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Hi, There's no need to panic. This software is most definitely not bogus! The e-mail you have received was simply the order confirmation. The registration key will be shipped to you in a separate e-mail; but the registration system is, as I understand it, manually driven. So, you will not receive it until tomorrow at the earliest. The code you have downloaded and installed is fully functional except that you are limited to 10 images in a sequence. The registration key will remove that restriction. Please be patient. regards, Peter

Hi Photofanatic, PTE does not have the ability to reconnect to missing images or to missing sound files. The PTE project file simply records the pathname and filename. So, if you edit your image or sound file and then re-open your PTE project, it will automatically pick up the modified file provided it still has the same name and is still in the same place. Only when you Create an EXE file does PTE actually include the image file and/or sound file into the final EXE file. Therefore, as yachtsman1 has suggested, the best modus operandi is to create a new folder for each new AV sequence and to then place in that folder all the image files and sound files that you think you might use. To resolve specific instances of missing files: - find all the missing files and copy them into the folder for this AV sequence - use the Change Image File feature on the upper tool bar to reconnect to a missing main image - or, for an image used as an object, then take the Properties tab within the O&A window and browse to the image location. regards, Peter

Andrew, In the O&A window, Common tab... try ticking the "Transparent to Selection" box for those upper images. This should allow you to select the lower image and drag it to where you want or to re-size it, etc. When you've got the bottom one in place, untick "Transparent to Selection" for the next one up the stack and off you go again! regards, Peter

For UK based International competitions it is my understanding that the organisers require you confirm that you have all the necessary copyright clearances. Maureen would probably be the person best placed to give a definitive answer. Let's hope she reads this topic! regards, Peter

Hi Barry, Following on from your earlier thread, and after witnessing two of my 1024x768 sequences projected through a Panasonic HD projector, I recently changed my techniques. I am currently preparing all my images at 1920x1280 (retaining the original 3:2 aspect ratio). However, the HD format of 1920x1080 does seem to be firming up as the new "standard"; so perhaps I should actually be working the images to that resolution, instead! More thinking to do!!!! From my limited experience, a 1024x768 image that is up-sized to 1920x by the PC-projector combination shows significant loss of image quality. A 1920x image that is down-sized to 1024x by the PC-projector combo shows only very slight (almost imperceptible) loss of quality. I'm not willing to tolerate the former but I am willing to tolerate the latter. So... I certainly agree with your thinking on the actual image size issue. And will probably fine-tune my approach down from 1920x1280 to 1920x1080. As for the projector, I can offer no advice as I am not likely to be in a position (financially) to buy a HD projector for several years yet. But I would have thought that, for you, in your line of business, the investment in a HD projector would be well merited. regards, Peter

Doug, Do you have JPG file extension associated with Photoshop? Ctrl+W relies on the file association to find the proper program to use. regards, Peter

You're not the only one, Colin! The purpose of the various "Zip" utilities is to: - take a bunch of files - process them through an algorithm and make them smaller - at a later date, take those smaller files and reconstitute them to exactly the same bit sequence that they had prior to being zipped. If, as Brian suggests, some of these routines/utilities are not doing that, then they are corrupting the data in the files and are not fit for purpose. JPEG compression of image files and MPEG compression of audio files can result in a lessening of quality - but "ZIP compression - Zip uncompression" sequences should never result in any degradation because, in this context, degradation = corruption of data. regards, Peter

Ron, If you now take the EXE file to some other computer that has a different resolution to yours, PTE will keep the aspect ratio that you set and will adjust the overall size of your images so that they fit. Typically, because you will be going from a wide-screen to a squarer screen, that would give you a black band at the top and the bottom and your image would fit from side to side with nothing cropped off. That is what Fullscreen means in PTE: "fill the screen as best you can without cropping anything and without stretching or shrinking the image on either axis". regards, Peter

Henri, I may be wrong but I think that DirectX 10 is for Vista and DirectX 9 is for XP. regards, Peter

Eric, At Saltburn Photographic Society, we run a competition that used to be for slide/tape sequences and is now for digital AVs. The author of each sequence is announced before the sequence runs. The competition is judged on the night by the audience using slips of paper on which to cast their anonymous vote. During the 25 years of my membership of the Society, the audience has always chosen the best sequence (alas, not always mine!!!). Make sure the evening is an enjoyable and fun experience and stop worrying about bias in the audience. regards Peter

Ron, I was going to chip in on the same lines as DaveG by asking you what happens if you untick "Fixed size of slides". You have asked PTE to build your sequence to a 16:10 aspect ratio and to show it "Fullscreen". Leave it at that and let the software make the remaining decisions for you. regards, Peter

Dom, I think some of your concerns are already addressed by the current Search feature. You can use boolean "+" and "-" to tell the search engine which keys words must be present and which must not. You can use wildcard "*" to denote that any characters are acceptable. You can restrict results to just those of one author. In order to see these possibilities you just have to keep clicking the "More options" button until there are no more options!!!! I agree that it is increasingly difficult to find subjects which actually do exist but I think some of this is down to the lack of a detailed structure to the forum. regards, Peter

I use only Unsharp Mask in Photoshop Elements and with parameters suggested by, if memory serves me right, Barry Beckham in a post a couple of years ago: Radius 0.3 pixels, Threshold 1, Percentage to suit taste (most of the time I'm in the range 100-250%) regards, Peter

Do we know why? I downloaded it, am running it with no problems and will be suggesting to some workshop members in a week's time that they should upgrade to it. I don't want to be giving any duff advice. regards, Peter

