alrobin

Hi, Matiou, I think I just found some more cake! I just read on another thread, http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums//index...f=2&t=255&st=0& , in a note by Lin Evans, something that I had forgotten; namely that it is possible to stack a number of music and sound selections and still synchronize the show. This gives you one other possible solution - not likely exactly what you are looking for, but another possibility. I haven't tried this feature, so can't attest to its smoothness of operation, but it might be worth a try. I suspect that the best solution is still to mix down all of the selections into one track in Cool Edit or Acoustica and go with that. Ciao, Al

Can you tell me what he said? Ciao, Al

Matiou, Like, cake, you can't have it and eat it too! PTE does not mix synch'ed sound and individual slide-based sound (probably for obvious reasons, as controlling it would get pretty tricky, and things are tricky enough as it is). If you want to use synchronization, then the best option is to use a sound editing software (there are a lot of good ones around, some of them even free). I use "Cool Edit 2000", but "Acoustica" is less expensive, and also quite versatile. With this you just string all your sounds and music together and "mix them down" as a single ".wav" or ".mp3" file to which you can then synchronize your images. I believe you could still add a midi file separately, as midi will run concurrently with a wave or mp3 file, but I have not tried it. Hope this answers your question. Ciao, Al

Further to my previous post, the files are not "EXE" but ".swf" files, but they are free-standing executable files. Ciao, Al

Mathias, "Project Options"/"Comments"/"Set Comments for all Slides as"/"Picture Name....etc" (with or without extensions), etc. You can also instruct PTE to put the comments where you want on the screen (e.g. bottom right, top, etc, ) If your slides are customized, you will have to go into each one and set the same options there. Ciao, Al

RudiRe, Yes, it is saveable as an EXE, and can be added to a web page or run from a CD. And, like PTE, the file sizes are largely determined by the size of music and image files. The neat thing about "Flash" is the time line where each image and each piece of music has a separate line, and everythng can be dragged around, including the overlaps of the transitions. Wish the dissolves were better, though. However, it's mainly a web-authoring tool for making commercials, etc. Most of the large-company web pages use it now, and some of the creations are really clever.' The learning-curve is a little steep and it's a bit of a "finnicky" program to use, but once you figure out the process for adding images and transitions, it goes pretty smoothly. It also provides lots of programmable ability with buttons, etc. You can spot a "Flash" creation by right-clicking on the image area and it will say something about "Macromedia Flash", and let you set some parameters such as "Play", "Loop", "Forward", "Rewind", etc. I haven't tried "Swish", but I imagine that it provides similar features. Ciao, Al

I know, you just wanted to reach message number 100! Maybe Igor has cut you off???? Congratulations, Al

I'll add my two-bits worth, too. I agree with Jim and Guido and Rick on the file naming issue. I think the main reason for the confusing design is that Igor is a programmer, and in programming systems it is common to have a "project" name, to keep all the multitude of files involved together and consistent, and separate "file" names, which can sometimes be changed independently of the "project" name. However, here in PTE, we don't need this level of sophistication, and it only serves to confuse things. Each "file" is usually treated as its own separate "project". So, Igor, if you're listening, this would be a good thing to correct in the next beta version. Unless, perhaps, you can provide a logical explanation as to why it is set up this way and the advantages this provides. Ciao, Al

Granot, If you can design it so that it will run other programs as well such as "Flash" (maybe this capability is already in the program using the Object editor???) then I would be interested. Ciao, Al

Just as a matter of interest on this topic, I have created a few slide shows in Macromedia's "Flash", but the dissolves are so poor, due to all the processor overhead in handling all the other features, that I have given up, except for the odd production for the web where images are kept very small. However, if Macromedia ever design in a special still slide-show capability (unlikely), or we end up someday with 100-Ghz processors (maybe not in my lifetime), then "Flash", and it's imitator, "Swish", would provide some awesome capabilities. The text and graphic - handling capabilities, for titles, and ability to provide pseudo-animation, are awesome! I have a short "Flash" animation on my web site, using actual photos, here:Lion_Stalking Ciao, Al

It's OK - we all have days like this!! Ciao, Al

Thanks! Glad to hear it's not a problem with my own browser. And, now, it seems to be functioning properly. "Go figger!" Ciao, Al

Is anyone else having the same trouble I am experiencing when I surf through this forum? Every time I follow a thread, read it, and return to the main menu, I have to "refresh" to receive an indication that I have already visited that thread (i.e. to get the little icon at the left hand side to disappear). Then, if I go to the same thread again and click back to the main menu, the icon is back, and in some instances I am left looking at an older view of the main menu again. Have I set something wrong in my browser (IE 5.5)? Ciao, Al

Guido, Have you tried it? I doubt that, given the intensity of the processor activity necessary just to emulate a pc, that there would be any power left to handle the fine dissolves we in the pc world have become accustomed to. Ciao, Al

Igor, While you are in the mood for changes, can we please have a box or button in the sync timeline window where we can adjust the time of the various transitions without having to exit this window each time? It is very time-consuming the way it is now. Thanks, and keep up the good work. Ciao, Al

You're all very welcome! I have to thank Harold for giving me the idea in the first place - he was the one who advised us that one could use Excel to access the timing data. Also thanks to JRR for beta-testing and helping to discover some of the more serious bugs in the routine. Ciao, Al

