JEB

Hi, I have been away from home for the NewYear festivities and am delighted to see that my post has resulted in a bit of discussion – that was my intention. I sincerely hope and trust that Igor has been listening. I have every expectation that he has. I'm not convinced that a Light version is a necessity though I'm certain it would be good to have. I think we have to remember that fantastic though Wnsoft are they are no Adobe and don't have the resources they have. I would suspect that such a strategy could be crippling. What I believe needs to be done is to add as many operational improvements, within the constrains of the inherent design of the existing product as are possible. If this requires a major overhaul of the user interface and this can be achieved without compromising the flexibility and quality of the product, that I believe should be done before any new features are introduced. I said this before video was scheduled and introduced and I think it is worth repeating now. Many people have made suggestions about a variety of operational improvements over the years, I believe now is the time to look at how they can be implemented. Simple things (I say simple though I have no real idea how simple it really is only that it is commonplace) like descriptions of key functions being displayed when requested and the use of "wizards" where possible would be very welcome. Adobe Elements for instance provides Auto Levels yet you can still by-pass that and set your own if you don't like what is provided as standard. Perhaps there is a way in which themany user created demos can be more effectively integrated into thehelp menu. I will say no more. Regards and a Guid New Year Tae Ane an Aw' John

Hi, I am going to stick my nose into this one, though I can't offer any practical solution. I have been using PTE enthusiastically for about five years and still find it difficult to get my head round at times, particularly when one moves into the non standard. I confess to hearing people saying how intuitive it is but generally don't agree with them. I am convinced that considerable work has to be done to make this superb programme more user friendly. As somebody who has for some time been gathering family information and attempting to put it into a presentable order with PTE and utilising some of the devices discussed above I sincerely believe that anybody with limited computing skills will fall at the first hurdle. I know all the arguments surrounding the flexibility/quality etc of PTE and totally accept this but many features are for the few dedicated specialists, many of whom, thankfully give their time and knowledge freely to the less able such as myself. I don't know what the answer is, but it sure isn't sticking ones head in the sand. I just hope that an answer can be found by Igor before somebody else does. Regards and A Happy New Year to everybody. John

Peter, Thanks for that. Great idea. Another little gem. John

Yes, I think that's it. Thanks Dave. However, what it does not do is round up. i.e. my total is 9:46.792 which PTE show as 9:46, I have been expecting 9:47. Cheers. I now have a better understanding. Hopefully one day we will get a decent Graphical Interface for this, which should make it all much simpler to use and then perhaps some folks will be encouraged to use it rather than rely on Audition/Audacity. John

Hi Dave, I thought much the same as you but if you total the Durations of all five clips it comes to 9:46.792 (say 9:47). The Crossfade times are 0+0+15+15+6 seconds = 36 seconds. Keep in mind that the total PTE computed time for this Track is 9:14. How does PTE get to that figure? John

Hi, I wonder if somebody can throw somelight on a problem I have with fully understanding some of the numbers generated in the Music Tab of Project Options. I am beginning to warm to using this function when building a show with several Tracks and clips. I find it very versatile, in that it enables me to make both sound and image time adjustments all in the same location (within PTE and not jumping between PTE and Audacity). Once I have decided on what portions of a clip I want I can then re-size it, if necessary, in Audacity in order to reduce the audio element of the completed show to a minimum. The figure I can't understand is the 9:14 for Track 1. I can't figure out how this is arrived at. I have added screen grabs of the details of each of the five clips that are contained within Track 1. Regards

Thanks Dave that's what it is. I have obviously left it switched on. It only appears at the start or if you move the mouse while it is running and disappears as you say after 3 seconds. Thanks again. John

Hi, Can anybody tell me if there is an issue with the new progressive time line seen when reviewing a sequence in PTE file appearing in the .exe file? Somebody I have sent an .exe file to has commented on this, though I have to say I have never noticed in when playing the .exe file. Should I have selected an option to prevent this happening? John

Dave, That wasn't it BUT - "SHOW WAVEFORM" (next to "TIMED POINTS" needs to be clicked!!!! I felt sure I had overlooked something stupid. Thanks for your reply - it eliminated something and in the process brought my eye to the correct place. Cheers John PS I will place a post under the MAC area asking for views on Parallels.

Hi Folks, I have been using PTE regularly on my PC for many years. More recently, since getting a MAC, I have been using it on occasions via Parallels. I decided to upgrade to PTE 7.1 on the MAC and found that the only way I could get it to perform the upgrade was to remove the earlier version first. Having done that it installed without any problem. However, I find that I can not get the main wave form to display in the slide list (timeline view). I have downloaded PTE three times and that has made no difference. Individual wave formswithin PO/Music, display and appear to function properly. Is there a setting I should have set to get the wave form to display? I have checked (I think) all the potential places where such a setting may lurk by comparing with my PC version (even updated to the latest version on the PC to ensure there was not an issue there). I need to eliminate all likely causes before directing this as an issue to Igor so would welcome any suggestions, particularly anybody using Parallels. Thanks John PS – I am using Windows 7 on both theMAC(Parallels) and the PC

Rob, As you have not replied I can't be sure if your question has been understood properly. You state - "I would like to have the text appear on the first slide and running at the bottom of the screen then continue for several slides then ends after say 10 images have been displayed on the screen." My interpretation of this is that you would like a continuous line of text to start on slide one overflow to slide two ......... ten. My reading of the above replies is for the same text to be repeated on each slide. If this is what you want then you have your answer. If not then there is no easy way of doing it but it can be done. You would have to use the Objects and Animation (O&A) facility. What I would do would be to load my ten images one on top of the other in one slide location and in O&A fade each image in on top of each other using keypoints and the Opacity faclity on the Animation tab of O&A. Once you have that set up type in your text as a text object and apply key points at the star and end of the slide timeline. I don't know if that is clear enough for you as I don't know how experienced you are with O&A but I hope it helps. This method would also allow you to pause the text over certain slides should you need to do that. It's a chicken and egg situation as to whether you set up the text or the images first. As I write this I suspect it may be best to start with the text, a clear head a pencil and paper to keep a note of the time points and a large cup of coffee (not alcohol). Good luck, John

