JEB

Hi, Perhaps I have not made myself clear. Dave has got my drift. The problem is not finding tracks on my computer I file them as all you well organised folk do in a folder associated with the project. The problem is finding tracks that have been located under "customise slide option" when you wish to remove them at a later date. As I explained in my original post I use this method in the early stages of constructing a large show. This gives me a degree of flexibility in adding and removing slides from sections of the show. (the one I,m working on at the moment is a documentary which will last at least 30 mins. and have several hundred slides). Once I have settled on the sequence I make a final voice over recording as one continuous track and then add that to "Project Options" in the usual way. The problem arises if one short track has been left embedded in a slide or even if it has been removed the box "play new background music file" has also to be un-ticked. What I was suggesting was that if some sort of visual indication appeared on any slide that had an audio track embedded must be an improvement. Yachtsman1, will this utility do this? Regards and thanks for your interest. John

Hi, I suspect that this has been suggested before, if not I am surprised! I would like to see some visual indication within the slide list (time line) of any slide that has audio embedded. I am in the habit of placing audio at various points while editing and then removing once I have produced a continuous track which is placed in Project Options. If I forget where I have left the now superfluous track PTE keeps telling me it is lost and wont run a Preview till I have located and removed it. This is fine but annoying. Regards John

Hi and thank you for your reply Yachtsman1. I have had a look at the suggested post but on this occasion I don't think it helps me. HOWEVER, I have now discovered that, as usual, PTE and Igor are away ahead of me! I have only now noticed that a thin blue vertical line extends above the wave form in Timeline view indicating the end of each audio file! Just what I wanted! It would be nice if the file name appeared somewhere as well but you can't have everything. Or can you, Igor? Thanks again. Ever learning. John

Hi, This may well have been suggested before if so forget this. It relates to the synchronization of audio (called from Project Options) and slides. What I would like to suggest is that thought be given to providing some sort of “live” visual indication as to which Proj. Ops. audio track is being played in relation to any particular slide. I should at this point indicate the particular type of situation that I feel this would be of great help. I am presently compiling a large (target 30 minutes) documentary type show, which as you can imagine has a considerable amount of voice over. I am at the point where I am trying to aligned images with the script (which in itself is still subject to a limited degree of edit). I am recording these “pilot” voiceovers and placing them in order in Proj.Ops. and then moving slides where appropriate. When this process is complete and I am happy everything is reasonably synchronized the script will be re-recorded, background music and sound effects mixed off line and then imported to PTE as one single track for final synchronizing. What I would like to suggest is a tag or flag be inserted at the start of each track as it appears on the timeline or perhaps better still (or as well as) in a box in the status bar below the timeline. I would suggest that to keep the status bar tidy the track number rather than file name would be sufficient. I believe this would help enormously particularly at early stages of editing. Regards John

Hi Bob, It's been out for almost a month. Look at the top of the PTE Forum page of which your post is part. Regards John

Thank you Peter for your work in clarifying, for those of us who were struggling to understand, JPD's excellent work. I for one have a better understanding and appreciation of the technique being proposed. I look forward to hearing the outcome of your dialogue with Igor. One small point I would like to mention at this time concerns “Tiled Background Picture”. I have no wish to confuse the issue at this point but I use this quite frequently and would do more, if it were possible to change the background image within a show. My need is to have a different background slide for one group of slides to that of another group of slides. At present I do this by inserting a “background” image into each slide and superimposing the actual image on top of it. No big problem and perhaps there is some other way of achieving this so please don’t get sidetracked with this at this time. Regards John

