jevans

Igor, I have the reg key for Version 4.48 and have latest beta of Version 5. Very happy to purchase new reg key for VideoBuilder but cannot find the link on your web site. Can you post the relevant link position please ? Regards Jeff

Hi Dom, Great news about your site. You must have worked very hard to get such a comprehensive site up and running so quickly. Best of luck for the future. Jeff

This function is to allow you to insert a slide in a sequence and move all following slides along the timeline in such a way as to maintain the relationship between each slide and the various associated objects. The object timings are associated with the overall timeline, so if you move the slide along the timeline to insert another slide, all of the object timings should move as well. This is the default setting for PTE with this box unticked. If you tick the box and then insert a slide, the position of various objects will remain at the same position on the timeline but the associated slide will move. I wrote some notes on this a long time ago but cannot find them now. I am not sure why you would want to have the box ticked, but there will be a reason. At my suggestion, Igor changed the default value to unticked= move slide + objects which is probably what the majority of users would want to do. Regards Jeff

Thanks for the reply Igor. That is quite an acceptable solution and the ability to recognise different versions in the control Panel window helps to keep control of the various versions. Jeff

I have three version of PTE installed at present ; Version 4.48, Version 5 Beta 8s and Version 5 Beta 9. Looking in the control Panel, "Add/Remove Programs" you can only see the latter two versions, plus a Version 5, Beta #6, which I believe was actually overwritten by Beta 8s. Version 4.48 is not listed. When each of these versions was downloaded from Wnsoft, the file was "apr.zip". To make sure which version was which, I have renamed these files to include their version number. When unzipped, each version file has the same contents and the installation file is always "apr.exe". The last Beta version to be installed is installed in "C:\Program Files\WnSoft PicturesToExe" and the executable file is still "apr.exe". Maybe it might be a good idea if the downloadable file name, the installation file name and the final executable file names were all different and contained the version number. In addition to the "Add/Remove Programs" facility in the control panel, I use a number of system information programs to check what software is installed/running. One of these "jv16tools" has a very good facility for checking out the installed software base. This program failed to recognise the installation of the latest version of PTE. Maybe this is due to duplicate file names. Jeff

Not sure whose post I am answering here as there seems to be two separate member queries in this thread. However for Version 4.48, if you creat a sound file and attach it to PTE, then modify the file in an audio editor AND save it with the SAME name as the attached original, then the original attached file will change. You may have to close the timeline window and re-open it to get the sound file to update. Try this. Create a sound file and attach it to a PTE project. Open the timeline window and look at the waveform. No close the timeline window. Edit the sound file in an audio editor and save it - keep the name the same. No open the timeline window in PTE and you will see the waveform refresh with the new version. I have done this many times and in fact this is one of my standard techniques for preparing a PTE project. Note : I have not tried this yet with the new Version 5 Beta 9. Jeff

Brian, I am always interested in any advice from you. The only anti-spyware I have surrently installed is Windows Defender which never seems to find anything although it seems to update itself regularly. I tried your suggestion above and Xoftspy found some minor low risk problems, mainly to do with cookies. Do you think it is worth paying for this software and ditching Defender ? Regards Jeff PS to Dominique : This is terrible news and I do hope you are able to re-build your excellent web site with a better provider. Advice from Lin and Brian is always top class information. Jeff

Hi Lin, Just kicking myself because after I posted the query regarding the scrolling and turned my computer off, I suddenly realised how you had done it. When I look at it again, I realise what a very impressive effect you have obtained from such a simple collection of objects. Very impressed and thanks for your help. This is one effect I will certainly use. Best regards Jeff

Thanks Lin, I follow most of that with the following exceptions : 1. I see all the objects in the O&A window but when you play the slide still in the window, only the text moves. What has happened to the unrolling of the scroll? 2. Scroll unrolling. Sorry, do not follow your explanation here. Regards Jeff

Hi Lin, This is brilliant, one of the best effects I have seen in PTE. Many of the ideas on the forum, whilst very clever and interesting, are ones I might not want to use in actual av shows. But this one would be very effective. Any chance of finding out how it is done. Regards Jeff

