fh1805

Thanks Gerard, I was hoping a French speaker would participate in this thread.

Bruno, It sounds as though you have PTE set up in its default state. This will give you a random choice of transitions. To turn off the random transitions: - Open your project and then do "Project Options...Effects" Are all the transition options ticked? If so, click on the button at the top right of the Effects tab that shows two boxes without tick marks. This will turn off the automatic selection of transition effects. Now ensure that you have the "Enable transition effects" box ticked and also tick just Fade in/out in the list of effects. This will give you a simple fade between each of your images. You can then specify a particular transition effect by selecting the slide that you want and doing "Customize Slide...Effect" and ticking the effect that you want for the selected slide. All the other slides should remain as simple fades.

Congratulations to you and your team on another wonderful piece of work. You turn our hopes and dreams into reality. Many, many thanks.

Hi Bruno, When you talk about "effects" are you meaning the different transitions from one slide into the next or about the Pan, Zoom and Rotate features that can be applied to objects on a background image? Have you downloaded and read the User Guide manual? You will find this covers almost all of the features and facilities of this wonderful software.

Please can I put in another request for existing "Go to slide nn" values to be updated automatically when one or more new slides are inserted, one or more slides are deleted or one or more slides are repositioned in the sequence? In my opinion, the current failure of the software to keep the values of the "Go to slide" entries correct when insertions, deletions and moves are done is a MAJOR bug. It means the use of the product with this feature is not intuitive at all. Even a single slide coming in, going out or changing its position in the sequence means I have to re-check multiple objects carrying a "Go to slide nn" action to be sure that my change has not destroyed the logic integrity of my programming. I am working on a project which currently has just over 100 programmed buttons. It is an illustrated talk built around historic old photos and, as new material comes to hand, I add it in. For me, it is a major task to introduce two or three new images as, after each change, I have to check carefully that the "Go To"s still go to the same place that they did before I made the change. It shouldn't be such a big task. All I should need to do is change the slide list (insert/delete/move) and add any new buttons that I now need. All the old buttons should be kept up-to-date by PTE.

Lin/Ken, I confirm that. I too cannot access it (I get an "Error 404").

Ken, I think this is the thread you want: http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index....p;hl=Zoom+sound

Now your asking! Leave it with me a little while.

Yes! It isn't a zip of a sequence. It's a zip of a selection of audio files recorded using the Zoom H4 digital sound recorder. The images are there simply to show the environment in which the field recording was made. I guess I should have made that clear in the post. Sorry for any confusion this has caused.

As promised, here's the link for the zip file on MediaFire: http://www.mediafire.com/?pmegvdrjypm Be aware, the file is c.60MB and could take some time to download.

Hi Dave, I've used a Zoom H4 in a variety of situations and am delighted with its performance. Some time ago now, I posted a link to some early results of using the Zoom H4. I've just checked on MediaFire and the file is no longer there so I'll get it uploaded again and post a link to it when the upload has completed. Because the content of the zip file was a series of WAV files, it was rather large (nearly 60MB) - so it takes a wee while to upload - and download! The H4 has just three input Gain settings: Low - intended for recording your own voice indoors when fairly close to the mic. High - intended for outdoor recordings Medium - intended for situations in between. For voice-over recordings (i.e. done in a controlled indoor setting) I have the H4 set up about 12 inches forward of my mouth, 12 inches higher than my mouth and 12 inches over to one side - but with its in-built mics pointing straight at my mouth. (12 inches = c.30cm). I use the Medium Gain setting. The resultant file, when imported into Audacity doesn't appear to have a particularly strong signal. However, I have found that the recordings are usually so "clean" (i.e. free of any electro-mechanical noise, hiss or hum) that I can simply up the gain in Audacity (usually by about 9dB) without any unwanted noise intruding. Outdoors I have used the H4 at both High and Medium gain to record birdsong, waterfalls, streams, waves and steam railways. My normal approach now is to use Medium gain on the louder outdoor sounds (e.g. the steam locos) and High gain on the natural sounds. In all cases I usually have to lift the gain by about 9dB in Audacity as part of post-processing. I have been particularly pleased with the ability of the foam shield on the mics to combat the pickup of wind noise. Obviously, gusty wind conditions are a real challenge for even a profession sound-recordist but the H4's shield copes well with gentle to moderate breezes. I believe the H4's "little brother" the H2 is equally as capable - and a lot cheaper. Unfortunately, when I got my H4, baby brother hadn't been born! Will post again when the upload to Media Fire has completed.

