davegee

"Technically no problem. I'm thinking how to make it intuitive for user" :rolleyes:

Lin, Computer made DVD's can be PAL or NTSC but are not usually region specific. I make DVDs in PAL and send them to various countries - USA, Japan, which are different regions to here in the UK. Modern DVD Players will almost invariably play them, although they are PAL, because they are not region specific. Commercially bought DVDs are region specific where there is a copyright issue. DaveG

"In Slideshow.pte go to Project options | "More" tab and choose "Run slideshow" command, type "Menu.exe" ." That's what I meant by "link it back to the menu". I hadn't tried the "Run on any exit (including pressing of Esc key)" option. DaveG

Ian/Den, Make a two slide menu. First slide = 5000 seconds; second slide (copy of first) = 4 seconds. Make a slide show to go to and link it back to the menu after 4 seconds. Press forward arrow to go to second slide in menu and after 4 seconds the second slide show will appear. After 4 seconds it will open up the menu again. Endless loop - superb. DaveG

Congratulations on an excellent Beta 8. The "Run Slideshow" has been eagerly awaited by many and I'm sure there will be a lot of feedback on this. Well done Igor. DaveG

Ed, I tried it again on my XP Home Edition Laptop. Save Screen Saver from PTE to Desktop. Right click on the screen saver logo (same as EXE) - see attached JPEG. P.S. It occured to me - you are changing the file type from EXE to SCR in the drop down box? The right click / Install does not appear for EXE files. DaveG

Hi Ed, More info: I was incorrect about the placing of my original "Bracken.SCR" it was/is on a different drive. I just changed my screen saver and Bracken disappeared from the list of screen savers. The ".pf" file above was just a red herring. If I want to re-use the Bracken.scr as my screen saver I have to re-install from its location on the other drive. It then remains in the list of screen savers until I change it or delete the PTE .scr file. The screen saver uses the original PTE .scr file from its original location. DaveG

Ed, I made my screen saver in PTE and dropped the file on the desktop. When I right clicked on it I was offered the option to "Install a Screen saver" or similar. I just searched for mine and it is in C:\windows\Prefetch The original file was, I believe "Bracken.scr". It is now "Bracken.scr-19a3bc2d.pf" ?????????? Hope this helps?I also searched for System32 and that is not in the Windows Directory - it's in Windows\I386. I have XP Media Edition. DaveG

Have you tried putting the text into a frame (Parent/Child)? DaveG

Peter, I know it looks contradictory ("Size/Position in PIXELS of parent) but it is, in fact, a percentage related back and forth between PIXELS and PERCENT. (The CALE problem??). Therefore, May's point is valid, if indeed the problem that she sees exists. I spotted a similar problem elsewhere and reported it - I don't know if Igor has updated it. DaveG

Try viewing at 100% in O&A? Instead of adding text in PTE, add it to 5 JPEGs in Photoshop building up one line at a time - the effect will be the same. DaveG

Tom, I am getting the feeling that different brands work for different burners in different ways. I have three different makes of burner and each likes different makes better than others. Verbatim will not work on any of mine!! Sony are 99% good on all three. TDK are good on all three. Philips are OK if I can't get Sony or TDK. Like you I avoid Memorex but others swear by them. I don't think that we can recommend to others which CDs or DVDs are good / bad without specifying the make of burner we have? DaveG

If absolutely no other way is available to you it is possible to play the track on an external CD player and bring it into Audition/Audacity via your Audio card or a USB Interface. Although I use an Optical USB device I have to enter the Analogue domain between CD player and USB device in order to do this. If you system is sound and relatively hum free you will not tell the difference when converted to MP3 etc. DaveG

JP, I'm sure that everyone would like to see how the Cale method works on actual images. So yes please, will you post the templates? To clarify, these modified tests were done using 5.52? On the subject of the problems you saw in my full screen test at 1024x768. Could it be because I used monitors whose NATIVE RESOLUTION is 1024x768 and 1280x1024 whereas you are using the same 2048x1536 monitor to SIMULATE these resolutions? In my opinion, this is not the same thing. Tractor 1 works perfectly on monitors whose Native Resolution is 1920x1200, 1280x1024 and 1024x768. I only ever use Native Resolution on all of my monitors (3). DaveG

Your Graphics Card is always going to be a suspect here, BUT, the process you describe is IDENTICAL to the process I went through until I loaded a different MPEG4 CODEC. Read this thread: http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8918 DaveG

As well as a fast Dual (or Quad) Core processor with as much RAM as it is possible to get into the machine, make sure that it has a good Graphics card with 512Mb+ of dedicated RAM. Can you upload a Template of the project to Mediafire or similar so that someone can look at it? DaveG

