alrobin

Bill, I think I see why my post made you so upset - I just noticed that I started out with "In all respects" when I really meant to say "With all respect" (body language would have helped out here ) I have since edited the offending post accordingly. I'm sorry if my tone gave you the wrong impression about what I was really trying to say, and I apologize for the slip. However, I still stand by the content and intent of the message.

Dave, The only way to change the transition times for specific slides, for both synched and un-synched shows, is to set the time in the "customize slide / effects" menu. Or, you can change the default transition time in "project options / effects", and then make sure you un-select "use own transition effect" in "customize slide / effects". Don't hesitate to come back with more questions if there is still something puzzling you. That's the way we all learned!

Sorry, Tom, I hadn't noticed that you had already answered the question. (I must be using too high a screen resolution for reading these messages! ) My apologies for repeating your wise advice!

Marianne, Just a few more words in addition to the good advice that Bob and Bill and Ken and Tom and Guido have given you, and in answer to your specific question above. Since you intend to project your slideshow, it's important to consider that the maximum resolution of most of the commonly-used digital projectors is 1024 x 768 pixels. Some are less than this (only 800 x 600). So, there is not really much point using images larger than 1024 x 768. Also, I think you will find that if you compress to around level 5, then your images will dissolve much more smoothly. By the way, don't worry if the feathers got ruffled a bit in answering your questions - it's not your fault!!! We all take this business so seriously, and become so intense in our discussions sometimes, that it's not surprising that sometimes misunderstandings and differences of opinion arise. It's very difficult to reflect one's tone and exact intent in a written message without the added assistance of body language. You should see the invective on some computer forums! This one is very tame and polite in comparison!! And, let's keep it this way!

Hi, David - welcome to the Forum! Are you setting the slide duration on the timeline or in "customize slide"? You probably know already that setting the duration in "customize slide" for a synched show has no effect. Perhaps if you make the durations and transition times longer (say 8 sec for transition and 8.5 sec for duration), the pause between slides will be less noticeable.

I'm tryin', I'm tryin"!!

Ken, My Voodoo 3000 can handle umpteen settings at both 3/4 and 4/5 ratios (including 1280 x 1024).

Hi, cc, I have designed a simple transparent grid for use in the Object Editor. It is available on my web site at This Page . Just add it as a regular Object, line up your other objects, and when finished, delete it. Please let me know if you need more information on its use.

Roger, Try this link . There's a note from WnSoft support re this topic.

Andrew, Until the technology improves (at least in price), you could always transfer to VHS - pretty easy, with a connection from a suitable (low-priced) video card to your VCR! Of course, it won't match the quality on DVD.

Mitch, I switched over to my laptop and successfully downloaded your fine show. Someone sure put a lot of time on this masterpiece - it is excellent, and well-worth persevering with the download! The bird sounds make for a nice touch - and they are not overpowering either. And the photography is awesome. I was particularly impressed with your photos of the bee-eaters, and the lilac-breasted roller - those are not easy to get, at least not in this fine a detail! Thanks so much for sharing this!

Ken, The size of my file on disk is 63.8 (66,928,640 bytes). So, maybe I didn't get it all. Thanks. Edit: I checked the size of the successful download, and you were right - I didn't get it all the first or second times. Thanks again for the heads-up!

Mitch, I thought I had successfully downloaded your show early this AM, but when I try to run it, I get an Exception error saying List Index out of bounds. (Win Me.) Must be my fault, as others seem to be able to run it. I'll try again sometime on my XP laptop.

Bill, With all respect, I think you are getting a little carried away here. How many people in their elder years do you know who usually have their monitors set at larger than a resolution of 800 x 600, which is more than adequate for viewing the shows posted on the "Cottage" without resizing? So, in these cases it's a "moot point". And, for their own shows, if they want to show them at a larger size on a high-res monitor, then they can always create them at that size. For myself, if I choose to create a show with images of say 800 x 600 pixels, I don't want people blowing them up to 1280 x 960, as they would look terrible! Apparently Tom feels the same way after the reaction he got from Marianne. We're not saying don't provide the option in PTE, just don't use it!

Mitch, Welcome back to the Forum! I enjoyed your other shows very much, especially the one on Peru. Maybe you could break the show into two pieces, with the first one activating the second. I looked at your web site - you sure have some beautiful wildlife photos! Were they from several trips?

