Barry Beckham

David I enjoyed this slide show as it is a fascinating subject and one that I would like to photograph one day. We are moving to Australia soon, so perhaps a trip like yours will be possible into the Southern Ocean. I have no idea if that is feasible, but I will find out when we get there. I didn't find the music very inspiring in your AV and feel there are many more choices that would enhance your show greatly. The images carried it more for me than the music, which was OK, but not special. You also seem to have joined the music a number of times and I could hear an interruption in that sound, which doesn't help the flow of your show. I think this sequence is great, but feel you could elevate it significantly with better music. Please remember this is just one persons views and you can't please all of the people all of the time. Others will have a different view I am sure. If you could let us know a little more about a trip like that, I for one would be interested.

If you create a text layer in the Objects and Animation screen and then do a Ctrl+C from that text layer, but use what is in the objects list, I can then skip to another image and hit Ctrl+V and the text drops in at the same size, colour and parameters. I don't suppose it would drop in the same place with a vertical, but all else copies fine, or am I missiing the point

An idea I have been toying with for a while is a talking book. I realise how many people like to listen away from the PC, maybe on iPods and in other ways. Here I have a 50mg zipped file that consitutes the first few chapters of what I have in mind. It will run for around an hour, but there are 7 sections. Any comments would be greatfully received. I am thinking more about the popularity of something like this and if it would be something that others would like. Many people like to listen on the way to work and this may be a way to do that. http://www.beckhamdigital.co.uk/audiovisual/audiovisual.zip

Well, you must understand that not everyones prime output is a projector. Mine is my PC screen first, despite the fact that I show probably more on my shows via a projector than most. On my PC screen I get to see PTE shows at their absolute best. So, I create them to fill my 1280*1024 PC screen, well, within reason of course. I am not a great lover of making my images almost square and like to retain format. Whatever I create, I can show them on my 1024*768 projector. It doesn't take any extra work to create my show and as you know you can scale down a sequence much easier than scaling up.

Anthony yes I am turning into Victor Meldrew

If you are preparing your sequences with the intent that they will be projected via a digital projector then their size need be no larger than the native resolution of the projector. Peter, that's not right, I have done this loads of times as I have said before. I regularly play shows created for 1280*1024 monitors on a 1024*768 projector. Just change the resolution of the playing PC, I do it at practically every demo to be able to run the shows I have only made at larger resolutions than 1024*768. Its not a problem

Yes, I have installed SP3 and the world as I know it is all still there, the PC works and so does all the software. Bit of a disappointment really after all I have read. I had got myself syched up for a right old battle and................nothing

You could do your screen grabs from the same resolution you will use for your PTE tutorial, probably 1024*768. Or if you are using a higher res monitor you can always reduce the window size of Photoshop to do your screen grabs smaller than the resolution you will use and then crop off what you don't need around the edge. That way the grab will be within the resolution you intend to use, but................... PTE will always try to expand your images to fit the monitor they are being played on, so it's not the best medium for what you want to do. To make sure it doesn't expland the images you will need to disable the scaling of the main images in the projects options > Screen tab. Then you should be OK.

Connie If your problem is file size, perhaps these pages will help http://www.beckhamdigital.co.uk/audiovisual/audiovisual.htm Check out the image size section

I have to say that I have difficulty dealing with theory and I would love to test the idea in the real world by diving into a project using the proposed method. Is that a possibility a beta or test bed version?

I must be a bit slow Igor, but I am struggling a bit with what you propose. Correct me if I am wrong, but if I create a 1024*768 slide show and choose 1024*768 in pixels as you suggest, then it will display correctly at 1024*768 on higher resolution monitors but will have a black areas around the outside edge. The image will not automatically be expanded to play on a larger resolution monitor as it can do now. That edge or gap is what I often fill with a png frame. If I have this right, what conrol will we have on that black area? You wouldn't want a wedding slide show produced on a black background for example or even the slide show I have just posted. (The Art of Cornwall) Place those types of shows on black and you lose 50% or more of the appeal. Will we be able to control the colour of that border is or even add textures as we did in PTE4?

