Lin Evans

Thanks Dave, I'm wondering why the big bottleneck for Peter? It must be something in the routing slightly different for his location... Best regards, Lin

Hi Mary, I had suspicions that this might be part of the reason some are not using the "web-safe" version. I don't use I.E. on my 8.1 system, but I get the same warning from Chrome (or perhaps it's coming from the OS through both Chrome and IE). Best regards, Lin

I think it's just one of those internet mysteries. Some downloaded it in 5 minutes which is about how long it take me. Probably in one of the many different systems involved there is a bottleneck which throws a wrench (a spanner in your neck of the woods) into the process - LOL. Best regards, Lin

Hi John, Thanks so much for testing it for me! That's great news... Best regards, Lin

Hi Dave, Are you running Win 8.1? 8.1 doesn't use Microsoft Security Essentials, that's considered "obsolete" by the new Windows. It has its own built-in security system which is ostensibly better than Security Essentials and it updates itself with regularity. I'll upload a web-safe PTE file and test it since I haven't done that since perhaps four updates ago. If it still balks and does not automatically recognize the "web-safe" file as safe, I'll notify Igor, but I doubt there is much that can be done about it. It's very much like the situation with Apple where the zipped native Mac PTE file on the latest Mac OS has to have operator intervention to load and run because the file isn't recognized as coming from the "Apple Store." Apple's "greed" (they want a piece of everyone's action) just makes it very inconvenient and as long as Apple users put up with that arrogance, it won't get any better in my opinion. Best regards, Lin

Hi Dave, Actually, on my Win 8.1 system I get a warning that the show may be a threat even though using the "web safe" version. I think perhaps that the built-in security on Win 8.1 is like the Mac - it sees everything as a threat, even digitally signed executables. It's "possible" that others have seen this and just assumed that if they are going to have to bypass the warning anyway that they might as well skip the extra step? Best regards, Lin

Hi Ken, Wow! I'm surprised it ran smoothly on the laptop - that's good news. Best regards, Lin

Hi Frans, Thanks!! That's good news. It seems that it isn't too much for the majority of systems which people are using today and that's good because I really don't like to convert parts to video so that they will run on older systems. It compromises the image quality in many cases. Best regards, Lin

Hi Peter, Wow !! Two hours download - Thanks!!! Your 16 gig of RAM and GT 640 nVidia card seem to be quite sufficient. I'm hoping that the nVidia 750 Ti card I ordered for my old core 2 Duo Dell XP system will be sufficient. I suspect it will be fine. Years ago when I upgraded from my old nVidia 8600 GT to the 8800 GT I thought I had all the video power I would ever need. I had to shoehorn a 750 watt power supply into the old Dell to furnish the required power for the big power-hungry 8800GT which needed a power supply of at least 450 watts and a connection the little 300 watt power supply provided with the Dell didn't have. I almost had to bend the case to get the new power supply and all the cables into the rather compact Dell case and then the 8800GT took up two slots but has served well till now. The new 750 Ti only takes a single slot - will work with even a 300 watt power supply, doesn't need the extra power supply cable and is multiple times the power of the old 8800 GT. On paper it seem like the perfect match. I'm anxious for it to arrive so I can try it out. I'm actually glad I put the big power supply in because the system is whisper quiet. I can use a Blue Snowball microphone sitting on my desk for tutorials and there is absolutely zero noise from the system. My new ASUS powerhouse is great but it's definitely anything but quiet. I think I'll keep the old system as long as it will work just because of the extremely quiet power. The fan is so quiet and vibration free I have to put my ear on the the system and check the lights to be certain it's working. I leave it on 24/7... Best regards, Lin

Hi Luc, Thanks! It's great to know that the Mac version works fine. Not having a Mac I always worry that I may have missed something... Best regards, Lin

Hi Robert, It seems you should have plenty of power to render an h.264 - I'm wondering what might be the problem ... I have a similar ASUS with a 3GB video card and an i7 with 32 gig of RAM and it works fine for that. There must be some other issue at work other than the specs. What kind of failure do you experience? Best regards, Lin

