that the h.264 format was causing the problem. Take a look at the following discussion. Not sure if it pertains to you, but it does talk about h.264. It appears that AC-3 and MPEG audio formats work OK with PTE. Gary

Greetings Tonton and Lin, I don't like to use the PTE Converter because I have no control over the bit rate and it, therefore, creates a larger video file. I don't have this problem when I do use the Convert process, but when you have a lot of video clips in a project, it really makes a difference in its ultimate size. Ok. You confirm that ACC is not supported by PTE. It is interesting that the clip will play if the ACC audio format is embedded in the video clip but not if it is separated out from the clip, as being 'added' to the Slides/Timeline. I'll stick with the conversion process that gives me the AVI format with the audio MPEG format. Seems to work OK. Thanks for the responses... Gary

Greetings, When I add a particular video clip to the Slides/Timeline, it plays just fine. However, when I try to add the audio of this video clip to the Slides/Timeline, PTE freezes. I have this video clip in two different formats. Both play without problems. But the freezing problem only occurs with video #2, not video #1 (see attached) when I try to add its audio. From reading some past posts, it seems that AAC audio is not playable in PTE. Not sure but can this be the problem? The audio for video #1 is MPEG, the audio for video #2 is AAC. When I trim/convert this video clip in an outside program, I don't have control over what the audio format turns out to be. One comes as MPEG, the other as AAC. Just strange that the video #2, with the AAC audio, plays with no problem, but the freezing problem only occurs after I have tried to add this video's audio to the Slides/Timeline. Can the AAC format be the problem with video #2? Gary

Greetings Igor, Thanks for taking a look at this. I thought he might be a Spammer and, perhaps, other might be getting similar emails. Thanks for taking the time during your vacation. Hope you are having fun! Sincerely, Gary

Greetings, Just got about a dozen emails from the same person, 'den7648523sa'. Looks suspicious. I only viewed the email while on my server so I did not actually download them. The Forum shows that this person joined the Forum only about an hour ago, with no other activity. Does anyone recognized this activity from this person? It does show 'int.support.@wnsoft.com', so I am not sure if it is really from Winsoft. Gary

Lin and others, If I were referring to adding a video into an object in O&A, I would have used the proper O&A menu term, 'O&A/Add Video'. To me, the Slides/Timeline is the 'Project'. Ok, not as precise as I could have been...but close. Seems some responses are more concerned with what is not there, then what is there. But as I said before, this has been a good debate and it is good to learn what others think, even though some things get lost in translation. I just wish we would have these debates on so many other suggestions. I have made many and most just sit there without pros and cons added by the other members of the Forum. You'd think after a hundred or so views, you'd get some responses. No, I don't want to start a thread on why we don't get such action. Thanks for the thoughts and I hope Igor gets to read this, too. Gary

Lin, This has been an interesting back-and-forth on this issue. Actually, I never considered anyone having multiple video clips in one object. Ok. But by my second posting, I think it was clear I was talking about simply dropping a video clip into the Timeline. I have not become more creative than that with video clips, yet. But I think the more intuitive approach for PTE to take is to automatically adjust the length of a video clip when you change the Speed. What else would you expect to happen? The good point is that if someone had multiple video clips in an object, they can retain the original video's duration by just inputting that length in the 'Duration' in the 'Adjust Time Range' window. But the problem with that is, for example if you choose, say, '50', it will play only the first half of the video clip, you lose the rest. Why would you want to do that? If you choose, say, '200', you get the clip played in half the time but you have the other half still hanging around in the Timeline, and have to manually made the adjustment to the new duration. Why would you want that? Perhaps, a logical solution would be to show 'Original Duration' and 'New Duration' with a check box for the user to select, so the Slides/Timeline will reflect whichever you choose, and have PTE automatically update the playing time in the Slides/Timeline. If someone had multiple videos in an object, he could keep the original duration of that clip with its Speed change. Gary

