KyDan

Just one final follow up. Thank you all for your help over the years and recently for suggestions in this thread. The OBS project software suggested by Aginum works wonderfully. I'm sure it's a powerful tool for me- I was able to figure out how to record my PC screen fairly easily. The resulting MKV file has no obvious loss of quality and the 60 fps record rate is smooth to view. You all have helped me immensely over many years. My hat is off and I bow to you! Peace! Dan in Kentucky, USA

Cela marche! Merci beaucoup!

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll definitely give it a try. Unfortunately it won't install. Apparently I need a different video board or something....

Greetings! I'm a pure PTE novice but I've been dabbling since around 2005. I have a few early slide shows that I saved as exe files. Can you suggest any way to convert or even screen grab/record them into a viewable mp4? Even if quality was downgraded I'd just like to be able to view them on a TV from a usb drive. They still look fine on my Windows PC when ran as exe. Just looking for any option to bring them into the present as far as viewability. Thanks so much for all your help over the past .... 20 years! Dan in Kentucky OH sorry! I just searched my old posts and apparently I asked this same question back in 2014. Maybe there are new options today for screen grab? thanks!!

Thanks very much! It's not a big deal. I have only 2 exe files in question so it's not worth much extra effort. I just thought there -might- be a way for P2E to do it. Those exe files were done on a previous computer with limited muscle power and somewhat limited hard drive space. Anything I do today is saved as exe, dvd and mp4 so sharing is easy. Peace! KyDan

Unfortunately I don't have original source material. Those files are scattered all over 2 computers in many different folders. That is why I was hoping to convert the exe file I created 4 years ago. Thanks for the rapid reply! KyDan

Please forgive me if this is a silly question but I wonder if I can convert A P2E EXE file into MP4 or MPG or MOV? When I try to share files online people are often understandably hesitant to download an exe file. I would like to convert some of my older exe files to a format that can then be shared on YouTube or Facebook. Can it easily be done? Thanks! KyDan in cold Kentucky USA

I tried a brief test and it rendered in MP4 and DVD and anything else I tried so I've got the deluxe version. I was thrown off because my earlier version had an expiration date found when I clicked help/about PTE. New version apparently doesn't have a specific date? The way I read it lasts until a new major update. IE when we move from 7.?? to 8 or above. At that time I'll need a new license if I want the upgrade? IF the 7.5 ver works as good as I think it's going to this one will probably be good for me for at least a few years! Many thanks to Lin and all you fine folks for your patience and support !

Thanks Lin! I did find that list and read or rather scanned down the list several times. My eye never did catch the "not the same as the above" so I thought #26 was just a file of all the others on that page. My bad. You know, I'd be glad to donate to your retirement fund! Really. Do you take paypal? These how to videos are THE reason I'm still here after all these years and the reason I still update my P2E subscription. I only use the program once every couple of years so I forget stuff in between. Without your wonderful tutorials I'd be lost and wind up using something from windows or google most likely. Peace!

I've just been looking at Lin's great list of how to vidoes but I need to go back to the beginning. I need a refresher on how to begin! Lin lists a video called Orientation and Menus - 11 Minutes 52 Seconds but I can't find where to download it. Is it still available somewhere???

Just a brief follow up on my Canon SX 130 IS. I'm pretty happy with it so far. Downside- it's a bit larger than pocket size but still fine in a belt case. Here is a photo that is deliberately back-lighted. I just used full auto setting. I moved just so the sun was behind a tree trunk and took the shot. I know it is not up to snuff for many of you experts but looks pretty good to an amateur like me! I've added it to my camera arsenal but it won't be my one and only take with camera. The little Fugi is still a good pocket alternative. A few comments on the video feature -- this camera has automatic image stabilization. It seems to be fine in single shots but often does not work well in video mode. In fact some of my videos have increased "shake" rather than reduced. I will have to shut it off for some future video testing. Plus side is the camera slightly mutes volume during zoom so the already quiet zoom motor is nearly inaudible in video shots. Focus motor is also very quiet. Wind noise is evident but also noticeably reduced from my FugiFilm pocket camera. Here's the back-lighted shot--

I'm not trying to steal this thread but I wonder how far you are from another great place called Colorado National Monument ? When I first heard of it my mental picture was of some sort of road side marker or a statue. How wrong I was! It's sort of like Monument Valley in reverse. In Monument Valley you are on the lower ground looking up at those huge rock formations. In CNM you're on top of the formation looking down. Here's one of my favorites

Loved your show Lin! We were there in 2010 and must have lucked into a slow day because we saw a few other tour busses but heard no speakers but our own and really enjoyed the tour of Momument Valley. If you're going to Zion National Park you'll probably either go thru Kanab Utah or be very close to it. FYI if you or anyone reading this thread is ever that way-- The Parry Lodge in Kanab Utah is where many of the western movie stars stayed during filming. John Wayne paid for the swimming pool at the lodge. You can go into the office area and dining room and the walls are lined with 8 by 10 autographed photos of hundreds of actors including John Wayne and John Ford. Jackie Hamblin Rife is a retired stunt woman and stunt double. She still works in the Kanab visitor center. She was happy to talk to us and gave us a signed publicity photo. There is a movie set museum across the street from the Parry Lodge which is worth a visit, it's free. We spent a few hours in town during our trip and really enjoyed the Hollywood connection to this little town.

