Almark

very interesting, thank you.

I recently meet the young man I had saved from killing himself with drink and drugs. (That I allude to in my poem above.) It was an accidental meeting, I met his father and he suddenly said "of course you know Marc", indicating his son beside him. We stood in silence for a while, it felt like minutes, then he came across and gave me a hug. He couldn't say anything and walked away in a hurry. But the hug said it all! His dad then said, 'that's a first! He never hugs anyone!" Some good news to a sad story.

Another great show Davy, well done!

Thanks Paulo!

All credit for the AV must go to the Dom for his excellent template. I seriously considered backing out from this October wedding as my son Robert died in June and I was still somewhat in shock. But I really liked Julie and Benny, we had spent a lot of time scouting the locations and I didn't want to let them down. I also thought it would help me 'move on'. Thank you for your comments about the photography, I like to make wedding photography fun and not marshal folk about like a Sgt Major. I should mention that while almost all the photos are mine, 7 are by Alan McMorris, and 4 were taken by my son Conor. Normally Robert would help Alan and I at such events, but Conor volunteered. So on the day I gave him my D300 and as we drove to the bride's house I told him how the 18-200VR lens worked and I explained some simple rules about composition. I must admit I was surprised that he was able to capture many excellent photos. Sadly Julie is still very ill.

I did the photography at Julie and Benny's wedding in October 2009. Sadly Julie has had a stroke and is in intensive care. There is a very real and tragic possibility that she will never see her printed wedding album, as she has too ill to make her selection. So I have made this AV for her, in the hope that it might bring a smile to her face. (For free, of course!) I used the dom's excellent 3d photo album template. 1024x768, 6:24s, 19MB, PG Download here

Barry, If 'User1' has produced a slide-show for his walking club, or 'User2' has produced a slide-show for submission to a AV Camera Club Competition, then clearly they will except different feedback. It is not an excuse, but merely a way of informing others of the potential audience. If this forum intends to offer genuine and sincere feedback, then I must repeat, that the knowing who the potential audience is, is essential. Otherwise, such feedback will be generic. However, I fully agree that members of this forum will only give detailed feedback, if they have received such in the past. So perhaps, we need to add "All feedback welcome", or AFW to the description? And then encourage members to offer feedback when AFW is asked for? I must again go back to the purpose of the forum, is it just look and see? Or do members want to learn from the feedback of other PTE AV users?

Yes, I have been there too. very emotional site.

Davy, another great show. People of the world thought that the 'Great War' was the war to end all wars. They were wrong, WW2 showed that human kind were intent, yet again, to say that 'I am better than you and we are better than you and yours'. The wars in Bosnia reflected the same 'ethnic cleansing'; in Africa, in particular Dafur, it highlights that human kind can be most determined to kill anyone that does not 'fit in'. History is repeating itself.

FYI the link on this page is out of date. The free templates are here

Robert, after viewing this again I wondered if you would like more detailed feedback, here or by PM. Please let me know.

Barry, the purpose of this suggestion is to encourage folk to select their downloads (as a result of the information provided) and to offer feedback.

Robert, great show, well done!

Goodi, / Peter, Almost all 'boards' have the default search string set at four or more. There is of course a good reason for this, it stops folk searching for 'exe' 'zip' rar' and so on. This can only be changed by the admin. Peter As this pinned thread is not about 'suggestions on how to improve the forum', but rather how to get the best from this forum (by adding information to the title and description), may I suggest that these last two posts be moved, and the topic closed?

Hi folks, I thought there was a consensus to do this. It makes sense to me and, it would seem, many others. But in the meantime, there have been new posts (that do not offer any details as discussed.)

Or, you could just tell the truth ;-)

Hi Barry, good to see you posting here.

As always, a great 'production'. Well done!

