Lin Evans

Thanks for checking it out Ken! It's slowly coming along - As soon as Igor gets the User folder thing ironed out it will go very fast. Right now I'm having to manually transfer all the files from my development system to my Win 8.1 system and re-create all the styles I have already created. I can't export the styles from my XP machine and when I use the PTE create backup in zip, none of the files from the styles get included so I'm having to chase down their original locations and move them all to the other system and build them all again. Lots of moving from one system, checking values, moving back to the other system and inserting them multiple times for each of about 32 separate styles (16 for snow and 16 for rain). Once I get them working then I have to transfer my software which I use to create tutorials to the other system and it may not work under Window 8.1 so a huge problem which I normally don't have to deal with. Hopefully, I'll be able to get it all done before the weekend. Best regards, Lin

As seen in the Styles and Templates section, I'm working on some styles for snowfall and rainfall which, along with an AVI tutorial, I hope to have finished this week and make available to any PTE user. Below is a link to a brief example I made very quickly for a friend and published on the PTE Facebook Group and on her FB page. This is just a sample of what the styles will allow the user to do with amenable photos. The zipped archive when finished will contain not only a large quantity of styles but also a couple rain and thunder mp3 files as well as seven PNG files i've created of lightening flashes which can be used with your photos to simulate lightening flashes. It will also include drops of rain on windows PNGs which can be simply overlaid on the project to make it appear that the viewer is looking through a rain covered window glass. I'll include one style with a window glass so users know where to put it if they want to use any of them in their own animations. With proper timing it's possible to get vary realistic results I think. Six years ago I posted a rain-simulation to Youtube which was much more difficult to do than the way I do it now. It was just as good then but took hours to do what I can do in minutes these days.... Here's a link to the sample I created for my friend... I'll be glad to answer any questions... http://www.lin-evans.org/storms/stormsovercolorado.zip (Windows exe - about 20 meg) http://www.lin-evans.org/storms/stormsovercoloradomac.zip (Mac exe - about 20 meg) Best regards, Lin

Hi Denis, Could be - but they worked fine with IrfanView and other software (Kantaris Media Player) but not with PTE. I doubt it's the graphics card because both of my cards are pretty powerful - One is an nVidia GTX 750 with two gigabytes RAM and the other a GTX 760 (192 bit) with four gigabytes RAM. The particular gif has 30 frames per second... The seconds system is Win 8.1 and running 32 gigabytes of system ram with a fairly powerful i7 processor. I'll have to vary the frame rate and try it again to see if that has an effect. Thanks for letting me know that you were able to run a 1280x720 without problems. Maybe Igor can shed some light tomorrow... Best regards, Lin

Hi Dave, I've already created and exported a style from it on another computer (win 8.1) and it works fine. It's just on this system and it's not all the time. Sometimes there are styles in the Users Styles folder and sometimes not when I open PTE. It has to be a Windows issue or a hardware issue of some sort because everything works correctly on the Win 8.1 system with the identical files and procedures. I suspect it's one of those things where no answer will ever be found. There are no "forbidden" objects - but I did discover today that PTE will not allow a 1920x1080 or even a 1280x720 animated gif. It plays them in the mini-player but just gives a black screen on the preview. I sent a file to Igor but he's traveling today and will look at it on Monday. In order to use the animated gif I had to go down to 960x540 to maintain the 16:9 aspect ratio for the style. It's not a big deal but it is interesting that the larger gifs play on other software but something is causing an issue on PTE. It's unrelated to the current problem because I'm using a 960x540 which works fine... L

Hi Dave, I can't do anything at all with them except "use" them. I recreated one exactly on another system and it works perfectly and exports as it should. It's obviously a Windows/System issue. Perhaps a clue to the problem is that I also have two "User styles" folders. Both have workable styles in them but some of the styles simply will not export nor can they be found on any drive. More interesting info - Sometimes I open PTE and I have these styles available - other times I open it and they are not in the User styles folder... Guess I'll uninstall completely and reinstall on this system - some sort of really nutty system issue... http://www.lin-evans.org/rain/send.jpg Lin

I've created some simple styles and want to export them. I right click on them in Styles Tools but they don't appear as they should so that I can assign a place to export them to. Styles which won't work in the export function simply return the menu to the same condition as before the right click while styles which will export give me the new menu choice. The really interesting thing is that it's not "all" of them which don't work, only some of them. Some I can export just fine but others do not work. What's more interesting is that I can "use" these styles which I can't export and create a show with them. When I do an extensive Windows search for *.ptestyle searching each and every drive attached to my computer, these styles are not found. It's as if they are only being held in temporary memory while PicturesToExe is open but not written to any storage device. I'm scratching my head big time on this. My Windows search facility is set to display both system, hidden and normal files. Lin

