Slow Fade- How to?

[diverdke]

I have an intro to a slide show that goes from B&W to color. I would like a slow fade so that it is almost a continous fade from one slide to the next. I set the slide view time to 4.0 sec, and the transition time to 4000 msec, but the fade is still relatively short. I know it can be done, because I have seen other PTE projects with this type of effect. ???????

This project has 100+ slides, and is synced to a single MP3 music file.

Thanks in advance, david

[LumenLux]

Welcome David -

Your effect should be accomplished if you just make the slide duration at least one second longer than your 4000ms (4 sec.) transition. Also, if you are using the "customize slide" option, be sure you are setting the transition time on that screen, not on the project options. Sometimes if your computer has too much going on at same time, the transition will be jerky - making the fade appear short. Good luck, please let us know what works or ask again if still trouble.

[alrobin]

Hi, David - welcome to the Forum!

Are you setting the slide duration on the timeline or in "customize slide"? You probably know already that setting the duration in "customize slide" for a synched show has no effect.

Perhaps if you make the durations and transition times longer (say 8 sec for transition and 8.5 sec for duration), the pause between slides will be less noticeable.

[JRR]

David:

I will add my welcome to PTE too.

Just one additional word to Alrobin and LumenLux's excellent advice.

I tried a similar approach the other day with a very small show. I had the duration virtually equal to the transition, the transitions were almost continuous, but the music lost its synch.

I ended up, as per the advice you received, backing off the durations a little to give PTE a chance to breathe before the next transition and the music synch was fine The transitions to my eye were no longer quite what I wanted, but others who saw the result claimed to not really see the slight "holds" in the transitions.

We sometimes are our own harshest critic.

Have fun with PTE

[LumenLux]

And now Jim, you have reminded me of another possibility to consider or try. I once had a scene of an early-morning moose in a meadow. I wanted the scene to start with the original, somewhat dark, exposure. I then wanted the scene to brighten to a more "brilliant" light. To make the transition gradual, instead of fading from the dark slide to the bright slide, I prepared several intermediate slides in PhotoShop and then still used long fade times in PTE. To me the result was so smooth, I think the typical viewer didn't even notice the effect of the dark to light, and possibly wondered why that scene stayed on screen so long! I realize the going from bw to color may not work the same, but you could try it with making intermediate slides with increasing color intensity settings via your photo editor.

Now I just hope David that you get these messages and let us know what helps. That is how we all learn - even from a PTE beginner.

[diverdke]

The slide show is synced to the single MP3. I am setting the transition times for the intro slides in customize slide, and it does not seem to have any effect.

The intro is similar to LumenLux's intro posted in 9/17-11:48. I start out with a bitmap (B&W) of a waterfall. It then fades into grayscale, and then into full color. It really looks awesome the way it is, but a very slow fade would look better.

Is there any way to change the default effect time for a few slides, for a show that is synced to music? I may just add up all the times and calculate the slide time interval that way, so it seems to be synced, but is really not. Just a thought.

Thanks for the welcome and all the good advice.

Dave :-)

[alrobin]

Dave,

The only way to change the transition times for specific slides, for both synched and un-synched shows, is to set the time in the "customize slide / effects" menu.

Or, you can change the default transition time in "project options / effects", and then make sure you un-select "use own transition effect" in "customize slide / effects".

Don't hesitate to come back with more questions if there is still something puzzling you. That's the way we all learned!

[diverdke]

Slow Fade Revisited:

Still working on the show. I have gone into my intro slides (6 of them) and set Customize Slide to ON (the little P box is in). I have changed the duration to 2.0 seconds and the effects to 1500 msec.

When you play the show, it still uses the effect and length set up in Project Options. I am using fade in/out. If I go to the intro, and change the effect to something else in Customize Slide, it still uses fade in/out. FYI, this show is synced to a single MP3 file.

Sorry to be such a bother, but I know I am doing something wrong, and it is probably simple.

Thanks in advance, David :-)

[Ken Cox]

did you try it unsynced

ken

[diverdke]

I have tried it unsynced, and it looks OK, but synced is the way I want to run.

Here is what I have found in the last minutes of tinkering. If I set Customize Slide ON, and the length is less than the calculated length for the show (4:54 for the song, divided by 67 slides, is 4.38 seconds each), it uses the calculated length instead of the length I set. If the length is longer, e.g. 6 seconds, it still uses the calculated length. If I unclick [] Use my own time preference in the Customize window, it uses the 4.38 seconds value, which it should. No matter what I set the length to in Customize Slide, it uses the calculated sync length.

The effects time works as stated. If I set the effect time to 4000 msec, and unclick [] Use my own time preference, I get the slow fade that I am looking for, i.e., each slide fades into the next slowly. If I set the effect time to 500 msec, I get a quick fade, exactly like I should.

I have an all black slide at the end with my name and music credits, and no matter how I try, I can only get it to display for the 4.38 seconds, so I had to duplicate it to display longer.

I have uploaded the new version of PTE (4.12), as I was running an older version, and it makes no difference.

Thanks, David

[Guest guru]

David, when you use the "synchronize" function, the main controls of slides duration (in both "Main" Project Options and Customize Slide) are disabled.

If you want to change the duration of a slide, you can only move this slide along the time-line.

On the contrary, the duration of transition effects is always customizable.

[starfish]

David,

Re: your final slide. In project options/main check "leave last slide on screen when show ends."

Sharon