Thanks Denis, I thought that might be the case with some of the older video cards and less powerful systems. My XP system is also a core 2 duo Intel and I have an old nVidia 8800GT card with 512 meg RAM. I'm ordering an nVidia 750 Ti card tonight to replace the old 8800GT. The 750 Ti has 2 Gig RAM and doesn't require two slots and the extra power that my old card does so it will not only be much more powerful but also consume less power. It's on sale on Amazon with free shipping for $138 U.S.D. Best regards, Lin

I'm not sure what his methodology was... he was creating all kinds of interesting geometric constructs. Some of them I could duplicate while others eluded me entirely. For example, the way he created Penser Avec son Pinceau will always be a mystery to me. I understand the use of thousands of masks to get the lines, but the brush and colors elude me even if I could use Excel like he did to generate data for the PTE file. I could use small color files to fill in the solid colors, I've done that in a few shows, but the brush strokes were a "stroke" of genius. Best regards, Lin

LOL - looks good doesn't it with 3620 video screens playing? Actually, I think JPD would have to have copyrighted it. He had one rotating in one of his shows from 2009 !! Of course we didn't have "styles then" and you definitely took the pain out of creating one! Thanks!! Best regards, Lin

Thanks Ken, That's good to hear. I didn't want to create a video display for the exe of the icosahedron because it would further increase the file size by a considerable margin. Best regards, Lin

Hi Tom, Yes, I just wonder what they were thinking - it would be, I think, a far more useful feature for the time-lapse purpose than for miniature simulations. I suspect the Japanese think differently than westerners. They are enthralled with things like godsilla and such so this may reflect that attitude. I tried Mercalli and it works very well as stabilizers go, but it takes quite a toll on image quality; so much, in fact, that I decided to use a tripod for all my videos to avoid having to use Mercalli or any other stabilizer. Best regards, Lin

A fairly common question I'm asked and I generally answer with a long winded verbal explanation of the myriad features beyond the capabilities of producing incredibly good and clean presentation slideshows. I decided to create a show which demonstrates some of the more esoteric capabilities of PTE beyond the normal slideshow of photographs. This one is too large for SlideshowClub so I'm posting it here. It's finished but I may have to go back and convert a part of it to video for those with less than optimal video cards. It runs perfectly smoothly on my rather powerful i7 Intel with a top-end video card, but the part of the show which displays an icosahedron with 3620 separate active video displays stutters on my old nVidia 8800GT card which only has 500 meg of video RAM. I would appreciate any feedback from those who have the bandwidth to download and try it about smoothness - especially on the icosahedron. Updated now and size will be reduced to about 278 meg - flaw found in copy/paste function causing dropped frames. Data reconstructed for smooth operation on icosahedron and spelling errors corrected in text. It's as smooth as silk on my old PC now. Both Mac and PC versions now online - I won't rework the video right now... http://www.lin-evans.org/pte/whatcanido.zip (about 278 meg optimized zipped Windows exe).. http://www.lin-evans.org/pte/whatcanidomac.zip (about 279 meg optimized native MacIntosh exe) http://www.lin-evans.org/pte/whatcanidozippedavi.zip (aboute 428 meg zipped 1280x720 converted avi) PTE Converted AVI at 1280x720 resolution is now linked as well above. Thanks, Lin

Hi Tom, My Canon SX50 HS has exactly the same feature with the same annoyance. They have blur at the top and bottom of the screen which can't be eliminated so this, in my opinion, excludes them from serious use for time lapse creation via the 10x speed video because it's apparently designed to simulate a toy or model capture. Best regards, Lin

It has a shutter release connection - that's all that's necessary. The intervalometer simply actuates that release as programmed. To be compatible the camera simply has to have the release. You might want to check with Panasonic or check your documentation and see about the type of shutter on your camera. My first impression is that it has both a mechanical and electronic shutter. It has to have an electronic shutter to do video, but whether that shutter can be actuated for stills and if so at what aperture, etc., are relevant questions to avoid undue wear and tear. I "think" you can select the electronic shutter or mechanical shutter. If so, then you will definitely want to use the electronic shutter for time lapse photography. Regards, Lin

