JEB

Hi, I am about to have a new PC built and was wondering about the sound card. Presently I use an amplifier and speakers (big beast - was part on an old domestic Music Center) for shows in large halls. It gets plugged into the headphone socket of my PC and gives me control of R+L balance, base, treble and creates a wonderful sound. I was wondering if any of these fancy gaming sounblaster type cards would do the same job. I came across the following as an example but don't understand the lingo. If anybody has any experience in this department I would be most grateful for your views. X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series Technical Specifications * 24-bit Analog-to-Digital conversion of analog inputs at 96kHz sample rate 24-bit * Analog-to-Digital conversion of analog inputs at 96kHz sample rate 24-bit * Digital-to-Analog conversion of stereo digital sources at 192kHz to stereo output 16-bit to 24-bit * recording sampling rates: 8,11.025,16, 22.05, 24, 32, 44.1, 48 and 96kHz * ASIO 2.0 support at 16bit/44.1kHz, 16-bit/48kHz, 24-bit/44. * 1kHz 24-bit/48kHz and 24-bit/96kHz with direct monitoring * Enhanced SoundFont support at up to 24-bit resolution * 64MB of X-RAM * Connectivity (Sound Card) o Mic In/Line In o Headphone/Front Left & Right Speaker o Output Side Left & Right Speaker o Output Center/Sub o Output Rear Left & Right Speaker o Output Optical Digital SPDIF o Output Optical Digital SPDIF Input o Intel HD Front Panel Header * X-Fi I/O Drive connectors Connectivity (X-Fi I/O Drive) o Mic In AUX in o Headphone Output Regards John

Barry, I suspect your spot on. I suspected that the benefits were limited but remembered after all the excitement of several months back I thought it worth asking the question! Perhaps the relative silence since making this post tells me something. I have a spare monitor and no doubt will give it a try once I get myself sorted out. Thanks, John

Hi, Hope I've posted this in the correct place. I am about to replace a PC and am looking at as many of the options and limitations before making my final choice. I remember some months ago when the Duel Screen facility was made available in PTE there being a deal of excitement amongst the community. Then, as now, I am uncertain as to what the benefits are that this facility provides. Perhaps if I say what I think this facility may offer, those in the know can either confirm or put me right. I guess that it would enable one screen to be showing PTE while the other could be showing another application such as PS or Audacity rather than having them minimized. It seems to me it must offer more than that. Would it be possible for instance on one screen to have Audacity playing a complex multi-track draft build (prior to mixing) while simultaneously playing a preview of the slides on PTE on the other screen? Would it enable one screen to show the O&A window while the other screen shows the main PTE window? The other aspect I need to get my head round are the implications on the hard ware (graphics card) of a PC and on other application's software. I would appreciate any relevant comments or examples. Regards John

Yachtsman1, I would put myself in the category of "not being able to sort myself out" - hence my worry! Also like you, since my last desktop bit the dust about a year ago I have using my laptop and been putting off taking the plunge, but as it too is becoming a bit temperamental I'm becoming anxious. John

Hi, I have been scanning this tread with interest as I am considering purchasing a new PC. My inclination would be to go for W7 Pro 64 bit but am having doubts. My use would be for PTE, PSE8, Audacity etc but in the longer term possibly video. I notice the point raised by somebody and agreed with by Lin Evans in his detailed explanation of the Windows 7 situation that things may not settle down till after the release of Service Pack 1. Does anybody have ANY idea as to when this is likely to happen? Regards John

Michael, Another way of skinning the cat is to use "Buttons" rather than "Rectangle". The limitation however is only one line of text is possible as I recall. But it may be worth a play. John

Welcome Michael, One work around that I have used and I am sure there will be other ways of skinning this cat is to use the "Rectangle" option to create the background to your text. I generally create my title first and size it the way I want it then create a Rectangle, adjust its colour and opacity then make sure it is positioned under the taxt (right click the Rectangle select order). To size the Rectangle use the Zoom tools which if the little button between the vertical and horizontal boxes is correctly selected (you have to experiment as it is not too clear which position does what) the height and width of Rectangle can be adjusted independently. Hope this helps. John

nobeefstu, Thanks for that will have a dig and see what I come up with. Regards John

Peter, It is XP, Vista and W7 compatible. Also it was working ok for some time. Ken, I will do so in time but on the off chance that somebody comes up with an explanation I will give it another 24 hours if that's ok. I'll then have to find out how to apply the solved indicator!!! Regards John PS Ken I bet we've got more snow than you this year. We had another 4 inches on Friday, that after a brief respite. It started on 17th December and has been white around here (south of Edinburgh) ever since then.

