fh1805

Gary, I've sent you a PM regards, Peter

I enjoy a challenge as much as anyone, possibly more, but this one may be too much even for me! The major problem that I foresee is that each cube can be, at some stage, part of every surface. This suggests to me that each phase of rotation will have to have its own set of cubes laid out on frames that are specific to just that phase of rotation. Once this concept is grasped, the animation becomes simpler because only one face is rotating relative to all the others and what we have is one third of the cube rotating against the other two thirds. The fact that I'm thinking the problem through indicates that this challenge has captured my imagination. I could be tempted... regards, Peter

Thanks Dom! There's just too much hidden function in PTE How are we expected to learn all that it can do? regards, Peter

I base my opinion on the following happening to me... I show my AV sequences to several local organisations. In order to check out my laptop/projector on the night without revealing any of the sequences, I had created a short sequence that I used to check out the setup of the projector, sound system and laptop. I called this sequence "AVSetup.exe". Everytime I tried to execute it Norton Anti-Virus complained. I renamed the file to "AVFocusCheck.exe" and Norton stopped complaining. The only change was the file name. The contents were exactly the same. QED as far as I was concerned.! regards, Peter

I suspect part of the cause of this problem is the use by Igor of the word "setup" as part of the file name. I get the impression that some AV software products are paranoid about anything that seems to hint at software install in a tightly controlled system. regards, Peter

I think it would be a useful feature of Play in the O&A window if the fields in the 3D Parameters window and in the the Animation tab were updated to show their values as each keyframe of the currently selected object is encountered. regards, Peter

I think it would be a useful addition to the O&A window if it was possible to drag the little blue pointer along the timeline of the animation and then "Play from here". At present the only option is to Play the entire slide's animation. regards, Peter

I have just been able to answer my own questions. The Animation tab, Rotate field controls the Z Axis rotation. I think it would be a simplification of the user interface if an extra field was added to the 3D Parameters window: Angle Z. The values keyed in here would be passed (under the covers) to the Rotate field on the Animation tab. In this way, rotation control of a 3D object is all in the one window. regards, Peter

Unless I am totally missing something very obvious, the 3D transformation feature of PTE v6 allows simple control of rotation about the X axis (Angle X on the 3D Parameters pop-up window), simple control of rotation about the Y axis (Angle Y on the 3D Parameters pop-up window) but no equally simple control over rotation about the Z axis. The 3D Parameter value Pan Z simply moves the subject along the Z axis (a useful feature in its own right but not doing anything to control Z Axis rotation). Taking as an example a 3D Cube: I now know how to create it in PTE and how to transform it so that I see it as an apparent 3D object, showing parts of three faces (let's say these are front, right and top). Each of these faces has an axis running through its centre. Angle X controls rotation about one of the axes, Angle Y controls rotation about another of them - but what controls rotation about the third axis? regards, Peter

Igor, No, that wasn't the exact sequence of events. The difficulty I am having in trying to recreate the fault comes from the fact that the session had been a long one (over an hour) and I had made many, many changes along the way. Yes, I had used the Undo icon in the O&A window during that particular editing session; but that had been to remove wrongly positioned objects from the Objects List. I'm wondering whether the cause of the problem might have been because I had done so many changes. I would never think of using Undo to reverse the keying of data into an input field. I would either select the entire key field contents with the mouse and use Del or simply use the cursor arrow keys to navigate within the field and overkey or Del to get the contents as I wanted them. Since neither of us can readily recreate the problem I think we can safely assume it was a "rare event". I suggest that you do not put too much effort into tracking this one down. I had so much going on in my head - with ideas for the artistic design of what I was doing competing with ideas for the technical design of how I might do the physical build - that I cannot rule out the possibility of it having been "user error" of some kind. If I ever encounter it again I will do an immediate "File Save As" under a new name, then re-open that project and check to see if the fault is still present. If it is, we've got the little so-and-so captured. If it isn't, then the finger points towards some kind of problem that occurs only after a prolonged session of editing in PTE. Put this one on the back-burner for now. regards, Peter

Igor, I have tried - and failed! Neither a new sequence nor the sequence that I was working on will now give me the error. We'll just have to write this one off as a "one time bug". If it does recur I'll do my best to document it fully there and then. regards, Peter

Pisolomau, Once you have a fully "unlocked" licence then subsequent PTE versions will find that registration key and use it - if it is still valid. Remember, the Deluxe version key (which gives unrestricted access to the VideoBuilder component) is valid for only two years from purchase. The base version key (which unlocks all parts of PTE except the VideoBuilder features) is valid for life. regards, Peter

Igor, I'll try and recreate it myself using a simple sequence. I found it whilst in the middle of building a complex sequence. If that complex sequence still exhibits the problem, I'll upload it to MediaFire and send you a link. regards, Peter

A new bug (?) found in beta 22. When trying to enter negative numbers into input fields in the O&A static window and in the 3D Parameters floating window I find that I cannot do it by keying the minus sign followed by numerical digits. As soon as I key the minus sign the field box is populated with a very large negative number. The only way I can key the negative number that I want is to key the positive equivalent and then add the minus sign. I've found this in the Rotate box and in the Angle X box. I have not tested any of the other boxes to see if they behave the same. regards, Peter

