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Yes please, I agree Igor. A gap has appeared between the Preview from the Current Slide button and the Project Options button in the bottom left of the O&A screen, Igor I assume this is intentional as you are going to add something there? Also should there be tool tips on the next/previous key frame buttons and on the next/previous slide buttons in the O&A screen?

Hy everyone it's time for a stiff drink and a good lay down. Just turn off Automatic Updates then go to the update site when you want and do a manual update, selecting the updates you want and rejecting the ones you don't. I will be rejecting SP3 for sometime until the smoke clears and I see the effects it has. This is the way I have always used the update function and it has been successful for me. I don't like anyone telling me how I must use/run my PC weather it's using software I don't want or need, changing my screen size or interfering with the operating system.

Jeff and everyone, this link is to a tutorial Barry posted in another thread in the forum and shows the way he works on the timeline, (among other things), about 26 minutes into the tutorial. I hope it will clear up any confusion on his working method. The methods many of us use is close to, or the same as this I believe. http://link.brightcove.com/services/player...ctid=1497932147 Barry I hope you don't mind me putting this link up here.

Sorry Barry I missed the first question. Central Victoria, Bendigo area.

I think Al raised several good points and would like to second the two below. A simple play from start button on the mini recorder would be very useful as it would return the pointer to the start, (then using the stop button would allow working at this point), and also give the preview from start function on the mini-player. Better still just add go to start and go to end buttons to the mini-player. Being able to adjust the last images timing this way is very useful as this is often a title slide and adjusting it to the music fade out is almost always needed at the end of every show.

I'm with you Barry. KISp A simple exercise for everyone here. The next show you watch, (no matter what it is or where it comes from), immediately after the AV finishes ask yourself which is the image you most remember, then which is the second you remember. The first image, most likely, will be the best in the show and the second will be the worst. Occasionally it may be the other way around depending on if you are a glass half full or half empty person. My point is if we can lift the less than perfect images up a little in quality in our show the images the viewer will remember will be all good ones.

A very enjoyable show, one I will keep and look at again. I enjoyed how you carefully used the monochrome images in the AV and your choice of the music was right on the money. The section with the rainbow toward the end of the show was the highlight for me as the dissolves and the third images created were superb. As is my practise I viewed your show in a darkened room and found the images were not to dark, (nice and moody). When I tried it without my curtains closed the images did appear a little dark. John can I ask you if you used any images scanned from transparencys in the show? Some of the images showed a tonal range and a darkening I often get when scanning slides. Thanks for sharing with us. Ken. I'm with you on the cats.

There should be far more to the audio in a AV than music. It can be commentary, sound effects, sound recordings, music, etc, usually a combination of these, not always, (but mostly), including music. The way I see it the mix is about the following-- Images - 35% Audio - 35% Presentation - 30% If the audio consists of no more than any piece of music at hand, unsynchronised with the images the show can fail no matter how good the images are. I have seen many shows with high image quality that fall down and become boring due to mundane audio. Of course the opposite is also true. Generally when I listen to music, (all types of music), I will see images, many composers of classical music intended this hence the names of their work. The Pastoral Symphony The Four Seasons La Mer The Pines of Rome etc. etc. To elaborate on my working method, it's not always the case that the audio will come first, I will have in mind the ideas for the show, subjects, images, presentation, sound, and sometimes put them down in a rough script but at this point I will usually have a good idea of the type/style of audio I will use before most of the images are taken. Now back to your problem Colin. Generally in a piece of music there are many points of repetition, this is the nature of music after all, and at these points it is often possible to cut a section out and join the remainder without it being obvious to anyone who don't know the piece well, (those that do will usually forgive you if you handle the cut well). In your case this may not be possible as you have a fairly strict time to adhere to. You may be able to add some silence at the start/finish to lengthen the piece, then cut and also use some of the methods mentioned above, (fad in/out timing etc). Also the addition of some sound recordings may help you manipulate the piece by masking the changes. You are using several tracks by the same author, so joining them at an appropriate point, (with fades), may give you the timing you require. As your show is for a family reunion maybe just lengthen the final title and a slow fade to black will do as in my experience the family will start talking about the show as soon as they see the end title and ignore the fact the music and title are still on. Do this and fade the music to a low volume. If all else fails another piece of music may work better with these techniques. Good luck. EDIT 16:00Hrs....... As far as I know Colin it's not possible in PTE at the current version.

I almost always start by deciding on the soundtrack with only just the idea for a show in mind and work from there. Often I have the soundtrack worked out even before I start shooting the images. I,m with you 100% Henri. It should be fairly straight forward for Igor to do. Maybe not Brian. Igor has promised us basic sound editing, (which has slipped a little, now expected in v5.6-v5.7), and with a second track it would make minor corrections and precise adjustments much quicker on the fly. Dreams can come true!!

This is a very good suggestion André, I hope it can be implemented. A toggle would be needed to turn the function on/off.

Igor, when attaching Exif data (date, time, name, etc) to a slide with the comments field in 5.1 and previewing that image we could see the data. (see attached first screen-shot). In 5.5 we only get the Exif parameter displayed. (see attached second screen-shot). This is also the case when the image is displayed in the O&A screen. It is the same as before, (OK), when the slideshow is previewed in full screen.

