goddi

Greetings, There were recent postings concerning the Add Sound Comment not working. I read then but it seems that my problem might be a bit different. I have a video that I have added to the slideshow. I removed the sound from this video, using an external program. I then added a short mp3 sound file to this video. The problem is that the Added Sound Comment mp3 plays only when I play the video in the Miniplayer and only if I start playing the slideshow from this video in the Miniiplayer. If I play the video in Preview, the Added Sound Comment mp3 does not play. More specifics: The video is 13 seconds. The Added Sound Comment mp3 is 5.72 seconds. The Offset for the Added Sound Comment is 6 seconds. I have checked the 'Do Not Interrupt Sound Comment...' I don't have KFSL checked. Any ideas??? Gary

============================= Dave, I am confused. When Xaver mentioned 'speed option', I assumed he was talking about when you select the 'Setting up...' option for the animation parameters. It appears to me that this 'Speed option...' can apply to any of the parameters ( Linear, Accelerate, Slow down and Smooth). However, you seem to be saying that it only applies to Linear and Accelerate. Can you clarify what you were saying??? I am pretty much in the dark about how to use this setting but I'd like to understand what you and Xaver are talking about. Thanks... Gary

======================== Xaver, I have not used the Speed option so I have to leave my suggestion up to those who understand the complications and ramifications of fixing one problem and its unintended consequences. I would hope Igor and the more experienced users, like you, can come up with a fix. Thanks... Gary

======================== Dave, I can't disagree with you. But I was really not sure how to title the posting. All I can say is that the shifting problem happened when I tried a Zoom with Panning. I am not technical enough to figure out all of the other possibilities. But, I would hope that the solutions I recommend will solve all of the combinations of using different settings for PZR. If you can make a change to the title of this posting, please do. Just not sure what the right words are. Thanks... Gary

Greetings, The problem is that I have noticed if you select a Zoom animation (and it includes some Panning), for example, for an image and you only change the Zoom's setting (Linear, Accelerate, Slow Down or Smooth), the animation can cause an unwanted slight shifting of the image during the animation. This problem is explained more clearly with an example in the following posting: http://www.picturest...ng-to-left-bug/ The solution, giving by Lin, is to set the Pan, Zoom and Rotate to the same linearity or non-linearity parameter. This shifting problem is solved if all three animations choices (Pan, Zoom and Rotate) are set to the same parameter (Linear, Accelerate, Slow Down or Smooth). This does solve the problem. My suggestion is the make the default so that when one of the animation (Pan, Zoom or Rotate) parameters (Linear, etc.) is changed for a particular keyframe, then the parameter for each of the other animations are automatically changed to that parameter. My suggestion is to have the parameter for each animation (PZR) linked so that if someone wants the original flexibility to input a different parameter for each of the animations, then the parameters for each animations can become unlinked. I have seen this strange 'shifting' in an image for many years and only recently figured out what was going on. I don't think most users would know that it is important to make the parameters to be the same for each animation (Pan, Zoom and Rotate) to avoid this 'shifting' problem. Gary

====================== Peter, I am not suggesting to not keep the current flexibility. What I am suggesting is that the 'default' should be that when you select one of the settings (Linear, etc.) for a particular keyframe, then the settings would automatically change for all three (Pan, Zoom and Rotate). This would remove the possibility for the 'shift' problem to occur. Lin's solution to set all three animations to the same setting to avoid the 'shift' problem works. I am just suggesting to make this action to be the 'default'. Who would know you needed to do this unless someone told them? But I also said that there should be a way to override this default for those who wanted to retain the flexibility of the current menu's structure. It seems to me that most people would want the results from having all three settings to be set to the same choice as the default. All that has to be done is to have them linked so that a change in one will change the other two. And also have the ability to unlink them to get back the current 'flexibility'. Doesn't this make sense? Gary

====================== Lin, Ok...I did not know if my idea would float or not. Just because it makes sense to me does not mean it would be a good idea. I'll give it a try in the Suggestions forum. It seems to have passed your 'sniff' test. Thanks... Gary

======================== Dave and Lin, I am better understanding what is happening, now. When I did the Zoom, I used the Zoom's up/down arrows to set the initial Zoom parameter. However, when I 'moved' the map to reposition it after setting the Zoom, I just clicked and dragged the map over to where I wanted it to end up. I wasn't thinking that I was actually 'Panning' the map over to that position. So I now understand the Pan/Zoom movement explanation and see it is the combination of the two. Maybe there is a good reason for being able to select different settings for Pan, Zoom and Rotate a keyframe, but why is it not the default to have Pan, Zoom and Rotate automatically retain the same setting (with the option to undo the default), and then allow the user to be able to be override the default, if that is what one wishes? For example, if one choose Slow Down for either Pan, Zoom or Rotate, they would all change to that setting. This would avoid these 'shifting' problem without having to understand the non-intuitive way to avoid it, but allow for the flexibility that in now has. Thanks... Gary

