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Tissot, Is it really too much work to convert a copy of your image to greyscale in Photoshop and then use this as an Object faded in/out over the top of the colour version?

Isabel, I've just tried to recreate your problem using various combinations of your settings and I failed to! However, the options to Synchronise and the Auto Spread are, to my mind mutually exclusive. Either you want PTE to decide the timing of the slide durations (Auto Spread) or you want to be in control of that (Synchronise). I suggest you go to the Timeline window and replace "Synchronise..." with "Music plays independently" and ensure that Auto Spread remains selected. Now all you must do is remember that, if you then use the Timeline window to move a transition point or alter a transition duration, PTE will sense that and will change back from "Music plays independently" to "Synchronise" because you will have indicated that you want direct control of synchronisation. Hope that makes sense.

Xaver, Re: the two fishermen - would it still work if you flipped one of the images in Photoshop? Re: constant zooming - when I watched the sequence I didn't like the slow, shallow zooms to begin with but after the first six or seven images it ceased to bother me.

Xaver, That's a lovely sequence! The mood set by the tempo of the image changes and the slow, small zooms on each one was matched exactly by the mood of the music. Until, that is, you came to your vertically panned images. Here, in my opinion, the movement was much too fast and, for me, destroyed the mood which you had just created. One small point on a specific image: I think the centre of the zoom on the first portrait of the fisherman should be his face and not a point to the right of his face. Thank you for bringing back my own memories of Mallorca - from nearly 35 years ago!

Jim, If you are using PTEv5 all you need to do is to rasterize the text. You will find the tick box on the Properties tab for each text object in the Objects & Animation window. This will convert your text into a png file, thus retaining all your special fonts.

Tom, When you say the EXE files hang at the end. Are these ones that you created using v4 under XP and are now trying to run under Vista? If so it's a known problem for which Igor has produced a fix. Search the forum using "v4.49" (without the quotes) to find his post about this fix.

Old Timer, How long is it since you cleared out your Internet cache? It is just possible that these error conditions are held in cache and that your system is using those copies rather than going back to the actual websites. I would recommend clearing your cache at least once a week. I cannot remember exactly how to do it in IE6 but it will be something like Options...Intenet Options...Delete Temporary Files.

Tom, I've just downloaded successfully from www.wnsoft.com on a broadband connection and it took under 30seconds.

Alex, This is not going to help you solve your problem but it may head off other problems before they arise. In the world of computers it is always better to build on the lowest spec machine. Then, when you transfer that work to a higher spec machine it will usually perform OK. Building on the high spec machine and then expecting it to work OK on a lower spec one is always going to be prone to unexpected problems.

Mark, Congratulations on your success!

Mike, I've been using Vista Home Premium on both desktop and laptop computers since August last year. Some older software isn't Vista-compatible (e.g. I was using Photoshop Elements 3 under Windows XP. Vista wouldn't let it be installed. I had to switch to Photoshop Elements 5). PTE v4.47 and PTE v5.1 both run fine. Be aware there is a known problem with running PTE exe files created with v4 under Vista but Igor has produced a utility that will patch the exe to eliminate the problem. You will find the patch under the post about PTE v4.49. (Search the forum using "v4.49" without the quotes) The Vista code seems to be just as stable as XP-Sp2 was. As Ken also suggested, run some searches on the forum using "Vista" as your search argument to find some of the posts that have discussed various aspects of this subject.

Ron, With a monopoly market the price is more likely to rise - there's no competition now!

Barry, Wow! This sequence has triggered so many fresh ideas in my mind. I was on the point of planning a visit to Beamish Open Air Museum in connection with one of my projects (to produce a series of AV sequences linked by the common theme of "Heritage"). I'll need to view this sequence several more times in order to pick up as many pointers for potential images and presentation ideas as possible. Thanks for another inspiring sequence.

John, Thanks for bringing this to my attention. As an avid AV builder and local historian I found the concept truly inspirational. And, regrettably, I'm old enough to remember most of the world events mentioned.

Tom, If you do have a go at writing a utility and would like a beta tester, I'm willing to assist. You can contact me off-forum via the email address in my signature.

Jean, Please confirm that you are doing exactly as I describe here: Launch PTE v5.1 from Windows Start Programs File...Open...<source project>.pte (N.B. Double-clicking on the <source project>.pte file should have the equivalent effect) Left Click within the Slide List to select the desired image Ctrl+C to copy this image to the clipboard Now, without closing down PTE and from within the PTE window File...Open...<target project>.pte Left Click on the image before which you want the copied image to be placed Ctrl+V to insert the copied image from the clipboard I've just done this test on a single image and it worked OK for me.

Tom, Copy and paste as described by me above (and by others in their posts in this thread and elsewhere) will give the desired result only if both sequences are based on the same template file. Remember, a sequence can have only one set of "Project Options" settings. If you have, say, sequence A built based on a 6 second default image duration and a 1000ms Fade transition and sequence B built on a 4 second duration and 1500ms Circle from centre then which is going to become the new "Project Option"? Clearly, using the technique explained in my post above above it will be the Project Option of the <target project>. The material that is being copied in will have to inherit these project options. My sequences are all built to the same set of "Project Options" so I can get away with combining using copy and paste. The only extra step I have to do is to Add the music, as I explained in the earlier post.

