rmstevens

Eric, Open Video builder, click Help then About and the current state of your licence can be seen, Regards, Roger

Doug, My experience is that any titling should be put at the top. If showing to an audience generally only the first few rows can see the bottom of the screen. It might look good on your monitor but it can be annoying if you are at the back of a hall! Regards, Roger

I discovered that, using the latest version of PTE, that it is possible to pause a sequence using the space bar and resume using the space bar again. Also while paused, the right and left arrow keys can be used to step to various dissolve points. This is a useful feature when doing a public show. Regards, Roger

Yachtsman1, I always switch off my laptop screen when doing public shows. It is achieved on my laptop using function key and F8. If different, it is the key is marked in blue "CRT/LCD". Pressing the key repeatedly cycles from both on, projector only, laptop only. I find it a good idea to restore to laptop only before logging off. Hope this is helpfull. Roger

Yachtsman1, Don't forget you can get yourself involved if you post copyright music to these sites. Even for those of us who have licences are being advised by the IAC not to download currently to YouTube or Google. See - http://www.theiac.org.uk/central/copyright...ance-scheme.htm Regards, Roger

Hastinga, Don't give up so quickly. Before you log in, using create - publish on YouTube, make sure you select HD mode. Also in play mode in Youtube, select "watch in high quality" at the bottom of the viewing screen. Using this method has greatly improved the visual quality for me. Regards Roger

Thanks Brian. Deleting Cookies solved the problem. Regards, Roger

Also found the same problem. Incidently if you want HD quality on YouTube, Create using HD quality for PC or Mac. Afterwards log onto YouTube direct and upload. Regards, Roger

Dave, I do AV shows to other clubs. What I have done and many other people do is to switch on the Guest account (XP operating system) via control panel – user accounts. Log on as Guest user and clear the desktop of all icons. (Recycle bin is difficult but can be done). Create your own background in Photoshop typically displaying your group’s name or the event. Then just drop onto the screen icons of the sequences you wish to show. It is a neat way of showing your work. Regards, Roger

Thanks guys. It's worked well for me in CS3 using the Index Colour mode as instructed. Roger

Someone has just posted one of my PTE AVs on UTube.... http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=0bMUCeXN3z0 Apologises for the quality - the original is much better also the version I show to groups is a minute shorter. Interested to hear your comments please.

Brian, Thanks for that. You are absolutely correct. It is something I have been doing for years without any problems and without thinking. It is far better to obtain the required gain from the external amp. Regards, Roger

Many thanks to you guys of this thread informing me of the existence of a USB/Audio converter – Behringer UCA202. I am out regularly doing AV shows for various groups using an external amplifier and speakers connected to my Dell laptop via its headphone socket. More recently I have been having problems with poor connections within the socket. On reading your correspondence I decided to order one via the internet. I was surprised by the price range – up to £29 and similarly the p&p charges of up to £7. Eventually I found a company based in Southampton, UK (www.bluearan.co.uk) – their total cost £22.68 including 1st class postage. Ordered it on Monday evening and received it today (Wednesday) – excellent service including emails to let me know progress. I found the manufacturer’s instructions useless for my application but, connecting the USB to my pc, the device was quickly installed. I then connected my amp’s phono lead to the unit’s outputs and the result is excellent sound. Do remember to turn the laptop’s volume to maximum (as I did when using the headphone socket) to get the correct sound levels! Hope you have the same results Yachtsman1 and thanks again to everyone.

Hi Yatchman, I do think you are making this a lot harder than it actual is. My final pictures in the av do not crop or distort the original slides but do have black band top and bottom. This is going to happen when the monitor is not 3:2 ratio but perfectly acceptable if you want to see pictures as they were originally taken. The secret is to scan the whole of the slide at a reasonable size but 3:2 ratio. Then final crop of 1024 will result (with constraint on) in a height of 683. If you have a vertical, still scan 3:2 rotate and finally crop to height of 786. I am not worried what the resulting width is because all my verticals will have the same width. Hope this helps, Roger

Hi Yatchman1, I am actually the author of the article in the RPS AV Mag. I do say in the acticle that I found the optimum scan size I used was 2018 x 1344 pixels. After work in Photoshop the final image was cropped to 1024x683 pixels. I was faithfully copying the orignal slide sequence so felt I had to retain the 35mm ratio. I have never had any complaints of the black bars top and bottom. Best wishes, Roger

Gerard, Click on the icon at the top right of the main screen (next to "add sound") and this will enable you to replace main image. Regards, Roger

Ron, Select slide in slide list - Press customise slide button - under "timing" use drop down menu to select "wait for key press or mouse press to see next slide". This overides timed interval for slide and will only advance to the next slide when you click the mouse or use space bar. Regards, Roger

John, Don't use monitor tab use the Display tab Roger

John, I would not let the fact that a laptop has a wide screen format put you off from buying one. I have a wide screen laptop and to overcome the aspect ratio I do the following:- Right click on desktop, select Properties then Settings, Advance, Display and click Panel. Click button for "Expand while maintaining aspect ratio" then apply. You may have to toggle between the two buttons to make it work. Hope this is helpful. Roger

Igor, Photography Monthly www.photographymonthly.com UK Regards, Roger

Hi Paul, You don't register as such. Just run the programme and you will be prompted to enter key. Just point to where you have stored the txt file and you won't be asked again. Similar process when you press the video key. Have fun, Roger

Hi Paul, Very much enjoyed this sequence. Thought photography good and was cleverly matched to the words. Not too much PTE5 effects. Just would liked to have ambient sounds of the location in the background. Incidently was at Rayleigh to see you pick up your well deserved prize for Eye. Regards, Roger (of LCN fame!)

Peter, I had the same problem. When you go to registration, click on the drop down menu at the side and select Delux Upgrade. Proceed then to order. Best wishes, Roger

Patrick, Having opened a PTE session, it may be interesting to use "save slide show as" rather than "create" and see what the default directory it is saving it to. Could you have deleted the directory or need to point it somewhere else. Regards, Roger

Igor, Thanks for work on Beta 8. I have loaded it and tried again to create a DVD of 15 of my sequences. (I sent an email of my failure with Beta 7). Resultant DVD 4.2G and runtime of 1H25m. Works fine. Only problem two of my 10sec animated icons are missing (nos.8 & 12) they have been replaced by part of the "resave project in PTE5" warning logo. Regards, Roger