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Everything posted by Lin Evans
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Wnsoft.com has been down all day... What's happening? Lin
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Hi Bert, You should be able to send the file as a zipped archive. It's the exe extension which is being objected to. Hi Ron, No, the safe exe file is digitally signed to make the operating system not flag it as a possible threat, not to make it necessarily appropriate to email. I think once it's in a zipped archive it should be fine to email but if not use one of the services like drop box or other file sharing service. Best regards, Lin
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Thanks Igor, We're having fun with PTE! Here's a YouTube sample of the second watch style with a little simulated layer shift on the orbiting moon... Best regards, Lin
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Hi Dave, Yes, the modifier angle shift and number of repeats is much easier than multiple keyframes and is a very nice time saver, especially if everything as far as the clock face is made precisely so that each division lands the second hand at precisely the correct position vis the indications. The reason I used keyframes in the little samples was because I wanted one style to work for both version 8 and version 9. Years ago when JPD was creating some amazing animations, he used excel to very quickly create the keyframe values. I've never really had the skills with Excel so have to do the old way. I remember when we first made the clocks and were playing with the sweep second hand we only used two keyframes also which, of course, rotates the sweep second hand 360 degrees in 60 seconds but the movement is continuous with no stop. Then someone wanted "click stops" and synchronized sound - LOL. I complained and said that a "smooth" motion worked like my Rolex but if it was to be Timex so we had to hold the position with the extra keyframe each second. Actually my Rolex makes eight tiny "beats" per second but they are so small that it appears to be a continuous motion. PTE 9 offers some amazing feature for sure.. Best regards, Lin
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I've posted another version with a different watch face.. Best regards, Lin
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You're welcome Nelson - yes, slowly. If I hadn't had the heavy TIA on the 4th I think it (my speech) was improving. Now I'm noticing that early in the morning it's much better than later and in the evening. Hopefully it will continue to improve. Thanks for the reply! Best regards, Lin
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Back in the PTE 6 area several of us were making watches which kept time. Panos FX had created a great Photoshop action which created a nice watch face and theDom and I were playing with different aspects of that. Panos' action for this was free, but not for commercial use so I decided to download an image of an old watch face which was copyright free and could be used for both private and commercial use with no royalties, etc., to make a watch. When Dave reminded me by posting a nice style for an analogue watch hand, I thought maybe some would like a watch face with a moving sweep second hand, a moving minute hand and audible clicks each second. Here's the little style for you to play with and a brief tutorial showing how it works. If you want to get rid of the band and just see the circular watch, just select the content beneath the "Frame" then "Cut" and add a circular templated mask under the frame then paste the clipboard content into the mask and adjust so that only the watch circle is visible. The sample picture has the watch face in a circular mask - with PTE 9 you may have to adjust the size of the watch face by selecting it in the circle mask. For some reason the size is slightly changed - not a problem with version 8. No big deal, just select the watch face and drag the corner to get the size of the face to match the hands. You may adjust the size and position and rotation of the watch with the controlling frame. If you want to change the color with version 9, select everything within the controlling frame then apply color filters as desired. Sepia makes a nice antique look for example. Sound works fine in Preview & Exe - doesn't work in video. Sent to Igor for Analysis. Meanwhile if you like this style and want to use it in a video with the sound, email me and I'll quickly help you solve that problem. The sound will work fine with video on both these when version 9.0.20 is released in a short time... The second style (Lin's Watch 2.ptestyle) is a plain white face clock - very simple face... data2@lpbroadband.net Best regards, Lin watchstyle.wmv Lin's Watch.ptestyle Lin's Watch 2.ptestyle
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Barry, did you control the bit-rate on all these or leave that to some default? Best regards, Lin
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Here's a little sample to study... Best regards, Lin http://www.lin-evans.org/nelson/oppendoor.zip
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Thanks guys - I'm improving, I felt good enough to mow my yard today. I refused to go to the hospital. When I had the stroke a year ago July 9, I spent two days in intensive care and one day in a private room and I'm still paying off the medical bills because the hospital didn't notify the Vetran's Administration and get permission to put me in a private hospital. This time I decided that other than run up a huge diagnostic bill and there's really nothing they can do - the damage has been done - it just wasn't worth it and that I could do everything at home. My speech is back sufficiently that my daughter in California who called me on the phone can now understand me. It's far from as good as it was yesterday when I made the tutorial, but hopefully will continue to improve. Getting old sucks! LOL, but considering the alternatives, I'll take it. This morning it took me over five minutes to type a single short sentence to tell my daughter that I had a stroke in my sleep. Over a period of about four hours I gradually got back my ability to type and spell. I have a little trouble swallowing water so will have to be careful for a while but it gives me an excuse to not spend so much time worrying about "politics" and just enjoy being alive... Best regards, Lin
