PicturesToExe - A Revelation!

[carrigman]

I purchased PTE after seeing Barry Beckham's brilliant demo of what it is capable of doing in Digital Photo magazine in the UK. I can honestly say it is an excellent piece of software and a bargain at the price. I remember being in a camera club years ago and we invested a lot of money in a Audio Visual set up - dual slide projectors, etc. PTE does all that was capable of doing and more, and at a fraction of the cost.

I have just put together a slide show on the mountains of Munster in Southern Ireland. I had boxes of slides that were just lying there. Here at last was a program that could make use of them. I had slides that on their own were no big deal but as part of a series became very effective. I've given CD copies of the presentation to friends interested in hillwalking and it has knocked their socks off! I'm now planning to dredge through my collection of slides and put other shows together for family and friends.

I can see PTE changing the way I'll take photos in future. Rather than just concentrating on single shots I'll be looking for ways to make the photos part of an effective series. I'll have an excuse to use more film...or maybe I should finally go digital?

Anyway, I know I'm preaching to the converted in this forum but I just had to publicy thank PTE for a wonderful product and for helping to re-ignite my somewhat flagging interest in photography. And thanks too to Barry Beckham and Digital Photo magazine for introducing me and, I've no doubt, countless others to the software.

Regards,

John (with a big self-satisfied grin )

County Cork

Ireland

[LumenLux]

John, welcome to the forum - as well as to the software. Please go a step further and post a show or two that come out of your excitement. If you have not already visited Bill's Beechbrook.com, you will find a broad sample of PTE presentations. You can post your shows there if you don't have your own web site. If you have your own, you can still post a link on Bill's site.

Your already-posted thoughts put very well into words what has happened to my photo activity. I now have a reputation among fishing & hiking friends. They accuse me of being very easily distracted from the stated purpose of an activity. It seems I am pulling camera from pocket and running in every direction to create that ever present, ever evolving sequence in my mind. As to your portending shift to digital. A recent 3 day hike, might have cost me 3-6 rolls of film, now filled memory chips to tune of 374 pix. With that many chances, I have ample opportunity to miss perfection. Most recent point, a sought-after bear. The combo of early (dim) light and and my excitement resulted in near perfect camera blur! But the fun keeps me going. So enjoy!

[Barry Beckham]

Carrigman

Thank you for the compliment and your right, it is all down to PTE. You have struck a chord with what you said about changing the way you shoot images. This skill is developed when you do produce AV sequences, you learn to look for bits and pieces that on there own would not be that strong, but as a set they are.

I have done this for years being someone who did use all the old style hardware. When I started shooting digital my shooting habits did not change and I always came back from a shoot with the same style of images I would have shot for AV using film. However, until I found PTE my images where then used to produce montages and now, they in turn can form part of a slide show.

Quite a neat circle, but your right in what you say. You can come back from a day out with some great images for a slide show even when that ellusive masterpiece escapes you.

I am glad that PTE has got your enthusiasm flowing, don't forget to post one or two sequences for the forum members to view.

Barry

[alrobin]

Hi, John,

Welcome to the Forum!

Quite an Irish contingent here now. According to legend, my ancestors came from County Cork - never been there myself, but will have to make the trip someday soon.

Glad you are enjoying PTE - it has been most rewarding for me too, in terms of pure enjoyment and pleasure in attempting to be creative.

Hope to see some of your work soon.

[Alan Lyons]

Hi John,

Welcome to the forum, Al is right the Irish are gathering in this forum maby we need a new section called "The Pub"

Anyay, my reason fro writing is to say that P2E has taken hold in Irish A/V circles and we will have a demonstration of DAV at the Nationals in Dundalk 25-26th Oct. Check the IPF web page for details. The hope is to have DAVs in next years competition.

Why not come up and see us, I know it's a bit of a lep but if Al Robinson is willing to come from Canada to Cork, Dundalk should be no problem

Best Wishes

Alan

[potwnc]

Well I'm not Irish, but I do know that a pint of the black stuff (Guiness) usually solves most problems.

I too think of the A/V sequence at the time I'm shooting - in fact I begin thinking about what might look

good in A/V sequences before I get to an assignment, when I'm doing the initial research for an assignment.

That's perhaps easier for me than most as I specialize in indigenous peoples. I do "old" style A/V presentations - dual projector, dissolve etc. as well as digital. You still can't beat Kodachrome 25 for

quality But having PTE to work out the sequencing and fade and dissolve rates sure makes the whole

process faster.

I also add my welcome to you.

Ray

[Alan Lyons]

I agree with your point (pint) Ray,

Think how much damage is avoided by not having to move slides around a triditional light box. I now scan all work in progress into the computer and only use the slides if an analogue secquence is needed,

Alan

[Tom K]

You can come back from a day out with some great images for a slide show even when that elusive masterpiece escapes you.

This is quite correct. I went to a friend's wedding a few months ago and even though a number of my pictures were marginal by themselves, when integrated into a musical slideshow they worked quite well.

At one point during the reception, my girlfriend borrowed my camera (an Olympus C-2100) and shot 4-5 frames of the bride and groom dancing. She (my girlfriend) was wobbly drunk and the light was low, so even with image stabilization the pictures were all smeary and blurred. When I first saw them I trashed them as unusable garbage.

Then I started putting together the slideshow and relized I could still use them and pulled them back out of the PC trash. When shown in fairly rapid succession with the appropriate music, they give an impression of giddy happiness and fun. Now it's one of my favorite bits of the show!

[Alan Lyons]

Hi all,

Sorry I gave you all some miss information re the Irish national A/V championship they are on 18-19th Oct from 10.30 each day at the AOH Hall on Joyclyn St. Dundalk oppsite the tourist office.

regards,

Alan