David Porter

Hi Daniel, Thanks for trying to answer my question. Gosh! it is complicated. Anyway, I have gone for LQ on the shows so far converted (all still photos)and they look fine although if I were being picky, I think I see a touch of flicker in some of the transitions. Peter is right - am I happy to share it? Certainly.

I think there was a problem with the web this morning affecting a lot of sites. If I am posting a long or important message, I usually write it in Word and then copy and paste. As I have MSE I would be interested to know what might be the problem with it, if you have a few moments.

I went over to MSE some time ago but it does not solve the problem that some people who may want to download my shows will assume that my files and PTE in general are unsafe. What worries me is that Igor's company's reputation is at stake but he either seems to be doing little about it(two post that I can remember)or is not keeping us in the loop.

Thanks for the replies. My laptop does not have an HDMI output so that one is out and I think I prefer not to have cables running across the Lounge so I am favouring the USB with MP4 files. This leaves us with the quality question. As I said I can't seem to see any difference between "Low Quality" and "High Quality" on the 1920x1080 setting. With the Low Quality setting I can get nearly three times the files on my memory stick. Is my view recipricated or is there a better test I can subject it to?

I've just got into the 21st century and got a 37inch HD TV so this thread is very helpful. I have tried some short test-shows with still and animated slides and Publishing them with the HD option, then playing thro' a USB memory stick on the TV. For the life of me I cannot see any difference in using the "Low Quality" or "High Quality" option on the 1920x1080 setting and no diffence in playing the .exe file thro' the laptop with a VGA cable. Is there something else I should be looking for? Also why is the direct to TV option not mentioned on the HD section in Publish - it only says HD Video for PC or Mac and the manual is equally remiss.

I think he has and I think he will.

Very noisy, very fast, very good images!

Hi Brian, Thanks for posting your very nice clips. Have bookmaked it for future reference.

I must add my congratulations on your excellent show and wish you the compliments of the season.

Thanks very much for your valuable comments Eric. The filename for the latest show had "voicefinal" in it, the previous one had "voiceB" so hope you have the correct one as I thought the voice levels were fairly consistant. Agree with the straightening comment although where you see the reflection of the buidings this can confuse the eye. Peter. Sorry about the mis-attributation, the surname did not ring a bell - one of the disadvantages of using user names. Good point about lowering the music a bit earlier, I think it adds an air of expectation. On board for next time. Roger. Will try "Normalising to 90%" without, at the moment, knowing what it means - next time. Ken. Yes I will keep trying. General. I and a couple of other people have listened to the show on computer and on my (newly acquired) TV and nobody thought my voice was being overpowered by the music. I am obviously coming from a music based audio background where the music is quite important and I certainly did not want it lost while I was speaking. We'll see what happens on the next project. Thanks once again.

"Those who attempt voice-over for the first time are often left feeling it is an impossible think to do" - Peter Appleton, Staffs Audio Visual Group from his very good Tutorial on Voice-overs. He's not wrong there but I have tried to take on board all your excellent comments and sought help elsewhere and after countless attempts I have re-vamped my Stourhead show on the links below. I am totally Stourheaded out now and this is as good as it's going to get but if you have the staying power to watch it again and offer any further comments and tips I will certainly take these on board when (of if) I do another one. PC Link Mac Link

Roger, The first maybe, the second - definitely not. My wife has got ear plugs to protect her against the bad language, even when they win!

Thanks for the advice Roger on Refined Edge, I'll give it a go, but I'm still trying to get the voiceover acceptable. Not easy, is it and I'm just about to have my third go at it. I think I have got the timings, music and levels as I want them plus I know a lot more about Audacity so I am going to re-record the voiceover. I tried the standing up method but thought I do a sitting down with legs up to get a more relaxed commentary. If this one does not work then it is going out the window!

Maureen, you lighten up the Skye!

Lovely music and well put together show. just one non WS slide seemed slightly out of position but did not spoil the enjoyment. Well done.

Hi Roger and Xaver, My reply above was writen before I had read your comments, so thank you also. Re the slide at 5.40, this was in fact taken the year before but I thought it was a good one to end with (nearly). The sky was blown out on the original so I recoverd it by selecting and wacking the sliders in Levels and or trying Hghlight/shadows as Rogers suggestion but i could not find a way of stopping the fringing at the top of the trees. I'll take on board your suggestions in the re-vamp. Many thanks.

Well, I am very appreciative of the quick, detailed and very helpful advice received from everbody. This is surely what this Forum ia about and any further advice would still be appreciated. For info, I use PS for photo processing and Audacity for audio (but with very limited knowledge) and a USB (cheap I'm afraid) microphone. Better equipment is on Father Christmas's list but so are a lot of other things. As well as the technical problems, I think I got my thinking wrong to start with so I am having another go trying to haromonise the slides, music and narration as a whole rather than piecemeal and hopefully put your suggestions to good use as well.

Inspired by Roger Stevens and Howard Bagshaw, I’ve had a go at putting some narration on this A/V. I am aware the quality of the recoding is not great (Xmas is coming) and my voice is not the best (am giving auditions to some friends). So this is a W.I.P. and I would appreciate any tips or advice which I could incorporate into the finished article. Many thanks. PC Link Mac Link

Superb photography, for me demonstated a little too often, but technically very good.

Top right hand corner of main screen "Add sound or voice"

Hi Colin, I'm very much of a novice at narration myself but am doing a show at the moment which has six or seven separate sections of commentary. I have added these to individual slides but check the box in Music Tab "Dont interupt sound when next slide appears" so the narration can continue over several slides. I find the advantage is that should you move or remove slides at a later date the commentary always moves with the chosen slide. I assume if you record the comment in PTE the same will apply. What I need now is a voice like on Ride to the Wall!

Howard, Got myself together after watching your show first time round and would like to add :- super photography, perfect voiceover and music and put together very professionally. In fact I can't see a professional doing any better.

Certainly the most moving A/V I have seen on this site or probably any other.

I recently made a show in 15:10 (my camera format) but when finished I decided it would look good on my wide screen TV 16:9. Rather than individually cropping all my photos I decided to alter the aspect ratio to 16:9 and use Project Options/More/% slide to show ..... The slider does not go above 100% but I typed in a figure pf 115% clicked set for existing slides and in worked well apart from some minor alterations with pans and zooms. However when going back into project options the 115% had re-verted to 100% but the slides were still increased in size. I was wondering if this will cause any problems down the line when I come to publish and make a DVD.

As a momento of places we have visited but also as a showcase for my photography such as it is.