JEB

Sorry about the double entry, It was taking so long I thought it hadn't gone! Perhaps a Moderator can remove one of these posts - I can't find a way of doing it. John

Hi, I have been amusing myself by playing with my new toy - a macro lens. I have posted a link at MediaFire a short show I have put together of some images taken with this lens and utilizing “The Dom’s” recent stretched background effect, though I have not used animation. http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=6b356fb...5fb8d0c23a13c57 Any feedback would be welcomed. I have a reasonably thick skin. John

HI, Thanks for passing that idea on. I'm not certain how you are applying the transition. I presume it is a short fade but then are you using O&A to bring in the small image? John

Thanks Ray, I can assure you the castle hasn't changed much since 1949. At that time I was just a boy (8) and living within sight of the castle though now I live out of Edinburgh I still see it regularly though only visited it last year for the first time in about fifty years to take pictures. How you take things for granted! Jose, Both MediaFire and Beechbrook give this information. In the case of Beechbrook it is there for all to see. However I think this info is only available to the author as far as Mediafire is concerned but I may be wrong. The only reason I used MediaFire is that I was having trouble uploading such a large file to Beechbrook but thanks to Bill we were able to overcome that eventually. Regards John

Thanks Ken, That all adds to my incresing understanding of the subject. Untill I am able to see some of the PTE Testers running on a new macbook (perhaps next week) I will not be buying. In any event as I understand it Snow Leopard is due soon followed by Windows 7 so I may well do nothing till at least Snow Leopard is out. Regards John

Hi, MAC/PC Demo The saga continues. Its like drawing blood out of a stone or should I say a PC out of an apple! Having been promised by an Apple Rep that a certain dealer had a Desktop mac with XP loaded and an NVIDIA 9400 graphics card I took in some of the PTE test shows that have been produced over the years. When I got there I found that it was some old Mac with an older graphics card, running Parallels. Useless. However, I have been assured that sometime next week I will be able to try it on a MacBook with the 9400 chip. If I didn’t know better I would say they are scared it won’t work. John

Henri, Quote "In the meantime, I use Bootcamp with XP sp2 (works better than Parallels or Fusion, because of not using the graphical card in the right way?); great disadvantage of course is the risk of viruses, spyware etc. And of course, using 2 platforms is a bit more complicated, but that for me personally, is just one more challenge to keep my brains in good shape... And then, it's a pleasure to create a show with Pictures to Exe.." As you know from my post above I am exploring the likelyhood of moving to mac and in particular trying to get a demo of a mac running windows and some of the PTE graphics testers - hopefully later today. My question however is, given the difficulties outlined by yourself above - why do you use and what do you see as the benefits of a mac? Regards John

Hi, Thank you for your comments. I realise that it is a very long show so do appreciate you having gone to the trouble. I am however srprised that there have been no other responses as according to Beechbrook there have been 244 downloads and mediafire 69. It may well be that people have started a download and then abandoned it when they realise how long it is going to take. It also could be that folks haven't liked what they've seen and are too polite to comment!!!! John

Tom, Thank you for your input. Very interesting and encouraging. Can you comment on the following - an extract from my initial post on this topic? "both a mac and a pc were used using the same projector and i was very impressed by the quality of the projected images from the mac. I hope to get a chance to see identical images projected from both systems in a more controlled way sometime in the near future." It will be some time before I get the chance to see a side by side comparison so would be interested in your views. Is it likely that projected images would be of a higher standard via a mac or was I imagining it do you think? Regards John

Henri, If you get any feedback from Tom I would be interested in any advice he has to offer. Interesting the reaction you got from the mac dealer. I'm wondering if I will hear anything from the Edinburgh people or if I was just being given a brush off! I 'll give them till Wednesday. John

Hi Henri, I'm surprised nobody has replied as yet. I too have an interest as I saw a presentation the other night where both a mac and a pc were used using the same projector and i was very impressed by the quality of the projected images from the mac. I hope to get a chance to see identical images projected from both systems in a more controlled way sometime in the near future. I have also been in touch with my local mac store to set up a demo of the new macbook running a few of the PTE test shows that have been going tjhe rounds recently as I'm not convinced by the graphics claims. Seeing is believing! Regards John

Igor, HP Pavilion Intel Centrino Duo T2500 @ 2.00MHz NVIDA Go7600 256 MB Played 2 times very smoothly except for minor stutter in last vertical pan on each occasion. Played in full screen mode for third time - as smooth as silk. Very impressed as this is the first time I have knowingly watched a PTE show in this way. Regards John

I thank you all for your contributions. Maureen, I have now had a look at your shows - very good and varied. I really liked the idea of the conversation between the two farmers providing the narrative with images illustrating points as they spoke. Also the opening with the choir was particularly appropriate. “Buried in Wales” was wonderful. Perhaps it is a Celtic thing that we Scots share with the Welsh we both revel in the morbid but can still make fun of it. I understand that the “Grandma Remembers” is a rework of an older show but how much of it was staged (posed for your show) or were they all old images, I’m thinking particularly of the shots of the children? I did not find the portrait format a problem. You have certainly given me food for thought. Thank you. Ralph, I have now viewed the first three shows on the web site you directed me to. What a high standard. Well it is a wonderful spring morning here so you have inspired me to get off my backside and get started on a project I have in mind. Regards John

