goddi

==================== Eric... JRR brings up a good point. My recent purchase of my new computer has an E-Sata port. I connect my external drive to it, since it is a Sata drive. The speed of this external drive, being Sata and connected via a Sata cable makes a world of difference in the speed of doing a backup. I have 3 500Gb internal drives and the external is 1.5TB (which has the USB, Firewire and Sata ports). I did a test once and, using a USB cable, a backup took about 3 hours. Using the E-sata connections, it took less than 1 hour. Not all external drives have the USB, Firewire AND the Sata ports. I would recommend anyone getting a new PC to have the E-Sata port in their PC and get external drives that have not only the USB/Firewire ports but also the Sata connection. It really makes a difference. Just my experince... Gary Added later... You don't list which motherboard you will be getting. Maybe you already will have one since you are getting a Sata internal drive. I really don't know. But I'd do a Google on your motherboard to doublecheck if it has or does not have one. It was not listed as a port in the advertisment of my ASUS's motherboard but it was listed in its manual.

============ Carol... I don't like the automatic Pan&Scan in PTE. When using 16x9, I prefer to manually zoom in on each image (losing portions the top and bottom of the image) so I can individually pick and choose what portion of the image I show or not show. So I keep Pan&Scan off. I use Windows7's firewall and BitDefender antivirus. If it don't work with these on, the I's rather not use the program. No resident anti-malware program and not running Norton. I think I'll just step to the sidelines for now to see what others come up with. Thanks for your help. Gary

============ Carol, Yes, they were both unchecked, therefore disabled. When I installed my first version, it did ask to disable incompatible codecs and I accepted it. I removed that program before I install your version. But your version did not ask...apparently it was done with the first version. Gary

================== Carol... I re-created the MP4 with the Custom settings above. I got the same error message when I tried to Add the file in SoThink HD Movie Maker. I looked in the Options menu and it does have 2 codecs that it has listed as incompatible, the MS DTV-DVD Audio and Video Decoder. Gary

================ Hi Carol, My MP4s play fine on my WMP and on my Media Player Classic programs. The MP4s that I have tried were created in PTE at 16x9, HD 1920x1080 HQ, Pan and Scan=No. Hope this helps. Thanks... Gary

==================== Carol, Thanks for the PM. I tried it (1.2 build 90818) but got the same errors. I happened to also download the SoThink Video Converter 3.0 and it too, gives me the same "Failed to add..." error message when I try to add an MP4 or an AVI file. Gary

================ Carol... I am striking out. I can't get MultiAVCHD to work. And now I tried SoThink and I can't get it to recognize my files. I tried a PTE MP4 file and I got "Failed to add..." error message. I then tried an AVI file and got the same result. Not sure what is going on. I have Win7. Gary

================== Greetings Carol, I tried it again. I re-installed the Avisyntah 2.5.8 as you suggested. I tried MultiAVCHD again and got similar results. I burned the AVCHD file that it produced to a DVD but my JVC Blu-ray player would still not recognize it (though it says it should). I tried creating the HD output. I let it sit for over 9 hours and when I returned, the progress bar showed only 0.3% done!!! I stopped the process. I don't think this is going to work for me. I might not have the right boxes ticked but it is beyond my understanding. I do see others have great results. I will stay tuned to see what others might be discovring about this program. Thanks for your help. Gary PS I ran the Malwarebytes and it showed no problems. DavyC...thanks. I'll take a look at that site.