Goddi I am in general agreement with any idea that improves the handling of audio within PTE. I do however believe that Igor made a commitment to make major improvements to the user interface that would enable significant improvements to the graphical display of audio. Initially, as I recall, this was to be implemented in vs 7 but postponed to 7.5. In my view such a development is LONG OVERDUE. My experience when introducing potential new users to PTE is that they find this a major flaw in an otherwise excellent programme. Forgive me for latching in to your post but I like to make my feelings known at every opportunity. Almost missed this occasion! Regards John quote name='JEB' timestamp='1301565848' post='84349'] Igor, Now that video has been released, albeit in its first beta version and with presumably several months of refinement before it is complete, may I put in a request for attention to be directed urgently towards the way in which audio is presented. Quite frankly, in my view as things stand at the moment the situation is pathetic. Sorry to be so blunt but I feel I have to speak my mind. I do not want any additional audio facilities (I can use other programs for that) I just want to use the facilities that are presently available in a user friendly fashion. Quite simply as we are all in the business of telling stories through images I have attached a VERY BASIC illustration of what I believe is required. Regards and congratulations on what you have achieved with video. John P.S. And AFTER you've finished that I would love a Mac version of PTE !!

Ken, My Techie goes by the name of Igor. I'm sure he'll sort it out. I'm a chicken when it comes to this sort of thing. Once bitten twice shy!! John

Ken, Delighted to hear that somebody else has experienced this, particularly "one of the heavies" ! I'm sure we will get a solution once Igor has had a look. No point in me wading through all that stuff Ken - it's just Double Dutch to me, but thanks for the compliment. John

bjc, Thanks for your reply. I was not aware of this issue. I have checked in "properties" of all files and can recognise no restriction being set. However, what I find is that while working in the PTE file and running a Preview it works until I carry out some alteration (add slide, change text object etc.) after which it doesn't act on the instruction even though it is there. If I remove the instruction and re-enter it all is well until the next change is made somewhere. Having said that, if I then create an exe file that works as it should. It sounds very much to me that it is some sort of bug so I will post it as such. From my standpoint at this time the panic is over but it would be as well to be resolved. Thanks again to you both. John

Hi Peter, Thanks for responding. No I did not move any sequences and they were all where they always were on my desktop. I decided to move everything to the laptop I will be using on the night by saving the master sequence to zip, copying the other sequences over also and placing all in one folder on the laptop desktop. Initially all worked smoothly, but on checking before responding to you the master sequence ignored the instructions to run the externals! Very odd. I moved nothing whatsoever. All I did was to switch off the laptop for an hour or so. While preparing this response I have returned to the laptop, re-specified the external sequences and it worked fine within PTE. I then decided to create an exe saved it and that ran as expected. I have now reopened the PTE file and it will not work. Very strange! John

Help please. I am using PTE7 Beta 17 on Win 7 (64) I am preparing a PTE presentation(manually controlled) for a talk and intend to augment the talk by breaking out to specific PTE sequences stored on the desktoputilizing the "Run external application" feature in "Customizeslide". I had this working yesterday but nowthat I am beginning to make alterations to the content of the mainpresentation sequence I find that when the designated "trigger"slide is displayed it refuses to open the requested sequence. I havechecked that I have a tick in "Run external slide" and haveremoved and re-navigated to the desired sequence but still nosuccess. Any ideas? John

Barry, Just tested both. Camtasia as before - black screen, move only manually no audio. Audacity works as expected John PS liked the images, as ever!

Barry, I have just downloaded and have to tell you it's still not working. White page - manual movement from keyboard - no audio. Since the first time I have upgraded to Lion (OS X 10.7) on the Mac. Sounds like a PTE issue to me. John PS Igor is on holiday for a couple of weeks.

On reflection I think you are probably right Ken. I stand corrected. John

Hi Peter, If you mean a location where the user can specify links to personal applications in addition to the ability we have at present to assign our favoured image and audio editors (PS9 and Audacity in my case) then I would be delighted with that. I find myself using the likes of Drawing from Open Office, Xara 3D6 and on occasions Photomatix all of which would be much more easily accessed directly from PTE. John

Barry, I think that may be the PC link you have provided as on trying it again my Mac wanted to open Parallels. John Later, I still have the Mac version in my Download folder and can confirm that it behaves as Barry described with the latest version of Mac OS X - 10.6.2 John

Igor, I was one of the users. I am presently running 10.6.8. However I can't be certain what version I was running when I had this problem, which was only a couple of weeks ago. I update immediately it becomes available so it is possible that I have done so since then. John

Hi Lin, Yes, I am aware of that option. However I find that very often when dragging to one end or the other it is not always possible to move beyond the visible slides. Something of a lottery on most occasions so I much prefer the arrows. I often find the same problem within what I call the "lightbox" view so find myself minimising the size of the slides to enable the target location to be in view. Neither are very big issues but when you have had a working solution and it is removed, for what appears to the unenlightened like me, you wonder why. Regards John

Igor, I know from the past that at Beta stages several features are not active till near to or the final launch. I am hoping that the little arrows for moving individual or groups of slides along the Slide List will reappear before or at the final launch of Vs.7. I appreciate that not everybody necessarily uses them but I certainly do and find them very useful. Regards John