Here is my vision as to how the user interface of the O&A window might be better integrated with the Slide List and Timeline views. I have assumed a "start point" of the Horizontal View in v5.5. When the Objects and Animation button is clicked the view would change to show: - the Timeline across the bottom of the window (with the ability to have it show the waveform as at present) scaled to fit the duration of the selected image - the Properties, Common and Animation tabs would take the place of the Folder Tree (i.e. they move over to the left side of the screen) - the previewed image would occupy the space of the File Panel and the mini-player areas combined (i.e. it moves over to the right side of the screen) - the upper and lower toolbars would take their places pretty much as now The keyframe points would appear on the Timeline display area. This gives us a better sense of exactly where the keyframes are relative to the soundtrack. Therefore we can more easily synchronize our animations to the soundtrack with better precision. The mini-player controls would be used instead of the current Play/Stop button. We'll still be able to drag the blue arrow to exactly where we want to start the preview of this animation. The Next/Previous keyframe buttons could be placed on the lower toolbar. There should be an option to show all keyframe points for ALL objects. When this option is selected, each object should have its keyframe points in a different colour and, when necessary, a different shape of marker should be used. I have found there are times when I struggle to get the correct overlap of animations across two or more objects. Being able to see all the keyframes at once could be useful in checking and correcting such situations. That's my vision. What do other members think?

Jim, I can't help feeling that you've approached PTE the wrong way. To try and build a 300 image "magnum opus" as your very first foray into the software is not the best way of learning. I'll bet that when you learned to drive it wasn't in either a Ferrari Testarossa or a "big rig". You would have started off in something smaller and more manageable. The same principle holds good for learning PTE. Start small and work up. However, given your admitted limited knowledge of the software and what you are trying to achieve, I think you would be best if you built two separate sequences. Your "finale" could then be built with the music track assigned via Project Options...Music tab. Doing this will allow you to see the waveform of the music track in the Timeline view and will allow you to get a feel for just where to place each image so that it synchronises well with the beat and other emphases in the music. Your initial sequence can be set up to call the "finale" sequence off the final image of the initial sequence. Whatever approach you adopt, have fun using the product.

Jim, Glad to know you've got past the problem. There should be no need to build your sequence as two separate projects. If deleting the last 50 slides has eliminated the problem then the sound file had to be associated with one of them somehow or other. You should now be OK to add these images to the original sequence. If you do that I would suggest that you always do a Preview (of the new material) before saving and always do File...Save As... and give each version of the project a unique name e.g. MyProjV1, MyProjV2. In this way, if you do hit a problem, you can always close without saving and then re-launch PTE and do File...Open.. of an earlier version. Finally, if you consider yourself a skilled computer user you can always open a *.pte file into Notepad. You could have done this with the file that was giving you problems and done a Find for the soundfile name. I would NOT recommend that you then delete that line from the project file. But you could browse the project file a few lines either side of that found item and try and pick up a clue as to which image it might have been associated with. If you do take a pte file into Notepad ALWAYS do a close without saving.

Hi Jim, The sound file can be assigned in several different parts of the PTE program. I'm assuming in the advice that follows, that you want to remove all the sound file references from your project and start that aspect of building the show all over again. First, go into "Project Options...Music tab" and ensure that there are no files listed at all in that area. Second, select each of your images in turn and for each one do the following two things: - ensure that there is no sound file mentioned in the Sound field that appears just above the "Customize Slide" and "Objects and Animation" buttons - then do "Customize Slide...Music tab": and again ensure that there are no sound files mentioned. If you find any soundfile references - remove them. Then save the project again (File...Save...) and close PTE. Finally re-launch PTE. It should open up the saved version of your project - which should now be free of sound file references. I hope this has made sense to you.

Mary, If I misunderstood your concern and went off on a tangent in my earlier reply, I apologise. I've just carried out a little test involving a background image and four overlaid objects; three of which "fly in" during the duration of the image. Initially the background image was the "Main image". In v5.1's Slide List all I see of this image is the background image. I do not see any of the objects that are visible from the start of this image. I see an incomplete representation of what my total image will look like. In v5.5-RC2's Slide List I see this image as it will be at the end of the transition. Those objects which have non-zero Opacity at the end of the transition are visible; those objects which have zero Opacity at the end of the transition are invisible. I see a much better representation of what my total image will look like at a particular point in time. If I now make one of the "fly-in" objects the "main Image" the results are as follows: In v5.1's Slide List all I see of this image is the "fly-in" object. No other objects are shown. I see an extremely incomplete representation of what my total image will look like. In v5.5-RC2's Slide List I see the image as it will be at the end of the transition. In other words, in terms of what is displayed in the Slide List, the choice of which object is the "Main Image" is irrelevant in v5.5. The Slide List thumb nail and the mini-viewer preview area both show the state of the entire group of objects as they will be at the end of the transition. The factor that influences what appears on the Slide List is the Opacity level that each object has achieved by the end of the transition period. Given that the Slide List can only show the state of each image at a particular point in time, I don't think there is any bug here.

Mary, I think you may be overlooking the fact that animations take place over a period of time. Ask yourself the question: which point in time does the Slide List show? In the Slide List, PTE v5.5 shows the image at the point in time where the transition into the main image has finished. If your animations start after that point they will not appear in the Slide List - and they cannot appear in the Slide List because that is displaying each slide at a fixed point in time: the end of the transition. You will see the animations only when you use Preview or play the sequence in the mini-viewer. When you wrote: "...it makes it very difficult to tell what I have on a slide just by glancing at the slide list", you were absolutely correct. It is impossible to know what you have on each slide just by looking at the Slide List. It always was in earlier versions: and it still is in v5.5. But, if you do have other objects on the image that are visible from the start of the transition, you do now see those in the Slide List thumbnail. I hope this explains what is happening.