Peter, As a non systems person I think I understand what you are trying to do with this post. I assume one of your objectives is to provide a structure that will clarify the many proposals and suggestions that have been made here but also suggest a possible three level structure for PTE in the future. I'm not sure whether it needs to be a three level structure or if two would not be sufficient but I could easily be persuaded. We must not forget the reason for this exercise which I think basically is to make this wonderful product more user friendly without limiting its development and high quality standards. I'm sure Igor has done his market research and knows where his market lies. I suspect it can be broken down into two basic categories - serious and casual users. I also suspect that those of us participating in this topic, indeed forum, fall into the "serious" category. This in turn may well be sub-divided into groups such as those who like to push the product to its limits and by so doing set new targets for the future (and thankfully are generous enough to pass on their knowledge to others), and those who's primary interest is in the art of making A.V's. Clearly one can have a foot in both camps but I would suspect that the levels of in depth knowledge amongst those whose prime interest is in the making of A.V's is more limited. It is I think, they and the casual and new users who will be the main benefactors of an improved user interface. With the massive development of digital photography the future for digital AV is unlimited. It is not only the young who are taking up this interest but middle aged and elderly photography enthusiasts who are rapidly making the change to digital are seeing the potential of AV. Most of us who fall into this age bracket are, shall I say, limited in computer skills! I have been trying to encourage members of my camera club to get involved with PTE and some have, but some find it VERY intimidating and difficult to get to grips with. It pains me to say it but from what I have seen of PSG it is much more user friendly. Regards John

Igor, Firstly, I have to repeat again this thread is an example of what puts PTE head and shoulders above any other software product I have ever come across. Not only do you listen but you react to your users concerns. I'm sure I speak for everybody when I say "thank you very much". It may come as no surprise that, though I agree with much of what has been said above, my principal concern relates to the handling of "text" in O&A. I will repeat what I said recently in another thread. I hope that in 5.7 the opportunity will be taken to "tidy up" the entry of text objects. I find it most irritating that not all the text inputs are located together but in different locations within O&A. I would like to see the text label being automatically taken from the text entered (with the ability to over-ride when necessary). I would also like the ability for fonts to be specifically sized as in Photoshop. Another irritation is having to search through a long list of fonts, time could be radically reduced if the most recently used fonts were to appear at the top of the list and if the last font selected were automatically selected, again as in PS or any WP system. Regards John

Igor, I hope that in 5.7 the opportunity will be taken to "tidy up" the entry of text objects, a subject I have posted on in the past. I too use quite a bit of text and find it most irritating that not all the text inputs are located together but in different locations within O&A. As stated before I would like to see the text label being automatically taken from the text ientered (with the ability to over-ride when necessary). I would also like the ability for fonts to be specifically sized as in Photoshop. Another irritation at the moment is having to search through a long list of fonts, which could be radically reduced if the most recently used fonts were to appear at the top of the list and if the last font selected were automatically selected, again as in PS or any WP system. Ever hopeful, John

Hi Dave, I’m not sure I can contribute too much to this but I too have found the “Original” size option very handy in the past. However, have you had a play with the “Size/Position in Pixels” dialogue? I don’t use the parent / child option to any degree to fully understand the ramifications, but I have been able to get some help from the afore mentioned dialogue box. Try for instance just clicking on the blue "size" label without putting any numbers in the box. Sorry if this doesn’t help but I thought it worth mentioning. Regards P.S. - Had another look and perhaps its too obvious! John

Hi, I wondered if anybody has had any experience with Lightroom? I have recently downloaded the trial offer and am most impressed. On the face of it, in most occasions, I could see it eliminating the use of Photoshop. Working directly from the RAW file you have the ability to make most of the changes you are likely to wish to carry out in Photoshop, including any cropping and resizing. It caters for batching many processes; if that is something you are comfortable with. As you would expect, should you require to use Photoshop, or indeed any other image editor (I would need to double check that), a click of a button gets you there seamlessly. Equally important, it is a first class filing system, much better than Bridge, it would appear, from my initial play. My reason for looking at Lightroom is that I am presently trying to improve my filing system and this appears to help me do that with the least upheaval. It allows me to continue with my existing basic windows file structure, yet with the use of tags, enables me to find images more efficiently than it is now becoming. In all respects it appears to provide a "one stop shop" solution. I would welcome any views or experiences. Regards John

John, I could not agree more regarding your point of simplifying things. I have to say that I am at this point in time just a little bit concerned about what is about to come with the latest upgrade. I do hope the Igor has taken the opportunity to rationalise things like this, rather than introduce yet more "fancy" facilities, that no doubt will be of the highest calibre, but in my view, less valuable at this point in time than a tidy up of what we have. Just stirring!! But my tongue is NOT in my cheek! Regards John P.S. Will be happy to swallow my words come release.