I have put up a new slide show for 1280*1024 and 1024*768 monitors at the address below. http://www.beckhamdigital.co.uk/freestuffdigslidesw3.htm The filter effect worked rather well I think and it didn't take long either. I used a set of Alien skin filters called Snap Art, coloured pencil, but you need an image editor to temper the effect a little.

Simple answer and one I have been going on about for eons Don't let PTE decide on the size of your image, you decide via choices in the software such as Original mode or Disable scaling of main images. If your animating a show create a PNG frame to cover up any visible movement, if not, your done. The projector will project what you created.

Peter I used to use PTE4 for this purpose, but moved over to a dedicated menu builder when 5 was launched. I love PTE to death as you know, but I now favour Multi-Media-Builder to to what you are referring to. Try downloading this example that I produce for download videos and take a look, obviously the video it refers to wil not play as it would need to be in the root directory with the start.exe, but most of the menu does. You can create the menu as big as you like and customise it as you wish. Its not an expensive program either http://www.beckhamdigital.co.uk/start.zip

Ron Access your memory banks under Humour - Sense of etc. Tom Don't get me on that bandwagon. I am sure you are well in need of your badge, but if ever there was an abused privilidge in our society, disabled parking it is.

If you drive on a motorway you might get killed in a feak accident If you fly, you may be unlucky enough to fly right into a mountain If you get out of bed in the morning, you might have an accident that day and break your neck. If you use a Mike oldfield track in your AV you might get sued. Its against the law to speed and of course no PTE user ever does that. Its against the law to park on yellow bands and no PTE user does that either, do they? Of course we could just apply common sense.

GaveG OK got it, but what a daft way of working. What possible use is that if you cannot then use the headings and they only show in a preview. They have to show in the customised startup window of the main tab, or what's the point. I thank you guys for all your help and wonder how many hours research it all adds up to ?????????????????????? My point again, if something in the software taxes the experts as much as this has, it needs fixing or dumping.

Mark A really nice idea, but you have lost all the composition of your images, by placing largely dark images onto a black background. We see the edges of the images in some places and not other which affects the charm and flow of the show. The background needs to be black given the subject, so I think it is essential you pick out these images in some way. A perfect subject for that thin white, or grey line.

Xaver Well, it doesn't do that for me and I don't think it does it for Ken either, which makes the Messages Tab in need of attention. I still believe it has no place in the project options, it should be on the top menus tucked away for when we may need it. It would be of value of we could set the options and save them as our own defaults so they appear for every show we make.

Are you saying that you put that data into the Project Options Messages Tab and it transferred automatically to the the Project Options main tab (customise startup window) 32 posts and I know nothing more than I did at post 1, I think that says rather a lot about the messages tab. well, well, well. It works with the password query

Xaver No, you all seem to be missing my point. I appreciate what Peter is trying to do, but I know all that. I know exactly what the startup option does and how it works. It wasn't that I was referring to anyway. (shown below) Have a look at the other screen grab, what do the options in the messages tab actually do. I can change them and they seem to remain in place, but say you place a set of values in the startup section in the messages section. What does it do apart from sit in the messages tab. Nothing, unless I am missing something. It doesn't show in the place I expected it to in my first screen grab. The project options in my view should be the essential instructions to make our slide shows work. That messages tab does nothing towards that and should be moved to another place or deleted altogether if it serves no purpose. All it does is add more to the project options that confuse newer users of the software.

Good news. I have just spoken to the performing rights society and they have said that all PTE users are exempt for any copyright whatsoever. Copyright only relates to all those others who do not use PTE, not us. Honest!

Blimey, I am almost sorry I asked the original question, my life could end before we even get close to the end of the thread. So lets put this another way. Can anyone explain to me what the Project Options > Messages tab is any good for or how it works? The answer appears to be NO!

Well. I have to make the point that if so called experts in the use of PTE have to ask for help because they cannot fathom what the hell something does, then it badly needs sorting or it needs discarding.

FH Do it the other way round, isn't the message tab where we can set that information so it shows automatically in the main tab > Customise startup. It doesn't I can get the customise start up working from the main tab, but what purpose does the messages tab serve, because its passing me by completely. I wonder if the messages Tab is used by anyone.