Thanks Lin, I'll try that.

I have a brand new computer running windows 7. I had P2E ver 7 on another machine. I downloaded and installed ver 7.5 on my new machine. I opened the program and loaded the old license keys which expired earlier this year. I paid for an upgrade to the deluxe version and opened P2E again and loaded the new license key which came in an e-mail moments ago. Now when I open P2E and click Help it says Pictures toExe Deluxe 7.5 Licensed to me Standard Features: Free lifetime upgrades Question-- Do I have the latest version with all Deluxe features or not?? That line about standard features makes me think I've not got the full featured version? Thanks!

FYI- I meticulously cleaned the lens and took some more shots today. Here is one with plenty of contrast and bright light with deep shadows. Lots of fall color. We were adding a new parking spot at my son's house. It is not back lighted as my original complaint but it is very bright sun. I think much of my problem was a dirty lens. Other suggestions by many of you here will also be implemented by me as I learn to use this camera.

Not yet. My present computer is underpowered for HD video viewing and editing. I will have a new desktop PC in a week or two. I have not used PTE in almost a year. I have not used the new version with video capability at all. (I know, all you guys are going "oh, no- now he's going to want us to teach him how to do that") Once I get my new PC up and running and loaded with necessary software I'll be watching lots of those how to video produced by Lin and others. I was asking about MP4 conversion because I read an online review of this camera that said it gave MOV video files but they could be converted to MP4 with little or no loss. I assumed that meant MP4 were preferable file format to MOV. If PTE works with MOV files and my new PC runs MOV files as effortlessly as it should, I guess the only reason to convert to MP4 would be if I wanted smaller files that would be more easily shared online?

I'd appreciate your thoughts on video. This camera takes 1280 x 720 video. It makes a MOV file. That Mammoth Cave file is 55 seconds and 159 Meg. I know that MOV files may not be the optimum type but it's what I've got. Keeping in mind that I'm eventually hoping to incorporate some video in future P2E photo shows-- as well as keeping the video for archival purposes- do you recommend I change format?? Should I convert the MOV to MPEG4??? Should I convert them to something else? What type video is best for use in P2E shows?? IF you do think converting to another format is a good idea, can you recommend a program to do the conversion?

OK, I've got a lot to digest!! Thanks to all. Here is a link to a test video I took. This was my 1st day with the camera. It's nothing special but I was impressed that it looked so good considering how dark it was getting- especially down in the mouth of Mammoth Cave. It's about 150 Meg so it's huge. If you're interested-- Mammoth cave test video

Well I've cleaned the lens and taken some more shots. I'll post an example tomorrow morning. They do look better but still have some fog. We actually HAD some fog this AM so it's not a great test. I do think it looks better. Lin, wow you really made that little "bear cub" look great. Especially considering I had posted such a low res photo to begin with. Lin- Can you tell me what I'm looking for in the manual when you say "use bracket mode"? Is that a light metering setting or something else? Sorry to be such an amateur! (I've only been taking some sort of pictures my entire life!!) On another note-- my PC choked when I tried to view the video from this camera. Engineer son has been given orders to build Dad a new one. I told him my problem and he said he'd give me plenty of video horsepower in the new one. It (canon video) does play on my lap top but I only use it when we're "on the road". On a positive note-- the Canon automatically partially mutes the sound when you use the zoom feature. The zoom motor is very quiet to begin with and the slight mute during use makes it almost un-noticeable in the few test video that I have taken. Just in case anyone cares to see it-- I will put a short clip online and post a link here momentarily. In the video my wife is walking down the steps to the main "historic" entrance to Mammoth Cave. It was late evening and getting dark pretty fast. I thought the video was more than acceptable considering the low light. Back in a sec with the link....

