alrobin

Ron, See my post #7 HERE.

H, Welcome to the forum. You can only upload image files here to the forum. You could take a screen-copy of your PTE project screen and upload it, but not the .pte file itself. Please give us more information about the method you are using to create your DVD's. Are you using the PTE codec and leaving PTE open while rendering your show?

No, you're not "seeing things" - Igor changed the order of insertion of objects in response to someone's post in the last beta. Now the most recent objects added appear at the top of the list of added objects (for any particular "level", of course): Object 4 Base - Object 3 --- Object 6 --- Object 5 - Object 2 - Object 1 (makes it a little more like Photoshop layers, I guess).

Ronnie, I tried to keep it simple, but basically it means that if you want to pan to an area completely adjacent to an image, but no more, then the resolution of the source file should be twice the resolution of the monitor, in both the vertical and horizontal directions. Dom's explanation is correct, in the case of "zoom". If the zoom is 200%, then the vertical and horizontal resolution of the source image, in pixels, should be twice the resolution of the intended monitor, both vertically and horizontally.

JP, Neat effect - worked smoothly on my system, too.

John, One reason for resizing files to fit one's monitor resolution is that if larger files are used, then PTE (and your computer) have to make the decision on how to make the reduction in size for you. Most of the time they do a pretty good job in this, but eventually the image will end up being 1024x768, or whatever resolution you are using in the projection ( or viewing on the monitor ). But, it would be better if you performed this reduction in size personally, ahead of time, in a high-quality image editor, with more control over the process. However, if your viewing equipment will handle higher resolutions, then by all means it is better to use larger images. As far as zooming and panning are concerned, a larger image is better so that the portion being displayed will be of the same quality as it would be had you cropped the larger image down to the size shown by the projector or on the monitor. It is easy to calculate what this larger size should be, by using proportionality calculations based on the total dimensions being panned or zoomed compared with the size of the image seen at any instant in time.

JP, That's brilliant! Nice smooth motion, too, without a gllitch. Also, your explanation "pte" version is very clever - it demonstrates very well how everything works. Vive le PTE!

John, I agree with Lin - the zipped files are in a much handier format than in the traditional template folder, especially since it is difficult to remember where the template files are located. However, you do have to remember where you put your "zip" file. But you do have the option of doing a "search" for it if you forget.

Fred, This feature is not activated yet. Also, I find I can't select both "tiled image" and "fit-to-screen". The two, as well as the other options, seem to be mutually exclusive.

Lin, Thanks for pointing that out - that saves using another utility to take the animated GIF apart. By the way, your "reflection" example runs perfectly on my pc. Ciao Al

Too bad. It would be a useful addition to PTE. By the way, "Reflet" can be downloaded for free from the PhotoFiltre site . The animations produced can then be disassembled and each image loaded into PTE. "PhotoMosaique" is still available on the PhotoFiltre site as are several other interesting utilities.

Dom, Did you use an "animated GIF" to import this animation into PTE? If so, this is a first, since PTE didn't previously support this format. This software has been discussed before on the Forum. See HERE.

Peter, For some of us of the "older generation", it takes a lot more than spinning goats to make the room move these days! However, these mini-shows with PTE V.5 are very good exercises, as they lay down a technical groundwork that can stimulate ideas in the minds of the rest of us as to how to possibly use them effectively in our own productions. Of course we won't ever use some of these features, just as we will probably never use all of the transition effects available, but it is good to know they are there, and what their uses and limitations are. Since the new V.5 is still only a "beta" version, and likely to change some before it is finally issued, I doubt that you will see many people committing a large AV production to it until it is complete, but it is very useful for everyone to play around with the various features in order to become familiar with the workings of the new program. I enjoyed your "Flutterings", and I am sure that you will soon be using more of the new PZR techniques in your AV poetry, too. Hope I get a chance to meet you at the International festival in Cirencester in September.

Thanks, Dom! I'll sign up right away.

Igor, that should work fine - thanks for the tip..

Yes, the "quick" transition is now available in beta 5 under "Customize slide". Igor, I think you forgot to add it to Project Options, too?

Tom, Your panning example runs very smoothly on my pc, even without disabling all the other programs. (P4, 2.8 MHz, ATI Radeon 9600 with 128 Mb video RAM, 1Gb pc RAM). There's not even a glitch when the show repeats itself, which is a treat! It will be nice when all the other controls are activated and we can start and pause and reverse at will during a panorama .