My manufacturer, Harbortronics in Fort Collins sent me this: ===================== Hi Lin, Nice to hear from you! Ahhh, the good-ol CP990.... one of my favorite cameras of all time. The FZ150 does appear to have a shutter release connection, and we can make a cable to control it from our DigiSnap controllers. I have to be honest though, for short term time-lapse (i.e. a day), there are some really cheap chinese intervalometers that would work fine, and cost next to nothing. Our niche is now long term time-lapse, where the DigiSnap has some advantages. All the best, Mark ================== With that said - I think you can rest assured that the one Tom points to will work fine with your camera. Best regards, Lin

Hi Tom, There are literally dozens of free jpg to video converters available. Best regards, Lin

Hi Erik, I called and left a message with the company that makes them (Harbortronics) which is only about 20 miles from me. I'll let you know what I find out. Regards, Lin

Hi Eric, If you can tell me the model of your camera, there "may" be one available. I used to do testing for a company in the US which makes intervalometers for just about any camera. I even have one for my old Nikon CP990. Let me know the model number and manufacturer and I'll check for you. Regards, Lin

Hi Erik, A video mode of 1/8 th second gives you eight frames per second, not the same at all as a much slower rate such as even one frame per second. Nice time lapse can be done with a variety of speeds, but one frame per second is actually pretty fast. For example, if you are photographing a flower opening to the sun, you might want to set it up for one frame every minute or so. An intervalometer is an inexpensive accessory. Just buy one for your camera if you want to do time lapse. But keep in mind that the faster you set the intervals, the more wear on your shutter if you choose to use your dSLR. Regards, Lin

Hi Dave, excellent time-lapse and great choice of background music. For those considering doing time lapse, my suggestion is to buy yourself a camera which has both a mechanical and electronic shutter such as a little Nikon 1V1, 1V2, 1V3, or 1J series, etc. These models and a few others give you a choice of using your mechanical shutter or using the electronic shutter. Clicking away at one frame per second gives you 60 shutter actuations for each minute of time lapse. So a five minute time lapse will result in 300 shutter activations or 3600 frames per hour. If you are shooting for several hours and condensing the frames to display in a short period this can quickly cut into your shutter life rating. Shutter life on a dSLR is estimated by the manufacturer based on an MTBF (mean time between failure). Consumer quality shutters may be rated as low as 50,000 actuations but generally are rated for about 100,000 actuations. Does this mean that the shutter will "fail" at 100,000 actuations? No - in fact it's more likely that you will get upward of 300,000 because of the safety margins built into MTBF and the tendency of manufacturers to be very conservative on their ratings, but still even if you get 300,000 actuations on your shutter you are looking at a shutter life of about 83 hours (300,000/3600) and who wants to wear out their shutter and pay a couple hundred dollars for a new shutter for a few weeks of time lapse use? So the simple solution is to buy yourself even a used Nikon 1V1, or a new 1J1 (which only has an electronic shutter) for about $250 then you can shoot time lapse until your battery dies and really not suffer any undue wear and tear on your shutter. People have asked why using video on the dSLR's doesn't wear out the shutter. It's for the same reason. The mechanical shutter opens once when you start recording, then the electronic shutter on your dSLR takes over until the record button is again pressed and the mechanical shutter is closed. But to actuate the electronic shutter on your dSLR you generally must be in the video mode and this doesn't allow for slow shutter speeds such as one frame per second. I just checked Amazon and a new Nikon 1J1 can be purchased for around $250 with a lens! These are great little 10 mp cameras which have a rather large battery - very large in fact - and would make a dandy time lapse device. Because you won't be creating any time lapse video with greater than 4K resolution and probably only HD resolution, the resolution is quite sufficient and the cost is minimal. These little Nikons have an internal intervalometer. The highest shot rate possible with these is one frame each five seconds and the maximum number of frames per shooting interval is 999 but you will run out of battery long before your reach the maximum number of frames. It is possible to use an adapter with these cameras to power them externally. For example, in the field one could place a 12 volt auto battery and an inverter to use the external power supply and shoot the full 999 frames easily. It's also possible to use IR and remote to get down to two seconds per interval, but generally five seconds would be quite sufficient. Just a suggestion.. Best regards, Lin