davegee

I tried adding an jpeg object to another JPEG and it still works. However, it sends the MASTER object. It also sends PNG files to the Default editor (CS4 in my case) but with NX2 set as editor it tries but fails because NX2 does not open PNG files. DG

I just looked at my V7 project and the option is there to send to my chosen software (NX2) from both the File and Slide lists and both do just that. If the software is not specified then the Default Windows Software for JPEGs is used, again for both lists. DG

DG

I can highly recommend the SONY range as being fully compatible with the PTE MPEG4s. Don't think that "bigger is better"! A 50" HDTV has the same resolution or number of "pixels" as a 32" HDTV so the quality of the smaller model is likely to be better than the bigger TV. What determines the size that you need is the viewing distance. DG

Jim, I don't know if it will help you but get the Temp location off your C drive - it shouldn't not be there. It's only at that location for "travelling". Use a different drive for ANYTHING that your software is going to write temp files to - Scratch Discs etc. By different drive I don't mean a partition on the same drive - that's just as bad. DG

Good call Peter, I'm getting the same when loading from a Template. But if you "Save As" before clicking the Publish Buttons all is normal. DG

Jim, Do you mean that you get only one try at clicking NEXT from the first VB page or can you get to the last page and then it freezes when you click NEXT? DG P.S. In the VB Options where is your Temp Folder located?

DAMN!! It's a good job I don't speak it then! DG

Mine does not do that it opens on the correct page for HD Video. Perhaps it is just the FRENCH version? DG

Good advice from Peter with one addition. The TV needs to be (IMHO) set to a completely neutral colour setting to get the best viewing experience from your MPEG4. DG

Jon, It's not a quick answer! If you use the DVD route you are effectively reducing your 1024x768 images to 720x576 and the DVD player is then interpolating the 720x576 back up to your TV Screen resolution. If you have a newish HD TV you will most likely have a number of options which are "better" quality. You could connect your computer via a VGA connector which, although it MIGHT have limitations, will allow you to view an EXE or an MPEG4 file at the same resolution that you would be able to set on your computer monitor. However this is an analogue signal. For the ultimate viewing experience I advocate the use of computer>HDMI>HDTV. This allows for the viewing of (up to) 1920x1080 resolution PTE shows on a 1920x1080 TV with virtually no losses whatsoever. This would also allow the MANUAL control that you want. The alternative to this is that modern HDTVs will almost certainly have a built-in Media Player which will allow you to plug in a USB memory key with an MPEG4 of your PTE show and play it at virtually the same quality as the HDMI route. This USB route will not allow the playing of EXE files - you have to use MPEG4. Swings and roundabouts - the MPEG4 is a bigger file but the advantage is NO CABLES. DG

For clarification: My standard approach to this problem is as follows. Click on PUBLISH>DVD Video Disc. You are now in the Video Builder dialogue. Keep on clicking NEXT until you are at the page which offers you the options of creating MPEG2 Files, DVD Folders, ISO File or Burn DVD disc. Turn everything OFF other than the ISO Option and click on START. Make a note of WHERE the ISO will be created (use a drive OTHER than your C drive if possible). Depending on the size of your project this will take a little while. If successful it will tell you so. If you have suitable software installed (I use ROXIO) you can double click on the ISO File and the appropriate Image Burning Module will open and you can write the ISO file to a DVD. The beauty of doing it this way (splitting the process into different sections) is that you at least have an idea where to look if things go wrong. The other advantage is that if you want multiple DVDs you don't have to start again in PTE. The ISO file can be used as many times as required. DG

Jon, There is one other alternative. If you have a laptop and a HD TV you can usually connect the two together and instead of using a DVD you can play the EXE file on the laptop into the TV in HD resolution. Best option - a TV and Laptop with HDMI connections but, if you don't mind the drop in quality, most TV s will have VGA connection so you will get a compromise situation where you will be able to use the forward and back arrows. Quality should be better than DVD. DG

The installer (the application file) is what you downloaded. (picturestoexe-setup.exe) Copy the key (or the whole contents of e-mail) CAREFULLY to a Word or Notepad document and store on a CD with the relevent Inataller(s). When I first bought PTE the current version was 4 and it used a different type of Key to the current one. I recently tried a little experiment with W7. I loaded v4.49 and installed my key - I was then able to load in turn, V5, V6 and V7 and each version recognised my original key which I keep safe in multiple locations. Don't forget that if you want to uninstall you should use PTEs uninstaller. DG

