JRR

Dom: Again I am no expert with video (wouldn't even call myself a beginner) You might want to Google for Canon 7D reviews, one is here: dpreviews but it is more of a description of what camera settings are available. You may have to wait for more informed reviews. I shot a short video the day just to try it, but my PC couldn't handle it. The video spluttered its way through. I shot at the max size 1920x1080, 30fps. Obviously until I get an upgraded PC, I will have to reduce the parameters. I know your computer won't have that problem. It sure was a nice sharp (spluttering) image though. But again you are better to talk to people who know video

My PC is operating on XP and I am using PTE ver 5.60 I was using the "Hawk Method" see FAQ forum when I discovered that I could not fully copy selected collections of files when I was using CTRL + SHIFT + left click to add to an existing collection. I lost the previously selected collection and was left with only the latest grouping of contiguous slides that I was trying to add to the collection. Actually I was left with one less slide than I was trying to add, the one at the end of the intended selection. I verified that I could do this in Windows Explorer/Explore to make sure I was not expecting too much. I was successful in Windows XP Explorer/Explore. To fully explain: I use CNTRL left click to make a collection of individual slides in PTE (or EXPLORE in Windows) I use SHIFT left click to select a contiguous grouping of slides in PTE (or EXPLORE in Windows) In EXPLORE when I use CNTRL left click to make a collection of files and then want to add an additional grouping of contiguous files, I keep the CNTRL key down and also hold the SHIFT key when left clicking and all the files I want are selected. But in PTE, I lose the first collection and actually lose the last one of the intended selected grouping. The same characteristic is there in PTE ver 4.48. I have not tried it in ver 6 beta. It is not a major issue, but it slows down copying selected images from one sequence at another

Dom: Both my wife and I recently bought the 7D Not so much for the movie mode (I am still using very little animation in PTE and am really not into video) but more a replacement to our older Canon dSLR back-up cameras (a 10D and 20D) We each have a 30D which now become our back up cameras. I am NOT knowledgeable re Video, but since you mentioned the cost of the 7D (It isn't a cheap camera) you might want to look at a unit that Ed Overstreet mentioned on our Camera Club Forum here

Xaver: Not answering on behalf of Ed, but as I have been involved with the original posting to this thread, I thought I would add my two cents worth. PTE is the centre of the universe for some :rolleyes: We all have our own biases. Based on experience we have had with other software, PTE rises above the others. But I recognize that some of that is a function of the producer, not the software. My wife has done a number of very nice shows with software that produces .avi files. I know the Canadian distributor of the software you mentioned, and I have seen many wonderful shows from the software, but if people think they have computer requirement problems with PTE, it is somewhat worse for the "normal" producer with that software.

Barry: I know exactly what you mean about shows being jerky when shown at judging (and other places) PSG we have found is frequently the most guilty of this. But even for PTE, the projector can also create problems (this has been discussed at great length in another forum posting), but most frequently it is the computer running the shows. To my mind AV producers should always check out the computer/projector combo their shows are going to be shown on ahead of time if they are to be presented publicly. That is one reason I am still back in the dark ages using bare animations if any at all. Where possible I try to only show my AVs on my own equipment (laptop/projector) or at least on equipment I know and trust. Of course the fact that my creativity does not extend much beyond bare animations is part of this equation :D , but I have seen enough other examples to suggest always testing out shows ahead if possible.

John: It has happened to me a few times as well In my case I always traced it to have created the file with some rogue frequency. Once I corrected it back to 44,100HZ everything worked fine. Can't promise you will as a simple a solution though

If I remember correctly, go to EXPLORE > TOOLS > OPTIONS >VIEW and ensure that "hide extensions for known file types" is turned off. The file extensions will then show. You can then rename the extension to whatever you want (only for the purpose of sending a file - it has to be changed back to its proper name to be opened and used

Anthony: Yes that certainly sped things up !!!! I checked with a computer service person, who recommends AVG to all his clients, he has no issue with the settings you opted for, assuming of course that you have done an initial virus check on any files that weren't yours (downloads, copies from friends etc etc)

Eric: Glad that worked for you. I have cases where the E-mail client rejected the zip file that contained an .exe file. One way around it is to change the extension to something other than .exe and just have the recipient change it back at the other end. I frequently use .P2E as the extension

I have noticed the issue too with slow "loading" of .exe files when in EXPLORE. I don't remember the issue when I used to use Norton for anti-virus, but I have it in spades with AVG. I have tried turning AVG off while opening the folder, but that didn't seem to help. (I had fewer exe files when I was using Norton) While I tend to keep the exe file in the folder with each show, I have one folder with all the exe's in it for quick copying of individual shows for a presentation of a group of shows. There is no problem with the one .exe per folder, but the all encompassing folder is an issue and as I have less patience as I progress in age, I solved it to some extent, by grouping them in subfolders with 4-5 .exe file in each subfolder. Sure hope someone comes in with a simple "fix"

Thx Dom Support added to posting in "Ideas and suggestions" In meantime I will carry on using PhotoShop for my titles. It allows me to have perfect registration when I use the same text on one slide to the next.