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Thanks Nelson, It may be my last tutorial. I had another stroke this morning and suffered a major setback in my ability to speak. I can still type and think but not a clearly as yesterday. I suppose talking is a skill I don't need any longer... Best regards, Lin
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Hi Folks, A Cube Style with an explanatory tutorial - the tutorial can be seen on the Tutorials and Articles Page Here: https://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/topic/20665-cube-style-and-video-tutorial/ Lin's Cube Style For Images or Videos.ptestyle
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Hi folks, I decided to create a cube style and in doing so, I realized that we really never discussed all the different things possible with this type thing. Igor and the developers gave us a cube style in the Experimental Styles category and my style is created in an almost identical way. Only the controlling frame animation is different so what I show you in this video applies to both my new style and the PTE default cube style. What I explain in this video is that you can not only put still images on your cube, but you can also put up to six videos as sides. You can mix still images, animated gif images and videos on the various sides. I also show you how the adjust the position and/or size of the video or still image. It's just something some may want to play with and can be a fun thing for an introduction to a show, etc. Best regards, Lin Lin's Cube Style For Images or Videos.ptestyle
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Thanks Judy - she's really a special young lady... Best regards, Lin
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Beautiful imagery and perfect background music. The very interesting thing to me is how it's perfectly possible to have incredible images without all the hoopla over dynamic range. Nearly every day I hear criticism on photo and technical forums that camera A has better dynamic range capabilities than camera B and how that's so terribly important to photographers. I call BS on this. Yes for certain photos and perhaps for forensic photography dynamic range may hold great value, but these images are perfect examples of why it's (dynamic range) not the be all - end all for photographers. Sometimes expressed dynamic range gets in the way of an otherwise beautiful photo. Sure, you could have adjusted the curves, levels, or shadows/highlights on these photos to allow the viewer to see all the hidden details in the shadows and have rendered a show where the viewer could see highlights and shadow details easily, but then the entire damn mood would have been destroyed and the effects of the dynamic high contrast would have been lost. Congratulations on producing a product which does what it was intended to do rather than conform to the expectations of armchair pseudo-experts of which many have never produced a photo worth spending the time to observe! Nice job, Best regards, Lin
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Hi Igor, We all want nothing but the best for wnsoft and PTE and realize that it takes time and that it is progressing very well! Congratulation on continuing to improve what we all know is the finest product of its kind available!!! Thank you !!!! Best regards, Lin
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I agree completely that it would be nice for PTE to offer more and better options for handing video. On the other hand why would a "new customer" be any more likely to be impressed by AV tools such as video editing than by animation ability? AquaSoft Stages is advertising "animated camera pans, rotating title to ""make your videos stand out from the crowd"" I don't believe there is anything you can do with a video in AquaSoft that can't be done in PTE, but there are lots of thing you can do with video in PTE right now that you can't do with AquaSoft. How about video as a mask? Alpha channel video and using an alpha matte also as a video mask for alpha channel video? How about 3D animation of the entire video, not just rotating the video on center? Or even more fun, try to make a rotating, zooming icosahedron with 3620 individual video screens playing videos simultaneously, or the rubik's cube which Jean Cyprien created with either AquaSoft Stages or any version of mObjects. I'm not holding my breath. Point being that yes, the way of using multiple tracks for images and videos is a great idea which PTE could definitely use, but to call either of these products serious "competition" is a stretch IMHO. Again I agree that there is plenty of room for improvement in PTE's video editing capabilities and having multiple channels for both video and still images would be great but the cost of AquaSoft Stages is about 73% higher than that of PTE Deluxe and PTE Deluxe does much, much more. Just saying it's a bit difficult to visualize them being "ahead" in any functional way or even being serious competitors - PTE's only real competition is probably Proshow Producer... One must go to mObjects Creative, complete with a stupid "dongle" (which Producer did away with years ago) at $400 or 300% higher in price to get some of the major features in PTE. AquaSoft Stages just doesn't have the features available in PTE. We are in complete agreement that it's really not possible for AV products such as PTE or AquaSoft or Producer or mObjects to compete with dedicated video editors as editors, nor is it possible for dedicated video editors to compete with the AV tools in any reasonable way. Best regards, Lin