I think this is a current problem with Version 5. Although a number of forum members have said that they have managed shows with the correct sound/picture synch on Version 5, I certainly have had problems with the synching of commentary and sound, even though I carefully arranged everything on the timeline to be in synch in the PTE version before converting to the exe file. Also, although I finally managed to get the correct synch on my computer, when I ran the show on the club's computer, the synch went all to pot. Think it is worth waiting until the full version is available. I am sticking to Version 4.48 for the moment as most of my shows have commentary Jeff

Hi Barb, Welcome to the forum. Which version of PTE are you using, although all versions should work. Does the music play with the slides when you run the show from within PTE. If so it should work when you create an exe file. Once you have created the exe file, it contains all the information necessary to play the whole show, pictures, music etc and you do not have to copy anything else - the exe file is fully self contained. I cannot tell why it is not working for you but sometimes, if the music file is not in mp3 format, you might have some problems. Make sure that music track you have added is converted to mp3. Jeff

Dave, It is not easy to answer your questions as there are so many ways of preparing at PTE show. I do not count myself as a pro. However I have made many shows in the past and here are some pointers to explain my method. Firstly if you are going to have any commentary or supporting text explanation, I recommend that you prepare this first. This will help you to determine which photos you need. Then take your photos, sort them into the required order and reject any poor ones. If you are able, edit them in Photoshop to get the best images. Ideally the images should be cropped to 1024 x 768 pixels, but other sizes can be used. I have a 19 inch monitor and use 1280 x 960 pixel images as they fill my 1280 x 1024 monitor better. Use the "save for web" function in Photoshop to reduce the image size to about 200 - 400 kB. I also recommend that you rename your images so that they have a number which corresponds to their position in the show. This makes assembling the show easier. If you have a spoken commentary, then record this next. I use Adobe Audition but you can also use "Audacity" which is a free audio editor. I tend to use 7 secs per image in the show, so I space my commentary out using this value. Obviously some images may have a longer commentary than this. I then import the commentary file into PTE and add the images one at a time to match the commentary. Finally I add some background music into my audio editor and then re-import the composite audio file into PTE. You also need to think of a title slide and a "credits slide to start and finish the show. It is a good idea to finish with a blank black slide and just fade the final credits slide into this blank. I am sure you will get many other suggestions as other forum members will have many other ideas. However I hope these comments will get you started. Best of luck. You will get hooked on this if you are not careful. Best regards Jeff

Hi Lin, Tried all that but to no avail. Even tried to uninstall Macromedia Flash Version 7 using jv16tools utility. Problem may be associated with the fact that, in Windows Explorer, Tools Folder Options, .swf files are shown associated with Macromedia Flash 7 and there does not seem to be any way of changing this - I do not know what the current flash player would be listed under. Jeff

Al, I type "Macromedia Flash Player 7" into Google which took me to the Adobe flash player site. Downloaded the upgrade version and, after installation it states that I have Version 9 now. However Lin's .swf file still will not play when double clicking his downloaded .swf file. I get a blank window with "Macromedia Flash Player 7" at the top. Any ideas? Jeff

Hi Lin, I get similar results to the others. Left clicking opens the file in Firefox. Right clicking and "saving link as" results in a .SWF file on my desktop. When I try to play it it opens Macromedia Version 7 and gives me a blank screen. I have noticed this before with .swf files that you have made. Not sure whether this is my player version being out of date. Jeff

Thank you all for a most interesting thread. I initially had views rather similar to Maureen about the use of movement effects in AV shows. We have discussed this many times in my photographic club and have tended to the view that many of the animation possibilities were to "video like" for us to want to use. Fortunately I resisted the temptation to rush some supporting comments into this thread as I was then able to read Al and Lin's measured and very useful response which started to make me think along different tracks. This is a great forum where views such as these can be aired with such good humour and common sense. Keep the contributions coming! Jeff