Maureen, Thank you for your full and considered reply. It is very much appreciated, particularly under the circumstances. I thought there must be some reason for not being able to easily access award winning shows. I should admit that I am guilty of contaviening the IAC licence in that I have only in the last few days uploaded a show (Edinburgh's Royal Mile) I produced with help from a few members of my camera club, believing that our licence permitted us to do that. I have been on to your gallery and downloaded all your shows - yet to view - but will do so and treat them as an example of excellence! I have only recently subscribed to AV News and found the first issue (February) very informative. Regarding the Scottish group you refer to, they are as you suggested too far from me to consider. As you will have seen, others have also directed me to events held throughout Northern England and I do intend to attend some of them in the coming months. I'll have to improve my French before I venture too deeply into that site but I am aware that there is a strong tradition of AV in France. Thank you once again for your trouble. John

Hi, Thanks to Bill at Beechbrook this show is now also available on his site for download. John

Hi, Some, may be interested in downloading this documentary style show from Media Fire:- http://www.mediafire.com/?zyjwmzjudnn I warn you it is a large file (176MB) and the show lasts approximately 35 minutes. It was photographed over a period of some 10 months by myself and several other members of the Beeslack, Penicuik Camera Club as a joint venture. The script was also written jointly, though, like the show was edited and compiled by myself, being the principal PTE addict in our club. We thank in advance those who go to the trouble of downloading this and would very much welcome your views and constructive criticisms. John

Hi, Thank you all for your feedback. Ralph, I will take up your suggestion regarding Google. Regarding Beechbrook I totally agree that there are many great examples to be viewed there, however my objective was to get a handle on what “the great and the good” considered to be quality work. Incidentally, I also take on board and indeed share your views on such “authorities”. Mark, I had seen and very much enjoyed your Norway show and congratulate you on your success with it and the others, which I have now also viewed. I particularly liked the mono show. It is interesting that all these shows used narration and their success confirms your statement regarding narration. This for me has been a successful exercise as I think I now have a better perspective of what makes a good AV (in the eye of this beholder). I am also making plans to visit as many AV days as I can over the next season. Thank you all. John

Thank you all for your responses. Mark, I would be very interested in the links you refer to. Yachtsman1, Bradford could be on the cards. My daughter now lives in Yorkshire so perhaps it could be incorporated into a week-end visit to her. I'll Google Leeds as you suggest. Credits The first show I made I was very proud of and posted it on the Forum and was criticized for using "The End". Never dared to use it since, though I must say I don't understand the reasoning behind this and indeed suspect there is no good reason! (Invite for debate!!). There is an article in RPS AV News suggesting that giving credits for music is in fact in breach of the BPI License. This is tied into the old copyright minefield. Regarding tools used, photographer, narrator, scriptwriter etc. I personally am interested in knowing this sort of information. Thanks again everybody. John P.S. Peter, I have sent you a PM.

Hi, We are fortunate in having access to many varied shows produced in PTE by the active members of this forum. Many are very artistic and pleasing, though each of us has our own preferences and interpretations of what makes a good show. Discussion in the form of constructive criticism is often asked for and given. We all learn from this. However, I would be very interested in viewing shows that have been commended by the likes of The Royal Photographic Society AND other National bodies. I think this would give us an insight as to what standards should be aimed at. I have searched the RPS site and found nothing; perhaps one has to be a member. Does anybody have any suggestions? Unfortunately for those of us in more remote parts of the world it is not often possible to attend events. Hopefully in this age there is some electronic source. Regards John

Hi, Thank you ALL very much for your replies, particularly Brian for going to so much trouble in providing such a detailed response. My mind is much more at rest now as I finish off my preparations for my new backup strategy. I'm trying to convince myself that I know what I'm doing! Regards John

Hi, I know this is totally off topic but I also know there are a number of people on this forum who are I am certain able to offer an explanation for the following, so I hope I'm forgiven for asking. I have been spending some time recently re-organizing my filing system with a view to putting in place a better back-up strategy. This has involved transferring many folders from one hard drive to another. I have found there to be discrepancies, sometimes very large, between the “used” space shown under the “Properties” tab of all my hard drives and the sum of the individual folders within those drives. See worst case example below. D (Internal Drive) My Computer/D/Right click/Properties Used 57GB Free 55 GB Capacity 111GB Sum of all Folders 7 GB Missing space 50 GB ???? Shortfalls also exist on my external drives though not so dramatic. I have used the Tools “Error Checking” & “Defragmentation” but they have made no difference. Any ideas? Regards John

Hi, PICK THE BONES OUT OF THIS! Played on two laptops. HP Pavilion 1440x900 native GO7600 256 MB 2046 MB RAM Intel T2500 @ 2.00 GHz XP Home SP3 Played very smoothly. HP Compaq 1024x768 set to. ATI Radion 128 MB 1536 MB RAM AMD Turion 64 1.58 Ghz XP Pro SP3 Very jumpy on every slide. Hope this adds something that can help us come to some sort of conclusion. John

Flying Scotsman, I have to chip in here. As a Scot I can assure you you are in safe hands regarding advice that may involve spending vast sums of money. Peter is a Yorkshireman! Sorry Peter! John

Hi John, Thank you for letting us view this show. Any opportunity to get an impression of Venice as far as I am concerned must not be missed. For me the images created a very haunting and dramatic view of this unique city. I don't know what the music was but somehow it didn't come across as Venetian or Italian, though I may be quite wrong, and as such that grated with me for some reason. I liked the music but for me it wasn't what I was expecting. I thought that the transitions were fantastic and most appropriate to the images and mood you were conveying. Normally, Venice is portrayed in bright sunlight but your approach was different. I think it emphasised the textures of the ancient buildings to advantage. I particularly liked a fade, dominated by an arch surrounding an old door, if I recall correctly, into a scene of a lone walking figure. Thank you. You've given me inspiration for a planned visit to Venice scheduled for September this year. Regards John

I too add my good wishes to you and your family. Take care. John