alrobin

I agree with Ron - very beautiful, indeed! Makes you think! Thanks, Michel, for bringing this to our attention!

Barry, Just type in the name without any path spec. Or, use the browser to find the file, and then delete the path spec. For a standalone show, you don't have to put any images, .pte file, or music files on the CD. The ".exe" file is truly standalone. What Hans wants to do is link to an external application. This you do have to put on the CD, and in the right directory (the best choice is the same directory as the .exe file so you don't have to include the pathname.)

Welcome to the Forum, Shows produced in PTE will perform slightly differently on different pc's unless you synchronize them to the music (e.g. by using the timeline.) This de-synchronization should not carry over onto a DVD, however, unless it is already out of sync on the pc used to generate the DVD (or VCD). Even here, however, the best way to ensure exact timing is to synchronize the show.

Polo, For a first slide show, this is excellent! You have mastered the techniques of PTE very well. The "live" sound gives it a nice touch, too, and is handled very well. I also like the variety achieved by the addition of close-ups of the crowd interspersed with the action shots. Maybe a few more of the crowd actually cheering the racers on would be fitting. The action photos tend to jump around a little, making it hard to watch in places - some more pre-planning might have helped in having action images merge more smoothly into each other (having the background stay more consistent, with only the boats moving, for example). But I realize and appreciate the difficulties you must have been facing just to obtain the images you did manage to get, especially when you are trying to capture audio as well. And, as you said in the accompanying text, you made the photos before you heard of PTE. The synchronization is good, and enhances the activity in the show. Myself, I prefer not to mix too many different transitions, unless they really add something special to the show. (I guess I'm not a fan of "block"-type transitions.) Overall, though, very well done. I hope I don't sound too critical. Will be looking forward to your next show! How about some larger images next time? Say, 1024 x 768?

Brian, I'm not sure I know what you mean by "stitching". Could you please elaborate a little about this process and what software you use to perform it?

Hi, Hans, Some of this information (image name and path, and timing info) is available in spreadsheet format through my "Adjustor" model (available on Beechbrook). I have been thinking of adding other customized information as well, as you described, but it is a big job, and I haven't gotten around to it yet. Maybe next fall when I'm looking around for something to do! Actually, I've been hoping Igor would add this tabular capability to PTE to save me the effort.

Hans, Looks like you have it sorted out OK. However, if you put the template folder on the CD you will be giving away your original images as well as the project file, "*.pte". You may want to only provide the "*.exe" file, which is stand-alone, (except for any secondary "application" exe's).

Hi, Dave, You're getting the picture! If your show is synched to the music, the latter will be the governing factor for the length of the show. Since the "customize slide" settings for slide duration are disabled in synch mode, the last slide on the timeline will just stay on-screen until the music has finished.

Hi, Hans, Welcome to the Forum! If you put the second file in the same folder as the exe file, it will find it. Also, if you enter just the name of the second file without any pathname, provided that it is in the same folder as the exe file, everything will work OK. The same applies to image and music files (except for music files entered on the "sound" line in the main window, for some strange reason).

Larry, If you copy a slide in the slide list, all the objects will go with it. Also, you can change the path and name of the slide to refer to a different slide, without losing the objects, by simply changing the specs on the "Show image" line at the bottom of the main window. There is even a browser button at the end of the line to help you find precisely the slide you want.

jon, Welcome to the Forum and to PTE! No, PTE doesn't use plug-ins - a fairly extensive list of transitions is built right into the main program.

Andrea, If you upload a file to your web site, and make a reference to it on one of your web-site's pages, then anyone can download it by right-clicking on the URL, and indicating where they want to save the file. You can see an example of this on Beechbrook's site, or on my own site, HERE.

Or, if zipped files containing "exe's" are not acceptable, maybe you could do like we used to do on Beechbrook and change the name to "xxxxxxx.p2e".

Ron, Sorry, I didn't see yours and Ken's postings on this thread before I posted a reply on the other one. I thought it should work, but I tried it and it wouldn't work for me. Sometimes to get this to work, though, I have to play around with the Audio settings in the Control Panel. I have never been able to figure out the logic behind the various settings necessary for MS Messenger audio, Audition, Cubase, PTE, Windows Media Player, etc., etc. Some are different for different uses. And, even when I get it right, my MS Messenger audio only works sometime (mostly not).