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LOL - yes, in terms of video editing having multiple tracks of video and images, but AquaSoft Stages is far, far behind PTE in animation capabilities. They finally can rotate an image or video - something PTE has been doing for years and years. They are on a totally different track of development as I see it. Not getting any traction with serious AV competitors that I have seen... From current advertising for AquaSoft Stages: "360 degree rotation In Stages you can rotate your images, videos, and titles the full 360 degrees. This looks especially great combined with animated camera pans as well as to create Prezi like shows or rotate titles, making your videos stand out from the crowd." Oh whoop! I've not seen any ability to change the center of rotation at all with AquaSoft and with even Proshow Producer, changing the center of rotation is awkward to say the least. 3D capabilities? Neither have any so for the price, it's difficult to get excited over AquaSoft Stages. Best regards, Lin
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Something to keep in mind. PicturesToExe is not a video editor, but rather a presentation slideshow product. The "competition" for PTE is not non-linear video editors, it's presentation slideshow products such as Proshow Producer, Wings Platinum, Aquasoft products, Animoto, etc. So to say that PTE is behind the competition in 2018 assumes its competition are video editors rather than presentation slideshow products and is misleading IMHO. The fact that the majority of serious AV competitors use PTE would seem to indicate to me that PTE is funtionally well ahead of the competition. To consider it behind would be to make the unwarranted assumption that the product was intended to compete as a video editor. It's rather like saying Photoshop is behind the competition because it does not have the video editing capabilities of Premiere Pro. The fact that you only use PTE for output to video is a specialized and somewhat limited use. Seriously good video editors have limited and awkward capabilities for still image manipulation and seriously good presentation slideshow products have limited manipulation capabilities for video editing. When I said that the two videos could be made to look the same, I was referring to the limited visible dynamic range on the Sony sample on the left. The PTE sample on the right showed greater dynamic range with the blues in the sky and much more dynamic range in the black gentleman's clothing and face. Not having the original videos, but only the screen capture, my comments were only concerning what was visible. The levels feature along with saturation, hue, brightness and contrast are all available for video as well as still images, but keep in mind that again, PTE is not nor does it pretend to be a video editor. It's a presentation slideshow product with limited video editing capabilities. Whether of not development wants PTE to be marketed as a non-linear video editor is something only Igor and his associates can answer but consider that the product name is PIctures To Exe, not Pictures to Video. At any rate, it's something worthy of discussion IMHO.. Best regards, Lin
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Weder Proshow Gold noch Proshow Producer haben 3D - beide haben nur ein Pseudo-3d, wo ein Objekt gekippt werden kann. Es ist nicht möglich, echte 3D-Effekte mit diesen beiden Produkten zu erzielen. Ich habe und benutze beide und sie haben nicht die "Maschine", die fähig ist, 3d zu produzieren. Dafür brauchst du PicturesToExe.
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Pierre, Please repeat your question in the Suggestion thread if it is a suggestion for Version 10. It's not a feature in Version 9 but you can set in Project Options a default font, size, color, position, etc., for the current project by using the Comments feature rather than the "add text" feature. Below is a brief video showing you how to do this. If what you want instead is a universal "Preference" then suggest that rather than a "Project Option." Lin commentstext.wmv
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Dave, Igor sees the question in both the suggestion and FAQ sections because of the link. The link was left in the suggestions thread. It was a question which has been asked before and answered elsewhere. I moved it to the FAQ section so more people will be able to understand that yes, it's possible in Project Options but only for the current project and not as a universal default. Users do not ordinarily look in the "suggestions" thread for information on how to do something. If you believe a universal font option should again be considered for Version 10 as it was in Version 8, why not post that as a suggestion yourself? It was posted as a question and my assumption is that Pierre wanted to know if it could be done? I don't see how anyone could consider the suggestion a "work-around" in any way. The question was about "Project Options" not "Preferences." A "Project" is the show you are working on, not a universal. So the answer is that in Project Options it's necessary to use Text Comment Customize Font in Default rather than Add Text or Hyperlink in O&A. If a universal font for all shows is something desired, then it should appear in Preferences AFAIK... In Version 9, which has almost run its course, it's not possible to set a universal font default. On the other hand it is quite possible to set in the Projects Options the font style, color, size, drop shadow, position, etc., for the current project. The post had been in the suggestions thread for nearly two months with no reply...