======================== Greetings, It is interesting that you posted a note about malware associated with the MultiAVCHD program. Just before you posted your message, I thought that I had a malware that was caused by MultiAVCHD. It might be the result of me not really knowing what I am doing but let me explain. I am assuming that this program is used for creating high quality DVDs that are better than the regular DVD’s created directly from PTE. I gave it a try. So I created an MP4 file in PTE. Then I ‘Added the Video’ file in MultiAVCHD. I chose the ‘HD-DVD for DVD-R’. I hit ‘Start’. However, here is what I got: [18:34:41] *** Encoding : One pass - content: [00:01:59] [18:34:41] Cannot detect file size: (E:\PTE-Dog Event\Dog Event_new.[1920x1080-23.976].264) [18:34:41] *** Speed : 18289.38 fps (elapsed: 00:00:00 - Realtime x 762.82) [18:34:41] Cannot detect file size: (E:\PTE-Dog Event\Dog Event_new.[1920x1080-23.976].264) [18:34:41] *** Transcoding failed! [18:34:41] *** Check ffdshow/avisynth/haali (reinstall)! [18:34:41] *** DEBUG: Try to play [C:\multiAVCHD\tools\20100214-183441-uncrop Then I noticed the problem. When I tried to go into the folder ‘E:\PTE-Dog Event’, I got an error message: ‘Windows Explorer has stopped working’. I could not get into that specific folder and it would automatically close each time I tried to open it. A Malwarebytes scan showed no problems. After a couple hours of trying things, I finally figured out that if I delete (through DOS) the file, ‘Dog Event_new.mkv', the problem went away. Now this might not be a malware problem, but it is a problem created by MultiAVCHD. I don’t know what I did wrong, but the problem is repeatable. I don’t know what I am doing wrong. So that did not work. Then I tried creating an AVCHD disk. This worked. It burned to a DVD-R disk. However, my JVC Blu-ray player does not recognize it even though the specs say it will play that format. My WD Media Play did recognize the AVCHD file and play it (I copied the entire AVCHD folder to a memory stick). Maybe I am missing something but I don’t see how to make use of the MultiAVCHD program. If I have it right, you are using the MultiAVCHD to create higher quality DVDs, but I can’t seem to get it to work. Any ideas on what is going on? Thanks… Gary

==================== Colin, I particularly liked how you did the fireworks portion. However, I don't get the apology for the mix of horizontal and vertical images. I have read many times in the Forum of the aversion to using vertical images in a PTE show. However, I think that adding appropriate vertical images add to the dynamics of a slideshow. Wouldn't taking the Eiffel Tower as a vertical make sense? Or the Petronas Towers? There was nothing wrong with your verticals and they made sense and did not detract from the show. Just my 2 cents for advocating for a mix of horizontals AND verticals. I don't mean to start anything here but I feel photography calls for both. Gary

=========================== Ron... Putting PTE HD's on Blu-ray has been on my mind too. However, buying a burner and discs seems to be a bit on the expensive side and more time consuming, at the moment. I have gone with the WD HD media player (the European version seems to be the Medion Media Player?) to play my PTE HDs on my HD TV. The results are outstanding. So I am wondering if anyone has been able to compare the results between these two methods, PTE's on an HD media player vs. on a Blu-Ray disc. Playing them with something like the WD HD media player seems to be more straightforward and, in the longrun, less expensive since you can play them off of any memory stick. But...if the quality is improved, maybe going with Blu-ray is worth it. Has anyone seen any difference in the quality? Thanks... Gary

Greetings, I am getting more into creating MP4 files. I have Created two 'MP4 HD (1920x1080) Video for PC' slideshows from the same PTE show. One was created in HQ; file size is 165Mb. The second file was created in LQ; file size is 64Mb. The 'problem' is that I don't see a difference in quality. I am wondering if anyone else has done this comparison and come up with the same conclusion. Of course, I'd rather be creating smaller sized files if there is not visible difference. So I'd like to know if there really isn't any difference in what you might see between the HQ and the LQ results. I have played the two shows on a 40" LED TV screen and I can not tell the difference. Thanks... Gary

This is a short story about a fox. The photography is poor but it was difficult focusing and using flash through a double pane glass door at night. He is having a problem with mange on his tail. I have helped cure several foxes in the past that were in much worse condition. He still comes by most every night. Sometimes, his mate, who is in perfect condition, stops by. However, the fox with the mange has subsequently suffered a very deep and wide gash to his left rear side. You can see the flesh of his muscle, and he limps a bit. I have great respect for these creatures out in the wild. I just hope he recovers. It is hosted on: http://www.beechbrook.com/pte/ Gary P.S. Sure, comments, critiques welcomed...

==================== Dan...I am glad to get the message out. I got the idea from someone else in this Forum. Isn't technology fun??? But since I don't have kids to teach me the latest techno innovations, I am really behind the times and I have to be self-taught. I wouldn't have any idea what to do with a PS3 if I had one!!! But I am happy to hear of someone now enjoying their own 'home-movies' as I am. Gary

=================== morturn... I'd give it an A+. It was very captivating. Music...perfect. Images...evocative. The only problem I had was that it ended so abruptly. I was wanting more. Thanks... Gary Added later... Ok...now tell use how you created the exe with the images having black boarders only on the top and bottom. It looked great, too, with the thin white trim.

