goddi

Lin... Not to start any argument, but I think anything that 'autocrops' my images as a default is a really big no-no, no matter what aspect ratio is used. I think if someone does not like the black boarders, the person should then make his own decision to crop his images. I would think that most photographers would do their compositions in the camera and not leave much, if any, wasted space. The term 'pan and scan' is not very intuitive and it probably might take most people a while to figure out what is going on...at least it did for me. Gary ======================

Lin, Thanks for the site. It confirms what I have been questioning. When it says 'pan and scan' "cropp(s) off the sides of the original widescreen image. This is considered destructive...", I wonder again why 'Enabled' is the default in PTE. I didn't realize that 'pan and scan' was an official video term. Still not sure why those terms are use, but I'll leave that be. Doesn't it make more sense to have the default to be 'Disabled'? Gary ==================

Greetings, I have tried to find any discussion on 'Pan and Scan' (in the Create HD Video) but the Search engine comes up with nothing useful nor could I find anything in the Tutorials. When I use the default 'Pan and Scan Enabled', all I see is that the show is zoomed in and you lose the edges of the images. When I have text at the top or the bottom of images, they get partially or fully cropped out. It seems to me that the default should be 'Pan and Scan Disabled', so you get what you expect with no cropping of the images. Am I missing something here? It took me a while to see what the 'Pan and Scan' was doing. I don't even understand why it is called 'Pan and Scan'. Under what circumstances would anyone what the 'Pan and Scan' to be enabled??? Thanks...Gary

Igor, When I go to create an HD video, there is no default filename shown in the output window. The only thing shown is the Output Folder. When I try to make several different shows using different Presets, I have to go find the file and remember which Preset I used to edit the filename so I can distinguish between them. It would be nice if I could do this as I initially create each mp4 file. So my suggestion is have the default filename automatically added in the 'Output Folder' window as you do when you do a 'Create As'. Then we can simply modify the filename with information, such as 'c:\PTE shows\filename-HD1920x1080HQ.mp4'. Thanks...Gary

Lin... I moved the keyframe back to the zero point but that did not make any difference. The text still jumped down. The text will move even before the image starts its zoom. I think if the problem was as you describe (the keyframe not starting at zero), the entire image and the text, together, would have 'twitched'. I just created a similar situation in a new slideshow and, again, the text moved before the image zoomed. I have used this method before in past versions and never had this problem. Gary ================

Peter... Did you get any feedback from Igor on this problem? Thanks... Gary ==============================

Davy, I have driven through Namibia. Burnt my feet in the sands. How in the heck did you come upon that leopard!!!!!! What an moment that must have been!!!! I am still waiting for that surprise. Very jealous!!!!!!!!! Gary ======================

Davy, Very nice and inviting show and perfect music. I was sure the sand dunes were in Namibia...with the Eland...yes, but then I saw the leopard (wow!). Maybe,... maybe not. Then I saw the camels. Is this a compilation of various desert scenes or are they all in the Sahara??? Got me guessing... Gary ===================================

Colin... Thanks for testing it. Good to get another confirmation that this is happening. I don't want to do any work-arounds to avoid this twitch. I have been using this 'method' for a long time and it has worked well for me for all past versions. I just did a second test by placing text in the last slide. I then copied the slide and put in a keyframe and the image to zoom (text as child). It happened again. There is something happening in the copying of first slide with text to create the second slide. If you don't create the second keyframe for the zooming, you don't see the twitch when you jump between the 2 slides. However, with the keyframe added for zooming, the twitch shows up with the text. I hope Igor will take a look at this. Gary ======================

Laszlo, I just tried it on another PC, which has WinXP. I still see the 'twitch'. Try looking at it within PTE and put the zoom to about 200%. And, in O&A, flip back and forth between the two slides of the map. It is very subtle but I think you should see tahe text move a hair. Gary =====================

Peter, Yahoo!! Thanks...I was going a bit crazy. I had run out of ideas to try. I am surprised that no one else has noticed it. I appreciate you stepping and and giving it a test. Calling it a 'twitch' is pretty accurate! We can't let Igor rest too much!!! Thanks...Gary =-=============================