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Hi Barry, Logic would say that it should be worse going from 24 to 60 (12 frames less difference than three times 24) than from 24 to 30 (six frames ) but unless there is sufficient animation probably it won't be noticeable. I don't have the diagnostic equipment to test it, but I recall Igor saying that he doesn't recommend using videos at significantly lower frame rate in a show output at 60 fps because of the possibility of "jerky' motion. Then there is the issue of whether the video was converted to AVI and how that might impact things. On my 32 Gig Win 8.1 i7 system things which are jerky on my Win XP with maxed out RAM (under 4 gig usable) are ultra smooth and they each have about the identical video card. I also notice that even in an exe file where I have some motion such as elliptical motion of the moon in orbit around a masked video of a rotating Earth, there is a point in that sequence where the moon animation "jerks" a bit. It's completely repeatable but on my Win 8.1 high end system it's as smooth as silk. I can run the animation as a single slide on the XP and it's also as smooth as silk but when that identical slide is copied and pasted in a show with other significant animation, it's jerky at exactly the same point every time. When I run the same exe on the Win 8.1 system it's again as smooth as silk. So what I gather is that perhaps the additional RAM and superior OS is buffering more and the XP is RAM challenged perhaps because the cache isn't dumped and renewed. This may also account for differences in what some see versus what others see with video when a slower frame rate is played inside a 60fps video. What I'm getting at is that it may be that differential resources might account for what some see as jerky video while other see ultra smooth video. I've also found that some players handle 60 fps very well while others apparently struggle. It's not a simple thing but hopefully when version 10 is released many of these issues and problems will be solved if only by virtue of better use of resources and more dependency on hardware rendering for video. One can only hope... Best resgrds, Lin
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Barry, It will play at 59.94 fps but will be no better in animation smoothness than it was at 24 fps as far as I know. There will simply be approximately two frames for each original frame but the motion is not any smoother because of a higher frame rate. The original capture rate determines the smoothness and making about two blurred frames for each original doesn't change the appearance. Igor can correct me if this is wrong. Best regards, Lin
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Back in the early days around 2006 when version 5 of PTE was first released, there was lots of interest in making PTE shows using 3d Images. Lately I've had a couple emails from people who are interested in doing this and asking whether I knew how to convert regular photos to three dimensional photos. In 2006 I was interested in Lenticular printing, which is today used for holographic prints on things like driver's licenses, etc., and I had purchased a software called Pro Magic Lenticular Designer which among other things will allow the user to convert their regular images to anaglyph 3d. I made a couple little samples and other than a couple posts from a gentleman in Denmark, there wasn't a great deal of interest and the topic pretty much died. Now that it's possible to easily see our slideshows on television, there is again an interest being generated in creating 3d shows. There is at least one software company which produces a product to convert your videos to 3d so it's coming! With this in mind, I thought for people who have Photoshop, I would show you just how easy it is to convert any of your color or black and white images to anaglyph 3d. The anaglyph red and cyan glasses are available on Amazon and are incredibly inexpensive. Some can be purchased for under two dollars a pair including shipping! So below is a little video tutorial on how to do this. It just takes a few seconds and produces a very nice 3D effect for your color or monochrome images. I'm well aware that there are more complex things one can do with Photoshop, for example it's possible to make selections then change the amount of separation of red and cyan to a greater degree with features of the image which one might want to appear closer and diminish the separation in the background. That's for another tutorial at another time. The method I present will give a very nice 3D image for the vast majority of your photos and is a fun and quick way to enable using 3D in your PicturesToExe shows. With the enhanced masking techniques now available, it might be fun to experiment with parallax animations again as well - something to think about in conjunction with 3D images. Lin When you have finished converting your image to 3D as per above, just "save as" and save the image to a jpg and don't forget to add 3D to the name so you don't overwrite your original image.