Greetings Lin, I tried to make it clear that I was referring to applying the 'Speed' function to a single video clip that was brought into the Slides/Timeline. When you say it is "a minor task when one elects to change the speed of a video to other than the original to adjust the slide time accordingly if that video appears on the slide list", I don't think I go alone with that. Yes, you can but why have to do it? If someone has set up multiple video clips in an object in a very specific way, why would he want to use the 'Speed' function after the fact? To change the Speed of a video is a choice to be made in each instant. To 'adjust the slide time accordingly' after a Speed change is implemented, it becomes a manual adjustment that you should not have to make. For example, if you have a video clip that MediaInfo says is '23s 991ms', the File Info shows only '23', and the Slide Options shows the duration to be '22.681' (because you dragged over the following slides to help the transition from the video clip to the still image to be smoother), would it not just be easier to have PTE automatically calculate the precise updated length if the Speed was set at, say, '65'? Otherwise, you would have to manually move the slides that come after the video clip back and forth trying to find the spot where you had the video clip's ending point before in the project relative to its following slide. It would seem to me that if you changed the Speed of a video clip, whether it is a single clip from the File List or part of an object in a slide, you want to use the entire new length of that clip, and calculated precisely, automatically. The window in the 'Adjust Time Range' shows the new duration, why would it not just update the duration with that new length? Isn't it what you are expecting to do with the video clip? The neat thing is that if you do change the video clip's Speed to, say, 65, you can also enter your own duration in the 'Adjust Time Range' window for the length of the video clip you want it to be. So someone with multiple clips in an object, he has control to leave the length of a Speed-adjusted-clip to their choice. Best of both worlds. But it would help if the length (or duration) of these changes in the Speed of video clips were automatically adjusted in the Slides/Timeline to whichever duration of the Speed of the specific video clip you changed. Gary

Greetings All, Tonton, saying "using the use of a video-clip as the main object of a view is just a lazy way to proceed" is like saying using the fade transition is dull. We all have our own ways of developing our projects. Yes, I think we have not been on the same page about this 'feature'. I don't think you even used the 'Speed' function in your example. As Wideangle said, your points have nothing to do with my suggestion. I'd like for you and JT to take a single video and change the Speed to 50% and then tell me what you think. I think it is logical for the duration of the video to be updated with its new length, because that is what the function is expected to do. Gary

Greetings JT, I really am trying to understand your point. But I do not. I don't understand when you say a "single slide may contain 10 or more videos all of which may have different lengths." Do you mean a project can have many videos or do you really mean one slide will contain many videos. I am referring to placing one video in the project and changing its 'Speed'. When you change the 'Speed' of that video, using the 'Adjust Time Range' function, it will change the length of time the video plays, longer or shorter. Currently, when you change the playing time of the video using 'Speed', the change in its playing time is not automatically made to the video clip in the Slides/Timeline. The video clip stays the same playing length. So, if you have a 20 second video clip and change the Speed to 50%, the playing length changes to 40 seconds. But when you do this, the video clip's playing length in the Slides/Timeline stays at only 20 seconds. You have to manually change the duration of that clip in Slide Options to have it play the entire 40 seconds. The new playing length of the video clip is easy to compute if it is 50%. It just doubles the length. But what if you use 32.5% or 180%? More difficult to compute. But, if you wanted to change the Speed of a video clip, don't you expect it to change in its playing length? When the 'Speed' of a video clip is changed, whether you adjust the new length manually in the Slide Options or it is done automatically (as I suggest), the slides coming after this video clip are just moved down to the right, as expected. The duration of any other slide is not affected. Yes, any audio tracks you need sync'd with particular slides might have to be moved down too, but that is an easy adjustment. But audio clips can also be linked to individual slides so they would automatically adjust. So I still do not see what your opposition is to this change. Gary

Greetings JT, Not sure what you mean when you say a 'video does not have a duration in the timeline'. When you drop in a video in the project, it has a 'length' (duration) and the Slides/Timeline adjusts for that length. If you change the 'Speed' of a video clip, would you not expect the length to change (shorter or longer)? So wouldn't you expect the results? If you did not want to 'spoil' any synchronization you have already done, then you might not want to do it. I don't understand why, if you change the length using the 'Speed', you would not want it's new length to be automatically inputted into the project. If you plan to use the entire new length of the video that was affected by the 'Speed' change, you would have to make any adjustments anyway. Perhaps, a check box should be made to allow or not allow the length of a video clip to be automatically adjusted. If you change the length of a video clip using 'Speed', it seems intuitive that the new length would show up in the Slides/Timeline. Gary

