JRR

Michael: Welcome to PTE, you will find it a great package and the forum is full of info. The search feature at the bottom of the page helps too. For the latest advice re DVD software etc see here

Jan: Ron is correct Adobe Audition (Coole Edit plus studio) is a great software, but there are others almost as effective including a free one: AUDACITY. There is also Acoustica MP3 audio mix, it is quite cheap and good. Sound forge is another in the price range of Audition. You can find these by "googling" them/

The .exe file will play very well on others' computers subject to what I said above. The auto run files have been discussed many times on the forum. You can run search for the discussions. Garnot also has an auto run utility. I will send you what I use via e-mail.

Aspectlinks: Welcome to the forum and PTE !!!! It is a slick piece of software isn't it ?! I can't help you on the SVCD protion of your question, but I make copies of my shows on CDs in the "Old fashioned" .exe format, stick an auto start file on the CD for ease of use at the other end, and there are few if any problems. Assuming you have a "middle of the road" computer, it will play the same on other computers of the same ilk. But if you are using a top of the line computer, it might not run quite as smoothly on less powerful computers.

Garris: Yes, the colour shift is the "blending" of the colours. You should find the copy/paste a good method particualy if you are doing a number of OBJECTS. BTW, I would click on "OK" after you set up each button and save the pte file. I ran into a small "bug" (and let Igor know) in that if you set up an OBJECT with an invalid action (exe file not there as an example) there is no way out except to CTNRL-ALT-DEL and lose what has not been saved. Maybe after each OBJECT set up is a little much, but......

Phil: Welcome to PTE. Once you get the hang of it (Which happens quickly) you will find it a great program !! Re the .tif files: PTE only works with jpg and gif file formats. If you are going to use FADES, as many of us do), then depending on the pwoer of your computer (or those of the people who will also see it) size at 800x600 if most of the fades will be less than 2 seconds, or you can go to 1024x768 for slower fades. File sizes should be 100-200kb. (Quality 5 jpg) Hope that helps Have fun Sorry Ken, guess we were both typing away and you were a faster typer and got yours posted first!!!

Ken: Learn by my fun and games too You have to ensure the option re leaving the cursor in view during the show is turned on too !!! PROJECT OPTIONS>ADVANCED> always show mouse cursor

Igor: I finally got a chance to briefly work with 4.20. (the non DVD features - am I the only one ) Control of synched presentations is neat !! I hope in the 40% other improvments you will be able to sneak in disabling (or controlling) the mouse scroll wheel. I mentioned that a short ago as I have discovered that some people absent-mindedly play with their mouse wheel while watching presentations, a fix, at your convenience would be appreciated - in amongst the other "few" request you are trying to deal with. Now that synched shows are controllable, the absent-minded playing can upset synched shows. Thanks again

Alan: I have a team of gerbils than run inside one of those circle cage type things which is attached to a generator. Saves having to clean up the melted waxed !!

I am keen on DVD et al, as many people who are recipients of my PTE shows keep asking what about a DVD version. But I don't have a DVD burner...yet. (Hey, I still do analog 35mm versions of my PTE shows as I am not thrilled with the image quality through a digital projector) There have been some mentions of the compatibilty issues with DVDs produced from computer burners and DVD players that are bought for viewing movies on DVDs. Could someone please give us neophytes (luddites some might say ) a primer on the compatibility issues on DVD and also explain SVCD - if I have the initials right. The move to DVD is a major improvement for PTE, but the technical details need to be better explained if possible. Thanks

Igor: I have not had time to work with 4.20 yet, but I would fully endorse AL's list with Ed's add-ons. Of course that makes it look as though the Ottawa mafia are in cohoots !!! Which is not the case as we have not talked together recently. It is just that we tend to use PTE for similar purposes so we are looking for the same things. The most important to me is the ability to keep the OBJECTS from moving on different screen resolutions ! (But you have heard that from me "several" times before ) Keep up the great work !!!!!

Igor: You continue to amaze me Looking forward to trying out the improvements. Thanks !!!!