Linda, Please don't get the wrong message what Lin has suggested is a fantastic tool. In deed I'm sure it was he who put me on to it and I use it frequently and successfully. However there is another option you may wish to consider. It is one I have found myself using increasingly recently. I have an external portable hard drive (they are dropping in price and size as we speak) on which I gather (copy) ALL the data used in the project. I can then use this on any PC or laptop, my own or somebody else's machine. I find this great when collaborating with other people (face to face). It also of course adds a further element of security by doubling up on back up. It may not work for you. Anyway glad to see another convert to back up in zip. Regards John

Peter, Thanks for your kind offer. I have posted a sample at MediaFire and sent you an e-mail with the details. Regards John

Hi Yachtsman1, As I indicated earlier I am still learning so I can't offer advice but I can tell you how I have set up my H2. I have the Recording Mode set at 44.1 kHz (don't know what they are but there sure not pixels!) /16 bit. I have AGC2/COMP (??) set (Speech) and Auto Record is OFF I followed the instructions on pages 15 - 17 dealing with input sensitivity and have settled on a max recording level of about -12 to -6. The unit is about 27 inches from my mouth on a stand on a mouse mat. Only the front microphone is on. These settings, in my environment and with my voice, give me a quality I am very pleased with. Definitely no clipping that I can detect. Regards John

Sorry Peter, I can't add anything to this. I'm very much a novice and am learning from you and others as this thread develops. By the way it was Ken (the spy in the sky) who drew my attention to your request for feed back, by way of an e-mail! What a wonderful community we have here! All the best Eric. Regards John

Yachtsman, I see Brian has beaten me to it. Just as well as there is no way I could have given as detailed a reply. I have no technical knowledge and only a little experience, similar I suspect to your own but I will add some comments. I put together an AV about a year ago which lasted 25 minutes and had voice over, music and limited sound effects which was my first experience. It was for me very complex and I found I had to break it up into small segments. I used a USB microphone connected to a laptop and used Adobe Audition rather than Audacity. The recording/capturing of the music and sound effects were no problem it was the quality of the recording of the voice over that was very disappointing. I am now embarking on a similar project and that was my reason for getting the H2. So far I have been very pleased with the tests I have done. I followed the basic steps as given in the book of words. What I find is essential is that you find a location that is totally quiet - no PC running in the background, widows shut to eliminate outside noise, even a radio or TV in another part of the house can be picked up so you have to pick your moment! I also found using the little ear-plugs an advantage as they help to concentrate the mind on the job in hand. For me I must have a printed script, in a large font, that I'm comfortable with and have read it through several times practising how I should apply emphasis etc. A clear desk is vital as you will need to have the pages your script spread out in front of you, the sound of turning pages will be picked up. Regarding accent, unless it is exceptionally strong it should be no problem, but in fact a benefit. I am a Scot and Brian is I believe Irish both countries have very regional variations in accent which even natives can find difficult (Aberdeenshire/Belfast) never mind strangers, so these extremes would best be avoided. Above all relax, keep up the enthusiasm and break it down into manageable chunks. One thing I have noticed I have to be careful with in recording at different times is that everything is set up identically each time. i.e. the same location, the H2 in exactly the same location relative to myself and of course set up to the identical recording levels. Good luck, John