Hi, Immediate panic over! On further investigation I dragged the shortcut to PSE8 from my desktop into the "Open With.." dialogue box. It would only go into the Other Programs section not the Recommended section. I then was able to locate PSE8 in Folder Options and point JPEG, CS, PNG to PSE8 so it now works much as it should. However PSE8 remains listed only as an Other Program not as a Recommended Program as was the case before. But I can live with that! Any ideas or thoughts would be interesting. Regards John

Hi, Can anybody help please? I am running XP. Recently I have not been able to open files into Photoshop Elements 8 by double clicking or right clicking and selecting “Open with...” either while in PTE, any other program or even the desktop. This has never been a problem before. I have not changed anything to my knowledge. Been running PSE8 for some months and problem only appeared in past week or so. I have opened the MS Folder Options dialogue box and find that I can't locate PSE8 in the recommended or other program lists. The only way I am able to open a file is from within PSE8. I've not tried to re-install PSE8 yet as that sounds a bit extreme before exhausting other options. I'd appreciate any advice. Regards, John

Hi, Firstly I would like to say that I enjoyed this sequence immensely. I wish I could take such wonderful pictures. I do like architectural images both ancient and modern and for me you appear to have portrayed a mood of grandeur that I find exciting. I don't know if I'll ever have the opportunity of visiting Liege but if I do you have given me a very good excuse for going by rail! I'm truly sorry that personal differences have tainted this thread, particularly as I generally respect the opinions of all parties concerned. Perhaps language has played its part. Despite this and for what it's worth I will give below my opinion. I do this in part because I believe that as has been said above anybody posting a show generally does so in order to receive the views of others and also because it helps me to see how my views compare to those of others. Normally I would not take the trouble to download a show of more that about six minutes, unless the title particularly interests me. In this instance it did and to be perfectly honest the comments above also encouraged me to do so. I DID NOT find it too long nor if there were any repeated images did I notice them. It's difficult now to be certain that I have not been influenced by what has been said by others but I do wonder if the opening sequence of framed images was necessary. I liked it though for me, perhaps if it had been slowed down a little and if "smooth" had been applied to the motion, it would have worked even better. Regarding the music, I thought it worked very well indeed and certainly augmented the cathedral impression of the images which I would have thought was the objective. If I have any criticism of the music it would be with the Handle piece, only because of the use of words which to my puritanical upbringing sounded just a little bit out of place in a railway station. I have no problem with the use of religious music. However, as a native English speaker who can understand the words they add a third dimension which on this occasion are just a little bit distracting. I hope you do not mind but from time to time as part of my campaign to encourage members of my camera club to take up AV I show the occasional sequence. I will undoubtedly use your show at some stage as an excellent example of an architectural topic. Thank you for making this sequence available to the forum. Regards John

I know but the truth hurts! John

Watch it Peter that's getting a bit personal! John

Hi, Thanks all, particularly Peter and Brian (trust you've not had a stroke over this Brian! - been there, done that!). I am conscious that once again I have hijacked somebodies thread but trust that there are others out there who may benefit from all of this. I would like to bring this back to a more personal level though I totally recognize that you folks understandably may be cagey about giving specific advice and can't be expected to know all the features of different products. Using Brian's summary of Peter's missive I think I comply with a) Router-Firewall - Sky broadband router. Software -Firewall - Windows XP Firwall c) Anti-Virus Program - AVG9 d) Cleanup Program - Reg Cure e) comply However as I stated earlier I am also running Parato Logic's Privacy Controls (which cleans up cashe and internet history amongst other things) PLUS Parato's XSoft Spyware program. I suspect that those two may be a bit of overkill but can't be certain so would appreciate opinions. From looking further into AVG9 it appears to have a Spyware function so presumably I don't need Parato's program. However I'm not sure if Parato's Privacy Control Program doing anything for me? Regarding RegCure I will probably replace that with IOBit which I take to be doing the same thing. I'm not particularly trying to save money and do things on the cheap as I value security too highly for that, not to mention my stress levels, but there is no point in throwing it about unnecessarily. Regards John

Sorry Ken, Can't make sense of the lead. Am I being thick again or this some sort of subtle hint? John PS Should this thread not be moved to "Software"?

Sorry Ken, Can't make sense of the lead. Am I being thick again or this some sort of subtle hint? John PS Should this thread not be moved to "Software"?