Wow, thanks to you all for the time spent and the technical answers. I'll try to respond-- The camera was not colder than the environment. It was a crisp fall morning. No visible fog anywhere. I did just now take a real good look at the lens and it appears to have a fingerprint right in the middle Thanks cjdnzl for suggesting that. I'll do my best to give it a good cleaning. (Yes I have lens cloths and solution for this job.) I admitted at the onset that I knew the photo in question was backlighted and that is a bad thing. I couldn't move the sun or the gall on the tree so I couldn't fix that. Yes the photos are greatly reduced in quality using google picasa. I did that just so I could post them here and stay within the size limitations for this forum. I have looked at all the other photos that I've taken since I got the camera on Thursday and almost all appear to have some fog or milkiness. The only one's that do not are fairly dark. Cleaning the lens will be my next move!! Brian thanks for your technical help also! I cannot seem to find your PM but really appreciate your help here in the forum. I will check out that filter that you mention as we take a LOT of photos in the woods and occasionally on the beach! Snow shots, not so much thankfully!! I'll clean and take some more shots and report back. Also will do a factory reset as suggested by yachtsman if the lens cleaning does not give the hoped for result.

As far as I can tell with the camera set to Auto, I have no control over this feature. I looked thru the menu in Auto and it does not say what metering is being used nor allow me to change it. In Program mode I can do this. I just read the manual on metering and I can choose 3 ways in P mode. I will try some back lighted shots this way and see if it makes a noticeable difference. I'm afraid I am not very good at fancy camera settings! I just want to grab the camera and shoot. Auto is not as good as manual in some instances so I will have to try harder to learn some settings. The manual suggests "evaluative" metering for back lighted shots. It also offers "center weighted" and "spot" metering. I guess the "evaluative" is what you are calling "average". I'll try some back-lighted shots with those settings and see what they look like.

The Fed Ex driver delivered my (gently used) camera just as we were preparing to bug out for a nice camping weekend. I had already charged 2 pair of brand new Ansmann hi capacity NiMh AA batteries and had a new 16Gig memory card so I was ready to try the camera. We spent 3 days trailer camping at Mammoth Cave National Park in south central Kentucky, USA. This park would be a great park even if it didn't have the largest cave in the US under it. The park is also 56,000 acres of mostly un-touched natural forest. It has miles and miles of hiking trails. Now I have questions about this camera -- I know that any photo that is back lighted is a bad thing but sometimes you don't have a choice. Either take the back-lighted shot or take no shot. I have an example with a question. Here is a tree with a huge gall on the side of it. We thought we could imagine the gall as a bear cub holding on and looking at us. In the first shot I am shooting with the camera on automatic mode and the lens is not zoomed at all. I guess it's a wide angle shot. Even tho there is a bright overcast sky behind the tree this photo looks pretty good. In the second photo, I have zoomed all the way in at 12x to show a close up of the tree gall that we thought looked like a bear cub. In this shot taken from exactly the same spot, there is a lot of milky fog around the photo. I don't think my fuji camera would have done this. At least not this bad. I have a couple of other examples I can post but this one is typical. Is this milkyness normal?? Could I have used some other camera setting and avoided some of this effect?? As always, I appreciate your comments!

I googled for "Canon PowerShot SX130IS sample video" and found several. On one of them, they zoom all the way out and back. The zoom motor was evident but not nearly as noisy as the one on my Fujifilm. They had sound because I could hear waves and crows calling in the background. This makes me hopeful. Also saw one where there was some wind roar but again it wasn't as loud as mine seems to be. One other video was troubling. A camera reviewer called infosync world on Youtube reviewed the camera. He liked lots about it except it totally drained a pair of AA alkaline batteries in about 30 min. They said it was absolutely the worst battery hog they had ever encountered. For this reason I have also ordered 4 of the most powerful NiMh rechargables I could find. They're called Ansmann 5035092 AA 2850mAh. Other online reviews said they got decent battery life using these in the Canon. FedEx says it will be here later this week. We're hitting the woods for the weekend so I hope to have it in time for a little field testing-- fingers crossed!

I've ordered a camera but I didn't break the bank. Consumer Reports magazine gave a good rating to a Canon Power shot SX 130 IS Here is an Amazon link to the description if you're interested-- Canon Powershot at Amazon FYI, I ordered a "good condition used" thru an Amazon 3rd party seller. $90 US plus shipping and tax. I get the Amazon satisfaction or return it guarantee so I figure the savings are worth the risk buying used. As soon as I get my hands on it I'll take a small video or two and post links if you'd like to see my results. I know this camera won't solve my original complaints about wind roar and motor noise but I'm hoping I can overcome some of those with better technique. I can shut off continuous focus and refrain from zooming during video shots. That should cut down or even eliminate motor noise. I will try adding a tiny square of felt over the microphone holes to see if that helps any with the wind roar issue. AND finally I hope this video quality will be much improved over my current camera. This Canon is a body size larger than my current tiny pocket camera but I believe it will still be small enough to wear on my belt in a belt pouch. Film at 11 as they say! Thanks again to you all for your help. I'll be back with more questions once I've got it in my hot little hands