I would just like to add some comments to this thread. I certainly agree with the proposal that, ultimately it would be a good idea to have a tutorial reference section on the forum organized in the same way as Dom's site. I have mentioned this before to Igor but, as must be obvious, he has more important things to do at present. Also I agree with the idea that the program should either contain some comprehensive help information or there should be some associated help material, either in the form of video tutorials and/or in a pdf format. When I first started to use PTE, I found the lack of help information initially a little disconcerting. However with the help of this excellent forum, I soon got up to speed. For my own benefit I wrote a pdf document dealing with the timeline functions and then thought that I should make it available to forum users. Also, when Version 5 first came out I wrote a follow up pdf document on the object and animation window controls. Other forum members have contributed other forms of help in the form of video tutorials etc. Much of this information has been kindly hosted by Dom on his site, but unless you know about it, it is not too easy to find, particularly if you are a beginner. I am sure that when version 5 is complete, all this help material will be brought up to date. I have agreed to collaborate with my namesake Lin Evans regarding tutorial material and will be very happy to make this generally available. Maybe at that time, a dedicated forum topic (in a similar format to the other forum topic headings) can be created to provide links to this material. Maybe we can also persuade Igor to make reference to this topic page in the main program help data. Jeff

Glenys, This question has been asked many times on this forum and others much more qualified than myself have given answers. However here are my thoughts. You can create a slide show with PTE and then create an avi file using the "video" button. You can also take the avi file from your external video and then combine the two into a single DVD show. However when I have done this in the past, I have wanted to include a short video clip in the middle of the PTE show and then continued on with the still images. This can be done as described above but it is rather fiddly to do. I have found that a better way is to use a program such as Ulead Video Studio 8. This will accept both stills and video clips and they can be interspersed at will. However the resultant DVD quality is well below that which you will get from the latest version of PTE. Having experimented with this several times, I have come to the conclusion that the insertion of video clips in a still image show detracts from the show. I would prefer to separate the two media into different presentations. regards Jeff

I am not very experienced with video formats. However I have just created a DVD disk using the Version 5 , Beta 8r "Video2 function. Created DVD files for PAL with all other settings left at their default values. I chose not to burn the disc directly but to create the DVD files in a temporary directory. Procedure produces 7 files, 4 VTS_01 files and 3 Video_TS files. I then used Nero 6 to burn these files onto a DVD-RW disc. The resultant disc plays on both a Samsung DVD-R125 recorder/player and a Panasonic DVD-RV32 player. The quality on a 28 inch LCD HD ready TV is fantastic. Jeff

Have been waiting for the sound synch function to be implemented and so have not been trying latest beta version. However decided to download Beta 8r to try the video creation functions. I am very impressed with the stunning quality of the resultant DVD disc played on a Region 2 Samsung DVD player and a 28 inch Samsung LCD TV. Miles better than anything I have been able to do so far. Very well done to Igor and his team. Jeff

Thanks for that comfort Steve. I already have Version 7.5.432 so obviously no problems. Jeff

Brian, Thanks for this information. Can you post a link to the relevant Micorsoft page(s) as there seems to be several references to Grisoft on their site. You may remember our discussion on the removal of Norton which I did some time ago and since its replacement by the free AVG software, the computer performance has been greatly improved. Thus any change to the use of AVG software is of great interest. Also seen a reference to the discontinuance of the free edition in an American ezine that I subscribe to. Regards Jeff

I think this is an excellent idea if it is possible. Alternatively I have suggested to Igor that he put a link on the Wnsoft main web page, or even a separate forum heading with the link in. Just to supplement many of the comments made in this thread. I too originally had some difficulty in getting started with PTE and the new version is much more complicated. I wrote some guide for myself (which is a good way to learn the various features) and then thought that I would make these generally available. I intend to re-write the PTE Version 5 guide, but only when the final version is fully operational. My own approach is to prepare a reference document in pdf format. But there has been some excellent work by others using screen captures and video guides. I believe a writtenvpdf guide can be useful as a "look up" source when you get stuck with a particular feature. Jeff

Yes Fred, I agree also. just hoping that we can use Version 5 as soon as possible. I have done a few shows with the current beta and there are so many exciting things thta you can do that I guess I am just a little impatient. But I support your comments fully. Jeff