fh1805

Minimum recommended spec from the ReadMe file for PTE v7.0: "PC with CPU 1.4 GHz,... video card with 128 MB of video memory,..." regards, Peter

I've just downloaded the AVIconXP.ico and run a test on one of my "test rig" sequences. First did a "Publish" of an EXE with standard PTE icon - no problem. Then ticked the box for a customized icon and selected the AVIconXP.ico file. Did another "Publish" to a different EXE name - no problem. I use AVG Free 2012 not Avast. The problem lies in Avasts's interpretation of the AVIconXP.ico file. Try renaming the icon file to something innoccuous, like MyPTE.ico. I find it hard to believe that the icon data can be seen as suspicious. I think the problem might be with the name. regards, Peter

Hi JEM, What kind of sound file is it - WAV, MP3, OGG, WMA, etc.? How did you obtain it - rip from CD, via iTunes, etc.? Have you editted the sound file in an sound editor package? If so, what file type did you save it as? What duration is the sound file according to PTE? What duration is it according to Windows Media Player or other external media player? We cannot see your system. You have to tell us everything. regards, Peter

Ken, I'm sorry, buddy, but I have to disagree with you. The forum section is headed "Video Output", Harold's post was about using video as input. regards, Peter P.S. The Video Output section doesn't have a pinned entry "Purpose of this section". That surprises me as, at one point in the past, I worked through all the sections and added such a topic where there wasn't one already.

Robert, Just a thought... on which drive and in which folder is your customized icon? What happens if you assign a real Windows icon to the file(s) which currently fail? regards, Peter

I promised I'd be back. I didn't mess around with just 200 images. I went for broke and built an EXE file of 944MB (containing c.1000 images) with Icon - no problem. Sorry if all I've done is confuse the situation. Whatever you're problem is, it seems to be system/iconfile/sequence specific and not a general problem with icon files or large sequences. Note that my sequence had no video in it as I don't have any video capability in my cameras. regards, Peter

Robert, Like Denwell's post, this is not going to help resolve your problems. I have just experimented with assigning a customized icon to a small slide show (5 images) and had no problems. My environment is: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit with SP1, PTE v7.0.1, AVG 2012.0.1831 Free Edition with database level 2092/4568. I'll now increase the number of slides to 200 and see what happens. Will be back. regards, Peter

Version 7.0.1 is a "fixes update" to v7.0.0 so it will overwrite that version. You will still have just two versions. But it doesn't really matter how many versions you have. They each co-exist alongside one another quite happily. All you need to remember is that you can associate the file extensions with only one version - and by default that will be the one most recently installed. regards, Peter

Does that mean, when things go wrong, the Toaster produces Coasters? :D Peter

Igor, If you read this topic can I ask that you also consider adding to Customize Slide|Main an option to "Go to Slide With Name..." at the end of the indicated time. If this feature had existed, the only Menu slide required would have been the very first. regards, Peter

Dave, We were keying at the same time! I think our friend wants everything in one sequence - which is what I have described. But I agree, your method is a "standard" one for running several sequences off a one-slide menu sequence. regards, Peter

Morasoft, It is possible to do what you want using v7 of PTE. Build a sequence that has these slides in it: Menu, Video A, Menu, Video B, Menu, Video C, Menu (All four Menu slides are identical so build one and then Copy & Paste it. Set the Project Options to "Wait for a keypress..." (Control), "Show mouse cursor" (Control), "When show ends keep last slide in show on screen" (Main). This show is going to be manually controlled not automatic. Make the three video slides each long enough to show the video that is on it. Customize each of these slides to "Show next slide after indicated time interval" (Customize Slide|Main) Place a button or thumbnail image for each video on the Menu slide and programme these buttons or thumbnails to "Go to Slide With Name..." (O&A window, Common tab) Pick the appropriate name for each video. Each video, after playing will show the Menu Slide that follows it. This slide will wait for a keypress or mouse click. Which ever button or thumbnail you click will cause that video to be run. It is not a neat solution - but it does work! You might want to add a button programmed to do an "Exit" If there is anything you do not understand, please ask for a better explanation. regards, Peter

Igor, Cannot speak for Barry, but in my case you are absolutely correct. I see these "disturbances" when Previewing in PTE and playing back the EXE file. In my situation any mention of video is totally irrelevant. I have neither included any video in my sequences nor have I created any video stream from the PTE project. regards, Peter