====================== Peter, The reason I would call it a 'bug' is that the shifting does not occur if you select the Linear or the Slow Down settings, but it does in the other two options. Lin has the easy 'solution'. I just don't think users should be jumping through hoops to stop the Zoom from doing strange things with non-intuitive steps. Your steps might be a remedy but I don't want to get too complicated when trying to do a simple Zoom. Thanks... Gary

Dave, I was in the middle of making the arrow to have an Opacity of zero at the beginning and going to 100% midway. I just was not finished with it and eventually will be 'fixed'. Work in progress.... Gary

================== Greetings Lin, Well, I must have missed that tutorial. I have noticed this funny movement problem for many years. I always thought it was something I was inputting. Thanks for the tip. I tried it (setting Pan, Zoom and Rotate to the same linearity setting) and it stopped the shifting. This is a pretty strange effect and seems to be a 'bug' because who would have thought that this is the way to 'fix' the problem? It must be a technical hurdle to fix, but thanks for the work-around. Gary

Greetings, I have seen this problem before but I could not figure out where it was coming from. But now I have found what is producing it. The problem is that when I have selected Accelerate or Smooth of the Animation/Zoom, the image (the map in this example) will shift slightly to the left and then back to the right as it is doing the Zoom animation. It does not do this with Linear or Slow Down. I have attached a PTE sample with just 2 slides. The second slide is a map that I have set to Zoom with Accelerate. The shift is more pronounced with Accelerate, but it also shows up with the Smooth setting. Is this a bug? If not, how can I prevent these 'shifts'? I could increase the map's size beyond the 100% to help hide the shifting but I don't want to just mask the problem. Thanks... Gary ADDED LATER...and if you notice if you select Smooth, the map will, after shifting back to the right, makes a tiny shift back to the left at the end of the Zoom. Tortuguero-Test Animation_Jul24-2012_11-35-47.zip

============================= Greetings, I agree. Sure there are many ways to go search and create arrows and other shapes outside PTE. I, sometimes, like to add an arrow or a comment shape and have to go to the Internet to find something. It would be so nice, and convenient, to have a pallet of shapes (such as in Paint, but with more flexibility) right in PTE. This is something I have also wanted for a long time. Gary

========================== Greetings, Yes, there used to be a faint blue line indicating the end/beginning of a piece of music. Initially, I asked that it be made more visible because it was a bit hard to detect if you were scrolling too fast in the Timeline. Then it disappeared. I asked several times to bring it back but I never got any response. Maybe it is just us two who are missing it but I hope someone will bring it back!!! http://www.picturest...h__1#entry88178 Hopefully, Gary

New slideshow posting, "In Search of the Quetzal": http://www.beechbrook.com/pte/ Location: Costa Rica Year: June 2012 Aspect ratio: 16:9 Screen resolution: 1920x1080 Videos: None Size of file: 46 Mbs Run time: 3:07 Manual control (yes/no): Yes Camera and lens: Nikon D7000, 18-200mm Any other info: The "In Search of the Quetzal" is a slideshow of one morning in Costa Rica where we looked for the elusive quetzal. We were in the high altitudes, almost 9,000 feet, of the Cerro de la Muerte area. We were fortunate to find a baby quetzal who was just about to leave its nest. The father with the long tail feathers was nearby and had a beetle in his beak. The images of the quetzals were with the lens at 200mm; lighting conditions were not good; camera was hand-held. So the images are nothing to write home about but I am happy I got what I got. Hope you enjoy it. Comments and critiques are welcomed. Gary Oddi

========================================== Jill, I brought this topic up back in '08 when I mostly used Autospread because the Timeline was a bit scary at first. To have to go to Arrange All Points to actually show it it the Timeline did not make much sense to me then, and it still does not. I was a beginner then and it confused me a bit. Now, I am more into using the Timeline. But, if I remember right, even though you choose Autospread and then Arrange All Points, and the Timeline goes 'greyed-out', you can still adjust the display times of individual slides along the Timeline. My posting in '08 didn't get much attention then. Seems there is more agreement with your posting now. I tend to use the Timeline function now. I can use the Autospread/Arrange All Points just to get them spread out for the start of the processing with some music thrown in, and then I switch to Timeline for the serious processing. But I agree that beginners would not necessarily find that ticking Arrange All Points after choosing Autospread is intuitive. I certainly did not. But once you learn the quirks, one just accepts it. Learning curve... http://www.picturest...h__1#entry57219 Gary