Greetings, I used the 'Adjust Time Range' to change the speed of a video to achieve slow motion by changing it from 100% to 50%. The video does slow down but the new duration (doubled) is not automatically changed for the video in the Timeline. Should changing the 'Speed' of a video in the 'Adjust Time Range' function automatically adjust the duration of the video to the new duration in the Timeline? Gary

Lin....Ok... But there has been some confusion for me with the first two lines of the Styles. Now I get: Master Control Frame & Windowed Image Control Frame for 3:2; and Master Image Control Frame & Windowed Image Control Frame for 16:9. Your first video shows: Master Image Control Frame for Size and Position & Control Frame for Inner Image Size and Position for 3:2; and no example for 16:9. Your second video shows: Master Control Frame & Inner Image Control Frame for 3:2; and Master Control Frame & Inner Image Control Frame for 16:9. Even your second video's lines do not match what I am getting now. It has been a bit confusing with these different descriptions. The Styles seem to work for everyone else. I'll just leave it where it is and hope Igor can figure out the error messages. Thanks... Gary

Lin...Yes, I see the Styles have different descriptions in the first two lines for each Style. But I think you got the descriptions backwards in your posting above. They should be reversed, 3:2 vs 16:9. So I am back in the same boat. I just can not run these Styles without the error messages and the File List being affected. Hope Igor can figure out the problem. Yes, I have deleted both Styles and imported yours again. No change, still get errors. Thanks... Gary

Lin, Still having the error messages with your Style. But I now notice something else that I can not figure out. After you created this Style initially, you said you had a 'bloat' problem. It was fixed and you re-issued it. I had imported your initial Style with the 'bloat' problem. Then, after you fixed the problem, I re-imported the revised Style and overwrote the initial Style. However, I notice that when I look at the lines of the Style in O&A, they are different from what I see in your video of this Style. I then deleted the Styles and re-imported your revised Styles but I still get the same lines in O&A as the old initial Style. It does not seem to be overwriting or allowing the new Style to be imported. The first two lines in the Styles are not the same. I also tried to, first, rename your initial Styles. Then tried to just import your revised Styles, but it asked if I wanted to overwrite the initial Styles, even if it had been renames. Seems something is not working correctly? Did your initial Style corrupt my PTE as I think you had a similar problem with the 'bloat'?

Greetings Igor, My original posting with this problem got a bit side-tracked so I am re-posting this problem to be as concise as I can. When I use one of Lin's styles (attached), I get several error messages and the File List disappears. I have tried this style on different images and in different projects, but get the same results. I am using V9.0.9, Win10. I have also attached screen prints of the error messages I get after I have applied this style. Others seem to not have this problem. Not sure where to look for the cause of this problem. A couple other border styles have caused the same results. Attached also is a video of the errors occurring when this style is applied. Gary Style_Creates_Errors.mp4 Lin's 3_2 Border Window Style.ptestyle

Lin, I have tried your two revised Styles but I still get those error messages and the disappearing files in the File List. I also tried two other Styles (attached) and they produced the same problems. Seems to be pointing to Styles with borders, but not positive? I hope Igor can sort out what is happening from looking at the error messages. But, then I tried the two attached Styles again, and I did not get the error message, but I do with your two revised Styles. I have no idea what is going on. Gary Window with Border in Mask-2.ptestyle Border Mask.ptestyle

Dave, Very nice. Looks useful for the beginning (entry) into a show.Thanks... Gary

Lin...Those error messages are captured in my initial posting and in the video. Strange no one else has indicated they have similar results. You should be able to pause the video to see them, but they are also in the initial posting. Gary

Lin...I see that I was using the 16:9 version instead of the 3:2 version of your Style, that caused the black side bars. BUT...it still produces the disappearing of the files in the File List and the error messages.... Gary