PanosFX Animated Snow Globe - optimum output

[northgeorgiagal]

I am wondering how do I get the Panosfx Animated Globe to output with as good (or as near as I can get) as the PC exe that I can create through picturestoexe deluxe. I have created the Vimeo HQ - but the aspect ratio is off and it doesn't create a full "monitor" display like the PC exe. I have my own website - so I don't have to mess with Vimeo/You Tube unless it is the best solution... We are trying to get a "christmas card" up with the animated globe. Do I need a video to flash converter? I did download Moyea's Video 4 Web Converter and converted the mpeg4 to flv.. but it wasn't the quality of the PC exe. I have tried to find the answers here on the forum and through google and Lin Evan's site. I guess I am confused about codecs, output formats etc.. I just want to get the animated globe up as an object (or embeded object) on my website so that it looks as good there as the exe I can produce through picturestoexe.

I am running Windows XPsp3 and pictures2exe 6.0

Here are my "proof of concept" output samples. I would like to have as large an image as I can, it seems You Tube limits to 640x505:

Thanks so much for any help..

Morgan (aka North Georgia Gal)

[Lin Evans]

Hi Morgan,

You can come close with Youtube (not with Vimeo), but no video is going to be as good as the executable file which is constructed "on the fly" by the GPU (video card).

Your problem seems to be that you are choosing the wrong parameters when you create the MP4. Youtube can play your files at 1600x1200 resolution, but you have to create them with PicturesToExe's Video Builder at a resolution of 1600x1200 then upload your 1600x1200 construct to Youtube.

Look at these two samples I have uploaded to youtube:

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=grPvnD2nubM

Both these will play at 1600x1200 when you choose HD. You must start the play then pause when the sound begins and wait for the file to fully buffer (wait for the red line to go all the way to the right) then click on the "Play" button to play the HD version uninterrupted.

To create your snowglobe at 1600x1200 you need to click on the "Create" button in PTE then click on "HD Video for PC and Mac" and set it up like the above:

Then upload to Youtube and you will have a 1600x1200 animated snowglobe in as high a quality as possible via the web. The only way to have higher quality is to send your Christmas card as a zipped executable rather than as a video.

Best regards,

Lin

[northgeorgiagal]

Hi Lin,

Thanks so much for your suggestion. I did as you instructed and have the mp4 up on you tube/my web site. I am having a bit of a problem with break up during play (sorry don't know the terminology) even after letting the video fully buffer. I am not sure if it is my problem (internet connection) or something I could do differently in creation. If it would help, I would be happy to go a tad smaller in my creation (doesn't have to be 1600x1200) - should I go slower in the snow falling? Here are the latest links..

Thanks again for your help.. I look forward to really learning the program after the first of the year!

Cheers,

Morgan (aka North Georgia Gal)

[Ken Cox]

Morgan

smooth if you let it fully load then play again

ken

[Lin Evans]

Hi Morgan,

It runs smoothly all the way through for me if I let it completely buffer. I don't think making it smaller would help too much. Youtube will only convert to HD if the output is at least 720p. They won't even convert a 1024x768 to HD, unfortunately, but they do convert the 1600x1200 and it plays properly at full screen so that's probably about as good as it will get. The speed of the snowfall has little to do with the smoothness so probably its fine just as it is.

One thing I've noticed about Youtube is that the playback can somewhat vary depending on their server loading. There have been times when I've noticed some slight jerky motion even after complete buffering. This tells me that the internet connect at the time, or their internal loading probably has something to do with how it performs. They convert the mp4 h.264 to Flash and I'm not certain if they actually convert to FLV with preload (which is by far the best way) or whether they use SWF without preloading. SWF is played directly from the remote server where the show is hosted. FLV with preload is actually spooled to your own hard disk on a temporary and hidden folder and played from there using your own system. It differs from true "spooling" in that with true spooling the file never actually leaves the remote server. With Flash FLV the file is actually downloaded to your system but playback begins before the entire file has spooled depending on preload settings. My guess is that Youtube doesn't really use Flash FLV with preload, but rather spools the Flash file from their own server via some proprietary algorithm. This could account for the discrepancies in performance at different times.

Your show looks great! The only suggestion I have would be to insert a black jpg with opacity set to zero at the start of the show and with another keyframe set to zero at about 3 seconds before the end of the 40 second display. Then set one more keyframe to 100% at the end of the show and you will get a fade to black rather than an abrupt ending.

If you are unfamiliar with how to do this, if you just use the PTE zip feature from the "File" "Create Backup in Zip" and post a link to this PTE zipped file, I'll be glad to make the quick modification for you and post a link. Then your show will fade out rather than stop abruptly at the end of the animation and song.

Best regards and Merry Christmas,

Lin

[northgeorgiagal]

Thank you so much Ken for taking the time to look and Lin, you are a gem among the masses and thanks so much for the help and all of the information. I imagine I will be visiting your site after the first of the year!

I am going to take your suggestions on the beginning and ending slides and will be tidying up my current photograph to display a bit more clearly through the snowfall.

Thanks again for the help (and the animation to Panos wonderful snowglobe action), it is greatly appreciated.

Merry Christmas to all.. and back to "work" for me!

Morgan (aka NorthGeorgiaGal)

[Ken Cox]

Morgan

the first show this morning the snow was a bit jerky at times as if it was trying to keep time with music - i extrcted outof my temp internet folder

this aft i downloaded them with firefox and the associated download helper and saved them as mp4's and avi's- now on the hard drive and the snow is falling smooth

doing it this way eliminated the internet and buffering

ken

[northgeorgiagal]

Well I finally just relinquished to having people download the .exe from my site.. I could never get it to play from youtube very smoothly, yet Lin's examples that he gave played very well for me.. who knows.. But I want to thank you all for taking a look and lending a hand. I am very pleased with the executable and so appreciate Lin lending the hand to give it that polished look!

Now, off to a busy day. Thanks again. I look forward to taking the time after Christmas to really delve into all of the tutorials and capabilities this little gem can offer.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Morgan (aka North Georgia Gal)