Hi Judy, Looks like on the one minute snow for 16:9 you will need to make a quick adjustment of the mask... When I get a chance I'll try to make some for individual aspect ratios such as 16:9, 5:4, 4:3 and 3:2. I will also make several different styles of snowfall and perhaps rainfall and package them all in a zip file... Dave brought to my attention that the 12 second style needed some extensive mask manipulation to completely cover the screen with snow on a 16:9 aspect ratio. I've tried it on my own system and only had to adjust the top and bottom (the style was created on a 4:3 image) but there may be some interaction with different original image sizes. For example, if your original image has an aspect ratio of 16:9 and fills the screen, then only the top and bottom of the mask rectangle should need adjusting. On the other hand, if you are using for example a 3:2 image from a dSLR and your image doesn't fill the screen right and left as well as top and bottom, you may need to adjust both the top/bottom and sides of the mask. The "black" jpg which sets on the top level is designed to completely blank the animation "before" the transition to the next slide regardless of the type transition you have programmed or the duration. So it's best to highlight the black jpg, then drag the last two keyframes so that the last keframe ends just before the transition begins. In this manner, the screen will fade to black before the animation stops regardless of the setting of "keep full slide duration" and the type transition to the next slide. I will provide a complete AVI tutorial along with the entire set of rain and snow styles as soon as I get them finished. The style set will have separate styles for 2:3, 4:2, 5:4 and 16:9 aspect ratios for all rain and snow simulations as well as different types of snowfall and rainfall. I expect that there will be around sixteen snowfall and sixteen rainfall styles in the set (that's four types of snow times four aspect ratios and four types of rain time four aspect ratios). Also in the zipped archive will be the AVI tutorial and a short exe file demonstrating each. There will also be seven separate png lightning files and a few mp3 files of rainfall and thunder claps. The lightning pngs can be sized and placed inside masks anywhere on your images to simulate lightning strikes and timed properly to mach the sound. Best regards, Lin

Thanks Guys! That's apparently what I did sometime in the past - probably when I was too tired to remember... Best regards, Lin

In nearly every slideshow I create, I find myself having to open Transitions and uncheck "Custom Transitions." It seems there should be a user default setting capability for this. Perhaps I just can't find it.... Best regards, Lin

At a request I've made a couple quick "snow" styles. In the linked zipped archive are two styles - one creates snow in an image of your choice which runs for 12 seconds. The second style creates a 60 second snow effect. These "should" work fine with 16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratios but if for any reason you use them with other aspect ratios or if there are areas where there is no snow, just go to Objects and Animations and adjust the Mask Rectangle to properly fill the entire screen. Do this by just holding down the shift key and "dragging" the small "handle" on either side of the mask rectangle to the desired position. Perhaps when I have time I'll try to make some more sophisticated versions. These require a single image to be selected. Just unzip and extract to a folder of your choice and import into your User Styles in PTE... http://www.lin-evans.org/styles/linsnowstyles.zip Here's a 20 second hard rain style for 16:9 http://www.lin-evans.org/rain/sixteentonineraingif.zip Changing the opacity from 12 to a smaller number in Objects and Animations (animations tab) will lower the apparent intensity of the rain and slightly brighten the associated image. If you use an image which isn't a native 16:9 aspect ratio - adjust size to fill screen with the controlling "frame" in Objects and Animations... Please see updated information in the post to Judy below: Best regards, Lin

Hi Igor, Thanks - just a fun little project for a friend who posted the Fairy Castle picture... The additions of the chroma key extraction and alpha channel capabilities have opened new possitilities for using PicturesToExe - keep up the great development - we appreciate it very, very much! Best regards, Lin

Hi Jim, Not a "master" for sure, but I do love to play. Possibly it took not quite that long - the features of PTE such as chroma key extraction, alpha channel avi, 3d transforms, etc., make it very quick and easy to create animated shows with PTE. As more greenscreen/bluescreen material becomes available I think we will see it become used more in even serious shows. It's quite possible now for users to create their own greenscreen productions and as PTE continues to improve, I believe this will become even more useful. I'm waiting for some good weather to shoot some clear blue sky video of flying birds, etc., to use in chroma key extraction. Once I get a few done I hope to post some samples... Best regards, Lin

A friend posted a little "fairy" castle on Facebook with a message which said "Fairies Welcome." I made this little show for her in about 10 minutes just for fun: The fairy is protecting the castle from invisible invaders... http://www.lin-evans.org/fantasy/debfairyprotecting.zip About 15 meg zipped Windows exe... Best regards, Lin