Marco: Tell me about it !!! I use objects a lot and this has always been an issue that I have brought up to Igor. I was glad to see a few weeks ago that he has it on his "to do" list. I just completed a complex project (106 PTE files in one show) that was being sent to various people all using different screen resolutions. I solved it with a trick that RonWill mentioned some weeks ago. I set the show to run at a fixed screen size and then placed a one image show in front of it at 1600x1200 and ran the "real" show off it . It works beautifully. See http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums//index...t=ST&f=2&t=1197

I use 1152x864 so that is likely the issue. The partially hidden objects are at the end of the TEXT EFFECTS "REPLAY" and "RETURN" are partially hidden until the other text comes up on top of the image, they they too appear as a "top layer"

Marco and Garnot: Great demo !!!!! BTW All I did was click on "Show.exe" and all worked without a hitch (except a couple of OBJECTS were partially hidden on one screen. (no big deal ) I read the README.txt first, sounded like a lot of things I had to do and how was I going to remember all them , so I said the heck with it, who reads instructions anyway ? and all went beautifully.

Bubba: I am not a "printer", I mainly deal with slides and digital files, so I may not have the most update info, but someone will come along and correct my comments if I am out in left field. There is no need to scan twice, scan for the TIFF once, then just reduce the pixel size to whatever for the PTE jpg (1024x768 if slow fades/cuts, 800x600 for quicker fades). Do not change the res/dpi. As for scanning prints, people I talk to tell me going to 600dpi does not really produce a better print. But maybe if someone wants to try to make a 8x10 out of a 5x7, then scanning at a higher res would help. But don't quote me on that.

As Stu suggests, try double clicking from the .exe file on the CD. What happens ? What kbps did you record the mp3 at at ? Are they 3 separate files ? If so are they assigned to a particular file, or as background or what ?

The 40mb file is relatively large for running from some CD drives, but as Stu says there are lots of factors here. Image sizes over 200kb can be a little large too. Is there no sound file ? 110 images at 200kb plus exe "overheads" seem a little short of 40mb to me. I don't think the lower case "a" is a factor. I suspect it is more a factor of the speed/specs of the drives and computers involved. Any specs there for us ? As mentioned on another thread yesterday, why not copy to the hard drive and run from there. I know it is not as slick, but if it gets your show seen by others.....

Eric: I am speaking not from authority here and thus might not be accurate. Others more "up" on sound files than I might jump in. I don't think it is any "harder" on the computer in terms of decompression to use a larger file vs the smaller. But the smaller file over all will help the communication with the CPU from the CD keep up to the show.

Eric: You don't have to worry about the sound player the receiving computer might have. PTE has a built-in player.

Bert: Welcome to the forum !!! You will find PTE lots of fun. Everyone tends to have their own work routine with digital, I will pass along mine for what it is worth. Scan at 1200 dpi (I do not normally print my images so that is why the 1200 dpi, if I was printing at 8x10 or larger I would scan at as high a dpi as possible) Keep the initial scan version as your "master" so you can always go back to them without scanning again. For PTE use, I make a copy of the master and then clean the dust etc up, adjust the colour etc, sharpen using USM and jpg them to 1024x864 or 800x600 quality 5. Just as in printing, do NOT over sharpen for digital projection as it will show even more than in a print.

Eric: The reason for the sound files being of such different sizes is due to compression. A WAV file is like a TIFF file or a PSD (PhotoShop) file, they are uncompressed files. While the mp3 is like a JPG file, compressed. Just as you can compress JPGs to varying degrees, mp3s can be compressed to varying degree by using differing kbps. Clear as mud ??

Congrats to all !!!!!!! Now I have to check out the shows again !

Richard: Many of us have had good success with shows running from CDs. BUT there are many factors that make it work better or not. One factor is that the receiving computer CD drive be a relatively fast one in terms of connection to the CPU. Your 25MB .exe file sounds a little large, but I have run ones larger. Are your image files all under 200kb ? Have you used mp3 rather than a wav sound file ? Is your mp3 file relatively small (96-128kbps usually is OK) Did you use Custom Synch for your music ? Hope there is an answer in there for you someplace

Stu: The lunar eclispe caused my clock to run fast, this is tomorrow isn't it ?? I found time to test it. You were correct, if you do the TEXT first, and then the BUTTON all is OK. Do the BUTTON first and then the TEXT, and the TEXT disappears. Thx I sent my test files off to Doctor Al to look at.