Daniel, Quote- to have the possibility of multi soundtracks and multi sounds (comments + sound effects or others...) associated with slides by using the "Add Sound or Voice" button ; Yes. ========================================== Igor, Speaking of 'sound', have you or are you going to put in a feature that will let us adjust the volume level of the audio track from added video? Gary

============================ Joy, I don't have an answer to how you can 'lock' the music track to one specific slide. But, when I want the music to start after a slide or two, etc., I just add a silent mpg just before the music. I usually have made a few 'silent' mpgs for this use. Some a few seconds, some longer. They are easily made in Audacity and can be adjusted to keep the music to start exactly where you want it to start. Or just make one for one second and keep adding or subtracting this 'silent' mpg until it sounds right. Not an 'automatic' way but it will let you keep the music track starting where you want it to. Gary

=============================== Maureen, As usual, a great show. I agree with Morturn about seeing shows about travel. This one was special for me because I was born in Florence, right down from the Ponte Vecchio. I noticed your shots of the 11th century San Miniato al Monte church. Not too many people make the trek up to that church. It is really spectacular. A few years ago, we went to place some flowers on my brother's twin who is buried at the church and it was interesting that they have all the grave site locations computerized...helps locate them. We happened to be there for an Easter morning service in the church. Really nice. Thanks for bringing back memories... Gary

================================ Igor and Mickp, I have been getting the exact same error message when I have played the River Mouse.exe show. See here: http://www.picturest...h__1#entry95574 It always shows up at the exact same slide in River Mouse. I thought it was something in the show but no one else seemed to have be getting the error message. Using Malwarebytes, I had found a couple adware bugs and removed them. That seemed to be a fix but it might have only been a coincidence. A few days ago, Malwarebytes showed my PC was clean, but I got the error message again at the exact same spot anyway when I ran River Mouse. River Mouse is the only show that causes this strange error message. I have not run Montauban yet, but I will give it a try to see if that, too, causes the same problem. Gary ADDED LATER: I just tried River Mouse and Montauban but I could not make the error message show up...at least not yet. I have no clue as to what is going on. I have Windows7, both shows are played on the Desktop .

============================ Steve, Yes, I enjoyed the show. I also have Microsoft Security Essentials but it does not give me any alerts, even when Malwarebytes had detected some adware type bugs. PCs can drive you a bit nuts when there is no obvious explanation for what might be going on. I just ran Malwarebytes and it did not show any problems. I then ran your show again, and guess what...got the same error message. I re-ran Malwarebytes and it still does not show any problems. So, let's just chalk it up to alien activity..... I just have no idea what might be going on.... Gary

Steve, I just happened to play your River Mouse again. I got the same error message in the show in the same place as indicated in my Comment #4 above. I ran Malwarebytes again and it found a couple 'bugs' again (Adware and Toolbar type files). I removed the bugs and now your show plays just fine. It is really strange that only your show comes up with this error message and that Malwarebytes fixes it. This is not a complaint or any negative report. It is just interesting that this happens with only a PTE show and only your show and apparently only on my PC. But this is a good reminder to run Malwarebytes and other diagnostic programs to find what is lurking in the background. Gary

==================== Peter, I just had a look at the show. Really terrific. Lots of good techniques to learn from. Thanks... Gary

========================== Lin, I played your file on several players. Here is what I found: 1-Quicktime-It would not play because it said I needed the "XVID component for Quicktime". I did not download it because I wanted to first see how it played with other player in my Windows7 Pro. 2-VLC-The show looked 'fuzzy'. Played well but did not look 'sharp'. 3-Windows Media Player- It looked 'shakey'. Hard to watch. 4-Kantaris-Played well but it also looked 'fuzzy', not 'sharp'. 5-Daum PotPlayer-This player has been my 'default' player for some time. When I played your file, it looked the best compared to all the others. I actually played your file in the PotPlayer at the same time as the others to see if I really saw a difference and I did. My eyes kept going over to the PotPlayer version. Images were sharper and the colors more saturated. I don't know why there is a difference but I see a distinct improvement when using PotPlayer. See if you see the difference. Gary LATER: I just added screen shots of the white cat with the pink ribbons. One from Kantaris and one from PotPlayer. All I did was to rotate them.

============================ Ken, I installed this program and discovered that it is free (for personal use). See below: "Now TaskInfo is "Free for personal non-commercial use". Check Corresponding "CheckBox" on "Help/Set Registration Information Dialog" if you really use it for "personal non-commercial use". " Gary