JEB

Hi, There is one further improvement that I believe is essential. I believe that it would simplify and eliminate confusion if the text item were to automatically take say the first ten characters of that text object as its name (with the choice to alter). This would make life much simpler by eliminating the list of identical "Text" objects that have not been manually named as one gets carried away while in creative mode!!! Regards John

Peter, Yes I use this all the time. As I remember you can alto un-tick the box and edit the text all within PTE. John

Xavier, Why? What is the point of having the ability to type in text, edit it, select a font etc etc. within PTE and then suggest that it would be better done elsewhere? All that is needed is a little user friendly thought! No doubt there are times when your suggestion may well be the better option but as far as I am concerned for simple headings, as Peter explains much more clearly than I did, PTE stops just a little short of being user friendly in this regard. Thanks Peter. I should have taken the time to spell it out. I just can't understand why it's only you and I who find this irritating! Hopefully! Regards John

Igor, I know you are about to release another update which no doubt will be another step forward for this superb software. I've seen reference to new transitions etc. However I hope you have found time to improve the method of text entry in O&A. The present method whereby one has to select the text box in the Properties Tab of O&A before typing is driving me daft!! Would it not be possible to enable direct typing as is the case in Photoshop? PLEASE consider!!! All the best and as ever thanks for a wonderful product (which could be made even more wonderful with this simple alteration I believe!!) Regards John

Hi, Thanks all for your interest. I ordered an H2 yesterday from Zoom4U.co.uk. I'm just now waiting for it to arrive and try it out. When I have had time to try it out I will let you know how I get on. Regards John

Hi Folks, Once again this forum comes up trumps. I logged on about 30 minutes ago still tempted to go for the H4 but since reading your post John, and the links provided together with listening to the audio you posted at Mediafire, I am now setting about selecting a supplier of the H2. Thank you all very much for your time and trouble. Regards John

Tony, For what its worth I wouldn't recommend going down the mike route. See my post "Sound Advice". John

Hi, Thank you both for your input. Brain is now in overdrive. I will sleep on this tonight and take a decision in the morning. Xavier, I've often wondered what a podcast actually was. Now I know. I found it very interesting and informative. Clearly there are many ways of skinning a cat but this has been new to me. I couldn't have asked for more. Peter, If you weren't a Yorkshire-man I could have been offended! My initial instinct is to cast aside my national trait and lash out for the best no matter the cost. However your advise to go for the H2 seems to be being strongly supported by the afore mentioned podcast, at least technically. The only doubt that remains is the criticism of the buttons and the menus of the H2. That is what I have to sleep on. As a novice in this field these may be important factors that I could regret not taking account of and may justify the extra cost (Did I say that?) Regards for now and thanks again. I will keep you posted. John

Hi, After playing about for a couple of years with various mikes including USB I have come to the conclusion I should invest in a portable digital recorder. Whatever I do I still get a "gurgling" sound in the background which I suppose would be acceptable for an under water AV - but that's not my scene! I have heard a number of people over this time praise the Samson H4 and mention its little brother the H2 and can’t decide which I should go for. My needs, as I see them at present, are 90% voice-over, 5% interview (both possibly in different but controllable conditions) and 5% background noises (street scenes etc. but unlikely nature). What concerns me a little is what drawbacks might I encounter if I went for the H2. In other words what is the justification for spending another £80.00 or so for the H4? Your views, opinions and experiences would be very much appreciated. Regards John

Tom, Thanks for that. Just to keep you in the frame. I was, when I asked the question, sure I had asked it before but could not recall when? It's an age thing!! As it turned out I had some time back purchased Barry's DVD but had done nothing about getting Alien Skins software. I downloaded a trial version of that at the week-end and have had a play after watching the DVD. I have come to the conclusion that I can achieve what I want at this stage with PS filters so will not proceed with AlienSkins at this stage. Thank you for spurring me into action. Regards John

Hi Tom, I like both your shows. Anything about Venice is always of interest to me. Love the place! Tell me, how do you apply the paint effect? I presume you are using one or perhaps more of the PS filters. I had a play to try to create the same sort of effect last night but got nowhere near! A couple of clues would be appreciated. Regards John

