alrobin

Thanks, LumenLux, That's pretty much the way I set it up the first time, and after a bit of fiddling, it worked. However, now, I seem to have lost it (story of my life! ), and I can only connect to the DSL internet line, but not communicate with the other pc's, except for when I play an "Age of Empires" game with my son-in-law, the two pc's then seem to agree to "talk' to each other???? (go figger!) It's probably just a matter of having a consistent setup on all machines. I think you have the right idea - if I wipe out the existing setup on the two older pc's, and re-install from the setup diskette, things might work again. Thanks for your help. Ciao, Al

Jim, Guess you and I have never argued about it, then. Saying "you leave all of [your] images at 1200 dpi or 2400 dpi" doesn't mean a thing! On your computer, the images are just "dots", with no "inches" involved, unless you are referring to the size of your hard drive! You can set them at "72 dpi" (in Photoshop, for example), or you can set them at "2000 dpi", and the file size and image quality will be identical. The only thing that is relevant while the image is on your pc is the number of "dots" in width, and the number of "dots" in height, period. (oh, and the jpeg compression is significant, too, if they are in that format, as it is simply an algorithm that helps the computer reconstruct the image without having to save all the "dots". Like telling the software that if you see 100 identical dots in a row, don't save each one, just one, as a sample, and then tell me how many there are.) (If you like, you can read "pixels", or "bytes", or "bits", in place of "dots", whichever you prefer.) It is only when you are scanning an image, or printing one out, that dpi is significant, and here it depends entirely on what you are doing with the image. I can give you a "72 dpi" image that is exactly identical to a "2000 dpi image" while it is on your pc. Now, if you are talking about scanning an image at "72" dpi, or one at "2000" dpi, it is a different story, as this has a lot of bearing on how many pixels you are going to have to manage. And this is usually why people think they are saving the image at 72 or 2000 dpi, because this is what they saw on the scanner, and this is what Photoshop shows when they open the image in it. But once the image is in the pc, "dpi" no longer makes any sense. Hope this helps some. I think most of the confusion (as is usually the case in life, in general) arises due to people talking about two different things, and not finding a common definition on which to base the arguments. Ciao, Al

The only applications I have had trouble with on my Win XP are an old Cubase MIDI sequencer (version 3.1), a projector controller ("Magician"), and I'm now having a devil of a time getting it to communicate through a D-Link hub to my other pc's. This latter is particularly inconvenient, (and annoying), because it's on my laptop, and I'm constantly having to copy slideshows, music, and other files from my desktop to the laptop and vice versa. I had it working once, (sort of, anyway), but I seem to have lost the secret, and nothing I try seems to work any more. I know networking can be very tricky, but this seems to be the worst. Everything else works just fine (Cool Edit, Photoshop, PTE, MS Office, Publisher, etc.) I have fewer crashes with XP, too, than with Win ME on my desktop. Ciao, Al

Another possibility is to load up my "Adjustor" model in Excel, open your slide show .pte file per the instructions given, and then you can go into the spreadsheet and using the "find / replace" option, change the object font to whatever you want. Object fonts are shown for each slide in a separate section in the spreadsheet, easily identified by the slide number. You can either change each one "manually", or globally using the "replace" algorithm. You may have to experiment a bit first, to make sure you get the name right. If you set one slide object first in PTE, and then open it in "Adjustor", you will readily see what it should be called. Then save the pte-based file as "xxxxxxx.prn", where is the file name you want to use, exit from Excel, and then change the name of the new file you created to "xxxxxxx.pte" and load it back into PTE. If there is enough demand for this, I could probably design a more user-friendly capability sometime to do this more "automatically". You can download "Adjustor" here: Adjustor Model By the way, I am about to release Version 2.00, a much improved edition. Let me know if you require further instructions. Ciao, Al

Kim, Another possibility in managing different image sizes is the use of a batch program such as IrfanView. This will assist you in resizing a number of images, renaming them if necessary, and if you put them all in a separate folder, managing them for the slide show should be fairly straight-forward. And, if they get in your way, or use up too much disk space, just dump them off onto a CD. One thing I am finding in this digital image business is that I am always in need of the same photos in a different format or size than the one in which they were created. But on the other hand, that is one of the advantages of digital - the ability to readily adjust the parameters to meet the needs. Ciao, Al

Well, I guess it boils down to a matter of preference, then. I prefer to have flexibility wherever possible, particularly if I am the user - flexibility to move the menus, buttons, and nav bars to wherever I might choose to put them, even after the show is created. This would apply to "buttons" too. It is quite common in software applications to have buttons on a frame which can then be moved at will. It's really a small point, though, and I am sure Igor has many other more-important features to program into PTE. At least, I hope he's busy working on them. Ciao, Al