Sounds like a great combo. I just received an email from Alexandre Jenny, the founder of Kolor (makers of probably the best video 3D panorama and still image panorama software in the world) that they had just joined forces with GoPro. I expect we will see some intereting software for the GoPro very soon... Best regards, Lin

That's a great little camera Dave - now you just need a little quad-copter to go with.... those are both on my "bucket" list.... Best regards, Lin

Hi Chris, No, that's not possible. One or the other and only for videos.. Best regards, Lin

Hi Tom, We're fortunate to have a close-by butterfly pavilion where I've spent many hours observing butterfly action. Maybe I'll get a chance to do some slow motion video there to help with sorting out the motions. Many years ago I did a slideshow and photography for them using PTE for the show. It's a fun place if you're ever in the Denver (Westminster) area of Colorado... https://www.butterflies.org/ You're welcome to use any of the green screen/blue screen video clips - I just collected them off the web... I noticed the synchronization - cool even if unintended!! LOL Here's a great site and this video shows in slow motion the full extent of wing movement: http://butterflywebsite.com/ShowNatureVideos.cfm?action=show&videoid=219 Best regards, Lin

Hi Igor, That's great news! Looking forward to the new engine! Best regards, Lin

Hi Tom, Yes it's indeed possible to use PNG and keyframes to animate butterfly and bird wings, etc., but difficult to overcome the stiffness of motion as well as issues of perspective. Some of the 3D software is excellent for more sophisticated animation but even animating a single butterfly takes many, many hours of work. On the other hand, bluescreen and greenscreen video along with alpha channel offer many great potentials for getting truly lifelike animations and are fun to explore... Best regards, Lin

Hi Chris - sorry, it was my fault that the upload didn't finish. I've changed the link on the original post to the project file for the slightly longer show and I'll repeat it here - this one should work. http://www.lin-evans.org/butterfly/butterfly2pte.zip Best regards, Lin

Took longer to post it than to make it... No need to reinvent the wheel - PTE Chroma Key Green Screen Extraction is great: This is just a quick sample - easy to realtime change background screens and/or add other insects or more butterflies in animation. http://www.lin-evans.org/butterfly/butterfly.zip (about 14 meg Windows exe) here's the project file to the expanded version: http://www.lin-evans.org/butterfly/butterfly2pte.zip here's an expanded version with changing screens, etc.: http://www.lin-evans.org/butterfly/butterfly2.zip (about 40 meg Windows exe) http://www.lin-evans.org/butterfly/butterfly2mac.zip (MacIntosh Version zipped native Mac exe - about 42 meg) http://www.lin-evans.org/butterfly/butterfly2.mp4 (use back button on browser to return here after running video) Added some more critters..... http://www.lin-evans.org/butterfly/butterfly22.mp4 (use back button on browser to return here after running video) Best regards, Lin

Hey Tom, LOL - he has incredible "off-road" capabilities as well. He was in a real hurry because he knew this was going to happen and he absolutely HATES it when Lisah catches him and makes him repeat his journey.... Lisah is hanging on for dear life on those tight turns.... HA! http://www.lin-evans.org/pte8/roadtripsample22.mp4 Lin

Thanks Denis, I'll give that a try! Meanwhile here's a variation which might be interesting: http://www.lin-evans.org/pte8/roadtripsample3.mp4 Use browser back button click to return here: Best regards, Lin

The Route Generator programs works well on my XP system using a relatively high resolution map and setting the codec to Cinepak by Radius. It takes the BMPtoAVI exe a long time to generate a 20 second route (several minutes) but it eventually does it well. The generated AVI is fairly large so I converted it in PTE to the default then exported the result as an MP4 after adding a PNG overlay to maintain the visibility of road text and highway numbers, etc. Just take the original map into Photoshop, overlay on a transparency then use the eraser to erase the route excepting the necessary signs, overpass, etc. This allows the route vehicle to be seen but appear to pass under rather than obliterate road signs, etc. I couldn't get the ffmpeg feature to work at all no matter how many versions of ffmpeg I tried so stayed with the default avi but not the uncompressed default which creates an absolutely huge (over a gigabyte) file for even a 20 second animation. The result link below: Use the back arrow on your browser to return here.... http://www.lin-evans.org/pte8/roadtripsample2.mp4 Best regards, Lin

I suspect that the Route Generator internally works almost exactly as Dave's original example. It most likely draws small lines between points on separate layers then combines them along with a small icon of a car, bicycle, airplane, train, etc., into a little video. It's a very useful utility. Best regards, Lin