JEB

Hi All, Thank you all for your interest. I have actually purchased "Xara 3D" Vs 6 and it would appear to be doing what I want. I think it is an application that I will make a lot of use of in the future. Regards and thanks. John PS I have managed to download the PS Action but not yet figured out how to load it into PS but will continue to try to follow PS Help in this regard.

Sorry Silvia, This link simply takes me to rapidshare's home page. Should I be finding some reference to a photoshop action? John

Thanks Gents, I have had a look at their video, very sexy. I have also downloaded their free trial of Vs5. Once I have had a play I will probably purchase either 5 or 6. There is a good deal available on 5 at the moment so will have a look see if 6 is worth it - any views? John

Does anybody know where I can acquire type fonts that will give a 3D effect? I have used a font called Bastian, which creates the effect of leaning to the back and slightly to the right. I have been able to use that font in a fairly standard way in O&A with Zoom (from bottom to top) & Pan (large to small) to create the impression of the title disappearing into the distant horizon. However what I would like is to have the text appear from the bottom of one side of the slide and disappear into the horizon at the top of the opposite side. This I suspect would require the font to have a perspective adjustment carried out in PS to make the text larger at one end (the trailing end) than at the opposite end. I have tried in PS to do this with Bastian but it doesn’t adjust all the elements of each character proportionately resulting in something that can’t be read. Any advice would be welcome. I have tried searching on the web but have not come up with anything to date. Regards John

Hi, A method that works for me is to build the slides in PTE on my desktop. On my laptop, using Audition in my case, I build the commentary, music, sound effects. By referring to each, either with reference to their timelines or from time to time playing both simultaneously I can manipulate each element independently until I get to the point that I am satisfied and only then merge the sound elements to one track and insert into PTE. It works for me. Regards John

Peter, I would like to thank you for raising this subject as I have often wished such a tool existed. I'm sorry that you have put in so much effort but pleased to learn that at least you enjoyed doing it. Thanks John

I must add my penny worth and welcome you back. Delighted to hear you are well and raring to go! Like Ron, I look forward to an AV of your holiday! But don't rush - next week will do! Only joking - about the time scale. Best regards and thanks again for what you (and your team) have given us - it's fantastic! John

Hi, For what it's worth I have had the same problem recently and I even went as far as re-booting. I had a folder on my desktop in which I had temporarily stored images. While tidying up my desktop I found I could not delete that folder. I deleted the contents and left the folder on the desktop as I could still not delete it, even when empty. Before writing this response I thought I should double check - you've guessed I was able to delete the offending folder - problem solved - but why? John

Barry, Carol, Just watched your show - WONDERFUL - you certainly set the standard I would like to reach, but.......... Having had a fleeting visit there a few years ago it brings it all back to me. I MUST go back. Thanks for sharing. John

Hi, For what it's worth I think Peter S has summed up the situation very well (only because I agree with everything he says!). I think I have purchased (willingly) all of Barry's DVDs, I have certainly read all and have printed off most of the tutorials that have been made available freely by other members of this forum. My one problem is coordinating all of that information in such a way that I can easily access and cross reference all these resources. I am hoping that Lin and Jeff's work will be a starting point towards my reaching that objective. Thank you all for your hard work whether it is commercially motivated or otherwise. John

hastinga, I'm sure you could do it in photoshop by creating an action for the border (Edit/Stroke) and then via File/Automate run a batch and save the results in a separate folder to accommodate Ken's warning. Give that a try. Good luck John

Hi. Thanks for that Jeff. I was hoping somebody would put into words doubts that were going through my mind. No doubt everybody is right to some degree or another. Please keep it simple folks. We do appreciate your advice but don't always understand it! Kindest regards. John

Enening all, I would like to take this opportunity of thanking all the participants on this thread for their contributions. Having recently agreed to take on responsibility for digital slide presentation in my camera club I had started to panic as I gradually realised what I had taken on. Three lap tops and a projector. This thread has given me a degree of confidence that I am not alone, that there are others out there who have done it all before and more importantly are prepared to give their advice and experience to others. Thank you. John

Lin, What more can I say other than a BIG BIG THANK YOU I’ve not yet read it through in detail but if it is anything like your previous “instructions” and I’m certain that it will be, it will be explicit, accurate and easy to follow. I look forward seeing Jeff’s contribution either in a similar draft form or, if he is going to make us wait, as part of your completed joint document. Thank you both for all your work on our behalf. Regards John