Ron, I have used the Template feature to save an empty project but with all the Project Options set to my preferred values. This template (called, unimaginatively, My Template) is set as my default template to be used for all new projects. I use Create Backup in Zip whenever I want to upload either a test project that highlights a bug (for Igor and team) or a test project that explains to a forum member exactly how to use some particular feature. Each AV sequence has its own, unique folder and I never delete any of these folders. My internal hard-drives are backed-up to external hard-drives automatically to a schedule using Norton Ghost. regards, Peter

Jim, Further to Lin's explanation... For each sequence that you build, start by creating a folder for it (e.g. AVSeq#1) then ensure that all the image files, sound files and PTE files (the .pte and the .exe files) are all saved in this folder. Until you Create the EXE file, PTE simply stores links to the location of each file. It is only when you Create the EXE file that PTE copies the images and sound files from their actual folders into the EXE file itself. regards, Peter

Andrew, As Colin has indicated, it really is a case of "how long is a piece of string". Like Colin, I have completed a very short sequence (2m 30s) of 24 images set to music (no voice-over) in under an hour. At the opposite end of the spectrum, in June last year I started the build of a sequence that lasts 14 minutes, uses 99 main images and a further 100 png objects, five pieces of music (one of which had to be editted down from 3m 30s to 2m 10s) and has almost continuous voice-over which took me over three months to complete. In a sense it still isn't finished because I have recently found a new location that offers me a better panoramic opening image than the one that I currently use. You could say, therefore, that it has taken 12 months and counting... Each sequence takes as long as necessary to achieve the desired quality of the end product. And some sequences are never finished; they are always undergoing change. regards, Peter

DavyC, You are right; an opportunity was being missed - an opportunity to produce your sequence about Auschwitz. But this is Andrew's sequence. He is the Director (and Producer and Cameraman and Sound Engineer and Editor and Scriptwriter) and so this is precisely equivalent to the Director's cut of "Gone With The Wind". I'm sorry but the only one of your comments with which I agree is your last. It is, indeed, Andrew's show and we should let him produce it in the way that he wants to. To that end we should be offering him advice that will polish his telling of the story - and not advice that will result in him telling a different story or the same story in a different manner. regards, Peter

Andrew, Sorry to keep coming back to this (but you are aiming for perfection, aren't you?) The opening text has some inconsistencies. Some paragraphs are separated by a blank line, others are not; and in one instance there are two blank lines between the paragraphs. I don't mind which way you do it, but I do think it would be better if you were consistent. The second point I have to make concerns your music credits. I am assuming that you are UK-based and operating under either your own personal licence for copyright clearance or under the umbrella of the licence owned by your club. Either way, you should not give credit to the composer or performer of any musical work that you have taken from a commercial recording. So, crediting the music as being from Schindler's List is OK but mentioning John Williams and Izthak Perlman isn't. I wouldn't want your entry to fail for either of these points. regards, Peter P.S. It is not often that an AV sequence makes me feel that I want to vist the location for myself. Your sequence has had that effect on me. It is, indeed, an emotionally powerful sequence.

Hi Andrew, I've come to this very late in its development but I have one point to make for your consideration. It concerns the text over which you have taken so much time and accepted so much constructive comment. In it you mention three dates but your style of presenting them varies. I cannot make my own mind up as to whether the style should be the same each time (i.e. all "Month nnth yyyy" or all "the nnth of Month yyyy"). Using the same style gives consistency and precision to the text (perhaps reflecting the industrial precision that the Nazis brought to their process of genocide). Varying the styles puts your own personal stamp on the sequence. I don't have an answer here for you, simply a point for you to consider. regards Peter

Gary, "Seek and ye shall find, knock and the door shall be opened." Pleased to know that you've got to the bottom of this one. regards, Peter

Gary, With the .pte file open in PTE but before you do the Create EXE, what size is the exe predicted to be? Look down at the information line at the bottom of the PTE main window. Are your images "ex camera" or have they been resized? What size are they typically (in pixels by pixels and in KB or MB)? How long (mins and secs) is the sequence? Are you using any music? If so, are these WAV or MP3 files? regards, Peter

Peter, Earlier this month three of my sequences (which were all built to 1024x768 size) were projected through a HD projector (1920x1280). The only noticeable effect was that they all looked ever-so slightly soft - due to the upsizing of the image by the laptop that was driving the projector. I have recently completed a new sequence built at 1920x1280 and will be interested to see what it looks like when projected through my 1024x768 projector. regards, Peter

Mike, I'm presuming you have two images: the procenium arch and the curtain. They should both appear as independent objects in the O&A window - not as parent and child objects. In the list of objects, the procenium should come above the curtain - think Photoshop layer stacks. Then when you animate the curtain it will pass behind the arch. regards, Peter

Hi Gary, You sure do know how to pick 'em, don't you! I've no experience of these sorts of problems nor of the diagnostic tools that you've used. However, that message seems clear cut to me: yes, your RAM has a fault. Whether or not that fault affects the running software will depend entirely upon how the RAM is getting allocated out by the operating system. So the fact that sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't is not entirely unexpected. When you say you have rebooted, was that a warm reboot (without a power down) or a cold reboot (after a power down)? Some problems require a power-down in order to get the system fully reset to state zero, others will be rectified by a warm reboot. In your case, though, that is rather academic as the evidence says your hardware is faulty - so that's the line of attack to follow. If I were in your position, although fitting memory is an easy job, I think I would get a local PC firm to do it for me - and I'd ask them to give the system a good shake-down check-over whilst they have it on the bench. If it has one fault it might just have others. regards, Peter