Brilliant debugging, Igor! I've sent you the three pte files you asked for, but I guess you don't need them now.

Set at default = every 7 minutes. The whole sequence of commands took less than 7 minutes so I don't think any Auto Saves will have taken place (but the option was turned on if that fact is significant to the logic of the code you are checking out)

Igor, Yes, all three projects are built to 1024x768 pixels.

Hi Igor, I've just come across a problem with Release Candidate 1 (RC1) but I cannot re-create it. It is a problem that I have seen perhaps two or three other times since beta9. I never experienced it on beta 8 or any earlier beta. The latest occurence came about as follows: - My start point was that the installed version of PTE was beta11 - I downloaded and installed the RC1 version and let it take its settings from beta11 - I launched RC1 and it opened the last project file (AVSeq1) that I had modified in beta11 - At this point, the Folder panel is pointing at the Images sub-folder of the AVSeq1 folder - The File panel is showing these images - The Slide List is showing the images that make up AVSeq1 - I Previewed a part of this sequence starting from a point part way through and pressing ESC after about 10-12 slides - I then did File...Open...AVSeq2 (this resides in a folder different from AVseq1) - The Folder panel remained unchanged (as I expected) - The File panel remained unchanged (as I expected) - The Slide List was changed to show the images from AVSeq2 (as I expected) - I Previewed part of this sequence from the beginning and then pressed ESC after about 10-12 slides - I then did File...Open...AVSeq3 (this resides in a folder different from both AVSeq1 and AVSeq2) - The Folder panel remained unchanged (as I expected) - The File panel remained unchanged (as I expected) - The Slide List was changed to show the image file names from AVSeq3 (as I expected) BUT... ...the images displayed in the Slide List were all from AVSeq2. This was not what I was expecting. I closed down PTE, re-launched it and ran through those same steps again. This time everything behaved exactly as I expected it to - no sign of any problem. As I said above, I have had the problem of the Slide List showing the right filenames but the wrong images happen perhaps two or three times since beta9 was released but I have never been able to recreate the problem consistently. When beta10 and then beta11 were released I tried to re-create the problem but didn't succeed - and then suddenly it would happen. I would immediately set about trying to recreate the problem - and each time I never succeeded. It was so very intermittent that it wasn't causing me any grief. It was just annoying. As an ex-IT technical support person myself I know how frustrating it is to try and diagnose an intermittent problem. If I can get to the point where I can consistently recreate the problem, I'll package all the files up and send them as a zip so that you can take a look at the problem for yourself.

I have (or rather, my computer has) just completed the installation of Windows Vista Service Pack. I started the install process going at 11pm last night and left it to run while I slept. When I woke at 5:30am today the computer was waiting for me to give the OK to a re-boot. It took about 30-40 minutes before I was able to login again and resume normal usage. As yet there are no obvious issues. Everything I've tried so far is working as it was prior to the upgrade. One or two auto-started tasks that I had previously disabled using Advanced Windows Care V2 Personal (Iobit) had come back so I simply turned them off again. Note that the PC system was fully up-to-date with all automated installs from both Microsoft and Symantec prior to beginning the Service Pack installation. I make no recommendations about this Service Pack. I simply offer my experience as information for the Forum community.

Hi John, I think I see what you mean. I didn't do any zoom in on the Timeline ('cos I don't know how to do it!) but when I selected a slide at extreme right of the Timeline, the display changed to position that slide at extreme left of the display (so far to the left that its "To XX" tag was no longer visible and I had to scroll left to see it and click on it to then drag the slide to where I wanted it). Is this what you're "complaining" about? Because if so, you've got my support, too! Sorry I misunderstod your previous post.

John, It isn't the slide that is moving to a new position; it's that the position marker (blue arrow) is placed differently. The position marker now appears at the end of the transition for the slide that you have selected. I'm using beta11 and if I left click on a "To xx" tag in the Timeline and then keep the mouse button held down I can drag the slide to where I want just as before. But there is an aspect of PTE's behaviour here that I find very annoying: when I am working in the Timeline display and have selected a slide (via the "To XX" tag), if I then switch to the Slide List, that display is not positioned to the same slide. It is positioned to where I last had it positioned. The same behaviour occurs if I first select a slide in the Slide List and then switch to the Timeline: I get the Timeline shown as it was when I last used it and not at the Slide I have just chosen. Perhaps we need a new Project Option of some kind e.g. "Synchronise Slide List and Timeline displays" which if left unticked gives the present PTE behaviour and if ticked will cause the selected slide to be centered in the display when we switch to the other display.

Hi Jean, Just install 5.5beta, launch 5.5beta from its desktop icon and then File...Open... your existing 5.1 project file. Nothing could be simpler! And the modified project file will be compatible with 5.1 - as far as I know.