Thanks Lin, I suspected it had something to do with screen resolution but couldn't have put it as eloquently as you have! For this project I think I will proceed along these lines though I am still experimenting with a number of other different options of which this is just one. Thanks for your trouble. John

Thanks Lin, That's what I wanted. Are you aware as to why this is not recommended? Regards John

Hi Folks, Can anybody tell me if it is possible to set the “Mode” function found on O&A / Common, globally, rather than in each slide independently? From what I can make out “Fit to slide” is the standard setting. Obviously I’m using Vs 5 John

BE WARNED – JUST A REMINDER Because I have a fairly good graphics cards on my machines I often cut corners and don’t down size images when putting a short show together for my own use. That was my problem! Even though PTE and my graphics cards could handle transitions very smoothly it was at the expense of the shadow effect. John

YES DID THAT AL

Hi Folks, Can anyone offer an explanation for a problem I am having with V5 deluxe? I am trying to put together a show of randomly sized images captured in a variety of aspect ratios 4:3, 3:2, 16:9, some as portrait and some as landscape. I am using a coloured gradient background in PTE and through Objects and Animation, sizing and positioning each image and applying a shadow to that image. I initially applied the shadow via Project Options – Screen – Additional Options – and ticked “Display shadow behind slide image” and clicked on “Set for existing slides”. The result is that at the first change from a portrait image to a landscape image the shadow remains as portrait. This continues for about 8 landscape slides, then when the next portrait slide appears, as one would expect, the shadow matches. Several slides later when a landscape slide appears the shadow changes, as it should to landscape. All is well for a further 25 slides or so where several changes between portrait and landscape take place and the shadow also changes as it should then it all goes wrong for a spell before sorting itself out again. I have also tried applying the shadow effect via Objects and Animation – Common, to no avail. I have also tried removing the offending slides and the replacing them into the show but this hasn’t worked. Could this be a bug or am I doing something wrong. Any ideas? Regards John

Esben, I agree with you, there is no one tutorial, however it has to be remembered that the tutorials that do exist have all been put together thanks to the generous efforts of a number of members who have given their time and expertise freely for us lesser mortals to benefit from. This WnSoft Tutorial Section has been put together over the past few months to try to help people find what they are looking for more easily than was possible previously, when Tutorials were to be found in the general section. However it is beginning to get almost as difficult as before due to the lack of structure. It was suggested that in time some structure would be put in place but this as you can see has not yet happened presumably due to other priorities. I would suggest that you look at "The Dom's" site which in my view is superb in that it has a sensible structure and contains the nearest you are going to get to a complete set of tutorials. I don't know how complete it is as I suspect that there are probably a number of goodies lurking in the WnSoft Tutorial section that are well worth looking at, and that is why I for one would like to see the same sort of structure being introduced on the forum. http://www.thedom.fr/share/dload.php?actio...ry&cat_id=1 Good luck. I'm sure you realise its worth the effort! John

Mike, I think you either do as you suggest or as I prefer build in some silence at the start of the soundtrack and load it via Project Options rather than Slide Options. John

Hi, Manfred, John< For what its work I work in almost the exact manner as John, however what I have found very useful during the early stages of putting the sound track together is to prepare that on my laptop and the PTE slides on my desktop. This gives me a better control of the synchronisation of both elements before committing the soundtrack (which may be made up of many elements such as a number of music tracks plus on occasion sound effect). Regards John

Hi, Perhaps I am being pedantic but can I ask you folks how you would define "own use","personal usage" etc? We all like to make AV's and perhaps some of us have even used copyright music from time to time! I'm fairly certain these criminals whoever they may be, have actually shown their work to people other than their most trusted friends and family and not always behind closed and bolted doors. Perhaps some of these shows have even been shown at camera and AV club meetings to people whose friendship and trust may be in doubt! Some may even have been watched by members of this illustrious forum! Your views would be interesting and hopefully enlightening and may be recorded here or delivered in an un marked brown envelope! Regards and I look forward to your opinions. John (That's an alias)

Ron, I have been out of touch for the past few days and have only today seen your post. You will perhaps remember making a plea for the use of templates on my topic of 26th June ""Project File Management". Needless to say I have now been convinced that this is the way forward as far as I am concerned. However as there is also a need for the ZIP option don't you think is may be appreciated by the many "unenlightened" if you were to give an explanation of the differences, advantages and disadvantages of each? I'm sure everybody would appreciate that. I for one have benefited from your tutorials in the past and certainly look forward to this one Thanks for your time and devotion to the cause! John