Discussion of two features

[Igor]

I'd like to discuss two possible features:

Full control of slide show in synchronized mode (as an option)

With this option it will possible to go onto any slide (also backward or forward); use Navigation bar; use objects; pause.

Note: because the music depends on slides, it will rewind if e.g. you will go backward. Exactly as you rewind DVD film.

Proportional scaling (as an option)

As you know currently PTE uses all possible screen place (normal or wide screen 16:9) and it doesn't scale main picture and objects in different screen resolutions. It's a best variant for simple slides with main picture only and simple text captions - to use all place of the screen.

But if slide contains many related objects, menu it better to keep all proportions in all screen resolutions. It looks exactly as image of video film.

Note: it will use proportions of screen which creator prefered. E.g. because our displays have usual proportion 4:3 (1024x768) or 5:4 for LCD 17" and higher (1280x1024), there are will be two black not used places (at left and right) e.g. if user have wide screen (16:9). You can see similar effect when watching wide DVD film on 4:3 display (two black strips at top and in the bottom).

[Michel]

Dear Igor,

Full control of slide show in synchronized mode (as an option)

Yes !!!

I wish it since always. It would be formidable!

Proportional scaling (as an option)

Yes also for me, I'm working with a LCD screen 1280x1024. I hope that also ! (because this is a problem with the objects)

Best regards !

[nobeefstu]

Quite exciting, Igor

How is the access /control to move to any slide going to be implemented by the user ? Is there going to be a expanded navagation bar, right click menu or hot key accessability ?

Is there any affect or limitation if using multiple music files and/or/with additional sound effects?

One last question for the moment as I sure your going to get overwhelmed by many other too ... is this move to any slide going to jump to a specific slide # by user input or actually be like a fast forward/rewind frame to frame view?

This is really getting exciting !

[Adda]

Full control of slide show in synchronized mode (as an option)

It would be absolutly great.

Andreas

[alrobin]

Full control of slide show in synchronized mode (as an option)

With this option it will possible to go onto any slide (also backward or forward); use Navigation bar; use objects; pause.

Note: because the music depends on slides, it will rewind if e.g. you will go backward. Exactly as you rewind DVD film.

Proportional scaling (as an option)

As you know currently PTE uses all possible screen place (normal or wide screen 16:9) and it doesn't scale main picture and objects in different screen resolutions. It's a best variant for simple slides with main picture only and simple text captions - to use all place of the screen.

Igor,

This is very good news! The most important feature for my purposes is the first one, full control in synch mode. IMO, both the ability to jump back or ahead to a specific slide and also to pause, play, fast-rewind or fast-forward would be useful. These could be made available on a navigation bar, but it would also be useful if pause, play, fast-rewind, and fast-forward could be available via mouse clicks and/or hot-keys in order to avoid having to display the nav bar on an "artsy" full-screen slide show. It would be nice if f-forward and f-rewind could be activated by holding down an "arrow" key until the desired slide is reached. And if you can add in the high-pitched fast-forward and fast-rewind tape sounds too, this would be even better!

Regarding proportional scaling, as you know I am in favour of having the slide show play exactly as the maker intended it. So, if this means chopping the screen top and bottom in the case of wide-format shows, for example, I am all in favour of it. (For those people who still prefer to fit these shows to screen, then that option would also still be available.)

I will look forward eagerly to these new features!

[RayPar]

Me too, and me too! Cool features.

[think(box)]

SLIDESHOW PAUSE AND NAVIGATION, OPTIONALLY IN SYNC SLIDESHOW

Igor, my expectation is that you want to "checkbox-eliminate" the distinction between sync and non-sync slideshows, in terms of PTE navigation features. The nav bar would become available in a slideshow that today we call "synchronized". Left, right and home (etc.) will work as they do today in a non-sync slideshow. The complication lies in the music control. Either you have to make the choice for us, or give us the choice to do the following:

• Continue playing music until slideshow is resumed, then resume music at correct time in track
  

- OR -

• Halt music gracefully with pause, and resume it at correct track time when slideshow is resumed
  

I prefer that we are given the choice by checkbox in project options (or whatever new user interface you make, since you said you may make changes).

