allanw

Hi I have a Toshiba smart TV which I can attach a portable hard drive to for playing pictures and video. I tried converting some existing shows with p2e 7.5 (originally I created DVDs for these shows), but the tv does not recognise the file format. I tried looking at some existing movie files to see what files will play. Files with a mpg extension play. I am thinking of updating to version 8, will this give me more save options for this purpose. Any help appreciated Allan

Hi Thanks to everyone in this group who has helped me over the years in the building of slide shows. These are pictures I took of the volcanic caves at Sao Vicente. I used Photomatix software to enhance most of the underground pictures. The links are: for the PC version: http://www.mediafire.com/file/jk0nb9soomaveh1/SaoVicentePC.exe for the Mac version: http://www.mediafire.com/?1g577hmoae8t75g To those who frequent Barry Beckhams forums, I apologise, this show has been posted there already. Any comments appreciated Allan

Hmm! Seems a little of a dilemma. Of the two suggested methods, I prefer the Normal method. I was hoping to simply expand the canvas size to the new size, leaving the new, extra background either clear, or in black. This I hoped, would stop the image being expanded, (and therefore distorted) during playback. With my limited knowledge of RAW, I have stayed clear of trying it to any great extent. I am using Photoshop 7, and do not do enough to justify an expensive upgrade to a version that handles RAW. As for Canons DPP program, I have not been able to get to grips with it yet. I can see the advantages of RAW, and there are quite a few shots I took in Madeira that could have benefited from this further processing to reduce contrast. Incidentally, I did try Phase One's Demo software, the version I tried must have been a cut down version because it was 60 quid or so. At the time I did not have a DSLR, (just the loan of one), so could not justify the cost, but I am considering it now. Ultimately, it looks as though I will have to start thinking wide-screen, when shooting to allow for cropping. Any further comments appreciated Allan

Wow! You brought up many issues I had not considered. We are in the dark ages here, I am still in a terrestrial TV area, due to update to digital this year. I would not go down the Sky TV route as we do not watch enough TV to warrant the subscription. What I had not realised was that my 4 x 3 TVs are nearing obsolescence, so it looks as though I may need to get my head around this sooner rather than later. Because my TVs are 4 x 3, I tend to stick to shows in that format. Surely there is a way to lock the image size in p2e so a 3 x 2 image is shown correctly, in 5 x 4, (and preferably in 16 x 9)? Any further comments appreciated. Allan

Yep, its an old steam model, regular, old fashioned PAL. It would be relatively easy to resize the images to 1024 x 768, I wondered if this would cure the distortion? Once I have finished the EXE show I will give it a try, (could be a while, I have 2,500 slides to go through. Any further help appreciated, Allan

Hi Thanks for the response. I am using a Canon EOS 450, I had a look at the other image sizes, while I have not done the maths, they all seem to equate to the 3 x 2 format. The only work around I can think of is to re-size the canvas to 1024 x 768 and have a black border top and bottom. I was hoping that there was a setting in P2E which did something similar, but a darn sight quicker than resizing hundreds of pictures. All help appreciated Allan

Thank you all for your help on this one, I note that you suggest setting the aspect ratio in project options, however, my 1024 x 683 pics (down sized from 4272 x 2848) are 3 x 2 aspect ratio, which is not a preset in the screen settings. Is there a custom setting I should make for these? I made the mistake of starting this project without waiting for this reply, and figured 1024 would fit any monitor. Given the remarks here, I will experiment with higher resolution starter pics. My laptop is relatively old (512 mb ram), so I feel it is a compromise between resolution and getting the jitters during playback. Does my laptop screen resolution of 1280 x 800 (16 x 10 aspect ratio) have any bearing in what resolution I should use? Any further help appreciated Allan

Hi I will be doing a slideshow shortly using a Horticultural clubs projector. What resolution do I use for such a show, is it the one used by the club computer, or is it the resolution of the slide projector. Any help appreciated Allan

Hi I have built several slideshows recently, which I prefer to output as an EXE file. Prior to assembling a show, I resize the images using Photofiltre, to a resolution of 1024 x 683, (this maintains the original aspect ratio of the shots). I often use picture in picture, (using a landscape shot as a background for a vertical shot), which I create in Photoshop. In an EXE show, I have no problem, I have black borders on my wide screen PC, but the show is fine. When I create the same show in video builder for a 4 x 3 aspect ratio PAL TV there is very noticeable keyhole distortion in the upright edges of the picture in picture shots. I realise this may be something to do with different aspect ratios, (5 x 4, 4 x 3), but is there a simple way to overcome this without having to rebuild the entire show from scratch using a different resolution. Any help appreciated Allan

I normally Open pte files within the main PTE program window, I have never used a double click. I built an EXE file from the same project, it builds with the 3D Swap default effect, no problem. I also changed the default effect to the diagonal page turn, and it built a DVD ISO using the correct default effect. Using 5.6, it does not seem to like using these new effects. I only have 5.6 installed now. Any help appreciated Allan

Hi I thought I would give you an update. I thought I had cracked the problem, I uninstalled ALL versions of P2E, and reinstalled 5.6 to a different folder, just in case any corrupt files were lurking in the original folder. For a while it seemed to work, the preview and actual builds were as required. However, when I edited some shots out, it again used dissolves rather than the 3D swap transition. It is possible that I started to create the slideshow in the 5.b beta version, but I can not really remember. I will try another show at some later date, but if this continues, I will go back to 5.1, at least that worked as it should! Allan

Hi I seem to be having problems with my prefered effects setting being changed when I start to build an ISO image prior to burning a DVD. I am using version 5.6, (I never experienced a problem like this in 5.1 deluxe) when I play the slideshow in the small preview window, the effects are exactly as I want them, but as soon as I start a build, it reverts to fades. The default effect is 3D Swap, with the odd slide having a fade custom setting. Is there a setting somewhere that I am missing? Any help appreciated Allan