Peter, Yes...it does not move much but it does. If you put the screen to about 200%, you can see it more clearly. I played the exe on my wife's XP and it shows the movement. I don't have PTE installed on her PC so I can't, yet, fiddle with it in PTE on the XP PC. On my Win7 PC, I changed the font from the Gabriola font to Times Roman. That did not resolve the problem. The text still shifted. But, I discovered something on my Win7 PC. I removed the second keyframe...the one that does the zooming. The movement of the text does not happen. So it seems it is not caused by the font, but it seems to be in the zooming action. What do you think? Also, if, in O&A, put the screen to 200%, switch back and forth between the 2 images of the map, and you can see the text move very clearly. Gary ======================

Peter... I downloaded the uploaded file and it does shows the slight shifting of the text. I wonder if this is a Windows 7 thing? Oh...Just had a thought...I will play it on my wife's PC (Windows XP) to see if the problem follows. I'll get back to you. The reason I used 2 slides is that I usually use the autospread function to space out the slides to the total music I have. I don't think I can use your method if I do that. You have a good point but it is easier for me to use the autospread function most of the time. I'll do some checking into your method. This movement of the text is really strange...never encountered it before. Thanks.... Gary ========================= Gary, I've just downloaded and checked your sequence. It behaves perfectly on my system. Have you downloaded and checked your own attachment? The only suggestion I can make is that perhaps you have more than one version of this project on your system and you are not opening the version that you think you are.

Greetings and Happy New Year to all... I figure I'd start the new year off with a minor problem that I can not figure out. I have inserted text into a slide. I then copied the slide and made it zoom in. The text are children of the image. I removed the fade transition in the second slide so it changes smoothly. The problem is that the text ("Monfort-sur-Argens") shifts down a bit in the duplicated slide just before the zoom occurs. And the other text ("Provence") slightly shifts upward as it goes from the non-zoomed slide to the zoomed slide. (You can see this better when you use the slider beneath the mini-screen). I have tried to figure out what is causing this but I can not. I have attached a 3-slide example of what is going on. I'd appreciate it if someone could take a look at it. I am using PTE 6.0 and Windows 7. Thanks... Gary France Trip 2004-problem.zip

Ronnie... I just found this link to a Seagate Media Player. Looks like it is the competition to the WD version. Take a look at it. There is a 10% discount going on. I haven't seen them in the stores yet. Wonder if its 'mp4' format means it will play PTE's mp4 output. "FreeAgent Theater+™ HD Media Player Play your movies, music and photos on your TV in full HD" http://www.seagate.com/advisor/theaterplus/?cmpid=sac-theaterplus-122009 Formats: * Video: MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (VOB/ISO), MPEG-4 (DivX/Xvid), DivX HD, Xvid HD, AVI, MOV, MKV, RMVB Real Media, AVC HD, H.264, WMV9, VC-1, M2TS, TS/TP/M2T o Video Resolutions: NTSC 480i/480p, PAL 576i/576p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p o Subtitles: SAMI (smi), SRT, SUB * Audio: AAC, MP3, Dolby® Digital, DTS, ASF, FLAC, WMA, LPCM, ADPCM, WAV, OGG o Playlist: M3U, PLS * Photo: JPEG files (up to 20 megapixels), BMP, GIF, PNG, TIFF Gary Added Later: I just found that the Seagate does not play some formats, such as H.264. That seems to me that it will not play PTE's output. Here is what the said: "As part of our tests for these products, we throw a few hard-to-read file formats at these players, and of the four files we loaded, the Seagate wasn't able to recognize any of them. Most notably, there's no support for H.264 and AVC, which have become increasingly popular. Nor does it support AAC audio, which is what you'll get from any iTunes purchase. And note that the "container" doesn't always imply support for the underlying format--for instance, one MKV file we had didn't play, because the underlying file used H.264 encoding. True, you can use a converter to make most video formats compatible with the FreeAgent Theater, but we're comparing native support to native support."... "A more significant problem: The Seagate simply doesn't decode as many file formats as the Western Digital does." ============================

Greetings, I don't know what might have happened or what exactly would fix it. But...until someone comes up with a real fix, try this: Uninstall PTE. Then reinstall it. Before you click on the file to reinstall it, right-click on the install file and go to the 'Compatibility' tab and select 'Windows XP'. Then continue with the install process. This might at least get it installed. I did not have any problems installing PTE with my original Windows 7 (not upgraded from Vista). But this process was useful when I had conflicts with other programs when I tried to install them in Windows 7. Hope this at least gets it installed. Hope it works. Gary ===================