Hi, I am delighted somebody has raised this topic as it has been bugging me for years. I have a great respect for your opinion on such matters Lin and my natural instinct is to follow your advise. However, some years ago I did suffer from a computer virus of some sort and decided to take all necessary steps to protect myself in the future. Unfortunately, when people like me, who are only partially computer literate, start reading all the blurb that is constantly pushed out by the industry confusion takes over. An insurance salesman's paradise! I run Windows XP Firewall and there will also be a firewall on my router. I also have the paid for version of AVG (I used to have the free version but allowed myself to be convinced that it was essential to have the all singing version). Additionally I was or allowed myself to be persuaded that I needed Pareto Logic's Privacy Controls (which I think cleans up my Windows cashe and internet history amongst other things). I also was persuaded that XSoft Spyware was an essential tool. Additionally I run RegCure regularly and frequently defrag my hard drives. All of the above mentioned products cost an amount I am too scared to contemplate right now but for two machines in the household I'd be pleased to be persuaded that its not worth the investment! I often wish there was one simple solution rather than the plethora of solutions with which we are constantly being bombarded. Opinions/advice most welcome. Regards John PS I have to admit that I have had no serious PC problems since my scare of several years ago.

FANTASTIC REALLY EXCITED ABOUT AUDIO FEATURES - Love Auacity which I'm sure will always be required but if I understand your plans correctly then life will be much simpler at the synchronization stage! Good Luck John

Hi, I would agree with everything said but only add that I sometimes find that "fade from center" works well. Regards John

Andrew, I have just started to tackle this as a project. I have looked at a number of potential ways of approaching it and decided on using PTE. I suspect that the old adage of there being many ways of skinning a cat holds good but to use another adage I have decided to stick with the devil I know. I considered utilizing web design technology by taking advantage of an opportunity I have of completing a Dreamweaver course. I also looked at a number of products such as Family Tree Maker which allow you to put together albums for distribution to family members. Not knowing enough about web based technology I came to the conclusion that PTE would serve me best. Having established in my own mind that my objective was simply to produce a DVD for my son and daughter that could be played on a TV and would provide simple navigation, I decided on the following strategy. I aim to produce four PTE shows. One for my paternal line, one for my maternal line and another two for my wife's paternal and maternal lines. These will appear as four options on the opening page of the DVD. Each show will have a commentary which can be paused, reversed etc. through the DVD player controls. The one major disadvantage I see about this approach is its lack of flexibility for future additions. There has to be a cut-off time for inserting information. This may be better achieved with a web based option but then again I don't know enough about that to be certain. I will probably add an addendum (5th show). I have this in mind as a way of recording information that would make the main four shows even more boring than they are likely to be in any event. I am also interested in anything any other member has done in the past regarding “skinning cats”! John

Hi Maureen, Thank you for making this available. It is in my view an excellent show that really captures the mood of the Western Highlands at this time of year. As for the music - bang on! I have to admit that I have deliberately avoided watching Brave Heart as somehow the extracts I have seen have made me feel ashamed, sick and angry so I have never heard the music before. Now I suspect I will have to swallow my pride as I think I may well use the music myself sometime in the future!! Thanks again John

Hi, I would go along with this. I remember raising it during some discussion when O&A was first introduced. I just don't know how those folks who produce all those elaborate sequences we see from time to time get their brains round it!!! John

Hi, I have been giving some thought to this recently but have come to the conclusion that it is not worth the bother or perhaps more importantly the cost. My conclusion has been based on the fact that a Mac may look very smart and with it but that you pay a price for that image. Talking of image it does appear that a Mac screen is generally much better than the average PC screen, though I suspect that that differential may be diminishing as we speak. Also you pay a premium price for a Mac which some argue is worth it for its reliability. That may be true but you have to consider what happens when it does go wrong. As I understand it you are VERY limited in where you take it for repairs and I understand the time and cost can be both be high. The answer to your main question regarding PTE is that at this point in time is no and yes. No in that there is only a Windows version of PTE available today all being that it can produce an equivalent .exe file for running on a Mac. Yes in that with the new Macs as you will know it is possible to run 2 operating systems on the same machine ie Windows and Snow Leopard, however, that only adds considerably to the capital cost of your investment. I came to the conclusion that as I would not want to also purchase replacement Mac software (Photoshop etc) I would run my existing Windows versions of that s/w on the Windows o/s side of a mac machine. I then considered that there could be possible operating restrictions (RAM) running PSCS on what for all I know (not a techie) would effectively be a machine with limited expansion potential I was better sticking with the devil I know. My final consideration was discussed on the forum recently the outcome of which was the fact that there is no difference in projected image quality between the two systems. Perhaps calibration is marginally easier on a Mac but that was all. Hope this helps.

Well, Thank you all, particularly you Ed for taking so much time to record your thoughts. It is up to me now to put all of this into action. As it happens a few of us at our club have been putting off getting to grips with this for some time. I am presently printing all of the replies out to bring with me tonight. I have a good idea what will be happening in the near future. Thanks again to you all. Regards John