Dofminster, This sounds very like your images are too big. Have you resized them since taking them off your camera? What size are they typically? Regards John

Hi, Clearly there is considerable concern being expressed regarding the future direction of this wonderful package. Diverse views are being expressed and we are extremely fortunate to be in the position where we know that these opinions are genuinely being taken into account. The original “sizing” issue raised by Igor is certainly complex and it is clear there are different ways of addressing it. However, the issue regarding usability of the product is intrinsically linked and VITALY important. WE all know that this product produces the highest quality end result available to the general public. However, if we are entirely honest with ourselves, we have to recognise that many people coming to this product (or any other for that matter) for the first time find it daunting and the quality benefits to many at this early stage of their experience become blurred at the least. Sadly some give up at this stage, some may move to other perceived, user-friendlier products, which will have easy to use bells and whistles. It may be that in time they see the error of their ways but by then the word is out and somebody else is spreading the word that PTE is a complex and difficult programme to use. That is the reality of the situation and I guess Igor is well aware of that. I agree that it is in our (we the users and Winsoft) best interests that Igor be given time to re-group before introducing new features. Perhaps the Basic/Advanced/Full and Jean-Pierre’s technique (though a more descriptive title would be a must) proposals should be part of that. However, there have been many suggestions made in the past for “tidying up” PTE that in my view would go a long way to improving the initial impression of the product to the novice and they must where possible be part of this process. Sometimes we who are familiar with certain procedures don’t realize that others are unaware of the solution. Regards John

Jean-Pierre, Thank you for taking the trouble, particularly given the language problem, to provide an illustration of your technique. I think I now understand the principal of your method more clearly. I am tempted to use the overused used phrase "it's easy when you know how" as there is a great deal of truth in that statement. However, as someone who is not naturally technical I still get a great deal of satisfaction from utilizing "work a rounds" if that is the correct phrase to use, I can't help believe that if PTE is to continue to attract new users there have to be some operational compromises. I think it is very important that innovative users such as yourself and many others are able to continue to push the boundaries and have a product that enables them to do just that. The danger is, as has been recognized, that non technical people will be put off. I feel sure than Igor and his team will deliberate on all that is being said and come up with solutions that enables the novice and the expert to benefit. It seems to me for instance that your technique could be "automated" as an option, for simple uncomplicated situations without taking away the flexibility for those who wish to use the process in a more personal way. But then as I said I'm not technical !!! Regards John

Jean-Pierre, I wonder if it would help people (it certainly would be appreciated by me) if you were able to put together a short, basic tutorial of your method. I suspect there a lot of people like myself who do not FULLY understand what is being discussed here. Generally I am more than happy to let those of you who are more competent and able to take the lead and represent the general view but I would like to have a clearer understanding of all that is being proposed. Regards John

Hi Folks, I am not I’m not considered to be trying to teach my Granny to suck eggs but this is a topic that is close to my heart. So please Mark do not take this as any criticism of your work it is certainly not meant to be that - its just me high jacking your topic! Ever since I came into this wonderful world of AV a few years ago I have heard many people getting excited about the mixing of different aspect ratios. However I don’t subscribe to the view that it is taboo, far from it, there are many examples out there of how well this can be handled – carefully! Barry Beckham has many superb illustrations well worth having a look at. For what its worth, I think it is MOST important to keep the number of changes to a minimum and ALSO to make them match as closely to each other as possible. In other words get as many landscapes together as possible then portraits in a batch before moving back to landscape if you have to. It’s just another factor to be considered when putting your images into order and it just may not be possible. I also think a slow fade works best. I have put a short sequence together folks may wish to have a look at, which I hope illustrates some of the issues and how they may be handled. At the end of the day it’s all down to personal choice and some images will lend themselves to this treatment while others will not. http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?yiuzmkvhv2j Regards John