No bother. By the way, you can have both synchronized mode and the navigation bar if you check "permit control of show" and also select "always show mouse cursor" under the advanced tab.

Cindy, Unless Igor has a magic mp3-extractor, you may have to play the show back from another pc, through your digital sound recording program, and recapture it that way. There is a possibility that your sound card is advanced enough to let you record directly from PTE "on the fly", but I doubt that this will be possible.

Pikulev, Yes you can. Just copy the objects (by dragging the cursor around them all and pressing Ctrl-C), exit from the Object Editor, select the second slide, click on Object Editor, and press Ctrl-V. The objects will all appear on the second slide in exactly the same positions as on the first. You can also copy the slide with the desired objects as many times as you want in the slide list, and then go through and change the image names and directory addresses.

Isabel, What a novel idea! Could come in very handy - I know I would have used it at one time or other in the past. Thanks for the info.

Very beautiful show, Bob! The colours in those rocks and in the cactus flowers are simply extraordinary! Can hardly wait to go back there myself - this time for a longer visit. Thanks for sharing!

Hi, George, Welcome to the Forum! The time is right (GMT) - you're just in the wrong zone!

Hi, Barry, Welcome to the Forum! Patrick is right - the ideal way to control the showing of your slides against a background selection of music is to "join" them together end-to-end in a sound editor such as "Audacity" or Cool Edit (now "Audition"), etc. You can then "spread" all the slides evenly over the entire music selection by clicking in the timeline menu. However, if you want each new music piece to start on a particular slide, things become a little more difficult. You can manually adjust them to achieve this, or you can use my "Adjustor" model to "pin" the times at which each piece starts, and then distribute the intervening slides evenly by pushing a button. Or, you can use the model as an ordinary spreadsheet and calculate the required intervals. Or, you can import the PTE file into a regular spreadsheet and manipulate the file there. Or, you can do as you are now, and use separate music files in Project Options, then activate the synchronization capability, and look on the timeline for the vertical blue bars which delineate each music piece. (note that these bars will not be available if you join the music selections together). This will tell you the starting times for each piece, and with a little calculation, you can then "drop" the slides one by one onto the timeline using the "Play" and "New transition" buttons, counting as you go, until you reach each vertical blue bar. Then you can go back and fine-tune the timing of each transition by dragging it left or right on the timeline. If you get it wrong, it's not too difficult to save your file, wipe out all settings and start again.

Rodger, If you have only 37 Mb free space, by all means add another HD. I presume you mean 37 Gb free? Even so, you will probably benefit from another HD. I just received my D70, not long after I upgraded to a P4 with 120 Gb HD and 1 Gb RAM, and I already have 1/3 of the HD filled up. Depends on whether you have been using a digital camera already or not. If not, then you will see a marked increase in storage required. I would recommend a second HD just for backup purposes. With only one HD you are pretty vulnerable, unless you have other backup facilities, but tape backup is pretty slow and cumbersome. I presume you also mean "1Gb of memory of RAM", not HD. With the 1800 you should have no problem accessing 1 Gb of RAM.

Hi, Tammy, Welcome to the Forum! No, I don't live near the Blue Ridge Parkway, but my wife and I have driven it. Beautiful countryside! Especially in the fall as it was when we were down there. Unfortunately, the Blue Ridge Mtns. don't reach into Canada, but they are probably related to the Appalacian Mtns. which in turn are related to the mtns in New Brunswick, and Quebec's Chic-Choc mountains. Glad the tutorial helped. I hope to get out an updated version this week. It will You probably already know this, but you can create an "exe" file using the "create slideshow as" menu item, and this file can be burned onto a CD. Your "Easy CD Creator" may not be able to create a file suitable for VCD or DVD purposes. You will need Roxio's "Easy CD and DVD Creator 6", or "Easy Media Creator 7". Alternatives are Pinnacle or Nero, or other DVD-creation software. If you post a query on the PTE video forum someone more knowledgable than I on this subject will undoubtedly come to your aid and give you more-detailed info. Best of luck!

Isabel, You'll have to give us your password if you want us to login to your Pbase account.

Hi! Welcome to the Forum. You first have to convert your jpg or tif or bmp file to "indexed colour", at 256 colours, and resize it to 32 x 32 pixels for the large icon, or 16 x 16 pixels for the taskbar icon. Then you have to convert the file to an ".ico" file (in IrfanView) in order for it to be compatible with PTE. You can also get a plugin for Photoshop which will do the conversion.