With fries and a side order? (Sorry, couldn't resist that one!) Peter

John, I use Audacity and have my defaults set to 44,100Hz, 16-bit. So I'm at a loss to understand why the Cooledit file (which does have those values) didn't work. Unfortunately I've no experience of Cooledit. To be honest, I was expecting the numbers to come out the other way round: Audacity at 44,100Hz, 16-bit and Cooledit at some other values. As others have commented, this kind of problem occurs seemingly randomly and nobody has yet got to the bottom of it. I think most of us work on the basis that, once you've found a way that works - you stick with it. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" Sorry I've not been able to provide a satisfactory explanation. regards, Peter

Xaver, I know, we've been here before! But consider my little test project. I would like to be able to build up a "super-object" (comprising many individual objects) and then apply the motion to the entire "super-object". Conceptually all I should need to do is animate the top-level parent and all the children should follow in proper order. But it seems to me in the current implementation of 3D objects that I will, potentially, have to animate every single object independently. That is not how my mind visualizes the motion. Perhaps I am expecting too much - and what I would like can be delivered only with a true 3D-graphical package. Unfortunately I have become so used to Igor's team of wizards delivering the impossible I've come to expect it. regards, Peter

Xaver, I agree. This would be useful warning to receive. Igor, If an effect of the File Save is going to be to change the PTE version number, why not issue a warning message box: "You will not be able to open this project in an older version of PTE. Do you wish to continue with the save? Yes|Cancel" regards, Peter

RE post 272 Sorry folks, my brain was not in gear. Of course, it is entirely reasonable that PTE should stop me opening a v6 project file in v5.6.4. I'm not old enough to be having senior moments but that was a king-sized one come early! In mitigation, I had been hopping around between v5.6.4 and v6b21 so much I had lost track of which release I was in and what I was trying to confirm. Added to which I have been driving two PCs at once today as both my desktop and laptop have applied major software upgrades. I guess my brain just hit the "information overload" condition. regards, Peter

Igor, Thanks for the reply. I can understand your dilemma. The decision has to be made: what exactly does the child inherit from its parent? Would a workable solution be to allow the user to choose which aspects are inherited? Perhaps a new Project Options tab called Object Properties, with a series of tick boxes under the heading Child inherits from parent to set the project defaults and extra fields on the O&A Properties stab to allow override at the individual object level: Child inherits from parent: Pan Zoom Rotate Centre Opacity I realise that implementing this amount of flexibility in the code will be a major rewrite for the team, but I think the result would be to add an additional level of flexibility for the more advanced user that could make animation even simpler and certainly more logical than at present in some of the more complex situations. regards, Peter

Igor, Project file attached. Also a screenshot of what happened when I tried to open this project under v5.6.4 - it wouldn't let me! I don't know if this is relevant or not, but earlier this morning my PC did a software upgrade to Vista ServicePack2. regards, Peter TransSelBug.zip

A problem (bug ?) with "Transparent to Selection" in beta 21. I have set up a simple three image object slide as follows: Main image = ImageA Independent object image = ImageB Child of ImageB = ImageC ImageB is zoomed to 60% ImageC is zoomed to 60% The visual effect is of a "stack" of images having all three centre points at the centre of the screen. So far, so good. I select ImageB in the Objects list, click on its centre-point and drag and ImageB and ImageC move together. Again: so far, so good. I want to now move the centre-point of ImageB to one corner, so I hold down the Shift key, click on the centre-point handle, and drag. ImageC moves despite the fact that ImageB is still the highlighted object in the objects list. So, I select ImageC and tick the "Transparent to Selection" box on its Common tab. I select ImageB once more and try and move its centre-point to a corner. Once again ImageC moves on its own. It would seem that the "Transparent to Selection" option of ImageC is being ignored when I do the Shift-click on the centre-point on what I had hoped was the centre-point of ImageB. regards, Peter

Further to my post above... I think I understand what has happened. The parent has had its centre point moved to one edge. I think what is happening is that the child is positioned correctly with its centre point aligned to its parents centre point. Unfortunately, in a 3D space, this causes the child to sit in an offset position. I've clearly got a lot of learning to do! I can mentally visualize behaviour in 2D, no problem. Visualizing behaviour in 3D is obviously going to require a significant leap in mental dexterity. regards, Peter

I'm surprised that nobody seems to have mentioned this before (but perhaps I missed the discussion). A child object does not inherit its parents 3D settings. I've just started dabbling with 3D objects using beta 21. I have set up some coloured rectangles and played around with some simple 3D animation. When I added a child rectangle to one of the existing rectangles and set the child's zoom (main zoom on Animation tab) to 60% I expected to see it in position on its parent and moving with its parent - but it didn't behave that way. Surely such behaviour is the logical behaviour that anyone would expect. I'm talking about the red rectangle in the attached sequence. regards, Peter 3D Test.zip

Bill, I'm pleased to hear that you are progressing towards a fully working environment. However, so that everyone gets a better understanding of this Mac-related problem, I think it would be very beneficial if you could identify exactly what software was updated automatically. I realise you may not be able to do this (that's the problem with automation - the details are often hidden) regards, Peter