============= JRR, That is interesting because I had never heard about the two different folders. I just saw a response from the same Listserv I had posted above. He backs up your statment. But the sticky part seems to be the availability of drivers for peripherals. Gary --- "The caution I raised was with drivers. If you're going to use a peripheral that doesn't provide an updated 64-bit driver you may run into problems. On the other hand, HP (and presumably other vendors) are making 64-bit drivers available for most of their more recent printers, officejets, etc. I had no problems finding a 64-bit driver for an HP all-in-one printer that was a couple of years old. All 32-bit (x86) based software runs flawlessly under the 64-bit OS. Actually, on 64-bit systems windows creates two Program Files folders, one named "Program Files" where all 64-bit software installs and another named "Program Files (x86)" where all 32-bit software gets installed. As far as the user is concerned, whether he's running a 32 or 64 bit software is indistinguishable. You're correct that the only reason to switch to a 64-bit system is to address larger chunks of RAM. The x86 systems can only address barely above 3 GB of RAM. But more and more systems come with 4 GB of RAM today and the trend will continue upwards. A lot of systems sold by OEMs and retailers already come with Win7 64-bit. These systems are basically advertised as Windows 7; in other words, the consumers are unaware that they're buying a 64-bit system. You'll only see this trend multiply."

====================== Yachtsman1... I just got the following info from a computer club's Listserv. More info to digest. This is one of the reasons I did not go with 64bit now. I can always do it in the future. Gary -- "I don't know if you subscribe to Windows Secrets, but there's an article in the most recent (paid) edition by Michael Lasky, which you should read, but in part, here's what he said:" "General-purpose PCs using 64-bit processors emerged in 2003. To this day, however, 64-bit versions of such major applications as MS Office, Adobe Photoshop, Web browsers, and security suites have been vaporware. Also, finding 64-bit drivers for your PC's peripherals has been like playing the digital equivalent of "Where's Waldo?" — and in many cases, Waldo is nowhere to be found." Lasky said that the biggest reason for 64 bitness is to use large amounts of RAM. If your datasets aren't large (over 2GB), then it really doesn't make much sense. I think we'd all be pressed to create word docs that are in that size range. Not the same, perhaps for databases, but I think that you'd be pressed pretty hard to even create spreadsheets that are that big--but WTF do I know? ;-)) At the end of his article, Lasky basically says that 64 bit computing is not yet ready for prime time, and until such time that there are the software and drivers available, it won't be."

==================== Yachtsman1... While looking around for info on the 64 bit OS, I came across this information. Probably stuff you have already learned but it seems to be a nice brief on the difference. I stuck with Win7 32bit in my new PC. One thing that a tech guy told me is that saving data with a 64bit OS will require a large hard drive because it is saving the data in larger 'chunks', therefore, more wasted space. I have yet to find any discussion about this so I am wonder if this is really true. http://lifehacker.com/5431284/the-lifehacker-guide-to-64+bit-vs-32+bit-operating-systems Gary

Peter, For the TV, at least at this point, the black boarders don't bother me because the 40" LED is so large, it isn't a big deal, so far. If I keep the border in black (left and right sides), it just blends into the frame of the TV. I am coming to the conclusion that you can't make a PTE .exe file that will show exactly the same on a CRT PC monitor and an LED PC monitor, when making it at 16:9, unless you expand each image to the left and right edges of the screen and lose portions of the top and bottom parts of the image. Gary =========================

Dave, Thanks for your files. I took a look at it. I added one of my images to your .pte file to see what would happen. When I Previewed it, your red image filled the screen; however, my image, as usual, had black boarders all the way around. I checked your image in Photoshop and it is 1920x1080. My image, full original Nikon image, is 3872x2592. When I resized my image to 1920x1080, it filled the screen, as yours did, but the image was stretched...I don't want the distortion. What do you do to your images to get them to fit the 1920x1080 screen size? Do you resize them or crop them??? It seems the only way to fill the screen with my images (losing all black boarders) when using 1920x1080 16:9 is to expand each image in O&A until the left and right edges of the image fill the area (losing some of the top and bottom portions of the image). But this would work for playing on CRT PC monitors; I wonder what it would look like on an LCD PC monitor? Gary =========================

Peter, My concern is not so much playing the show on my TV. What I would like is to create one show that can be played on a CRT, an LCD and the TV, without having to make different shows in different aspect ratios to suit different screens. The MP4 created in HD at 16:9 looks great on my LED TV. If I play the exe that was made using the default 16:9, it puts black boarders all around the images. So, to get the show to play on the PC (CRT monitor) with black boarder only on the top and bottom, I have to use 4:3. But from talking to Brian, the 16:9 show, when played on an LCD PC monitor, would give the results I am looking for (black boarder only on the top and bottom, not the sides, too). So maybe, I still have one foot in the 'old world' with my CRT monitor. I was hoping to be able to use one aspect ratio of 16:9 that would work on all monitors and TVs. Maybe not??? Am I closer to understanding all of this???? Gary =============