Hi, Would it not therefor be more of a compromise simply to list each small mp3 one after the other in the Project Options location and that would give you the same graphic as one large mp3 but retain the flexibility you are looking for? John

Peter, I agree in principal with all you have said regarding the user interface. This is a superb product and we are very fortunate that all of what is discussed hear is read and considered by Igor and his team. I have raised issues myself in the past and have found them acted upon, so recognize the benefits of this debate. Incidentally, while on this subject, how does one input "help" instructions under the Help Button? I have never tried to do this until now and can't find the way it's done. Regards John

Hi, I'm not sure that I'm picking this up properly - but as usual it wont stop me from sticking my nose in!! My reason being that I do use this feature from time to time and would not like to see it go. Just for the devilment and to be controversial (as is my way) I don't think it looks unprofessional!!! As I see it there are two options available via the Show Start Up Menu pop up. Either you can have 1) an image appear in a window at the start of a show with the title that you have keyed in together with an option to include an "exit" and or "Help" button. or 2) a dialog box with author data as posted by Ken. But you can't have both nor can you have the additional info contained in (2) included in (1) which is a shame in my view. PTE wont let you do that. All the best. John

Peter, Got you. I confess I often work in much the same way regarding images, using the off camera image initially. Regards John P.S. I hope something comes of this!!

Peter, Am I picking this up wrong? Surely you would only insert into PTE an mp3 version of your WAV in precisely the same way as you would insert an appropriate sized jpeg rather than the RAW or high resolution jpeg. John (JEB)

John, For what it's worth I totally agree with you. However, I strongly agree with Barry and Ken with regard to the status of PTE in respect to its visual quality and I certainly would not wish to see that compromised in any way whatsoever. If Igor can implement these developments without compromising the existing and future development of the product on the visual side then I think it would be shortsighted not to do so. Let's not forget that things move on, if that were not so then would we have had digital audio visual as we know it today? I'm sure we can all think of examples of organizations and technologies that have ignored or failed to recognize the market that have disappeared from the scene. I know from introducing people to PTE one of the irritations that comes up regularly is the limitation of the present audio facilities. I personally use Audition rather than Audacity, only because I happen to have it and am more used to it. In the early preparation stages of a complex show I find that I have to have the audio running separately on my laptop while PTE is running along side on my desktop. It would be so much better if I could more closely synchronize the two elements at the later stages within PTE. For complex and lengthy shows where I am mixing sound effects, voice over and music I would certainly see me continuing to use Audacity in the initial stages. It's horses for courses I suppose. Regards John

Hi Peter, Thanks for your interest. I simply downloaded this morning in the usual way and PTE opened automatically ok and all was well. Having other things to do I only came back to it this afternoon and found the problems mentioned above. I have also opened an old Beta version (7) and get the same problems. I have also tried to open another .pte show from within PTE with the same results. While writing this it occurred to me that I have been opening PTE via my PTE desktop icon which of course opens the last job (the one with the problem). I have just tried opening other shows from their .pte icons and they appear to work fine. I tried to perform the same action with the .pte icon of the problem show and the problem returns. Clearly there is something happened within that .pte file that is causing the problem. Unfortunately it is a very big and complex job but it would appear I have no option but to start again as it is required for tomorrow night!!! John

Hello again, I have just downloaded again and got the same warning "Invalid floating point operation" then on clicking on Cancel m/c froze and had to exit PTE. I then got the following message - "TPteEngine" Disposing (D:\D_Common\WinLib\Win32\wpTypes.pas,line539) Regards John

Good afternoon Igor, Since downloading 5.52 this morning I have experienced the following problem. This did not occur immediately but later in the day. When opening PTE I get the following warning "Invalid floating point operation". If I ignore this by clicking on the red cross the programme continues to open but behaves in an odd way. After inserting new slides into the slide list only they will appear in the preview window. If I click on any other slide in my list it will not open in the preview window. If I double click on any slide it will, as I would expect, open in O&A and when exiting O&A it will not appear in the preview window. I have also had the programme hang and have had to exit. I will try to download again to see if that clears the problem and report again when I have tested it. Regards John