Ronnie... Ah...the WD will play from a memory stick?! Now that brings it down in size as far as transporting the WD around and worrying about protecting the LaCinema's hard drive from being knocked around. I'm feeling you have a good point towards the WD media player. Thanks for the info. Gary P.S. I am not sure which model Geoff has, but there is a Western Digital WD TV Live Network-ready HD Media Player WDBAAN0000NBK-NESN model that has network capabilities. "Access files anywhere on your home network - Play movies, music, and photos from any PC or drive on your home network. The Ethernet port connects this player to your home network through a wired connection or via popular, supported WiFi adapters (sold separately). Ideal for use with WD's My Book World." Cool, if it works. =======================

Ronnie.. I looked on Amazon (USA) and found the Lacie LaCinema 1TB for $US175.99. I have not seen one in person but there are several user reviews available. It is kinda split. You might want to look there for some feedback. I have been trying to find a way to play video files created from PTE straight from a memory stick, such as into a DVD or Blu-ray player. I have found that this is not possible, so far. I like the idea of the Lacie where you have to carry around only one unit, as opposed to the WD, you'd need the WD unit and the HD. But I have not convinced myself which I would buy, at this point. And I'd like to stick with PTE's the mpeg 4 H.264 format output, since my experience in converting the PTE show to an AVI creates a way-to-big file. Gary ============================

Peter... When they first came out, they were 'silent' slideshows. But now, many seem to have audio capabilities (speakers). I'd like to know if anyone has really been able to play a PTE created show on one of these devices...what format is the best; what works; what doesn't work; quality of images and sound... I think it would be an interesting extension to show a PTE slideshow. I am trying to produce an AVI and a MP4 and see if I can try them at stores. But I see that creating an AVI really is taking a long time. I hope they fits on one of my memory sticks! Gary ======================

Greetings, I have noticed that some of the Digital Frames now say that they play 'AVI' and 'MP4' formats. So I am thinking it would be a nice present to give a family member a Digital Frame with something I created in PTE. However, there are so many out there now, testing each one would be a major project. Some say they play 'AVIs', other say 'video playback'; some are 800x480 others are 480x234, etc; some are 8", or 9" or 10", etc. Too many variable for me to comprehend. I would like to know if anyone has had any experience with these digital frames and if they can recommend or give warnings about any of them for playing outputs from PTE. Thanks... Gary

Ralph... I didn't get one yet but, just to let you know, there are 2 models. One is called "WDTV HD Media Player." The other one is a newer model called "WDTV Live Multimedia Player." An ad for the latter model states that it "includes LAN and New Software Features." I am also interested in the answer to your question. Gary ====================

Igor...Works here in the Washington, DC area. 11:13AM Gary ==============================

Greetings Ron and others, I have not used Camtasia, but I have come across another method of creating a tutorial or to demonstrate a problem one might be having in a program such as PTE, or any other program. I discovered a feature in Windows 7 that is called PSR (Problem Step Recorder). To activate this 'tool', in Windows 7, click on Start and type in PSR. When the program is run, a menu bar will appear that will allow you to start, stop and pause the recording of your steps. Each recorded step is a screenshot of the specific action, which is encircled in green. You can manually scroll through each screenshot or you can also play it as a slideshow, with pause, next, etc. The file that PSR creates is a .mht (mhtml document) file that is automatically saved in a Zip file and the extracted .mht file plays in IE. This is a pretty neat feature that I think we can use to help demonstrate problems we might be having in any software program or to create a simple tutorial. (All that is needed is for someone to figure out how to embed sound bites in each screenshot). I have attached a simple example of what you would get as I went through one of my PTE shows, just clicking on different menu items. Hope this helps... Gary =============================== Use of PSR in PTE.zip

Chrisp... Back in August, I had a similar problem. I had over 100 files that were quarantined and they had to be deleted. Most of them were PTE exe files. It took me weeks of work to remove the problem and get the PC back to normal (...thanks to Brian 'Conflow' of this Forum for his help). I think I had the 'Packed Win32.Krap.Gen' Trojan that infected my PC. The virus wouldn't even let me re-install the PTE program. I subsequently dumped my third-party firewall protection and its virus protection program (SystemSuite). I am now using the Windows firewall and BitDefender Antivirus, which seems to be much more of an 'active' protection. I feel your pain... Gary ===============================

Thanks Lin and Potwnc... I appreciate the information. I will be looking into it and see what happens. Yes, my Blu-Ray player does support the AVCHD format. Super thanks... Gary ==============================================