Kim, Apology accepted. Maybe a little more descriptive heading for each post would have made the fact that they were all about different topics more obvious, and would also help us in following each thread from here on. The bottom line here, I feel, is that it with the ever-increasing traffic in this Forum, there is an even greater need for WnSoft to create sub-categories so that each main thread will have a "main page" of its own. Again, welcome to the Forum! I'm enjoying reading your postings. Ciao, Al

No, I was referring to flexibility from the user's point of view. After all, he or she is the "customer" here. Ciao, Al

MS knew about the problems with older previously-supported software when they introduced XP, so they designed a "fix" to be able to configure the system to emulate Windows ME, 98, etc. and supposedly run these older programs. It's available under "Properties" for the program file you are trying to run. However, this doesn't work very well, at least not with some older programs. Any program depending on DOS is particularly affected. I just today downloaded some special software from the following MS site to try to get one of my old MIDI programs working under XP, but haven't had a chance to try it yet. It might work for you. MS Compatibility Toolkit I haven't heard of anyone partitioning XP, but it may be the way to go if the previous doesn't work. Let us know if you find something that works. Ciao, Al

Interesting! Ciao, Al

Kim, One of the good things about PTE is its flexibility. Also, not everyone's pc is set up in the same format - some insist on viewing everything in VGA mode, and others with large monitors prefer Super X-VGA +. One of the things I have found annoying with various applications is that various toolbars, properties menus, control buttons, etc., either come up right in front of where I want to work, or else obstruct something I just happen to want to look at. Thus it is probably best to keep the present flexibility with the nav bar, and allow viewers to move it to where it best suits them. Sort of along the lines that "the customer is always right", and even experienced software designers and professional presentation creators don't always come up with the best screen arrangement. Ciao, Al

Kim, I would be interested in hearing more about your text editors for manipulating PTE. Any possibility for sampling them? I am in the process of streamlining my Excel "Adjustor" model, and adding in some new features, so any ideas you can give me would be appreciated. I have a lot of development ideas already, to the point of making a "front end" for PTE in C++ or Vis Basic, to run some of the useful slide-show creation features people have been asking for such as more GUI capability, thumbnail control, better previewing capability, transition-adjustment features, etc. This product is a little like Linux - everyone contributes ideas, and all upgrades are free. Ciao, Al

Kim, First of all, let me welcome you to the Forum. You will find many people here eager to help you out in any problems with the successful operation of PTE, and also folks anxious to "talk" to others of like-minded interests. Your suggestions for improvement of PTE are good ones - in this way the good people in WnSoft Admin will hear about our needs, and eventually add them to PTE, making it a much better product. However, some of these needs conflict, as everyone is using PTE a little differently, so we all have to be patient while Igor sorts out and establishes priorities to our vital requirements. Now, a little "bone to pick": One of the suggestions raised quite often here is the need for sub-categories in order to group similar messages together. However, I noticed you have started a new "thread" for each of your suggestions (some 6 or 7 in number so far, with a hint of more to come ). In the absence of sub-headings, which would help group like threads together, it would help a lot if you could group all your suggestions together under the same thread, and call it something like "My favourite PTE beefs" or "Some welcome improvements". This can be accomplished by "replying" to your first message each time you post, thus grouping everythng together. (Maybe Admin will group them under one heading for us, or even better, provide the Forum with a system of sub-categories?????). (One of my beefs is that my own posts keep getting "pushed" off the first page almost as soon as I post them, due to the amount of interest in this forum, and the eagerness of members to discuss different exciting topics.) Thanks, and hope you keep up your enthusiasm for PTE and willingness to help in its development through your suggestions. Ciao, Al

Hi, R. G., Welcome to the "Forum"! As you have probably already noticed, you will find here a very enthusiastic group of digital audio-visual afficionados, willing (and able) to answer all the questions you ever had about this exciting new dimension of creative expression! Now, to your questions. I'll leave the first one to Igor to respond to, if he pleases. Regarding the second proposal, I agree that this would be a good addition to PTE, and that in all liklihood the capability will be provided sometime in the future. In the meantime, for a quick-fix, I believe that if you simply add a second instance of a slide from your "quiver" of potential images on the left, immediately after the first instance of this slide on the right, that everything else on the timeline will be automatically "pushed" ahead (or "back", in time). This mght be one way to easily adjust everything, without manually going through the timeline and dragging everything along manually. Then, you could always make some minor "tweaking" at the point of entry of the new image, such as adjusting the length of time "on-screen" for this "new" image, thus smoothing everything over, and the viewers will never be the wiser. Hope this helps - please do not hesitate to reply back if you have further questions. Good luck with your show! If this idea doesn't work satisfactorily, please feel free to email me a copy of your ".pte" file, (I don't need the images or music, just the .pte file), and I will adjust it according to your instructions with my "Adjustor" spreadsheet and send it back to you. Ciao, Al