Regarding Al's suggestions for jump to any slide, and to provide fast forward or fast reverse:

These are far more significant changes, but are most welcomed! "Jump to any slide" will work best with a GUI navigation mechanism. Fast forward and reverse as Al describes it is likely to demand too much performance (sampled sound skip ahead/back and rapid video changes!) But if you can compromise and give at least a "no-sound" option to rapidly advance or rewind images temporarily without effects this would be great. The performance demands of including sound samples may not be excessive, but to do rapid movement from image to image without temporarily eliminating effects is prohibitive. One final note - if you include sound in a fast forward or reverse feature, please do successive sampling method so that the PITCH of music is preserved. Al suggests making the sound "squeal" at high-speed playback. The best A/V devices made today use successive sound segments appended during fast forward or reverse, so that you simply miss some of sound but can still recognize it, and a voice or musical note's PITCH is unmodified.

PROPORTIONAL SCALING

To have all images optionally always scale to appear relatively the same at any screen area setting is a most welcomed feature. This would be a valuable change to the visual object editor features. Making it optional, as you suggest, will be helpful. Please give us this feature!

As always, THANK YOU IGOR!

[JRR]

Igor:

Sounds great !!

I need the proportional scaling NOW!!!!!

I am working on complex PTE presentation, that will incorporate about 30-40 (haven't finished counting yet) other PTE shows that start from precisely located objects on various pages within the main show. I will not have control over the screen resolution people will be running the show on. (You can only tell people, they don't always listen) So if this controls that, I will be a happy man.

Happier if I had it within the next two weeks though Which I know is not possible

[alrobin]

Fast forward and reverse as Al describes it is likely to demand too much performance (sampled sound skip ahead/back and rapid video changes!)

Bill's reply re the "tape squeals" prompted me to think of another possibility for fast-forward and reverse.

I basically agree with Bill on this - my comment about "tape squeals" was really meant as a joke, as, like Bill, I was discounting the real possibility of handling all this, along with transitions, etc. (I think I did put a smilie after it).

Igor, if you can design an accelerated fast-forward/reverse with simulated transition effects (IMO, the latter are not as important as provision of an audible indication of position), then perhaps a slider control similar to those found on video simulations would be preferable to a simple left and right button arrangement on the navigation bar.

I have found that same-pitch audio feedback works best when there is some control over the speed of fast-forward or fast-reverse, so you can "listen in" by slowing the speed down, to determine the position and whether it has reached or overshot where you want to continue playback. A slider which you could "grab" and move with the mouse would give one this desired control. Besides, if the fast-forward or reverse were too fast, then "same-pitch" feedback would not be any more helpful than the old-fashioned "tape-squeal".

Igor, since the sound generally occupies fewer resources than the visual components of a show, I would prefer that you provide audio feedback on fast-forward and reverse, and if necessary compromise on the visual feedback (i.e. forget about the transitions (they would be virtually "cuts" in any case), and perhaps provide a glimpse of only every 4th or 10th or 20th image, depending on the speed of fast playback.

This sounds like an interesting challenge - hope you find it rewarding as well!

[Maureen]

Great news Igor

Look Forward to using your new features.

Thank You for all your hard work.

Best wishes

Maureen

[nobeefstu]

While this topic is still open for discussion ...

Since the ability of move to any slide is in the works ... I believe the addition of a visible Slide Counter on each slide (a check box option) should be implemented to help aid users.

This Slide Counter would automatically advance or reverse pending current slide position and show total slide count. Example : Slide 1 of 125 or 1 of 125

Options/ Properties would include :

CheckBox to enable/disable view of Slide Counter

Size and Color of Text within a outlined box placeholder

Basic screen position/ locations (as in setting Comments)

I know in COMMENTS we already have to ability to set the Slide Number among other comments ... however it does not show a Total Count. Also many users (myself included)would benefit of both options ( Comments and Slide Counter) if viewable in the same slide.

