JRR

Mike: Thanks for the "minor" clarification 200kb is certainly a good guideline, I tend to go up towards 300kb when I have night shots with scattered clouds that reflect the city lights, or smoke from fireworks. I found if I didn't the image shows many artifacts when projected. It shows on the computer screen a little, but really shows when projected to a large screen

Brian: I have been doing somewhat the same thing for quite a while now. Another great feature of PTE!

I think using the Custom SYnch will solve your problems. You should use the latest version of PTE as there have been many features added, particuallry with regards the TIMELINE in Custom Synch Making it into a DVD is up to you, lots of people do. You'll need extra software to do it. There is another PTE forum that deals with "DVDing" Click here to go to it

sdonnelly: Welcome to PTE We have all (well maybe I should some of us anyway) had our problems with PTE, some small, some large, many due to our lack of understanding of the teriffic software, some due to our own miscues. But we all (most?) still love it. The timing should (is usually) the same on all computers if you use the CUSTOM SYNCH function. I know you are referring to "synch", but I am not sure you used the CUSTOM SYNCH on the MAIN tab of PROJECT OPTIONS and the TIMELINE. If you could explain a little more how you did your synching we might be able to help you more. Yes it is a good idea generally not to run the show from the CD drive unless you have tested it thoroughly. Some drives read slower than others. The hard drive is always a safer bet.

Lin I think BOXIG has a utility to recover all from an .exe file

Ron: I should have kept the description for those as I posted it many months ago, but of course I can't find it now BOXIG has a utility that will do this too I understand. I just find my method quick and painless, but I have done it MANY times. Anyway, I create a PTE presentation with one image. The image usually relates somehow to the audience I am showing the AV's to (logo, image of building etc etc) The PROJECT OPTIONS>MAIN is set to: "When show ends keep last slide on the screen" I use a 200ms fade, everything else is essentially "neutralized" except I keep the mouse cursor showing (PROJECT OPTIONS>ADVANCED) (Make sure mouse clicks on the same page are set to "None") Then I click on OBJECT EDITOR and set up OBJECTS (as many as I need) with properties set to use either a thumbnail from each show or a button with the show title as the OBJECT. The properties ACTION are set to RUN APPLICATION or OPEN FILE and then point at the .exe file if it is a PTE show you want to launch. Make sure you have the screen res (top left corner) set to screen res you will be showing the presentations on, not to your screen res. Save the one slide shows as a .pte file and .exe file as usual. When you want to present the AVs, simply double click on the .exe file as you would for any show. Just make sure you only click ONCE on the OBJECT to launch the show (otherwise, the show will run twice (on top of each other) it sounds just great !!! Hope that helps

Ron: I use a black page to end with all the time. If I am showing just one show, then yes the black page returns to wherever I started it from, either the desktop or EXPLORE. When I present several shows, as I frequently do, I use a one slide show with OBJECTS from which I launch the individual shows. When each show ends it comes back to the "launch" page which looks more professional. I try to customize the "launch page" in line with the group I am showing the presentations to. It impresses the hell out of many groups. (not all though Does that help, or have I missed something ?

Brian: Glad you are enjoying PTE, I have been for about 3 years now and echo your views strongly I don't think there is a mute on the Navigation bar (yet..... Igor are you listening ? ) But if you e-mail BOXIG, search for him on the member list in top right corner or this page - or look for one of his many postings and click on his name, you can then send him an e-mail and ask if he has a utility that will do it. I seem to recall that he does. If not I suspect you'll have one soon from him. By the way, while I like to be able to control some of my shows, I don't really like the navigation bar on the screen as it is distracting. You can control the shows to a large extent without the navigation bar by using the PROJECT OPTIONS>ADVANCED>mouse clicks etc for partial control (forward and backward). Then PAUSE/BREAK key will pause the show for you. (Igor is thinking about adding the space bar as a pause control too) If you have a sound bite added via the SOUND LINE as compared to background music, the sound clip for the slide you have paused on does not immediately stop, but will carry on until the end of the clip.

dmaillefer Welcome to PTE, I'm sure you'll like it and this forum Ques 1 - I am no techie but I would say it is NOT normal Ques 2 - you'll have to do the audio mixing outside of PTE (Audacity (free), Audition ($$) are two softwares) Ques 3 - I have not tried that particular "action" so I can't comment, but I have not heard of the issue before Not sure I helped much, others will be along shortly with better answers.

Brian: I am a luddite when it comes to computers, give me one that works and am as a happy as a pig in ****...... Re the .NET Framework... You mention that PTE runs much smoother with it. I also noticed that MS says: Note: Non-developers need to install the .NET Framework 1.1 to run applications developed using the .NET Framework 1.1. Does that mean if I install .NET Framework and create more PTE shows, that I will need to advise all and sundry that I give copies of my shows to, that they will need install .Net Framework. ? (Or do I have to do something more than just install it ?) Sorry If I am a little thick headed

Greyhair You are not the only one with this problem, it happens from time to time. It is not fault of the support people. see: here You'll find the support people (who are basedin Russia on a different time zone than many of us are VERY responsive. Keep an eye on this forum and you'll see what we mean. I think you'll like PTE, this forum and support people very soon.