You will find View in the menu bar, between Slide and Help in the top left of the screen. Peter we don't need a button for this function now as we work on the timeline in the main screen we can just drag & drop the image from the file panel to the timeline, as we do when working with the slide list displayed. One of the many excellent improvements gained with the timeline on the main screen. We would all be lost without our grandchildren!!

Peter, in the Timeline view try <CTRL+F11> to zoom in and <CTRL+F12> to zoom out. Also you can use View>Timeline Options>Zoom In or Zoom Out.

Ken, When is one piece of toast better than two? Answer: When it has Vegemite on it. LOL.

Regarding the issue of the slide sound field size I have proposed a possible solution, see attached screen shot. I feel the field is useless the size it is now. There are many of us, as well as Barry, who need this back and see it as very important, thank-you all for the time and effort to restore this function. Igor I hope you are getting some sleep during the release process. We can wait a day or two longer between betas so make sure you look after yourself first.

Mediafire has worked well for me John. Link here: http://www.mediafire.com/ You can post any file up to 100Mb and as many as you like for free. Just check you give out the correct link for the file/show you store there.

Please disregard this point in my post above, I have just found this function is still available by using the right mouse button and not the left as in previous versions of PTE, thanks again for all your work.

Well done Igor on yet another step forward with PTE. Several points regarding v5.5 Beta 1 -The ability to full screen preview the slide in the slide list by clicking on the image in the preview window has been replaced with the play from current position. This can be done with the play/pause icons add to the bottom left of the preview window so I don't see the need for the duplication of this function particularly when we loose the full screen preview of the slide. Can we have it back please? -The pixel size of image is also no longer displayed in the preview window when selecting an image in the slide list. This was also very useful when checking images in a show, is it possible to have it returned? - When a sound file has been added to the slide the file path/name was displayed in the sound field. This is now done at the top right and the field appears to be reduced in size therefore making it very hard to see the information. This is frustration when quickly checking files added to slides, there is less room on the screen so increasing the field size, I can see this would be difficult. Would it be possible to have a scroll function on the field, or slider? I also agree strongly with Barry and Andrew on the issue re changed functionality of the timeline.

A moving show Patrick, tell Paul I thought it was very well done. Your son is showing the same skills as his father with the AV.

I would like to see this implemented as well.

I think we are on the same page Barry. My previous post was an attempt to place the image importance within the context of the whole show. A very good and important point. I wonder how many of us create a script or even a story-board before we start to photograph/produce our AVs? In the twin projectors days we had few techniques available and this was, (to me), the most creative and important of them. Now with PZR, 1,000s of dissolves and many other effects at our fingertips I think we have lost sight of the wonderful effect the third image can have.

The words given to me by an "old timer" when I was just starting in the slide/tape area of photography ring in my mind -- "Your show is only as good as the worst slide in it" I have come to understand that this mainly applies to the pictorial, (or as some call it "chocolate box"), style of AV and like all rules there are times even there when it can be creatively broken. However as a guide it has been useful for me to remind myself of this often. We also must keep in mind the medium we are working with is Audio/Video and consists of 3 important components, -Audio (sound), -Video (still photography), -Presentation (the way we tie it all together). The images may be exceptional but if they are presented in a basic uncreative way the show is in danger of becoming boring. This is partly because the quality of presentation possible, (the creative functions PTE and Photoshop give us), and that being shown, now is of such a high standard that the medium is moving beyond a basic 4 second image with a 3 second dissolve with no variation in the show. Also if the audio consists of no more than any piece of music at hand, unsynchronised with the images the show can fail no matter how good the images are. I have seen many shows with high image quality that fall down due to mundane audio and/or poor presentation. The above quote now should be- "Your show is only as good as the worst image, the audio or the presentation used in it" ...Edit 9:25.... I must also say that the most creative presentation with the best sound mix will not make a great AV without the appropriate images at the highest possible standard that the particular type of show demands.

Just stunning Ken. Like Barry I would like to know more of the technical details of the photography, thanks for the link.

Glad you like it Barry. If I ever run into you when you come to OZ I will buy you a beer.

A very enjoyable show Jim, thanks, I will watch it again. I liked the presentation format and found the slow pace matched the images and the music well. Also the opening title was well done, regarding the closing I would prefer to see some credits on the music, photographer, production etc. rather than just The End. Maybe keep the panel format and put each in a separate panel. I had the same thoughts as Barry on this. Again I agree with Barry, (twice in one post this must be a first). I also felt many of the images were a little "grainy" there may have been a little noise introduced when the images had their colour saturation increased. Patrick is right about the sheep. as a general rule It is always better to have your subject looking into the image area rather than looking out the border. The image can be rotated 180 degrees in photoshop in about 3 seconds and if you try it you will see the difference. On my monitor, (calibrated with the spider pro), the background was not pure black, more of a dark charcoal gray. I assumed this was intentional and was not particularly concerned about it. You have captured a beautiful part of the world very well Jim, thanks for sharing it with us. Patrick, I always feel your comments are informative and I sometimes agree and sometimes disagree with them, but please keep them coming as they are always welcome and you make a large and important contribution to any discussion.