Jean, Is it that the copy and paste isn't copying the slides from one sequence to the other; or is it that after the copy-paste then sequence isn't behaving as you expected it would?

Tom, I've just run a quick test using PTE v5.10 on Vista Home Premium to combine two sequences into one; and it work fine for me. What I did was: Opened the <source project>.pte file Selected the first image Shift+End to select all images Right click the last of the selected images and... Copy Image In the same instance of PTE... File...Open...<target project>.pte First image in <target project> comes up as already selected Right click on it and... Paste Image Slide list now contains all images from both projects Go to Project Options and add the soundtrack file for <source project> and move it up to first place Preview Perfect!!! In my case, both projects were developed from the same template and were fully customised to their respective soundtracks so the fact that one project had to inherit the Project Options of the other was not a problem for me. The source project was my Mount Grace Priory sequence which I have previously posted to the forum. It contains some PTE v5 animation. This was all preserved across the "combine" operation.

John, Thanks for the two sample recordings in your post above. I have to agree that the second recording is much cleaner - but I would say it is too "clean". There is now no ambience at all, just the almost pure notes of the birdsong. What you have achieved, and for this I thank you, is to point out to me that there is room for further "tweaking" of the soundtrack. I shall spend some time experimenting to try and find a level of cleanliness that retains some of the ambience. Thanks for taking the time and trouble to demonstrate to me exactly what you were hearing.

Hi Old Timer, Like David, I have gone through the process of converting slide-tape sequences to digital. I used a Nikon Coolscan to do the slide scans and configured the Digital ICE software that came with it to do the scratch and dust removal. I then took each image through Photoshop Elements and found that using Enhance...Auto Contrast followed by Enhance...Auto Sharpen produced a result that was perfectly acceptable in about 95% of cases. The remaining 5% had to be given special treatment to deal with their failings. The resize operation mentioned by John, I then did using File...Process Multiple Files... in Photoshop Elements. Modern digital projectors are designed to give good illumination in an undarkened room. If you use them in a well-blacked-out room then the brightness of the projected images is quite outstanding. Bear in mind that conversion of your digital sequence to DVD for playback via a TV system will always produce lower quality of image when compared to direct playback or preview on the computer screen. This is because of the different levels of image resolutions and the fact that PTE v5 uses the capabilities of the computers graphics card or chipset to maximise the detail in the computer screen images. I don't fully understand the technicalities of this aspect of PTE because I have no interest in the DVD medium. There have been several threads that have discussed this point. If you haven't already done so, I would recommend that you download and study the PTE v5 User Guide. It will speed you along the PTE learning curve. You'll find the relevant forum thread here: http://www.picturestoexe.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7202

John/Neil, Thanks for your comments. Since posting v6 I have made a further "tweak" to the "floating cross" so that it is still moving as the next image begins to fade up. I've also introduced some lateral motion into the second "floating cross" although it still ends up in the same place. It, too, is now programmed to keep moving even after the next image starts to fade up. The overall effect is that there is never a moment of visual stillness during that short seqence - but all the movement and change of opacity is done very slowly in order to match the mood of the music. John, Your reference to background "rumble" in the birdsong recording is explained, I think, by the fact that I was hand-holding the Zoom H4 digital recorder - and I think that what you hear is inadvertent handling noise that was picked up by the mics.

I have reworked the soundtrack mix, attempted to remove the flare and attempted a better blur on the "title". This version (version 6) also includes a revised opening and ending and some removal of intrusive highlights on certain images. I'm still not entirely sure about the mix on the soundtrack. I'm loth to reduce the birdsong totally but, by its very nature, the high-frequency notes do still tend to punch through the music track. Latest version is on MediaFire here: http://www.mediafire.com/?2nrvxg9ddc9 Enjoy! Further feedback always welcome.

Peter, Thank you for your kind comments. Like you, I wasn't entirely sure about mixing the birdsong and music so equally all the way through. Having read your feedback and "listened" to the soundtrack I think I now know where I want to adjust the balance of the mix. Also, I, too, notice the sharper than desired edge to the blur on the title image and the flare on image 9 each time I play the sequence. But I ask myself, would an audience notice that when they have only the one chance to view the sequence. They're both items that I will work on but secondary to the soundtrack mix. The other aspect that I didn't really like was the ending. I've put in an hour or two of work on it since I uploaded to MediaFire and it is now much improved I'll have a go at a re-mix of the sound-track and then upload another version to MediaFire. Watch this space - as they say!

Dave, Thanks for your comments. I hadn't noticed the hiss you mention. However, one of the pieces I used to mix the ambient sound was recorded in woodland that had a stream flowing through it. Because I know there is running water in the sound mix I probably filter it out in my mind when playing the soundtrack and/or sequence. I guess it's the difference between "hearing" and "listening". We both "heard" the soundtrack but you were "listening" to it.