Guido: GREAT WORK !!!! All the new material will only add to the great utility of your site. We all appreciate your work and effort in doing this for us.

Harry: Sorry forum posting does not always convey the true feelings. I was not upset, I was trying to steer you to help The thread is still active, comments are being made on it as we speak. It will be only one or two threads away from this one. Look for: "P2EXE on MAC PC" Link here PS: I just noticed there are two active threads, second is at: HERE too Hope that helps

Steve: Just in case you are using any sound added by the SOUND LINE on the main screen, it does not play when you preview via the TIMELINE, you have to use the full screen PREVIEW I understand that Igor has said that he will look into that for a furure version.

Harry: MACs and PTE have been discussed MANY times There is an active current thread on the forum about the topic.

Re Paulnewsom's comment re quality 6 vs 10 looking the same... I agree with that for picures that have a lot of detail, texture, full density etc, BUT if you are dealing with pictures that have areas with little detail then you'll need higher quality as jpg compression on those images "gets carried away". For example I have a shots of a: - a rainbow against white overcast - many night shots with coloured smoke/haze (fireworks, light cloud cover reflecting city lights) All this shots fall apart when used in a FADE transitions. (espicially when projected) I have started forgetting about the quality factor and concentrating on compressing the images to obtain a file size of 200-300kb. It really amounts to the same thing, but I just watch the file size, not the compression factor.

Ken: Much appreciate the link to the other two services for transfering large files. I have been using www.dropload.com for several months now after it was mentioned here. I have found it great until last week when they developed a gremlin and people were not notified that there was a file waiting for them. I think that is fixed now. The YouSendIt looks even better as you can use multiple e-mails addresses (I sent 10 people a 42mb PTE show via DROPLOAD over the weekend - it took a while as I had to do it individually, YouSendIt looks like it will solve that !) I looked at Yahoo's briefcase a while ago, but stopped looking when I saw it allowed only a max file size of 5mg for up/downloading. The third one (STREAMLOAD) looks good too, but will involve some $$$, but eh, everything can't be free or as good a deal as PTE is for $35(Cdn)

SteveP You can preview starting at any slide you want. click on the slide you want to start with on the bottom of the main screen, and then click on the "slice of bread" (small icon to the bottom right of the large image view at top of main screen. Preview will start at the selected image and carry on from there. Re the OBJECT use of TEXT and their not staying where you "want" the text, I believe Igor is working on that and hopes to have it in the next major release. We have been after that for a long time. I use the OBJECTS a lot, not for text so much as for starting other shows/files from within a PTE presentation.

Igor: Show has been re-compiled using beta 4 and played many times with no problems. The presentation has now been "released" for public consumption (and good reviews ) Thank you for your immediate service Jim

Justin: Not exactly sure where you tried to open the new sound list from, but you should try it from top left corner of the PTE page, drill down through the drive they are on until you find them (just like you do in EXPLORE) PTE will list them like EXPLORE, or if you click on the "two pages" icon at the top left, you'll see thumbnails Does that help any ?

Igor: Once again THANK YOU !!!!!! Excellent service. Next time I am not going to tell you about a problem until a Monday so you won't work on it on the weekend !

Great detective work Igor !!! Looking forward to the fix so I can "release" my new show. Talk about customer service

jevans: Unless I have missed your query as well, but let me see if I can muddy the waters..... There are two basic ways to do a slide show: 1. Start with the music and find the images to go with it (normally about 10 slides a minute for a basic show) and do a custom synch. (you might have to add or drop a slide, but so beit) or 2. pick your images, set up a custom synched show using a silent track (make one that is longer than you expect to need - again calculate one minute per 10 slides plus or minus for a basic show), and then find the music for the length of your draft show. Of course there will be minor adjustments later to synch the sldies to the beat, but not as much as you might think. Either way no show design should be so rigid that there is no flexibility. If you need to stretch or compress the music because you really can't bear to drop one or two images, well do it ! Up to 5% plus or minus and 99% of the audience won't notice. Not sure if that helps or hinders.....

Mike: Yes that was the show. It was actually an introduction to a 14 minute PTE show on beekeeping.

Igor: I could not replicate the problem with my test files. Alrobin tried them as well on his 4 computers (different specs and different OS) and all was OK. Everything behaved exactly as you programmed. I did not leave my recommended half second gap between the end of the sound clip and the start of the next slide in my tests to push the envelope. I had the sound track and slide finishing at exactly the same time. The "live" files I had problems with were 42mb files, so maybe it was the system could not keep up completely in a couple of spots. I will still leave a half second gap in future shows just to be sure. Thanks for your usual instant attention.