Many people keep each of the MAJOR upgrades for opening older PTE projects and making changes. I have V4.49, V5.8, V6.5 and V7 available to me. It is not essential, but projects opened and saved in later versions will not then re-open in the original version (correctly). It is also advisable to keep the installer for the original versions together with your Key(s) somewhere safe (off computer) for installing on your next new computer. If you decide to uninstall, Igor's advice is to use the PTE uninstaller found in the Programme folder. DG

Ken, It's been like that for as long as I can remember. I don't think anyone has suggested changing it before? If you are suggesting that the transitions should not be included in what I will now call the new MODE 2 then yes, if it also satisfies Igor's needs with regard to video problems, I would go along with that. The caveat/proviso is that I need to see both the incoming and outgoing transitions in the O&A timeline when working on individual slides in order to place Keyframes inside those incoming and outgoing transitions. DG

In addition to anything that Igor finds and/or chooses to alter, I would still be in favour of petitioning him to make the original mode the default and this new mode, if it is still necessary for catering for video anomalies, to be accessible when required through the View/ Advanced Menu. The original mode has served us well and does not need replacing or "improving" to any great degree. The new mode is not there as a replacement for the original mode and is certainly not, in the eyes of everyone who has posted here, an improvement over the original mode. It is there to be used when the video problem occurs - so if it is not required stay with the old method and save yourselves all this anguish. DG

Ken/Peter, Surely you already have everything that you are suggesting in the "original" mode i.e. both options turned OFF in View/Advanced? How would your suggestions affect the original problems which caused Igor to introduce this mode i.e. problems with video (cutting off too soon I think)? Igor has indicated that he is investigating and that it is a complicated problem. Let's await his findings. DG

Presumably the EXE plays OK? Have you tried making an MPEG4 and playing that in MPC Home Cinema or similar? Will the DVD play OK on the computer it was made on? Otherwise Tom's advice re: ISO file is good advice. DG

Xaver, I can see what is happening and there is a certain logic behind it. If keyframes were attached then the keyframes at the end of the incoming transition and beginning of the outgoing transition would be preserved when changing from a 4 second effect to a quick effect. The keyframes at the beginning of the incoming transition and end of the outgoing transition would then show as being in error (in red). There is also logic in this which I can understand. Where it all falls down for me is when applying these changes in a different order produces differing results. When applying two changes in the same custom operation the logic gets a little blurred. As I said above, if I alter the effect to quick in a custom operation and leave the slide time at 10 sec (in a 4/10 slide) it can be agued that what I am asking for is a 10 second slide with no effect but what I get is a 6 second slide. The logic in this is confused/confusing. DG

Totally disagree Xaver! Example: 10 second slide with 2 second transition - 2 slides. 2 seconds - 8 seconds - 2 seconds - 8 seconds. Use customize slide and ask it to change the slide duration to 10 (no change) and effect duration to to zero for both slides. The result is: Zero - 8 seconds - Zero - 10 seconds. I asked for two slides with 10 seconds Slide Duration and Zero seconds Effect Duration! Not logical. I would expect the first slide to have its effect duration decreased to zero whilst maintaining the Slide Duration at 10 seconds - that's what I asked for. If I set my Durations at 10 and zero and then add two slides that's what I get - two slides with 10 second slide duration and Zero effects. You must agree that there is an inconsistency and therefore a lack of logic. I totally understand the principles that Igor has tried to put in place but it falls down when changes are made and the results are not as expected. DG

Have you set the necessary option? View > Advanced > Set Graphical Editor. DG

Peter, Before posting an FAQ would it be wise to keep trying to get a comment off Igor? I can see no logic in the situation and it would appear that, under certain circumstances, a "bug" has been identified. When making changes to two slides at the same time the changes made to the second slide are logical. I can't see any logic in the changes being made to the first slide. We need a comment from Igor. DG

Geoff, Is my suggestion regarding placing the three images on the same slide totally unacceptable? Think about it: I manual mode and using three slides,unless your timing is immaculate, the sound is going to stop before (or after) the end of the third image. If you put the three images in one slide fading from one to the next, your sound and images can be synchronised (within that one slide) and the slide can be stopped awaiting a button press or automatically move on to the next slide. You have not said if anything else is happening while the three images are showing and the sound is playing - are you talking over this three image sequence? DG

The advice to everyone, at this point in time, seems to be that you should keep the two Slide Duration options unticked unless there is an overiding reason (involving video) to keep them on. Also, whichever mode you start with should be continued for the duration of the project. Secondly, when making alterations to Slide and Effect Durations and the two options are ticked, it would seem to be advisable to: a. Do them one at a time and b. Make changes to the Effects Duration before making changes to the Slide Duration (for individual slides). Otherwise unintended results COULD occur. Meantime it would great if Igor could make some kind of comment? DG