My fault, I must be more careful when showing the wonderful work posted here on the PTE Forum - to my camera club - and clearly state where they come from and who the author is. BTW, Just so you know, I download AV's from the PTE forum and if I think they merit a 'show' at the camera club, I always offer feedback. In most cases it is here on the forum, but sometimes (at the members request) is sent my private message. In order to learn from each other, I think 'general' feedback should be open to all. While I understand the requirement for specific feedback to be private, I strongly suspect that such feedback would generate debate and help other's. Clearly I cannot show all the shows posted here to my camera club, I must select them myself. But if you have a show that you would like feedback on, then please let me know. Mark Allen, Chairman, BNDCC http://www.bangor-camera-club.co.uk/

Davy, you should have waited before spilling the beans... At the camera club we showed my reworked Antelope Slot Canyon AV, and then one of Maureen's (Autumn Days in the Lakes), and then Andrew's wonderful show about the Roslyn Chapel. Then we showed Davy's Paradigm Shift. As Davy has related there were many questions and suggestions about the source. Ice, water, fabric, macro, electron microscope were all suggested. No one worked it out. I am not surprised, I would not have recognised my own photos!

I showed this at my camera club and members were most impressed. The rising volume of the music worked very well. Great show, well done.

Peter, this is exactly what I was thinking about. I also think there is a general consensus, so why not go ahead?

I assume the purpose of this sub forum or group, 'Slideshows created in PicturesToExe - Announcements of new slideshows and discussions' is simply what it says on the tin. A place for PTE workers to announce their new shows and hopefully generate some discussion, (debate, help, guidance, feedback, constructive criticism, praise of what works well and so on). I think this suggestion would help members decide on what thread they want to explore and as a result make the group more efficient and effective. And for reasons I allude to below, I think it would improve the 'dynamic' of discussion. I have noticed, from the above comments, the dissatisfaction felt when members discover the file is much bigger than they really wanted to download, or that once downloaded it fails to run properly on their monitor. While clearly the onus is on the author too get things right, and supply all the relevant information - maybe some policy, direction or advice from the moderating team would help. I have to hold my hands up high and admit that I haven't, in the past, been offering enough information. But I was impressed with the way Maureen offered her title and description and thought the crucial area for members who do provide detailed feedback is the intended audience. I like to provide feedback. Human nature being what it is, I find that if I spend some time and give feedback, sometimes detailed feedback, I am re paid when I post my new shows (he helped me so I will help him.) For example, and I apologise to Maureen in advance, but when she posts a show she knows that I will offer feedback. I know that when I post a show she will do the same. This is one of the strong points of this forum overall, and this sub forum in particular. Therefore if there is anything we can do to help promote and encourage this, then I think we should do it. By knowing the intended audience members can consider this when watching the show and before making feedback and joining in the discussion. This should avoid confusion and perhaps inappropriate comments being made - for example - the member thinks the intended audience is, say for a camera club, and offers advice or feedback, only to discover that the author is not one bit interested in such feedback as they really just wanted to post family photo album. The bottom line is this; if there is consensus on this approach, then I think the mods should pin a topic called (something like) 'How to post your shows', or 'How to get the best from this forum'. I am not a moderator of this forum, although I have moderated on many forums in the past (Flashkit.com - for Swish and Flax FX). So, I do not want to step on anyone's toes or insult anyone's integrity. However; I am more than happy to prepare such a draft 'topic' in order to encourage and develop further debate.

Hi Folks, I noticed that Maureen recently gave her Av a title and in the description section outlined: the length of the Av the size of the download in MB and the number of slides. I found this useful. Did you? Perhaps we should encourage this type of approach? I am not sure about including the number of slides, but what do you think about asking members of the forum to add the following to the description? Size ??MB, Length X mins, Intended Audience: (eg family, camera club, competition, everyone) May I suggest that such an approach would encourage folk to download what they are interested in seeing, based on the description provided and to offer feedback? It would also help those members who are kind enough to provide detailed feedback by knowing the intended audience. What do you think?

Ant, I regularly download AV's from here and show them to my camera club members, who are interested in AV work. For the simple fade in / fade out with appropriate music 5 mins seems to be a good length. Av's with different music and narration can be much longer if, as you say, they capture and retain the attention of the audience. Clearly there is no hard or fast rule. It depends on who the slide show was intended for. A 10 minute Av of a club outing will be of interest to all club members but perhaps not to a wider audience. As maureen and i prepare similar types of AV (travel photography) of the fade in fade out style I was merely reminding her of my personal preference, and my attention span of a goldfish ;-) I once watched a huge PTE Forum Av that lasted 15 mins and was thoroughly engrossed the whole way through.