Hi, Tom, If you have a large monitor, and good eyesight, you can read text at 1280 x 960 pixels. I use a 21-inch monitor, and quite often use this resolution for detailed spreadsheet or photoshop work, especially when I need a lot of space for many different windows open at a time. Look at it this way - pixels are pixels, whatever monitor they are viewed on. If you have a 21-inch monitor set at 1280 pixels, provided the pixel spacing is the same, the text should be just as easy to see as on a monitor half that width at 640 pixels. One other point, the "72 dpi" you referred to does not have any significance when you are dealing with images on a screen or projected. This is meaningful only if you are printing the image. It's best to think only in pixels. Talking about 72 dpi in the context of screen images is a little like telling the cop who pulled you over for speeding that you were only travelling at 128 km per hour at 72 deg F.

Tom, Marianne is right when she suggests you should not be using "fit to screen" mode. Your images will look unsharp in monitors set larger than your image size. It is not necessary to use "fit to screen", or to use "windowed mode", either, to control how your images appear on-screen. Not everyone likes using "windowed mode", but unfortunately it is the only way to control the appearance of "objects", if you use them. So, that is why many users set up titles, etc., in their image editors instead. For viewing on a digital projector, if the images are large enough to start with, it should be possible to adjust the distance between the projector and the screen for optimum viewing. The trouble is, not everyone uses the same image size, so in presenting to a club, one sometimes has to accept the positioning of the projector to suit the one with the largest images.

Rainer, If I understand you correctly, that sounds like a good way to do it. Did it sound OK after all this? It might make things a little simpler if you did all the calculations first, then found all the music selections you need and put them end-to-end in Audacity. Then go to the timeline and manually add the images as the music is playing, according to the average intervals between slides, calculated for each music selection in turn. Unless your music is "too tight" (i.e. too many slides or too short a time on screen for each slide), it should be possible then to go back in and fine-tune so the transitions occur on the beats of the music. It's always a lot of work synching to music, but it's worth it in the end.

Hi, John, Welcome to the Forum! Quite an Irish contingent here now. According to legend, my ancestors came from County Cork - never been there myself, but will have to make the trip someday soon. Glad you are enjoying PTE - it has been most rewarding for me too, in terms of pure enjoyment and pleasure in attempting to be creative. Hope to see some of your work soon.

Congratulations, Granot! I haven't used any of your famous utilities, but judging from the response over the years, people are finding them quite valuable. You certainly have been busy - hope you have been just as busy putting together slide shows!? In the words of an ancient Irish monk, may all your pixels be bright!!!!

Hi, Marianne, Are the separate images jpegs or bitmaps (tiffs, bmp's, etc.)? If they are jpegs, you can make a PTE show out of them, and add the "print" option to the navigation bar. I haven't tried this myself, but that's what the print option is there for. (Edit: just tried it, and the quality isn't very good.) If the images are non-compressed images (e.g. bitmaps) you might be able to include Irfanview on the cd (available as a free download) and have PTE start it as an external application at the end of the PTE show, or in response to one of the buttons on the introduction screen. Again, I haven't tried this either, so it might take some experimenting in order for Irfanview to start up with the right directory, etc. You might have to add some instructions, too, if the viewer is not familiar with Irfanview, although it is pretty straightforward. Hope this helps some. Let us know if it works!

In that case, I think we should just leave things alone rather than complicate the procedure we have now. As someone has said, with the new fast-loading PTE, double-clicking is not a big problem, anyway. It would be interesting to know how many people are using or would use a utility to adjust volume. I just turn down the knob on my stereo! And if that isn't possible, I already have a built-in utility in my Windows software to adjust the volume.

vhansen, welcome to the forum! For "p2e" shows, just change the filename to ".exe" and it will run as a normal application by double-clicking. The "p2e" was formerly used to get around the firewall-blocking problem which some people have. Now, most people posting shows just zip them.

Oleg, If you are here in Ottawa on Oct 27, you can have half an hour to demonstrate to everyone how you do your slippery "underlying frame wipes"!

Hi, Zevs, Welcome to the Forum! You have hit on exactly how best to set up a number of images for adding objects. This was discussed HERE on the Forum a while ago.