Hello Xaver, I have sent you a personal message. DaveG

Probably the best thing to do is to post a Template of the Project in a ZIP file so that one of us can take a look at your setup. We can also comment on how it performs and give you an idea whether you DESPERATELY need a new Graphics card - I suspect that you do. DaveG

Loukas' description is a little sketchy, but it sounds a little bit like the CODEC problem that I had during the first few days of 5.6 beta 1? Loukas, if you are still around please come back with a few more details. Which version of PTE - 5.5 or 5.6? If 5.6, which beta? DaveG

Jean-Pierre, I have posted the results of my tests here: http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=411ad3b...3a805876665040c May I say that tables of mathematical data did not convince me that there was a problem – I needed to see the problem with my own eyes with actual images. Manufactured demonstrations using rectangles are also unconvincing. So I set about constructing a test using actual images at “Actual Pixels” (equivalent to Original Mode) to see for myself what the problems are (if any). TRACTOR 1 The project is FULLSCREEN 16:10 and all images (assembled images) used are 1920x1200 (actual pixels on my screen). WARNING - Please be warned that the result is VERY memory hungry and works at the limits of my system - 3Gb of RAM and a graphics card with 512 Mb of RAM. The first slide shows an image which has been split into 10 strips being put back together using panning. The result is a pixel-perfect black and white image made up of 10 strips which seamlessly join together appearing to be a single image. This reverts to the original colour image in steps. The second slide shows the same 10 strips being joined using a combination of pan and rotate. Once again the 10 strips join together seamlessly as though they were one single image. The third slide shows the original image, split into 25 rectangles each of which can be rotated and returned to the original state to form a seamless montage. The centre image also zooms – I have used this on just one image to avoid overtaxing my graphics memory which is already stretched to the limit in this test. On the basis of this test I could not fault the programme. It did all I asked of it with no visual imperfections. The resulting EXE file runs perfectly on three computers with differing resolutions/aspect ratios, albeit with some jumping and stuttering due to the size of the project. At this stage I began to notice minor problems at the extreme edges of the frame during transitions. I brought this to Igor’s attention and he said that he had failed to duplicate the problem suggesting that I update my video drivers. I was not convinced by this and have not done this so far. TRACTOR 2 - TV SAFE ZONE I now tried to create a version with a TV Safe Zone built in. I used the “% of the slide to show main image” feature to achieve this. As Maurice pointed out this can only be used if the “Level 1 Parent” has no keyframes and with this one proviso it seems to do what is required. A problem is immediately obvious in that children appear within the TV Safe Zone. There are ways of overcoming this and it probably would not be a huge problem because when the DVD is made and the TV Safe Zone percentage is chosen accurately the children would not be seen anyway. However, things now begin to fall apart and thin lines appear between the various strips and rectangles on a random basis. This led me to go back to the TRACTOR 1 project and try zooming the parent image while the assembly of the strips was taking place. Sure enough, the random lines began to appear. They also appear in the third slide where the 25 rectangles are zoomed and rotated. CONCLUSION On the basis of this test and the evidence of my own eyesight, Jean-Pierre, I agree with you and concede that 5.6 is flawed. Thanks to JP for his persistence. I hope that a solution is possible. Meanwhile, I will abandon testing 5.6 and continue to use 5.5 until a solution is found. DaveG

Maurice, Is that not the way that the "Cale" works - there must be a Cale on all images as Parent? DaveG

Xaver, JP's original is a 1.497076:1 project with a 3:2 image Are you seeing the red line in the Mini-Player or when you run Preview? DaveG

Xaver, I tried it again, just to be absolutely certain. Change to Fullscreen 15:10 No red line on my 1280x1024 No red line on my 1920x1200 On different computers. It is a Windowed Mode 1.497076:1 project with a 3:2 image! I would expect problems! Best wishes, DaveG

Xaver, I tried it again, just to be absolutely certain. Change to Fullscreen 15:10 No red line on my 1280x1024 No red line on my 1920x1200 On different computers. It is a Windowed Mode 1.497076:1 project with a 3:2 image! I would expect problems! Best wishes, DaveG

Hi JP, Many thanks for that. On point - I don't understand - If I change to Fullscreen 3:2 - Red Line Gone. Why use Windowed Mode?? I am making my examples show the same on ALL resolution/aspect ratio monitors. I thought that you wanted that too? Please wait for my example - in the next 24 hours. It has images - not rectangles - it has Pan, Zoom and Rotate of multiple objects - it shows the same aspect ratio on all monitors - there will be a version for computer and a version with TV Safe Zone for DVD (Globally changed) - ALL with no Visual problems. Best wishes, DaveG