Hi Yachtsman, Yes, as it happens that's the way I went about it. John

Hi, I did promise to let you know how I got on with my H2. Sorry for the delay. It took over a week to arrive from Zoom4U.co.uk and only after prompting with an e-mail, to which I have to say, they answered very quickly. I was, for a while quite concerned as they appear to be strictly an internet operation and I could not find any other way of contacting them. However it all turned out well in the end. I have now started to use the H2 and am most impressed. The recordings I have made so far have been much, much better than anything I produced before using a mike and PC. The buttons are a bit fiddly but I suppose that is the price for extreme mobility. The transferring to the PC requires care in following the procedures accurately but so far no problems. Whether I personally will use all the features remains to be seen. In conclusion I would heartily recommend this product to anybody. Well worth the investment. When I think about it I paid about half the cost (£60 ish) for a mike that was supposed to solve my problems but didn't. Regards John

Hi, Thank you ALL for your replies. I have had a look at all the products that have been suggested and have decided to stick, at least for the moment, with IrfanView. My reason being that it appears to do all I, at the moment want. Lin's latest reply confirms, as I suspected, that the crop option is not really a goer, so I will stick with a resize. The purpose for all of this is that I am at the start of a new club project which involves hundreds of images from six different people covering about 9 locations and I am trying to set up a filing system that will be robust enough to see us through the project. These will be working images. Any need for PZR or selective cropping or indeed other PS work will require going back to the originals. Thanks again for your help and advice. Regards John

Ralph, Lin, Thank you very much for your help. I was not putting the underscore (_) in and probably had the $N in the wrong position. As soon as I did that it worked. Thank you all for your time. I couldn't believe that IrfanView could not do this as it does so much else. Can I try my luck and ask something else? I don't understand the method nor the maths of how to do a batch crop of images of different aspect ratios and sizes (3936x2624 (1.5), 2154x1587 (1.35)) down to 1024x768. I can get a re-size down to 768 (hight) but that then requires every image to be set to Cover Slide within O&A within PTE, resulting in an overlap of the image down each edge of the frame. This I could live with and indeed could well be the best way forward, as it leaves a bit of freedom to manoeuvre, that an arbitrary crop would not permit. It's just bugging me that I can't work it out. I'm just thick! John

Hi Lin, I have several batches of files each with individual file names (the title the author has given to the image) which I wish to prefix with each author's initials. Tron Kirk.JPG St Giles Cathedral. JPG I wish to change to- ABC Tron Kirk.JPG ABC St Giles Cathedral. JPG I also have batches from individuals who have not changed the camera generated file name (IMG 1234) where I have easily substituted their initials for the IMG with IrfanView. It is the former example I am having problems with. Thanks in anticipation! John potwnc Thanks for your input but I'm sure you will understand if I can do this with IrfanView that would be best. Regards John

Hi, Can anybody recommend a Batch File Re-namer (preferably free!) that will allow me to insert a prefix in front of the existing file name? I have tried but can’t find a way of doing it with IrfanView. Regards John

Hi, I am heartened by the responses on this thread. It seems that generally those who have recently made the change from SP2 to SP3 have not encountered any problems. However a few have stated some minor improvement in start up speed and a number have not detected any improvement. Can somebody explain in simple terms what benefits SP3 provides? I understand that MS may in the future stop providing upgrades for SP2 but as far as I detect they haven’t done so as yet. Regards John

Hi, I am sure there must be many, like myself, who are following this discussion with interest. I certainly and I’m sure many others, appreciate the views being expressed by those more knowledgeable than us mere mortals. Perhaps like me we are hoping that you will take the decision for us! My dilemma is that I am unsure what the benefits to me, at this point in time are, if I upgrade. It was quite clear several months ago that there were likely to be major problems if we upgraded at that time and we all appreciated the warnings being given and resisted the move. However these problems appear to have been addressed and on the face of it provided care is taken the upgrade can be successfully achieved. But why should I? What’s in it for me? I accept and understand the "if it's not broke, don't fix it" argument. On the other hand, it seams to me that realistically, whether we like it or not, Vista or a derivative, is the future (I can feel temperatures rising across the ether from here)! So perhaps one should bite the bullet? Go on! Somebody make the decision for me! Regards as ever. John