Granot, Just found the updated flash utility on Beechbrook and it works fine. (never did get your email - maybe it got lost in S. Korea during the latest worm virus? ) Thanks so much for your effort in providing this facility! (Now, I'll have to think of an application. ) Ciao, Al

Harold, Do you even need to do that? What happens if you don't mention ".ico" in the ".inf" file at all? Ciao, Al

Then, in this case, if the show is not yet synch'ed, the "slice of bread" would work and thus save the effort of adding objects! Ciao, Al

Sorry, I take it all back. The "slice of bread" is visible only for non-synchronized shows, so is only academic in other cases. Maybe Igor will leave it there for "Synched" shows too in the next version?? Ciao, Al

Cath, You must have put your mouse too close to it! I agree with you - and it would be nice to have a tiny dialog-box open up with a brief explanation when you run your cursor over it. However, this is still a "beta", so maybe all the bells and whistles will be added later. Ciao, Al

rjm, Just an addition to the good answers already provided. You are right, and as others have pointed out, you can't add new slides to a synched show and not disturb the present synch timing, if there is no room at the end of the timeline (this is usually, if not always, determined by the length of the music). So, you either have to rearrange the present synch timing, or lengthen the music. PTE allows you to just drop in another piece of music in the list under the "music" tab of the "project options" menu, and this will automatically extend the timeline. It need not be actual music, but a piece of silence the appropriate length will do. Then, as Alan mentioned, you can click "new transition" to add any available slides to the show. Unfortunately, my "Adjustor" spreadsheet model only works with images already on the timeline, and it cannot be used to add new images, only rearrange the times for images already present. (Maybe this would be a useful future addition??? ) Ciao, Al

Sharon, PTE already allows you to repeat image in a show withought actually having a "physical" copy, or copies, of that image. So, repeating several images many times over is quite feasible, without increasing the size of the program by having to add copies of the images. Ciao, Al

Bob, Here's another option. If you create a show with the new 4.00 beta version, you also get a tiny "slice of bread" icon at the bottom right of the main PTE image window, and if you click on it the full-screen preview will start at the image that is highlighted at the time. Ciao, Al

Wedford, MIDI is based on a series of coded commands which tells your computer, and through it, your sound card, what notes to play, how loud, what instrument, etc., etc. Hence MIDI is very compact. Once you play MIDI through your pc and convert these notes to either MP3 or WAV music files, the resulting files will be many times larger than the original MIDI file. And, there's no easy way to get it back into the compact MIDI format once it is converted. There is a way to bring the MIDI file in and modify it without converting it to a music file (MP3 or WAV, etc.), but this requires software called a "sequencer" and some knowledge of music notes, tempo, velocity, pitch, etc. I use "Cubase" but it is a little expensive. "MusicTime" is a little less expensive, and outputs music scores (sheet music), as well. Some are downloadable as shareware (e.g. "Midnight Express" and "MusicMaster") but I have no experience with these programs so cannot recommend any - there are others, too if you search around through Google. Hope this helps. Ciao, Al

Full-screen would be nice, Granot. Also the control over the time. Also, is it possible to have the Flash sequence run its course, and then automatically start PTE at the end? i.e. a little more "seamless" operation. And, if you are doing this in "Flash", could you post the ".fla" file too, so one can tweak the design to suit one's needs? Thanks - and keep up the good work! Ciao, Al

After a week of intensive design and trouble-shooting, with the help of several PTE forum members, I am pleased to announce the availablity of "PTE Time Adjustor" model, version 1.09 (beta). It is still "beta" as I am not positive that it is completely stable, and want to open it up to further use by forum members. (When the number of emails decreases to only one per day, I will issue it as version 2.0 ) The address for the new version is PTE_Time_Adjustor The new model has several features such as: 1. Automates the selection and transfer of timing data from the ".pte" file to an Excel spreadsheet, and vice versa. 2. Provides the ability to advance or delay the times for each sequence in the entire show by the same amount. 3. If desired, distributes all sequences evenly over the time available, while retaining the start time of the second sequence. 4. Facilitates changing the length of time for designated transitions between sequences. 5. Provides for changing the default transition timing in the spreadsheet. 6. Automatically sets the transition time for a "Quick" transition to the default 0.020 seconds. - this solves the current problem where the timeline displays the numerical input time rather than the default time for a "cut". 7. Shows in red any timing conflicts, either with the sequence start times, or the transition time being longer than the time available between sequences. 8. Colour-codes the "quick" transitions ("cuts") and the transitions using "default" parameters. 9. Provides a handy table for viewing all timing at once, thereby being able to quickly analyze one's PTE show and trouble-shoot it. And, as before, I would appreciate feedback about any problems you have in running it. Enjoy! Ciao, Al