The Slide Counter would be a great addition if incorporated right into the new expanded Navigation Bar ?. Plus I think the Navigation Bar needs a bit of new face lift

Food for thought

[LumenLux]

Yes Igor. Your ideas are well supported with the comments and needs of many users. I especially think Nobeefstu's suggestion would be worthwhile option. Thank you for your continuing improvement of this favorite program.

[alrobin]

Stu, I'm all for it too.

Plus, it would also be useful to have a repeat button on the nav bar. Today, in order to replay narration for a particular slide in non-sync mode, one has to go back one slide and then ahead one slide, or vice versa.

It would simplify matters if there were a button which, in pause mode, would simply repeat the transition to the current slide, or better still, repeat the narration.

[Igor]

Thanks for your responses!

I'm closely working now on the first described feature (control on sync'ed show).

Of course, it's linear show in order of sequence of music files in the playlist.

But you can switch between slides or call necessary slide e.g. using button or hyperlink. Also sound comments to slides also play.

Keyboard, mouse, objects fully workable.

Apparently, the Pause function will also pauses music (maybe optional not to stop music).

I think there won't be fast-rewinding (2x, 3x, etc). Because it's not simple task to provide good stability for this function.

There will be usual switching from a slide to a slide.

Navigation bar is fully available with all functions - navigation, help, print, pause, etc.

I also plan improve Navigation bar and add new interesting capabilities.

Probably and some kind of menu, too.

Thanks for idea of Slide Counter!

I also think that optional Slider Control (as progress bar in the "Loading..." window in past versions) could been implemented into Nav. bar, too.

[mcarthur]

Personally, since I want to use PTE for digital AV's, I don't want or need people viewing the show to have much control. I'm happy for it to be seen as designed and that's it. Proportional scaling would be nice, but I'd like to put in (another) plug for seamless motion paths for pictures (panoramas or just overly large pics). I realise that I'm in the minority (of one!) for not needing the two features mentioned!

[think(box)]

Respectfully, without question there are many control freaks out there who like to have, but not give, control. You are not alone by any stretch of the imagination. Control lock-out for those who need it is here to stay.

As long as we have it both ways we can all have it our own way.

[Alan Lyons]

Hi Igor et all,

Like Mc Arthur, I too use P2E for digital a/vs. One addition to thhe programme I would like to see is the ability to see the transition between slides in the slide list. Currently the only way you can check if two slids disolve well to gether is to apply music and use the syncronise option. In some shows you may not have desided on the soundtrack until after the slides are selected. It would be nice to be able to check if the transitions are effective at this stage,

Alan

[alrobin]

Currently the only way you can check if two slids disolve well to gether is to apply music and use the syncronise option.

Hi, Alan,

Currently, you can preview the show, even without synching, starting at any slide in the show. Does this not meet your requirements? Or are you thinking of some other format? Please elaborate.

[Alan Lyons]

Hi Al from Al,

You cannot preview a show if you have not added music as the time line uses this to determin the lenght of the show. what I think would be useful is to be able to test transitions between slides as wdid on projectors to see if the disolve/ third image worked well. Currently if you move down the slide list you just get a swithh between slides, but if the transition worked here you could see if the effect was sucessful,

Alan

[ronwil]

Alan

Al is right. You can preview your project without music by selecting a slide in the Slide List then clicking the "envelope" icon in the bottom righthand corner of the Preview Window above, and the preview will start one slide before the slide selected.

Ron [uK]

[alrobin]

I call that the "loaf of bread" icon - it's so small you can hardly tell what it looks like.

But, as Ron says, you have to have a slide selected in the slide list before it will show itself.

[think(box)]

A note to Igor: By any chance could you add a windows Tool tip to all PTE graphic buttons? The slide_screen/loaf_of_bread/who_knows graphic will be used much more often if a tool tip displays when someone holds the mouse cursor over it. There are about five graphics-only buttons that could use this in main PTE screen, four in the Visual Object Editor and several in the Customize Slide screen tabs.

Thanks!

[Alan Lyons]

Thanks for the tip on the "loaf of bread" I thought it was a slide preview button perhaps I should ues my own loaf

Alan

[ronwil]

Crumbs! Looking again more closely, it could be a slice of bread.

Ron [uK]

[alrobin]

Life's a slice!!!