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Igor, When I try to open the downloaded file with WinZip v9 it reports that the file doesn't not seem to be a valid archive. It suggests downloading again. I've done that and the problem is still there.

Just because something is unattainable, it does not mean that we should not strive to attain it. It is by trying to understand how others achieve their results and then adjusting that knowledge to the constraints imposed by our own budgets of time and money that we can advance our own skills. I may never attain the levels of artistic skill that Barry demonstrates in his work; but that doesn't stop me trying to understand how he does it. Nor does it stop me wanting to raise my own standards closer to his.

Patrick, Paul's visit to these places clearly made a big impression on him. I have never felt such raw emotion come through when watching an AV sequence. Your son is to be commended for his skill in expressing his feelings so well in this sequence.

Amanda, Now that you've resolved the problem on the XP-laptop, the next steps should be: - confirm that the same sequence works OK on the desktop-Vista machine - if you feel you need to (and this is entirely optional now that you've got v5.1 working) re-install v4.49 alongside v5.1 The only reason I retain v4.49 is because I prefer it for building "menu" sequences from which to launch other sequences. Having said that, I have recently built a couple of menus using v5.1 that I am happy with. So, my use of v4.49 is probably over now.

Amanda, For the moment, please uninstall v4.49 again. Let's keep the number of variables down to a manageable level.

Amanda, If you feel you would make use of both versions of PTE then it will not do any harm to install v4.49 again. However, I would advise holding off doing that until we've cracked your current problem. Now, you discovered that, if you remove the music tracks the problem goes away and if you add them back in, it comes back! So the problem is clearly associated with the music files in some way. Let's proceed from there. By the way, you mentioned that you had two PCs, a laptop and a desktop, and that one ran XP and the other ran Vista. Can I suggest that we focus on solving the problem on the XP system first. Vista brings it own little set of problems that we can well do without whilst we're diagnosing your problem. So, please confirm, using the XP system, that removing the music files eliminates the problem, and that adding them back in brings the problem back. I'll assume that this is the case and move to the next step in the diagnosis. You've mentioned music files (plural). So, what happens if you remove them all again and then add them one at a time (i.e you add just one piece back in and preview the sequence; then you add the next one and preview; and so on). Stop adding at the point where you witness the problem. Next, remove them all again and then add just the piece that seemed to be the one to cause the problem. Does this piece on its own, cause the problem? I'll await your answers.

Hi Amanda, PTE V4.49 and PTE V5.1 happily co-exist on a PC. Unlike some other software products, PTE does not uninstall the previous version as part of the install of a newer version. So, is it possible you are getting confused as to which version of PTE you are working with? When working on your PTE project, take careful note of the PTE version as displayed in the Title bar of the PTE window. Bear in mind that PTE project files (the ones with the *.pte form of name) are not backwardly compatible (i.e. project files produced using PTE v5.1 cannot be processed by PTE v4.49); whereas PTE v4.49 project files can be opened in PTE v5.1 (but if then saved using PTE v5.5 will no longer be compatible with PTE v4.49)

Hi Idofout, Welcome to the forum! There are no facilities within PTE to do what you want. If you are an experienced and confident computer user you could try the approach below. READ ALL OF THIS POST BEFORE STARTING TO DO ANYTHING 1. Copy the PTE project file (the one with the .pte extension) and call it something like yourprojectname-old.pte 2. Launch Notepad (or your favorite text file editor) 3. Open your original project file (the one called yourprojectname.pte) in Notepad 4. Carefully work your way through changing every instance of the old drive and path details to be a reference to the new drive and path details 5. Save the PTE project file using its original name 6 Check the project file out by launching PTE and opening the project file 7. Repeat the above steps for each of your project files If you screw up badly, delete the PTE project file (the one called yourprojectname.pte) and rename the copy that you took (yourprojectname-old.pte) back as the real name. If the above doesn't make any sense to you - DO NOT TRY IT! Instead, wait and see what other advice you receive from the forum members.