Eric and Dave... Sorry for my added confusion. Yes, I meant to say my camera is 3:2. My PC's monitor is set at 1024x768. At this point, I can make MP4 slideshows 16:9 for the TV. However, when I create the 16:9 version for playing on the PC, when I look at it in O&A, the black border are only on the left and right sides of the images. But, when I Preview it on my computer, black borders are all around. I have created it as you have indicated. If I keep the show at 4:3, the black boarders are only at the top and bottom, and fill the screen from left to right. I just want the 16:9 version to have black boarder on the left and right sides BUT not also have the black boarder at the top and bottom (as I see in the O&A), when played on the PC. I don't understand why the Preview results are different from what I see in the O&A. I'd like to be able to stick to the same aspect ratio for viewing on the PC and on the TV, and avoid the result of getting black borders all around the images. I hope I am stating this clearly. Maybe not. Let me know. Gary Edited later: Actually, what I meant is that I'd like to have the 16:9 version to have black boarders only on the 'top and bottom'. My monitor is a CRT so maybe that is what happens with a CRT (boarders all around) as opposed to if it is played on an LCD? Brian has educated me that what I see in the O&A will be different that what I will see in Preview. =======================================

Dave and Brian... I tried out the settings but no luck. I still get black borders around each entire image. The only way I can see it working is to, first, set your settings as you stated, and then, zoom in each image to eliminate the left and right black boarders. But this will crop out the upper and lower parts of each image. It seems that this is the results of trying to get a camera's 4:3 into a 16:9 aspect ratio. This should work but in many images, I can't crop the top and bottom because it would crop out important parts of the image. Am I missing something here??? I don't see any other way of preparing a show that will be as full screen as possible, at least on the left and right sides. Thanks... Gary =======================

Brian, It is interesting to see the Medion device. My WD HDTV has only 1 USB port, 1 HDMI and 1 optical port and the ports are in the rear of the device. I also got the "Live" version that will let me access media from a PC in my network (but I have not tried it yet). It really opens up the possibilities for showing PTE shows. I tried your setting on my monitor. But it does not seem to be doing what I expect. The image just shifts to the left, leaving a larger black boarder on the right. The PTE show was created using the 16:9 (1280x720) Screen setting. So my concern is if I make shows at 16:9, and give it to someone who plays it on a PC, it won't fill the screen as a show made in 4:3. So it seem like I have to always make 2 versions; a 4:3 for computer viewing and a 16:9 version for playing on my LED TV? Maybe I am still doing something wrong? Gary ===========================

Greetings, Since I started using PTE many years ago, I created my shows for viewing primarily on my PC. However, I have recently come into the 21st century!!! I purchased a 40” Samsung LED TV and the WD TV HD Media Player. With the combination of the LED TV and the WD TV HD player, I feel more like a Spielburg! The results are stunning! I formerly produced my shows for viewing on my PC, using the 4:3 aspect ratio because it filled the monitor, with only a minimal black border at the top and the bottom of the images. Now with the 40” LED, I have reworked several of my old slideshows using the 16:9 aspect ratio. Then I create an MP4 file using that I can play from a memory stick that is inserted in the WD TV HD player. When this is played on the 40” LED, I can’t tell you how incredible the results are. I have been giddy with glee!! So I am now going back and reworking more old slideshows in 16:9 and as an MP4 (HD 1920x1080 HQ). I just want to pass this ‘discovery’ I have made so others might be encouraged to try this combination. The 40” screen is filled completely with the slideshow. The WD TV HD player makes it very convenient to update shows because I only have to copy any revised show to the memory stick. And the WD TV HD player is easily transportable and you can connect it to a TV with an HDMI cable for HD (or RCA cables (included)for SD). This reduces the need to create DVDs to play on the TV. So now my question: If I play a slideshow on my PC monitor that was created using 4:3, the black borders are only on the top and the bottom of the images. However, if I play (on the same monitor) the same slideshow created using 16:9, the larger black borders are not only on the top and bottom, but also on the left and right sides of the images. I expected the 16:9 slideshow to still have black borders on the top and bottom, but not to have them on the left and right sides. Why does the 16:9 have black boarder all the way around the images when played on a PC monitor??? My current monitor (CRT)setting is 1024x768. I am not sure what to change it to (if I should) to get no black borders on the left/right sides when the shows are created using 16:9, and played on a PC. The highest monitor resolution setting I have is 1600x1200. Thanks…. Gary