Thanks, Dom. I didn't think there would be a problem as you seem like a pretty reasonable guy. Anyway, that's what forums are for - to share and discuss ideas, etc. I know what you mean by spam, and figured you must have missed my email as I sent it while you were away. Good to have you back, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of your Libya slideshow.

Dom, For my part, I'm always annoyed when people post or publish my work without first asking permission. Then I'm usually happy to let them do it, but I think it is only a matter of courtesy to first ask - it's so easy to do, and costs nothing. One of the other popular AV Forums was copying shows from my website and others, and posting them on their new forum without permission, but giving credit to the authors, nevertheless. However, when I complained about it, they were kind enough to remove my two shows. This has happened with photos from my websiste from time to time, too. (I don't mean to imply that you have done it, at all). I know copying is the best form of flattery, but personally, I prefer to be asked permission first. That is an even better flattery! Your new forum is great, and is providing a great service to the rest of us AV'ers. However, while I'm on the subject, as I mentioned to you in an email I would prefer, personally, if your terms and conditions indicated that the moderator would cancel objectionable posts, not modify them. I don't believe that any moderator should have the right to modify another post (without permission, of course). Only to cancel it outright. Just my personal views on what could be a delicate issue.

Andrea, It could be because some of the transitions are overlapping, and not allowing time to complete before the next transition is supposed to start. Go through the timeline very carefully and make sure none of the horizontal grey bars are touching. How large are your image files? If your music is comprised of Windows Media files, then that could be a problem, too. PTE prefers mp3 format over wma. Experiment with different scenarios using different files, and see if any of these clear the problem.

Ronnie, Try re-booting your pc and see if this clears things so the exe will run. At times, I have to do this with programs I download - there must be some other program on my pc which interferes with the pte execs (similar to what Ralph was finding with his Nero program, maybe).

Nic, Welcome to the Forum! You should have received a text file along with your registration acknowlegement (perhaps it is attached to the bottom of the email message itself). It is normally a text file called "PTE.KEY", and is exactly 231 bytes in size. If you see something that looks like: REGEDIT4 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\PTE] "Key"="xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx...xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" where "xxxx...xxxx" is a secret code, you can simply copy it into "notepad", save as "PTE.KEY" in the same folder as the rest of your PTE files, and then double-click on it to add it to the registry. If you don't have anything like the above, then be patient - support will eventually come to yor assistance. If they don't, keep bugging them. Sometimes the emails get lost among all the spam that they receive. Igor reads the Forum messages regularly, too, so if you have no response in a couple of days, post another message here.

Thanks so much, Igor - you and your crew have been busy!

Yes, simply shift-click on the first and last slide transitions of the group (the little blue rectangles on the timeline), and move them en-masse to where you want them.

Dom, I finally successfully downloaded your fine show, and enjoyed it very much as I love the desert and all it's hidden and/or unexpected visual photographic delights. Your show portrays the beauty of the rocks, sand dunes, pictographs, and also the people and animals very well - the photographs are very beautiful. Thank-you very much for sharing this unfinished version of your show - I hope we will see more of it soon. Re the different image formats, my wife, when she watched it, commented that they made the presentation even more interesting (and she has watched a lot of slideshows!). Re the length, it may seem a little repetitive in places, but that all depends on whether you will superimpose a narrative over the background music, which I also find very appropriate for the mood and pace of the trip into the desert. Nothing there moves very quickly (it is too hot), and the music and repetition both complement the leisurely walk into the desert. Re narration, I hope you do include a narrative, as this type of show lends itself very well to one, as there are many questions in the viewers' minds in watching it. I find that the inclusion of people helps also to break up the monotony which some might experience with a show of this length. I'm not a big fan of multiple images unless the situation calls for them, so I felt that this was overdone a bit. I like to enjoy a single image (particularly a panorama), without having my eyes dart back and forth between two images trying to get everything all in before the scene changes. The pans and zooms, however, I felt were very tastefully done, and also complement the theme of travel through the desert. I hope you won't find these remarks overly critical, or even too presumptious - they are just my own personal views, and everyone sees something different in every show. Overall, I thought it was very well done, and as I said, I hope we will soon see more.