See: posting here Hopefully the above change would look after using the drop shadow more effectively as well. Thx

Thanks Dom I had a thought that maybe if I dropped the opacity of the drop shadow to zero, when the text was set to zero opacity that would solve it. But then I discovered that changing the opacity of the drop shadow for one keypoint in the O&A changes it for all keypoints. I have attached a quick example. test text_Sep19-2009_18-08-40.zip

I normally do my titles and text in PhotoShop, but the discussion on the "How to change fonts globally" here set me thinking so I played with using adding text via the O&A approach a little. One issue that I seem to have doing text this way is when I change the default opacity of the shadow from 59% to 100% (or something close to that)and fade the text in from an opacity of 0% to 100%, the shadow seems not fade in as well. It stays at full strength. For example, in using a red drop shadow, the text fades in almost pink, then becomes white with the red drop shadow when the text is at 100% opacity. (And the reverse happens as it fades out.) I suspect I am missing something simple here (besides don't set the opacity of the shadow so high ) Any thoughts would be appreciated

Dave: There is another way that should work as as well. (There many ways to skin a cat in PTE) If you are not planning on any voice-overs etc using the ADD SOUND feature, then this should work for you: 1. PROJECT OPTIONS MUSIC: check “Don’t interrupt sound comment when next slide appears” 2. Then go to the appropriate slides where you want the individual music to start and add the music selection via the ADD SOUND at the top

Peter: (Haven't seen one of your productions for a while - I miss them) I project 1280 x 960 images on a 1400x1050 projector quite often. (But I am not using an O&A actions except on one image on one show) There is no problem for me. I have PROJECT OPTIONS set to not allow for re-sizing, so my shows have a black border to them as they do not fill the screen. But most people allow PTE to upscale them and as far as I know they haven't had any prfblems. I suspect you have a good number of O&A actions, so to be safe it might be better to get a "ruling" from someone else with your circumstances

Just a quick clarification: The two projector models mentioned above were the initial (and main) subject of discussion, but other projector models were mentioned in the thread as well

In addition to the advice above, you might want to take a look at a thread from a few months ago re projectors. click here However be warned it is a LONG thread - you may need several cups of coffee to get through it (or a bottle of scotch ) The bottomline of the thread was that check to see if your projector has a FRAME LOCK setting (or something like that) IN the thread we discuss two projectors: A Canon Sx50 - turns out it did not have a FRAME LOCK Setting A Panasonic PT-LB10U - turned out it did have a FRAME LOCK setting Both projectors exhibited different symptoms of problems with some O&A's (mainly pans) The Panasonic exhibited serious stuttering. The FRAME LOCK solved it. Might not be so "simple" for you.....

Doug: 5.6.3 I believe is a beta version, really just for testing, not for "live" shows. Do you get the same issue using the current release 5.6.0 ? I assume you have tried the sometimes successful scientific solution: re-boot and try again ?

yes some commercial labs work in sRGB, home printers (which I was referring to, but did not state) tend to use RGB Always check with your local lab Different strokes for different folks

Paul: sRGB is the colour space generally used when the image will be used in non-colour managed software. Computer screens best deal with that when not colour managed PTE is not colour managed, nor are most web browsers (I know there have been some attempts to do that - but generally most publishing to the web strips off the exif info that has the colour space info so it is a moot point) PhotoShop, Bridge, Adobe premiere etc are all colour managed of course. Thunbsplus is, I am not sure about ACdsee. Many people use RGB as there default colour space, some like you use Prophoto RGB as it is a very wide space. If you are doing prints, then it is important to use RGB, if not then many people tend to use eRGB as their default so they don't have to convert their images when being used in a non-colour managed space

Peter: Quality 8 version is at :mediafire It is 190kb. davegee: (so we are going to start a Canon vs Nikon rivalry ?? ) Shot on a Canon 30D, colour space sRGB. General: The samples have been downloaded 6 times and when I read that some people could not see a difference, I went back and looked at them again. The pixellation was not as bad as it was when I made up the files, but it was still there. When I made up the quality 8 file, I checked them all again and the pixellation on all the files were similar to what it was before. I looked at them at 100% and slightly smaller fitting my screen in photoshop. As originally mentioned this type of picture is an exception to what is usually used, but it would not be that rare when shooting pictures outside. I don't worry if the tree branches are pixellated as you would not notice it in the detail.

Ken: I didn't look at them over 100% and I was only looking at the pixellation in the blue sky....

I would agree with Barry and Peter that in general few people, if any, will see the difference in a quality 6 vs quality 12 jpg file. That applies when the image has lots content, detail etc in it. But I have found that is not necessarily the case when an image lacks detail and has areas of one colour. Wispy clouds, light smoke haze, clear blue sky at times etc can be problematic. I would fully agree that images such as these are the exception, but I have over time opted to err on the safe side and save my files (1280x960) at whatever quality gets me at least 800kb. I don't deny that may "waste" storage space on many images, but I would rather be safe than sorry. I have prepareed three images, all the same. All have been saved from the same RAW file separately so as to not introduce a possibility of degradation in re-saving a jpg. The file was converted in Adobe Camera Raw and the size was changed from 3504x2336 (from the camera) to 1280x853 before saving in each case. I saved as a quality 6, a quality 10 and a quality 12. Their resultant file sizes were: 128kb, 352kb and 926kb respectively. There is a definite degradation in the top one third of the quality 6 image, a much less degradation in the quality 10, but there is still some minor amount in the quality 12. I viewed these images on my monitor, I am sure if I put them on a 10 foot wide screen via my projector, the degradation would be MUCH more apparent. I have put the images in a manual PTE show. The zip file, which also has the three files separately is at: mediafire I have loaded the quality 6 one below (can't figure out how to load the other two on the same post

Oh ! A minor detail 20,000 sound files with 10 sec between them, assuming they are 5 second sound bites, makes 833 hours, that is one heckuva a wav file !! (Obviously much longer if not just short sound clips)