Hi Andym, In PTE you can attach music in two ways: - to the entire project via Project Option...Music tab - to an individual image In the discussion that follows I'm assuming you were trying to assign the music to the whole show. I'm also assuming that you have ripped the music into one of these formats: WAV or MP3. If you have ripped it into some other format, repeat the rip but save a copy as a WAV and another copy as an MP3. Before doing any of the checks I cover below, remove your existing music file from the project and replace it with the WAV file. Does this solve the problem? If not, remove the WAV file and try the MP3. Does this solve the problem? Even if you do solve your problem by doing either of these, please read on and learn a little more and improve your understanding of what is going on. The way to confirm that PTE has accepted your music file and assigned it to the show as a whole is to go into the Project Options...Music tab and: - confirm that the expected file is referenced in the big box - click on "Show music duration" Now, what results did you get? Was there a file reference in the big box? Yes - You did assign the music file to the whole sequence No - You didn't assign the music file to the whole sequence. You must have assigned the music file to a single image If there was a file referenced then, was the music duration shown as 00:00? Yes - PTE doesn't like the file No - PTE has accepted the file as a genuine and compatible music file If the duration was non-zero and the music still doesn't play as part of the show then I'm currently lost for further ideas. If the duration was zero, you have hit upon a problem that seems similar to that which I encountered using Vista. If you have added music to an individual image that is not the first image then you will not hear it in Preview or Create until your show reaches that specific image. The only way I know of finding which image has the music file associated with it is to use the Slide Line area to step slowly through the images one by one, watching for a file to be referenced in the Sound field. I hope that, somewhere through these instructions, you discover the solution to your problem.

Patrick, Thank you for posting this wonderful sequence of images taken in my favourite European city. I've visited Amsterdam twice, and you've made me feel that I want to go back for a third visit! To me, your final image (of the windmills) was out of character to the rest of the sequence. But, of course, they are an iconic image of the Netherlands. Your control of the pace of the sequence was excellent - and the mood of your music fitted the mood of the images perfectly. I look forward to your next sequence with eager anticipation.

Thanks Den, I appreciate your feedback, especially as you have applicable local knowledge.

Dave, Many thanks for your comments.

Peter S, Thanks very much for your thoughts. You're the second person to pick up on the arrows. I guess I'll have to try a bit of rework on them and see what I think of the suggestions in respect of these.

Barry, Thank you for your feedback. I value your thoughts and insights. The background seems to be attracting most attention in the comments. I'll have to try a rework as a grey colour and I'll also try reducing the depth of the texture as you suggest.

Dave, Thank you for your comments on my sequence. There seems to be general feeling that the background is in need of rework. I think I'll have to take this on board and try a softly textured grey as suggested by you and others. I showed the sequence to some friends at the weekend and saw it projected for the first time and I, too, felt that the arrows were a bit too large and a bit too bright. Another item for the "To Do" list! I look forward to seeing your sequence on your local church once you have completed it.

Anthony, Thank you for taking the time to view and comment on my sequence. The reason I didn't try any superimposition of images was that I wanted the audience to be able to compare the two views at the same time.

Dave, A little while back I posted a sequence of mine that included both orientations of 3:2 images. The link for it is here: http://www.mediafire.com/?xn7jvgu0yvy

John, Thanks for your feedback. On the subject of a map, I would draw your attention to the following statement from my original post: My audiences will know where the village is. This sequence wasn't built specifically to share with a world-wide audience such as that found here on this forum. For your benefit when using your atlas, the village's full name is: Skelton-in-Cleveland. If it is shown in your atlas, it will seem to be in Yorkshire, just a mile or so inland from Saltburn-by-the-sea. Saltburn is to be found on the coast between Middlesbrough and Whitby. Finally, yes, you have my permission to show this AV to your club's members. Please let me know how it goes down. And thanks for asking for permission before doing anything. Sometimes, when I "read between the lines" of other posts elsewhere on this forum I am left with the feeling that, perhaps, some folks show downloaded AVs at club gatherings without asking the author for permission first.

Morturn, Thanks for your feedback. With regards to the comment about the background where you wrote: I find that the light output from a digital projector is so powerful that a plain black background shows up quite strongly as an area of illumination around the image on screen. I, therefore, surround my images with a coloured background that fills the entire 1024x768 pixel area of the projector. However, your suggestion of putting a 1px white border around the edge of a plain black background is worthy of experimentation by me to see if I like the effect. Thanks for the idea.