That looks like an air-to-ground photograph. Therefore you will have had additional problems at the time of taking it: - shooting through the window of the aircraft - possibly high vibration levels - hazy atmosphere causing the light to be scattered (diffused) If the platform was a micro-light then no windows but add in some wind buffeting. If it was a hot air ballon then no windows and no vibration. The software that drives a modern digital camera's multi-segment light-meter system is designed to expect the ground to be at the bottom and the sky at the top. When this is not the case it might then mis-read the situation and try and make the upper half of the picture conform to its idea of the correct exposure for sky. If the upper half contains land (darker in general than sky) the end result will be an over-exposed image - which is what we have here. When shooting air-to-ground it is often a good idea to programme in at least half a stop of under-exposure. Here, with a hazy atmosphere, I would have tried one stop of under-exposure at taking time. regards, Peter

Tom, In my case I don't use video clips. I'm talking about the standard fade transition from an all black slide to an image slide at the very start of a sequence. regards, Peter

Barry, I, too, have noticed something that may be similar, especially in my more recent sequences that are built to 1920x1080 rather than my previous 1024x768. To me, it seems as if the fade cannot be accomplished at an even density of black throughout, some areas of black seem darker than others for just a few fractions of a second. It has, to me, the appearance of a kind of flicker or shimmer but within the black. Do you see the same "disturbance" at the end of the sequence on the fade from the final image to black? Does the transition time have any bearing on the presence/absence or amount of the disturbance? Do you see the same disturbance on the equipment you use to project the sequence? My answers to those questions are: sometimes, but it's not as obvious; yes, the slower the fade, the more obvious the disturbance; no, I have never seen it on my laptop/projector combo - only on the new desktop system with its 22 inch monitor (and that is why I have never worried about it - until now). regards, Peter

What's the size limit on YouTube? Is creating an HD video and uploading there an option? What's the size limit at Beechbrook? Would Bill consider hosting it for a short period? regards, Peter

To see everything we would like, all at the same time, is likely to be impractical due to hardware constraints (monitor size) or budgetary constraints (cannot afford a monster monitor). Perhaps the answer is to have the various parts of the display area as separate windows that can be either "docked" into the O&A main window to create a large but more cluttered display or minimised to be called for when required. Thoughts? Peter

Jill's "prototype" shows just one waveform. PTE now offers us multi-track sound files. Is there any advantage in being able to see each track as a separate waveform? If so, how might this be accommodated without filling up the screen? Peter

To borrow a quote from Abraham Lincoln (slightly modified): You can please all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot please all the people all the time. And therein lies Igor's main problem - he tries to achieve the impossible! And, it has to be said, that despite our interference with the occasional improbable suggestion, he does a damned good job! Peter

The flicker is a direct consequence of the Windows graphics card point I made in post #4. The "Run Slideshow with Return" feature was introduced by Igor into, I think, v5 as a means of eliminating the problem. The only downside is that all the EXE files of the sequences (menu and those driven from it) have to have been "Created" using the exact same version of PTE. Since I keep all the files for all my sequences, I find this no great hardship. I simply build the customized menu for that audience and create its EXE file; then open the project file for each of the chosen sequences and do a Publish EXE in v7.0.1 (Create EXE as it was in versions up to 6.5), ensuring that all the EXE files get saved into the same folder as the menu EXE. I'm not suggesting you change your approach, but you might care to investigate this alternative method to see if it resolves the flicker issue for you. regards, Peter

I'm not sure that your "menu" and mine are the same. Are you using "Run Slideshow With Return" to trigger the sequences from the menu? Do you start each sequence with a Black slide? If you do, what transition is set for this black slide? regards, Peter

My understanding as to why we lost the fade from desktop is that it is all down to Windows. From Vista onwards, the "Aero" style user interface takes dedicated control of the graphics card. If you want to have full-screen "window-less" display of your slideshow, PTE has to take dedicated control of the graphics card. There is no facility to do this via a PTE-controlled fade out of the desktop image. But I have to agree with DaveG, why would you want to show your desktop between sequences when you can quickly build a menu from which to launch your sequences. That's how I do it. I get the hardware connected and powered up. I run a "Check AV Setup" sequence to confirm that the picture is filling the available screen area, is in proper focus and that the sound system is playing at an appropriate volume level. Finally I launch the menu sequence (a manually controlled AV) and leave the black slide on screen. Having shown all the sequences to the audience, I leave the menu on-screen until I power down the projector. regards, Peter

Lin Evans has, in the past, produced "pseudo video" by changing images at the rate of 25 per second on "Quick" change transition type. That's a 40 millisec slide duration. regards, Peter

Dave, You had to change your template; I didn't. There's another hare loose here somewhere but I am not inclined to chase this one. If any gets a problem the first step to try and resolve it should be to re-create their template if they have one. regards, Peter