Further to my earlier note about the automated Excel routine for modifying PTE show timing, I have placed a "beta" version (1.02) of the spreadsheet and a readme text file on my web site at: Excel Time Adjustor It only works with synchronized slide-shows. Some day I hope to add other automated features for other types of AV shows as well. It is particularly useful for globally moving all sequence times backward or forward by a specified number of milliseconds without having to manually adjust each of them on the sync timeline. Or, one can manually adjust a number of times individually and precisely in a single table without having to go to the timeline and tweak the timing there. It really boils down to a matter of preference, but at least this system provides one more option. A note of caution is in order: one has to be very careful not to create impossible timing commands, which would interfere with the times necessary to implement the transitions themselves, or would be ambiguous (e.g. one time later than that for a later transition.) I have not tested it with shows created with the new version 4.0 beta, but I see no reason why it would not be compatible with these as well. Many thanks to those who have helped me iron out some of the early nuisance bugs! I am sure there will be a few more. I would appreciate feedback in the case of problems with the system, and also suggestions as to improvements. Or, better yet, maybe someone else can come up with an even more user-friendly version of the system. Igor? (one of the items in my Christmas list was the ability to print out a PTE data table with this sort of information on it - it would be even better if such a table could be used to input new data directly to the program while tweeking the operating parameters.) Enjoy! Ciao, Al

Igor, you're doing a great job! Thanks so much for the revised PTE. And, best of all, it's free! (for us present users, anyway.) I love the addition of the shaded transition markers on the timeline - it makes it so much easier to plan for the positioning of the transitions, even if we still have to exit the window to change the actual values of their durations (next beta version??? ) I also like the addition of a second main topic in the forum - this is a great step forward toward giving us what so many members are requesting (i.e. sub-categories) Keep up the good work! Ciao, Al

Thanks so much, Igor, for your ongoing improvements to the system. This sounds like a good version! Ciao, Al

In a previoius thread, Harold B described a method using Excel for making changes to the timing data in a .pte (v3.80) file produced using the timeline synchronization option. (ref. http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums//index...ct=ST&f=2&t=142 ) I have produced a set of macros and a short instruction file to facilitate this procedure. Anyone interested in trying it out, please contact me and I will email you a copy of each file. The spreadsheet file is only 62 kb. in size. Later, when there are no more requests for additions and/or (heaven help me) 'bugs', I can post it to Beechbrook or to my own website for general availability. Ciao, Al

Michel, Guido referred to "the number of processes running in the background" in his earlier post. I believe this is equally as important as the specs of the individual pc. One should be sure to exit from all processor- and RAM-intensive programs, such as Photoshop, other slide show programs, and all other Microsoft programs ( ), etc., and resize the screen to the size of the largest image, before running PTE in order to obtain the best dissolves. Ciao, Al

Just the results of another experiment on flicker. I reduced my monitor settings to the size of the images (800x600), from my usual 1024 x 768, and Michel's "to Marie" show ran with very little flicker - in fact it was almost imperceptible, except for when the images went from very dark to very light. So, guess it has something to do with the change in density, extreme ranges having a lot further to go in the same amount of time. At no time though do the transitions overtax the processor speed. This leads me to believe that the steps in the transition could be smoothed out somehow even more so than they are now, in much the same way that smoothing is used to blur the edges of an image. Even if it takes a little more processor time to accomplish this at the expense of a little image sharpness. After all, during the transition, the sharpness of the image is not as important as when the transition is finished. Maybe Igor could add in a routine to handle this?? Ciao, Al

Michel, I could tell you are "un homme d'action"! This is a generous and bold suggestion you have made! I hope others will take you up on it too. Please don't expect anything for a couple of days, though. I am still finding some flicker on my desktop pc in your second version of "to Marie", even with the longer transitions. I noticed that the file sizes of your images are quite a bit larger than those I generally use. I try to compress my jpegs to around 100 to 150 kb, for 800x600-pixel sizes. However, I am beginning to think that flicker is also due to something in addition to processor speed or amount of RAM. For example, as I was running the show, my system monitor indicated that the processor usage varied between 60 and 70 % (compared to between 50 and 100 % for one of my own shows). The RAM usage increased by only 40 Mb, both in your show and in mine. By the way, Windows is such a "hog" that it takes up approx 400 Mb of my 750 Mb of RAM while just sitting "idle"! (Guess it's like some people I know, and takes whatever is available). Maybe someone with a little more knowledge of Windows and operating systems and video cards (Igor, where are you?) could step in here and shed some more light on the issue. i.e. is "granularity" a factor? Is PTE inherently limited in the number of pixels it can process, regardless of processor speed? Is there an optimum jpeg size regardless of one's processor speed, etc??? Ciao, Al

Thanks, Rudi I think I understand now how it works. Sounds like a useful system. Especially the ability to choose threads to watch. Sounds similar to the method used in the Usenet group forums. The present PTE forum automatically moves a thread, where there has been an addition, to the top of the list, so that is what I currently use for "notification" about additions. However, I believe, as some have mentioned many times, that the system would be improved by the addition of sub-categories for threads. One, as we have now, is just not sufficient. I would also be interested in knowing if the present system highlights threads which have been visited. My pc doesn't show them, so maybe I have to set something in my properties? It works with other forums, though, so why not here? Ciao, Al

Michel, As I said before, "Quelles belles images!" The new show is better. But, IMHO, still not the best you can do. I have a real "thing" about slide shows being synchronized to the music. Not automatically synchronized, but using the timeline to bring on a new image at the same time as there is a significant beat in the music (usually every 4 beats or every 8 beats, if the music is in 4/4 time, or whenever the music starts to experience a crescendo, if the music is rather abstract, or when there is a loud drumroll, etc.) Give it a try with the first few images in your excellent show, and you will see what I mean. Of course, this will result in even fewer images in the show, but it will flow even more smoothly, and allow you to choose only the best images, thus improving the show even more. (je voudrais ce ecrire en francais, mais mon francais, comme vous pouvez voir, n'est pas tres bon! Merci encore pour une presentation tres belle!! And, by the way, your English is much better than my French!! Ciao, Al