This sequence can be dowloaded here: http://www.mediafire.com/?4tn2fbgu0jz The sequence is intended for viewing by local groups in the area where I live. I'm posting it here for some feedback (positive or negative) on the use I've made of the presentation techniques that PTE provides. The sort of questions in my mind are: - Is the background an appropriate one? - Is the use of pan and zoom appropriate? - Has it been over-used? But please don't restrict yourselves to just these questions. I'd welcome feedback on any aspect. In this kind of sequence it isn't possible to produce perfectly composed modern images (you'll understand this point if you download and view the sequence) and I know that some of the modern ones need redoing in better lighting. In passing it is interesting to note that the modern images of the High Street showing the Cooperative store, which were taken in August 2007, are already historic images. The store's facade was given a major facelift three months after I took these.

Hi Dave, I've enjoyed travelling in the US with you again. Much of what I wanted to say has already been said. So all I'll say in that respect is that I didn't find any problems with your very gentle pans and zooms. They added just a little bit of variety without appearing to be simply "gimmicky" - and some of them were very effective indeed. One small piece of advice I would offer is: check all around the edges of your images. There were at least two instances where there were distracting out of focus objects on the bottom edge of the frame (in both cases the main images featured farm silos). These distractions could have been easily cloned out with Photoshop. I would also suggest you listen and watch carefully at the points where the music changes from one piece to the next. I'm not sure the timing of the transitions is quite as tight as it might be. That said, you have an excellent feel for matching the mood of the music to the mood of the images. I look forward to your next offering.

To install PTE software onto a different computer you need to have the details of the registry key which you would have received via e-mail when you originally purchased the product. To install PTE on the other PC, all you need to do is copy the zip file that you previously downloaded over to the other PC, run the installation process again, and then apply the key again as per the instructions in the original e-mail.

Mike, Could you please confirm that you did get the e-mail I sent you after you sent me your zip file off-forum? If you did receive my reply, could you also please confirm that you have made the changes that I suggested? Finally, please confirm that, even with those changes made, you still have the problem of the return to desktop. For the benefit of others reading this thread and considering joining in the discussion: In the zip file that Mike sent me, the Menu sequence was set to "Repeat show until ESC is pressed" and was NOT set to "Wait for a key press or mouse click to show next slide". I recommended that he change the latter and also select "When show ends keep last slide in show on screen". In my experience, the options that I recommended work very well for a version 5 menu-type, manually-driven show.

When a new PTE project is opened (File...New...) the default template is chosen and its name appears as the Project Name in the pop-up input box. I build two distinctly different types of sequence: - fully automated with a soundtrack file - totally manual with no soundtrack file I have created two Templates (Auto and Manual) because the Project Options settings are different for these two types. Obviously only one of them can be the nominated default Template. I also have other templates that include backgrounds and masks of a particular "look-and-feel" Would it be possible to change PTE so that, when it detects there are multiple templates in the Templates folder, it displays the input box, primed as now with the default Template name, but with a "down arrow" button at the right hand side of the input field so that, if a Template other than the default is required, it can be selected from a drop-down list triggered by clicking on the "down arrow" button.

Dave, I've enjoyed watching this sequence. Your choice of music was, in my opinion, very appropriate. The previous posters must be speed readers. I found that I didn't have enough time to read what was on the information boards and take in the image content of the background. Whenever I use images with information on them I set the duration of the image by timing hw long it takes to read the words out aloud twice over. I thought that your use of your motorbike as a foreground item helped to give the sense of scale that can sometimes be lacking in the "big picture" landscape image. And it was a nice human touch to include some images of yourself at your camp site. I also offer this thought for you to ponder on: if your camera's self timer runs long enough, could you then take a photo of yourself actually riding the bike? I'm thinking along the lines of three-quarter front approach shot and three-quarter rear "ride off into the sunset". Obviously, you would have to assess the security risk to your camera and tripod whilst it was unattended for a minute or so.